Today we identify service articles published in Marketing, Management, Operations, Productions, Information Systems & Practioner-oriented Journals in November 2016.
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Lamberton, C. and A. T. Stephen (2016): A Thematic Exploration of Digital, Social Media, and Mobile Marketing: Research Evolution from 2000 to 2015 and an Agenda for Future Inquiry, Journal of Marketing, 80(6), pp. 146-172
Over the past 15 years, digital media platforms have revolutionized marketing, offering new ways to reach, inform, engage, sell to, learn about, and provide service to customers. As a means of taking stock of academic work’s ability to contribute to this revolution, this article tracks the changes in scholarly researchers’ perspectives on three major digital, social media, and mobile (DSMM) marketing themes from 2000 to 2015. The authors first use keyword counts from the premier general marketing journals to gain a macro-level view of the shifting importance of various DSMM topics since 2000. They then identify key themes emerging in dive-year time frames during this period: (1) DSMM as a facilitator of individual expression, (2) DSMM as decision support tool, and (3) DSMM as a market intelligence source. In both academic research to date and corresponding practitioner discussion, there is much to appreciate. However, there are also several shortcomings of extant research that have limited its relevance and created points of disconnect between academia and practice. Finally, in light of this, an agenda for future research based on emerging research topics is advanced.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1509/jm.15.0415 [Google]
Auh, S., B. Menguc, S. Spyropoulou and F. Wang (2016): Service employee burnout and engagement: the moderating role of power distance orientation, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 44(6), pp. 726-745
Studies show that service employees are among the most disengaged in the workforce. To better understand service employees’ job engagement, this study broadens the scope of the job demands-resources (JD-R) model to include power distance orientation (PDO). The inclusion of PDO enriches the JD-R model by providing a key piece of information that has been missing in prior JD-R models: employees’ perceptions of the source of job demands (i.e., supervisors) or employees’ views of power and hierarchy within the organization. Study 1 uses a survey-based field study to show that employees with a high (compared to low) PDO feel more burnout due to supervisors when they are closely monitored by their supervisors. Study 1 further supports the finding that employees with high (compared to low) PDO feel less disengagement despite burnout due to supervisors. Study 2, using a lab experiment, and Study 3, relying on a survey-based field study, unveil why these effects were observed. Stress and job satisfaction emerge as mediators that explain the findings from Study 1. Implications of the role of PDO are discussed to improve the current understanding of how job engagement can improve customer service performance.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1007/s11747-015-0463-4 [Google]
Wan, E., K. Chan and R. Chen (2016): Hurting or helping? The effect of service agents’ workplace ostracism on customer service perceptions, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 44(6), pp. 746-769
Extant research confirms the importance of cocreating value with customers in service marketing, yet little is known about the impact of service agents’ work experiences on customers’ service perceptions. This research examines how service agents’ workplace ostracism from different sources (supervisors versus coworkers) influences customers’ perceived coproduction value, perceived service performance, and actual purchases. Three laboratory experiments and one survey reveal a double-edged sword effect of workplace ostracism and its contingency such that (1) supervisor ostracism reduces customers’ perceived control value in customer-agent coproduction through threatening service agents’ efficacy needs when the agents experience low servicing empowerment; (2) coworker ostracism enhances customers’ perceived relational value in coproduction through threatening service agents’ relational needs when they expect a long-term relationship with customers; and (3) customers’ perceived control and relational values increase their perceived service performance, and customer relational value also increases the amount of purchases. Our findings reveal that service agents’ workplace ostracism may actually help or harm customers’ service perceptions, depending on the source of ostracism. The results provide significant implications for how organizations can better manage employees’ perceived ostracism in the workplace and strategically improve customers’ experience in service coproduction with excluded agents.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1007/s11747-015-0466-1 [Google]
Guillemot, S. and B. Urien (2016): Legacy Writing and the Consumption of Biographic Services, Psychology & Marketing, 33(11), pp. 971-981
ABSTRACT This study focuses on legacy writing and the development of the life-history business (e.g., family ghostwriters and writing workshops). A theoretical model is proposed to study the underlying mental processes that lead the elderly to consume such services. This model was empirically tested on a sample of 392 individuals aged from 60 to 92 years. Results highlighted the following: the role of generativity and death preparation reminiscence on identity preservation issues in later life, the strong desire to contribute to collective memories (i.e., to reach people outside of the family circle), and the social nature of the consumption of services that could be considered as a means of sharing emotions. The results of this study will lead to a more in-depth understanding of consumer behavior regarding the transmission and preservation of the self at end of life, and may also help service providers to improve their products and services.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1002/mar.20931 [Google]
Nullmeier, F. M. E., F. Wynstra and E. M. van Raaij (2016): Outcome attributability in performance-based contracting: Roles and activities of the buying organization, Industrial Marketing Management, 59(), pp. 25-36
In buyer-supplier exchanges that feature services or service elements, performance-based contracts have gained increasing popularity. One key problem in such contracts is the possible lack of attributability of performance outcomes to supplier inputs and efforts; suppliers are reluctant to be penalized for performance shortfalls that they are not responsible for. Prior literature has indeed argued that in case of low performance attributability (or: high outcome uncertainty), performance-based contracts are less effective, but has studied this uncertainty mainly in relation to external factors. Attributability of performance has not been studied in terms of the responsibilities of the supplier and the buying organization in service design and production. In addition, there has been little literature on how buyer activities during contract execution can help address some of the problems. This paper aims to fill this gap by developing a conceptual model on how outcome attributability relates to the roles of the buying organization in the service exchange, and how contract management activities can attenuate the effects of (low) outcome attributability on the level of supplier inputs and effort, which directly affects actual performance. We engage in theory elaboration to formulate a conceptual model based on two cases of performance-based contracting of cleaning services.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1016/j.indmarman.2016.05.031 [Google]
Patala, S., A. Jalkala, J. Keränen, S. Väisänen, V. Tuominen and R. Soukka (2016): Sustainable value propositions: Framework and implications for technology suppliers, Industrial Marketing Management, 59(), pp. 144-156
Advances in sustainable purchasing put pressure on firms to evaluate and demonstrate the sustainability of their products and services. In this paper, we coin the term sustainable value proposition , develop a process framework for building sustainable value propositions, and illustrate its application with two technology-intensive offerings. By integrating the literature on sustainable marketing and customer value propositions with life cycle assessment methodologies, we build a process framework that can be applied to demonstrate and evaluate the economic, environmental and social benefits of industrial products and services. The framework comprises 1) identification of potential impacts, 2) identification of key value creation mechanisms, 3) choosing key indicators, 4) life cycle modeling, and 5) life cycle value demonstration. Through two case studies, we examine the development of sustainable value propositions in two industry sectors: metallurgical and automotive. The results highlight the value provided to customers through the combination of direct economic benefits and derivative benefits of reduced environmental and social impacts. Our paper contributes to the growing field of sustainable marketing by offering guidelines on how to integrate sustainability with the marketing and purchasing of technology-intensive offerings. In addition, we offer guidelines for how to construct sustainable value propositions that resonate with customers.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1016/j.indmarman.2016.03.001 [Google]
Sumo, R., W. van der Valk, G. Duysters and A. van Weele (2016): Using performance-based contracts to foster innovation in outsourced service delivery, Industrial Marketing Management, 59(), pp. 12-24
While many scholars claim that Performance-based Contracts (PBCs) foster supplier-led innovation, empirical research into their actual use and effects remains limited. We therefore explore two cases of IT outsourcing through such contracts to see whether, and if so how, PBCs foster innovation. Our findings suggest that in both cases, the low degree of term specificity in PBCs (i.e., their openness regarding how to render the contracted services) provides suppliers with autonomy in their daily service operations, which in theory allows them to innovate. However, only one of the suppliers exhibited high innovative performance. Other relevant factors aside, our findings further suggest that a lack of granted autonomy during contract execution is an important factor in explaining the level of supplier-led innovation. Our findings imply that outsourcers that remain too closely involved with the outsourced service delivery and do not allow their suppliers to act autonomously during contract execution limit their suppliers’ innovation potential.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1016/j.indmarman.2016.05.029 [Google]
H. van Dun, D. and C. P. M. Wilderom (2016): Lean-team effectiveness through leader values and members’ informing, International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 36(11), pp. 1530-1550
Purpose Although empirical tests of effective lean-team leadership are scarce, leaders are often blamed when lean work-floor initiatives fail. In the present study, a lean-team leader’s work values are assumed to affect his or her team members’ behaviors and, through them, to attain team effectiveness. Specifically, two of Schwartz et al.’s (2012) values clusters (i.e. self-transcendence and conservation) are hypothesized to be linked to team members’ degree of information and idea sharing and, in turn, to lean-team effectiveness. The paper aims to report the examination of these hypotheses.Design/methodology/approach Survey responses (n=429) of both leaders and members of 25 lean-teams in services and manufacturing organizations were aggregated, thereby curbing common-source bias. To test the six hypotheses, structural equation modeling was performed, with bootstrapping, linear regression analyses, and Sobel tests.Findings The positive relationship between lean-team effectiveness and leaders’ self-transcendence values, and the negative relationship between lean-team effectiveness and leaders’ conservation values were partly mediated by information sharing behavior within the team.Research limitations/implications Future research must compare the content of effective lean-team values and behaviors to similar non-lean teams. Practical implications Appoint lean-team leaders with predominantly self-transcendence rather than conservation values: to promote work-floor sharing of information and lean-team effectiveness. Originality/value Human factors associated with effective lean-teams were examined, thereby importing organization-behavioral insights into the operations management literature: with HRM-type implications.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1108/IJOPM-06-2015-0338 [Google]
Matthias, O. and S. Brown (2016): Implementing operations strategy through Lean processes within health care, International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 36(11), pp. 1435-1457
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate how operations strategy and Lean concepts can be applied within a healthcare organisation and the degree to which both Lean and operations strategy are understood by senior-level National Health Service (NHS) personnel, based on the process of ongoing longitudinal cases studies. Further interviews and data analysis will examine actual performance of Lean capabilities within the NHS.Design/methodology/approach For this explanatory multiple-case study project the authors collected data through semi-structured interviews with executives in the NHS to understand how operations strategies are developed in the NHS and implemented in NHS hospitals. The unit of analysis is the hospital. Multiple (22) interviews took place over 12 months with senior-level personnel responsible for implementing change via operations strategy goals, and incorporating Lean initiatives. In addition, to triangulate data, the authors examined healthcare reports and strategy policy documents from each case hospital. This forms stage 1 of a longitudinal study which will examine the actual performance of Lean within the NHS hospitals across a range of operations parameters and explore links between such capabilities and the role and importance of operations strategy in more detail.Findings The findings lead to the conclusion that operations strategies were not fully developed within the hospitals. In addition, the ongoing data capture shows that “Best practice” was not being disseminated across the NHS, for either patient experience or organisational effectiveness and the role of operations strategy was not fully clear other than as a rather vague “umbrella” term. Despite Lean’s attraction for healthcare at a micro-level, significant operational and cultural hurdles must be overcome for the full strategic benefits of Lean to be realised. A much more holistic approach in providing a full service for the whole of the patient journey is needed.Research limitations/implications The sample provides an initial snapshot. A larger number of hospitals and/or further longitudinal research will be needed to deepen understanding of embedding strategic change to improve overall performance.Practical implications Tackling cultural performance and operational issues at a macro-level could help healthcare providers reconcile the perceived conflicting goals of improving patient care (i.e. service delivery) whilst simultaneously reducing costs. The role of explicit operations strategies could be pivotal in designing and implementing such change.Originality/value This research builds on and extends the work of Toussaint and Berry (2013), Seddon and O’Donovan (2010) and Carlborg and Kowalkowski (2013). The authors highlight how some of the apparent contradictions in the requirements of the various stakeholders create operational and strategic tensions. The authors highlight the multi-faceted nature of design and delivery of a multi-touchpoint service within the complexity of a large healthcare provider.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1108/IJOPM-04-2015-0194 [Google]
Damali, U., J. L. Miller, L. D. Fredendall, D. Moore and C. J. Dye (2016): Co-creating value using customer training and education in a healthcare service design, Journal of Operations Management, 47(), pp. 80-97
In services, which require significant customer participation to create value, customers who lack the knowledge, skills and motivation necessary to participate effectively can negatively impact service quality and cost outcomes. This paper develops a conceptual model to investigate the effectiveness of utilizing customer training and education (CTE) to improve customer readiness to provide effective behaviors in a professional service. The model was tested using survey data from patients diagnosed with diabetes who received CTE as part of their healthcare service. We found that customers who are taught why they have to perform the tasks, have higher levels of motivation to perform these tasks effectively. Further, as proposed by the customer readiness model, when their task performance is higher, they have improved health and lower healthcare costs.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1016/j.jom.2016.10.001 [Google]
Li, X., P. Guo and Z. Lian (2016): Quality-Speed Competition in Customer-Intensive Services with Boundedly Rational Customers, Production & Operations Management, 25(11), pp. 1885-1901
We consider a system in which two competing servers provide customer-intensive services and the service reward is affected by the length of service time. The customers are boundedly rational and choose their service providers according to a logit model. We demonstrate that the service provider revenue function is unimodal in the service rate, its decision variable, and show that the service rate competition has a unique and stable equilibrium. We then study the price decision under three scenarios with the price determined by a revenue-maximizing firm, a welfare-maximizing social planner, or two servers in competition. We find that the socially optimal price, subject to the requirement that the customer actual utility must be non-negative, is always lower than the competition equilibrium price which, in turn, is lower than the revenue-maximizing monopoly price. However, if the customer actual utility is allowed to be negative in social optimization, the socially optimal price can be higher than the other two prices in a large market.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1111/poms.12583 [Google]
