Considered Service-specific journals were Journal of Service Research, Journal of Service Management, Journal of Services Marketing, Journal of Service Theory and Practice, Service Industries Journal, Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, and Service Science.
For more information about the alert system methodology go here
For all previous alerts go here
Gallarza, M. G., F. Arteaga, G. Del Chiappa, I. Gil-Saura and M. B. Holbrook (2017): A multidimensional service-value scale based on Holbrook’s typology of customer value, Journal of Service Management, 28(4), pp.724-762
Purpose In the fertile line of research on consumer value from the services literature, a gap exists between theoretical and empirical knowledge, in particular regarding Holbrook’s conceptual value framework. The purpose of this paper is to find construct validity for a multidimensional value scale based on Holbrook’s proposal.Design/methodology/approach Based on a literature review, a qualitative phase, and consultation with an expert, eight value scales (efficiency, service quality, play, aesthetics, status, esteem, ethics, and escapism as an adaptation of spirituality) are tested on a sample of 585 hotel customers and are further analyzed with simple and partial correlations, multiple regressions, and structural modeling.Findings Following the literature on the merits of Holbrook’s value typology, results are presented in three concatenated phases: validation of Holbrook’s eight value scales corresponding to his eight value types; interrelationships between these value types showing a predominance of the extrinsic-intrinsic and self-other dimensions; and construction of six indices based on the 2×2×2 matrix (self, other, extrinsic, intrinsic, active, and reactive) and a value index as a higher-order representation. The results support Holbrook’s typology, thereby supporting construct validity for the multidimensional scales.Research limitations/implications Implications for further conceptual research on value are presented. Meanwhile, the empirical study is context-specific, i.e. related to a hospitality experience.Originality/value Although Holbrook’s typology has gained widespread attention, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, no previous research has tested all eight value types simultaneously in the same empirical work.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/JOSM-06-2016-0166 [Google]
Hammedi, W., T. Leclerq and A. C. R. Van Riel (2017): The use of gamification mechanics to increase employee and user engagement in participative healthcare services, Journal of Service Management, 28(4), pp.640-661
Purpose Gamification introduces game-like properties into routine service processes to make them more engaging for service employees and users alike. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of gamification mechanics, or game design principles, on user engagement in gamified healthcare services.Design/methodology/approach Through observations, interviews and the study of desk materials, two cases of gamified healthcare services, each using different game mechanics, are analyzed.Findings Gamification mechanics produce four distinct experiential outcomes in patients: challenge, entertainment, social dynamics, and escapism. Patient engagement can be stimulated through these outcomes. However, to fully enjoy the benefits of gamified services, users are often expected to acquire and use new skills. The relative absence of these skills (or difficulties in acquiring them), depending on users’ medical predispositions and age, may defer or negatively moderate the positive effects of gamification on engagement. In the case of progressively decreasing capabilities (e.g. in the case of aging users or users with degenerative diseases, whose physical or mental disabilities may be emphasized by the mechanics), it is recommended that health professionals adapt the mechanics accordingly or search for alternative options to increase patient well-being.Research limitations/implications The study was conducted in healthcare, and caution must be exercised in generalizing the findings to other domains. However, the finding that gamified service users’ disabilities – or the lack of required abilities – may negatively impact the encouraging or engaging effects of the use of gamification appears to be relatively universal.Originality/value This study contributes to service research, specifically in the healthcare domain, by providing insight into employees’ and users’ motivations for using gamified service processes, the experiential impact of gamification mechanics, the individual factors that influence users’ gamified experience and multiple forms of cognitive, emotional and behavioral engagement outcomes. A research agenda is developed.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/JOSM-04-2016-0116 [Google]
Kim, S. Y. and Y. Yi (2017): Embarrassed customers: the dark side of receiving help from others, Journal of Service Management, 28(4), pp.788-806
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that customer engagement behavior may not always be a positive experience for customers. Specifically, the paper examines the effect of sources of help (employee vs customer) on customer satisfaction, and the underlying mechanism behind such an effect.Design/methodology/approach Three studies were conducted to test the hypotheses, and bootstrapping was used to analyze the proposed mediation and moderation models.Findings The results from the studies demonstrated the effect of sources of help (employee vs customer) on customer satisfaction. Specifically, compared to those who have received help from employees, customers who have received help from other customers showed lower satisfaction toward the firm. The relationship between sources of help and satisfaction was mediated by an affective factor, embarrassment, and a cognitive factor, altruistic motivation. In addition, the relationship between embarrassment and satisfaction was moderated by concern for face.Practical implications Firms should devote more resources toward minimizing customers’ embarrassment during service encounters and demonstrate altruistic motivation to provide voluntary help to lead customers to reciprocate helping.Originality/value The current research provides a new perspective on customer engagement behavior during service encounters. This research highlights the negative outcomes of receiving help from other customers.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/JOSM-11-2016-0296 [Google]
Leroi-Werelds, S., S. Streukens, Y. Van Vaerenbergh and C. Grönroos (2017): Does communicating the customer’s resource integrating role improve or diminish value proposition effectiveness?, Journal of Service Management, 28(4), pp.618-639
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine whether explicitly communicating the customer’s resource integrating role in value propositions improves or diminishes value proposition effectiveness.Design/methodology/approach Based on existing research on value propositions, three effectiveness criteria are used: role clarity, expected customer value, and purchase intention. Two experiments manipulating the presence of the customer’s resource integrating role in value propositions test the conceptual model in both an indirect interaction (Study 1, toothpaste, n=207) and a direct interaction context (Study 2, fitness program, n=228). Additionally, Study 2 includes the moderating role of resource availability.Findings Explicitly communicating the customer’s resource integrating role in value propositions increases customers’ role clarity, which in turn influences customer’s attitude toward the service and purchase intention through a service-related (i.e. expected benefits and expected efforts) and an ad-related (i.e. ad credibility and attitude toward the ad) route. However, these results only hold for customers high in resource availability.Originality/value This research provides initial empirical support for the often-stated claim that value propositions should include the (potential) value of the offering as well as the (resource integrating) role of the customer. Taking a broader perspective, this research provides initial empirical support for recent calls to develop marketing communication practices that facilitate value-in-use. This paper’s findings show that adopting service logic in marketing communications seems to improve value propositions’ effectiveness.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/JOSM-11-2015-0366 [Google]
Ponsignon, F., F. Durrieu and T. Bouzdine-Chameeva (2017): Customer experience design: a case study in the cultural sector, Journal of Service Management, 28(4), pp.763-787
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the experience design phenomenon in the cultural sector. Specifically, it purports to articulate a set of design characteristics that support the alignment between an organisation’s design intention (i.e. intended experience) and the actual experience of customers (i.e. realised experience).Design/methodology/approach A single case study approach is adopted to explore the phenomenon from both the provider and customer perspectives simultaneously. A range of qualitative data, including 42 interviews with managers and customers as well as voluminous documentary evidence, are collected. Provider and customer data are analysed independently using a rigorous inductive analytical process to generate experience design themes and to assess possible gaps between intended and realised experience.Findings The findings reveal the design characteristics of touchpoints and the overall customer journey, which constitute the core experience, as well as the design characteristics of the physical and social environment, which support the realisation of the core experience, in a cultural context.Research limitations/implications Limitations include difficulties in generalising the findings from a single case and in claiming that the set of design characteristics identified is exhaustive.Practical implications The paper makes several recommendations that are useful and relevant for customer experience practitioners in the cultural sector.Originality/value The paper’s contribution is to provide novel empirical insights into the four experience design areas of touchpoints, journey, physical elements and social elements in an experience-centric cultural context. On that basis, a conceptual framework for experience design in the cultural context is proposed.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/JOSM-01-2017-0016 [Google]
Ramaseshan, B., J. Wirtz and D. Georgi (2017): The enhanced loyalty drivers of customers acquired through referral reward programs, Journal of Service Management, 28(4), pp.687-706
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to extend prior research on referral reward programs (RRPs) by examining if and how the mode of customer acquisition (RRP-acquired customers vs non-RRP-acquired new customers) moderates the relationships between customer satisfaction and attitudinal loyalty, perceived switching costs and attitudinal loyalty, and attitudinal loyalty and behavioral loyalty (i.e. recommendations, cross-buying, and total spend).Design/methodology/approach Set in a banking context, this study is the first in an RRP context to link survey data with actual purchase data from a bank’s CRM records. Specifically, the survey captured customers’ satisfaction, perceived switching costs and attitudinal loyalty, whereas the CRM data provided actual loyalty behaviors (cross-buying and total spend).Findings The findings show that the effect of satisfaction on attitudinal loyalty, and the effects of attitudinal loyalty on recommendations, cross-buying, and total spend were stronger for RRP-acquired customers than for non-RRP-acquired new customers. Furthermore, perceived switching costs had a lower effect on attitudinal loyalty for RRP-acquired customers than for non-RRP-acquired new customers.Practical implications The findings offer managers a better understanding of how RRP-acquired customers differ from non-RRP-acquired new customers with regard to their satisfaction, perceived switching costs, and attitudinal and behavioral loyalty, thus enabling effective management of RRPs.Originality/value This is the first empirical study that explores the differences between RRP-acquired customers and non-RRP-acquired new customers with regard to the effects of satisfaction and perceived switching costs on attitudinal loyalty, and the effect of attitudinal loyalty on behavioral loyalty.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/JOSM-07-2016-0190 [Google]
Ranaweera, C. and H. Karjaluoto (2017): The impact of service bundles on the mechanism through which functional value and price value affect WOM intent, Journal of Service Management, 28(4), pp.707-723
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to contribute toward the current limited understanding of service bundles by investigating how purchasers of combined product-service bundles (bundle customers) differ from those purchasing a product and associated service separately (non-bundle customers).Design/methodology/approach The hypothesized effects were tested on a representative sample of mobile phone subscribers in Finland, through a multi-group moderated analysis using variance-based structural equation modeling.Findings While functional value had a stronger effect on attitude for bundle customers, price value is a stronger determinant of attitude for non-bundle customers. There was no difference between the groups in terms of how attitude determines the word-of-mouth (WOM) intent. The total influence of functional value on positive WOM intent was stronger for bundle customers vs non-bundle customers; in contrast, the total influence of price value on positive WOM was weaker for the bundle customers.Research limitations/implications Two interrelated frameworks, prospect theory and mental accounting theory, are used to analyze customer response to service bundles. The results demonstrate that bundles play a powerful role in determining engagement behaviors critical to firms. Purchasing a service bundle vs a non-bundle influences how price value and functional value determine attitude and WOM intent in fundamentally different ways.Practical implications In devising communication strategies to maximize positive WOM, managers need to emphasize functional benefits for bundle purchasers and price benefits for non-bundle customers. The results also demonstrate that it is more important for firms to track perceived value, as value and not attitude differentiates WOM generation in the two groups.Originality/value This is the first study to demonstrate how bundle and non-bundle customers determine value, and how functional value and price value determine WOM generation and attitude toward service provider in fundamentally different ways. The comparison of the bundle group where the firm acts as the main resource integrator to a non-bundle group where the customer is the main resource integrator in creating value helps demonstrate the need for firms to treat the two groups in distinct ways.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/JOSM-03-2016-0065 [Google]
Salonen, A., O. Saglam and F. Hacklin (2017): Servitization as reinforcement, not transformation, Journal of Service Management, 28(4), pp.662-686
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explain why product-centric manufacturers utilize advanced services not as vehicles of transformation, but of reinforcement, to strengthen their established business model logic based on selling products and basic product-related services.Design/methodology/approach The empirical basis of this study relies on an in-depth case study of a globally operating manufacturer of industrial pumps and related services. The data includes 31 interviews conducted over several years of in-depth collaboration with the studied firm.Findings Product-centric manufacturers utilize advanced services as engagement platforms to facilitate the external and internal engagement of the actors and the resources controlled by them. Externally, advanced services facilitate access to customer decision makers and insights into their latent needs. Internally, advanced services help the manufacturer to more effectively leverage resources that reside within its different organizational units. Ultimately, in leveraging advanced services as engagement platforms, the manufacturer seeks to boost activities with the greatest immediate impact on its market performance: the sale of products and basic product-related services.Practical implications The study explains why managers should invest into development of advanced services even if such services contribute only marginally to the manufacturer’s direct revenues and profits.Originality/value This study contributes to development of an alternative explanation of servitization that departs from the current paradigmatic assumptions in the field.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/JOSM-05-2016-0121 [Google]
Bell, S. J., S. Auh and A. B. Eisingerich (2017): Unraveling the Customer Education Paradox, Journal of Service Research, 20(3), pp.306-321
Customer education or the extent to which firms are seen as providing customers with the skills and abilities to utilize critical information is often considered a valuable augmentation to a firm’s service offerings. Yet, many firms are hesitant to invest in customer education efforts for fear that it will equip customers with the skills to shop around and possibly switch providers. The purpose of this research is to understand the circumstances under which customer education ties customers more closely to a firm or encourages customers to leave. Specifically, our studies show that an understanding of this paradox of customer education lies in the specificity of customer expertise that is built as a result of customer education initiatives. The results demonstrate that educating customers for firm-specific expertise leads to increased loyalty, while building market-related expertise may decrease customer loyalty. A critical practical implication of our findings therefore is the need for managers to understand the varying effects of enhancing customers’ firm-specific versus market-related expertise and to consider customer education initiatives proactively.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1094670517691847 [Google]
Chan, K. W., T. Gong, R. Zhang and M. Zhou (2017): Do Employee Citizenship Behaviors Lead to Customer Citizenship Behaviors? The Roles of Dual Identification and Service Climate, Journal of Service Research, 20(3), pp.259-274
This study pertains to whether and how employees’ organizational citizenship behaviors toward customers (OCB-C) influence customers’ citizenship behaviors (CCB) directed toward the firm, employees, and other customers. Drawing on a social exchange perspective, this study proposes that a dual identification mechanism—spanning customer-employee identification (C-EI) and customer-firm identification (C-FI)—mediates the social exchange relationship between OCB toward customers (OCB-C) and CCB. Service climate as a key contextual factor moderates the mediating mechanisms of identification. With data collected from a field survey and an experiment, the findings confirm that the dual identification mechanism mediates the effect of OCB-C on customers’ reciprocation with CCB. The results also reveal a moderating effect of service climate, such that the positive effect of OCB-C on C-EI and C-FI grows stronger when the service climate is at low and high levels, respectively. In addition, the empirical results demonstrate that the underlying motive attribution explains the moderating effect of service climate. This work paints a more nuanced picture of the missing link in the OCB-C-CCB interface by identifying a mediating mechanism and boundary condition. To promote CCB, managers should leverage their employees’ OCB-C as well as their firms’ service climate.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1094670517706159 [Google]
Colm, L., A. Ordanini and A. Parasuraman (2017): When Service Customers Do Not Consume in Isolation, Journal of Service Research, 20(3), pp.223-239
In many service contexts, customers share the service setting with other customers. However, knowledge about the influences of fellow customers’ copresence remains largely fragmented. We address this deficiency by introducing the integrative concept of customer copresence influence modes (CCIMs) and investigate its potential consequences for service perceptions and evaluations. Following a grounded theory approach and drawing on in-depth, qualitative interviews with both managers and customers of a leading service company, we develop a typology of CCIMs, categorizing the various ways—interactions (reactive/proactive and social/instrumental), observations (information-seeking/comparative), and spillovers (spatial/behavioral)—in which fellow customers might influence the focal customer. Building on this typology, we propose a conceptual framework with a set of testable propositions about consequences of CCIMs for the focal customer’s service experience and the service provider’s image. The CCIM typology and propositional inventory, in addition to offering directions for further research, emphasize the need for service managers to pay special attention to customer copresence because (1) its influence on service experience is contingent on a variety of factors, including some within the managers’ control, and (2) customers might assign responsibility to the service provider for both desirable and detrimental effects of customer copresence.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1094670517690025 [Google]
Flynn, A. G., L. C. Salisbury and K. Seiders (2017): Tell Us Again, How Satisfied Are You? The Influence of Recurring Posttransaction Surveys on Purchase Behavior, Journal of Service Research, 20(3), pp.292-305
Service firms frequently contact customers after a transaction to solicit feedback and assess satisfaction with the service experience. Customers who have an ongoing relationship with a firm may receive satisfaction surveys after many or even most of their service encounters, yielding effects that are likely to be cumulative over time. Yet how these cumulative effects influence customer purchase behavior is not clear. Because satisfaction surveys serve a dual purpose of providing valuable customer feedback and incorporating bidirectional communication into relational marketing strategies, understanding their longer term effects is important. This study examines the influence of recurring posttransaction satisfaction surveys on purchase behavior at the individual customer transaction level using service transaction data and relational contact data spanning 3 years at a large North American automotive dealership. The findings reveal that repeatedly soliciting a customer’s feedback may have detrimental cumulative effects on purchase amount and interpurchase time, and the cumulative effects vary with customers’ cross purchasing history. Results indicate diminished impact of other individualized direct contacts when a customer also receives a posttransaction satisfaction survey. The authors discuss how companies can use satisfaction surveys as an effective tool within a firm’s portfolio of relational communications and minimize detrimental effects over time.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1094670517690026 [Google]
Forkmann, S., S. C. Henneberg, L. Witell and D. Kindström (2017): Driver Configurations for Successful Service Infusion, Journal of Service Research, 20(3), pp.275-291
Manufacturers across many industries use service infusion to address the changing customer demands and improve their competitive position. However, understanding the drivers of successful service infusion is a complex process. Using business model and configuration theories, this study conceptualizes and analyzes the interplay of different driver domains for suppliers, customers, and their business relationships. In particular, we analyze how service offering, service pricing, service capabilities, and the service infusion process interact in affecting service infusion success and failure. 137 interviews relating to 25 business relationships are analyzed via configuration analysis, particularly fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA). Results show that different equifinal configurations exist (i.e., different ways to succeed with service infusion). We also find that “more is not always better.” For example, service infusion success can be achieved without fully developed service capabilities. In addition, successful configurations are often very similar to those leading to failure. A dyadic analysis demonstrates that customer service capabilities are overall more important than those of suppliers. From these findings, we derive priorities for future research. In particular, our study points toward the need to better understand the interplay between service infusion drivers. Second, we advocate the augmentation of research perspectives in service infusion by taking into account the supplier, customer, and dyadic perspectives. Lastly, the importance of understanding drivers of service infusion failure is highlighted. For managers, our study shows the importance of relational audits as a starting point to deciding on how to infuse services in a business relationship.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1094670517706160 [Google]
Grenha Teixeira, J., L. Patrício, K.-H. Huang, R. P. Fisk, L. Nóbrega and L. Constantine (2017): The MINDS Method, Journal of Service Research, 20(3), pp.240-258
As technology innovation rapidly changes service experiences, service designers need to leverage technology and orchestrate complex service systems to create innovative services while enabling seamless customer experiences. Service design builds upon contributions from multiple fields, including management, information technology, and interaction design. Still, more integration to leverage the role of technology for service innovation is needed. This article integrates these two service design perspectives, management and interaction design, into an interdisciplinary method—the Management and INteraction Design for Service (MINDS). Using a design science research approach, MINDS synthesizes management perspective models, which focus on creating new value propositions and orchestrating multiple service interfaces, with interaction design perspective models, which focus on technology usage and its surrounding context. This article presents applications of the MINDS method in two different service industries (media and health care) to demonstrate how MINDS enables creating innovative technology-enabled services and advances interdisciplinary service research.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1094670516680033 [Google]
Raassens, N. and H. Haans (2017): NPS and Online WOM, Journal of Service Research, 20(3), pp.322-334
The Net Promoter Score (NPS) is, according to Reichheld, the single most reliable indicator of company growth, and many companies use this recommendation-based technique for measuring customer loyalty. Despite its widespread adoption by many companies across multiple industries, the debate about NPS goes on. A major concern is that managers treat NPS as being equivalent across customers, which is often very misleading. By using a unique data set that combines customers’ promoter scores and online word-of-mouth (eWOM) behavior, this research studies how individual customers’ promoter scores are related to eWOM, including its relationship with the three categories of customers that are identified by the NPS paradigm (i.e., promoters, passives, and detractors). Based on a sample of 189 customers, their promoter scores and corresponding eWOM, the results show that there is a positive relationship between customers’ promoter scores and the valence of online messages. Further, while detractors and promoters are homogeneous with respect to the valence of the eWOM messages they spread, passives show message valence heterogeneity. Thus, although passives, the largest group of customers, have no weight in calculating the NPS, our results reveal that companies should flag passives for further attention and action.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1094670517696965 [Google]
Anne, Ä. and J. Annukka (2017): Rethinking value proposition tools for living labs, Journal of Service Theory and Practice, 27(5), pp.1024-1039
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide a conceptual analysis on value proposition tools to be used in future empirical research and in building managerial insight. The conceptual analysis focusses on a living lab framework and recent theoretical developments around the concept of value that are reflected in the context of three managerial tools for creating value propositions. Design/methodology/approach Using abductive reasoning, the descriptions of the tools were analysed as cultural texts, as language-in-use in a social context. Findings In the context of the living labs approach, the Value Proposition Builder? (VPB) seems to conflict with the ideas and premises of user-centric innovation processes. In the Value Proposition Canvas (VPC), the co-creation aspect is rather vague, as the enterprise and its offerings are presented as creators of value for the customer. Thus, this tool somewhat contradicts the living lab approach. The People Value Canvas (PVC) is aligned with the service-dominant logic and the premises of living labs. However, all three tools largely neglect a deeper acknowledgement of the role of the wider context, the service ecosystem, and the role of networked actors as resource integrators. Moreover, none of the tools explicitly point out the role of enterprises as intermediaries in constructing invitations for value co-creation. Originality/value The paper contributes to the SDL and living labs literature by conceptual analysis on different value proposition tools; the VPB?, the PVC, and the VPC which are relevant for academics as well as practitioners creating new understanding and insights on the connectedness of the living labs framework and SDL as well as their relationship to managerial tools. By identifying the absent elements of S-D logic from managerial value proposition tools, the paper contributes to current discussions by giving attention from scholars towards investigating managerial tools and by providing a new conceptual analysis for future empirical research. The critical analysis of the managerial tools contributes to managerial practice by emphasising the need to consciously evaluate the benefits and failures of tools for developing their organisations.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/JSTP-09-2015-0205 [Google]
Aurelio, T., T. Orlando and V. Massimiliano (2017): Measuring customer value co-creation behavior: Developing a conceptual model based on service-dominant logic, Journal of Service Theory and Practice, 27(5), pp.930-950
Purpose In line with the precepts of service-dominant logic (SDL), the purpose of this paper is to devise a measurement framework of customer value co-creation practices during the service process. Design/methodology/approach Answering the call of McColl-Kennedy et al. (2012), the present study develops a general conceptual model for the measurement of customer value co-creation behavior, in line with the procedure elaborated by Churchill (1979). In particular, the paper focuses on the first stage of the protocol, corresponding to the specification of the domain of the construct. Findings The study shows that the scale for measuring behavioral processes in customer value co-creation has an implicit hierarchical structure based on eight activities to ensure adequate semantic coverage of the concept: cerebral activities, cooperation, information research and collation, the combination of complementary activities, changes in habits, co-production, co-learning, and connection. Moreover, the work highlights that the analysis of customer value co-creation behavior leads to three diverse steps of value co-creation and various levels of interaction. Originality/value By systematizing the construct of customer value co-creation behavior within a comprehensive framework, the conceptual model attempts to fill a gap evidenced by previous research in order to show that actions performed by users during the value co-creation process strictly conform to SDL assumptions. Moreover, the framework underpinning the practical application of SDL principles could benefit future practitioners and suggest interesting implications for future research.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/JSTP-10-2015-0215 [Google]
Francesco, P., P. Jaqueline, T. Bård, B. Roberto and C. Luca (2017): A4A relationships, Journal of Service Theory and Practice, 27(5), pp.1040-1056
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the characteristics of actors that allow them to relate to others actors in the system through shared intentionality (orientation) and the nature of the A4A relationship and the results that such interactions bring to the emergent system based on this shared purpose (finality). Design/methodology/approach The topic is approached by theoretical analysis and conceptual development of three integrative frameworks: the sociological perspective, service-dominant logic and a particular perspective of system thinking: the viable system approach (vSa). Findings The A4A relationships involve value co-creation based on actors integrating their resources and acting with intentionality to obtain value by providing benefits to other parties and by belonging to the emergent viable system; actor acts for other actors directly involved in the relationship generating positive effects for the whole system in which it is contextualized. Research limitations/implications Future empirical research might better support findings. Social implications Many social implications deriving from an augmented role of actors engaged within social relationships in co-creation exchanges. From the title of the paper A4A over on the manuscript describes numerous social inferences of actors in co-creation. Originality/value A4A is a relationship formed by actors that interact for the benefit of the whole system in which are involved. They find own benefit from the benefit created for the system in which they live and act. In A4A relationships the value of the single actor comes from the participation to the viability of the whole system.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/JSTP-05-2017-0085 [Google]
Luca, C., I. Francesca, P. Valentina and C. Mario (2017): The viable decision maker for CAS survival: how to change and adapt through fitting process, Journal of Service Theory and Practice, 27(5), pp.1006-1023
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the decision-making process in the management of the complex adaptive systems (CAS), particularly focusing on the dimensions that affect the individual decision maker (DM) when passing from decision to behavior in fitting processes. Although the importance of the general process of fitting in terms of organizational design has been highlighted in earlier studies, a closer focus on the DM perspective is required. Design/methodology/approach Starting from the theoretical frameworks of viable systems approach (vSa) and addressing the evolving concepts of change and adaptation in CAS, the work takes the DM perspective and investigates the dimensions involved in the paths that lead complex decisions into behaviors, when referring to fitting processes. The paper reviews the vSa and the concept of CAS, deepening the decision making in fitting processes. Then, the paper proceeds to discuss the schemes and the categories that affect, at different levels, the decision and behavioral choices by proposing an interpretative framework. Findings The paper proposes a general framework useful to recognize/identify which are the elements/dimensions that have to be considered when organizations change in pursuing survival. The findings of the paper also show how adopting a vSa as a meta-model can be insightful to the understanding of service systems and useful in fully comprehending decision-making processes and behavior in complex adaptive system. Originality/value The originality of this paper lies in exploring the decision making process in CAS, adopting a closer perspective on the single DM through the lens of the vSa.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/JSTP-09-2015-0202 [Google]
Marialuisa, S., B. Sergio, S. James Clinton and C. Francesco (2017): A service research contribution to the global challenge of sustainability, Journal of Service Theory and Practice, 27(5), pp.951-976
Purpose Poverty, hunger, inequalities, diseases, unsustainable use of resources, etc., in spite of scientific progress, still remains unsolved worldwide issues. All these issues relate to the challenges of sustainability and sustainable development that now call for urgent answers. The purpose of this paper is to explore how the service research community can respond to this call and to identify key areas of potential contribution. Design/methodology/approach After a brief review of selected service literature aimed at exploring its interest in the topics of sustainability and sustainable development, the authors develop the interpretative proposal identifying the key requirements of a global engagement in the challenge of sustainability and sustainable development and highlighting the potential contribution of service research. Findings Findings highlight the potential contribution of service research to the global challenge of sustainability and suggest acting upon education by considering the ?T-Shaped? professional model as a possible reference for embedding sustainability in the education of future managers and addressing the need of interdisciplinary thinking through the systems approach. Research limitations/implications The proposed study of service literature is only an exploratory analysis of main contributions that does not aim to identify gaps but only to highlight the potential of a greater engagement of service research in the global call for a more sustainable and inclusive development. Practical implications A trans-disciplinary approach is also required. This implies the involvement of the business and the social real world. Originality/value This paper represents a novel call for engaging the service research community in a boundary-crossing collaboration with the aim of contributing to address the challenge of sustainability.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/JSTP-10-2015-0228 [Google]
Tiziana, R.-S., T. Marco and B. Francesco (2017): Searching through the jungle of innovation conceptualisations: System, network and ecosystem perspectives, Journal of Service Theory and Practice, 27(5), pp.977-1005
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the interdisciplinary debate promoted by service research community by establishing the conceptual frame within which different perspectives addressing systemic and multifaceted approaches to innovation are framed. Growing research interest in innovation has led to different definitions, which are referred to here as ?innovation system(s)?, ?innovation network(s)? and ?innovation ecosystem(s)?. The paper examines the theoretical foundations, outcomes, and patterns of contributions to which each innovation perspectives is tied and proposed a subject and the framework allowing an exploration of an interdisciplinary dialogue between the different research positions. Design/methodology/approach A literature review was conducted to discern differences in concepts and their meanings. An overview obtained using Web of Knowledge leads to a focus on studies, followed by a content analysis using NVivo, which enables identification of key concepts and their definitions. By highlighting relationships among terms, the paper establishes a framework of the ontological assumptions of different innovation discourses and explores their contribution to the interdisciplinary dialogue promoted by service research perspective on innovation. Findings A comparison among the three innovation perspectives leads us to focus on innovation itself, alongside context, actors, enablers, and governance, which are useful to mark the commonalities and differences among the three research approaches. The framework is helpful to break down the fragmented and sometimes overlapping points of view of innovation and provides a more integrative stance from which to address the emergence of the service ecosystems approach on innovation. Research limitations/implications The investigation focuses on three innovation perspectives and on top-cited articles alone; hence, it can be complemented with a full analysis through a bibliometric approach to test whether the features highlighted are linked to other elements. Moreover, the different approaches grouped on ?innovation ecosystems? perspective suggest the possibility to enhance service ecosystems discourse on innovation by looking at different knowledge and contributions that are rapidly growing in this area. Social implications The central idea this work puts forward is that after some decades of separation, there is a need to move towards an increasing convergence of economics, business and service based on the milestones of innovation systems, innovation networks, and innovation ecosystems thoughts. Originality/value This research sheds light on the different ways innovation, in multi-actor and the interconnected setting, is theoretically framed and described. By capturing established thinking in different innovation perspectives, the paper provides an integrated framework to making sense of the full picture of economies and societies seen as complex networks and systems of service systems.
Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/JSTP-10-2015-0224 [Google]
