The negative effect of team’s prior experience and technological turbulence on new service development projects with customer involvement

2015 ◽  
Vol 49 (3/4) ◽  
pp. 278-301 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pilar Carbonell ◽  
Ana Isabel Rodriguez Escudero

Purpose – The current study examines the negative moderating effects of team’s prior experience and technological turbulence on the antecedents and consequences of using information provided by customers involved in new service development (NSD). It also examines one way to mitigate the proposed negative effects. Design/methodology/approach – The unit of analysis was NSD projects in which customers had been involved during the development process. A self-administered mail survey was used to collect the data. The proposed model was tested using hierarchical path analysis. Findings – Results show that team’s prior experience reduces the extent to which recorded and shared information from customers involved in NSD is used for project-related decisions during the development process. Findings also reveal that technological turbulence can reduce the positive effect of using information provided from customers involved in NSD on new service advantage and service newness. Finally, results show that involving lead users in NSD can help reduce the negative moderating effects of team’s prior experience and technological turbulence. Originality/value – The literature on information use suggests that availability of information does not guarantee its use. In keeping with this argument, the current study reveals that for NSD projects with customer involvement, team’s prior experience and technological turbulence are part of the challenge of making effective use of the new knowledge that customers bring to the development project. Firms are advised to collaborate with lead users as a way to attenuate this problem.

2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 150-171 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sundaravalli Narayanaswami

Purpose New services design and development are difficult to plan, execute, measure and evaluate. Particularly, new services that are capital-intensive and involve a long gestation and development time are considered extremely risky. The purpose of this paper is to discuss a list of innovative practices in various managerial aspects in designing, planning and development of a large scale infrastructure intensive public transportation service. A contemporary new public transportation service development is discussed as evidence of proven and benchmarked criteria. Design/methodology/approach This is a technical paper, where theoretical foundations of best practices in new service development project are discussed and supported by practice-based evidences from a real-life urban transportation project. A case study approach is adopted with secondary data. Findings Worldwide during and after economic recession of 2008, several projects were stalled or abandoned. The inference through this work is that through efficient management practices, a large capital-intensive new service development project can be made successful even during a turbulent economy in a region marred by more challenges than elsewhere. Practical implications Several issues in large scale services development, such as urban transportation are domain specific. Some of the issues faced in urban transportation are common to several Gulf countries; therefore the policy guidelines, managerial practices and development strategies reported in this paper can be replicated in many of them. The commercial impact of the service project is a significant drive towards fuel conservation and to save huge amounts of productive time. Social implications Public transportation with a high quality of networked service improves the quality of life to a large extent. Unless certain measurable demands are not met, an affluent society is less likely to endorse public transportation. In addition, endorsement of public transportation is been promoted in several parts of the world as a drive towards a green, energy efficient, low-carbon emission and sustainable environment. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, new services planning and development is a key operations management topic, on which very little is written about. Particularly no other paper has presented a real-world large scale infrastructure intensive project development to this detail, and along with a theoretical background to benchmark performance and development practices.


2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 415-438
Author(s):  
Elena Pellizzoni ◽  
Daniel Trabucchi ◽  
Federico Frattini ◽  
Tommaso Buganza ◽  
Anthony Di Benedetto

Purpose This study aims to shed lights on the dynamics of involving and sharing knowledge with stakeholders in the process of new service development (NSD) over time. Design/methodology/approach The paper is based on a paradigmatic case focused on the development of the digital MBA program by the School of Management of Politecnico di Milano. Primary and secondary data have been largely collected and analyzed, involving multiple stakeholders of the development process. Findings This study describes how several stakeholders have been involved during the phase of the NSD process, showing two variables that ruled their involvement: the level of control exerted by the School on the stakeholders and the level of flexibility of the stakeholders. Research limitations/implications This research offers insights to the understanding of the dynamics of involving and sharing knowledge with multiple-stakeholders in NSD. From a theoretical perspective, it contributes to stakeholder theory linking it with the service management literature, highlighting the role of cyclical fluctuations in the involvement activities. Practical implications This research offers insights to managers dealing with the development of new services, offering them a novel view on how various stakeholders may be involved over time, in different moment and in different ways, to properly enhance the development process thanks to their knowledge sharing. Originality/value This paper contributes to the service management literature emphasizing the role of multiple stakeholders while providing insights and suggestions to manage the complex relationships created by their involvement and their knowledge.


2014 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 112-122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pilar Carbonell ◽  
Ana-Isabel Rodriguez-Escudero

Purpose – The current research aims to analyze antecedents and consequences of using the information provided by customers involved in new service development (NSD). It also seeks to examine the moderating effect of technological turbulence on the antecedents and consequences of information use. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected from service firms in a variety of industrial sectors. Unit of analysis was a NSD project in which current or potential customers were involved during its development process. A self-administered mail survey was used to collect the data. A total of 102 complete questionnaires were returned. The proposed model was tested using partial least squares. Findings – The results indicate that the instrumental use of the information collected from customers involved in NSD can lead to higher service advantage and service newness and in turn to higher market performance. Findings reveal that higher recording and reviewing of information collected from customers involved in NSD result in greater use of the information during the NSD process. An important result is that under technologically turbulent environments, recording and reviewing information from customers involved in NSD is less likely to result in a higher instrumental use of such information. Finally, the authors' results show that when technological turbulence is high the instrumental use of information from customers involved in NSD has lower value for both service advantage and service newness. Originality/value – Findings confirm the importance of customer involvement for NSD in a business context. Using the information from customers involved in NSD to resolve specific problems or make decisions regarding NSD projects can result in enhanced service performance. Moreover, information processing capabilities are key antecedents to instrumental information use. Finally, managers should be aware of the potential negative effect of technological turbulence.


2015 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 112-123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Horace Melton ◽  
Michael D. Hartline

Purpose – The study demonstrates that firms can effectively involve customers in new service development (NSD) to create radically innovative, high-performing new services. Prior research found no effect of customer involvement on radicalness in NSD programs, but the current study provides evidence that customer involvement in the design stage of NSD projects can increase the radical innovativeness of a new service. Design/methodology/approach – Surveys from 160 firms captured information on the development process, participants and outcomes of recent service innovation projects. Direct effect and mediation hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling. Findings – Customer involvement in the NSD process increases the innovativeness of a new service when customers are involved in the design stage and when the influence is mediated by process complexity. Customer involvement in the development stage has no significant effect on service innovativeness. Process complexity also mediates the positive influence of frontline employee and cross-functional team involvement in the NSD process on service innovativeness. Practical implications – To produce radically innovative new services, managers should: focus on customer involvement in the design phase and build an understanding of how the customer creates value-in-context, and use a detailed but flexible development process and provide extensive opportunities for interaction of customers, frontline employees and cross-functional teams throughout the NSD process. Originality/value – The study draws on complexity theory to explain how a complex NSD process enhances participants’ creativity and learning and increases the innovativeness of a new service.


2014 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 86-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dayu Jin ◽  
Kah-Hin Chai ◽  
Kay-Chuan Tan

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to rigorously devise a new tool that helps analyze and improve NSD processes. Design/methodology/approach – An NSD maturity model (NSDMM) is theoretically developed through a combination of the maturity model concept and findings from NSD success studies. Findings – NSD success factors can be categorized into four management processes – strategy management, process formalization, knowledge management, and customer involvement. Maturity dimensions and levels are further devised for each process. It is hypothesized that a higher capability to handle these processes positively associates with higher NSD performance. Research limitations/implications – Studies on NSD success factors are often descriptive rather than prescriptive. This research identified four management processes which are important to focus on when implementing NSD projects. It is among the first to apply the maturity model in the service industry. That said, this research needs to be tested empirically. Practical implications – The proposed NSDMM enables companies to conduct evaluations of their NSD capabilities. By determining the desired maturity levels, companies can engage in continuous improvement so as to calibrate the NSD process. Originality/value – By integrating the concept of the maturity model and the NSD success studies, NSDMM serves not only as a diagnostic model to assess current NSD practices, but also as a guideline for continuous NSD process improvement.


2005 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 54-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Stevens ◽  
Sergios Dimitriadis

PurposeKnowledge of the management issues for developing new bank offerings efficiently is limited. Furthermore, recent research suggests that organisational learning can contribute greatly to the success of innovation projects. The aims of this paper are to provide a detailed description of the development process of a new financial product and to identify learning actions that may contribute to its effectiveness.Design/methodology/approachReports findings from a qualitative, longitudinal case study of a well‐known French bank.FindingsThe results revealed an informal development process consisting of a sequence of issues to solve and decisions to make.Research limitations/implicationsThough observations fit with the theoretical model, the findings cannot be generalized due to the use of a qualitative methodology. Thus, selecting a development project that brings variance to the scope and degree of innovativeness could enrich the observed learning mechanisms. Second, as services are very heterogeneous, further research should be done on the development processes of different new services, for example standardised versus customised. Third, mechanisms of adoption or avoidance of learning procedures remain to be explored extensively. Understanding the reasons of choice and adoption of learning strategies according to the environment and nature of the project could lead to further managerial recommendations.Practical implicationsImplications for banks to encourage learning during innovation are discussed and several opportunities for further research are suggested.Originality/valueAn informal development process is revealed, consisting of a sequence of issues to solve and decisions to make. Multiple learning actions and strategies are identified that enhance process effectiveness and efficiency.


2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 101-112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Per Myhren ◽  
Lars Witell ◽  
Anders Gustafsson ◽  
Heiko Gebauer

Purpose Open service innovation is an emergent new service development practice, where knowledge on how to organize development work is scarce. The purpose of the present research is to identify and describe relevant archetypes of open service innovation. The study views an archetype as an organizing template that includes the competence of participants, organizing co-creation among participants and ties between participants. In particular, the study’s interest lies in how open service innovation archetypes are used for incremental and radical service innovation. Design/methodology/approach For the research, a nested case study was performed, in which an industrial firm with nine open service innovation groups was identified. Forty-five interviews were conducted with participants. For each case, first a within-case analysis was performed, and how to perform open service innovation in practice was described. Then, a cross-case analysis identifying similarities and differences between the open service innovation groups was performed. On the basis of the cross-case analysis, three archetypes for open service innovation were identified. Findings The nested case study identified three archetypes for open service innovation: internal group development, satellite team development and rocket team development. This study shows that different archetypes are used for incremental and radical service innovation and that a firm can have multiple open service innovation groups using different archetypes. Practical implications This study provides suggestions on how firms can organize for open service innovation. The identified archetypes can guide managers to set up, develop or be part of open service innovation groups. Originality/value This paper uses open service innovation as a mid-range theory to extend existing research on new service development in networks or service ecosystems. In particular, it shows how open service innovation can be organized to develop both incremental and radical service innovations.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophie Dennard ◽  
Derek K. Tracy ◽  
Aaron Beeney ◽  
Laura Craster ◽  
Fiona Bailey ◽  
...  

Purpose Prisons are uniquely challenging working environments. Staff are often exposed to direct and indirect trauma, impacting negatively on their mental well-being. Due to the limited research into prison staff experience, this paper aims to explore what staff find most challenging, how they cope, what support they would like and rewarding aspects of their work. Design/methodology/approach This service development project was facilitated through a staff well-being event. A qualitative approach was used and 74 staff members provided anonymised responses. An inductive and data-driven approach was used to analyse the data, and the trustworthiness of the analysis was considered using criteria established by Lincoln and Guba (1985). Findings Thematic analysis identified six themes, namely, the challenging nature of the work, interactions with prisoners, staff interactions, inadequate resources, staff support and development and coping strategies. Key findings include managing distress, self-harm and violence and limited resources presenting challenges. Role variety and opportunities to support prisoners were reported as positive. A variety of coping strategies were identified. Wider availability of supervision and reflective practice was suggested by staff. Practical implications Recommendations for increased staff support are made. Suggestions for future research investigating methods to increase rewarding aspects of work within prisons are given. Originality/value This analysis adds to the limited body of qualitative research investigating prison staff experiences; in particular, aspects of the work that they find rewarding such as the role variety and opportunities to make positive changes to prisoners’ lives. Novel coping strategies were identified, including cognitive reframing and behavioural strategies for managing stress, which could be encouraged to increase resilience.


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