Conceptualising employee involvement in service innovation: an integrative review

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marit Engen ◽  
Lars Fuglsang ◽  
Tiina Tuominen ◽  
Jon Sundbo ◽  
Jørn Kjølseth Møller ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Research Agenda ◽  
Employee Involvement ◽  
Service Innovation ◽  
Two Dimensions ◽  
Innovation Activity ◽  
Theoretical Understanding ◽  
Innovation Studies ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Innovation Activities

PurposeEmployees are considered as important contributors to service innovation, but the literature is not unanimous about what employee involvement in service innovation entails. To advance theoretical understanding of the topic, this paper develops a conceptual framework for analysing employee involvement in service innovations, reviews existing research on the topic and proposes a research agenda.Design/methodology/approachDifferent modes of employee involvement in service innovation are distinguished based on two dimensions: (1) the intensity of employee influence on service innovation and (2) the breadth of the innovation activity in which employees are involved. This conceptual framework is abductively developed through a literature review of empirical service innovation studies to identify and analyse whether and how these modes of employee involvement are manifested in the service innovation literature.FindingsThe findings delineate six modes of employee involvement in the reviewed service innovation studies. Employees are primarily seen as having a strong influence on situated innovation activities but a limited influence on systemic innovation activities. The findings show that more research is needed to assess the connections between different modes of employee involvement.Practical implicationsThe findings can be used by practitioners to assess the possibilities different modes of employee involvement may bring to service innovation activities.Originality/valueThe proposed conceptual framework and the analysis of current research and research gaps in service innovation studies provide a clear research agenda for progressing multidimensional understanding of employee involvement in service innovation.

Accessing resources for service innovation – the critical role of network relationships

2014 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helena Rusanen ◽  
Aino Halinen ◽  
Elina Jaakkola
Keyword(s):  
Critical Role ◽  
Service Innovation ◽  
Innovation Process ◽  
Research Strategy ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Theoretical Understanding ◽  
Resource Access ◽  
Content Type ◽  
External Resources ◽  
Different Types

Purpose – This paper aims to explore how companies access resources through network relationships when developing service innovations. The paper identifies the types of resource that companies seek from other actors and examines the nature of relationships and resource access strategies that can be applied to access each type of resource. Design/methodology/approach – A longitudinal, multi-case study is conducted in the field of technical business-to-business (b-to-b) services. An abductive research strategy is applied to create a new theoretical understanding of resource access. Findings – Companies seek a range of resources through different types of network relationships for service innovation. Four types of resource access strategies were identified: absorption, acquisition, sharing, and co-creation. The findings show how easily transferable resources can be accessed through weak relationships and low-intensity collaboration. Access to resources that are difficult to transfer, instead, necessitates strong relationships and high-intensity collaboration. Research limitations/implications – The findings are valid for technical b-to-b services, but should also be tested for other kinds of innovations. Future research should also study how actors integrate the resources gained through networks in the innovation process. Practical implications – Managers should note that key resources for service innovation may be accessible through a variety of actors and relationships ranging from formal arrangements to miscellaneous social contacts. To make use of tacit resources such as knowledge, firms need to engage in intensive collaboration. Originality/value – Despite attention paid to network relationships, innovation collaboration, and external resources, previous research has neither linked these issues nor studied their mutual contingencies. This paper provides a theoretical model that characterizes the service innovation resources accessible through different types of relationships and access strategies.

scholarly journals Institutional change and routine dynamics in service ecosystems

2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 575-586
Author(s):  
Tiina Tuominen ◽  
Bo Edvardsson ◽  
Javier Reynoso
Keyword(s):  
Institutional Change ◽  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
Research Agenda ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Change Processes ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Institutional Rules ◽  
Service Ecosystems ◽  
Multiple Actors

Purpose This study aims to understand and explain how institutional change occurs at the level of value co-creation practices in service ecosystems. Despite the centrality of collective practices to the service ecosystems perspective, theoretically grounded explanations of how practices change and become institutionalized remain underdeveloped. Applying the theory of routine dynamics, this paper addresses two questions as follows: what does the institutional change mean at the level of value co-creation practices and what processes underlie these changes? Design/methodology/approach The study develops a conceptual framework that characterizes value co-creation practices as routines involving three aspects, namely, ostensive, performative and artifactual. As a key element in institutional change, the interplay between these informs an account of institutional change processes in service ecosystems. Findings The proposed conceptual framework specifies the conditions for institutional change in terms of value co-creation routines. First, any such change is seen to be grounded in alignment between changing institutional rules and the ostensive, performative and artifactual aspects of routines. Second, this alignment is seen to emerge through a dialectics of planned and practice-based activities during institutional change. An empirical research agenda is proposed for the analysis of institutional change processes in different service ecosystems. Originality/value This conceptual framework extends existing accounts of how service ecosystems change through the contributions of multiple actors at the level of value co-creation practices.

scholarly journals The influence of social distancing on employee well-being: a conceptual framework and research agenda

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sven Tuzovic ◽  
Sertan Kabadayi
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Research Agenda ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Theoretical Concepts ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Service Continuity ◽  
The Impact

PurposeThe ongoing pandemic caused by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) virus has severely influenced lives and livelihoods. As service organizations either face hibernation or continuity of their business operations, the impact of social distancing measures raises major concerns for the well-being of service employees. In this paper, the authors develop a conceptual framework to examine how different social distancing practices impact an organization's service continuity or service hibernation, which in turn affects different dimensions of their employee subjective well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic.Design/methodology/approachThe authors draw on macroeconomic data and industrial reports, linking them to theoretical concepts to develop a conceptual framework and a research agenda to serve as a starting point to fully understand the impact of this pandemic on employee well-being.FindingsThis article develops an overarching framework and research agenda to investigate the impact of social distancing practices on employee well-being.Originality/valueThe authors propose two opposing business concepts – service continuity and service hibernation – as possible responses to social distancing measures. By bridging different theoretical domains, the authors suggeste that there is a need to holistically examine macro-, meso- and micro-level factors to fully understand the impact of social distancing–related measures on employee well-being.

Exploring front-line employee contributions to service innovation

2015 ◽  
Vol 49 (9/10) ◽  
pp. 1346-1365 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenny Karlsson ◽  
Per Skålén
Keyword(s):  
Employee Involvement ◽  
Service Innovation ◽  
Idea Generation ◽  
Innovation Process ◽  
Positive Contribution ◽  
Product Knowledge ◽  
Front Line ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Value Propositions ◽  
Practice Knowledge

Purpose – This paper aims to study front-line employees’ contribution to service innovation, when they contribute and how they are involved in service innovation. Design/methodology/approach – The paper draws on a multiple-case study on service innovation in four organizations with extensive front-line employee involvement. The main data collection methods are interviews and observations. Findings – The paper suggests that front-line employees contribute customer knowledge, product knowledge and practice knowledge during five phases of the service innovation process – project formation, idea generation, service design, testing and implementation – and that front-line employee involvement ranges from active to passive. Research limitations/implications – Statistical generalization of the results is needed. Practical implications – The paper reveals that early and active front-line employee involvement in the service innovation process creates conditions for a positive contribution to service innovation. Originality/value – The paper suggests that early and active knowledge contributions by front-line employees to the service innovation process are associated with the creation of attractive value propositions.

Antecedents to supply chain innovation

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 145-171
Author(s):  
Fatma Nur Karaman Kabadurmus
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
Innovation Activity ◽  
Market Reforms ◽  
Sustainable Supply Chain ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Innovation Activities

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine organizational and environmental (competition, capital scarcity and organization of labor) factors that affect firms' innovation activities within the supply chain.Design/methodology/approachThis study empirically examines the factors that affect firms' innovation activities using firm-level data from the last round of Business Environment Enterprise Performance Surveys (BEEPS). The analysis covers major supply chain functions: production, delivery and support systems.FindingsThe study shows that drivers of innovation vary with the type of innovation activity; as such, innovation efforts across supply chain functions should prioritize strategic resources that will create competitive advantages. Our results also reveal that sustainability efforts in the Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA) region should prioritize labor market reforms over capital market reforms.Originality/valueCurrent research on innovation and supply chain issues does not explicitly analyze innovations that occur in different sustainable supply chain functions, and empirical studies that focus on the determinants of innovations in the supply chain network are very limited. The data used in this study cover 30 economies in EECA, many of which are low- and middle-income countries, and thus contribute to the implementation of sustainable practices in developing countries.

A bibliometric review on innovation systems and ecosystems: a research agenda

2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 335-360 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arho Suominen ◽  
Marko Seppänen ◽  
Ozgur Dedehayir
Keyword(s):  
Research Agenda ◽  
Innovation System ◽  
Innovation Systems ◽  
Extensive Literature ◽  
Innovation Ecosystem ◽  
Ecosystem Research ◽  
Innovation Studies ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Thomson Reuters ◽  
Ecosystem Studies

Purpose The ecosystem perspective on innovation and business has emerged as the secret sauce of innovative organizations. While its theoretical foundations are premised on innovation system literature, the broad adoption of the ecosystem concept has resulted in conceptual ambiguity. The purpose of this paper is to tackle the ambiguous use of innovation ecosystem terminology and structure a conceptual frame for the field, identifying definitions of an innovation ecosystem and how the concept has been established in previous literature. Design/methodology/approach This paper examines the ambiguous use of terminology by reviewing the literature with bibliometric coupling and co-citation analysis by which thematic differences in ecosystem literature were identified. The study gathered the scientific publications from Thomson Reuters Web of Sciences Core Collection (n=4,681) from 1990 to 2015. Findings Six major bibliometrically coupled clusters were identified, of which the three largest clusters are innovation system studies, regional innovation studies and technological innovation studies. In addition, further analysis shows an emerging cluster that is focused on ecosystems, having its roots in eight seminal papers. This ecosystem research cluster includes seven sub-clusters, such as innovation ecosystem studies, business ecosystem studies and studies focusing on ecosystem development. Research limitations/implications The authors’ approach highlights how a lot of recent ecosystem studies actually belong to previous, well-developed research streams. However, there is also a separate, emergent research stream that includes the innovation and ecosystem studies. As a research implication, the paper concludes by suggesting the research agenda for further studies. Originality/value Even though literature on innovation systems and ecosystems is extensive literature, no studies have captured the emergence of the ecosystems approach and its relation with the systems of innovation literature.

Consequences of national cultures and motivations on entrepreneurship, innovation, ethical behavior, and quality-of-life

2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 40-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arch G. Woodside ◽  
Carol M. Megehee ◽  
Lars Isaksson ◽  
Graham Ferguson
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Complexity Theory ◽  
Ethical Behavior ◽  
Innovation Activity ◽  
National Cultures ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Innovation Activities ◽  
National Quality ◽  
Case Based

Purpose This paper aims to apply complexity theory tenets to deepen understanding, explanation and prediction of how configurations of national cultures and need motivations influence national entrepreneurial and innovation behavior and nations’ quality-of-life (QOL). Also, the study examines whether or not high national ethical behavior is sufficient for indicating nations high in quality-of-life. Design/methodology/approach Applying core tenets of complexity theory, the study constructs asymmetric, case-based (nations), explanations and predictive models of cultures’ consequences (via Schwartz’s seven value dimensions) and implicit need motivations (via McClelland’s three need motivations) indicating national entrepreneur and innovation activities and subsequent national quality-of-life and ethical behavior. The study includes testing configurational models empirically for predictive accuracy. The empirical examination is for a set of data for 24 nations in Asia, Europe, North and South America and the South Pacific. Findings The findings confirm the usefulness of applying complexity theory to learn how culture and motivation configurations support versus have negative consequences on nations’ entrepreneurship, innovation and human well-being. Nurturing of entrepreneur activities supports the nurturing of enterprise innovation activity and their joint occurrence indicates nations achieving high quality-of-life. The findings advance the perspective that different sets of cultural value configurations indicate nations high versus low in entrepreneur and innovation activities. Practical implications High entrepreneur activities without high innovation activity are insufficient for achieving high national quality-of-life. Achieving high ethical behavior supports high quality-of-life. Originality/value This study is one of the first to apply complexity theory tenets in the field of entrepreneurship research. The study here advances the perspective that case-based asymmetric modeling of recipes is necessary to explain and predict entrepreneur activities and outcomes rather than examining whether variable relationships are statistically significant from zero.

scholarly journals Supply chain management for circular economy: conceptual framework and research agenda

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin T. Hazen ◽  
Ivan Russo ◽  
Ilenia Confente ◽  
Daniel Pellathy
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Supply Chain Management ◽  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Research Agenda ◽  
Relationship Management ◽  
Chain Management ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Chain Processes ◽  
Production And Consumption

PurposeCircular economy (CE) initiatives are taking hold across both developed and developing nations. Central to these initiatives is the reconfiguration of core supply chain management (SCM) processes that underlie current production and consumption patterns. This conceptual article provides a detailed discussion of how supply chain processes can support the successful implementation of CE. The article highlights areas of convergence in hopes of sparking collaboration among scholars and practitioners in SCM, CE, and related fields.Design/methodology/approachThis article adopts a theory extension approach to conceptual development that uses CE as a “method” for exploring core processes within the domain of SCM. The article offers a discussion of the ways in which the five principles of CE (closing, slowing, intensifying, narrowing, dematerialising loops) intersect with eight core SCM processes (customer relationship management, supplier relationship management, customer service management, demand management, order fulfilment, manufacturing flow management, product development and commercialization, returns management).FindingsThis article identifies specific ways in which core SCM processes can support the transition from traditional linear approaches to production and consumption to a more circular approach. This paper results in a conceptual framework and research agenda for researchers and practitioners working to adapt current supply chain processes to support the implementation of CE.Originality/valueThis article highlights key areas of convergence among scholars and practitioners through a systematic extension of CE principles into the domain of SCM. In so doing, the paper lays out a potential agenda for collaboration among these groups.

Digital servitization value co-creation framework for AI services: a research agenda for digital transformation in financial service ecosystems

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth H. Manser Payne ◽  
Andrew J. Dahl ◽  
James Peltier
Keyword(s):  
Firm Performance ◽  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Performance Measures ◽  
Research Agenda ◽  
Disruptive Innovation ◽  
Financial Service ◽  
Consumer Engagement ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Service Ecosystems ◽  
Service Ecosystem

Purpose Innovative firms have rapidly developed artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities into their service ecosystems, essentially changing perceptions of what is service quality and service delivery in their respective industries. Nonetheless, the issues surrounding AI services remain relatively unknown. The purpose for this paper is to offer a digital servitization framework for understanding how AI services impact value perceptions, consumer engagement and firm performance measures. The authors use the financial service ecosystem to explore this topic. Design/methodology/approach The authors explore relevant literature on digital servitization, service-dominant logic and AI/disruptive innovation. Next, a conceptual framework, organized by AI-Service Exchange Antecedents, Context of AI Usage and Digital Servitization Consequences, is developed. The authors conceptualize consequences for consumers and firms. Findings The main findings suggest that the linkages between consumers, financial institutions and fintech companies with AI usage in a service ecosystem should be identified; how value is created among multiple SD Logic-AI network actors should be analyzed; and the effects of AI-consumer interactions (lower-level and higher levels of engagement) on firm performance measures should be explored. Research limitations/implications The conceptual framework identifies gaps in the literature and suggests research questions for future studies. Practical implications This paper may assist practitioners with the development of AI-enabled banking activities that involve direct consumer engagement. Originality/value To the authors’ best knowledge, this research agenda is the first comprehensive framework for understanding value co-creation in the context of AI in financial services, linking antecedents, usage and consequences.

Buyer-supplier embeddedness and patterns of innovation

2015 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 318-345 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yusoon Kim ◽  
Thomas Y. Choi ◽  
Paul F. Skilton
Keyword(s):  
Theoretical Work ◽  
Two Dimensions ◽  
Social Embeddedness ◽  
Organizational Setting ◽  
Dyadic Relationship ◽  
Firm Innovation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Relative Paucity ◽  
Innovation Activities ◽  
Innovation Patterns

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe different ways in which a buyer and supplier can be embedded in a dyadic relationship and how these differences influence patterns of inter-firm innovation activities and outcomes. Specifically, to address the relative paucity of theoretical work on how dyadic configurations influence parties’ joint innovation behavior, this study examines how different buyer-supplier embeddedness (BSE) configurations change the four choices that pertain to the levels of involvement buyers and suppliers exhibit in inter-firm innovation activities. These choices concern the processes buyers use to engage suppliers; the scope of efforts in each party; the locus of effects determining the beneficiaries; and the extent to which parties disclose private innovations within the relationship. Design/methodology/approach – Drawing on social embeddedness literature, the authors conceptualize dyad level, BSE in two dimensions: relational and structural. The relational dimension describes the quality of relationship, while the structural dimension describes the intensity of exchanges between the parties. Together these dimensions allow the authors to map the differences in BSE configurations and provide a basis for exploring their links to inter-firm innovation patterns. Findings – The authors demonstrate the configurational approach to the innovation patterns in inter-organizational setting. That is, the authors conclude that different configurations of BSE are likely to produce distinctive patterns of choices for inter-firm innovation activities. Originality/value – This study applies social embeddedness perspective to conceptualize dyadic BSE. Adoption of this concept allows dimensionalizing the dyadic relationships into two distinct dyadic elements, relational, and structural dimensions. Also, the concept has rich implications for how partner firms interact and share information. The dyad’s innovation potential and patterns are considered based on the configurations of dyadic embeddedness.

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