The 4Cs of mass customization in service industries: a customer lens

2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 499-511 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica L. Pallant ◽  
Sean Sands ◽  
Ingo Oswald Karpen
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Conditions ◽  
Mass Customization ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Service Industries ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Practical Application ◽  
Theoretical Understanding ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Priority Areas ◽  
Research Priority

Purpose Increasingly, customers are demanding products that fit their individual needs. Many firms respond by cultivating product individualization via mass customization, often integrating this capability via interactive platforms that connect them with customers. Despite such customization, research to date has lacked cohesion, often taking the organizational, rather than customer, view. The purpose of this paper is to provide inconclusive theorizing in regard to customization from the consumers’ perspective. Design/methodology/approach The review and synthesis of the literature revealed that co-configuration is an underexplored domain of mass customization. Consequently, an initial conceptualization of co-configuration is developed and compared with current customization strategies. Specifically, the definition and boundary conditions of co-configuration are compared with three domains of mass customization, namely, co-production, co-construction and co-design. This led to the development of research priority areas to establish an agenda for future research on mass customization and its role in customer’ firm relationships. Findings This paper provides the delineation of four distinct consumer customization strategies, conceptualized in a matrix, and proposes separate customer journey visualizations. In advancing the theoretical understanding by means of a unifying typology, this paper identifies three existing Cs of mass customization (co-production, co-construction and co-design) and focuses specifically on a fourth (co-configuration), identified as an understudied mass customization strategy. Originality/value This paper extends the previous conceptualizations of mass customization comprising co-production, co-design and co-construction. The proposed typology establishes a foundation for four research priority areas that can improve both academic rigor and practical application.

Exploring IKEA effect in self-expressive mass customization: underlying mechanism and boundary conditions

2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 365-374
Author(s):  
I-Ling Ling ◽  
Yi-Fen Liu ◽  
Chien-Wei (Wilson) Lin ◽  
Chih-Hui Shieh
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Conditions ◽  
Mass Customization ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Perceived Value ◽  
Underlying Mechanism ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Aesthetic Preference ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Path Analyses ◽  
Product Valuation

Purpose This study aims to understand the underlying mechanism and boundary conditions of the IKEA effect in self-expressive mass customization (MC). It examines the effect of the extent of choice in MC toolkits in terms of perceived value of self-designed products, as well as how self-expression mediates this effect and what kind of consumers are more inclined to experience such effect. Design/methodology/approach Two experiments were conducted, using online MC toolkits. In total, 393 consumers participated in the experiments. Data collected were analyzed using t-tests, analyses of variance, path analyses, bootstrap analyses and spotlight tests. Findings The results show that offering a greater extent of choice in MC toolkits to consumers provides a greater opportunity for self-expression, resulting in higher product valuation. Further, consumers who have high romanticism in aesthetic preference and high self-esteem are more inclined to influences associated with this effect. Originality/value This research adds to the literature on the IKEA effect in self-expressive MC by identifying a key antecedent (extent of choice), its underlying mechanism (self-expression), and two boundary conditions (aesthetic preference and self-esteem). The results of this study provide firms with a better understanding of how they can improve their self-expressive MC strategies.

Measuring customer value co-creation behavior

2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (5) ◽  
pp. 930-950 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aurelio Tommasetti ◽  
Orlando Troisi ◽  
Massimiliano Vesci
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Model ◽  
Customer Value ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Practical Application ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Dominant Logic ◽  
Measurement Framework ◽  
Information Research ◽  
Comprehensive Framework

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.

scholarly journals Scenario planning as organizational intervention

2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jose Balarezo ◽  
Bo Bernhard Nielsen
Keyword(s):  
Operations Management ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Scenario Planning ◽  
Organizational Level ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Empirical Examination ◽  
Theoretical Understanding ◽  
Organizational Intervention ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Research Questions

Purpose This paper aims to identify four areas in need of future research to enhance the theoretical understanding of scenario planning (SP), and sets the basis for future empirical examination of its effects on individual and organizational level outcomes. Design/methodology/approach This paper organizes existing contributions on SP within a new consolidating framework that includes antecedents, processes and outcomes. The proposed framework allows for integration of the extant literature on SP from a wide variety of fields, including strategic management, finance, human resource management, operations management and psychology. Findings This study contributes to research by offering a coherent and consistent framework for understanding SP as a dynamic process. As such, it offers future researchers with a systematic way to ascertain where a particular study may be located in the SP process and, importantly, how it may influence – or be influenced by – various factors in the process. Originality/value This study offers specific research questions and precise guidelines to future scholars pursuing research on SP.

scholarly journals An ideological analysis of sustainable careers: identifying the role of fantasy and a way forward

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Matthijs Bal ◽  
Lee Matthews ◽  
Edina Dóci ◽  
Lucy P. McCarthy
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Current Paper ◽  
Future Research ◽  
General Interest ◽  
Theoretical Understanding ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Individual Agency ◽  
The Individual

PurposeScholarly and general interest in sustainable careers is flourishing. Sustainable careers are focused on the long-term opportunities and experiences of workers across dynamic employment situations, and are characterized by flexibility, meaning and individual agency. The current paper analyzes and challenges the underlying ideological assumptions of how sustainable careers are conceptualized and advocates the inclusion of the ecological meaning of sustainability and the notion of dignity into the sustainable careers concept.Design/methodology/approachUsing Slavoj Žižek's (1989, 2001) conceptualization of ideology as fantasy-construction, the authors explore how the use of sustainable careers is influenced by fantasies about the contemporary workplace and the role of the individual in the workplace. This is a conceptual method.FindingsThe authors argue that the concept of sustainable careers is grounded in the neoliberal fantasy of the individual. The paper concludes by presenting an alternative concept of sustainable careers grounded in a dignity-perspective on sustainability, which offers an alternative theoretical understanding of sustainable careers in the contemporary workplace, sharpening its contours and usefulness in theorizing careers.Originality/valueThis paper is the first to systematically analyze the use and conceptualization of sustainable careers in the literate and to expose the ideological underpinnings of the concept. Propositions are developed to be explored by future research.

Assessing business model concepts with taxonomical research criteria

2007 ◽  
Vol 30 (10) ◽  
pp. 735-748 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saku Mäkinen ◽  
Marko Seppänen
Keyword(s):  
Business Model ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Conceptual Development ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Practical Application ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Future ◽  
Research Criteria ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
Current Business

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to synthesize taxonomical criteria that can be used for assessing research constructs and assess current business model conceptualizations. The paper attempts to show how the criticism plaguing current business model conceptualizations could be removed with future conceptual development against these taxonomical criteria.Design/methodology/approachThe paper synthesizes taxonomical criteria and assesses current business model conceptualizations.FindingsThe results of the paper revealed that the current business model concepts comply poorly with the taxonomical criteria. The assessment of taxonomical compliance in this paper exposed major opportunities for enhancements in the existing conceptualizations of business model.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings of the paper outline novel avenues for future research in developing more coherent and rigorous business model conceptualizations.Practical implicationsThe practical implications of the paper are that current conceptualizations of a business model are at best incommensurate and at worst even misleading. This paper presents criteria that may be used in guiding the necessary caution and careful deliberation when practical application of the current business model conceptualizations is enforced.Originality/valueThe paper is original in that it establishes the taxonomical criteria, which may be used in research seeking to develop more sound and rigorous business model conceptualizations. To advance this new field the paper concludes that the taxonomical criteria can aid in the future research endeavors to design relevant business model conceptualizations.

scholarly journals Advantages and potential challenges of data management in e-maintenance

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 378-396 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arian Razmi-Farooji ◽  
Hanna Kropsu-Vehkaperä ◽  
Janne Härkönen ◽  
Harri Haapasalo
Keyword(s):  
Data Management ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Conceptual Approach ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Maintenance Systems ◽  
Industry Leader ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to understand data management challenges in e-maintenance systems from a holistically viewpoint through summarizing the earlier scattered research in the field, and second, to present a conceptual approach for addressing these challenges in practice. Design/methodology/approach The study is realized as a combination of a literature review and by the means of analyzing the practices on an industry leader in manufacturing and maintenance services. Findings This research provides a general understanding over data management challenges in e-maintenance and summarizes their associated proposed solutions. In addition, this paper lists and exemplifies different types and sources of data which can be collected in e-maintenance, across different organizational levels. Analyzing the data management practices of an e-maintenance industry leader provides a conceptual approach to address identified challenges in practice. Research limitations/implications Since this paper is based on studying the practices of a single company, it might be limited to generalize the results. Future research topics can focus on each of mentioned data management challenges and also validate the applicability of presented model in other companies and industries. Practical implications Understanding the e-maintenance-related challenges helps maintenance managers and other involved stakeholders in e-maintenance systems to better solve the challenges. Originality/value The so-far literature on e-maintenance has been studied with narrow focus to data and data management in e-maintenance appears as one of the less studied topics in the literature. This research paper contributes to e-maintenance by highlighting the deficiencies of the discussion surrounding the perspectives of data management in e-maintenance by studying all common data management challenges and listing different types of data which need to be acquired in e-maintenance systems.

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 The concept of neutrality: a new approach

2019 ◽  
Vol 76 (1) ◽  
pp. 333-353 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Macdonald ◽  
Briony Birdi
Keyword(s):  
Literature Review ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Information Science ◽  
Social Institutions ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Library And Information Science ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Normative Framework ◽  
Contextual Awareness

Purpose Neutrality is a much debated value in library and information science (LIS). The “neutrality debate” is characterised by opinionated discussions in contrasting contexts. The purpose of this paper is to fill a gap in the literature by bringing these conceptions together holistically, with potential to deepen understanding of LIS neutrality. Design/methodology/approach First, a literature review identified conceptions of neutrality reported in the LIS literature. Second, seven phenomenographic interviews with LIS professionals were conducted across three professional sectors. To maximise variation, each sector comprised at least one interview with a professional of five or fewer years’ experience and one with ten or more years’ experience. Third, conceptions from the literature and interviews were compared for similarities and disparities. Findings In four conceptions, each were found in the literature and interviews. In the literature, these were labelled: “favourable”, “tacit value”, “social institutions” and “value-laden profession”, whilst in interviews they were labelled: “core value”, “subservient”, “ambivalent”, and “hidden values”. The study’s main finding notes the “ambivalent” conception in interviews is not captured by a largely polarised literature, which oversimplifies neutrality’s complexity. To accommodate this complexity, it is suggested that future research should look to reconcile perceptions from either side of the “neutral non-neutral divide” through an inclusive normative framework. Originality/value This study’s value lies in its descriptive methodology, which brings LIS neutrality together in a holistic framework. This framework brings a contextual awareness to LIS neutrality lacking in previous research. This awareness has the potential to change the tone of the LIS neutrality debate.

Haunted by the past: transformations and daily challenges of China's prosthetics

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 115-124
Author(s):  
Chunchun Wang
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Institutional Pressures ◽  
Rehabilitation Center ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Past ◽  
Daily Experiences ◽  
History Of ◽  
Depth Interviews

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the transformations of prosthetic practices in China, as well as the daily experiences and dilemmas arising from the everchanging practices since 1949. On the basis of materials, this paper explores an everyday perspective to review the history of technology.Design/methodology/approachEthnography was collected with the application of participant observations, informal interviews and in-depth interviews during a 13-months study at a rehabilitation center in Chengdu, China. The literature on prosthetic manufacturing was also reviewed for this paper.FindingsChina's prosthetic technology seems to evolve from traditional to modern. However, this progressive narrative – innovation-based timeline (Edgerton, 2006, xi) – has been challenged by daily practices. Due to institutional pressures, prosthetists are in a dilemma of selectively using their knowledge to create one kind of device for all prosthesis users with a certain kind of disability, thereby regulating the physical and social experiences of prosthesis users. Besides, prosthesis users are accustomed to prostheses made with old techniques, and must correct themselves from old experiences to the daily practices recognized by the selected techniques.Originality/valueThis paper provides a cross-cultural case to reexamine Edgerton's criticism of the progressive and orderly innovation-centric technological narrative. More importantly, it reviews the history and practices of China's prosthetics from daily experiences rather than Edgerton's concentration on technology; therefore, it provides an everyday perspective for future research on technological transformations.

They did not start the fire: reviewing and resolving the issue of physician stress and burnout

2017 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 410-417 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie Christine Babyar
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Intervention Studies ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Organizational Strategies ◽  
Physician Burnout ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Current State ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Research Accountability ◽  
Physician Stress

Purpose Physician stress and burnout is a serious and common concern in healthcare, with over half of physicians in the USA meeting at least one criterion for burnout. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach A review on current state of physician stress and burnout research, from 2008 to 2016, was undertaken. A subsequent perspective paper was shaped around these reviews. Findings Findings reveal research strength in prevalence and incidence with opportunities for stronger intervention studies. While descriptive studies on causes and consequences of physician burnout are available, studies on interventions and prevention of physician burnout are lacking. Future research on physician stress and burnout should incorporate intervention studies and take care to avoid limitations found in current research. Accountability and prevention of physician burnout is the responsibility of the healthcare industry as a whole, and organizational strategies must be emphasized in future research. Originality/value The value of this research comes in the original comprehensive review, international inclusion and succinct summary of physician burnout research and strategies.

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