Enhancing service-for-service benefits: potential opportunity or pipe dream?

2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 193-218 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alison Dean ◽  
Ghada Talat Alhothali

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to elucidate service-for-service benefits emerging from co-creation in everyday banking. It does so by identifying factors that constitute the joint provider/customer co-creation platform, distinguishing them from factors that facilitate customers’ independent value creation; and exploring benefits and potential opportunities for each party. Design/methodology/approach Insights were gained by using a qualitative approach involving 33 face-to-face interviews with bank managers (15) and their customers (18) in Saudi Arabia. Content analysis was performed on the data and the two sets of views integrated to compare the reality of service-for-service with theoretical assumptions. Findings The analysis identified 65 topics, clustered to 12 themes. Three themes represented joint, collaborative activity (problem solving, relationship building, and knowledge and learning) whilst other themes identified facilitation actions by banks. Key opportunities to increase mutual value (service-for-service) emerge from extending interaction via the co-creation platform but additional benefits from these opportunities are not currently realized by participants. The authors thereby note the potential of a service focus but suggest that the locus of value creation will not readily shift from the provider to a collaborative process of co-creation. Research limitations/implications The qualitative nature of the study limits generalizability. However, the authors expect that the hierarchy of service-for-service will be meaningful in other contexts. Future research may use it as a starting point for identifying innovations from co-creation, how actors realize and measure service-for-service, and how different business models may strengthen value opportunities. Practical implications The findings provide managers with first, three areas of emphasis to gain and extend mutual service-for-service from direct interactions in everyday banking transactions. Second, the study emphasizes resource characteristics that will facilitate value enhancement for firms and customers by recognition of barriers to collaborative actions, and approaches for pursuit of service-for-service. Originality/value This study establishes the joint and essential firm/customer co-creation platform in retail banking and distinguishes the platform from other customer value-facilitation actions. The authors integrate the findings with previous literature and present a conceptual framework for levels of service-for-service in exchange. This framework shows a hierarchy of key benefits for providers and customers, and highlights increasing complexities that hinder the reality of achieving service-for-service opportunities arising from the joint co-creation platform.

2016 ◽  
Vol 26 (6) ◽  
pp. 868-888 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danilo Brozovic ◽  
Fredrik Nordin ◽  
Daniel Kindström

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze the subject-specific literature on service and flexibility and derive a conceptualization of the linkages between provider flexibility and customers’ value creation. Design/methodology/approach The authors analyze existing perspectives on service and flexibility and propose linkages between provider flexibility and customer value creation. Findings Drawing on the service logic literature, and utilizing real-world examples, this paper advances propositions and a conceptual model of how flexibility can contribute to value creation. Research limitations/implications This paper establishes the basis for a practical and applicable flexibility perspective on value creation. It is particularly important for service-oriented providers and other firms operating in dynamic contexts. Practical implications The propositions and conceptual model offer suggestions on the manner in which provider flexibility contributes to customer value creation. Contextual influences that moderate provider flexibility in value creation are also included. Originality/value This paper contributes a novel perspective on service, which may serve as the starting point for the development of a more formal flexibility perspective on value creation.


2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 538-553 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Vallaster ◽  
Sascha Kraus ◽  
Norbert Kailer ◽  
Brooke Baldwin

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to give an up-to-date assessment of key topics and methods discussed in the current literature on responsible entrepreneurship. In the past years, sustainable development itself has become a more popular and important topic in the academic literature and hence the field of sustainable entrepreneurship has become a greater topic of interest and opportunity for solution. Therefore, a systematic literature review is conducted to assess new contributions to the field and its potential for the future of sustainable development, with a focus on responsible innovation.Design/methodology/approachSystematic, evidence-informed literature review following Tranfieldet al.(2003).FindingsBased on a conceptual literature review, five streams of research that responsible entrepreneurs distinguish from purely for-profit entrepreneurs are identified and discussed: walking the line between profit creation and value creation for society; business models of responsible entrepreneurs; their role in transforming society; getting ready to innovate responsibly; and the role of market incentives to foster sustainable business practices.Originality/valueThe structured literature review allows to identify future research paths. In detail, ideas as regards the management of upcoming tensions when trying to combine profit creation and value creation for society, and finally, the way innovation processes need to be rethought when innovating responsibly are discussed and outlined.


2019 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maciel M. Queiroz ◽  
Susana Carla Farias Pereira ◽  
Renato Telles ◽  
Marcio C. Machado

Purpose The Industry 4.0 phenomenon is bringing unprecedented disruptions for all traditional business models and hastening the need for a redesign and digitisation of activities. In this context, the literature concerning the digital supply chain (DSC) and its capabilities are in the early stages. To bridge this gap, the purpose of this paper is to propose a framework for digital supply chain capabilities (DSCCs). Design/methodology/approach This paper uses a narrative literature approach, based on the main Industry 4.0 elements, supply chain and the emerging literature concerning DSC disruptions, to build an integrative framework to shed light on DSCCs. Findings The study identifies seven basic capabilities that shape the DSCC framework and six main enabler technologies, derived from 13 propositions. Research limitations/implications The proposed framework can bring valuable insights for future research development, although it has not been tested yet. Practical implications Managers, practitioners and all involved in the digitalisation phenomenon can utilise the framework as a starting point for other business digitalisation projects. Originality/value This study contributes to advancing the DSC literature, providing a well-articulated discussion and a framework regarding the capabilities, as well as 13 propositions that can generate valuable insights for other studies.


2013 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 104-123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristina Heinonen ◽  
Tore Strandvik ◽  
Päivi Voima

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to extend current discussions of value creation and propose a customer dominant value perspective. The point of origin in a customer‐dominant marketing logic (C‐D logic) is the customer, rather than the service provider, interaction or the system. The focus is shifted from the company's service processes involving the customer, to the customer's multi‐contextual value formation, involving the company.Design/methodology/approachValue formation is contrasted to earlier views on the company's role in value creation in a conceptual analysis focusing on five central aspects. Implications of the proposed characteristics of value formation compared to earlier approaches are put forward.FindingsThe paper highlights earlier hidden aspects on the role of a service for the customer. It is proposed that value is not always an active process of creation; instead, value is embedded and formed in the highly dynamic and multi‐contextual reality and life of the customer. This leads to a need to look beyond the line of visibility focused on visible customer‐company interactions, to the invisible and mental life of the customer. From this follows a need to extend the temporal scope, from exchange and use even further to accumulated experiences in the customer's life and ecosystem.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper is conceptual. It discusses and presents a customer‐dominant value perspective and suggests implications for empirical research and practice.Practical implicationsAwareness of the mechanism of the customer value formation process provides companies with new insight on the service strategy, service design and new service innovations.Originality/valueThe paper contributes by extending the value construct through a new customer dominant value perspective, recognizing value as multi‐contextual and dynamic based on customers' life and ecosystem. The findings mark out new avenues for future research.


2014 ◽  
Vol 28 (7) ◽  
pp. 529-537 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannu Saarijärvi ◽  
Christian Grönroos ◽  
Hannu Kuusela

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to explore and analyze the implications of reverse use of customer data for service-based business models. In their quest for competitive advantage, firms traditionally use customer data as resources to redesign and develop new products and services or identify the most profitable customers. However, in the shift from a goods-dominant logic toward customer value creation, the potential of customer data for the benefit of the customer, not just the firm, is an emerging, underexplored area of research. Design/methodology/approach – Business model criteria and three service examples combine to uncover the implications of reverse use of customer data for service-based business models. Findings – Implications of reverse use of customer data for service-based business models are identified and explored. Through reverse use of customer data, a firm can provide customers with additional resources and support customers’ value-creating processes. Accordingly, the firm can move beyond traditional exchanges, take a broader role in supporting customers’ value creation and diversify the value created by the customer through resource integration. The attention shifts from internal to external customer data usage; customer data transform from the firm’s resource to the customer’s, which facilitates the firm’s shift from selling goods to supporting customers’ value creation. Originality/value – Reverse use of customer data represent a new emerging research phenomenon; their implications for service-based business models have not been explored.


2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (6) ◽  
pp. 1281-1300 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Holzmann ◽  
Robert J. Breitenecker ◽  
Erich J. Schwarz

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze the business models that 3D printer manufacturers apply to commercialize their technologies. The authors investigate these business models and analyze whether there are business model patterns. The paper describes the gestalt of the business model patterns and discusses differences and similarities. Design/methodology/approach The authors review the literatures on business models and 3D printing technology. The authors apply a componential business model approach and carry out an in-depth analysis of the business models of 48 3D printer manufacturers in Europe and North America. The authors develop a framework focusing on value proposition, value creation and value capture components. Cluster analysis is used to identify business model patterns. Findings The results indicate that there are two distinct business model patterns in the industry. The authors termed these patterns the “low-cost online business model” and the “technology expert business model.” The results demonstrate that there is a relationship between business model and technology. The identified patterns are independent of age, company size and country of origin. Research limitations/implications The empirical results complement and extend existing literature on business models. The authors contribute to the discussion on business models in the context of novel technology. The technology seems to influence the gestalt of the business model. The sample is limited to European and North American companies and the analysis is based on secondary data. Originality/value This is the first empirical study on the business models of 3D printer manufacturers. The authors apply an original mixed-methods approach and develop a framework that can function as a starting point for future research. 3D printer manufacturers can use the identified business model patterns as blueprints to reduce the risk of failure or as a starting point for business model innovation.


2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (6) ◽  
pp. 857-867 ◽  
Author(s):  
Esko Hakanen ◽  
Risto Rajala

Purpose The purpose of this study is to identify and discuss the role of intelligent materials in the emergence of new business models based on the Internet of Things (IoT). The study suggests new areas for further research to better understand the influences of material intelligence on the business models in industry-wide service ecosystems. Design/methodology/approach The study uses data from an earlier study of intelligent materials in the steel industry networks. The insights are based on 34 qualitative interviews among 15 organizations in the industry. The data are reanalyzed for this study. Findings The observations from the steel industry show how material intelligence can be harnessed for value creation in IoT-based business ecosystems. The results suggest that not all “things” connected to the IoT need to be intelligent, if information related to the things are collected, stored and shared for collaborative value creation among the actors involved in the business ecosystem. Research limitations/implications The study discusses how IoT deployments allow businesses to benefit from the velocity and variety of information associated with things and guides future research to study the ways in which value is created through IoT-enabled business models. Practical implications Rather than focusing on improving the efficiency of the supply network, the study presents new paths for competitive advantages in the new IoT ecosystems. Originality/value The study contributes to the mounting research on the IoT by identifying and discussing the critical aspects of how IoT can transform business models and supply networks within end-to-end ecosystems.


2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 349-368 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allard C.R. Van Riel ◽  
Jie J. Zhang ◽  
Lee Phillip McGinnis ◽  
Mohammad G. Nejad ◽  
Milos Bujisic ◽  
...  

Purpose While innovative service systems may create substantial value for certain stakeholders, they often destroy value for others. This value paradox frequently leads to unsustainable service systems. The purpose of this paper is to explore the use of multiple theories to pinpoint and explain these value paradoxes, build a framework allowing potentially more sustainable value configuration of service systems and develop an agenda for future research. The framework is illustrated with examples from the hospitality industry. Design/methodology/approach The paper draws on prevalent theories and approaches, including service-dominant logic, business modeling, transaction cost economics, stakeholder theory, configuration theory and set theory, to develop a value configuration framework. Findings In a service system, the configuration of resources and relationships between these resources (i.e. the set of value propositions for various stakeholders of the system) determines which stakeholders will gain and which will lose and to what extent. For that reason, insight into the range of possible service configurations – or business models – will help decision makers consider the effects on various stakeholders, and, where possible, set their priorities right and make their businesses more sustainable. The research produces a rich research agenda. Research limitations/implications Examples from hospitality allow an in-depth examination of a range of dynamic configurational and technological innovations, but some idiosyncratic characteristics of the context may impede the wider applicability of the conceptual framework. Future research could complement this work by studying other service sectors. Practical implications The paper aims to provide decision makers in the service industry with a conceptual tool to explore, diagnose and, if needed, adjust the value configuration of their service operations. In practice, this tool may help explicate the service system configuration, thus helping managers determine their organizations’ desired positioning in terms of value creation and destruction, and to choose strategic directions by adapting configurations. Social implications Legislation and regulations are being adapted to various new service configurations. This paper attempts to – at least conceptually – distinguish different service configurations, allowing policy makers to identify the value trade-offs between stakeholders, including society at large. Originality/value Previous research focused primarily on value creation by innovative services and business models. Value creation for one stakeholder, however, could lead to value destruction for another. Taking this paradox into consideration may result in more open service ecosystems that explicitly consider sustainability and value implications in multiple dimensions and for a broader group of stakeholders.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvana Secinaro ◽  
Francesca Dal Mas ◽  
Valerio Brescia ◽  
Davide Calandra

PurposeThis study aims to offer a bibliometric and coding analysis of blockchain articles published in the accounting, auditing and accountability fields.Design/methodology/approachThe data were collected using the Scopus database and a bibliometric and qualitative coding analysis with the keywords “blockchain” and “accounting” or “auditing” or “accountability.” Of the 514 initial sources, 93 peer-reviewed papers, book chapters and conference proceedings in the areas of business, management and accounting were finally selected. Nonscientific sources such as nonpeer-reviewed books and white papers were excluded.FindingsThis study reveals a promising and multidisciplinary field of research dominated by scholars and less by practitioners. Qualitative research, especially discourse analysis, is the most used method among authors. This study gives some useful insights about blockchain's definition and characteristics, business models, processes involved, connection with other technologies and relationships with accounting theories. Among the most interesting insights, the results confirm that technology as an external force can create an intersection among several research areas: accounting, auditing, accountability, business, management, computer science and engineering fields. Finally, in terms of research themes, although blockchain has a clear effect on auditing accounting, the links with the area of accountability are less clear and validated.Originality/valueThis study highlights the current state of the field, combining methodological approaches and providing valuable future research insights. Additionally, it is also a starting point for professionals to fully understand blockchain's characteristics and potential with a constructive and systemic approach.


2015 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Leavy

Purpose – The hyper-competitive environment clearly places a premium on innovation, entrepreneurship and adaptability. Less obvious is the premium that it also places on new approaches to identifying and managing risk and the hidden opportunities for value creation that lie therein. This masterclass aims to identify three books that show how risk management produces new opportunities for advantage. Design/methodology/approach – The masterclass discusses the approaches to risk management offered in The Risk-Driven Business Model by technology and innovation experts, Karan Girotra and Serguei Netessine; in Niraj Dawar’s book, Tilt: Shifting Your Strategy from Products to Customers and in The Alliance: Managing Talent in the Networked Age by Reid Hoffman, co-founder and chairman of LinkedIn, and his co-authors Ben Casnocha and Chris Yeh. Findings – Key choices you make in designing your business models will either increase or decrease two important types of risk, information risk and incentive-alignment risk. Downstream activities “aimed” at reducing customers’ costs and risks are rapidly emerging as the new “drivers” of value creation and competitiveness. Practical implications – The “central principle” underlying the new approach to talent risk management is “reciprocity” or mutual investment and obligation as a way of mitigating risk to both employer and employee […] The most innovative implementation practice is hiring employees for defined “tours of duty,” a concept borrowed from the military. Originality/value – This masterclass discusses three different approaches to managing risk and explains how they can be used to create customer value in a hyper-competitive environment.


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