Unfolding the simple heuristics of smart solution development

PurposeThe present study intends to foster understanding of how a traditional manufacturer can utilize the “simple rules” approach of managerial heuristics to facilitate its smart solution development (SSD) process.Design/methodology/approachThe study uses an in-depth single case research strategy and 25 senior manager interviews to understand the application of simple rules in smart solution development.FindingsThe findings reveal process, boundary, preference, schedule, and stop rules as the dominant managerial heuristics in the case and identify how the manufacturer applies these rules during the innovation process phases of ideation, incubation, transformation, and industrialization for attaining project outcomes.Research limitations/implicationsThe study contributes to the new service development (NSD) literature by shedding light on simple rules and how managers may apply them to facilitate SSD. The main limitations stem from applying the qualitative case study approach and the interpretative nature of the study, which produces novel insights but prevents direct generalization to other empirical cases.Practical implicationsThe resulting framework provides guidelines for managers on how to establish formal and clear simple rules that enable industrial solution providers to approach decision-making in smart solution development in a more agile manner.Originality/valueThe study comprises one of the first attempts to investigate managerial heuristics in the context of SSD and puts forward a plea for further NSD research applying psychological conceptualizations to enrich the simple rules perspective.

Value cocreation in new service development: a process-based view of resource dependency

Purpose This study aims to examine value cocreation in terms of interfirm collaborations between service firms, their business customers and business partners at different stages of a new service development (NSD) process. Design/methodology/approach The study develops and tests hypotheses that examine the roles played by business customers and partners in NSD, assuming resource dependency of the focal firm during three NSD stages (ideation, development and deployment). Empirical data were collected from 200 NSD projects and structural equation modelling was used to test the hypotheses. Findings The results show that business customer collaboration has a positive effect on ideation performance and development performance, whereas business partner collaboration has a positive effect on deployment performance. These finding support the notion that the value cocreating roles of business customers and partners vary across NSD stages. Research limitations/implications Future research should focus on how business partners can be actively involved in the NSD process and how the interests of different parties can be safeguarded. The use of longitudinal data will allow a better examination of the process dynamics. Practical implications The study provides managerial implications for service managers in terms of acquiring and allocating resources needed from business customers and partners during different NSD stages. Originality/value The study contributes to the growing literature on value cocreation in NSD by empirically demonstrating the respective performance contributions of business customers and partners during different stages of NSD. Moreover, the results also shed light on interfirm collaboration mechanisms from the perspective of resource dependence theory.

A NOVEL PERFORMANCE EVALUATION FRAMEWORK FOR NEW SERVICE DEVELOPMENT IN THE HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY USING HYBRID ISM AND ANP

Today, the innovative activities of companies in new service development (NSD) have an undeniable contribution to the economic development of countries. Given the recent advances in the healthcare industry, the issue of NSD and performance management of firms operating in this industry has received special attention of researchers and decision makers. A review of previous research shows that on the one hand there is no agreement among experts on NSD performance measurement criteria and on the other hand there has been no systematic framework that can measure and manage firm performance in this area. The proposed framework should allow for interaction between different decision makers, considering multiple and sometimes conflicting criteria. In this regard, this paper aimed to provide a framework to assess the NSD performance in healthcare industry using multiple-criteria-decision-making methods. The proposed model consists of 17 different criteria that have been identified and finalized based on previous studies as well as experts’ opinions. Then, the indicators are classified with the help of experts in the form of a balanced scorecard model and presented as an initial model. Due to internal relationships between criteria, this model was evaluated using interpretive structural modelling and modelled at 5 different levels. Then, the analytic network process approach was applied to determine criteria weights. Finally, new service development performance in Moheb hospital was evaluated through the framework proposed here.

Improving the Process of Developing New Services Using Uncertain Data

The rapid changes in the services sector encourage companies to improve the processes for developing and delivering new services. An effective new service development process is not possible without planning. Business entities can plan their time, organise activities, and prioritise tasks according to the complexity or the total duration of the process. However, in the context of new service development, the planning aspect is still not sufficiently emphasised. It is noted that the aim is often to identify the factors that could reduce the duration of this process. However, there is a lack of relevant data based on certain expressions of time. The lack of such research limits the improvement of the planning processes for new service development projects. In order to evaluate the possibilities of application of the proposed new service development model for companies providing services, an empirical evaluation was conducted, using methods of expert survey, program evaluation and review, and Monte Carlo simulation. Guidelines for further research were formulated based on the obtained results.

Power and Politics in New Service Development: An Insider Action Research Study

This paper examines power dynamics and political challenges which an insider action researcher without line authority or formal power encountered while leading cross-functional New Service Development (NSD) initiatives in a traditional, publicly funded university. NSD, as any development activity, faces competing interests in organisations and often power dynamics and political tactics which may impede service actors’ development endeavours. The paper describes and reflects on how an insider action researcher together with service staff, managers and directors, conducted several different types of NSD initiatives. The paper draws on insider action research (IAR) principles, which engage theory with practice, and action with reflection. The study was carried out over an extended time period of almost three years. The paper concludes with a framework for addressing power dynamics and political action, identifying tactics available to service development actors when engaging in NSD.

EVALUATION OF COMPOSITION SUITABILITY OF THE MODEL FOR NEW SERVICE DEVELOPMENT

As more and more attention is paid to the formation of models of new service development, it is noticed that the compositions of a new model are usually based only on examples of previous models that were presented in the scientific literature. Although the practical application of the proposed models in any organizational condition is often verified by empirical studies, the revisions of the validity of model compositions are still quite fragmented. The lack of such research does not give the possibility for any further improvement of the model or elimination of the revealed shortcomings and it makes the proper preparation for testing the proposed model in a company complicated. In order to evaluate the suitability of the composition of the newly formed model of service development in the conditions of modern service companies, an empirical evaluation was performed by using the methods of abstraction, comparative analysis, synthesis, and expert survey. According to the results of the research, the suggestions for the improvement of the new service development model were made and guidelines for further research were formulated.

DESIGN THINKING AND CREATIVITY AS A MEANS OF PROBLEM SOLVING IN THE FRAMEWORK OF SYSTEM APPROACH

Design thinking has been used as a means of problem-solving by many successful international organizations such as General Electric, Proctor & Gamble, Sony, and Philips. Although the importance of design in organizations has been accepted, the contributions of design in innovation is better seen new product and new service development More recently, design thinking has become an important factor in organization strategy (Matthew & Wrigley, 2017: 41). Recent research indicates that companies who use design in their operations, perform better economically in the marketplace (Borja de Mozota, 2006; Moultrie-Livesey, 2009; Dell’Era vd., 2010). In this study, the design process will be examined to solve the problem of who will participate in the decision-making process and how creativity will be derived in systems thinking scope and the effect of the idealized design method proposed by Ackoff in revealing creativity will be set forth. As a result, creativity is the introduction of new and unconventional. Creativity shows itself either in product or in thought. In this context, it has been suggested that idealized design is the best way to reveal creativity.