Search

In today’s complex and interconnected marketplace, the study of services and service innovation among multiple actors is an underdeveloped, but a theoretically and managerially relevant research area for enabling value cocreation. Building on general practice theory, the scarce prior service research that has drawn on practice theory, and an empirical study of the Swedish music market, this paper outlines a framework that conceptualizes services and service innovation among multiple actors by focusing on value cocreation practices (VCPs). The framework contributes to service research by conceptualizing services as bundles of VCPs, providing a theoretical foundation for the research that studies services as activities. It also contributes to service research by conceptualizing service innovation as the creation of VCPs. The paper shows how actors’ concrete activities, in combination with the valancing of VCPs existing in the market, induce service innovation. A future agenda for research on services and service innovation is also proposed. In addition to these theoretical contributions, the paper offers practical insights into how managers, with the help of the framework, may broaden their focus to include the shared VCPs of the markets to secure a competitive advantage.

Despite the popularity and extensive use of engaging users in crowdvoting, very little research has been conducted into the appropriateness of users as substitutes for experts when judging ideas. Accordingly, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the appropriateness of using users as a proxy for professional experts during the initial idea screening of new product/service ideas. In other words, are users' assessments during idea screening conformant with professional experts' assessments and are they reliable as a proxy for experts during idea screening? In a comparative study, two different approaches to outsourcing the screening of wireless ideas to users are examined, including assessment by two different user panels: (1) technically skilled users and (2) technically naïve users. These two approaches were compared with the assessments made by professional experts. The results showed no conformance between users and experts when comparing their absolute scores. However, during a relative comparison (the ranking of ideas), both user panels were conformant with the professional experts. A test of the user panels' ability to select the same top ideas as the professional experts was successful, indicating good conformance between the user panels and the professional experts. This paper's contribution is knowledge of how conformant external users are compared with professional expert judges during idea screening. The results indicate that companies can employ users during the initial screening process using criteria assessment to select the best ideas for further elaboration, something that would significantly reduce the number of ideas. The paper suggests an alternative design to crowdvoting, whereby the users assess the relevant criteria.

In the last decade or so the climate of doing business changed dramatically, coming up with many new dimensions of the business. A few of them are service dominant logic, corporate social responsibility and corporate governance. The notion of a „business case‟ for corporate sustainability has increasingly been used by the corporate sector, environmental organizations, consultancies and by many others to seek justification for sustainability strategies within organizations.These concepts if not complete but must have major impact on all business decisions now a days. No business can survive longer by disintegrating itself from these practices. So it has become the need of the hour to understand these terms and incorporate them in business social culture, to be part of responsible corporate citizenship in today‟s business world.Moreover, the paper will try to study the level of CSR activities according to CSR pyramid in terms of economical, legal, social and philanthropic aspects and these will be analyzed with gathered data about companies under review. The research work undertaken will focus on CSR and CG practices prevailing in telecom sector of Pakistan especially taking Zong as our case study basis and Telenor for its comparison. The research will see the internal service dimensions and will analyze if the business is based on five principles of value based service business. The paper is qualitative in its nature, relying on the data obtained through interviews regarding the companies under discussion.

Purpose – During the past decades, implementing reforms becomes a popular topic for most manufacturers. With the aim to cope with the environment changes, there are urgent needs for these manufacturing companies to carry on reforms on the existing businesses. At the same time, value creation under a new service dominant logic for manufacturers are cited by many scholars. The aim of this paper is to analyze the new dominant logic, with the comparison of traditional goods dominant logic, recognize the advanced value creation model. To go a step further, this paper also discusses about the way of implementing reforms and new business logic for manufacturers. Methodology – This paper mainly takes the methodology of literature review. The literatures reviewed here include academic papers, books, and website information. The main field of literatures include: service definition and service characteristics; goods-dominant logic versus service dominant logic; and value creation (co-creation). On the other hand, some small case studies can also be found in this paper. Findings – After the comparing between goods dominant logic and service dominant logic, this paper suggests the service-dominant logic as a preferred business logic. Because it provides a more interactive way of consumption, presents a value-in-use view rather than value-in-exchange, and requires manufacturers playing a role of assisting customers in value creating process. For those manufacturers wish to implement the service dominant logic, this paper suggests them to take innovations on their business, which including the innovations on products/services, business processes, and business models. Research limitations/implications – As a relative new field of study, the research is mostly taken by literature review. However, the research on the implementing of new business logic and reforms requires more voice from the real industry. Practical implications – Manufacturers may position themselves to new roles by involving in the customers’ value creating process. Taking innovations from a integrated view may help manufacturers to achieve the higher value under service dominant logic. Originality/value – This paper concluded the ongoing service dominant logic development, after which, offers a discussion on the implementing of which for the manufacturing companies.

The purpose of this paper is to unearth the bi-directional and stratified nature of service encounter interactions. Drawing on a detailed empirical study of service demeanour in mobility services, seen from a customer perspective, we outline a classification of 6 overarching demeanour practices, 20 sub-activities, and interactional sequences, explaining how value co-formation is realized. We suggest that value derives from bi-directional activities mutually combined in congruent ways, avoiding counterproductive interactions.

Feedback is generally used to monitor progress toward different goals and standards in life, and to adjust behaviour accordingly. EcoRunner was developed as a web-based feedback tool providing environmental and financial information about households’ daily consumption. This paper presents a user experience study of this feedback tool, and addresses the influences of goal-setting on the experience. The results show that people who more often set financial and pro-environmental goals in life find the tool more attractive, more useful, believing it to have influenced their current behaviour and believing it will be helpful when changing (regulating) future consumption behaviour. Conclusions are drawn that feedback tools like EcoRunner may have different effects for different subgroups in society. It is further suggested that EcoRunner could be used as a tool in education, at different levels in schools and higher education, for enlightening consumers about the relationship between household spending and environmental consequences.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to understand the differences between proactive and reactive market research techniques during the development of new market offerings. The study focused on the financial and innovative performance of traditional market research techniques, such as focus groups and in‐depth interviews, in comparison to more co‐creation‐oriented techniques that are designed to capture customers' value‐in‐use.Design/methodology/approachThe study was a two‐stage process. Study I, an empirical investigation of 195 development projects in European companies, examined how these companies use different market research techniques and how this relates to the profit margins of new products and services. Study II designed an experiment with 50 users of a consumer good and evaluated the contribution of different market research techniques, based on the degree of originality and customer value.FindingsSignificant differences were found, in terms of both content and originality, between the technique based on customer co‐creation and the two traditional market research techniques (Study II). These findings can help to explain why the relationship between the use of market research techniques and profit margin (Study I) is stronger for co‐creation techniques than it is for traditional market research techniques.Originality/valueDespite empirical evidence that the application of market research techniques based on co‐creation can lead to original ideas, there is a lack of valid studies regarding how co‐creation techniques perform in relation to more traditional methods of collaboration with customers.

The important role of the environment in service experiences is well established and accounted for in the marketing literature. Several theoretical frameworks and concepts have been suggested such as the servicescape. So far, the empirical studies have mainly focused on the effects of single variables, like music, scent or signage. Consequently, further empirical and conceptual research is needed with a holistic view. This paper contributes to this knowledge gap by building on a recent conceptualization of the experience room model. The aim of the study is to further explore design dimensions of an experience room. We examine the role of the experience room dimensions in the processes that result in the cocreation of value-in-use, while investigating their relative importance. Part of thesis: Customer experiences of resource integration