Articulating the service concept in professional service firms
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to propose a solution to the challenges of professional service firms (PSF), which are referred to as cat herding, opaque quality and lack of process standardization. These result from misalignment in the mental pictures that managers, employees and customers have of the service. The study demonstrates how the process of articulating a shared service concept reduces these challenges.
Design/methodology/approach
A narrative methodology is used to analyze the perspectives of old management, new management and employees during organizational change in a PSF – a website design company growing to offer full-service branding. Group narratives are constructed using longitudinal data gathered through interviews and fieldwork, in order to compare the misaligned mental pictures and show the benefits of articulating the service concept.
Findings
Professional employees view growth and change as threats to their culture and practice, particularly when new management seeks to standardize processes. These threats are revealed to stem from misinterpretations caused by miscommunication of intentions and lack of participation in decision making. Articulating a shared service concept helps to align understanding and return the firm to equilibrium.
Research limitations/implications
The narrative methodology helps unpack conflicting perspectives, but is open to claims of subjectivity and misrepresentation. To ensure fairness and trustworthiness, informants were invited to review and approve the narratives.
Originality/value
The study contributes propositions related to the value of articulating a shared service concept as a means of minimizing the challenges of PSFs.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Part of the funding for this work has been provided from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under Grant Agreements Nos 251383 and 324448. The authors would also like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their support throughout the review process.
Citation
Beltagui, A., Sigurdsson, K., Candi, M. and Riedel, J.C.K.H. (2017), "Articulating the service concept in professional service firms", Journal of Service Management, Vol. 28 No. 3, pp. 593-616. https://doi.org/10.1108/JOSM-10-2015-0299
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2017, Emerald Publishing Limited