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1 – 9 of 9Jukka Ojasalo and Katri Ojasalo
The purpose of this study is to develop a service logic oriented framework for business model development. “Service logic” covers the basic principles of the three contemporary…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to develop a service logic oriented framework for business model development. “Service logic” covers the basic principles of the three contemporary customer value focused business logics: service-dominant logic, service logic and customer-dominant logic.
Design/methodology/approach
This study is based on an empirical qualitative research and deployed the focus group method. The data are generated in a series of interactive co-creative focus group workshops involving both practitioners and academics.
Findings
As the outcome, a new tool was developed, called Service Logic Business Model Canvas. The new canvas is a modified version of the original Business Model Canvas (Osterwalder and Pigneur, 2010).
Research limitations/implications
This study adopts service logic in business model thinking and increases knowledge on how to keep the customer needs in the centre of business model development.
Practical implications
The developed canvas makes the theory of service-dominant logic tangible and easily applicable in practice. It enables service innovation truly based on customer value by ensuring that the customer is in the centre of all the elements of a business model. It can function both as a rapid prototype of a new business model and as a communication tool that quickly illustrates the company’s current business model. It can also help in creating a customer-centred business culture. It is designed to be applied to each customer profile separately, thus enabling a deeper understanding of the customer logic of each relevant profile.
Originality/value
Earlier business model frameworks tend to be provider-centric and goods-dominant, and require further development and adaptation to service logic. This study adopts service logic in business model thinking. It embeds the true and deep customer understanding and customer value in each element of the business model, and contributes to both business model and service-dominant logic literature.
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The purpose of this study is to introduce concepts for understanding and managing short- and long-term development of customer satisfaction related to service quality.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to introduce concepts for understanding and managing short- and long-term development of customer satisfaction related to service quality.
Design/methodology/approach
This study is based on empirical qualitative research in professional business-to-business services. The data were collected from in-depth interviews of highly experienced consultants and analyzed in terms of the content of the qualitative data.
Findings
This study empirically identifies situations where the level of customer satisfaction with a single service rendered changes over time and is different in short and long term. It finds different short- and long-term quality levels both during a service process and in the post-purchase evaluation period. It finds that sometimes long-term quality can be provided only at the expense of short-term quality and vice versa.
Research limitations/implications
The concepts of short- and long-term quality provide a simple and effective conceptual tool for understanding potential short- and long-term differences in customer satisfaction as well as the reasons for it.
Practical implications
The study highlights the importance of considering quality dynamics at the level of a service rendered, both during the service process and in the post-purchase period. It helps in developing effective ways to understand and manage changes in customer satisfaction in the short and long term. It helps in developing strategies for communicating the overall value of a service to customers in “no pain, no gain” cases.
Social implications
This study provides concepts for analyzing wicked problems.
Originality/value
Dynamics of quality and satisfaction in services have received very little attention in research studies although the existence and relevance of the phenomenon was recognized long ago. This study introduces new concepts for understanding this phenomenon further by focusing on the short- and long-term effects of the service quality.
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This article is based on an empirical study and describes an approach for managing customer expectations to achieve long‐term quality and customer satisfaction in professional…
Abstract
This article is based on an empirical study and describes an approach for managing customer expectations to achieve long‐term quality and customer satisfaction in professional services. Professional services are somewhat different from other types of services, and often so are customer expectations. This article describes three types of expectations typical in the professional services context: fuzzy, implicit, and unrealistic. These types of expectations may represent a dangerous pitfall for long‐lasting customer satisfaction. Managing expectations is important since service quality and satisfaction result from how well the actual service performance, in other words the service process and outcome, matches the expectations. Much can be done to achieve long‐lasting satisfaction with sophisticated expectations management. This article suggests that making fuzzy expectations precise, implicit expectations explicit, and unrealistic expectations realistic, facilitates long‐term quality and customer satisfaction. The expectations‐management approach introduced in this article is particularly important when the goal is to create long‐term customer relationships.
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The literature includes a vast amount of research on both innovation and business networks; however, the empirical knowledge of their intersection – innovation networks and their…
Abstract
Purpose
The literature includes a vast amount of research on both innovation and business networks; however, the empirical knowledge of their intersection – innovation networks and their management – is still scarce. This empirical study aims at increasing the knowledge of management of innovation networks by mapping characteristics of management approaches of two case companies. These companies operate in the software business and develop their products in inter‐organizational networks. Special attention is paid to differences in the management approaches between the case companies.
Design/methodology/approach
The present empirical article is based on analysis of two case companies representing very different and contrasting approaches to management of innovation networks. The empirical study is conducted among SMEs in the software business.
Findings
As a result of the analysis, several aspects of management of innovation networks are identified and their nature explained. These aspects are: duration of the network; rewards from the network; fundamental meaning of the network; the nature of the networked organization; planning, control, and trust; and hierarchies, authority, and coordination. These aspects are powerful in mapping and explaining the characteristics of innovation network management.
Originality/value
Various management practices are suggested and discussed in the context of each of the identified aspects of innovation network management.
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What is the nature of the key account management (KAM) approach? Various themes have been discussed under the title “key account management”, however, the approach seems to lack…
Abstract
What is the nature of the key account management (KAM) approach? Various themes have been discussed under the title “key account management”, however, the approach seems to lack coherence and clearly requires further conceptualization. Based on an extensive literature analysis, this article identifies and describes the basic elements of KAM and offers a definition of it. What kind of managerial practices facilitate KAM at the company and individual levels? Although paying customers in the business‐to‐business market are organizations, they are always represented by individuals. Thus, successful KAM requires appropriate handling at both the organizational and the individual levels. This paper describes the nature of company‐ and individual‐level customer benefits in business‐to‐business relationships. As a synthesis, this paper suggests a framework for KAM practices deploying the main elements of KAM and the company and individual levels of business‐to‐business relationships.
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The aim of this article is to increase knowledge of the nature of quality in the business‐to‐business market by focusing on the individual and company level aspects of quality…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this article is to increase knowledge of the nature of quality in the business‐to‐business market by focusing on the individual and company level aspects of quality. This is relevant because the distinction between individual and company levels in the context of quality has received very little attention in the literature. Also, there is little knowledge of the processes that can lead to quality trade‐off situations between organizational and individual goals.
Design/methodology/approach
This article is based on empirical qualitative study on quality in business‐to‐business professional services.
Findings
This article introduces the concepts of quality for the individual and for the company in the business‐to‐business market. It also contributes by explaining and analyzing processes increasing the likelihood of trade‐off between quality for the individual and quality for the company.
Research limitations/implications
The present study is characterized by the general limitations: lack of statistical reliability and validity; can be used to generate hypotheses but not to test them; and generalizations cannot be made. The following avenues for further research can be suggested. The role of rational and emotional elements should be examined in more detail. The overtime development of quality for the individual and for the company during a long‐term relationship would be an interesting topic for an in‐depth research. Dimensions of quality for the individual and for the company and their priorities may vary in different cultures; a cross‐cultural survey would be required to shed light on this issue.
Practical implications
The managerial implications of the present study are also discussed including several practical examples of aspects and challenges related to quality for the individual and for the company.
Originality/value
The findings and concepts introduced in this article contribute to the literature because the distinction between individual and company levels in the context of quality has received very little attention in the earlier research. Also, there is little empirical knowledge of the processes that can lead to quality trade‐off situations between organizational and individual goals.
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The knowledge of inhibitors of internal customer knowledge transfer in b‐to‐b professional service organizations is still in its infancy. Previous literature on professional…
Abstract
Purpose
The knowledge of inhibitors of internal customer knowledge transfer in b‐to‐b professional service organizations is still in its infancy. Previous literature on professional service organizations has focused on knowledge processes on a general level without paying closer attention to inhibitors of internal knowledge transfer. This study aims to contribute by increasing the knowledge of various inhibitors of customer‐related knowledge transfer and their influence on customer‐related knowledge utilization in collaborative customer relationships.
Design/methodology/approach
The present empirical article is based on a case study of two professional service organizations in the field of business‐to‐business education and consultancy services. An in‐depth analysis of organizations developing collaborative relationships was conducted.
Findings
This paper shows that internal fragmentation seems to be inherent in this type of organization, and may cause many problems in customer‐related knowledge transfer among individuals, collegial groups and hierarchical levels in a professional service organization. All these problems in collective knowledge utilization influence both the service offering creation and general relationship coordination in the collaborative relationship.
Originality/value
This paper provides managerial suggestions for how to deal with the inhibitors of customer knowledge transfer. This includes developing unified goals, strengthening cultural cohesion and cooperation in the organization, building forums of dialogue between individuals and subgroups, and structuring relationship coordination systems (i.e. key account management systems), keeping customer‐related knowledge transfer in mind.
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Jukka Ojasalo, Satu Nätti and Rami Olkkonen
The purpose of this paper is to increase the knowledge of brand building in software SMEs.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to increase the knowledge of brand building in software SMEs.
Design/methodology/approach
The empirical method used is a multi‐case study. Data were collected from 20 companies in the software industry through in‐depth interviews. The data were analyzed using systematic coding and categorization of qualitative evidence.
Findings
The study identified five special characteristics of brand building in software SMEs, relating to goals and perceived benefits of brand building; resources in brand building; external and internal cooperation in brand building; means and communication in brand building; and the process of product brand building and its connection to software product development.
Research limitations/implications
The scientific contribution of this empirical study relates to two aspects of brand management: branding in software business and branding in SMEs. A vast amount of literature exists on “brands”, “software business” and “SMEs”, but there is very little on “branding in software business” or “branding in SMEs”. Unarguably, there are two significant knowledge gaps in the literature, and they relate to branding in software and SME industries. Both theoretical and managerial knowledge is needed. This study corresponds to this need by increasing the knowledge of brand building in software SMEs with an empirical study. The present study is characterized by the general limitations of a case study. The results lack statistical reliability, they apply primarily in the case companies examined, and no direct generalizations should be made without further quantitative study.
Practical implications
Directors of SMEs often think that branding is just for big companies, but small companies with limited resources can brand their products and services as well. However, the means of branding are often different. The present study encourages SMEs to systematically think of the potential advantages of branding for their business, and develop creative, targeted, and affordable approaches for brand building.
Originality/value
The present empirical study makes an original contribution to the literature by increasing the knowledge of branding in the context of both SMEs and software business.
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Services are increasingly growing in importance in the global economy. However, in the context of manufacturing industry supply chains, services are still little discussed…
Abstract
Purpose
Services are increasingly growing in importance in the global economy. However, in the context of manufacturing industry supply chains, services are still little discussed. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to increase the understanding of service business development for manufacturing small- and medium-sized enterprises by further developing previous conceptual frameworks for service supply chain management, based on the current scientific literature and empirical cases.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is based mainly on qualitative interviews and expert group sessions set up to analyze the acquired data and test the developed model. The developed model is based on a multidisciplinary literature review, to provide a holistic perspective on the affecting factors in new business development in the service supply chain context.
Findings
The implications of the study are beneficial from both the scientific and practical perspectives, which help to understand better the process and related factors in multi-actor service business development. The study contributes to the current scientific discussion of new business development in the supply chain context, proposing a new scientific framework based on the previous literature. The practical findings of the study give insights from manufacturing firms’ new service developments, and from the roles and resources required in the process.
Originality/value
The paper provides new knowledge with regard to new service business development in the supply chain context, by illustrating the most essential factors and the new process framework based on those. The presented framework gives a holistic picture of the process, but also enables better consideration of the most essential points by using a more precisely structured model.
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