Search results

Confronted by lower product sales prospects, increased margin pressures and customer demands for free service support, many firms are entering the service business. Yet most of these firms will be unable to scale their service operations to develop a viable stand‐alone services capability. In the rare cases where they are successful in establishing a services business it will often fail to deliver the expected profit margins. However, when properly planned and executed, a products to services business transformation generates impressive results. this paper aims to investigate this issue.

The paper defines how to scale services business. Key challenges and mitigation approaches as well as case studies are provided to effectively execute on services transformation. Various challenges and their effects are examined separately. Several tactics to overcome some of the key challenges identified.

When managed properly, new services businesses can deliver solid economic value to the top and bottom line. In order to capture this value, managers must look at services through a very different lens, understanding that this is a fundamentally different business model than their existing product business. It is recommended managing the entire services value chain to realize the full benefits of creating independent services revenue stream, increased product pull‐through, and deeper customer relationships.

By considering various obstacles a company faces in scaling services business, the paper provides insight into what strategies may be effective as established companies deal with balancing existing product‐centric business while scaling services business.

This study investigates service adaptation in a business-to-business context and explores the characteristics of service adaptation and how it takes place in business-to-business markets.

Two case studies were employed to obtain both suppliers’ and customers’ perceptions of service adaptation in a business-to-business context.

The findings captured both suppliers’ and customers’ adaptation in a business-to-business service context. It revealed customers’ active adaptation in assisting suppliers in the business-to-business service process. Suppliers’ willingness to make adaptation appears to have an impact on their relationships with customers. Business-to-business service adaptation is a dynamic and interactive process.

The findings shed light for practitioners not to neglect customers’ active participation, but to understand customers’ role in making adaptation with suppliers in the service process to enhance their service experience and business-to-business relationships. The research is exploratory and the findings of these two case studies may be influenced by the manufacturing sector in which the case study firms are based.

This paper illustrates that the interactive nature of service adaptation is particularly pertinent in a business-to-business context and that the phenomena needs much more careful attention as it provides a potential area for marketing managers to achieve service differentiation.

Identifies several unique challenges facing Western firms in marketing business services in the economies of Hungary, the former Czechoslovakia, Poland, the former East Germany and Russia. Derives several managerial recommendations to meet these challenges. Identifies experts on these economies and employs a modified Delphi technique to identify expert recommendations for constructing a business services marketing strategy targeted to Central Europe.

Information in Business, the De Montfort University‐based information service for business and industry, is offered as a model of library co‐operation. Sets out the background to the development of this joint venture between De Montfort University and Leicester County Council, moving on to the implementation of the contract, service delivery and service development. Considers management issues involved with the service development and delivery. Issues covered include staffing, performance monitoring, communication, strategic development and service planning, marketing and networking. Where possible, issues raised are supported by the author′s personal experience. Considers the future of the service. Concludes that the Information in Business service is a positive model of library co‐operation, enabling the maximization of benefits from different public funds. Highlights threats to the service, i.e. reliance on local government, as a weakness.

Subscription offerings are being hailed as the next service growth engine for companies in both business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) markets. The study analyzes how a manufacturing firm can develop and implement a scalable service-based subscription business model for B2C and B2B customers alongside its existing product-centric model.

A longitudinal case study is conducted, drawing on 25 in-depth interviews with company executives and dealers in key European markets.

The study outlines an iterative process model for subscription business model innovation. It reveals key events and decisions taken in developing, implementing, and scaling the new business model and how internal and external tensions involving intermediaries arose and were mitigated during the four stages of the process.

The findings highlight the dynamics of business model innovation processes and underscore the importance of organizational learning, collaborative relationships with channel partners, and strategic talent acquisition during business model innovation.

The findings suggest how product-centric firms can implement new service business models alongside existing product models and what this means for partner and customer journey management.

While servitization research predominantly concerns B2B manufacturers, B2C research focuses on digital subscription contexts. The study bridges this divide by investigating the move to subscriptions in both markets.

To co-create value through dynamic collaborations, enterprises and their suppliers need to orchestrate the integration of complementary resources when providing business services. As such enterprises' strategic decision to apply a plural sourcing strategy to establish dynamic collaborations with their suppliers implies that both in-house and outsourced business services should be bundled into a business services portfolio. However, the antecedents that affect a business services portfolio have rarely conceptually been identified.

Drawing on resource orchestration theory, the authors theoretically developed and empirically validated a business services portfolio conceptual model. The model aims at explaining the critical antecedents to a business services portfolio based on a unique data set, comprising 121 international enterprises with variation in the degree of outsourcing, size, geographies and maturity. Partial least squares structural equation modelling was used to examine the relationships among the antecedents and a business services portfolio.

The findings show that the antecedent, i.e. plural sourcing strategy, modularised business processes and customer orientation have a direct and significant effect on the enterprises' business services portfolio orchestration. The results of the mediation test indicate that modularised business processes fully mediate the relationships between three independent variables with the orchestration of business services portfolio.

This study is the first to analyse the impact of plural sourcing strategy, modularised business processes and customer orientation on the business services portfolio orchestration from a plural sourcing context. Additionally, it examines the mediating role of modularised business processes in the relationship between the antecedents and business services portfolio orchestration.

Drawing on a strategic agility perspective, the authors develop a theoretical framework and empirically examine how digital platform adoption and capability impact business performance via digital-enabled strategic agility in the context of professional service firms.

The authors propose and examine a conceptual framework based on survey data from 127 professional service firms in New Zealand.

This study reveals the impact of digital platform capability on the business performance of professional service firms that employ digital platform technologies. The results suggest that organizational innovation and managers' creative efficacy will be used as distal antecedents and contribute to digital platform capabilities. In addition, digital strategic agility can mediate the link between digital platform capabilities and business performance.

This study is one of the first to investigate when and how digital platforms empower professional service firms. This study reveals the role of digital strategic agility and digital platform capabilities in knowledge-intensive enterprises. This research advances the development of knowledge-based economy in the information age by applying and extending strategic agility to the uncertain and volatile business environment. The authors' new conceptualization provides a deeper understanding of how and why professional services business and organizations can adapt to the post-COVID era smoothly and successfully.

Advances in technology have given rise to an increased demand by small businesses for personalised e-government services. Given the importance of small businesses to the Australian economy, it is vital to deliver small business-centric services that offer potential to generate value. To do that effectively, government departments need to understand factors that affect small business. The purpose of this study is to explore how preferences for personalised services and the use of intermediaries affect small business participation behaviour and, in turn, stimulate positive outcomes that are of interest to the government.

This study draws on secondary data from a survey of 800 Australian small businesses about the digital services offered by a large government department. Structural equation modelling was used to empirically test the model.

The findings demonstrate that whilst preference for personalisation has a positive relationship with participation behaviour, reliance on an intermediary does not. While such behaviour fosters emotional connection and perceptions of partner quality, the results of this study show no significant impact on satisfaction.

This study advances knowledge about how small businesses can gain value from personalised support services. Importantly, it focuses on participation behaviour and small business – both of which are largely absent from existing studies. The findings can assist government departments to design personalised services that are valued by small businesses.

This paper aims to identify how, in contrast to a provider-oriented stance where customer value is conceptualised as being controlled by the provider, customer value is formed for business customers beyond what is visible to the provider.

This paper builds on the primacy of the customer. Customer-dominant logic (CDL) is used as the conceptual underpinning, meaning that the customer, rather than the service provider or the service system, is at the centre. A case study was conducted with seven key users from three customer companies of an information and communications technology (ICT) provider of in-house services. The study used a micro-social level focus by capturing customers’ experiences of those activities where value in use is formed.

The findings indicate that value formation is not related only to direct service interactions and furthermore substantially takes place beyond a service provider’s visibility line. Hence, value formation is in large part hidden for the service provider because it is embedded in customers’ activities and experiences.

Although the study is limited to one case concerning ICT services, these findings may apply to other service businesses, in particular to knowledge-intensive outsourcing businesses.

Understanding a customer’s value formation from the customer’s point of view is the key to service development for any business service provider.

Applying a CDL approach, the authors deepen the understanding of customer value formation as it emerges in customer activities. The study provides detailed insight into business customers’ value formation processes. The study’s findings challenge the current emphasis on interactions and co-creation and instead demonstrate the importance of understanding customer logics and contexts.

This study seeks to identify the generic elements of a business model in the field of technology‐based services and uses those elements to build a networked business model. A networked business model reflects a situation when it is impossible for a single company to govern all the relevant resources and activities needed in developing, producing, and marketing technology‐based services.

The empirical part of the paper presents a qualitative futures study that employs the Delphi method and scenario planning.

The paper presents a framework describing the core elements of a networked business model, and shows how it can be applied in developing business model scenarios for technology‐based services.

By examining the business model from a network perspective, the study creates conceptual tools for both researchers and managers to describe, plan and develop future business models.