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1 – 10 of over 3000Yuan Chang, Xinguo Ming, Xiaoqiang Liao, Yuguang Bao, Zhihua Chen and Wenyan Song
This study is a reference for manufacturers who are promoting their product-service system (PSS) development. Currently, improvements in both digital customization and…
Abstract
Purpose
This study is a reference for manufacturers who are promoting their product-service system (PSS) development. Currently, improvements in both digital customization and sustainability for various smart PSS categories have been considered rarely. This paper addresses this research gap by developing relevant models.
Design/methodology/approach
The development trends of customization-oriented PSS are described in a literature review. An in-depth multiple-case study methodology is adopted, and seven manufacturing companies are sampled. The goal is to identify digital customization measures that can be employed on representative smart PSS models and to explore how these models can create sustainable value.
Findings
This study provides valuable insights by uncovering a synthesis framework for achieving customization of the product/use/result-oriented smart PSSs, and the relevant representative smart functions are summarized. This identifies how digital customization capabilities can improve sustainability, including direct economic value for customers as well as additional social benefits and environmental improvements during customization.
Originality/value
Currently, the influence of digitalization on customized offerings and the relevant impact on sustainability development have not been fully addressed to date. This study provides comprehensive information with a reference value for digital customization transformation among the three main types of smart PSS.
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Josip Marić, Mirjana Pejić Bach and Shivam Gupta
The purpose of this study is to disclose ontology of DSI as a novel concept in servitization community, explore the research context and themes (i.e. technological and industrial…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to disclose ontology of DSI as a novel concept in servitization community, explore the research context and themes (i.e. technological and industrial sectors) where DSI emerges, unveil methodological complexities of the research on digital servitization and DSI and provide guidelines for future research avenues regarding DSI.
Design/methodology/approach
Bearing in mind the relative novelty of DSI as a concept in servitization literature, the authors adopted a systematic literature review approach to identify 111 peer-reviewed articles published in English language and available in business and management disciplines via scholar databases (Scopus). The analysis of literature discloses descriptive and thematic insights regarding digital servitization and DSI.
Findings
The study provides valuable insights from the descriptive and thematic analyses where classification of articles per publication year, citations, methodology/type of the paper, geographical location of data collection, as well as industrial sector and technological contexts are discussed. Moreover, the unique value of this study is observed through its specific focus on the characteristics of DSI-related literature.
Originality/value
The study is among the first of its kind to provide extensive descriptive and thematic insights on the available literature dealing with digital servitization and DSI, mapping out prior research across a wide spectrum of publication outlets and illustrating the chronological evolution of research on digital servitization and DSI.
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Benjamin Biesinger, Karsten Hadwich and Manfred Bruhn
(Digital) servitization, referring to service-driven strategies and their increasing implementation in manufacturing, is one of the most rapidly growing areas in industrial…
Abstract
Purpose
(Digital) servitization, referring to service-driven strategies and their increasing implementation in manufacturing, is one of the most rapidly growing areas in industrial service research. However, the cultural change involved in successful servitization is a phenomenon that is widely observed but poorly understood. This research aims to clarify the processes of social construction as manufacturers change their organizational culture to transform into industrial service providers.
Design/methodology/approach
This research takes a systematic approach to integrate disparate literature on servitization into a cohesive framework for cultural change, which is purposefully augmented by rationale culled from organizational learning and sensemaking literature.
Findings
The organizational learning framework for cultural change in servitization introduces a dynamic perspective on servitizing organizations by explaining social processes between organizational and member-level cultural properties. It identifies three major cultural orientations toward service, digital and learning that govern successful servitization.
Originality/value
This research contributes to the servitization literature by presenting a new approach to reframe and explore cultural change processes across multiple levels, thus providing a concrete starting point for further research in this area.
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Charalampos Giousmpasoglou, Adele Ladkin and Evangelia Marinakou
The emergence of dark kitchens in the restaurant industry is a contemporary phenomenon, arising most recently in the context of the so-called gig economy. This new business model…
Abstract
Purpose
The emergence of dark kitchens in the restaurant industry is a contemporary phenomenon, arising most recently in the context of the so-called gig economy. This new business model flourished during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on a global scale. Despite dark kitchens' popularity, considerable negative publicity exists in the news related to poor working conditions. To highlight this new phenomenon, this paper explores the existing literature on worker exploitation in dark kitchens in the context of the gig economy.
Design/methodology/approach
A systematic literature review of hospitality and tourism databases generated 1,430 articles, of which 18 met the authors' inclusion criteria for the final analysis, and 1,030 anecdotal sources, of which 47 were included. Thematic analysis was used to identify the key themes and summarise the findings to be used for further studies.
Findings
The popularity of dark kitchens as a business model is premised on the fact that dark kitchens' dramatically reduces the operational cost and increases productivity. On the other hand, the working conditions and contractual agreements of the gig workers in dark kitchens raise several questions from operational, legal and ethical perspective. These poor working conditions create the conditions for worker exploitation and further damage the sector's image.
Practical implications
This study advocates that companies and managers are responsible for implementing and monitoring fair working conditions in dark kitchens. The existence of poor working conditions increases employee turnover and, overall, affects the industry's reputation.
Originality/value
This explorative study provides insights into the working conditions and contractual agreements in dark kitchens. Currently, there is no other study (empirical or conceptual) to shed light on the working practices. The authors hope this study will trigger further discussion and empirical research in this field.
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Asma-Qamaliah Abdul-Hamid, Mohd Helmi Ali, Lokhman Hakim Osman, Ming-Lang Tseng and Ahmad Raflis Che Omar
This paper aims to contribute significantly to the empirical investigations on adopting Industry 4.0–circular economy in the Malaysian palm oil industry. The paper also aims to…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to contribute significantly to the empirical investigations on adopting Industry 4.0–circular economy in the Malaysian palm oil industry. The paper also aims to theorise and empirically assess a comprehensive model incorporating three aspects and 51 criteria.
Design/methodology/approach
A two-stage methodology is proposed using the fuzzy Delphi method and the fuzzy-based analytical network process. Twenty-seven criteria on adoptability of industry 4.0–circular economy were selected for the first-stage methodology, followed by identifying each criteria's intersection with the overall objectives.
Findings
The findings indicate that financial constraints, the lack of a collaborative I4.0–CE model, laws and policy, low management support and the training of dedicated employers in I4.0–CE-application are the top five criteria requiring critical attention from the POI.
Practical implications
The overall sustainability advantages of the POI are identified and discussed in depth to establish criteria for industry 4.0–circular economy applications.
Originality/value
This study fills the previous research gap by theoretically explaining POI's industry 4.0 adoption–circular economy from the perspective of two underpinning theories. Due to the pressure towards sustainability, the industry must be ready to adopt industry 4.0–circular economy applications, and resources must be managed appropriately and effectively by sharing and integrating. Advanced industry 4.0 technologies and pragmatic practices such as a circular economy are needed to achieve optimal sustainable development while retaining commercial success.
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Alemayehu Molla, Victor Gekara, Stan Karanasios and Darryn Snell
Information technology (IT) personnels’ technical, business and behavioral skills are critical enablers for generating IT value. In an increasingly digitalized working environment…
Abstract
Purpose
Information technology (IT) personnels’ technical, business and behavioral skills are critical enablers for generating IT value. In an increasingly digitalized working environment where non-IT employees participate in digital innovations, a focus on IT personnels’ skills only doesn’t meet researchers’ need for a framework to study digital skills and managers’ need to address digital skills challenges across an enterprise’s workforce. Nevertheless, the digital skills topic is complicated by conceptual ambiguity and a lack of theoretically derived and empirically validated model. The purpose of this study is to address this problem.
Design/methodology/approach
Theoretically, this study draws on human capital (HC) and resource-based view (RBV) theories. Empirically, it follows mixed method combining interviews and a survey.
Findings
The digital skills construct is a multidimensional second order reflective construct. While its development is influenced by an organization’s commitment and exposure to digitalization, it influences the value organizations obtain from digitalization.
Research limitations/implications
This study conceptualizes the digital skills construct, identifying technology agnostic subdimensions that are meaningful beyond a particular digital domain [information and communication technology (ICT), information, Internet, Inter of Things (IoT)] and establishing a valid measure. Other researchers can improve both the indicators of the existing four conceptually distinct and managerially recognizable workplace digital skills dimensions as well as testing new ones.
Practical implications
Managers can use the instrument to assess the extent to which their non-IT workforces are equipped with digital skills and get strategic insights for specific interventions such as upskilling or buying in skills.
Originality/value
The main theoretical contribution of the paper is the conceptualization and validation of the digital skills construct for the non-IT workforce. Furthermore, we provide a theoretical framework to explain the factors that could influence the development of digital skills and demonstrate the impact that digital skills have on selected digitalization value indicators. This contribution provides the foundation for investigating the drivers, outcomes and the relationship of digital skills to other constructs such as digital transformation, innovation and firm performance.
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Jiju Antony, Arshia Kaul, Shreeranga Bhat, Michael Sony, Vasundhara Kaul, Maryam Zulfiqar and Olivia McDermott
This study aims to investigate the adoption of Quality 4.0 (Q4.0) and assess the critical failure factors (CFFs) for its implementation and how its failure is measured.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the adoption of Quality 4.0 (Q4.0) and assess the critical failure factors (CFFs) for its implementation and how its failure is measured.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative study based on in-depth interviews with quality managers and executives was conducted to establish the CFFs for Q4.0.
Findings
The significant CFFs highlighted were resistance to change and a lack of understanding of the concept of Q4.0. There was also a complete lack of access to or availability of training around Q4.0.
Research limitations/implications
The study enhances the body of literature on Q4.0 and is one of the first research studies to provide insight into the CFFs of Q4.0.
Practical implications
Based on the discussions with experts in the area of quality in various large and small organizations, one can understand the types of Q4.0 initiatives and the CFFs of Q4.0. By identifying the CFFs, one can establish the steps for improvements for organizations worldwide if they want to implement Q4.0 in the future on the competitive global stage.
Originality/value
The concept of Q4.0 is at the very nascent stage, and thus, the CFFs have not been found in the extant literature. As a result, the article aids businesses in understanding possible problems that might derail their Q4.0 activities.
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Maria Qvarfordt and Stefan Lagrosen
Previous research has identified associations between quality management and employee health. This study's purpose was to (1) examine those associations in a public healthcare…
Abstract
Purpose
Previous research has identified associations between quality management and employee health. This study's purpose was to (1) examine those associations in a public healthcare organisation and (2) explore and describe the association between digitalisation and employee health.
Design/methodology/approach
An online questionnaire including indices to measure quality management values, employee health and digitalisation was answered by 118 managers in Swedish public healthcare. Correlation analysis was used to analyse the data. Based on the survey results, 12 qualitative, in-depth interviews were conducted with healthcare managers.
Findings
The findings show that employee health is associated with quality management and digitalisation. Categories were defined to describe the managers' views of the relationship between digitalisation and health.
Research limitations/implications
Causality was not explicitly tested and cannot be assumed. However, the results strengthen the body of research showing that quality management is related to employee health, and associations between health and digitalisation were identified.
Practical implications
The findings and model should be helpful for healthcare managers in a digitalising environment who aim to preserve or enhance employee health whilst ensuring high service quality.
Originality/value
The results were used to create an integrated conceptual model depicting the association between quality, digitalisation and health. This association has not previously been studied.
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Silvia Sacchetti and Alberto Ianes
This study aims to address the question of what coordination mechanism can be used for cultural production and, in particular, for the governance of music culture production. The…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to address the question of what coordination mechanism can be used for cultural production and, in particular, for the governance of music culture production. The authors locate their reflection within the specific institutional innovations introduced in Italy in 2017, focusing on the idea of shared administration and the public–private collaboration instituted in Trentino (a province located in northern Italy) in support of its cultural policy.
Design/methodology/approach
This study focusses on the Trentino’s music school system. This includes 13 organisations (musicians’ cooperatives as well as associations of musicians and students, plus one municipal school which do not overlap with the public school system). To analyse shared administration features, the authors rely on selected information from 50 interviews with Trentino Music Schools (TMS) teachers and administrators, and on the proceedings of the 1994 music school conference organised by the schools at the time when this novel educational system was created.
Findings
To offer an innovative educational service, the public actor (Provincia Autonoma di Trento [PAT]) and the schools (TMS) have developed a strong interdependence at the different levels of decision-making: PAT needs organisations that are sufficiently structured and organised to respect requirements of transparency and accountability, as well as educational standards, whereas TMS need public funding to maintain their service accessible for users, good labour conditions and be financially sustainable. Likewise, the success of TMS in educating thousands of students every year, including additional teaching programmes funded by PAT within general public schools, has contributed to decrease the exclusion from music education, raise interest in young people for music and fed enrolment in TMS as well as in the public schools related to the conservatoire filière. Conclusions emphasise the existence of a polycentric system of music culture production which needs to acknowledge the risk of being trapped in a static disequilibrium, while recognising change and the need to support and promote a culture of cooperation among schools and across layered institutional levels over time.
Research limitations/implications
Further research can observe this system of cultural production over time, to appreciate changes and organisational tranformations, while introducing comparative analysis with other systems in different regions.
Practical implications
The relationship between the public and private sectors to design, organise and manage activities of collective interest (in the social, cultural, sporting and other fields) can increasingly become an effective and efficient alternative to the traditional bureaucratic as well as to the competitive method. For this to happen, however, all actors involved must be aware not only of areas of efficiency but also of inefficiency. To remedy the latter, corrective measures will have to be introduced. For example, fostering and improving “co-programmazione” and “co-progettazione” means giving all stakeholders involved the opportunity to actively participate. Should the number of participants increase, more discussion fora could be set up because one alone may not be sufficient to foster maximum involvement, to enhance different points of view, to allow for intersectoral and multidisciplinary interpretations and responses.
Social implications
The system governance based on co-programming and co-design has allowed – despite limitations – to pursue educational purposes and thus well-being for the users, as well as for the teachers and the community as a whole. The continuity of this educational and cultural action has been guaranteed by the economic and financial sustainability of the schools, which is highly dependent on the public actor funding personnel costs, and in turn tied to the number of students (demand) attending each school. Actors embedded in the system need to build awareness of industry and cultural changes and knowledge of how to introduce more adaptive capacity. This points towards the need for strengthening networking capacity and collaboration among schools and other relevant stakeholders.
Originality/value
The case presented is a unique system of music culture production in Italy, and its governance has never been addressed by previous studies. It provides an application of shared administration to which public administrations and communities can learn to improve access to music culture and education. For public and private organisations to take advantage of the method of “co-programmazione” and “co-progettazione”, to make the production of a meritorious good more efficient and to favour its maximum accessibility, this study considers the strengths and weaknesses of this approach, or the areas of efficiency and inefficiency, for which new measures will have to be introduced.
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Grégory Jemine, François-Régis Puyou and Florence Bouvet
Increasingly, emerging information technologies such as shared software and continuous accounting are offering alternative ways to perform accounting tasks in a supposedly more…
Abstract
Purpose
Increasingly, emerging information technologies such as shared software and continuous accounting are offering alternative ways to perform accounting tasks in a supposedly more efficient fashion. Yet, few studies have investigated how they affect the provision of accounting services, especially in the context of small accounting firms, which provide legal and tax services to entrepreneurs and businesses. Drawing on the service perspective, the paper critically examines how technological innovation challenges and reconfigures the co-production of accounting services in these firms.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper answers calls issued in prior studies to conduct empirical research on emerging information technologies for accountants. It focuses on the specific context of small accounting firms and draws on interviews with small accounting firms' managers (n = 20).
Findings
The study emphasizes five significant challenges that accounting firm managers face when using information technologies to support the provision of their services (ensuring reliability, factoring in their heterogeneous client base, repricing, training clients to use new technologies and promoting advisory services). Information technologies are shown to have a structuring role in the co-production of accounting services, as they lead to reconfigurations of the relationships between accountants and their clients. A range of four configurations is developed to highlight accountants' strategies to maintain collaborative relationships with their clients while integrating new technologies into their work practices.
Originality/value
By conceptualizing accounting services as a co-production process, the paper offers new insights into the implications of emerging information technologies for small accounting firms.
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