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Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems are widely used by large corporations around the world. Recently, universities have turned to ERP as a means of replacing existing management and administration computer systems. This article provides analysis of the rollout of an ERP system in one particular institution in the UK, the particular focus being on how the development, implementation and use of both generic and university specific functionality is mediated and shaped by a fundamental and long standing tension within universities: this is the extent to which higher education institutions are organisations much like any other and the extent to which they are “unique”. The aim of this article is not to attempt to settle this issue of similarity/difference in one way or another. Rather, it seeks to illustrate the value of taking discussions of similarity relationships surrounding the university and other organisations as the topic of analysis. One way of working with these kinds of issues without resolving them is to consider their “distribution” and where ERP shifts the responsibility for their final resolution. This is a novel and insightful way of understanding how ERP systems are refashioning the identity of universities. The article suggests, moreover, that ERP software is “accompanied” by such tensions in which ever site it is implemented. The research presented here is based on a participant observation study carried over the period of three years.

Informed by research projects undertaken at Nottingham Trent, this paper discusses the different HRM practices of some operators in fast‐food restaurants. Outlines the nature of service provision and some key determinants of the service offer. These help to categorize the types of service offered to customers. Operational categories are also outlined and by using both a matrix is created which produces a series of four ideal types of approach to HRM management. These styles relate to the amount of employee involvement and participation in shaping the service encounter and therefore the kind of empowerment enjoyed by employees. Two case studies of well‐known fast food operators are used to demonstrate the ideal types identified.

This study aims to investigate service modularization in a manufacturing firm, identifies service modularization processes and examines how these processes change the service module characteristics.

The study is based on a longitudinal case study (2008-2017) of a manufacturing firm. The development of six service modules was analyzed using data from interviews with key informants, informal meetings and internal documentation.

This study suggests five service modularization processes, and that service module characteristics, such as standardization and interconnectedness, change in different ways depending on the service modularization processes used. It further identifies two service modularization routes that each combine the service modularization processes in unique ways with replication as a key process to improve both standardization and customization.

This study elaborates a framework for service modularization, which can serve as a guideline for developing service modules. It also highlights the differences between product and service modularization, suggesting that the role of service module characteristics such as standardization and customization is specific for services.

This longitudinal case study (2008-2017) provides empirical evidence on service modularization and extends existing knowledge on service modularization processes and how they influence service module characteristics.

The service positioning matrix shows how the desired nature of the customer’s service encounter activity sequence translates into a recommended service system design. The matrix helps managers think about marketing and operations linkages, roles of the customer and service‐provider in creating and delivering services, facility design and process choice, and the different types of management challenges at each position in the matrix. Concepts such as the service encounter activity sequence and the degree of repeatability in the activity sequence are defined and used in the matrix. Examples are given to illustrate the positioning of service entities within the matrix. An empirical evaluation provides statistical support for the logic of the service positioning matrix. The criteria used in the matrix are meaningful to survey participants. Future research directions and issues are discussed.

This paper aims to apply service-dominant logic thinking to the field of supply chain management (SCM) in order to classify, structure, and analyze different types of supply chain services (SCS) collected from interdisciplinary literature. The authors investigate how value is co-created between supply chain actors and develop research propositions regarding the influence of service type on value co-creation.

Content analysis is employed to research SCS across 218 articles from 28 journals of logistics and SCM, service, finance and accounting, and information systems research.

The occurrence of SCS within the literature is rising, and most SCS mentioned have a relieving as opposed to an enabling function. Also, SCS related to material and information flows dominate the field, whereas finances-flow-related services receive less attention. Finally, the paper provides evidence that different types of SCS require different management approaches.

Analyzing the literature and integrating different streams of research are only a first step towards building new theory. To test the developed propositions, further empirical research is encouraged.

The paper offers implications for the management of different types of SCS from both the service provider ' s and service customer ' s perspective.

The paper provides an interdisciplinary overview of the value proposed by different types of SCS. Furthermore, six service-dominant logic-based research propositions regarding the impact of service type on value co-creation are developed.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the pros and cons of service standardization (vs customization) from the consumer’s perspective, the key factors influencing consumers’ preference for standardized (vs customized) services and the outcomes of service standardization (vs customization).

The authors conducted a qualitative study and two behavioral experiments to test the hypotheses.

The authors find that the advantages of service customization include greater perceived control and higher consumer satisfaction. The drawbacks of service customization include greater perceived risk. These findings also suggest that consumers’ preference for standardized (vs customized) service depends on their consumption goal. Specifically, consumers with a hedonic goal tend to prefer customized services, while those with a utilitarian goal tend to prefer standardized services. These effects are moderated by their need for uniqueness.

The qualitative and experimental studies in this research reveal the antecedents (utilitarian vs hedonic goal) on consumer preference for service standardization versus customization, as well as the consequences in terms of perceived risk, consumer satisfaction and perceived control. The experimental studies were conducted with Chinese and American consumers, respectively, which lend credence to the robustness of the findings.

Results of the present research provide new insights into service standardization versus customization and have significant practical implications. In particular, service organizations should consider designing the appropriate service mode based on consumers’ characteristics, particularly their consumption goals and their need for uniqueness. If the customers focus on efficiency and functionality, the organization should try to provide standardized services. In contrast, for customers who are seeking fun and a novel experience, the service firm should try to tailor to their hedonic needs.

While previous research identifies “heterogeneity” as a key characteristic of services in general, the present findings qualify this received wisdom. In particular, the authors show that consumers’ preference for service standardization versus customization is a function of their consumption goal and need for uniqueness. Thus, the present findings refine the current understanding of service heterogeneity, which makes a significant contribution to the services marketing literature.

This paper discusses evidence from field studies undertaken to investigate the responsiveness of the order fulfilment process in a number of companies. The evidence is analysed in the context of the literature on responsiveness and related areas such as time‐based competition. Similarities and differences are analysed across a number of industrial sectors with respect to order fulfilment processes and the interpretation and significance of responsiveness. Generic factors that influence different types of companies are identified. Four components of responsiveness – stimuli, awareness, capabilities and goals – emerge from an analysis of the literature. The field and case study evidence allows the development of more precise definitions and descriptions of each of these components. The study also allows a generic responsiveness framework to be developed that incorporates both strategic and operational viewpoints. The need for more field studies on responsiveness is noted. More work is advocated on the assessment and measurement of responsiveness and on developing appropriate responsiveness interventions, particularly with respect to the order fulfilment process.

The aim of this paper is to explore and empirically investigate the characteristics and contingencies of service delivery system design.

Informed by the service strategy triad, a single embedded case study was designed to explore empirical data on four target markets, four service concepts, and on the design characteristics of the corresponding four service delivery systems. Data were collected in a market‐leading organisation in the business‐to‐business sector within the power industry. The service delivery systems comprise processes that sell electricity contracts and processes that bill against those contracts.

First, the findings indicate what design characteristics are contingent upon the degree of customisation of the service concept. The authors show how this contingency has implications for the extents of employee skills, employee discretion, task routineness, automation, and for front office (FO)‐back office (BO) configurations. Second, the authors challenge the consensus that low customer‐contact processes are designed for the purpose of efficiency. Third, the findings contradict Metters and Vargas who state that it is not possible to have different FO‐BO configurations in a single organisation.

While there are major interactions between the four service delivery systems supporting each individual service concept, this paper does not examine the trade‐offs between the various possible designs of these service delivery systems.

The paper emphasises the importance of considering the complexity of the service offering, the customer relationship strategy, and of taking a process‐orientation to address service delivery system design.

This paper extends current understanding of service delivery system design characteristics and contingencies. The authors show how design characteristics are contingent on the service concept. Research propositions are formulated to emphasise this contingency. Additionally, we report findings which challenge existing FO‐BO design theory.

This paper aims to examine how and why management accounting practices are linked to an organization's identity and identity discrepancies.

A qualitative field study of a one‐year change project in a large manufacturing company is used as the basis for the analysis.

The empirical study reveals how discrepancies between organizational members' perceived identity and their construed external (and desired future) image both influence and are influenced by emergent accounting practices. Empirical evidence suggests such a reciprocal relationship between accounting and identity, since accounting practices are an important means of (de)legitimizing an organization's current self‐perception.

The uncovered reciprocal relationship between management accounting practices and organizational identity (discrepancies) have implications for a broader literature, including the works on how different forms of control interact as a “control package” and the discourse on potential sources of organizational identity change.

Although it has previously been suggested that management accounting may be an important means for, as well as an outcome of, processes of identity (re)constructions in organizations, this study suggests a more complex interplay than has previously been noted in the literature. Specifically, it was found that organizational identity may for a considerable time work as a highly influential and largely unquestioned categorical imperative, signifying the boundaries of appropriate organizational action. At times, however, accounting practices may spark (re)constructions of identity discrepancies through: providing identity‐inconsistent evidence; and using (new) measures in a “feed‐forward” manner to explore possible ways to close such perceived discrepancies.

The purpose of this paper is to study nanotech technical and scientific seminars (TSS) companies from a managerial perspective. Specifically, it means to: firstly, understand how TSS firms manage the sale of their services; and secondly, to identify the implications that different approaches in the TSS sale management have on the client firm's innovation process.

First, a literature analysis identifies the critical variables of a service sale management model for nanotech TSS firms. Then, an empirical investigation involving ten nanotech Italian companies was conducted. The empirical results were analytically generalised and integrated with suggestions from the literature to provide general insights into the research topic.

The paper shows that nanotech TSS companies adopt two alternative models for managing their service sale: a customised approach and a standardised one. They differ in terms of: management of the commercial relationship; phases of interaction with the client firm; and degree of standardisation of the provided service.

Because of the applied research methodology, the findings can be generalised to TSS companies offering services in the field of nanotechnology, although implications for similar technology‐intensive sectors are discussed.

The two TSS sale management models have different implications on the client's innovation process, in terms of: firstly, structure of the process itself and, secondly, applied managerial and organisational practices. These effects should be considered by the innovator that wants to fully exploit the potentiality of the acquired service.

So far, TSS have been analysed in the literature from the client firm's point of view. The paper widens this perspective, since it considers the two opposite viewpoints in the TSS sale: the service supplier's and the service buyer's.