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1 – 10 of over 217000Nick Walsh and Ian Hall
The aim of this article is to critically review the Autism Strategy and to discuss its implications.
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this article is to critically review the Autism Strategy and to discuss its implications.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a summary and critical review of the Autism Strategy and its implementation. This includes discussion of the political context, reactions to the strategy by stakeholders, economic considerations, equity, integration across health and social care and the role of diagnostic services and specialist interventions.
Findings
The Autism Strategy Fulfilling and Rewarding Lives was published in 2010. It aimed to increase awareness of autism, establish clear pathways for diagnosis and needs assessment, promote independent living and access to work, and help the development of local services. It focuses on intended outcomes, is not prescriptive about how those aims are achieved, and relies on existing legislation such as the Disability Discrimination Act. The emphasis on accessing mainstream services may limit the development of appropriate specialist services, especially in the current economic climate. Specialist interventions that may follow diagnosis are not prioritised, even though the economic case for them has been well made by the Audit Commission. Although the Department of Health has produced “outcomes and ambitions” to measure implementation of the Strategy, local authorities are not required to measure themselves against these targets or publish their results. However, organisations such as the National Autistic Society have already developed training materials to help with implementation, and the NICE guidelines for adults with autism due in 2012 may help the development of better services.
Originality/value
This article provides new insights into the implications of the strategy for service users, service managers and healthcare professionals. Although the strategy applies to England only, the principles are of interest to stakeholders in other countries.
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Heiko Gebauer, Carlos Bravo‐Sanchez and Elgar Fleisch
The purpose of this paper is to emphasize how different service strategies are properly aligned with the external environment, and how organizational factors lead to a specific…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to emphasize how different service strategies are properly aligned with the external environment, and how organizational factors lead to a specific level of service‐related performance outcomes.
Design/methodology/approach
A multicase research design on Western‐European firms is used as the research methodology. This study answers the following three strategic questions: what typical service strategies exist that enable firms to move from products to services?; what is the appropriate alignment of the service strategies with the external environment and organizational design?; and what performance level can be achieved through the service strategies?
Findings
After‐sales service providers are faced with a high competitive intensity and their customers invest in low‐priced products. Customer support providers' market consists of customers who are looking for outstanding product quality. Development partners' customers expect specific solutions for the operating processes.
Research limitations/implications
The study focuses only on manufacturing companies in business‐to‐business markets. The findings are limited to this sector.
Practical implications
The paper assists managers in concentrating on the right triggers for implementing the service strategy.
Originality/value
Both scholars and managers tend to be somewhat vague in suggesting strategies to move along the transition line from products to services. This study identifies specific service strategies that enable manufacturing firms to shift their position on the transition line.
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The purpose of this research is to describe a theory of management strategy for libraries based on library core values. This research also determines the fundamental rules that…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this research is to describe a theory of management strategy for libraries based on library core values. This research also determines the fundamental rules that cause libraries’ innovative changes.
Methodology/approach
This research focuses on 16 detailed management cases involving US and Japanese academic and public libraries from the 1960s to the 2010s. It analyses documents related to strategic management, organisation and operations, collected through surveys and interviews with library directors and managers. Based on those case analyses, the researcher identified the strategic patterns of libraries; a strong relationship of services, organisations, core skills and knowledge and environments. Finally, a strategic management theory for libraries emerged as a result of this research.
Findings
This research constructed a theory of management strategies for libraries. It consists of four general strategies and eight specific strategies. In addition, this research also determines fundamental elements that cause strategic and innovative changes of libraries, and describes a rule for those innovative changes that dictates that library services and organisational structures follow strategy, and strategy follows media format.
Originality/value
The originality of this research is in successfully constructing the theory of management strategy for libraries based on library core values. In the library world, most librarians and researchers tend to describe library strategies based on business management theories.
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Jennifer F. Taylor, Sharon E. Beatty and Katherine J. Roberto
This paper aims to provide a better understanding of the prolonged consumption journey and how they are sustained by service providers’ use of habit-boosting strategies. Existing…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to provide a better understanding of the prolonged consumption journey and how they are sustained by service providers’ use of habit-boosting strategies. Existing research is critically evaluated, and a research agenda is provided to inspire and guide future research.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper develops a conceptual framework that integrates habit and transformative consumer intervention theories with customer journey literature to explain the role of habit in sustaining prolonged consumption journeys. Habit-boosting strategies are introduced as mechanisms for service providers to facilitate their customers’ prolonged consumption journeys.
Findings
This paper argues that habit strength is a limited operant resource that often lacks resource integration efficiency and hinders customers’ abilities to sustain prolonged consumption journeys. Four distinct habit-boosting strategies are identified that provide the potential for service providers to facilitate their customers’ prolonged consumption journeys.
Originality/value
This study presents a typology of habit-boosting strategies and a research agenda that discusses a range of practically relevant and theoretically insightful contributions.
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This study aims to examine the impact of COVID-19 on tourism and hospitality small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in an emerging country located in Latin America and…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the impact of COVID-19 on tourism and hospitality small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in an emerging country located in Latin America and identifies service innovation strategies adopted by these firms to survive a prolonged crisis.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative investigation was conducted drawing on a framework of imposed service innovation. Data were obtained from in-depth interviews with owners/managers of 20 SMEs in the hospitality and tourism sector in Chile.
Findings
Findings show that the effect of COVID-19 on SMEs includes a decline in demand due to lockdowns and restrictions, with minimal government support. Tourism and hospitality SMEs developed different service innovation strategies to confront the crisis, and several businesses were even able to exploit new opportunities for future growth.
Originality/value
The effect of COVID-19 and SMEs' service innovation strategies to confront a prolonged crisis is a topic that is largely unexplored, particularly in the tourism and hospitality sector. The findings contribute to the literature on emerging markets, crisis management and SME innovation in tourism and hospitality. The findings provide managerial implications for SME managers, governments and policymakers.
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Changli Feng, Lin Jiang, Ruize Ma and Chao Bai
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the available literature on the relationship between servitization strategy and firm performance, which identifies the main streams and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the available literature on the relationship between servitization strategy and firm performance, which identifies the main streams and theoretical foundations of research and provides guidelines for future research in this area.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper discusses the relationship between servitization strategy and manufacturing firm performance by gathering and analyzing existing research published between 1988 and 2019 through bibliometric analysis and content analysis, and then unpacking the processes and impacts servitization has on firm performance.
Findings
This paper analyzes the evolution of the concept and servitization strategy of manufacturing organizations, and the relationship between servitization strategy and manufacturing company performance. Then, the authors establish an integrated theoretical framework aimed at conveying the factors and providing a practical reference.
Practical implications
The paper establishes an integrated theoretical framework on servitization and firm performance. The results of the systematic analysis of the literature can be used to inform managers about implementing servitization. Managers need to measure the benefits of servitization from two aspects: financial performance and non-financial performance. And managers need to consider some internal and external influencing factors to achieve a strategic–environmental–organizational fit that will bring better benefits to the firm.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to the existing research in three different ways. First, the study perfects the gap of research on the range of all of the factors within the relationship between servitization strategy and manufacturing company performance. Second, the study demonstrates a clear indication of how existing studies’ differences influence the research outcomes. Third, this paper proposes research problems and future research directions.
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Mahour Mellat Parast and Adegoke Oke
In this paper, the authors draw from the concept of a “focused factory” to examine whether a focused strategy provides superior performance over a non-focused strategy in firms…
Abstract
Purpose
In this paper, the authors draw from the concept of a “focused factory” to examine whether a focused strategy provides superior performance over a non-focused strategy in firms experiencing service disruptions.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors test their hypotheses using panel data of the US domestic airline industry from 1998 to 2019.
Findings
Overall, the study findings show that a focused strategy provides superior financial performance over a non-focused strategy in both stable environments and unpredictable environments. The authors also find that the effect of service disruptions on profitability is less pronounced for firms following a focused strategy. This shows that focused firms need to grow over time to sustain profitability. Their post hoc analysis shows that for a non-focused strategy (but not for a focused strategy), firm size moderates the effect of service disruptions on profitability. This suggests that a firm pursuing a non-focused strategy can mitigate the negative effect of service disruptions by increasing its size.
Originality/value
This is the first study that examines the effectiveness of the focused strategy in mitigating service disruptions. The results provide further support for the effectiveness of the focused strategy in responding to service disruptions in service organizations.
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Chris Storey and Frank M. Hull
Contingency theory suggests that effective strategies and structures are not universal but dependant upon situational factors. The purpose of this paper is to explore how the way…
Abstract
Purpose
Contingency theory suggests that effective strategies and structures are not universal but dependant upon situational factors. The purpose of this paper is to explore how the way service firms compete acts as a strategic contingency, moderating the effect of a new service development (NSD) system on innovation performance. Two knowledge‐based strategies are tested as contingency factors. One strategy adds value for customers via the delivery of personalized knowledge‐based services; the other strategy adds value by services exploiting codified knowledge.
Design/methodology/approach
A sample of 70 large service enterprises is used to test a contingency model of service innovation. The NSD system is a synergistic meld of basic building blocks of NSD systems: people organized cross‐functionally, the discipline of formal processes for guiding development activities, and the deployment of enabling tools/technologies. Regression analysis is used to test the relative impact of these three elements on innovation performance contingent on the type of knowledge strategy employed.
Findings
While each element of the NSD system has an effect on performance, the optimal design is contingent on the strategy the firm employs. If firms enact a personalization strategy, NSD systems that score high in the deployment of cross‐functional organization and disciplined processes are higher performers. If firms emphasize a codification strategy, NSD systems that score high in the deployment of tools/technologies are higher performers. Combinations of the two kinds of strategy permit the construction of a four‐cell classification of service firms. This typology is used to further explore the implications for how managers design NSD systems to optimize performance.
Originality/value
This paper uses a contingency approach to demonstrate that an optimal NSD system is dependent upon the type of knowledge strategy firms deploy. The impact on performance of three components of NSD depends on the degree of either codification and/or personalization in the service offering. A novel approach based on the knowledge management literature is employed creating a typology of service firm strategies. This is the first time such a typology has been postulated.
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Charles Blankson, Seth Ketron and Joseph Darmoe
The purpose of this paper is to investigate employment of positioning strategies in the retail bank sector of Sub-Saharan Africa, specifically using Ghana as the study context. In…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate employment of positioning strategies in the retail bank sector of Sub-Saharan Africa, specifically using Ghana as the study context. In addition, it explores the applicability of western-based typology of positioning strategies in the Sub-Saharan African environment.
Design/methodology/approach
Six retail banks – three national and three foreign – are studied, each through an in-depth case study method: covert and participant observation techniques; and face-to-face interviews of chief executive officers, marketing managers, and bank branch managers provided data for the study.
Findings
The results show that the “service” positioning strategy is the most popular strategy employed by retail banks. “Value for money,” “attractiveness,” “brand name,” and “country of origin” positioning strategies are also dominant. “Top of the range” and “selectivity” strategies are minimally pursued by the sample of banks studied. The results reveal that both foreign and national retail banks employ multiple positioning strategies in the face of competition. However, foreign retail banks consistently employ a; large number of strategies relative to national retail banks. This paper supports the applicability of a western-derived set of positioning strategies in the Sub-Saharan African marketplace.
Research limitations/implications
This study closes a gap in the understanding of positioning, as well as filling the empirical gap in the application of positioning. In addition, it helps resolve a contextual gap of knowledge in Sub-Saharan Africa’s retail banking sector.
Originality/value
This study responds to Porter (1996), Clancy and Trout (2002), and Knox (2004) for continued empirical research in positioning in service industries and specifically in Sub-Saharan African economies (Coffie, 2014, 2016; Coffie and Owusu-Frimpong, 2014). Moreover, this research adds value to the banking and marketing literatures through a qualitative case study method, which is an important yet overlooked research method (Yin, 2009).
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Patti Miles, Grant Miles and Alan Cannon
The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between firm service characteristics and customer satisfaction as moderated by firm competitive strategy. Specifically…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between firm service characteristics and customer satisfaction as moderated by firm competitive strategy. Specifically, this research utilizes Porter's depiction of generic competitive strategy to explain the strength of the relationship between a service's particular servicescape choices and customer satisfaction.
Design/methodology/approach
The empirical data for this research were obtained from 1,287 customers of ten service organizations representing three industry segments. Multiple regression analysis is utilized to test three hypotheses that propose firm competitive strategy moderates the strength of the relationship between service characteristics and customer satisfaction.
Findings
The results support the assertion that firm competitive strategy has an impact on the strength of the relationship between customer satisfaction and servicescape characteristics. Of note, these findings indicate that the payoff for investment in physical surroundings differs depending on firm competitive strategy.
Practical implications
The results point to the importance of aligning firm strategy and operational decisions when seeking to maximize customer satisfaction. Decision makers benefit from understanding how strategy matters in service operational choices.
Originality/value
The paper makes connections across academic disciplines to highlight the importance of linking firm competitive strategy with service operation choices to enhance customer satisfaction. The model developed here, supported with empirical results, provides insights for both researchers and practitioners regarding the value of investment in service‐related activities.
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