Service providers’ sustainable service innovation: service-dominant logic

This study examined the service innovation in different service providers with multiple case-study approach. From the perspective of service-dominant logic, four service innovation development models can be distinguished in Technology Development Program companies in Taiwan, including service system integrator and niche market, innovative service solution provider and niche market, innovative service solution provider and mass market, and service system integrator and mass market. Service providers develop ICT platforms, customer relationship management systems, community commerce services, and multi-channel services that are appropriate for a specific industry. On the one hand, active improvement of ICT service system integration extends company capabilities toward external cooperative partners through the provision of integrated product services and comprehensive solutions. On the other hand, innovative service solutions optimize consumer experience and customer relationship management and improve business effectiveness and reduce operations costs due to an important role assigned to services and experience in product sales.     

中国旅游投资:规模、方向与价值

中国旅游业直接投资呈加速发展趋势,综合投资数额庞大,企业的旅游投资处于景气区间,旅游企业已成为证券市场上的一个重要板块。从趋势看,旅游投资环境良好,国民旅游市场、区域旅游发展与创新是旅游投资关注的重点。投资者除了关注投资回报之外,也应关注人民大众的需求,并以此理念在旅游领域开展资本运作。     

Impact of Market Orientation and ICT on the Performance of Rural Smaller Service Enterprises*

Market orientation (MO) is considered as a competitive strategy for the smaller service enterprises based in rural locations. A model is proposed and validated for the rural tourism sector that encompasses the effects of MO and of the use of information and communications technology (ICT) on business activity, taking into account the business's financial results, improvements to the rural location, and the more personal, intangible impact on the local entrepreneur. ICT is found to have a positive impact on MO and outcomes, whereas, similarly, the adoption of MO is found to have a positive effect on outcomes.     

The Congruence of Successful International Competitors:

This paper examines the marketing strategies and organization of a matched triad of American, British and Japanese companies competing in the UK market. The sample includes leading companies in industries identified as being under threat by the EC. The relative success of business was measured and strategies identified using multiple depth interviews with senior managers within the businesses. The strategies of successful companies were found to be similar and not dependent on their country of origin or industrial sector. The most successful companies had a balance of marketing, innovation, planning and entrepeneurial orientation. More of these successful firms were Japanese than American, and very few were British.     

Cross-Sector Competition in Telecommunications

Cross-sector competition in the information and communications technology sectors (ICT sectors) constitutes a key strategic challenge for telecommunications companies. Due to increasing convergence, value creation is resulting in a greater degree of interaction. The diversification potential of telecommunications businesses is therefore changing with respect to associated ICT sectors, such as hardware, software and media. The article analyses cross-sector competition in the telecommunications industry on the basis of the diversification activities of ICT companies. A concentration of competitive interdependence in the ICT sectors is demonstrated using a cluster analysis of 34,142 companies. The cross-sector activities of telecommunications companies are investigated using contingency and dependency analyses, and the diversification-related competition in the telecommunications sector is also analysed. With regard to the telecommunications sector, particularly high level cross-sector competition with the media industry is identified, as well as strong diversification activities in the software sector. The results are used to derive the potentials and risks that have a significant bearing on the structure of the cross-sector competitive environment of telecommunications companies.     

Market orientation, competitive advantage, and performance: A demand-based perspective

This study assesses how customer value affects a firm's market orientation and consequently, competitive advantage and organizational performance in a service industry — the global hotel industry. The findings show that if a firm perceives its customers as valuing service, the firm is more likely to adopt both a customer and a competitor orientation; if the firm thinks its customers are price sensitive, the firm tends to develop a competitor orientation. Moreover, the greater a firm's customer orientation, the more the firm is able to develop a competitive advantage based on innovation and market differentiation. In contrast, a competitor orientation has a negative effect on a firm's market differentiation advantage. Finally, innovation and market differentiation advantages lead to greater market performance (e.g., perceived quality, customer satisfaction) and in turn, higher financial performance (e.g., profit, market share).     

The client as co-manufacturer and environmental entrepreneur: a research agenda

The purpose of this article is to detect issues of greatest interest and to establish a proposal that can be used as a basis to study the client's environmental entrepreneurship in service sector companies. The study is based on the existing literature on service innovation and the bibliography dedicated to environmental management specific to these innovations. This study poses a few questions that, together with many others, must be addressed in the future. These studies will inevitably contribute to improve the environmental performance of service companies.     

Innovation source,advancement stage and company stock returns

The purpose of this paper was to measure the short- and long-term impact of innovation announcements on the stock returns of service companies. In order to study the predictors of the abnormal stock returns, the study takes the adoption and diffusion theory as its conceptual background. The research was based on an event study and buy-and-hold methods. It encompassed 398 announcements released for 121 companies in EU member states between February 2011 and December 2016. The study deepens the dialogue on the role of the source of innovation and its advancement stage. It indicates a positive market reaction to high innovation advancement stage announcements in comparison to low advancement stage ones. Furthermore, it suggests a positive market reaction to in-house development in comparison to collaborative development and copying. Finally, the research signals that the innovation advancement stage complements its source by clarifying its relationship with abnormal market value changes.     

Strategies for ICT product diffusion: the case of the Korean mobile communications market

The purpose of this study was to analyze the mobile communications market before and after saturation and to discuss the changes in diffusion factors by the ICT generations in order to understand the effects of overshooting and innovations. According to the analysis, (1) the expansion of ICT products is increasingly influenced by innovation due to overshooting occurs after market saturation, (2) SNS, a topic of intense contemporary significance, impacts the spread of ICT products by creating social networks, and (3) as the technology generation progresses, the innovation effect increases and the imitation effect decreases for ICT product spreading. These results imply that technology innovation is the most important strategy for ICT product distribution. Because post-adopters have a high desire to consume new ICT products, technological innovation can cause demand among post-adopters.     

How to Make Higher Education Institutions Innovative: An Application of Market Orientation Practices

In the present era, higher education is considered a booming and significantly contributing sector to the economy of many countries. Due to the intense competition prevailing in the higher education sector, higher education institutions need to become market oriented and innovate in courses, delivery methods and student support services. Consequently, they could meet increasing expectations placed on them for quality of education and support services. The main aim of this study is to investigate the influence of both market orientation and its dimensions, on innovation in higher education institutions. This study also considered the age of the faculty a moderator to these influences. The sample comprised 270 managers and course cordinators attached to faculties, schools or units in Sri Lankan higher education institutions. The surveys were administered for data collection. The study has several contributions to the literature- all the three dimensions of market orientation, significantly and positively influenced innovation in higher education institutions. The age of the faculty significantly moderated the influence of both market orientation and its dimensions (Intelligence Generation and Responsiveness), on innovation. This study also expand the focus of theory of six sigma by applying it from market orientation and customer orientation perspectives. Finally, this study has modified items measuring several constructs to suit the higher education context which can be used by future researchers. From the findings, several practical implications are given to officials in higher education institutions for innovating in courses, delivery methods and support services. The article concludes with many useful directions for future researchers.     

The impact of service innovation on firm performance

This study empirically examines the impact of service innovation on performance in developing countries such as China. We construct a more integrative model linking service innovation, service quality and performance and collect 277 samples in the Chinese tourism sector. The findings are: First, service innovation affects firm performance through direct and indirect paths where service quality plays a positive mediating role, and the direct impact is larger than the indirect one; Secondly, the innovation mode is cost-reductive, which focuses on eliminating internal cost rather than improving service quality; Third, the assessment of service quality emphasizes the dimensions of assurance and reliability.     

When are strategic orientations beneficial for collaborative service innovation?

Despite the importance of collaborative innovation, the existing literature tends to be somewhat vague in identifying when strategic orientations are beneficial for service innovation between a focal firm and its business partners. The purpose of this study is to examine the relative effects of four strategic orientations (market, service, interaction, and learning) on collaborative service innovation performance, while considering the contextual factor of service offerings (basic installed base, maintenance, operational, and professional). Results based on survey data from 362 paired B2B firms show that learning orientation has the strongest effect on collaborative service innovation performance, and is the most effective for basic installed base services and maintenance services. In contrast, interaction orientation best supports those firms with operational services, while market and service orientations are more effective for professional services. Managers are advised to consider alternative strategic orientations individually aligned with service offerings to achieve desired collaborative service innovation outcomes.     

Acculturation and the influence of ethnicity on market orientation of African and Caribbean companies in Britain

Since acculturation is the process of acquiring the customs of an alternative society we assume that adapting to consumers from various cultures will be a fundamental task for African and Caribbean (A&C) companies in Britain. This study investigates market orientation of A&C service companies and their processes of cultural learning and adaptation using ethnicity as a basis for an exploratory study of the British market. The findings indicate that A&C companies serve as bicultural mediators, both accommodating their consumers and working to alter their consumption patterns to bring them into line with their own ethnic and British national market customs. The adaptation of A&C service companies to the cultural characteristics and needs of their customers results in changes to their companies, consumers and the British marketplace.     

The Precautionary Principle as a Framework for a Sustainable Information Society

The precautionary principle (PP) aims to anticipate and minimize potentially serious or irreversible risks under conditions of scientific uncertainty. Thus it preserves the potential for future developments. It has been incorporated into many international treaties and pieces of national legislation for environmental protection and sustainable development. In this article, we outline an interpretation of the PP as a framework of orientation for a sustainable information society. Since the risks induced by future information and communication technologies (ICT) are social risks for the most part, we propose to extend the PP from mainly environmental to social subjects of protection. From an ethical point of view, the PP and sustainability share the principle of intergenerational justice, which can be used as an argument to preserve free space for the decisions of future generations. Applied to technical innovation and to ICT issues in particular, the extended PP can serve as a framework of orientation to avoid socio-economically irreversible developments. We conclude that the PP is a useful approach for: (i) policy makers to reconcile information society and sustainability policies and (ii) ICT companies to formulate sustainability strategies.     

市场导向、组织学习创新及组织绩效:基于珠江三角洲企业的实证研究

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships among market orientation, learning orientation, organizational innovation and organizational performance through a structural equation modeling approach. This study uses a sample of 143 companies in the Pearl River Delta region of China. Results show that (1) market orientation has no positive direct impact on organizational performance; (2) market orientation has a direct impact on learning orientation; (3) learning orientation has a direct impact on administrative and technical innovation; (4) market orientation has a direct impact on organizational innovation by learning orientation; (5) administrative innovation has a positive direct impact on organizational performance while technical innovation does not impact on organizational performance directly; (6) technical innovation has a positive impact on administrative innovation; (7) learning orientation has an indirect impact on organizational performance through influencing organizational innovation; (8) market orientation has impact on learning orientation, which has an impact on organizational innovation, which in turn has an impact on organizational performance. Managerial implications are discussed, along with suggestions for further research. Translated from Guanli Shijie 管理世界 (Management World), 2006, (2): 80–94, 143     

Frontline service employees’ customer-related social stressors, emotional exhaustion, and service recovery performance: customer orientation as a moderator

This study investigates the structural relationships among customer-related social stressors (disproportionate customer expectation, ambiguous customer expectation, disliked customers, and customers?? verbal aggression), emotional exhaustion, and service recovery performance, with customer orientation (CO) serving as a moderator between customer-related social stressors and emotional exhaustion as well as emotional exhaustion and service recovery performance. The study uses data collected from a survey of 1,014 frontline service employees in Korea??s tourism service sectors. The results indicate that customer-related social stressors positively influence emotional exhaustion; emotional exhaustion negatively influences service recovery performance; and CO acts as a moderator. CO moderates both the effects of customer-related social stressors on emotional exhaustion and those of emotional exhaustion on service recovery performance, by weakening the effects for higher CO employees. This study contributes to both theory and practice by combining the four constructs of customer-related social stressors, emotional exhaustion, service recovery performance, and CO in addition to examining their relationships while focusing on customer-related factors.     

Inter-organizational information systems adoption for service innovation in building sector

The building sector has experienced a significant decline in recent years in Spain and Europe as a result of the financial crisis that began in 2007. This drop accompanies a low penetration of information and communication technologies in inter-organizational oriented business processes. The market decrease is causing a slowdown in the building sector, where only flexible small and medium enterprises (SMEs) survive thanks to specialization and innovation in services, which allow them to face new market demands. Inter-organizational information systems (IOISs) support innovation in services, and are thus a strategic tool for SMEs to obtain competitive advantage. Because of the inherent complexity of IOIS adoption, this research extends Kurnia and Johnston's (2000) theoretical model of IOIS adoption with an empirical model of IOIS characterization. The resultant model identifies the factors influencing IOIS adoption in SMEs in the building sector, to promote further service innovation for competitive and collaborative advantages. An empirical longitudinal study over six consecutive years using data from Spanish SMEs in the building sector validates the model, using the partial least squares technique and analyzing temporal stability. The main findings of this research are the four ways an IOIS might contribute to service innovation in the building sector. Namely: a) improving client interfaces and the link between service providers and end users; b) defining a specific market where SMEs can develop new service concepts; c) enhancing the service delivery system in traditional customer–supplier relationships; and d) introducing information and communication technologies and tools to improve information management.     

How to encourage social innovations: a resource-based approach

During the last decade, social innovation has emerged as an outstanding topic for scholars, businesses, and public institutions. This growing interest is due to its potential positive effects on well-being and sustainable development. This study analyzes social innovation under the umbrella of the transformative service research framework. Adopting a resource-based perspective, the research attempts to determine whether the deployment in service organizations of two types of factors that support dynamic capabilities, i.e. internal market orientation, and information and communication technology competence, impacts the extent to which these organizations develop different kinds of product, process, marketing, and organizational social innovations. The study also assesses the impact of these innovation activities on the organization's transformational performance in terms of increased access to new targets. Empirical research is based on a two-step survey to a sample of Spanish nonprofits (particularly, a representative sample of foundations), since the nonprofit sector provides services that possess inherent transformational characteristics. Results confirm the expected positive effects of these two factors on social innovation and performance, and provide several guidelines for implementing social innovations in service industries.     

A multi-sector comparison of relational learning and information and communication technologies adoption

This paper analyses the nature of the impact of relational learning on the adoption of information and communication technologies (ICT) and vice versa. The authors investigate the implementation of ICT through a relational learning process by means of an empirical investigation of 203 small- and medium-sized enterprises in the Spanish telecommunication and the Spanish construction industries (107 firms from the telecommunications sector and 96 from the construction sector). In the analysis, it is proposed that the relational learning process can be structured into three phases (transfer, transformation, and harvesting of knowledge). Structural equation modelling reveals that, in order to implement these relational learning phases, companies need to provide and support ICT as prior steps and this is most significant for those in the telecommunications sector. These results have implications for managers when they come to formulating policies and making a choice as to the organisational capabilities to target in order to ensure the effective adoption of ICT.     

Consumers as innovators in the electricity sector? Consumer perceptions on smart grid services

This article assesses the possibilities of using consumer innovation in the electricity sector, which is slow‐moving, yet faced with huge challenges and opportunities to become “smart” and “low carbon.” We study the benefits of engaging innovative consumers (“lead users”) in product, service, and business innovation in terms of (a) the capacity of lead user‐consumers to innovate in the highly regulated electricity market, (b) the attractiveness of such lead‐user generated ideas for mainstream consumers, (c) the usefulness of lead‐user engagement for companies in the energy industry, and (d) the usefulness of lead user engagement for the necessary broader societal transition processes. We conclude that consumers can stimulate industry‐wide innovation even in challenging contexts like “smart” and “low‐carbon” solutions and the highly regulated energy industry. Lead user‐consumers can also articulate societal and social responsibility concerns that are relevant for the entire market.