New roles for end-users in innovative public procurement: case study on user engaging property procurement

Improving valued outcomes of public procurement lies in user and community co-production. Applying insight from network role theory, this case study tackles challenges faced by both procurer and supplier in interacting with diverse service end-users in various procurement situations. The findings are based on interview, participant observation, and documentation data from three innovative property procurement projects. We suggest four situation-specific roles end-users adopt: conventional, cooperative, collaborative, and controlling. The article reasserts the dispute of viewing end-user’s role only through interpretation of either private-sector consumer or public-sector citizen, while a mix of both views is needed.     

False promises of co-production in neighbourhood regeneration: the case of Dutch community enterprises

Many European countries are implementing austerity measures alongside trends of welfare state retrenchment. Entrepreneurial forms of active citizenship are considered as a new form of public management to fill gaps left by spending cuts and to continue neighbourhood regeneration. Inspired by British practices, Dutch citizens are trying to set up community enterprises (CEs) to provide services or other benefits for residents in deprived neighbourhoods. Based on a qualitative panel study, this article reveals supportive responses but also resistance from local governments and housing associations. Within a positive policy discourse on co-production, institutional responses often encompass forms of ‘counter-production’ that hold CEs in full uncertainty about crucial conditions for their business.     

Co-Production and Value Co-Creation in Outcome-Based Contracting in Public Services

This paper contributes to theorizing and analysing different processes of co-production and value co-creation within outcome-based contracting (OBC). It investigates how different OBC mechanisms are implemented in practice, and with what implications for public service users’ experiences and outcomes. Using realist synthesis techniques, the paper analyses existing evaluations that focus on users’ experiences of OBC in welfare-to-work services and a homelessness project. It highlights how OBC can affect equality, effectiveness and innovation within public services. The paper also exemplifies the importance of analysing how the political and policy context of public services affects both service pathways and their outcomes.     

Impact of co-production on consumer perception of empowerment

Service-dominant logic emphasises the customer role as co-creator of value. However, there is little empirical evidence of how customers perceive and experience value co-creation from participation in service co-production. The internet and interactive websites have increased the potential for consumers to engage in co-production through increased self-service which is acknowledged to contribute to consumer empowerment. The paper explores empirically the impact of service co-production via web technology on consumer perceptions of e-empowerment. Findings suggest that e-empowerment is multidimensional comprising empowerment and disempowerment dimensions. The paper makes several contributions to services theory. Variable co-production leads to different types of empowerment/disempowerment. Value-in-use can be perceived as process value and outcome value. The findings challenge the assumption that co-production naturally leads to co-creation of value. Co-production can be a double-edged sword: for some it can be value-enhancing, whereas for others it can be value-destructing. The paper notes several implications for practice.     

实行“联产联保”创新管理有效降低油井维护作业频次

面对作业工作量居高不下、成本紧张、原油产量不足等现实，人们正在努力寻求一种以提高作业质量，减少无功低效作业井，确保完成原油产量，实现采油、作业双赢的运行新机制。文章阐述了通过采用“联产联保”创新管理方式，使得采油与作业单位双方找到最大利益结合点，达到双赢的目的。     

Distance,production, and trade

Abstract

This paper investigates the relationship between geographical distance and both the extent of trade and foreign production. Industries engaged in exporting and co-production activities across national boundaries are identified through their use of the Offshore Assembly Provisions in the US tariff code. Findings counter conventional wisdom. Trade and foreign production activities are found to drop off rapidly over the first third of the distance scale, rise over the middle portion, reach a peak in the final third, and decline thereafter. This pattern suggests frictions associated with distance can be offset by government policies and other country attributes. Management control, information and communications costs, and the ability to implement just-in-time delivery strategies may not be as distance sensitive as previously thought. Theorists should re-evaluate the role of distance in trade models and refrain from using distance as a proxy for transport costs.     

Co-production and self-service: The application of Service-Dominant Logic

Abstract

Service-Dominant Logic (S-D logic) theory and related literature is reviewed to demonstrate S-D logic's potential to provide new insights for understanding an important contemporary issue in service delivery: the application of self-service technology (SST) to customer service. S-D logic considers operant resources to be the key to gaining a competitive advantage. Consequently, the most important aspect of the application of SST is the requirement for the customer to provide the operant resource at the point of transaction. It is argued that the implementation of SST could be improved by encompassing an understanding of the resources available to the customer and the value (or lack of value) experienced by the customer in using SST. Gaps in existing knowledge are identified, particularly in relation to the application of SST in business-to-business (B2B) contexts. An agenda for further research is outlined and a range of management implications are discussed.     

网络可达性对高新技术企业知识共创的影响机理

本文分别设定知识资源为居间变量和边界条件,设定前因变量为网络可达性,设定中介变量为数字化赋能、架构知识差异性和多途径知识集聚,设定调节变量为知识存量破缺性和知识导向亲社会化影响力,选取知识共创为结果变量,构建网络可达性对知识共创影响机理的概念模型。以469份高新技术企业有效样本为研究对象,采纳Bootstrapping运算方法实证检验理论研究假设。实证结果表明:(1)网络可达性对知识共创具有显著正向影响;(2)数字化赋能、架构知识差异性与多途径知识集聚在网络可达性对知识共创的影响过程中发挥中介作用;(3)知识存量破缺性分别显著负向调节数字化赋能、架构知识差异性、多途径知识集聚与知识共创之间关系。