Customers’ intention to adopt smart lockers in last-mile delivery service: A multi-theory perspective

Many logistics service providers are now adjusting their business service strategies to satisfy consumers' higher demands and expectations. An automated parcel locker for self-pickup is one of the options; however, there is currently no smart locker service available in Thailand. This study integrates resource matching theory, innovation diffusion theory, and theory of planned behavior to clarify Thai consumers' intention to utilize smart lockers. The data for this study were received from 302 participants living in Thailand. Convenience, reliability, privacy security, compatibility, relative advantage, complexity, perceived behavioral control, and attitude were included in the questionnaire to test if they were significant determinants of consumers' intention to use smart lockers. The results reveal that convenience, reliability, privacy security, compatibility, relative advantage, complexity, perceived behavioral control, and attitude influence Thai consumers’ intention to use smart lockers. This study contributes to the literature on combining resource matching theory, innovation diffusion theory, and theory of planned behavior; this enriches theoretical research on self-service technologies in last-mile logistics delivery, and also provides insights for consumer behavioral research.     

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.     

The moderating effect of innovation protection mechanisms on the competitiveness of service firms

This empirical study examines the effectiveness of innovation protection mechanisms (IPMs) in capturing returns from innovation in service firms. To identify their effects, we set five types of IPMs (patents, other intellectual property rights, speed to market, secrecy, and complementary resources) as a moderator of the relationships between the innovation and firm competitiveness. Through a sample of service firms from the Korean Innovation Survey, the results of this study indicated that firm competitiveness cannot be influenced by service innovation alone but rather it is influenced by service innovation used in conjunction with IPMs other than patents. The results contribute to understanding innovation protection strategies for better competitiveness of service firms.     

Why do firms seek to share human resource management knowledge? The importance of inter-firm networks

This study untangles the social processes and inter-firm mechanisms underlying human resource management (HRM) knowledge networks. The research questions serve to advance understanding of why HRM knowledge flows between firms under contractual relationships and in the absence of formal relationships. The study analyzes data from a complete network of 51 high-technology firms located in a science and technology park to report the structural properties and relational dimensions of inter-firm flow of HRM knowledge. The results from this social network analysis show that the firms in the study actively engage in the sharing of HRM knowledge. Specifically, the results not only indicate the preeminence of formal ties but also of relational factors relating to firm legitimacy, prestige, and collaborative interaction. Participation in inter-firm knowledge networks appears to be an effective tool for obtaining HRM knowledge as well as for enhancing legitimacy and prestige between firms and developing trust and reciprocity within collaborative relationships.     

From new-product development to commercialization through networks

The research on research and development (R&D) networks is plentiful but network relations in commercialization of innovations attract surprisingly little attention. This study analyzes how firms combine resources and utilize their relations in order to ensure the success of their innovations. The theoretical basis combines literature on innovation, industrial networks, and innovation networks. The study includes two cases on commercialization networks. The results indicate that an innovating firm needs resources to engage in customer education, distribution, marketing communication, relationship mediation, and credibility building when moving from R&D tasks to commercialization tasks. To acquire these resources, the firm needs to experience changes in network relations. Accordingly, the innovating firm needs particular commercialization competence in terms of accessing, mobilizing, and organizing relational resources.     

Different determinants at different times: B2B adoption of a radical innovation

This research aims to empirically determine which factors best explain business to business adoption of a radical, high-tech innovation early in the diffusion process. Early lifecycle data collection provides insights about the differences in determinants of adoption at different times in the product diffusion process. The results indicate that differences do exist between the determinants of early adoption, intent to adopt later, and unawareness of the innovation. The influencers of earliest adopters appear to be innovation-focused: the perceived benefits of the innovation as well as the strength of the producer network positively relate to early adoption; early adopters also tend to perceive the technology in the innovation as less different than previous technology than do those who intend to adopt later. The influence of a champion within the adopting firm, the ability of the firm to sense and respond to new technology, and the depth of technology knowledge within the adopting firm are significant influencers across multiple stages of diffusion, showing that firm-internal traits are particularly important influencers of adoption. Laggard firms are missing the critical firm traits that lead to information gathering and understanding of innovations. In addition to contributing to adoption research theory and methodology, this research has implications for innovation-marketing and innovation-adopting firms.     

Relational Norms in Interfirm Exchanges: From Transactional Cost Economics to the Service-Dominant Logic

Purpose: This article investigates the implication and importance of the service-dominant (S-D) logic to the increasingly relevant study and practice of Interorganizational relational exchange. It points out that relational exchange theory (norms) is an earlier reflection of the S-D logic. Recognizing a need for the transactional cost economics (TCE) framework to address bilateral or hybrid types of exchanges, marketing channel researchers have for over twenty years incorporated relational exchange theory (RET) and TCE to investigate problems of formal contract, environmental uncertainty, power/dependency, and opportunism. However, some theoreticians view relational modes of exchange to be broader in scope than that studied within TCE. We propose a conceptual framework that incorporates TCE constructs with S-D logic principles in order to provide a rich contemporary guide for future relational exchange research and practice.

Methodology/Approach: We first expose the essential elements of the S-D logic and describe relational exchange theory and the problems generated by TCE. Database searches reveal a continuous stream of fifty empirical studies between 1988 and 2009 in which Macneil's relational norms were operationalized in the context of interfirm exchanges. The studies are analyzed from the viewpoint of TCE and the emerging S-D logic. The empirical findings were also discussed in terms of their contribution to validating a fundamental premise of the S-D logic. Subsequently, using S-D logic's conception of operant resources, we suggest several avenues for developing questions and conducting future relational norms research.

Empirical Findings: The findings validate the fundamental assumption of S-D logic, that relational exchange is instrumental in the co-creation of value (exchange performance) whether service is rendered directly or indirectly through goods or a combination of both. Exchange performance is better when the formal contract exists within a relational context. Relational exchange is effective in contexts of both high and low environmental uncertainty, may attenuate the negative effects of power/dependency differences and mitigate opportunistic behavior.

Originality/Value/Contribution: This article is a comprehensive review of relational norms research. It links the empirical findings conducted within the combined conceptual approaches of relational exchange theory and the TCE framework. It provides a comprehensive discussion of the essentials of the S-D logic and its compatibility with previous relational norm research. It outlines an S-D logic inspired framework for future research linking operant resources (knowledge, skills, and technology) to relational norms, facilitators of service-for-service, and value co-creation in interorganizational exchange networks.     

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.     

Should service firms introduce algorithmic advice to their existing customers? The moderating effect of service relationships

An increasing number of service firms are introducing algorithmic advice to their customers. In this research, we examine the introduction of such tools from a relational perspective and show that the type of relationship a customer has with a service firm moderates his or her response to algorithmic advice. Studies 1 and 2 find that customers in communal relationships are more reluctant to use algorithmic advice instead of human advice than customers in exchange relationships. Study 3 shows that offering customers algorithmic advice may harm communal relationships but not exchange relationships. Building on these findings, Studies 4, 5, and 6 examine how firms can mitigate the potentially negative relational consequences of algorithmic advice. While a fallback option that signals that customers can request additional human advice if needed is effective in preventing relational damages in communal relationships, this same intervention backfires in exchange relationships. These findings have important implications by showing that managers need to consider the relational consequences of introducing algorithmic advice to existing customers.     

Consumer Adoption of Mobile Internet Services: An Exploratory Study

This study provides a framework that captures the antecedents of mobile internet adoption and the willingness to pay for such service. The theory of reasoned action and components of a theory of innovation adoption were integrated into a research model of consumer adoption of the mobile internet. The hypothesized model included service quality perceptions (fixed internet and mobile technology service), beliefs about mobile internet, and individual difference variables to explain intention to adopt mobile internet. An online questionnaire was used to gather data. The results showed that beliefs and quality perceptions play a significant role in influencing intentions to adopt mobile internet. In particular, beliefs about mobile internet are positively related to the adoption; quality perceptions of fixed internet are found significant to negatively influence adoption intentions, but positively relate to willingness to pay for using mobile internet. Mobile service usage, and peer influence are found non-significant to influence adoption intentions. Fixed internet usage was found negatively affect adoption intentions. Computer skills, knowledge of mobile internet and career mobility are all found positively related to the adoption. In addition, innovation driven consumers are more likely to adopt mobile internet, and intention to adopt plays an important role in shaping actual mobile internet use. Implications of results and directions for future research are examined.     

The study of service innovation for digiservice on loyalty

Advocates of management of service innovation see this area as a new and promising research field. As services are increasingly becoming driving forces of economies, the introduction of new services to satisfy customer needs is becoming a critical issue for managers. This research attempts to address the consumer issue of service innovation. The research entails a comprehensive study of the impacts of service innovation on consumer loyalty in the digiservice context. The study examines service innovation loyalty from the consumer perspective; namely, technology leadership, service leadership, switching cost, brand equity, and customization. Personal interview data from 475 consumers provides the data for empirical hypothesis testing of the relationships between variables. The conceptual model investigates the relevant relationships among the constructs by using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM). Findings from the research sample support the argument that technology leadership, service leadership, brand equity, and customization are the key determinants of loyalty. The paper also includes a discussion on the theoretical and managerial implications of the research findings.     

Managing innovation and creativity in organizations: an empirical study of service industries in Taiwan

This study proposes a non-recursive model based on Amabile’s (Res Organ Behav 10:123–167, 1988) componential theory of organizational creativity and innovation to explain how resources, management practices, organizational motivation, expertise, creativity skills, and intrinsic motivation affect innovation and creativity in organizations. Based on the results of a longitudinal survey, with 586 leader–follower dyadic data drawn from firms in the service industries in Taiwan, we found that resources, management practices, and organizational motivation have unique positive direct effects on innovation, while expertise, creativity skills, and intrinsic motivation have unique positive direct effects on creativity. Most important of all, the results of this empirical study provide evidence for the reciprocal relationship between organizational innovation and creativity in the service context. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.     

Generalizations on consumer innovation adoption: A meta-analysis on drivers of intention and behavior

Previous research has shown that consumer intentions to adopt innovations are often poor predictors of adoption behavior. An important reason for this may be that the evaluative criteria consumers use in both stages of the adoption process weigh differently. Using construal level theory, we develop expectations on the influence of innovation characteristics across the intention and behavior stages of the adoption process. Using meta-analysis, we derive generalizations on drivers of intentions and actual innovation adoption behavior. The results show important differences across both stages. Consumers show higher levels of adoption intention for innovations that are more complex, better match their needs, and involve lower uncertainty. However, consumers are found to actually adopt innovations with less complexity and higher relative advantages. Adopter demographics are found to explain little variance in adoption intention and behavior, whereas adopter psychographics are found to be influential in both stages. These findings have implications for innovation adoption theory, for managers involved in new product and service marketing, and for future research on innovation adoption.     

Global supply network embeddedness and power: An analysis of international joint venture formations

As a subset of the international business literature, cross-border equity based partnerships have drawn significant academic attention. In the context of inter-firm partnerships, the power dynamics between parties and the implications that power has on the relational dynamics between firms is an important consideration. Research that connects power with network theory has recently emerged, suggesting that the network, as a source of power, plays a significant role in inter-firm dynamics. Yet, while there has been a substantial body of work either articulating the antecedents and consequences of power, little research has paid attention to the role that power plays in international JV formations; this presents a significant gap in the international business literature. Consequently, this study investigates the role that global network structure plays in the formation of new equity based international partnerships. Secondly, it contributes to the international JV literature by developing and testing a theoretical framework that examines inter-firm power dynamics as derived from the network position of each firm in the global network. Global network prominence, brokerage and weakness are key factors utilized in the analysis. The hypotheses are tested using a global manufacturing joint venture longitudinal dataset that contains 985,689 observations from 1985 to 2003. The results of the event history analysis indicate that for the manufacturer global network prominence, brokerage and weakness play an important role in new joint venture formations. On the other hand, only global network prominence is a significant factor for the potential partner.     

The evolution of service innovation research: a critical review and synthesis

The number of service innovation articles has increased dramatically in the past 25 years. By reviewing 128 articles published between 1986 and 2010, primarily in leading marketing and innovation journals, this study analyzes the progression of service innovation research according to topicality and perspective. The authors summarize prior research by clustering it into three evolutional phases and drawing parallels with the evolution of the wider services marketing field. Overall, the view of service innovation has evolved, from a complement of traditional product innovation to a multidimensional, all-encompassing notion that entails several functions, both within and outside the firm.     

不同竞合关系与企业创新选择互动演化研究

通过分析企业间的四种竞合关系如何影响企业开展渐进创新和突变创新,本文提出了基于不同创新选择的企业间两种竞合关系的构建策略。研究结果表明:孤立型的竞合关系使得企业更倾向于渐进创新而不是突变创新;斗争型的竞合关系使得企业更倾向于渐进创新而不是突变创新;伙伴型的竞合关系使得企业更倾向于突变创新而不是渐进创新;适应型的竞合关系使得企业更倾向于突变创新而不是渐进创新,同时专注于渐进创新的企业应当构建有利的竞争主导型的企业间竞合关系;专注于突变创新的企业应当通过构建有利的合作主导型的企业间竞合关系。     

Selecting a marketing strategy for private hotels in Taiwan using the analytic hierarchy process

Grounded in the resource-based view (RBV) of the firm to competitive advantage, the current study attempts to identify specific resources and capabilities of small ventures by focusing on private hotels and by doing so develops an evaluation framework of marketing strategy in a service industry within its unique conditions. Given the complexity and difficulty of utilizing allocated specific and limited resources with a marketing strategy toward a competitive advantage for private hotels the purpose of the current study is to employ the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method to select a competitive marketing strategy for private hotels. After reviewing theory and research on competitive advantage in general and in the service industry in particular, the resources and capabilities are identified as managerial capabilities, customer-linking capabilities, market innovation capabilities, human resource assets, and reputational assets. Finally, the findings indicate that the differentiation strategy is the best strategy for private hotels. The study emphasizes the importance of allocating specific and limited resources and capabilities to evaluate and select an appropriate marketing strategy so as to capture a sustainable competitive advantage.     

A bricolage perspective on service innovation

Service innovation is often viewed as a process of accessing the necessary resources, (re)combining them, and converting them into new services. The current knowledge on success factors for service innovation, such as formalized new service development (NSD) processes, predominantly comes from studying large firms with a relatively stable resource base. However, this neglect situations in which organizations face severe resource constraints. This paper argues that under such constraints, a formalized new service development process could be counter-productive and a bricolage perspective might better explain service innovation in resource-constrained environments. In this conceptual paper, we propose that four critical bricolage capabilities (addressing resource scarcity actively, making do with what is available, improvising when recombining resources, and networking with external partners) influence service innovation outcomes. Empirical illustrations from five organizations substantiate our conceptual development. Our discussion leads to a framework and four testable propositions that can guide further service research.     

Impact of actual service provider failure on the satisfaction with aggregator

The purpose of the paper is to investigate the impact of the failure caused by the actual service provider on consumer satisfaction with the aggregator firm, where the aggregator firm works as a bridge between the consumers and the actual service providers using technology, resources, information etc., thus reducing the information search cost, process-related costs, and quality risks for the consumers. We have applied retrospective experience sampling to collect data and used structural equation modeling to validate the conceptual model of the study. We found that people consider the actual service provider’s failure as the aggregator firm’s responsibility when the attributional factors (control and stability) are strong. Moreover, when consumers perceive that the aggregator firm is responsible, they will ask for less punishment of the actual service provider and more monetary compensation. Additionally, severity of the failure increases the consumer’s recovery expectations. However, the sense of power of the consumers leads to increasing expectations of punishment of actual service provider and decreasing expectations of monetary compensation. Lastly, the actual monetary compensation or actual punishment of the service provider leads to higher level of satisfaction for the consumers. We discussed the implications of the results in the light of relationship management and service recovery design of aggregator firms.     

EFFECTS OF ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING IN THIRD‐PARTY LOGISTICS

Logistics service providers operate in an intense competitive environment that requires continuous improvement in logistics service quality and firm performance. Key organizational resources may contribute toward the improvement in performance of logistics service providers. This paper investigates the effect of organizational learning within logistics service providers on client relationship orientation, logistics service quality and firm performance. The study proposes and examines an original concept in logistics research that contributes to theory in the area, provides the opportunity for further research and addresses how organizational resources can contribute to performance in logistics.