Value co-creation in early stage new product-service system development

This is the final version. It was first published by Linköping University Electronic Press at http://www.ep.liu.se/ecp_article/index.en.aspx?issue=067;article=030.The need to develop systems that comprise medical equipment and services to improve healthcare service efficiency and availability has become a pertinent concern in developed countries, as governments continue to focus on controlling healthcare expenditure. This research intends to explore value co-creation with multiple stakeholders at early stage new product-service system (PSS) development in regulated industries such as the medical equipment industry. This paper identifies the literature gap of stakeholder involvement in the process of new PSS development and compares the identified gap with the experience of industry practitioners. The fields relevant to the research focus are described and the characteristics of a new PSS are proposed as the basis of the research. This paper concludes with an initial proposition, that there is a need for an holistic approach to new PSS development and to have early multiple stakeholder input

Characterizing product-service systems in the healthcare industry

Since the 1970s, marketing and innovation management communities have been investigating how to incorporate customer-desired functions into new product and service designs. These wide-ranging enquiries have shed light on the impact of lead-user engagement in new product development, demonstrated ways to examine service production and delivery, such as the use of ‘line of visibility’ in service blueprints and the modeling of ‘service encounters’, and have created new terms such as ‘value co-creation’. Despite these efforts, recent reviews have identified the lack of an holistic approach to new product-service system (PSS) development. This deficiency needs to be rectified, especially for complex PSS developments in regulated industries such as healthcare, as often there are multiple stakeholders posing conflicting priorities to the development team. This paper describes a PSS characterization approach that supports the early-stage new PSS development process. The approach is generated from eleven healthcare case studies, involving twenty-five new products, services and PSSs. Following the methodology of action research, further cases are selected for the application of the approach to a new product, service or PSS concept in facilitated workshops. Initial implications of employing this approach in three cases are discussed in this paper.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from IEEE at http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=6921091

Characterising product-service systems in the healthcare industry

Since the 1970s, marketing and innovation management communities have been investigating how to incorporate customer-desired functions into new product and service designs. These wide-ranging enquiries have shed light on the impact of lead-user engagement in new product development, demonstrated ways to examine service production and delivery, such as the use of „line of visibility‟ in service blueprints and the modelling of „service encounters‟, and have created new terms such as „value co-creation‟. Despite these efforts, recent reviews have identified the lack of an holistic approach to new product-service system (PSS) development. This deficiency needs to be rectified, especially for complex PSS developments in regulated industries such as healthcare, as often there are multiple stakeholders posing conflicting priorities to the development team. This paper describes a novel PSS characterisation approach that supports the early-stage new PSS development process. The approach is originated from eleven healthcare case studies, involving twenty-five new products, services and PSSs. Following the methodology of action research, further cases are selected for the application of the approach to a new product, service or PSS concept in facilitated workshops. Initial implications of employing this approach in three cases are discussed in this paper.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Elsevier via http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.techsoc.2015.05.01

Value co-creation in early stage new product-service system development

Abstract The need to develop systems that comprise medical equipment and services to improve healthcare service efficiency and availability has become a pertinent concern in developed countries, as governments continue to focus on controlling healthcare expenditure. This research intends to explore value co-creation with multiple stakeholders at early stage new product-service system (PSS) development in regulated industries such as the medical equipment industry. This paper identifies the literature gap of stakeholder involvement in the process of new PSS development and compares the identified gap with the experience of industry practitioners. The fields relevant to the research focus are described and the characteristics of a new PSS are proposed as the basis of the research. This paper concludes with an initial proposition, that there is a need for an holistic approach to new PSS development and to have early multiple stakeholder input

Lebenszyklusengineering und -management von Service Systemen: Ein Beitrag zur ganzheitlichen Betrachtung und logischen Beschreibung von Sach- und Dienstleistungssystemen

Während der (empirische) Bedeutungszuwachs von Dienstleistungen weitgehend unstrittig ist (Fließ 2009; Klodt et al. 1997), gibt es bei der theoretischen Fundierung, was genau eine Dienstleistung ist, Probleme. Eine dieser Schwierigkeiten besteht darin, Dienstleistung(en) überhaupt zu definieren (vgl. u.a. Richter 2012; Paal 2005; Klodt et al. 1997; Corsten 1985) , insbesondere bei der Definition durch eine sektorenbezogene Negativbestimmung von Dienstleistung . Allgemein gesprochen herrscht eine diffuse Definitionslage von Dienstleistungen. Es gibt sowohl prozess- als auch ergebnisorientierte Definitionen (Richter 2012) – welche sich z.T. gegenüberstehen. Weiterhin gibt es einen Dimensionierungsansatz, welcher die Dienstleistung in drei Dimensionen (Potential-, Prozess-, Ergebnisdimension) unterteilt (Böttcher 2009; Bullinger et al. 2006) und auf diese Weise ergebnisorientierte wie auch prozessorientierte Definitionen zusammenbringt. Jedoch geht auch diese Form der Definition von Dienstleistungseigenschaften aus, welche nicht unumstritten sind (Lovelock und Gummesson 2004)(Vargo und Lusch 2004). Verschiedene Schulen aus dem Service Engineering, dem Service Design, dem Service Management (Grönroos 2007, 1990)(Fitzsimmons und Fitzsimmons 2006) und des Marketings (SD-Logic) (Vargo und Lusch 2004) stoßen bei der Definition immer wieder aufeinander. Ziel der Arbeit ist die Schaffung einer digitalen Grundlage um die Digitalisierung von Service Systemen, sowie deren Engineering und Management, zu fördern. So liegt der Fokus auf der Verbesserung der Informationsverteilung innerhalb des Lebenszyklus von Service Systemen und in komplexen Wertschöpfungsnetzwerken. Gleichzeitig ist es Ziel der Arbeit, diese Erweiterung offen zu gestalten, sodass Informationsflüsse in andere Systeme ermöglicht werden. Es werden auf diese Weise die technischen Grundlagen geschaffen, um von den klassischen produktorientierten digitalen Unterstützungswerkzeugen zu hybriden Unterstützungswerkzeugen zu gelangen. Ergebnis der Arbeit ist ein Vorgehensmodell sowie eine Ontologie für das Lebenszyklusengineering und -management von Service Systemen basierend auf einem Vergleich und Konsolidierung von 26 Vorgehensmodellen bzw. -ansätzen und vier thematisch nahen Ontologien sowie auf vier realen Anwendungsfällen (u.a. Ersatzteilmanagement für Industrieanlagen) welche detailliert analysiert wurden. Für das Vorgehensmodell wurden 44 einzelne Phasenmodule (Methoden) erarbeitet und auf ihre Eignung in besonderen Kontexten (z.B. industrielle Dienstleistungen), der Einsatzphasen sowie der identifizierten Werkzeuge ausgearbeitet. Um die Beschreibung einer Ontologie zu fundieren, wurde der Wissensraum für das Lebenszyklusengineering und -management für Service Systeme mittels der Description Logic modelliert. Anschließend hieß es, diese Beschreibung in ein OWL und damit in die technische Anwendbarkeit zu überführen. Diese Ontologie wurde hierbei mittels Protegé modelliert und implementiert. Insgesamt wurden mehr als 50 Klassen extrahiert und formal beschreiben

Healthcare product-service system characterisation - implications for design

The engineering design process transforms stakeholders’ needs and desires into design specifications. In this process, manufacturers make decisions that impact how much value can be generated from a new product/service. Clear design specification can enhance the value of a product/service. This research study focuses on the engineering design process for systems of products and services - product-service systems (PSSs). An unambiguous PSS classification could help manufacturers to produce clearer design specifications, however there is a lack of clear PSS classifications for engineering design. Existing classifications rely on an out-dated distinction between tangible objects as products, and everything else as a service, a division that inappropriately classifies digital products as services. To develop a coherent PSS classification, it is necessary to understand which characteristics of PSS can clarify its design specification. This research addresses this problem by determining the PSS characteristics that are useful for clarifying the design specification. The research aims to develop a PSS characterisation scheme and explore how the scheme influences design specifications. To achieve these aims, case study and action research methods are employed. This study has developed a PSS characterisation scheme that clarifies design specifications and a method to systematically apply this scheme, the PSS characterisation approach. This approach proves useful for practitioners to clarify design specifications, and has extended the application of the theory of technical systems to instruments supporting the engineering design process. The PSS characterisation scheme comprises four characteristics: customer perceived value level, ‘connectivity number’, type and degree of connectivity and configuration type. The scheme does not use the ‘tangibility’ distinction, but incorporates concepts of value creation and interdependencies within a PSS and between a PSS and its environment. This novel characterisation scheme contributes to the development of a PSS classification scheme for engineering design and also to the literature of PSS classifications.This work was partially supported by GE Healthcare and RADMA (Research and Development Management). Overseas conference presentations were funded by RADMA, Christ’s College, the department of Engineering and the Centre for Technology Management of the Institute for Manufacturing of the University of Cambridge