Emergent Digital Strategies and Networks: Advancements to Service Management Research

The purpose of this research is to report and explore new channel strategies, which allow delivering services through new digital technologies. Therefore, we have conducted an in-depth qualitative case study to generate comprehensiveness and rich knowledge. The case focused on a Private bank in Portugal and counted with several sources of data collection, gathering 42 semi-structured interviews, more than 80 direct observations and more than 3,600 internal documents, for triangulation and corroboration purposes. The results suggest that organizational synergies are changing the business landscape by encompassing triadic elements channels-services-firms. While some organizations are implementing this strategy around the world, we found that it provides greater channel freedom of choice to customers when compared with the previous strategies. Thus, our findings identify a set of potential advantages, as well as risks of adopting digital business networks as a strategy. This article also studies technologydriven solutions in business networks, as customers are becoming active co-producers.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Serviços omni-canal na indústria de serviços bancários: investigação qualitativa multi-método

O art.º 64 (modalidade alternativa à tese) do regulamento de estudos da Universidade de Aveiro contempla a possibilidade de apresentação de uma modalidade alternativa para teses de doutoramento. Esta modalidade assinala que “caso a tese seja substituída por um conjunto de trabalhos científicos já publicados, estes terão de formar um conjunto coerente e relevante para a área cientifica do doutoramento (...)”. Neste contexto, esta tese é baseada em 8 publicações científicas, já publicadas, ou aceites para publicação, onde estão incluídas: comunicações orais em conferências internacionais, artigos em revistas científicas e capítulos de livros. O interesse pelo tema foi aliado ao crescente desenvolvimento da estratégia omni-canal na indústria de serviços onde a banca tem sido pioneira. O objetivo é contribuir para a caracterização e compreensão das implicações decorrentes de diferentes estratégias e configurações de canal de serviço para a gestão de operações e, consequentemente para a qualidade dos serviços e satisfação dos clientes. A tese está dividida em seis capítulos. Inicia-se com duas revisões sistemáticas da literatura, para analisar as oportunidades de investigação e divulgar os caminhos de pesquisa para os serviços multicanal. Seguidamente, explicam-se as opções metodológicas e o relacionamento que existe entre a engenharia e gestão industrial e as ciências sociais. A partir desse momento, entramos na fase empírica e, analisamos os serviços omni-canal à lente das redes de negócio baseadas em tecnologia e da gestão de reclamações. Terminamos a tese com uma breve conclusão, limitações e perspetivas de investigação futura. Com maior detalhe, a revisão da literatura sugeriu que à data, os estudos existentes estavam predominantemente formulados sob a perspetiva do marketing, sendo notória uma menor representatividade de estudos focados na gestão de processos e operações de serviço. Neste contexto, o trabalho desenvolvido vem oferecer algumas contribuições ao nível da gestão de operações de serviços com recurso a múltiplos canais, permitindo nomeadamente identificar, caraterizar e consolidar diferentes estratégias de múltiplos canais, e discutir princípios para o alinhamento entre estratégias de front-office de múltiplos canais e níveis operacionais da organização. O trabalho adotou uma metodologia qualitativa multi-método (i.e., revisão sistemática e estudo de caso) recorrendo a diferentes métodos e fontes para a recolha de dados (e.g., entrevistas), bem como para a sua análise. O trabalho permitiu também ilustrar como a estratégia multi-método oferece múltiplas possibilidades de investigação que conduzem a resultados fiáveis para estudos na área da engenharia. É geralmente equilibrada e integra estudos teóricos e empíricos, o que dá maior enfase às dimensões de desenvolvimento, triangulação e complementaridade. A evidência empírica analisada no âmbito deste trabalho sugere que a prestação de serviços através de múltiplos canais potencia novas sinergias organizacionais, e cria novos desafios operacionais, ao permitir a configuração de novos sistemas de serviço que oferecem aos clientes a integração de serviços e canais de diferentes prestadores, numa experiência única. As operações de serviços omni-canal estão agora a basear-se em redes de negócio com base tecnológica, já que as empresas estão a mudar a forma como competem entre si. As empresas estão a adotar processos e canais de modo a poderem colaborar em redes heterogéneas. Essas redes de empresas geralmente combinam mais de um canal e serviços. O que origina uma experiência multimarca, que ultrapassa claramente a experiência típica omnicanal. Nesta perspetiva, a rede heterogénea de empresas é uma experiência que envolve a combinação de uma tríade de diferentes elementos canaisserviços- organizações. O que está implícito é que as redes de negócios baseadas em tecnologia estão a revolucionar a indústria de serviços, embora pouco se tenha investigado. Porém, o movimento para estratégias omni-canal e de rede de negócios está longe de ser linear. Embora indesejáveis, as falhas de serviço omni-canal são inevitáveis, nesse sentido, a gestão de reclamações sempre foi considerada como uma ferramenta essencial para os gestores. Por esse facto, o trabalho incluiu ainda uma abordagem às falhas e recuperação de serviços num contexto omni-canal, bem como as debilidades da prestação de serviços associadas às novas redes baseadas em tecnologia, no contexto dos serviços financeiros. O estudo sugeriu que os clientes geralmente não estão conscientes dos atributos de recuperação de cada canal e são muitas vezes obrigados a procurar ajuda dos colaboradores de primeira linha, em particular quando a resposta nos canais virtuais não estão a reagir de acordo com as expectativas. Os clientes também já não estão dispostos a interagir com um grande número de canais, o que implica um elevado número de interações. Em alternativa, estão dispostos a aguardar por uma recuperação personalizada quando percebem que uma falha específica pode exigir um elevado nível de tomada de decisão. Essa tolerância ocorre quando os clientes percebem que uma empresa está a realizar todos os esforços necessários para a recuperação do serviço, de modo a garantir que a falha não se volte a repetir. Os resultados evidenciaram a importância da recuperação de soluções permanentes e da gestão de operações, para permitir processos de recuperação efetivos no contexto dos serviços omni-canal e de rede de negócio. No que diz respeito às redes de negócios baseadas em tecnologia, encontrámos quatro tipos de debilidades: a) barreiras à estratégia de migração de canais; b) barreiras à entrega automatizada de serviços; c) barreiras baseadas na integração do serviço; d) barreiras à padronização de operações em contextos de rede. Os gestores devem estar cientes das debilidades das redes de negócio baseadas em tecnologia, porque a sua (in)atividade pode afetar positivamente ou negativamente a imagem da marca de rede. A resolução das debilidades Tb2N permite que as organizações sejam mais sincronizadas e competitivas. Os resultados apresentados nesta tese revelam que as estratégias de canais múltiplos estão longe de estar ultrapassadas. Esta área de estudo requer atenção permanente da comunidade académica de modo a compreender a sua evolução, o aparecimento de novas estratégias e avançar a sua base de conhecimento. Para terminar, estimulamos o desenvolvimento de investigações futuras que permitam a realização de estudos empíricos dentro das redes de negócio baseadas em tecnologia, e que se foquem não só na recolha de dados de uma empresa, mas de toda a rede.The 64th article of the regulation of studies of the University of Aveiro considers the possibility of presenting an alternative to the doctoral thesis. This modality emphasis that “if the thesis is replaced by a set of scientific papers already published, they will have to form a coherent and relevant set for the scientific area of the doctorate (…)”. In this context, this thesis is based on 8 scientific publications, some already published, some accepted for publication, which include: oral communications in international conferences, articles in scientific journals and book chapters. The interest in the subject is coined with the growing development of the omni-channel strategy in the service industry where the banks have been pioneers. The objective is to contribute to the characterization and understanding of the implications of different strategies and configurations of the service channel strategies for the management of operations and, consequently, for the service quality and customer satisfaction. The thesis is divided into six chapters. It begins with two systematic reviews of literature: to analyze research opportunities and to disseminate research paths for multi-channel services. From here on, the methodological options are explained and so are the existing relationship between the industrial engineering and the social sciences. The empirical phase starts at this point as well as the analysis of the omni-channel services in the lens of technology-based business networks and complaint management. The literature review suggested, that, to date, the existing studies were predominantly formulated from a marketing perspective, the studies focused on process management and service operations are less represented. In this context, the work developed offers some contributions to the management of multiple channel service operations, to identify, characterize and consolidate different multiple channel strategies, and discuss principles for the alignment between multiple channel front-office strategies and operational levels of the organization. A qualitative multi-method methodology (i.e., systematic review and case study) using different methods and sources was adopted for data collection (e.g., interviews) as well for its analysis. The work also illustrated how the multimethod strategy offers multiple research possibilities that lead to reliable results for studies in the field of engineering. This strategy is generally balanced and integrates theoretical and empirical studies, which give greater emphasis to the dimensions of development, triangulation and complementarity. The empirical evidence analyzed in this thesis suggests that service delivery through multiple channels raises new organizational synergies and creates new operational challenges, by allowing the configuration of new service systems that offer customers the integration of different service and channels from different providers in a unique experience. The omni-channel service operations are now based on technology-based business networks, as companies are changing the way they compete with each other. Companies are adopting processes and channels so they can collaborate in heterogeneous networks. These business networks generally combine more than one channel and services, which creates a multi-brand experience, clearly going beyond the typical omni-channel experience. In this perspective, the heterogeneous network of companies is an experience that involves the combination of a triad of different elements channel-service-organization. What is implicit is that, although still unexplored, technology-based business networks are revolutionizing the service industry. Nevertheless, the move to omni-channel and business network strategies is far from linear. Although undesirable, the omni-channel service failures are inevitable, thus complaint management has always been considered an essential tool for managers. As a result, this work also includes an approach to service failures and recovery in an omni-channel context, as well as the weaknesses in the service delivery concerning new technology-based networks, in the context of financial services. The study suggested that clients are generally unaware of the recovery attributes of each channel and are often forced to seek help from the frontline employees, particularly when the recovery from the virtual channels are not in agreement with the expectations. Customers are not willing to interact with a large number of channels which would lead to a high number of interactions. Alternatively, customers are willing to wait for a personalized recovery when they realize that a specific failure may require a high level of decision-making. This tolerance occurs when customers realize that a company is making all the necessary efforts over the service recovery, in order to ensure that the failure will not be repeated again. The results revealed the importance of recovering permanent solutions and operations management, in order to allow effective recovery processes in the context of omni-channel and business network services. With regard to technology-based business networks, we found four types of weaknesses: a) barriers to channel migration strategies; b) barriers to automated service delivery; c) barriers to employee-technology service integration; d) barriers to operations standardization in network contexts. Managers should be aware of the weaknesses of technology-based business networks because their (in)activity can affect either positively or negatively network brand image. Solving Tb2N weaknesses allows organizations to be more synchronized and competitive. The results presented in this thesis reveal that the multiple-channel strategies are far from being overcome. This area of study requires permanent attention from the academic community in order to understand its evolution, the emergence of new strategies and to advance its knowledge base. Finally, we encourage the development of future research that allows the conduction of empirical studies within technology-based business networks, focusing not only on collecting data from one company but from the entire network.Programa Doutoral em Engenharia e Gestão Industria

Social Construction of Retail Digitalization: Managerial Perspectives

Digitalization is a pervasive movement, shifting society rapidly into the next industrial revolution and causing disruption to traditional ways of working. This movement has had major ramifications on brick and mortar retailers, redefining the traditional business model and offering opportunities to enhance the customer experience. The purpose of this study was to gain a holistic understanding of the digital transformation of retail from a retail manager’s perspective, thus, this study explores the ways in which retail managers are socially constructing retail digitalization. To address the lack of an established conceptualization of digitalization from a retail managers’ perspective, I applied an exploratory, framing analysis approach to this research gap. This procedure involved integrating field-based insights from 26 managers within the retail sector across Finland and the UK with supplementary literature on the topic of retail digitalization. Through conducting this research, three framing categories were identified, including: 1) investing in digital strategy and management, 2) changing organizational competences and mindset, and 3) shifting power to the retail customer, which were formulated based on nine managerial framings that were developed in the analysis. The findings indicate that though managers are aware of the various threats caused by digitalization, overall, they consider it a positive movement that stimulates innovation, offers new solutions, improves business processes, and enables a better service offering for customers. This study suggests that undergoing the digital transformation is not only a technological change in processes and systems, but a human change in terms of ways of thinking and working. The findings further indicate that retail managers must develop with the organization and have a thorough understanding of their business and the retail market. This study makes theoretical contributions by supporting ideas that are explored in existing literature such as the challenges related to creating the omni-channel business model, while adding the managerial perspective on various issues surrounding this organizational change. This study also contests some points made in the current literature on the death of high street by highlighting the hedonic value that brick and mortar retailers offer their customers which cannot be replaced by other channels. New perspectives were also contributed through this study by exploring how managers view data and analytics as important tools in organizational decision making and understanding the business. Finally, this study highlights an unexplored area in the literature, more specifically, the significance that retail managers place on the human side of the organization through the digital transformation

Shifting paradigms for fashion: from total to global to smart consumer experience

This review discusses how consumers, the retail industry, and business strategies contribute to the fashion paradigm shift from Total to Global (TCE) to Smart Consumer Experience (SCE) concepts

Is traditional retail moving to e-commerce in the field of the fashion industry in India?

The main aim of this dissertation is to discover whether consumers feel that e-commerce provides superior performance and technology facilities than traditional retail from the perspective of Indian consumers, and to assess the importance of Omni-channel concepts and operations in the fashion industry. The fashion industry is one of the foremost business segments in India. Currently, the fashion industry is overcoming with new technology and innovation in their business. In the 1990s e-commerce was introduced saw the potential possibilities of innovation, and the new concepts which made the consumer base attractive towards e-commerce. Online retailers are growing faster than traditional retailers due to high pressure from online retailer’s offers and strategies. This research is identifies the issues in the fashion retail business in India. What are the challenges faced by traditional retail? What are the environmental causes disturbing the fashion retail industry which are argued with more detail in PEST analysis and Porter’s five forces of modern retailing and communication? Traditional fashion retailers understand how to solve difficulties and challenges in the supply chain. Discussed many technologies for fashion retail markets to improve their strategy and customer satisfaction. Researching the hypotheses are collecting behaviourism, functionalism, and experimental ideas what should traditional retailers do in their retail shop and which channel should they adopt for their business? Hypotheses are used to conduct a quick market analysis to understand the Indian demographic attitudes towards technologies, client interest, and Omni-channel. We need to understand which approaches we can use to gain knowledge in theoretical perspective. Multiple techniques are involved in the analysis and validation of hypotheses. I used SPSS tool for data analysis with cross-tabulation function. In this research I found that traditional retail and e-commerce are independent of each other but gradually merging, a most important factor for future fashion industry trends. They are systematically embracing Omni-channel strategy to provide good consumer service

Omnichannel Value Chain: Mapping Digital Technologies for Channel Integration Activities

In order to provide a seamless customer experience, researchers and practitioners have proposed creation of an omnichannel retailing environment by integrating online and offline channels. Channel integration necessitates use of digital technologies and there are myriads of technological solutions available. However, retailers are struggling with selection and implementation of suitable technologies to add value through channel integration. Despite the strong practical need, this issue has not been effectively addressed in the academic literature. This paper presents an omnichannel value chain underpinned by Porter’s value chain model. We identify ten channel integration activities for value creation by carrying out a synthesis of current research on omnichannel retailing. Enabling digital technologies are then mapped to these activities using technology implementation examples and provide a guideline for retailers to select appropriate technologies for the identified value creation activities

FUTURE MODERN RETAIL SOLUTIONS AND SHOPPER EXPERIENCE

Artificial intelligence and automation will radically change the world, but if we want society to benefit from these changes, we need to properly prepare ourselves through an education tailored to new times. Until the last century, it was the manufacturing industry that created jobs. But today, as a result of the existence of artificial intelligence, robots, the manufacturing industry is no longer the main driver of job creation but the service industry.As competition grows, brand manager imagination needs to work, and sales growth solutions need to focus on customer focus attention. It is a difficult task if all brands offer discounts in the malls they are in, and the announcement of differentiation is put to the attention of specialists who offer solutions for fun of any kind for the clients. The article aims to present the evolution of world trade in recent years and the various ways of diversion invented by retailers to keep customers in store chains longer time for them to buy more.The conclusion of this article will focus on the idea of future trade based on modern technology inside stores, which will lead to profound changes in customer buying behavior

How to create value with the integration of technologies in omnichannel strategies in the luxury market

A rápida evolução de tecnologia e o recente surgimento de tecnologias emergentes tem impactado a forma como os consumidores fazem compras e interagem com as marcas. E os desafios são intensificados no mercado de luxo devido não só pela natureza exclusiva e aspiracional deste segmento, mas também devido às elevadas expectativas dos consumidores de luxo. Para além disso, neste mercado altamente competitivo, os clientes têm uma extensa variedade de marcas, empresas e negócios dos quais podem escolher o que desejam comprar. Por isso, as experiências de luxo devem ser cada vez mais cativantes, diferentes e únicas. Neste contexto, o objetivo desta dissertação é analisar como é que a integração de tecnologia em estratégias omnicanal pode contribuir para a criação de valor em tais experiências. Esta dissertação examina a crescente importância das estratégias omnicanal e o poder das tecnologias na criação de experiências perfeitas para os consumidores de luxo. Explora, assim, a integração de tecnologia nas estratégias omnicanal de luxo, com o objetivo de compreender como o poder da tecnologia pode ser aproveitado para criar valor nesta indústria de luxo. Além disso, este estudo analisa os desafios e as oportunidades associados à integração da tecnologia na jornada do consumidor de luxo, como a necessidade de equilibrar o acesso e a exclusividade, satisfazer as expectativas dos clientes e utilizar os dados dos consumidores de forma eficiente. A recolha de dados foi realizada por meio de entrevistas semiestruturadas, seguindo uma metodologia qualitativa. Foram entrevistados 13 especialistas das indústrias de luxo e da tecnologia que trouxeram relevantes e valiosos contributos para esta dissertação. O guião das entrevistas e a análise das mesmas foram desenvolvidas com base na questão de investigação e nos objetivos específicos deste estudo. Esses elementos foram cuidadosamente elaborados e estruturados nos seguintes pilares: * entender como os especialistas vêm o poder da tecnologia quando integrada em estratégias omnicanal de luxo * as oportunidades e os desafios relacionados com a integração de tecnologia nestas estratégias e como os ultrapassar * casos bem-sucedidos de integração de tecnologia em experiências de compra de luxo Os resultados do estudo revelam que a tecnologia tem um impacto significativo na criação de valor dentro de uma experiência omnicanal de luxo. Ela possui o potencial de transformar a forma como os clientes interagem com as marcas, criando experiências memoráveis e superando as expectativas dos consumidores de luxo. Além disso, indica que a tecnologia pode aprimorar as etapas de compra por meio de dados e da essência da marca, elementos que são alavancados por tecnologias emergentes. Por fim, esta pesquisa demonstra a importância dos recursos das marcas e do conceito de evolução tecnológica para fornecer mais valor aos clientes.The rapid evolution of technology and the rise of emerging technologies have impacted how consumers shop and interact with brands. Challenges are intensified in the luxury market, not only due to this segment's exclusive and aspirational nature but also because of the high expectations of luxury consumers. In this highly competitive market, customers have a wide range of brands, companies, and businesses from which they can choose to buy whatever they want. Therefore, luxury experiences must be increasingly captivating, different, and unique. In this context, this dissertation aims to examine how integrating technology in omnichannel strategies can contribute to value creation in such experiences. This dissertation explores the growing importance of omnichannel strategies and the power of technology in creating seamless experiences for luxury consumers. It investigates the integration of technology into luxury omnichannel strategies to understand how technology can be harnessed to create value in the luxury industry. Additionally, this study examines the challenges and opportunities associated with integrating technology into the luxury customer journey, such as the need to balance accessibility and exclusivity, meet customer expectations, and leverage consumer data effectively. Data collection was conducted through semi-structured interviews, following a qualitative research approach. Thirteen experts from the luxury and technology industries were interviewed, providing valuable insights for this dissertation. The interview guide and analysis were developed based on this study's research question and specific objectives. These elements were carefully crafted and structured around the following pillars: * understanding how experts perceive the power of technology when integrated into luxury omnichannel strategies * exploring the opportunities and challenges related to technology integration * showcasing successful cases of technology integration in luxury shopping experiences The study findings reveal that technology significantly impacts value creation within a luxury omnichannel experience. It can transform how customers interact with brands, create memorable experiences, and exceed high-end consumers' expectations. Further, it indicates that technology can enhance the shopping journey via data and the brand's essence, leveraged by emerging technologies. Finally, this research demonstrates how vital the brands' resources and the technological evolution concepts are to deliver more value to the customers