Leading in Service Innovation: Three perspectives on service value delivery in a European context

This paper explores the relationships between the shaping of “service value propositions” according to three dimensions: “intangible mix”, “physical support”, and “time”, and the strengthening of Innovative Capability in service organizations. After the first introductory section, we describe a series of related innovative moves experienced in the European context by leading companies. We analyze how JCDecaux addresses service recipients simultaneously as citizens and consumers, focusing especially on the Cyclocity project. With CS2 Lawyers in the UK, we envision how automation and technology adoption in professional services may lead to significant productivity improvement for the good of society. Finally, we study how SNCF in France has succeeded in implementing a permanently strengthening value proposition in public service through the recent launching of the IDTGV initiative. In these situations, the service companies have clearly addressed their market considering three different forms of interrelated, yet distinct, targets: “ultimate beneficiaries”, “paying bodies”, and entities or individuals who somehow “prescribe” the consumption of services. In these three situations, we investigate the robustness of the “value propositions” thus implemented, and analyze the particular role played by technology in the success of the new ventures.Service and innovation; value proposition; technology implementation

Heart and Minds: A Social Model of U.S. Productivity Growth

macroeconomics, product growth

Workplace Safety Strategies Used by Managers to Reduce Workplace Accidents

Ineffective safety strategies contribute to work-related accidents making the workplace one of the hazardous locations in the United States. The findings might provide organizational managers with strategies to improve workplace safety practices leading to a healthier and safer work environment. Grounded in Heinrich’s safety management systems conceptual model, the purpose of this qualitative single case study was to explore strategies organizational managers used to reduce workplace accidents. The participants consisted of 6 managers who oversaw safety issues at 1 organization in the central region of North Carolina. Data were collected from semistructured interviews and company documents. Data analysis consisted of Yin’s 5-phase cycle. Three themes morphed to include enforcing the need for safety training, creating a culture for safety awareness, and implementing company-wide safety policies. A key recommendation is that organization leaders provide safety training, increasing safety awareness, and creating or revising company-wide safety policies. The implication for positive social change includes benefitting local residents through enhanced stability of communities with increased employment opportunities enabling residents to contribute to community betterment to sustain a safe working environment to enhance a safer community

When and why does it pay to be green?

Environmental policy; innovation; Porter hypothesis; environmental regulation; pollution; capital market; green products.

When and why does it pay to be green ?

The conventional wisdom about environmental protection is that it comes at an additional cost on firms imposed by the government, which may erode their global competitiveness. However, during the last decade, this paradigm has been challenged by a number of analysts. In particular, Porter (Porter, 1991; Porter and van der Linde, 1995) argues that pollution is often associated with a waste of resources (material, energy, etc.), and that more stringent environmental policies can stimulate innovations that may compensate for the costs of complying with these policies. This is known as the Porter hypothesis. In fact, there are many ways through which improving the environmental performance of a company can lead to a better economic or financial performance, and not necessarily to an increase in cost. To be systematic, it is important to look at both sides of the balance sheet.First, a better environmental performance can lead to an increase in revenues through the following channels: i) a better access to certain markets; ii) the possibility to differentiate products and iii) the possibility to sell pollution-control technology. Second, a better environmental performance can lead to cost reductions in the following categories: iv) regulatory cost; v) cost of material, energy and services (this refers mainly to the Porter hypothesis); vi) cost of capital, and vii) cost of labour. Although these different possibilities have been identified from a conceptual or theoretical point of view for some time (Reinhardt, 2000; Lankoski, 2000, 2006), to our knowledge, there was no systematic effort to provide empirical evidences supporting the existence of these opportunities and assessing their “magnitude”. This is the objective of this paper. For each of the seven possibilities identified above [i) through vii)], we present the mechanisms involved, a systematic view of the empirical evidence available, and a discussion of the gaps in the empirical literature. The objective of the paper is not to show that a reduction of pollution is always accompanied by a better financial performance, it is rather to argue that the expenses incurred to reduce pollution can sometime be partly or completely compensated by gains made elsewhere. Through a systematic examination of all the possibilities, we also want to identify the circumstances most likely to lead to a “win-win” situation, i.e., better environmental and financial performance.ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY;INNOVATION;PORTER HYPOTHESIS;ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATION;POLLUTION;CAPITAL MARKET;GREEN PRODUCTS

From knowledge to wealth : transforming Russian science and technology for a modern knowledge economy

Russia possesses a sophisticated science and technology (S&T) infrastructure (research capability, technically trained workforce, and technical research universities) which, even today, is a world leader in many fields. Despite this world class basic research capacity, Russia's exports are primarily raw materials. At a time when wealth depends to an increasing degree on knowledge, Russia does not have an effective system for converting its scientific capacity into wealth. Russia's S&T resources are isolated bureaucratically (they are deployed in the rigid hierarchical system devised in the 1920s to mobilize resources for rapid state-planned industrial development and national defense), functionally (there are few links between the supply of S&T output by research institutes and the demand for S&T by Russian or foreign enterprises), and geographically (many assets are located in formerly closed cities or isolated science/atomic cities). Overcoming these inefficiencies and adjusting the S&T system to the demands of a market economy will require a major program of institutional and sectoral reform. Part I of this paper describes the ambiguous legacy of the Soviet S&T system and the status of the Russian S&T sector after 10 years of transition. Part II describes the evolution of the Russian system of intellectual property rights protection from Soviet times to the present and argues that Russia will never develop a successful commercialization program until it clarifies the ownership of the large stock of intellectual property funded with federal budget resources. Part III outlines a comprehensive 10-point sectoral reform program to improve the efficiency of government research and development spending and link the Russian S&T system with market forces.ICT Policy and Strategies,Public Health Promotion,Scientific Research&Science Parks,Agricultural Knowledge&Information Systems,General Technology,ICT Policy and Strategies,Scientific Research&Science Parks,Science Education,Agricultural Knowledge&Information Systems,General Technology

Coevolution of Firm Capabilities and Industry Competition

This paper proposes that rival firms not only search for new capabilities within their organization, but also for those that rest in their competitive environment. An integrated analysis of these search processes at both firm and industry levels of analysis shows how their interaction makes industries and firms coevolve over time. To contribute to an enhanced understanding of the concept of coevolution, a dynamic and integrative framework crossing meso and micro levels of analysis is constructed. This framework is applied to a longitudinal study of the music industry with a time-span of 120 years. The first part, a historical study, covers the period 1877 - 1990. The second part, a multiple-case study, covers the period 1990 - 1997. We conclude that search behavior drives coevolution through competitive dynamics among new entrants and incumbent firms and manifests itself in the simultaneous emergence of new business models and new organizational forms.coevolution;competitive regime;longitudinal research;multilevel research;music industry

Green jobs from a small scale perspective : case studies from Malta

Sustainable energy policy and its potential to create green jobs in Malta, as seen from the point of view of Maltese civil society, provides the basis for a critical analysis of the development of environmental policies in Malta. The discussion is based on data emanating from a qualitative type of survey conducted among the key persons involved in the main organisations representing the Maltese civil society. What emerged from this data is that there is a high level of awareness among members of Maltese civil society about the need to create more green jobs and the formulation of an effective policy of sustainable development. Respondents stressed the challenges inherent in a small island sovereign state suffering from peripherality and insularity. However while acknowledging these constraints, respondents expressed a high degree of optimism about the implementation of an effective green policy. They maintain that part of the solution lies in devising innovative practices by means of which Maltese policy makers would exploit Malta’s geographical position and harness all possible material and human resources. However to achieve such a goal the process has be consultative and participative.European Parliamentpeer-reviewe

Strategies to Minimize the Bullwhip Effect in the Electronic Component Supply Chain

Supply chain leaders in the information technology industry face challenges regarding their ability to mitigate amplified demand and supply variability in a supply chain network--the bullwhip effect--and reduce adverse implications on their component supply chain networks. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore the strategies supply chain leaders in the United States used to reduce the bullwhip effect. Bullwhip effect theory served as the conceptual framework. Participants in the study were 5 purposefully selected supply chain leaders in the state of Texas who successfully implemented strategies to reduce the bullwhip effect on their networks. Data were collected from semistructured interviews and analysis of documents from the participants\u27 websites. The data were analyzed using the 5 data analysis steps consistent with Yin\u27s approach: collection, stratification, reassembly, interpretation, and conclusion. Four themes emerged from data analysis: (a) collaboration strategy, (b) communication strategy, (c) component shortage reduction strategy, and (d) resource management strategy. Supply chain leaders might use the findings of this study to reduce the bullwhip effect within their networks and improve their profitability. The implications for positive social change include the potential for leaders to improve environmental sustainability by using effective supply chain strategies to reduce the accumulation of excess inventories, reduce transportation fuel usage, and lessen the consumption of natural resources