Exploring Modes of Innovation in Services

Abstract Manufacturing companies differentiating their offerings with new services need to combine both product and service innovation. We study how service development is influenced by (a) the choice of separation or integration of service development and (b) the modes of innovation. Our results show that service development often is more structured if services are developed separately. Furthermore, service innovations often follow a sequence of innovation modes different from those of product innovations. Since different innovation modes benefit from varying degree of structure in the development process, many companies find it hard to develop products and services within the same development project

Use of SMS texts for facilitating access to online alcohol interventions: a feasibility study

A41 Use of SMS texts for facilitating access to online alcohol interventions: a feasibility study In: Addiction Science & Clinical Practice 2017, 12(Suppl 1): A4

Initiating Quality Management in a Small Company

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify critical aspects of Quality Management (QM) adoption in a small company. QM is more widely applied in large companies than in small ones. Previous research has pointed to QM ideas as sound and valid for small companies, but that many such initiatives fail because of poor implementation. With scarcity of resources and expertise, it is critical to study how QM can be initiated in small companies with often sceptical ownermanagers. Design/methodology/approach This paper is based on a single case study of a small company; data has been collected through two sets of interviews: one in late 2009 and one in mid-2012, as well as project reports and public financial data. This allows for a study of the adoption process over time. Findings This study points to four critical areas when initiating QM work in a small company: the importance of initiation, the importance of contextualisation, QM adoption as an iterative process, and the need for external support. Originality/value This paper highlights the importance of overcoming small business owners' reluctance towards QM. Most research on QM initiatives in small companies has focused on the stages that follow an actual decision to begin a QM initiative. This paper shows that it is critical to carefully consider the stages leading to the decision. Further, it contributes with a case study on a small company, otherwise uncommon in QM research

Excellence models in the public sector: Relationships between enablers and results in excellence models

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to identify possible correlations between the stated “enablers” and “results” in excellence models, and to explain how different variables contribute to the “enablers” and “results”. A cross-case study of two different excellence models, the Common Assessment Framework (CAF) in Italy and the Swedish Institute for Quality (SIQ) model for performance excellence, is proposed. Design/methodology/approach – The study is based on the evaluation of assessment reports of public organizations across two countries, Italy and Sweden. Canonical correlation was used for data analysis. Two hypotheses were formulated: There is a correlation between “enablers” and “results” in the CAF model, and there is a correlation between “enablers” and “results” in the SIQ model. Findings – The results show that the hypotheses are supported. It turned out that the correlation is higher for the SIQ model than for the CAF model. For the CAF model, “strategy and planning” is the main contributor to the “enablers”, and for the SIQ model, “human resource development” is the main contributor. For the “results” set, similar criteria provide the strongest contributor for both models; these are “customer/citizen-oriented results” for the CAF and “customer satisfaction” for the SIQ. Originality/value – The paper contributes to the knowledge gained from a cross-case analysis of two different excellence models applied in public sector organizations, the CAF in Italy and the SIQ model for performance excellence in Sweden. The paper also contributes to an ongoing discussion of a need of excellence models being adapted specifically for the public sector; from this study, no support for such a sector-specific model is shown

The relationships between enablers and results in excellence models: learnings from Italy and Sweden.

The purpose of this study is to explain possible correlations between the stated enablers and results in excellence models, and furthermore explain how different variables contribute to the enablers and results. By doing the cross-case analysis of two models, the European Common Assessment Framework (CAF) in Italy and the Swedish SIQ model (SIQ), we can contribute with learning across the two different award processes and models. The study focuses on public sector organizations. The study is expected to provide information on transversal factors between the two frameworks CAF and SIQ trough the evaluation of the assessment reports from two samples of public sector organizations. The assessment reports were analyzed with a quantitative approach in order to investigate correlations among enablers and results for the CAF and SIQ excellence models. The assigned scores to each criterion and sub-criterion in the assessment reports were considered. Canonical correlation was used for data analysis. The paper enables to identify relationship between enablers and results for both the CAF and SIQ models. In particular, it emerged that the correlation is higher for the SIQ model than for the CAF. The squared canonical loading explains which variable contribute most to the variance of the enablers respectively results for the two models. The authors focus on the identification of reasons to the fact that the enablers of the SIQ model to a larger extent explain the variance in the results. This cross-country study of assessments based on excellence models, identify relations between enablers and results of the CAF and SIQ models, highlighting differences and similarities. Further, as one model is adapted to a specific sector and one is generic, the study allows for elaborations on the feasibility of sector specific adaptations of excellence models

The importance of robust design methodology: case study of the infamous GM ignition switch recall

While a systematic quality strategy is of crucial importance for the success of manufacturing companies, the universal applicability and effectiveness of implemented quality management practices were called into question by a number of major product recalls in recent years. This article seeks to illustrate how already simple analyses and early stage design methods can help to better understand one of the potential reasons for these failures, namely the variation inherent in manufacturing, assembly, and use processes. Usually thoroughly controlled in production, it seems as if particularly the risk of unanticipated variation effects remain largely underestimated and thus unaccounted for in design practice, sometimes with disastrous consequences. To foster the awareness of this variation and to illustrate the benefits of its early consideration in product development, this paper reviews one of the most infamous recalls in automotive history, that of the GM ignition switch, from the perspective of Robust Design. It is investigated if available Robust Design methods such as sensitivity analysis, tolerance stack-ups, design clarity, etc. would have been suitable to account for the performance variation, which has led to a number of fatal product defects and the recall of 30 million vehicles. Furthermore, the disclosed legal case files were examined, offering a unique opportunity to examine how technical malfunctioning of the ignition switch could stay undetected long enough to result in fatalities

Multiobjective optimization including design robustness objectives for the embodiment design of a two-stage flash evaporator

International audienc