A resource-based view and dynamic capabilities approach in the context of a region’s international attractiveness: The recent case of Western Australia

This exploratory study proposes a framework based on the resource view theory and the dynamic capabilities approach to further the understanding of a region’s attractiveness, particularly from an international perspective. The case of Western Australia is examined through in-depth, face-to-face interviews with nine country consuls experienced in international trade. The findings revealed significant ways in which Western Australia could enhance its future commercial appeal. The findings revealed the value of synergies between this state and other countries, particularly exchanging expertise, transferring knowledge, or exporting know-how, education, both university and industry-focused, research and development and expertise. These forms of regional attractiveness emphasise the strategic role of industry resources and dynamic capabilities, thus, underscoring the usefulness and applicability of the proposed framework. While the state’s mineral exports will continue to drive its economy, harnessing its potential in other areas is crucial to adapt to changing business environments and to build sustained competitive advantage. © 2018, The Author(s) 2018

Exploring the journey to services

Firms are increasingly providing services to complement their product offerings. The vast majority of studies on the service journey, also known as servitization or service transition, examine the challenges and enablers of the process of change through cases studies. Investigations that provide an in-depth longitudinal analysis of the steps involved in the service journey are much rarer. Such a detailed understanding is required in order to appreciate fully how firms can leverage the enablers while overcoming the challenges of servitization. This study investigates what does a service journey look like? It analyzes in some detail the actual service journeys undertaken by three firms in the well-being, engineering and learning sectors. The paper offers four contributions. First, in the change literature, there are two dominant theories: The punctuated equilibrium model and the continuous change model. This study demonstrates that servitization follows a continuous change rather than a punctuated equilibrium. It shows that such continuous change is neither logical nor structured but much more emergent and intuitive in nature. Second, the study provides empirical evidence to support a contingency view of the dominance and sequencing of the different process models of change across the change journey. Third, this research shows the pace of service development and when the coexistence of basic, intermediate and complex services occurs. Finally, it contributes to the literature in the service field by presenting three actual service journeys and the associated seven stages of the service strategy model that organizations should consider when managing their service journeys

Customer Interaction and Innovation in Hybrid Offerings:Investigating Moderation and Mediation Effects for Goods and Services Innovation

Hybrid offerings are bundles of goods and services offerings provided by the same firm. Bundling value offerings affects how firms innovate, interact with customers, and customize their goods and services. However, it remains unclear how customer interaction might drive the innovation performance of various bundled components. Therefore, this study investigates the effects of customer interactions and service customization on both goods and services innovations in a hybrid offering context, using a unique data set of 146 information technology and manufacturing firms. Customer interaction appears beneficial to both goods and services innovation in a hybrid offerings context, but service customization has different direct effects on goods versus services innovation. As a potential mediator, customer knowledge mobilization resources exert different effects on the goods and services elements of hybrid offerings. Furthermore, for high-interaction customers, medium levels of technical modularity lead to most favorable innovation outcomes for services innovation. The results thus suggest that providers of hybrid offerings should foster customer interactions, to drive the innovation performance of the good and service components, while still making sure to implement service customization strategies. These findings have notable implications for service innovation research

Data Gained from Smart Services in SMEs–Pilot Study

Nowadays, manufacturing companies increasingly invest in servitization by adopting ‘smart services’ enabled by connected product-service systems enabling data exchange between the customer and the service provider. Managing the transition toward smart services is not easy, especially among SMEs as many businesses struggle with lack of money, insufficient digital technologies, unskilled employees or gathering and using the proper data. The research presented in this paper is divided into two parts. The quantitative part focuses on researching possible correlations between business performance and the use of company IT systems among sixty Czech electrotechnical SMEs. The other part consists of a qualitative multi-case study and was conducted among seven Czech electrotechnical SMEs which have already started with smart service development. The findings indicate that companies gather and use the data in very different ways. They provide information to their customers, but also use information for themselves. The study is unique in highlighting the problems of smart services in small and medium manufacturers. Moreover, it investigates the gathering and the data usage gained from smart services in SMEs.Nowadays, manufacturing companies increasingly invest in servitization by adopting ‘smart services’ enabled by connected product-service systems enabling data exchange between the customer and the service provider. Managing the transition toward smart services is not easy, especially among SMEs as many businesses struggle with lack of money, insufficient digital technologies, unskilled employees or gathering and using the proper data. The research presented in this paper is divided into two parts. The quantitative part focuses on researching possible correlations between business performance and the use of company IT systems among sixty Czech electrotechnical SMEs. The other part consists of a qualitative multi-case study and was conducted among seven Czech electrotechnical SMEs which have already started with smart service development. The findings indicate that companies gather and use the data in very different ways. They provide information to their customers, but also use information for themselves. The study is unique in highlighting the problems of smart services in small and medium manufacturers. Moreover, it investigates the gathering and the data usage gained from smart services in SMEs

Övervakning av strandexploatering längs med sötvattensstränder baserat på NILS metodik för flygbildstolkning

Intresset för att nyttja våra stränder är stort, samtidigt som de har stor betydelse för växt- och djurliv. Syftet med detta arbete är att ta fram en miljöövervakningsmetod för att belysa hur stor andel av sötvattenstränderna som är exploaterade och följa vissa markanvändningsförändringar över tiden med utgångspunkt i NILS (Nationell övervakning av landskapet i Sverige) befintliga metodik. Vår förhoppning är att studien ska bidra med uppföljningsbara data till miljömålen och indirekt följa efterlevnaden av strandskyddsbestämmelserna. Rapporten beskriver första delen i en metodutveckling som nu fortsätter under 2010. Vår förhoppning är att NILS stickprovsmetodik medger en möjlighet att göra en mer fördjupad analys av miljötillståndet längs våra sötvattensstränder än tidigare framtagna metoder för övervakning av strandexploatering. Den här testade metoden identifierar inte effekter av störningar. Vi har valt att avgränsa arbetet till att enbart omfatta flygbildstolkning. Strandzonen definieras i detta arbete som 100 meter från strandlinjen både upp på land och ut i vattnet. Vi har valt att testa en objektsindelning som skiljer på sjö- och vattendragsstränder liksom på tätorter, tätortsnära och landsbygd. En sjö ska överstiga 1 hektars yta och definitionen av ett vattendrag överrensstämmer med Lantmäteriets GGD. Vi har tagit fram en lista som omfattar 30 kvalitetsklasser av markanvändningar eller exploateringar som förekommer i strandzonen, kompletterat med några punkt- och linjevariabler. Vi har statistiskt testat fördelningarna av objektstyperna och kvalitetsklasserna i NILS-rutorna i tre län, Örebro-, Södermanlands- och Stockholms län. Detta för att kunna uttala sig om hur representativt vårt urval är för hela landskapet. Resultaten visar att det är en stor variation mellan hur mycket stränder det finns i de olika NILS-rutorna och att de 34 NILS-rutor som finns in de tre testlänen troligen är för få för att kunna följa strandexploatering. Särskilt för sjöstränder är materialet mycket heterogent. Testresultaten visar även att det finns för få tätorter i NILS-rutorna och att många av de föreslagna kvalitetsklasserna för markanvändning eller exploatering förekommer sparsamt eller inte i alls i rutorna. Det finns trots detta ändå möjligheter att testa oss fram till en godtagbar objektsindelning med färre kvalitetsklasser under 2010 års arbete

Service Innovation in Industrial Contexts

Both academics and practitioners emphasize the importance for product firms of pursuing service innovation. Despite a strategic focus on service-led growth, however, many firms struggle to succeed with their service innovation initiatives. In order to increase our understanding of the nature of service innovation in product firms, this chapter discusses the specificities in, and dynamics of, service offerings, service processes, and business models in industrial contexts. First, it outlines key differences between new product development and new service development, and highlights issues like sales and delivery, which firms frequently fail to accomplish. While product development is generally ‘back heavy’ with many resources required for prototyping and technology development, service development is more ‘front heavy’ with more weight placed on market introduction, pilot testing, and securing the skills, systems, and infrastructures for sales and delivery. In terms of service offering innovation, a taxonomy based on service focus and revenue model is presented. In order to better understand service process innovation, Larsson and Bowen’s (1989) service design typology is then revisited. Finally, common service business model archetypes are introduced and discussed