Customer Adaptation of Mobile Service Innovations (MSI): A Quantitative Analysis Among Customers of a Swiss Retail Store Chain

Based on recent findings from a Juniper report nearly 1.5 billion mobile users will receive SMS ads in 2008 [1]. While mobile advertising spending is expected to increase to $5 billion by 2011 [2], mobile marketing can be still considered in its infancy. While over the last years, there has been tremendous progress in the area of web-based services delivered on the Internet [3] [4] [5] [6], less attention has been paid to the customer acceptance of mobile service innovations. Based on a literature review the authors pursue the objective to analyze the requirements for customers to adopt different types of mobile service innovations: (i) payments to be made via SMS (Short Message Service), (ii) coupons delivered via MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service), and (iii) SMS notifications for goods to be picked up. The authors develop a theoretical model which describes a consumer’s intention of MSI adoption as a construct that is determined by three variables: perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and perceived risk. The relationships in the model are moderated by several factors: age, gender, technology-readiness of the customer and newness of the technology. The authors then conducted a quantitative study among customers of a Swiss retail store chain (n = 1,092). A structural equation model was formulized and tested for the different MSIs. The paper presents results and discusses managerial implications as well as limitations and future research opportunities

LEVERAGING PUSHED SELF-TRACKING IN THE HEALTH INSURANCE INDUSTRY: HOW DO INDIVIDUALS PERCEIVE SMART WEARABLES OFFERED BY INSURANCE ORGANIZATION?

Mobile sensor devices such as smart wearables and activity trackers open up new opportunities to be used in the health care sector. Moreover, since the positive effects of wearable technologies on individuals have been examined, and with fitness trackers becoming significance in preventing chronical conditions which are typically caused by the lack of regular physical activity and causing problems in weight gain and obesity, diabetes and/or osteoporosis has led the statutory health insurance companies in different countries to introduce fitness trackers as part of their reward systems. The objective of this study is to empirically examine individual’s overall perception and experience with mobile fit-ness tracker, drivers as well as adoption barriers, with a particular focus on individual attitude and response when these trackers are implemented in novel services offered by professional health insurance companies. Based on 32 qualitative interviews with users, non-users and experts from insurance companies, our study will contribute toward a better understanding of individuals’ smart wearable perception and adoption in the context of health insurance companies

How do innovators stay innovative? A longitudinal case analysis

Purpose – How can some companies be the innovation leader in their industry over prolonged periods of time, while others cannot? The purpose of this study is to understand a firm’s capability to be a successful serial innovator and to generate a constant stream of industry-leading innovations. Design/Methodology/Approach – The paper uses a longitudinal case study approach to gain an understanding of what and how Singapore Airlines (SIA) sustained service innovation for over 30 years. The study uses triangulation, whereby the core data from in-depth interviews with senior and middle management, and frontline employees were complemented with academic research, case studies, annual reports, observations, and archival documents. 240 single-spaced pages of interview transcripts with over 130,000 words were analyzed and coded using MAXQDA for identifying repeated patterns of meaning. Findings – We identified three key institutional foundations for service innovation: (1) innovation climate (i.e., leadership and service culture), (2) human capital (i.e., recruitment, training and development, and engagement and incentives), and (3) resource configurations (i.e., systems, structure, and processes). These foundations enabled the organization to build the following four service innovation-related dynamic capabilities: (1) embrace ambidexterity, (2) institutionalize learning and knowledge integration, (3) orchestrate collaboration, and (4) reinvent customer value. Interestingly, these institutional foundations and capabilities remained largely stable across 30 years; what changed were the contexts and specifics, not the foundations and capabilities. Research Limitations and Implications – Data were collected only from one company. Due to the method of thematic analysis the generalizability of our findings needs further investigation. Originality/ValueOriginality/Value – This study is the first to investigate the drivers of industry-leading sustained service innovation over a prolonged period of time. The proposed framework provides a fuller and more integrated picture of sustained service innovation than past cross-sectional studies

Global business services

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the contribution of global business services to improved productivity and economic growth of the world economy, which has gone largely unnoticed in service research. Design/Methodology/Approach – The authors draw on macroeconomic data and industry reports, and link them to the non-ownership concept in service research and theories of the firm. Findings – Business services explain a large share of the growth of the global service economy. The fast growth of business services coincides with shifts from domestic production towards global outsourcing of services. A new wave of global business services are traded across borders and have emerged as important drivers of growth in the world's service sector. Research Limitations and Implications – This paper advances the understanding of non-ownership services in an increasingly global and specialized post-industrial economy. The paper makes a conceptual contribution supported by descriptive data, but without empirical testing. Originality/Value – The authors integrate the non- ownership concept and three related economic theories of the firm to explain the role of global business services in driving business performance and the international transformation of service economies

Missing paternal demographics: A novel indicator for identifying high risk population of adverse pregnancy outcomes

BACKGROUND: One of every 6 United Status birth certificates contains no information on fathers. There might be important differences in the pregnancy outcomes between mothers with versus those without partner information. The object of this study was to assess whether and to what extent outcomes in pregnant women who did not have partner information differ from those who had. METHODS: We carried out a population-based retrospective cohort study based on the registry data in the United States for the period of 1995–1997, which was a matched multiple birth file (only twins were included in the current analysis). We divided the study subjects into three groups according to the availability of partner information: available, partly missing, and totally missing. We compared the distribution of maternal characteristics, maternal morbidity, labor and delivery complications, obstetric interventions, preterm birth, fetal growth restriction, low birth weight, congenital anomalies, fetal death, neonatal death, post-neonatal death, and neonatal morbidity among three study groups. RESULTS: There were 304466 twins included in our study. Mothers whose partner's information was partly missing and (especially) totally missing tended to be younger, of black race, unmarried, with less education, smoking cigarette during pregnancy, and with inadequate prenatal care. The rates of preterm birth, fetal growth restriction, low birth weight, Apgar score <7, fetal mortality, neonatal mortality, and post-neonatal mortality were significantly increased in mothers whose partner's information was partly or (especially) totally missing. CONCLUSIONS: Mothers whose partner's information was partly and (especially) totally missing are at higher risk of adverse pregnant outcomes, and clinicians and public health workers should be alerted to this important social factor

Prevalence of placenta praevia by world region: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVES: (i) To estimate the prevalence burden of placenta praevia in each world region, and (ii) to investigate potential sources of heterogeneity. METHODS: Systematic review of the literature and random-effects meta-analysis. Potential sources of heterogeneity were investigated using meta-regression. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of placenta praevia was 5.2 per 1000 pregnancies (95% CI: 4.5-5.9). However, there was evidence of regional variation (P = 0.0001); prevalence was highest among Asian studies (12.2 per 1000 pregnancies; 95% CI: 9.5-15.2) and lower among studies from Europe (3.6 per 1000 pregnancies; 95% CI: 2.8-4.6), North America (2.9 per 1000 pregnancies; 95% CI: 2.3-3.5) and Sub-Saharan Africa (2.7 per 1000 pregnancies; 95% CI: 0.3-11.0). The prevalence of major placenta praevia was 4.3 per 1000 pregnancies (95% CI: 3.3-5.4). CONCLUSION: The prevalence of placenta praevia is low at around 5 per 1000 pregnancies. There is some evidence suggestive of regional variation in its prevalence, but it is not possible to determine from existing data whether this is due to true ethnic differences or other unknown factor(s)