Organizing for Service Innovation: Best-Practice or Configurations?

In this paper we contrast the notions of best-practice and configurations contingent on environmental conditions. The analysis draws upon our study of 38 UK and 70 US service firms which includes an assessment of the organization, processes, tools and systems used, and how these factors influence variation in the development and delivery of new services. The best-practice framework is found to be predictive of performance improvement in samples in both the UK and USA, but the model better fits the USA than UK data. We analyze the UK data to identify alternative configurations. Four system configurations are identified: project-based; mass customization; cellular; and organic-technical. Each has a different combination of organization, processes, tools and systems which offer different performance advantages. The results provide an opportunity for updating the typologies of operations and adapting them to include services, and begin to challenge the notion of any universal 'best practice' management or organization of new product or service development.service industry, performance improvement, best-practice, alternative system configurations

The Organization of New Service Development in the USA and UK

We understand a great deal about the organization and management of new product development in the manufacturing sector, but we know relatively little about how applicable this research and practice is to the service sector. In this paper we introduce and test a framework for managing new product development in services. This framework is derived and tested by analyzing 108 service firms in a combined US and UK dataset, and then each national sub-sample separately. Our results generally support the predictive capability of the framework, and suggest that the development strategy, processes, organization and tools derived from manufacturing, specially those of concurrent engineering, are applicable to services. However, the framework better fits the US than UK data, which may question the notion of a 'best practice' applicable to different contexts.product development, services, concurrent engineering, simultaneous development

Service development success: a contingent approach by knowledge strategy

Purpose – Contingency theory suggests that effective strategies and structures are not universal but dependant upon situational factors. The purpose of this paper is to explore how the way service firms compete acts as a strategic contingency, moderating the effect of a new service development (NSD) system on innovation performance. Two knowledge‐based strategies are tested as contingency factors. One strategy adds value for customers via the delivery of personalized knowledge‐based services; the other strategy adds value by services exploiting codified knowledge. Design/methodology/approach – A sample of 70 large service enterprises is used to test a contingency model of service innovation. The NSD system is a synergistic meld of basic building blocks of NSD systems: people organized cross‐functionally, the discipline of formal processes for guiding development activities, and the deployment of enabling tools/technologies. Regression analysis is used to test the relative impact of these three elements on innovation performance contingent on the type of knowledge strategy employed. Findings – While each element of the NSD system has an effect on performance, the optimal design is contingent on the strategy the firm employs. If firms enact a personalization strategy, NSD systems that score high in the deployment of cross‐functional organization and disciplined processes are higher performers. If firms emphasize a codification strategy, NSD systems that score high in the deployment of tools/technologies are higher performers. Combinations of the two kinds of strategy permit the construction of a four‐cell classification of service firms. This typology is used to further explore the implications for how managers design NSD systems to optimize performance. Originality/value – This paper uses a contingency approach to demonstrate that an optimal NSD system is dependent upon the type of knowledge strategy firms deploy. The impact on performance of three components of NSD depends on the degree of either codification and/or personalization in the service offering. A novel approach based on the knowledge management literature is employed creating a typology of service firm strategies. This is the first time such a typology has been postulated

A Survey of Archeological and Historical Resources within the Bonneville Unit of the Central Utah Project

Four small archeological sites were found but were of insufficient significance to warrant their further study or preservation. Providing the enlargement of Deer Creek Reservoir represents the only alternative, a comprehensive study of the community and its historic resources has been recommended, especially as it relates to the use of land and water. In addition, study has been recommended of the settlement as it relates to the understanding of agricultural development in Utah

The Rise and Fall of Sovereign Immunity in Ohio

The doctrine of sovereign immunity for municipal corporations has long reigned in Ohio. Although the judiciary and the General Assembly have imposed limitations, the doctrine has survived as a principle of Ohio law for over 140 years. However, the Supreme Court of Ohio reversed the trend and abrogated the doctrine in a series of cases in December 1982 and in the spring of the 1983 term. This comment examines the historical development of sovereign immunity for tort claims in Ohio, the limitations subsequently imposed on the immunity and its abrogation in those recent supreme court cases

The Rise and Fall of Sovereign Immunity in Ohio

The doctrine of sovereign immunity for municipal corporations has long reigned in Ohio. Although the judiciary and the General Assembly have imposed limitations, the doctrine has survived as a principle of Ohio law for over 140 years. However, the Supreme Court of Ohio reversed the trend and abrogated the doctrine in a series of cases in December 1982 and in the spring of the 1983 term. This comment examines the historical development of sovereign immunity for tort claims in Ohio, the limitations subsequently imposed on the immunity and its abrogation in those recent supreme court cases

Smoking affects gene expression in blood of patients with ischemic stroke.

ObjectiveThough cigarette smoking (CS) is a well-known risk factor for ischemic stroke (IS), there is no data on how CS affects the blood transcriptome in IS patients.MethodsWe recruited IS-current smokers (IS-SM), IS-never smokers (IS-NSM), control-smokers (C-SM), and control-never smokers (C-NSM). mRNA expression was assessed on HTA-2.0 microarrays and unique as well as commonly expressed genes identified for IS-SM versus IS-NSM and C-SM versus C-NSM.ResultsOne hundred and fifty-eight genes were differentially expressed in IS-SM versus IS-NSM; 100 genes were differentially expressed in C-SM versus C-NSM; and 10 genes were common to both IS-SM and C-SM (P < 0.01; |fold change| ≥ 1.2). Functional pathway analysis showed the 158 IS-SM-regulated genes were associated with T-cell receptor, cytokine-cytokine receptor, chemokine, adipocytokine, tight junction, Jak-STAT, ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis, and adherens junction signaling. IS-SM showed more altered genes and functional networks than C-SM.InterpretationWe propose some of the 10 genes that are elevated in both IS-SM and C-SM (GRP15, LRRN3, CLDND1, ICOS, GCNT4, VPS13A, DAP3, SNORA54, HIST1H1D, and SCARNA6) might contribute to increased risk of stroke in current smokers, and some genes expressed by blood leukocytes and platelets after stroke in smokers might contribute to worse stroke outcomes that occur in smokers

A Review of the Genus Eristalis Latreille in North America

Author Institution: Ohio State Universit