Enhancing crowdsourcing success: the role of creative and deliberate problem-solving styles

A growing number of firms are using crowdsourcing platforms to actively solicit the skills of external entities to help them solve innovation-related problems. Despite its increasing popularity, crowdsourcing has produced mixed success, because few external experts provide helpful solutions. The current research examines this issue by exploring why some external solvers are more successful than others. Grounded in dual-processing theory, this study combines survey and archival data to assess the impact of creative versus deliberate problem-solving styles on solving success. The results indicate that both styles can be effective, but their relative success depends on the amount of time a solver invests in a solution and his or her degree of contextual familiarity with the problem. Specifically, creative (deliberate) styles are more effective under conditions of high (low) contextual familiarity and shorter (longer) time investments. When solvers employ both styles, overall problem-solving success declines. Data source: surve

A service science approach for improving healthy food experiences

Purpose - Insufficient attention to the specific nature of healthy food experiences might limit the success of related innovations. The purpose of this article is to adopt a value-in-use perspective to conceptualize healthy food consumption as experiential and emotional, rather than the mere intake of nutrition, and to examine the development of healthy food communication with a service science approach. Design/methodology/approach - With a service science approach, this study proposes a virtual healthy food platform for children. The key data come from internal project documents, workshops with children and other stakeholders (e.g. parents, teachers), and interviews with project team members. Findings - The simultaneity of functional and hedonic benefits, implications for multiple stakeholders, social norms, and need for expertise characterize healthy food experiences. The proposed framework accounts for enablers, principles, outcomes, and challenges affecting the development of communication integral to healthy food experiences, using project data and tools as illustrations. Research limitations/implications - This study contributes to growing literature on service science by introducing key principles and contingency factors that influence the success of experience-centric service innovations. Quantitative research should validate the established framework and investigate the elements' relative usefulness for developing healthy food communication Practical implications - The service science approach involves multiple stakeholders, empathic data collection, and visual tools to develop an entertaining platform to help children learn about healthy food. Originality/value - This research conceptualizes and validates healthy food experiences as value-in-use offerings. The proposed service science approach accounts for the interactions among stakeholders, the holistic nature, and specificities of a real-life decision context for improving healthy food experiences

Uncovering collaborative value creation patterns and establishing corresponding customer roles

Research on value creation traditionally has focused on value created by the company, though customers increasingly serve as active partners, able to create value with firms in a collaborative manner. Despite interest by both scholars and managers, existing research has not yet clarified the interdependencies of service offerings and customer role patterns. This article explores value creation rooted in three generic offerings (configuration, solution, and network) and identifies differences in their prerequisites, customer activities, challenges, abilities, ability enhancers, and perceived benefits that arise in collaborative value creation (CVC). Data from 105 collaborations, collected through in-depth interviews, support the qualitative and quantitative analyses that reveal distinct patterns in customers' value creation for each service offering. A categorical principal components analysis, combined with cluster analysis, identifies five customer roles: bargain-hunting independent, comprehensive help seeker, engaged problem solver, technology-savvy networker, and self-reliant customizer. Our theoretical contribution includes the identification of customer roles across generic offerings and empirical evidence that customers perform multiple roles when engaging in CVC processes. Our findings provide managers engaged in CVC with recommendations on criteria for segmenting customer groups, on the role of the service provider in various value creation processes, and on tailored communication strategies to attract customers

Experience: the most critical factor in choosing after-hours medical care

Introduction In many countries, a reassessment of after-hours primary care has become necessary. In particular, centralised general practitioner deputizing services (GPDS) have emerged. In this study, consumers' preferences for after-hours medical care were obtained and the use of the new GPDS was predicted.Method On the basis of the Theory of Reasoned Action, a survey was developed that was used at the Free Newborn and Child health care services in Antwerp. Consumers were asked about their knowledge, experience and perceptions concerning the performance of different medical services.Results 350 questionnaires were used for analysis. 98.6% of the respondents knew about the existence of the emergency department, whereas the GPDS was known by 81.7% of the respondents. The main reasons for preferring emergency department over the other services were an easy access, good explanation by the doctor and a late due time of the payment. Respondents preferred the GPDS mainly because of an expected shorter waiting time. Experience had a strong positive influence on choosing a particular after-hours medical service.Conclusion In our study, the consumers' preferences concerning after-hours medical care were assessed. The following items are crucial for choosing after-hours care: experience with the services, easy access to the service, explanation by the doctor about the illness and the treatment and waiting time

Predicting the place of out-of-hours care - A market simulation based on discrete choice analysis

Background increasing cost pressure and changing patients’ needs in the healthcare sector have led to new delivery models for primary care. Researchers and practitioners need to establish innovative methods to obtain insights into patients’ preferences and effectiveness of healthcare services

Global best practices consensus: Long-term management of patients with hybrid centrifugal flow left ventricular assist device support

Objectives: Six months after withdrawal of the HeartWare HVAD System (HVAD; Medtronic) from sale, approximately 4000 patients continue ongoing support with this device. In light of the diminishing experience, this global consensus document summarizes key management recommendations.Methods: International experts with experience in the management of patients with ongoing HVAD support were invited to summarize key aspects of patient and pump management and highlight differences in the current HeartMate 3 (Abbott Laboratories) ventricular assist device. Clinicians from high-implanting HVAD sites reviewed current literature and reported experience to generate a consensus statement.Results: Specific guidelines to assist in the management of ongoing HVAD patients are developed. Key management protocols and helpful techniques developed from experienced clinicians are combined into a short guideline document. As experience with HeartMate 3 increases, key differences in approach to management are highlighted, where appropriate.Conclusions: With decreasing worldwide experience in the ongoing management of HVAD-supported patients, this consensus guideline provides a summary of best practice techniques from international centers. Differences in HeartMate 3 management are highlighted