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In this article, we reflect on how smart technology is transforming service research discourses about service innovation and value co-creation. We adopt the concept of technology smartness’ to refer to the ability of technology to sense, adapt and learn from interactions. Accordingly, we seek to address how smart technologies (i.e. cognitive and distributed technology) can be powerful resources, capable of innovating in relation to actors’ agency, the structure of the service ecosystem and value co-creation practices.

This conceptual article integrates evidence from the existing theories with illustrative examples to advance research on service innovation and value co-creation.

Through the performative utterances of new tech words, such as onlife and materiality, this article identifies the emergence of innovative forms of agency and structure. Onlife agency entails automated, relational and performative forms, which provide for new decision-making capabilities and expanded opportunities to co-create value. Phygital materiality pertains to new structural features, comprised of new resources and contexts that have distinctive intelligence, autonomy and performativity. The dialectic between onlife agency and phygital materiality (structure) lies in the agencement of smart tech–enabled value co-creation practices based on the notion of becoming that involves not only resources but also actors and contexts.

This paper proposes a novel conceptual framework that advances a tech-based ecology for service ecosystems, in which value co-creation is enacted by the smartness of technology, which emerges through systemic and performative intra-actions between actors (onlife agency), resources and contexts (phygital materiality and structure).

The study aims to delve into the “phygital customer journey” (PCJ), which merges physical and digital interactions in customer experiences, using a practice-based lens to reveal the underlying dynamics of these blended encounters.

Feedback from 60 individuals established the groundwork for a qualitative analysis. They chronicled customer journeys through diaries and used UXPressia software for journey mapping. This strategy enabled a detailed exploration of the PCJ, focusing on customers’ lived experiences and perceptions.

The study presents an integrative framework for the PCJ, identifying four key elements: hybrid artefacts (the melding of digital and physical tools/interfaces), blended contexts (the seamless integration of digital and physical spaces), circular actions (the non-linear paths of customer engagement) and intertwined emotions (the complex emotional responses to phygital experiences). These elements underscore the intricate and interconnected nature of the PCJ.

This study advances the field by applying a practice-based approach to unravel the complexities of the PCJ, illuminating the nuanced interplay between digital and physical realms. This innovative lens foregrounds the significance of practices in consumer experiences, thereby contributing to a deeper academic and practical understanding of phygital integration.

The process of introducing a new robotic technology into a service system is complex, and its impacts on work practices can be challenging. By adopting a system perspective, this study investigates how human–robot collaboration (HRC) transforms work practices (i.e. customer care).

We conducted a two-year longitudinal analysis of an international company specializing in natural health products, examining changes in customer care practices following the introduction of chatbots. The study leverages expansive learning theory, which emphasizes activity systems and the transformations that occur within them, to trace the integration of robots and their effects on work practices.

The findings reveal that HRC enhances customer care practices by creating a human–robot activity system organized around shared goals. This system, mediated by tools, rules and the community, evolves through expansive learning dynamics. The process begins by identifying and addressing the contradictions and tensions between current human work practices and robotic capabilities, often revealing challenges and opportunities to improve HRC.

This research offers a novel conceptualization of the systemic and dynamic nature of HRC by placing it within broader frames of activity systems and expansive learning. Collaborations between humans and robots entail an expansive performativity that extends beyond the traditional roles or tasks of either actor or actant. It spans a diverse range of objects, tools, procedures and institutional setups, culminating in transformations of customer care practices.

This study aims to investigate the evolving concept of the metaverse and its implications for service innovation. It seeks to understand how integrating technologies such as extended reality, blockchain, artificial intelligence and non-fungible tokens enables companies to experiment and innovate.

Adopting a qualitative methodology, this investigation conducts an immersive netnography across more than 25 case studies spanning diverse industries such as gaming, retail, health care and education. The thematic analysis method is used to distill critical insights, providing a deep dive into the technological enablers, innovation processes and market adaptations within the metaverse.

The study addresses four main building blocks through which companies experiment with the metaverse to foster innovation: enabling virtual identities’ agency, developing non-fungible tokens, designing immersive paths and crafting phygital microworlds. They shape the metaverse by enacting actors, resources, processes and phygital ecosystems. Companies obtain learning outcomes from such experimentation and identify learning challenges.

This research contributes to the nascent body of knowledge on the metaverse and service innovation by providing a comprehensive framework that encapsulates the multifaceted ways companies experiment within the metaverse. It extends the understanding of digital-physical convergence in service research, offering theoretical and practical insights into the development of phygital service ecosystems.

Este estudio tiene como objetivo investigar el concepto en evolución del Metaverso y sus implicaciones para la innovación en servicios. Busca comprender cómo la integración de tecnologías como la realidad extendida, la cadena de bloques, la inteligencia artificial y los tokens no fungibles permite a las empresas experimentar e innovar.

Adoptando una metodología cualitativa, esta investigación realiza una netnografía inmersiva a través de más de 25 estudios de casos que abarcan diversas industrias como los juegos, el comercio minorista, la atención médica y la educación. Se emplea el método de análisis temático para destilar conocimientos críticos, brindando un profundo análisis de los habilitadores tecnológicos, los procesos de innovación y las adaptaciones al mercado dentro del Metaverso.

El estudio aborda cuatro bloques principales a través de los cuales las empresas experimentan con el Metaverso para fomentar la innovación: habilitar la agencia de identidades virtuales, desarrollar tokens no fungibles, diseñar senderos inmersivos y crear micromundos físico-digitales. Estos dan forma al Metaverso mediante la actuación de actores, recursos, procesos y ecosistemas físico-digitales. Las empresas obtienen resultados de aprendizaje de dicha experimentación e identifican desafíos de aprendizaje.

Esta investigación contribuye al cuerpo de conocimiento incipiente sobre el Metaverso y la innovación en servicios al proporcionar un marco integral que encapsula las diversas formas en que las empresas experimentan dentro del Metaverso. Amplía la comprensión de la convergencia digital-física en la investigación de servicios, ofreciendo ideas teóricas y prácticas sobre el desarrollo de ecosistemas de servicios físico-digitales.

这项研究旨在探讨元宇宙概念的演变以及其对服务创新的影响。其目标在于深入理解通过整合增强现实、区块链、人工智能以及非同质化代币等技术, 如何使企业得以进行实验和创新。

本研究利用定性研究方法, 进行了一项沉浸式网络民族志调查, 涵盖了跨越游戏、零售、医疗保健和教育等多个行业的25多个案例。通过主题分析方法, 提炼出关键见解, 深入探讨了元宇宙内的技术驱动因素、创新过程和市场适应性。

这项研究以四个主要方面为切入点, 探讨了企业在元宇宙中促进创新的方法：启用虚拟身份的代理、开发非同质化代币、设计沉浸式路径以及打造物理-数字微观世界。通过这些措施, 企业塑造了元宇宙, 涉及行动者、资源、过程和物理-数字生态系统的执行。在此类实验中, 企业积累了丰富的学习经验, 并面临了

本研究旨在建立一个全面的框架, 以拓展关于元宇宙和服务创新的新知识, 揭示企业在元宇宙中进行实验的多方面方式。它不仅扩展了服务研究领域中数字与物理融合的理解, 还提供了有关发展物理-数字服务生态系统的理论和实践见解。

Service research offering a view of both the dark and bright sides of smart technology remains scarce. This paper embraces a critical perspective and examines the conflicting outcomes of smart services on the customer experience (CX), with a specific focus on chatbots.

This study uses empirical research methods to examine a single case study where an online retail service provider implemented a chatbot for customer service. Using discourse analysis, we analysed 7,167 conversations between customers and the chatbot over a two-year period.

The analysis identifies seven general themes related to the effects of the chatbot on CX: interaction quality, information gathering, procedure literacy, task achievement, digital trust, shopping stress and shopping journey. We illuminate both positive (i.e. having a pleasant interaction, providing information, knowing procedures, improving tasks, increasing trust, reducing stress and completing the journey) and negative outcomes (i.e. having an unpleasant interaction, increasing confusion, ignoring procedures, worsening tasks, reducing trust, increasing stress and abandoning the journey).

The paper develops a comprehensive framework to offer a clearer view of chatbots as smart services in customer care. It delves into the conflicting effects of chatbots on CX by examining them through relational, cognitive, affective and behavioural dimensions.

Network configurations have been proposed as an efficient form of organisation and a promising area of research; however, a lack of conceptual clarity can be noted. The purpose of this review is to allow for a broad appreciation of network configurations and provide guidance for future studies of the concept.

A systematic literature review was conducted based on the PRISMA method; Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed and the Cochrane Library were searched for conference proceedings and journal articles describing organisational networks to integrate resources aimed at care delivery. Around 80 articles were included in the final review and analysed thematically and by use of bibliographic coupling.

The last decades have seen an increase in the frequency of articles describing networks for healthcare delivery. The most common contexts are care for multiple and/or long-term conditions. Three clusters of articles were found, corresponding to different conceptualisations of networks in healthcare: efficiency-enhancing cooperation, efficiency-enhancing integration and involvement for cocreation.

To increase conceptual clarity and allow the research on network configurations in healthcare to produce meta-learnings and guidance to practice, scholars are advised to provide ample descriptions of studied networks and relate them to established network classifications.

The current review has only included articles including networks as a key concept, which provides a focused overview of the use of network configurations but limits the insights into similar approaches not described explicitly as networks.

The empirical study of factors related to digital transformation (DT) in the banking sector is still limited, even though the importance of the topic is universally evident. To bridge that gap, this paper aims to explore the role of digital leadership (DL), innovative culture (IC) and technostress inhibitors (TI) to support engagement for improved digital innovation (DI). Based on the literature, these variables are crucial aspects of digitalisation, even though there is no agreement on their conclusiveness.

This quantitative study tested a new conceptual model using survey data from five major banks in Libya. Partial least squares structural equation modelling was used to analyse the data from the 292 usable responses.

The results showed that DL and IC positively affect DI. Techno-work engagement (TE) mediated the relationship between leadership, culture and innovation. TI played a significant moderating role in leadership, culture and engagement relationships.

The research findings highlight critical issues about how leadership style and fostering organisational support in the banking sector can enhance DT. Leaders must demonstrate a commitment to long-term resource allocation to avoid possible negative effects from digital stress while pursuing DI through work engagement.

The study suggests that fostering organisational support can enhance DT in retail banks, potentially leading to improved customer experiences and increased access to financial services. These programs will help banks contribute to societal and economic development.

This timely study examines predictor mechanisms of innovation in retail banking that resonate within the restrictions of organisational and DI frameworks and the social exchange theory. Exploring the intervening effect of TE in the leadership, culture and innovation associations is unprecedented.

This study aims to examine the relevant but overlooked intervening role of knowledge sharing and innovation capability between digital leadership and open innovation. This study hypothesizes that top management knowledge value (TMKV) can strengthen the relationship between digital leadership and knowledge sharing. In line with the resource- and knowledge-based views, the serial mediation model explains how organizations can achieve open innovation through knowledge sharing and innovation capability development under digital leadership.

The research hypotheses were tested with survey data collected in four different rounds, separated by three to four weeks each, from 250 employees working in telecom and IT companies. The statistical analyses relied on the PROCESS macro, which enabled a simultaneous estimation of the direct, mediation and moderated mediation effects that underpin the proposed theoretical framework.

Results showed good support for the serial mediation model. TMKV was found a significant factor to improve knowledge sharing among employees.

The role of leadership is inevitable in the journey of organizational performance, and digital leadership has become a significant phenomenon in this regard. To achieve open innovation, organizations need digital leadership that induce knowledge sharing and innovation capability.

This study contributes to extant research by explaining how digital leadership induces knowledge sharing and innovation capability to achieve open innovation that is highly important to compete and outperform the rivals.

The paper investigates how the engagement of a group of actors (the volunteers), previously unexplored in service ecosystems literature, contributes to generating new co-creation activities and well-being outcomes in the healthcare service ecosystem (HSE). Moreover, the study analyses how the provision and integration of volunteers’ resources help to explain the HSE self-adjustment favouring the re-humanisation of service.

The article zooms in on the volunteers’ activities in an HSE. A qualitative approach is adopted, and an empirical investigation is grounded in data gathered from Kids Kicking Cancer (KKC) Italia, a volunteer association operating in the paediatric oncology ward of Italian hospitals. Data are collected and triangulated through in-depth interviews, volunteers’ diaries and observations. The analysis is conducted by adopting an interpretative thematic analysis technique.

The study provides a conceptual framework explaining how volunteers’ value co-creation activities influence the HSE’s self-adjustment by leading to a re-humanisation of services. The paper also contributes to the state of knowledge by identifying seven categories of volunteers’ value co-creation activities, two of which are completely new in the literature (co-responsibility and empowerment).

The paper contributes to the service research literature by identifying empirically grounded value co-creation activities extending the understanding of self-adjustment and re-humanisation of the service ecosystem.

The adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) in frontline service encounters is a growing phenomenon in service marketing, which can lead to positive and negative results. In this context, this paper aims to review the literature on value cocreation and codestruction in AI-enabled service interactions.

A systematic literature review was carried out using the PRISMA protocol. Data were retrieved from the Web of Science and Scopus databases, from which 48 articles were selected for review. Data analysis, presentation of results and the research agenda followed the theory, context, characteristics and methodology (TCCM) framework.

The review especially revealed that: publications on AI-enabled value cocreation and codestruction are in the early stages of development; few articles have addressed value codestruction, and the main research emphasis is on value cocreation; interactions between human actors and AI-enabled autonomous nonhuman actors are resulting in value cocreation or value codestruction, or both, and these phenomena are also likely to occur when AI replaces more than one human actor in the service encounter; and AI is considered an increasingly independent nonhuman actor that integrates resources and interacts with other actors, yet prudence is necessary for its adoption.

This review fills a gap by jointly exploring the value cocreation and codestruction in the context of AI, presents an overview of the issues discussed and provides a research agenda with directions for future studies.

La adopción de la inteligencia artificial (IA) en los encuentros de servicio en primera línea es un fenómeno creciente en el marketing de servicios, que puede llevar a resultados positivos y negativos. En este contexto, el objetivo de este artículo es revisar la literatura sobre la cocreación y codestrucción de valor en las interacciones de servicio habilitadas por IA.

Se realizó una revisión sistemática de la literatura utilizando el protocolo PRISMA. Los datos se obtuvieron de las bases de datos Web of Science y Scopus, de las cuales se seleccionaron 48 artículos para su revisión. El análisis de los datos, la presentación de resultados y la agenda de investigación siguieron el marco de teoría, contexto, características y metodología (TCCM).

La revisión reveló especialmente que: (1) las publicaciones sobre la cocreación y codestrucción de valor habilitadas por IA están en las primeras etapas de desarrollo; (2) pocos artículos han abordado la codestrucción de valor, y el principal énfasis de la investigación está en la cocreación de valor; (3) las interacciones entre actores humanos y actores no humanos autónomos habilitados por IA están resultando en cocreación o codestrucción de valor, o ambas, y es probable que estos fenómenos también ocurran cuando la IA reemplaza a más de un actor humano en el encuentro de servicio; (4) la IA es considerada un actor no humano cada vez más independiente que integra recursos e interactúa con otros actores, pero se requiere prudencia en su adopción.

Esta revisión llena un vacío al explorar conjuntamente la cocreación y codestrucción de valor en el contexto de la IA, presenta una visión general de los temas discutidos y proporciona una agenda de investigación con direcciones para estudios futuros.

人工智能（AI）在前线服务接触中的应用已成为服务营销中的一个日益增长的现象, 这可能带来正面和负面的结果。在这一背景下, 本文旨在回顾关于人工智能驱动的服务互动中价值共创与共损的文献。

采用PRISMA协议进行了系统文献综述。数据从Web of Science和Scopus数据库中提取, 共选择48篇文章进行审阅。数据分析、结果呈现及研究议程遵循理论、背景、特征与方法论（TCCM）框架。

综述特别揭示了以下几点：(1) 关于AI驱动的价值共创与共毁的出版物尚处于发展初期; (2) 针对价值共损的文章较少, 主要研究重点集中在价值共创上; (3) 人类参与者与AI驱动的自主非人类参与者之间的互动, 可能导致价值共创或价值共损, 甚至同时发生, 特别是在AI替代多个服务接触中的人类参与者时; (4) AI被视为越来越独立的非人类参与者, 它整合资源并与其他参与者互动, 但在采用过程中需谨慎。

本综述填补了在AI背景下共同探讨价值共创与共损的空白, 概述了相关问题, 并提供了未来研究方向的议程。