The purpose of this paper is to shed more light on the crucial initiation stage of service innovation in professional service firms (PSFs) by individual professionals and the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to shed more light on the crucial initiation stage of service innovation in professional service firms (PSFs) by individual professionals and the implications for knowledge management.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper builds theory, based on an in‐depth review of the relevant literature. The developed theory is illustrated with a case study of PricewaterhouseCoopers AG (PwC), one of the Big Four accounting and consulting firms. Formal and informal interviews about innovation, learning in client interactions, and knowledge management were held with more than 70 employees of PwC over a three‐year period.
Findings
The paper shows that entrepreneurial opportunity recognition is a suitable framework to explain the initiation of service innovation in PSFs. Prior knowledge, alertness and search are identified as bases for the recognition of opportunities and hence the initiation of service innovation in PSFs. Therefore, the author argues that knowledge management should raise the alertness of individual professionals to engage in opportunity recognition and also provide a fruitful environment to enable active search for opportunities on the basis of relevant prior knowledge at hand.
Practical implications
The findings aim to help managers in PSFs to understand better the initiation of innovation in their companies and enable fostering of innovation through the application of dedicated knowledge management initiatives.
Originality/value
Previous research has not yet taken an in‐depth look at the initiation stage of service innovation by individual professionals in PSFs. In this paper, entrepreneurial opportunity recognition is presented and applied for the first time as a framework to explain the activity of professionals in the initiation of service innovation in PSFs. In doing this, the paper also contributes to the understanding of the under‐researched corporate entrepreneurial role of professionals in PSFs.
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Jan Henrik Sieg, Alban Fischer, Martin W. Wallin and Georg von Krogh
This paper seeks to contribute to the discussion of relationship marketing in professional services firms (PSF). The process of dialogical interaction with clients is central to…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper seeks to contribute to the discussion of relationship marketing in professional services firms (PSF). The process of dialogical interaction with clients is central to relationship marketing. However, client dialogue may fall dormant if not properly cultivated by employees of the PSF, that is, by professionals. This inductive study aims to investigate how professionals sustain a fruitful client dialogue by proactively introducing additional client problems to the dialogue.
Design/methodology/approach
Extensive field research with a “Big Four” accounting firm and 11 client companies inductively generates a framework to describe how professionals engage in proactive diagnosis of client problems to introduce these problems to the client dialogue. The framework is grounded in 49 focused interviews with professionals and client managers, as well as supplementary interviews, observations, and firm documents.
Findings
The suggested framework consists of the components of proactive diagnosis (information‐seeking and influence strategies), a trade‐off that professionals must make among these components, several enablers of and constraints on proactive diagnosis, and key client concerns that professionals must address to introduce additional client problems.
Originality/value
Despite the importance of client dialogue for relationship marketing, recommendations about how professionals can sustain client dialogue over time remain limited. This study describes proactive diagnosis as one potential approach. It contributes to literature on relationship marketing in PSFs by showing how proactive diagnosis helps professionals overcome the problem of dormancy in client dialogue, complements personal selling, and extends the role of diagnosis beyond paid client assignments into the pre‐selling phase.
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This article aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting‐edge research and case studies.
Abstract
Purpose
This article aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting‐edge research and case studies.
Design/methodology/approach
The briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.
Findings
In today's ultra‐tough business world, innovation often holds the key to growth and competitive advantage. Along with qualities like enthusiasm and determination, knowledge is one of the most essential ingredients for any creative endeavor.
Practical implications
The article provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world's leading organizations.
Originality/value
The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy‐to‐digest format.
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Andrei Bonamigo, Helio Aisenberg Ferenhof and Fernando Antonio Forcellini
The purpose of this paper is to diagnose the barriers of dairy production system of Santa Catarina from the perspective of the business ecosystem concept.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to diagnose the barriers of dairy production system of Santa Catarina from the perspective of the business ecosystem concept.
Design/methodology/approach
The study consists of a bibliographic systematic review of the dairy production from the perspective of the business ecosystem. To analyze the resulting portfolio, the authors used the content analysis proposed by Bardin (2011), which served as the basis for analysis and discussion of the barriers of dairy production.
Findings
The authors identified a total of 19 barriers related with dairy production activity in Santa Catarina, they are properly presented and discussed. In addition, some ways to mitigate these barriers.
Research limitations/implications
This study may not have enabled a complete coverage of all existing peer-reviewed articles in the field of dairy production. Yet, it seems reasonable to assume that the review process covered a large proportion of studies available.
Originality/value
It is the first study that identifies barriers to the development of dairy production in Santa Catarina using as an analytical lens the business ecosystem. And once identified these barriers, it is possible to devise strategies to eliminate or mitigate these barriers.
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The article examines a number of specimen terms of interest to librarians in various languages with a view to establishing the degree of ambiguity inherent in them and the extent…
Abstract
The article examines a number of specimen terms of interest to librarians in various languages with a view to establishing the degree of ambiguity inherent in them and the extent to which the connotation of apparent equivalents in other languages matches. The inference is drawn that in many cases a simple statement of equivalence is not appropriate, and that a scries of detailed studies is needed, analysing the actual use of particular groups of terms in various fields and languages. The first question to be answered is ‘What does this term mean?’ not ‘How is it translated?’.
Andrei Bonamigo, Helio Aisenberg Ferenhof, Rafael Tezza and Fernando Antonio Forcellini
The purpose of this paper is to empirically test the dairy production barriers: lack of cooperation between the chain actors, milk quality deficiencies, rural exodus and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to empirically test the dairy production barriers: lack of cooperation between the chain actors, milk quality deficiencies, rural exodus and, productivity limitations in southern Brazil, based on Santa Catarina’s dairy production ecosystem players perceptions.
Design/methodology/approach
From inquiry result analysis with 305 dairy sector experts, the authors performed statistical tests using the technique of factorial analysis and confirmatory factorial analysis to confirm and/or refute the dairy production barriers presented by Bonamigo et al. (2016b).
Findings
The results confirmed the presence of the barriers presented by Bonamigo et al. (2016b). The barrier lack of cooperation between the chain actors is presented as the biggest obstacle in the sector, according to the interviewees. The authors also found that rural exodus is the barrier with the smallest impact on the dairy sector development in relation to other barriers presented by Bonamigo et al. (2016b). The confirmation of these barriers in practice allows developing new studies to eliminate and/or mitigate these barriers of the dairy sector. Furthermore, the study might shed some light on dairy production activities and help improve management skills.
Research limitations/implications
This study does not cover all the players that make up the dairy production ecosystem. It is limited only to the main players that are inserted in this sector. The authors observed the lack of data characterizing the dairy production system in Santa Catarina.
Originality/value
This study presents theoretical and practical contribution. By the confirmation that these barriers are present in the field, it is possible to direct new studies that seek to mitigate them and results in dairy production improvements. As for the practical contribution, the confirmation of those barriers can serve as a basis for the dairy sector decision-making actors, such as government, research institutions, and extension, producers, cooperatives, among others, and assist them in developing strategic actions that concern a cooperative way to develop the whole sector.
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Barrie O. Pettman and Richard Dobbins
This issue is a selected bibliography covering the subject of leadership.
Abstract
This issue is a selected bibliography covering the subject of leadership.
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The laws directed against adulteration and fraudulent or unfair dealing have undoubtedly done much good wherever they have been enforced. Their application in this and in other…
Abstract
The laws directed against adulteration and fraudulent or unfair dealing have undoubtedly done much good wherever they have been enforced. Their application in this and in other countries has shown how widespread are these practices and how various are their forms, while the punishment of real offenders, in the by no means large proportion of cases where it has been possible to bring forward sufficient proof of guilt, has certainly not been displeasing to the general public, and must have afforded particular satisfaction to those members of the trading community who have appreciated the injury done to them by unfair or actually dishonest competition.
The statement of the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, coming so quickly after the ban on the use of cyclamates in food and drink in the United States, indicates that…
Abstract
The statement of the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, coming so quickly after the ban on the use of cyclamates in food and drink in the United States, indicates that the new evidence of carcinogenesis in animals, placed at the disposal of the authorities by the U.S. F.D.A., has been accepted; at least, until the results of investigations being carried out in this country are available. The evidence was as new to the U.S. authorities as to our own and in the light of it, they could no longer regard the substances as in the GRAS class of food additives. It is, of course, right that any substance of which there is the slightest doubt should be removed from use; not as the result of food neuroses and health scares, but only on the basis of scientific evidence, however remote the connection. It is also right that there should always be power of selection by consumers avoidance is usually possible with other things known to be harmful, such as smoking and alcohol; in other cases, especially with chemical additives to food and drink, there must be pre‐knowledge, so that those who do not wish to consume food or drink containing such additives can ascertain from labelling those commodities which contain them.