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“New ways of working” refers to non‐traditional work practices, settings and locations with information and communication technologies (ICT) to supplement or replace traditional ways of working. They are being deployed in knowledge work context in order to increase employees working motivation, job satisfaction and productivity. However, these benefits are not self‐evident. This paper aims to examine the task of measuring the expected benefits.

This paper synthesizes the existing literature on measurement of knowledge work productivity and identifies some key prerequisites and restrictions that should be taken into account when measuring the impacts of organizational change.

The paper proposes a measurement approach for evaluating the impacts of a new ways of working initiative in a knowledge work context.

Previous literature has focused on studying whether facilities and ICT solutions are appropriate from the viewpoint of an individual knowledge worker. However, there is a lack of studies focused on the actual business impacts of different working arrangements.

The aim of this paper is to find out how the productivity of public services can be measured in the operative level of organisations. In particular, the role of different output elements (tangible and intangible) is examined.

A qualitative research approach is used. The current knowledge of the issue is presented by examining literature on public service productivity, intellectual capital and performance measurement. In the empirical part, the findings of the literature review are applied and further examined in the context of two services of the City of Helsinki, Finland.

The paper identifies tangible and intangible output factors in two case services. It also illustrates how the factors can be measured in practice. The empirical examination suggests that the challenges in the operative level productivity measurement relate especially to defining measures. Identifying of different output factors is an easier task.

The study presents and applies a novel approach of designing productivity measures for public services. More empirical studies using the approach are called for.

The measurement approach presented here can be utilised as a basis for designing sophisticated productivity measures of public services.

A key challenge in examining public service productivity relates to the intangible nature of services. Despite the great potential and practical relevance of the topic there seems to be no understanding of how to capture this feature in order to design valid productivity measures. The paper adds to the current knowledge by describing the process of designing measures for disaggregated components of productivity, shares practical experiences related to the design process and highlights the main challenges.

This paper aims to identify the focal elements of performance in Finnish welfare service organisations, how performance is measured in welfare services, and what are management needs regarding the development of performance measurement in the sector.

First, the relevant performance management literature of welfare services is reviewed, then interviews with 15 managers of Finnish welfare service organisations in public, nonprofit and for‐profit sectors are reported.

The paper identifies the key elements of performance in Finnish welfare services. The results of the research indicate that Finnish welfare service organisations are relatively active in their performance measurement. Development needs relate to acquiring more systematic performance measurement approaches and new measures for the quality and long‐term effects of services.

Research elaborates the concept of performance in welfare services, thus enabling practitioners to analyse and develop their organisations' performance. The summary of current measurement practices and development needs in current practices serves to develop suitable performance management tools for welfare services.

In welfare services, performance management is a rather complex issue. Research on the topic, especially that on nonprofit, for‐profit and public Finnish welfare service organisations. is meager. This paper provides new information about the issue in Finnish welfare services.

The purpose of this paper is to examine productivity at the level of a welfare service system. This approach aims at optimizing the performance of the whole system and to avoid sub‐optimizing the production of individual services or organizations. The paper also aims to develop a definition for the concept of welfare service system productivity and demonstrate its applicability.

First, a literature‐based definition of welfare service system productivity is produced. This definition is applied empirically in a case service system. Empirical data were collected by interviewing a total of 17 managers either in the Social Service Department (City of Helsinki, Finland) or in external service provider organizations.

The findings show that the system‐level productivity concept is a challenging phenomenon in practice. The practitioners representing different parts of the system could not easily see things the same way. This study also shows that the concept can be applied as an analytical tool. The key benefit of lifting the level of analysis from organizational to system level is that new kinds of challenges and areas for improvement are revealed.

Despite the conceptual nature of the paper, the purpose is to comprise a managerially relevant approach that helps to increase understanding about the issues affecting system‐level productivity and to identify the potential for productivity improvements in a welfare service system (e.g. by locating productivity barriers).

The existing literature on public sector productivity is mainly concentrated on individual organizations whereas system‐level approach is given little attention.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the contingency factors affecting performance measurement in the service context. The paper aims to review the literature on performance measurement and synthesize it to a framework that creates a basis for analyzing measurement practices in various kinds of service contexts.

In order to obtain a fresh update to the existing knowledge on the topic, a systematic literature review was carried out. Around 8,000 articles published between 2005 and 2011 were reviewed and as a result 80 papers were chosen for a more detailed examination.

The paper applies a fresh approach to performance measurement in services, increasing generalizability of case study findings. By analyzing a large set of studies, the study identifies contextual factors that affect performance measurement in service operations. The resulting framework acts as a foundation for further research on performance measurement in services.

The results of this research can be further refined into more practice‐oriented framework. After further field research and testing, the framework can be linked to practical recommendations in different settings of measurement development.

The measurement of service operations is known to be challenging due to some service‐specific features. Much of the existing research on the topic has been carried out in a specific service industry with a specific measurement need. In order to increase generalizability, there is also a need to carry out cross‐case analysis identifying patterns among individual case studies. This supports the application of lessons learned from a certain specific setting into other fields. There is very limited knowledge on the contingency factors related to measurement system development caused by service context.

The paper aims to evaluate the knowledge-based urban development (KBUD) dynamics of a rapidly emerging knowledge city-region, Tampere region, Finland.

The paper empirically investigates Tampere region’s development achievements and progress from the knowledge perspective.

The research, through qualitative and quantitative analyses, reveals the regional development strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of Tampere region.

The paper provides useful suggestions based on the lessons learned from the Tampere case investigation that could shed light on the KBUD journey of city-regions.

The starting‐point of this paper is the observation that, while intellectual capital (IC) management seems to be a potential approach for non‐profit elderly care organizations, there is a lack of empirical evidence on how it could actually be applied. This paper aims to add to knowledge of this issue.

This is an exploratory, qualitative case study including three case organizations. The case descriptions and analysis are based on interviews with managers of the case organizations.

The study describes which intangible resources are highlighted in the operations of non‐profit elderly care organizations, the existing practices regarding the management of IC factors and the IC needs of management in these organizations.

The study focuses on Finnish non‐profits. The operations of the third sector may vary across countries.

The elderly care sector is facing big challenges due to the changing age structure in many Western countries and due to the pressure to produce cost‐effective but still high‐quality services. The IC approach seems well‐suited as a managerial framework that can capture the intangible aspects of operations. However, more research and practical application experience are needed at this stage.

IC research on non‐profit organizations is rare and has so far been rather generic and conceptual. The paper makes a contribution by presenting empirical and industry‐specific findings.

This paper aims to investigate the micro‐level (managerial) measurement of service productivity in the context of public services, in particular, the role of different output elements.

Current knowledge on the issue is summarised based on the existing literature on service productivity and public sector performance. Measurement challenges and potential solutions are studied in four different services of the city of Helsinki, Finland.

The case study demonstrates that complex service outputs can be divided into components (both tangible and intangible) that can be utilised in designing more sophisticated productivity measures. The findings add to the existing understanding about issues related to public service output definition.

This study provides knowledge to support the application of a disaggregated approach to service productivity measurement. However, more research is needed in order to fully utilise this approach in practice.

The findings of the study may help managers identify service output components in public/social services. This can be used as a starting point for developing novel productivity measures.

A key challenge in examining service productivity relates to the intangible nature of services; it is especially difficult to define the actual outputs produced. The challenges seem to be most severe in the public sector due to its specific characteristics. Many of the existing studies examine the issue at macro level. In large multi‐service organisations there is a managerial need to gather micro‐level information on productivity. This paper demonstrates how a disaggregated approach presented in the earlier literature can be operationalised. The approach yields a detailed understanding of different output components, which is a necessary step in designing relevant productivity measures for operative‐level management.

This paper aims to examine the role of intellectual capital (IC) management in an organizational change process. The purpose is to obtain new empirical findings and an enhanced understanding of the role of IC in an organizational change process is obtained.

First, the existing literature on change management and IC management is reviewed. Then, empirical research is carried out in terms of an action research project on IC development processes in three case companies. These processes and their outcomes are evaluated using interviews.

An IC model can be a useful tool for change management as it helps to ensure the alignment of the change content with the strategic goals of the organization.

The study is based on applying the Danish IC management model in Finnish companies. Different results might have been obtained if another IC management model had been used or the companies representing other countries and cultures had been selected.

The paper demonstrates that IC tools can be useful for promoting organizational change processes. However, more important than the specific conceptual model or measurement method chosen seems to be the process of organizational representatives connecting their contextual and idiosyncratic understandings to the model.

This paper makes a contribution to the existing knowledge by reporting and critically evaluating the implementation of dynamic IC management practices. This is a contribution to the existing conceptually oriented literature on the topic. In addition, the analysis of empirical IC management projects applied in a change context has novelty value.