Robert van Kalsbeek, Manda Broekhuis and Kees Jan Roodbergen
The purpose of this paper is to understand which controlling and enabling practices are used, how the numerous supplying partners are managed and how positive network effects are…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to understand which controlling and enabling practices are used, how the numerous supplying partners are managed and how positive network effects are generated in online service triads (multi-sided platform – supplying partners – consumers).
Design/methodology/approach
A single representative in-depth case study was conducted to refine theory on managing service triads. The main data source consists of field notes collected by one author, who held a temporary position within the organization. Additional data were collected from observations, internal documents, informal talks and 20 interviews.
Findings
The authors found controlling and enabling organizational practices in four main categories on two levels as follows: managing network composition (system level), managing order fulfillment and returns (operations level), category management (both levels) and capability enhancement (both levels).
Research limitations/implications
The authors show that both controlling and enabling practices are present in online service triads. This enables platform owners and supplying partners to share responsibilities for creating positive network effects, i.e. to increase scale, which increases value, which again attracts more suppliers and consumers, which creates more value, etc.
Practical implications
The authors present a range of and controlling and enabling practices that describe how multi-sided platforms can manage numerous supplying partners in an online context.
Originality/value
This study is the first to show that contractual and relational governance is insufficient in service triads in online settings with numerous supplying partners. Further, the authors provide empirical evidence that supply networks continuously adapt over time.
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Manda Broekhuis and Kirstin Scholten
The purpose of this paper is to investigate purchasing practices in service triads by exploring the link between ex ante contracting and ex post contract management and how these…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate purchasing practices in service triads by exploring the link between ex ante contracting and ex post contract management and how these practices influence the satisfaction of buyers and suppliers (in concessionary arrangements) with their relationship in terms of meeting the needs of the buyer’s customers.
Design/methodology/approach
An in-depth exploratory multiple case study was carried out in a shop-in-shop context. Multi-method and multi-source data collection included interviews, documents and the contracts between buyer and supplier, providing evidence of the formal and relational structures in both the contracting and contract management stages.
Findings
The case findings provide evidence that behavioural standards established in a social contract are important prerequisites for the establishment and subsequent management of a formal contract. Second, this study shows that, when outsourcing core services in a service triad, a combination of performance-oriented and behavioural-oriented contract terms, covering a mix of topics related to both the customer-experience and to buyer-supplier-oriented aspects, contribute to aligning the buyer’s, suppliers’ and customers’ interests. The main findings are presented in a causal model and formulated as propositions.
Originality/value
This paper is one of the first studies to explore how core services are outsourced in a service triad. It provides evidence that the social contract between buyer and supplier influences the establishment of the formal contract as well as contract management, and a mix of contract topics, some related to the customers’ experience and others purely buyer-supplier oriented, contribute to the alignment of buyer’s, suppliers’ and customers’ interests.
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Manda Broekhuis, Marjolein van Offenbeek and Monique Eissens-van der Laan
The purpose of this paper is to explore how functional and appropriateness arguments influence the adoption of modularity principles during the design of a professional service…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore how functional and appropriateness arguments influence the adoption of modularity principles during the design of a professional service architecture.
Design/methodology/approach
Action design research was conducted to examine the design process of a modular service architecture for specialised elderly care by a multi-professional group. Data collection methods included, partly participatory, observations of the interactions between professionals during the design process, interviews and document analysis. Data analysis focussed on the emerging design choices and the arguments underlying them.
Findings
A wide range of both functional and appropriateness considerations were enlisted during the design process. The three core modularity principles were adapted to varying degrees. In terms of the design outcome, the interdependencies between the modularity principles necessitated two trade-offs in the modular design. A third trade-off occurred between modularity and the need for professional inference where services were characterised by uncertainty. Appropriateness was achieved through the professionals reframing and translating the abstract modularity concept to reconcile the concept’s functionality with their professional norms, values and established practices.
Originality/value
The study adds to service modularity theory by formulating three trade-offs that are required in translating the core modularity principles into a functional set of design choices for a multi-professional service environment. Moreover, the inherent intertwinedness of the core modularity principles in professional services requires an iterative design process. Finally, the authors saw that the ambiguity present in the service modularity concept can be used to develop a design that is deemed appropriate by professionals.
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Benita E.C. Plesch, Manda Broekhuis and Karin E. Disselen
Presents a model used by the Dutch Ministry of Home Affairs foranalysing staff tasks. This model provides a productive base forexamining and evaluating the added value staff can…
Abstract
Presents a model used by the Dutch Ministry of Home Affairs for analysing staff tasks. This model provides a productive base for examining and evaluating the added value staff can have for the organization. Using this model, responsibilities and competences can be assigned to line management and staff and the relationship between suppliers (staff) and clients (line) becomes lucid. Includes a discussion on the development of staff and the instruments introduced by which staff units improve their service functioning: decentralization, working with product plans and output norms, and improvement of the information supply processes.
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Monique Eissens-van der Laan, Manda Broekhuis, Marjolein van Offenbeek and Kees Ahaus
Applying “modularity” principles in services is gaining in popularity. The purpose of this paper is to enrich existing service modularity theory and practice by exploring how…
Abstract
Purpose
Applying “modularity” principles in services is gaining in popularity. The purpose of this paper is to enrich existing service modularity theory and practice by exploring how services are being decomposed and how the modularization aim and the routineness of the service(s) involved may link to different decomposition logics. The authors argue that these are fundamental questions that have barely been addressed.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors first built a theoretical framework of decomposition steps and the design choices involved that distinguished six decomposition logics. The authors conducted a systematic literature search that generated 18 empirical articles describing 16 service modularity cases. The authors analysed these cases in terms of decomposition logic and two main contingencies: modularization aim and service routineness.
Findings
Only three of the 18 articles explicitly addressed the service decomposition by reflecting on the underlying design choices. By unravelling the decomposition in each case, the authors were able to identify the decomposition logic and found four of the six theoretically derived logics: single-level process oriented; single-level outcome oriented; multilevel outcome oriented; and multilevel combined orientation. Although the authors did not find a direct relationship between the modularization aim and the decomposition logic, the authors did find that single-level decomposition logics seem to be mainly applied in non-routine service offerings whereas the multilevel ones are mainly applied in routine service offerings.
Originality/value
By contributing to a common understanding of modular service decomposition and proposing a framework that explicates the design choices involved, the authors enable an enhanced application of the modularity concept in services.
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Manda Broekhuis and Dirk Pieter van Donk
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of three different dimensions of customer‐induced uncertainty and task uncertainty on the mix of physicians' coordination…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of three different dimensions of customer‐induced uncertainty and task uncertainty on the mix of physicians' coordination practices.
Design/methodology/approach
An improvement and research project are combined resulting in 16 case studies in different departments from one university hospital. The paper relies mainly on patient data from hospitals' registration systems and on 140 dialogues between two physicians reflecting on their coordination practices.
Findings
Hospital units rely on time‐structured oral communication supplemented with feedback in cases of high levels of input variety, whereas severity of illness and service intensity increase the use of unstructured oral coordination practices. High levels of customer‐induced uncertainty reduce coordination by standardization of work processes. Supplementing verbal communication with written medical records has become an inherent part of coordination practices. Non‐surgical units rely mostly on time‐structured meetings, whereas surgical units use both time‐structured and unstructured meetings to deal with customer‐induced uncertainty.
Research limitations/implications
The empirical part of this paper is limited to hospital units that are functionally organized. A further refinement and extension of measures for the contingency factors could help to better understand coordination practices.
Practical implications
The paper offers hospitals in‐depth understanding of how customer‐induced uncertainty and task uncertainty affect physicians' coordination practices.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to the knowledge on medical coordination from a contingency perspective. Further, the paper contributes to alternative methodologies in terms of data gathering as dialogues between organizational members are the main data source.
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Saara A. Brax, Anu Bask, Juliana Hsuan and Chris Voss
Services are highly important in a world economy which has increasingly become service driven. There is a growing need to better understand the possibilities for, and requirements…
Abstract
Purpose
Services are highly important in a world economy which has increasingly become service driven. There is a growing need to better understand the possibilities for, and requirements of, designing modular service architectures. The purpose of this paper is to elaborate on the roots of the emerging research stream on service modularity, provide a concise overview of existing work on the subject, and outline an agenda for future research on service modularity and architecture. The articles in the special issue offer four diverse sets of research on service modularity and architecture.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is built on a literature review mapping the current body of literature on the topic and developing future research directions in service modularity and architecture.
Findings
The growing focus on services has triggered needs to investigate the suitability and implementation of physical-product-focused modularity principles and theories in service contexts, and to search for principles/theories that enhance services. The expanding research stream has explored various aspects of service modularity in empirical contexts. Future research should focus on service-specific modularity theories and principles, platform-based and mass-customized service business models, comparative research designs, customer perspectives and service experience, performance in context of modular services, empirical evidence of benefits and challenges, architectural innovation in services, modularization in multi-provider contexts, and modularity in hybrid offerings combining service and tangible product modules.
Originality/value
Nine areas are recommended for further research on service modularity and architecture. The introductory piece also discusses the roots of service modularity and provides an overview of current contributions.
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From a contingency perspective and by using the principles of self‐organization described by Morgan (1986), this essay relates the amount of variety in transactions and…
Abstract
From a contingency perspective and by using the principles of self‐organization described by Morgan (1986), this essay relates the amount of variety in transactions and transformations to the requisite of self‐organization. Self‐organization is defined in terms of the local autonomy to make decisions on both the transactions to be realized and the way transformation processes are organized to achieve these transactions. Appropriate Human resource management (HRM) systems and policies can help to achieve the level of self‐organization aimed at. When the amount of variety in transactions is relatively low, an organization can easily standardize and control work processes. In this case, there is no need to develop self‐organization. The focus of HRM will be on standardization, behavioral control systems and the social needs of workers. In the case of a moderate level of variety in transactions, management may obtain responsiveness by creating self‐organizing teams which have the local autonomy to deal with variety in customer demand. HRM instruments can help these teams by supporting integrated management, the multifunctionality of workers, team development, and the introduction of a skill‐based assessment and reward system. When the amount of variety becomes high, it is more effective to assign responsibilities to individuals and to apply HRM practices aimed at the problemsolving capacity of workers and the commitment of workers to the organization.
Edwin Cheng, Hugo K.S. Lam, Andrew C. Lyons and Andy C.L. Yeung