The four spheres of value co-creation in humanitarian professional services

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesco Pillitteri ◽  
Erica Mazzola ◽  
Manfredi Bruccoleri
Keyword(s):  
Service Design ◽  
Life Cycle Management ◽  
Professional Services ◽  
Professional Service ◽  
Enabling Factors ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Humanitarian Operations ◽  
Theory Of Value

PurposeThe study focuses on the value co-creation processes in humanitarian professional services provision, analysing the key enabling factors of beneficiaries' participation, involved in long-term integration programmes (L-TIPs).Design/methodology/approachThrough an in-depth case study, the research looks at the practices of value co-creation in humanitarian professional services, considering both the perspectives of the professional service provider and beneficiary.FindingsIn professional services beneficiary's participation affects the success of the L-TIPs outcomes. Participation's enablers can be classified into four different spheres, each belonging to different elements of professional service: the beneficiary, the professionals, the service design and the external environment.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper contributes to the literature on humanitarian operations & supply chain management. By focussing on an understudied phase of the disaster life-cycle management, it contributes to the theory of value co-creation by exploring new issues and drivers of beneficiary's participation.Practical implicationsThis research has interesting implications for policymakers and humanitarian practitioners. First, guidelines for professionals' behaviours and interventions should be designed as well as new practices and strategies should be adopted. Second, governments should avoid concentrating L-TIPs in few big humanitarian centres.Originality/valueThe study focuses on an understudied stage of humanitarian operations, namely the L-TIPs, and uses this setting to build on the theory of value co-creation in professional services by identifying its enabling factors, clustered into four spheres, namely beneficiary, professional, service design and environmental.

scholarly journals Segmentation of quantity surveying professional services for focus strategy and diversification

2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 294-308
Author(s):  
Michael Adesi ◽  
De-Graft Owusu-Manu ◽  
Frank Boateng
Keyword(s):  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Sampling Technique ◽  
Simple Random Sampling ◽  
Professional Services ◽  
Professional Service ◽  
Service Firms ◽  
Professional Service Firms ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Quantity Surveying ◽  
Focus Strategy

Purpose Notwithstanding that numerous studies have focused on strategy in quantity surveying (QS) professional service firms, there is a paucity of investigation on the segmentation of QS professional services. The purpose of this study is to investigate the segmentation of QS services for diversification and a focus strategy formation. Design/methodology/approach This study adopts the positivist stance and quantitative approach in which a simple random sampling technique was used to select participants. In total, 110 survey questionnaires were administered to registered professional QS, out of which 79 completed questionnaires were returned for analysis. Findings The paper identifies three main QS service segments characterised by low, moderate and high competition. In addition, this study found that the concentration of traditional QS services in the building construction sector is due to the unwillingness of QS professional service firms to diversify into the non-construction sectors such as oil and gas. The diversification of QS services in the low competitive segment requires the adoption of agile approaches. Research limitations/implications The study was limited to numeric analyses and so would be complemented by qualitative research in the future. Practical implications This paper is useful to QS professional service firms interested in diversifying their services into the non-construction sectors to enhance the pricing of their services. Originality/value Segmentation of QS services is fundamental to the formulation of focus strategy for non-construction sectors such as oil and gas and mining to enhance the pricing of QS professional services.

scholarly journals Sinabung volcano: how culture shapes community resilience

2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 290-303
Author(s):  
Marta Mori ◽  
Ronan McDermott ◽  
Saut Sagala ◽  
Yasmina Wulandari
Keyword(s):  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Aid Dependency ◽  
Relief Operations ◽  
Long Term Impact ◽  
Cultural Experts ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore how culture, including traditions and social structures, can influence resilience and how culturally sensitive relief operations can put affected people and their context at the core of any interventions. Design/methodology/approach A case study of the Mt Sinabung volcano area in Indonesia was undertaken. As part of the case study, an analysis of interventions was conducted, which was complemented by semi-structured interviews with Karo cultural experts and humanitarian organisations. Findings Culture influences the manner in which the Karo people react to volcano eruptions with varying implications for recovery. In addition, relief organisations which understand people’s actions through a cultural lens have better managed to tailor programs with long-term impact, thereby avoiding aid dependency. Practical implications Practical examples of disaster management activities that adequately account for the beneficiaries’ way of living prior to the eruptions are provided. Aid actors are provided with guidance concerning how to better tailor their activities in line with a cultural lens. Originality/value The study provides empirical grounding for claims concerning the role of culture in planning interventions in Indonesia and other similar contexts.

Case study of sustainable service design in the hospitality industry

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yi-An Chen ◽  
Chun Liang Chen
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Customer Value ◽  
Hospitality Industry ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Corporate Sustainability ◽  
Service Design ◽  
Cultural Resources ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Holistic Understanding

Purpose The purpose of this study is to explore how creative-cultural hotels can achieve sustainable service design through the development of a holistic conceptual framework. Design/methodology/approach The authors created this framework using a qualitative exploratory multi-case study of four creative-cultural hotels in Taiwan. The framework comprises strategic, organizational and interface levels to describe the design process and implementation of service offerings that co-create value within a multifaceted network of actors. Findings The findings of this study show that incorporating local arts and culture into sustainable service design can generate unique value and experiences for customers. From the perspective of sustainable development, these hotels seek to add value by using local creative and cultural resources to ensure that they have a sound commercial base from which to showcase their cultural features. As such, this study recommends that the hotel industry shift its focus to a paradigm that provides a strategic and sustainability-framed vision to create value for society while protecting local natural and cultural resources. Originality/value This multilevel model reframes the development of customer value constellations through a holistic understanding of user experience, eco-design practice, service encounters aligned with user touchpoints and front-line employee capabilities. To integrate the perspectives of both service providers and their customers, the proposed model embeds these stakeholders within a single model through the vehicle of local value co-creation. This holistic framework can assist in designing sustainable service within the hospitality industry to deliver better services and customer experiences. The findings provide an illustration of how the proposed multilevel sustainable-development-oriented service design framework can serve as a useful tool in guiding hotels toward corporate sustainability.

scholarly journals Digital curation: the development of a discipline within information science

2018 ◽  
Vol 74 (6) ◽  
pp. 1318-1338 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Higgins
Keyword(s):  
Information Science ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
Digital Information ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Digital Curation ◽  
The Usa ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Financial Ecology

Purpose Digital curation addresses the technical, administrative and financial ecology required to ensure that digital information remains accessible and usable over the long term. The purpose of this paper is to trace digital curation’s disciplinary emergence and examine its position within the information sciences domain in terms of theoretical principles, using a case study of developments in the UK and the USA. Design/methodology/approach Theoretical principles regarding disciplinary development and the identity of information science as a discipline are applied to a case study of the development of digital curation in the UK and the USA to identify the maturity of digital curation and its position in the information science gamut. Findings Digital curation is identified as a mature discipline which is a sub-meta-discipline of information science. As such digital curation has reach across all disciplines and sub-disciplines of information science and has the potential to become the overarching paradigm. Practical implications These findings could influence digital curation’s development from applied discipline to profession within both its educational and professional domains. Originality/value The disciplinary development of digital curation within dominant theoretical models has not hitherto been articulated.

Drifting the goals archetype: a systemic study

Kybernetes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Virupaxi Bagodi ◽  
Biswajit Mahanty
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Systems Thinking ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Area Of Interest ◽  
Complex Decision Making ◽  
Complex Decision ◽  
Current Reality

PurposeManagerial decision-making is an area of interest to both academia and practitioners. Researchers found that managers often fail to manage complex decision-making tasks and system thinkers assert that generic structures known as systems archetypes help them to a great deal in handling such situations. In this paper, it is demonstrated that decision makers resort to lowering of goal (quick-fix) in order to resolve the gap between the goal and current reality in the “drifting the goals” systems archetype.Design/methodology/approachA real-life case study is taken up to highlight the pitfalls of “drifting the goals” systems archetype for a decision situation in the Indian two-wheeler industry. System dynamics modeling is made use of to obtain the results.FindingsThe decision makers fail to realize the pitfall of lowering the goal to resolve the gap between the goal and current reality. It is seen that, irrespective of current less-than-desirable performance, managers adopting corrective actions other than lowering of goals perform better in the long run. Further, it is demonstrated that extending the boundary and experimentation results in designing a better service system and setting benchmarks.Practical implicationsThe best possible way to avoid the pitfall is to hold the vision and not lower the long term goal. The managers must be aware of the pitfalls beforehand.Originality/valueSystems thinking is important in complex decision-making tasks. Managers need to embrace long-term perspective in decision-making. This paper demonstrates the value of systems thinking in terms of a case study on the “drifting the goals” systems archetype.

The rebranding of VoiceStream to T-Mobile

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
pp. 635-647
Author(s):  
Anthony Allred ◽  
Skyler King ◽  
Clinton Amos
Keyword(s):  
Brand Management ◽  
Senior Management ◽  
Historical Background ◽  
Graduate Courses ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Communications Industry ◽  
Branding Strategies ◽  
Depth Interviews

Synopsis VoiceStream was a strong brand within the digital wireless communications industry at the time CEO Robert Dodson led the company. It had a loyal following of customers and a strong reputation for value. Despite pushback from senior management, CEO Robert Dotson made the decision to undergo a rebranding strategy during a period of declining revenue and growth. As VoiceStream transitioned to T-Mobile, it had initial success, but faced the challenge of how to position the brand long term. Research methodology This case study was written with the historical background of a well-known company and traces key decisions made during the company’s rebranding transition. This case comes complete with insights from then current CEO, Robert Dotson. Relevant courses and levels This case is suitable for undergraduate and graduate courses in marketing, management or strategy, where students are studying brand management. Additionally, this case will be valuable for courses that include advanced branding strategies such as rebranding. This case could also be used for discussion in positioning and advertising techniques. This case includes, via in-depth interviews, critical strategic insights from CEO Robert Dotson. The case illustrates some of the major opportunities and threats associated with the VoiceStream/T-Mobile rebranding strategy.

Digitizing the field: designing ERP systems for Triple-A humanitarian supply chains

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 231-260
Author(s):  
Ioanna Falagara Sigala ◽  
William J. Kettinger ◽  
Tina Wakolbinger
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Level Structure ◽  
Resource Planning ◽  
Design Principles ◽  
Erp Systems ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Humanitarian Operations ◽  
Humanitarian Organizations ◽  
Embedded Case Study

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to explore what design principles need to be considered in Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems for humanitarian organizations (HOs) to enable agile, adaptive and aligned (Triple-A) humanitarian supply chain capabilities and digitize humanitarian operations.Design/methodology/approachThis study follows an embedded case study approach with a humanitarian medical relief organization, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), which engaged in a multiyear ERP design at its humanitarian field missions.FindingsThis research shows that ERP systems for humanitarian organizations should be designed as unique systems addressing humanitarian organizations' challenges and unique missions, their value generation processes, and resource base in an effort to improve organizational performance. This study presents 12 general design principles that are unique for humanitarian organizations. These design principles provide a high-level structure of guidance under which specific requirements can be further defined and engineered to achieve success.Research limitations/implicationsThe results of this study are based on a single case study limiting generalizability. However, the case study was analyzed and presented as an embedded case study with five autonomous subunits using different business processes and following different adoption and implementation approaches. Therefore, the findings are derived based on considerable variance reflective of humanitarian organizations beyond MSF.Practical implicationsThis study recognizes that HOs have unique routines that standard commercial ERP packages do not address easily at the field level. The primary contribution of this research is a set of design principles that consider these unique routines and guide ERP development in practice. National and international HOs that are planning to implement information systems, private companies that are trading partners of HOs as well as vendors of ERP systems that are looking for new opportunities would all benefit from this research.Originality/valueThis study fills the gap in the humanitarian literature regarding the design of ERP systems for humanitarian organizations that enable Triple–A supply chain capabilities and it advances the knowledge of the challenges of ERP design by HOs in the context of humanitarian operations.

scholarly journals Water accounting knowledge pathways

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 258-274 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanne Tingey-Holyoak ◽  
John D. Pisaniello
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Sustainability ◽  
Professional Services ◽  
Knowledge Generation ◽  
Professional Service ◽  
Service Firms ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Reporting Practices ◽  
Water Accounting ◽  
Sustainability Problems

Purpose There are increasing demands on professional accountants in practice to generate water accounts for clients using knowledge from other disciplines within and outside their firms. Whilst many professional service firms have a broad range of in-house and consulting expertise, professional groups within and between these organisations may not be generating and sharing the knowledge required for successful water accounting. The purpose of this paper is to explore how additional disciplinary skills for water volumetric measurement, understanding of licensing and allocations can effectively and efficiently be shared between the disciplines required to be involved. Design/methodology/approach Two cross-sectional semi-structured surveys developed using a social network lens were disseminated to Australian accountants operating in professional services firms, and the results were descriptively analysed. Findings The authors find that, whilst accounting and engineering are acknowledged as core disciplines for water accounting, there is a need for more standardised measures and frameworks across diverse scales to fit in with current reporting practices and meet stakeholder needs. These need to be nested in a water accounting regulatory model that includes the accountancy professional bodies as a platform for knowledge generation and sharing. Originality/value The paper provides evidence of perceived barriers to and pathways for interdisciplinary knowledge networks for a new type of accounting. It demonstrates how regulatory frameworks can potentially assist rather than impede accountants in their contribution to solving of complex corporate sustainability problems.

North Cumbria and North East Transforming Care, transforming lives case study

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ursula Turner
Keyword(s):  
Learning Disability ◽  
Content Type ◽  
North East ◽  
Narrative Story ◽  
National Initiative ◽  
Original Case ◽  
Support Team ◽  
The Right

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to describe how, as part of a national initiative led by NHS England and key partners, it is transforming lives by helping people with a learning disability, autism or both to live more independent and better quality lives in their own home rather than spending many years in hospital unnecessarily. Design/methodology/approach The methodology applied was to capture the real experience of a person with a learning disability, autism or both who successfully moved from long-term hospital care to home. This was achieved through developing a narrative story by capturing their experiences in their own words and the words of the individual’s support team who made this life changing event possible. Findings This story shows how with the right planning and support, people with a learning disability can live in their own homes, gain their independence and be supported to take risks. Originality/value This is an original case study that has not been published previously and has been written for the sole purpose of this journal.

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