Showing papers on "Business value published in 2011"

Value co-creation in service logic: A critical analysis:

Abstract: The underpinning logic of value co-creation in service logic is analysed. It is observed that some of the 10 foundational premises of the so-called service-dominant logic do not fully support an understanding of value creation and co-creation in a way that is meaningful for theoretical development and decision making in business and marketing practice. Without a thorough understanding of the interaction concept, the locus as well as nature and content of value co-creation cannot be identified. Value co-creation easily becomes a concept without substance. Based on the analysis in the present article, it is observed that the unique contribution of a service perspective on business (service logic) is not that customers always are co-creators of value, but rather that under certain circumstances the service provider gets opportunities to co-create value together with its customers. Finally, seven statements included in six of the foundational premises are reformulated accordingly.

Co-Creation of Value in a Platform Ecosystem: The Case of Enterprise Software

Abstract: It has been argued that platform technology owners co-create business value with other firms in their platform ecosystems by encouraging complementary invention and exploiting indirect network effects. In this study we examine whether participation in an ecosystem partnership improves the business performance of small independent software vendors (ISVs) in the enterprise software industry and how appropriability mechanisms influence the benefits of partnership. By analyzing the partnering activities and performance indicators of a sample of 1210 small ISVs over the period of 1996-2004, we find that joining a major platform owner’s platform ecosystem is associated with an increase in sales and a greater likelihood of issuing an IPO. In addition, we show that these impacts are greater when ISVs have greater intellectual property rights or stronger downstream capabilities. This research highlights the value of interoperability between software products, and stresses that value co-creation and appropriation are not mutually exclusive strategies in inter-firm collaboration.

A stakeholder perspective of the value proposition concept

Abstract: Purpose – The value proposition concept and the stakeholder perspective have received relatively little attention within Service‐Dominant (S‐D) logic. This paper sets out to explore value propositions in the context of S‐D logic, within the multiple stakeholder domains that form part of a marketing system. Its purpose is to identify how use of the value proposition concept, in this broader context, provides new insight into value creation within a value network.Design/methodology/approach – This paper explores the development of value propositions in key stakeholder market domains. A five‐step process is developed for identifying key stakeholders and co‐creating value propositions for them within a marketing system.Findings – Value propositions have a key role in co‐creation of value between stakeholders. The development of value propositions in multiple stakeholder domains can provide an important mechanism for aligning value within a marketing system.Practical implications – Stakeholder value propositio...

Perceived value: a critical examination of definitions, concepts and measures for the service industry

Abstract: Purpose – The aim of this paper is to provide a literature review of the state‐of‐the‐art and up to date concepts and measures undertaken in the research on perceived value. The purpose especially is to provide a comprehensive and systematic overview of the research on perceived value.Design/methodology/approach – The common perceived value definitions, conceptual and measurement approaches and its close relationship with important and highly researched service industry components such as service quality and customer satisfaction are discussed.Findings – This paper demonstrates underlying and foundational theories, systematises the research streams and addresses the unsolved concerns of perceived value. The paper concludes with recommendations for the future research and application of perceived value as being relevant to the service industry.Originality/value – The contribution of the paper lies in achieving a more profound understanding of the nature of perceived value for, equally, academics and industry.

Value Creation, Competition and Performance in Buyer-Supplier Relationships

Abstract: The value-based approach to strategy argues that a firm's ability to capture value depends on the extent of its added value. In this paper, I empirically test the link between added value and value capture using a longitudinal dataset of United Kingdom law firm performance, capabilities, and client relationships. In this setting, competitors relevant for defining a firm's added value are those that share a client with the firm. Further, within a client relationship, value creation, and hence added value, can be decomposed in two parts: product-line capability and client-specific scope economies. I find that added value, measured at the level of each buyer-supplier relationship, is a driver of relationship stability and supplier profitability. This suggests that suppliers with similar capabilities might enjoy different economic returns depending on the composition of their set of relevant competitors. These findings shed light on the conditions under which firms can appropriate returns from their capabilities. They indicate that concepts from cooperative games can be fruitfully applied to empirical studies of firm performance and to the elaboration of insights from the resource-based view of the firm. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Examining the Firm's Value Creation Process: A Managerial Perspective of the Firm's Value Offering Strategy and Performance

Abstract: The primary pursuit of any business is to understand what customers value and to create that value for them. While customers are the final arbiter of value, it is the firm's role to explore, interpret and deliver value based on what they believe customers are seeking. Based on this premise we adopt the firm's perspective on value creation to extend both Bowman and Ambrosini's theoretical framework and the work of DeSarbo, Jedidi and Sinha and focus on two issues. The first is the strategic emphasis firms place on the design and delivery of their value offering. The second is the extent the firm's value offering explains performance differentials at the customer-centric performance level. We present a conceptual model of how firms gain positional advantage via their value offering and the realized outcomes they achieve. We present two approaches to modelling the firm's value offering (type II and type IV models) and articulate the theoretical underpinnings and results for these models. Our results validate the conceptualization of the firm's value offering and suggest that creating superior value offerings enables firms to achieve superiority in customer-centric performance.

Extracting Business Value from IT: A Sensemaking Perspective of Post-Adoptive Use

Abstract: How can firms extract value from already-implemented information technologies (IT) that support the work processes of employees? One approach is to stimulate employees to engage in post-adoptive extended use, i.e., to learn and apply more of the available functions of the implemented technologies to support their work. Such learning behavior of extending functions in use is ingrained in a process by which users make sense of the technologies in the context of their work system. This study draws on sensemaking theory to develop a model to understand the antecedents, contingencies, and consequences of customer service employees' extended use of customer relationship management (CRM) technologies. The model is tested using multisource longitudinal data collected through a field study of one of the world's largest telecommunications service providers. Our results suggest that employees engage in post-adoptive sensemaking at two levels: technology and work system. We found that sensemaking at both of these levels impacts the extended use of CRM technologies. Employees' sensemaking at the technology level is influenced by employees' assessment of technology quality, whereas employees' sensemaking at the work system level is influenced by customers' assessment of service quality. Moreover, in the case of low technology quality and low service quality, specific mechanisms for employee feedback should be conceptualized and aligned at two levels: through employee participation at the technology level and through work system coordination at the work system level. Such alignment can mitigate the undesirable effect of low technology quality and low service quality, thereby facilitating extended use. Importantly, we found that extended use amplifies employees' service capacity, leading to better objective performance. Put together, our findings highlight the critical role of employees' sensemaking about the implemented technologies in promoting their extended use of IT and improving their work performance. This paper was accepted by Sandra Slaughter, information systems.

Designing Not Just for Pleasure: Effects of Web Site Aesthetics on Consumer Shopping Value

Abstract: Despite its centrality to human thoughts and practices, aesthetics has largely been ignored in research on Web site design. Recently, studies have begun to show that aesthetic qualities such as color, graphics, and the layout of a Web site can play an important role in improving consumer shopping experiences. By integrating theories and research findings from diverse fields, we investigate the impacts of two dimensions of aesthetics, namely, classical aesthetics and expressive aesthetics, on online consumers' shopping value. More important, we propose that the effect of these two dimensions of aesthetics on consumer shopping value is contingent on the hedonic and utilitarian nature of products that consumers purchase online. A laboratory experiment was conducted to test the research model, and the results generally support our hypotheses. From a theoretical perspective, our findings not only establish consumer shopping value as a key business value of Web site aesthetics but also enrich the current knowledge on the contingent effect of Web site aesthetics for utilitarian and hedonic products. From a practical perspective, the findings provide guidance for online vendors to provide their customers with better service in the form of properly designed aesthetic Web sites.

Value proposition as a catalyst for a customer focused innovation

Abstract: Purpose – This paper seeks to advance the theory on value proposition and innovation by offering a framework for identifying value proposition elementsDesign/methodology/approach – A single embedded case study is conducted based on Amazoncom's innovationsFindings – By identifying and systematically analysing innovations by Amazoncom, the concept of value proposition was decomposed into five components: performance, ease of use, reliability, flexibility and affectivity (PERFA)Research limitations/implications – The research did not focus on the relationships between the value proposition elements and their relevance in different contexts such as product, industry or customer life cyclePractical implications – Managers should support their decision to innovate the value proposition based on customers' perceived value The findings provide guidance to managers on how to uncover innovative value propositions and potentially create new demand in an uncontested market spaceOriginality/value – The paper i

Firm-level benefits of IT-enabled resources: A conceptual extension and an empirical assessment

Abstract: While the business value of IT (BVIT) is central to the IS discipline, only recently a possible chain of causation from IT assets (i.e., fungible, widely available, commodity-like, technology-based products) to firm performance has been conceptually specified. Furthermore, little empirical evidence exists regarding IT assets' business value. In light of this paucity, this paper makes several contributions to IS research and practice. First, it advances the BVIT literature by empirically testing a model that traces a path from IT assets through IT-enabled resources to firm performance. Second, it extends the BVIT and resource-based view (RBV) literatures by explicating and testing the impact of a firm's external environment on its IT-enabled resources. Third, it builds on recent literature to argue for, and test, two distinct forms of firm-level outcome: operational and strategic benefits. Finally, the paper contributes to managers' and IS practitioners' knowledge by demonstrating the transformative capacity of IT assets on the strategic potential of organizational resources. Empirically, the paper develops and employs valid and reliable scales to test the research model using survey data on IT-enabled customer service departments. The findings demonstrate that when an IT asset is combined with an organizational resource, the extent of synergy borne out of the resulting relationship can positively impact the strategic potential of the ensuing IT-enabled resource. This IT-enabled resource, in turn, is positively associated with firm-level benefits. Further, the external environment is shown to exert a positive effect on the strategic potential of outside-in IT-enabled resources. In sum, this paper offers several important conceptual and empirical contributions to a stream of research that is at the core of the IS discipline.

Agile Analytics: A Value-Driven Approach to Business Intelligence and Data Warehousing

Abstract: Using Agile methods, you can bring far greater innovation, value, and quality to any data warehousing (DW), business intelligence (BI), or analytics project. However, conventional Agile methods must be carefully adapted to address the unique characteristics of DW/BI projects. In Agile Analytics, Agile pioneer Ken Collier shows how to do just that. Collier introduces platform-agnostic Agile solutions for integrating infrastructures consisting of diverse operational, legacy, and specialty systems that mix commercial and custom code. Using working examples, he shows how to manage analytics development teams with widely diverse skill sets and how to support enormous and fast-growing data volumes. Colliers techniques offer optimal value whether your projects involve back-end data management, front-end business analysis, or both. Part I focuses on Agile project management techniques and delivery team coordination, introducing core practices that shape the way your Agile DW/BI project community can collaborate toward success Part II presents technical methods for enabling continuous delivery of business value at production-quality levels, including evolving superior designs; test-driven DW development; version control; and project automation Collier brings together proven solutions you can apply right nowwhether youre an IT decision-maker, data warehouse professional, database administrator, business intelligence specialist, or database developer. With his help, you can mitigate project risk, improve business alignment, achieve better resultsand have fun along the way.

The Business Models and Information Architectures of Smart Cities

Abstract: In the Netherlands, there are two ways cities acquire the smart city status: one way has business models preceding information architecture and the other takes an opposite direction. We used two cities to examine the underlying differences of these two approaches in terms of service enhancement, resource implications, and the sustainability of service development. The first case focused on creating business value through the use of technology by enhancing existing services and/or bringing new services whereas the second case started with creating an infrastructure that served as a technology platform to induce changes in business practices. We found that the first case accumulated business value faster with more new services made available to the public. In contrast, the second case was more resource-intensive and relatively slower in bringing new services to the general public, yet the services were much improved and sustainable over time.

Creating Shared Value in the Hybrid Venture Arena: A Business Model Innovation Perspective

Abstract: In this paper we develop a strategy process model for hybrid ventures centered on business model innovation for shared value creation. We then validate the framework with an empirical focus on L3Cs, a new breed of hybrid ventures that occupy the middle ground between nonprofits and for-profits. With this research we contribute to business model innovation research, we extend established theoretical perspectives to the social entrepreneurship domain, and contribute to the understanding and diffusion of best practices when the strategic intent is the simultaneous creation of public and private wealth.

Understanding Enterprise Architecture Management Design - An Empirical Analysis

Abstract: Enterprise architecture management (EAM) is expected to provide business value by guiding the continuous development and transformation of an enterprise. Based on the approach we strive for constructing useful artifacts that guide the successful and situational design of EAM. In order to do so we argue for a thorough analysis of the design problem in advance. This is realized by a two-step survey conducted on EAM practices. The empirical analysis reveals eight determining design factors of EAM, a delineation of three different types of EAM design in the form of clusters as well as insight about the successfulness of the different types.

Value Chain Linkages and the Spillover Effects of Strategic Information Technology Alignment: A Process-Level View

Abstract: The alignment of information technology IT and business strategy is a perennial challenge for corporate executives. While earlier studies confirm the value of alignment, there is still some question as to how alignment creates value and the level at which value is created. In this research, we use a series of theoretical arguments based on the interconnected structure of the value chain to consider the extended effects of alignment at the process level. Since processes are often linked to create a complex chain of activities, the absence or presence of alignment in any process could have implications for business performance elsewhere in the value chain. Minimally aligned processes can not only disrupt performance within the focal process, but their effects may also be felt further downstream in the form of bottlenecks and a diminution in the business value of IT. Using a simplified form of the value chain and data from matched surveys of business and IT executives at 317 U.S. and EU firms, we examine how the effects of alignment on a given process spill over into processes further downstream, creating higher IT business value in those downstream processes. We also show that these spillover effects continue along the length of the value chain and do not diminish based on distance from the focal process. Our results reinforce the call for firms to improve the fit between business and IT strategy by showing how efforts to improve alignment in a given process can deliver a stream of benefits along the value chain. This research provides a fresh perspective on the value of alignment, facilitating a deeper understanding and appreciation of the link between strategic IT alignment and firm performance.

The Social Media Management Handbook: Everything You Need To Know To Get Social Media Working In Your Business

Abstract: How do organizations manage social media effectively? Every organization wants to implement social media, but it is difficult to create processes and mange employees to make this happen. Most social media books focus on strategies for communicating with customers, but they fail to address the internal process that takes place within a business before those strategies can be implemented. This book is geared toward helping you manage every step of the process required to use social media for business. The Social Media Management Handbook provides a complete toolbox for defining and practicing a coherent social media strategy. It is a comprehensive resource for bringing together such disparate areas as IT, customer service, sales, communications, and more to meet social media goals. Wollan and Smith and their Accenture team explain policies, procedures, roles and responsibilities, metrics, strategies, incentives, and legal issues that may arise. You will learn how to: Empower employees and teams to utilize social media effectively throughout the organization Measure the ROI of social media investments and ensure appropriate business value is achieved over time Make smarter decisions, make them more quickly, and make them stick Get the most out of your social media investment and fully leverage its benefits at your company with The Social Media Management Handbook.

The Business Value of IT: A Synthesis and Framework of Archival Research

Abstract: This paper synthesizes recent empirical archival research investigating the link between information technology investment and business value. It examines (1) financial and nonfinancial measures to represent different elements of business value, (2) IT investment measures and links with firm performance, (3) IT and business complementarities that affect firm performance, and (4) the impact of business context and IT alignment with business strategy on resulting performance. The review of prior research is guided by a balanced scorecard framework that places IT in a business context and highlights the role of potential drivers and contextual factors that impact the association between IT and firm value. The paper concludes by proposing several broad avenues of future research that may be of particular interest to archival accounting information systems researchers.

The value of social media: toward measuring social media strategies

Abstract: Embodying a new gestalt in firm-customer communication, social media is a nascent yet critical concern for researchers and practitioners alike. Organizations lack valid and reliable measures for social media effects, without which they remain unable to align their social media initiatives with organizational goals and ultimately create business value. This essay presents a “social media ecosystem” framework, explicating the social-media-enabled relationships among stakeholder groups and suggesting how future researchers can address research questions based on this model. Focusing on the customer/firm segment entitled the “B@C Social Media Dyad,” the article deconstructs the phenomenon of social media into multiple layers of firm-initiated and customerinitiated actions and provides a theoretical understanding of what firms and customers accomplish using social media. It sets the stage for developing measures of those firm/customer social media activities with a critical bearing on firm performance.

The idiosyncratic behaviour of service quality, value, satisfaction, and intention to recommend in higher education: An empirical examination

Abstract: Despite some dissenting voices, the marketisation of higher education in recent years has led to the need to consider how marketing concepts and business models that are central in traditional consumer markets can be applied in the educational context. One such concept that is held to be at the core of marketing is consumer value, which considers how consumers perceive the outcomes of their consumption experiences. Consequently, the functional relationships between service quality, value (disaggregated into the constituent dimensions of its give and get components), satisfaction and recommendation within the educational domain form the focus of this study. Service quality is treated as an antecedent of value, which in turn is a driver of satisfaction, the ultimate outcome of which is word of mouth recommendation. The idiosyncratic behaviour of the proposed functional relationships is tested in two cohorts of postgraduate students (MBA and specialist Masters). The data are analysed using Partial L...

Bridging the theory to application gap in value‐based selling

Abstract: Purpose – Increasing pressure to reduce costs and skepticism of promised value‐added are forcing suppliers to produce tangible proof of the monetary value they create for customers. The academic literature on the practical activities related to value‐based selling remains sparse. This paper aims to bridge the gap between the abundant theoretical customer value frameworks and implementation practices to create a practical foundation for value‐based sales activities in firms that aim to become value creators.Design/methodology/approach – Based on two case studies, the authors map the best practices in customer value quantification from the point of view of industrial customers, and study value‐based sales processes to uncover the value‐based sales activities for implementing and profiting from customer value.Findings – The results suggest a customer‐focused sales process that centers on creating value, quantifying the value created, and creating a situation where customer and supplier maximize their utility...

Building Customer Value And Profitability With Business Ethics

Abstract: Firms assume ethical business practices only add costs to the firm. However, business ethics actually add value for customers and result in increased profitability and performance for the firm.

Value Orientation in Process Management : Research Gap and Contribution to Economically Well-Founded Decisions in Process Management

Abstract: There is no doubt that at least since the 1990s process orientation has evolved into one of the central paradigms of organizational design. Since then, all process management subtasks have matured. Process management decisions, however, lack economic foundation. They are usually based on qualitative or technical criteria or on plausibility considerations that do not necessarily comply with typical objectives in a market economy. Consequently, design alternatives are hardly comparable and an integrated valuation of a company’s assets is impossible. The status quo is astonishing for several reasons: First, process management decisions usually imply investment projects with different risk/return positions and capital tie-up. Second, the need for designing processes according to their contribution to corporate objectives has been explicated repeatedly. Third, the paradigm of value-based management is an accepted theoretical framework from economic research that enables to consistently valuate the risk/return effects of decisions across functional areas, hierarchy levels, and asset classes. This suggests the hypothesis that process management in general as well as the goal orientation of process management decisions in particular have evolved almost independently of value-based management. In the paper at hand, this hypothesis is confirmed based on a sample of process management publications. We therefore explicate the research gap as regards value orientation in process management. In order to bridge the gap between value-based management and process-oriented organizational design, we transfer economically well-founded objective functions to process management decisions.

On IT governance structures and their effectiveness in collaborative organisational structures

Abstract: Organizations today engage in various forms of alliances to manage their existing business processes or to diversify into new processes to sustain their competitive positions. Many of today’s alliances use the IT resources as their backbone. The results of these alliances are collaborative organizational structures with little or no ownership stakes between the parties. The emergence of Web 2.0 tools is having a profound effect on the nature and form of these alliance structures. These alliances heavily depend on and make radical use of the IT resources in a collaborative environment. This situation requires a deeper understanding of the governance of these IT resources to ensure the sustainability of the collaborative organizational structures. This study first suggests the types of IT governance structures required for collaborative organizational structures. Semi-structured interviews with senior executives who operate in such alliances reveal that co-created IT governance structures are necessary. Such structures include co-created IT-steering committees, co-created operational committees, and inter-organizational performance management and communication systems. The findings paved the way for the development of a model for understanding approaches to governing IT and evaluating the effectiveness for such governance mechanisms in today’s IT dependent alliances. This study presents a sustainable IT-related capabilities approach to assessing the effectiveness of suggested IT governance structures for collaborative alliances. The findings indicate a favourable association between organizations IT governance efforts and their ability to sustain their capabilities to leverage their IT resources. These IT-related capabilities also relate to measures business value at the process and firm level. This makes it possible to infer that collaborative organizations’ IT governance efforts contribute to business value.