Jakita O. Thomas

Dynamics of value co-creation in complex IT service engagements

The hallmark of service—value co-creation—is not easy to achieve in B2B IT service engagements. Typically, client and provider are both complicated organizational entities with multiple agendas and diverse stakeholders, and engagements often extend over years. We analyzed a number of IT service engagements to better understand their complex dynamics, with the ultimate goal of improving their outcomes. This paper reports on our study of how value co-creation unfolds over time, and identifies basic dynamics central to the modeling of service systems—actualization of service and realization of value—that are reflected in the proposed framework.

Asset reuse and service science: The delicate balance

The need to increase efficiency and productivity is driving an increase in the creation of service assets, which embody the essence of service functionality and can be used across engagements. This move towards reusable service assets reduces some of the cost of service solution design, is less labor-intensive, and reduces the need for particular service professionals. However, service and the study of service innovation called Service Science, is inherently people-based. People, interactions, and relationships are at the core of the discipline and technology plays a pivotal role in supporting these entities. The tension between the emphasis on people, which implies customization and differentiation, and service asset reuse, which implies standardization and commoditization, may pose a problem for the service industry in the long term. Replacing the people component in the production equation with service assets may significantly reduce the drivers for the field of Service Science to continue in the future. This paper presents a cautionary tale of reusable service assets, where the balance between the knowledge and skills embodied in the asset and the utility of having expertise embodied in people is examined. Suggestions for bridging this divide and easing the tension are discussed.

The implications of enterprise-wide pipeline management tools for organizational relations and exchanges

This paper explores the impact of enterprise-wide processes and technologies on group relations and exchanges. We examine the use of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tools in sales pipeline management. Through an ethnographic study of globally-distributed sales teams we show that the way enterprise-wide tools are integrated into daily practices impacts organizational relations and exchange. We pay particular attention to information exchange as a vehicle for building, leveraging and deterring organizational relations. Our analysis suggests that different approaches to using standardized tools and processes have variable impact on team relations. We provide support for the argument that technologies should be designed and deployed in accordance with an understanding of the contexts of use and in consideration for their impact on organizational relations.

Business Value in Complex IT Service Engagements: Realization is Governed by Patterns of Interaction

Mutually successful win-win outcomes in complex IT service engagements are by no means easy to achieve. Typically, provider and client represent complex organizational entities with multiple agendas and diverse stakeholders involved in long-term engagements. Unsurprisingly, new opportunities to create value arise; however, value propositions can fail to be realized, especially when the provider has fulfilled contractual agreements and yet the customer has expressed dissatisfaction. How do we explain this phenomenon, and more importantly, avoid its occurrence? In this paper we examine three IT service engagements through the lens of a conceptual model based on foundational service system concepts. Cross-case analysis reveals patterns of interaction that have the potential to increase, and in some instances, diminish value over time. Our approach identifies leading indicators that mitigate risk and increase benefit to both clients and provider, enabling IT service companies to take advantage of emerging opportunities that lead to greater value co-creation.

HUMAN/COMPUTER INTERACTION IN THE YEAR 2000

The plan of this summary will be to first summarise the main points made during the discussion. My own comments focussed on the important but relatively neglected area of motivation, particularly intrinsic motivation as a factor in the design of Human/Computer interaction. As the work force moves away from farm and manufacturing toward an involvement with service and knowledge, intrinsic motivation, as opposed to extrinsic, will become increasingly important. Partly this is because it is easier to measure performance objectively in farm and manufacturing environments.

Evaluating service-based software applications

In todays global economy, countries are finding that the service sector is leading the way in growth compared to other sectors such as agriculture and manufacturing. This movement led to the creation of Services Sciences. This new field is a multidisciplinary field that seeks to bring together knowledge from diverse areas to improve the service industrys operations, performance and innovation. One challenge in this new discipline is the discovery of new ways to measure the usability of applications that reflect the attributes of the service sector. The goal of this paper is to expose the lack of a suitable process of measuring the need for more research in this area.