Maria Colurcio

The evolving path of TQM: towards business excellence and stakeholder value

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to analyze the present level of the adoption of TQM in firms, and to outline an evaluation of its evolving path.Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative method was chosen to analyze the “state‐of‐the‐art” of TQM. A total of 21 firms were investigated, using the case study method, in detailed multiple case studies.Findings – In most of the investigated firms, TQM was characterized by stronger and stronger cultural and behavioural features. The co‐ordinated and systematic development of TQM basic factors helps the priming and feeding of innovative processes favouring the course towards business excellence.Research limitations/implications – The research is based on a sample of firms and it is necessary to amplify the research process including other enterprises and to outline some forms of categories (with cultural and behavioural aspects).Practical implications – If TQM is appropriately managed, it supports the organization in achieving excellence, the real sourc...

Co‐creating value innovation through resource integration

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyse innovation in the light of service‐dominant (S‐D) logic and service science as a value‐creating process occurring through a many‐to‐many network resource integration.Design/methodology/approach – The paper utilises S‐D logic and network theory to present case study research of a highly innovative Italian firm. The study investigates three innovation projects and the processes of interaction and integration that take place among the members of the networks involved in each project.Findings – The traditional understanding of innovation, in which the supplier is the innovator and the customer is the recipient of (or perhaps the stimulus for) innovation, is replaced by an understanding of innovation based on S‐D logic in which customers and other stakeholders become real co‐innovators who exchange and integrate resources to co‐create value.Research limitations/implications – Future studies could examine the antecedents and implications of the interaction and i...

Store experience and co‐creation: the case of temporary shop

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to focus on Temporary Shops, a recent communication and distribution innovation used by firms in order to improve interaction with customers and to reinforce brand loyalty and equity. The main aim of the study is to frame the Temporary Shops phenomenon in Italy and to analyze its value co‐creation potential.Design/methodology/approach – The DART model proposed by Prahalad and Ramaswamy has been chosen as the theoretical framework for understanding the Temporary Shops phenomenon. The authors investigate the process of value co‐creation inside the Temporary Shops through its four key building blocks, namely, dialogue, access, risk/benefits and transparency. Through a multiple‐case study, the authors study in‐depth evidence from five leading firms that represent the main Temporary Shops in Italy over the last two years.Findings – Temporary Shops provide a locus of value co‐creation in which the interactive and experiential relationship between the firm and the customer ...

Research traditions of innovation

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to offer a fresh framing of innovation, as service innovation/value innovation. Design/methodology/approach – By examining the visions, patterns and outcomes of three different research approaches to understanding innovation – goods-dominant (G-D) logic, the resource-based approach and service-dominant (S-D) logic – the authors strive to outline the contribution of each to the debate on innovation. This investigation involves a comprehensive literature review. Scrutiny of a case company provides a means of identifying and illustrating how these approaches play out in a real business context. Findings – A framework for innovation builds on the comparison of the three research approaches. G-D logic, when analysed in terms of new product development and new service development, positions innovation as an output (a new good or service) of a businesss internal processes, with the firm as the main actor. The resource-based approach establishes the drivers of innovation as...

Asymmetric relationships in networked food innovation processes

Purpose – In innovation networks, SMEs capability to innovate is both enhanced and restricted by more powerful or better positioned partners. The purpose of this article is to ask how managers of processing SME suppliers in Italian and Swiss food innovation networks experience their relationships with innovation network partners and how they configure modes of interaction with them.Design/methodology/approach – A series of problem centered interviews with managers of six Swiss and five Italian food sector SMEs was conducted.Findings – Findings describe how SME managers in the two regions perceive the nature of interaction as well as benefits and disadvantages resulting from asymmetric relationships within networked innovation process. Differences in the perception frame and their impact on behavior in innovation networks are analyzed.Research limitations/implications – The data are only valid for the food sector in the two regional markets. Furthermore, this paper only displays the perspective of manager...

Linking service design to value creation and service research

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework for understanding service design and how service design relates to central concepts within service marketing. Design/methodology/approa ...

Exploring dualities of service innovation: implications for service research

Purpose - The purpose of this study is to explore three paradoxes of service innovation and provide a way forward for fresh thinking on the topic. Design/methodology/approach - Through a conceptual model of service innovation research, the authors challenge the pro-change bias and explore what can be learnt from the duality of service innovation. Findings - This paper suggests that research moves beyond a firm perspective to study service innovation on multiple levels of abstraction. A conceptual model based on two dimensions, level (individual, organization and society) and outcome (success, failure), is used to pinpoint and explore three dualities of service innovation: adopt-reject, change-static and good-bad. Originality/value - By challenging the traditional perspective on service innovation, the authors present new avenues for fresh thinking in research on service innovation. In this paper, the authors encourage researchers and managers to learn from failures and to acknowledge the negative effects of service innovation.

A COGNITIVE-RELATIONAL VIEW OF INNOVATION IN THE AGRI-FOOD INDUSTRY: THE FRESH-CUT BUSINESS

The aim of our study is to analyse competitive dynamics in an emerging sector of the wider agri-food industry, namely the fresh-cut business (fruit and vegetable products that are minimally processed and ready to eat). Our work is based on case study research. We propose an interpretive model that we term the cognitive-relational framework. Our framework explains the development dynamics of the emergent fresh -cut business and outlines structural links among resources, relationships, and innovation processes, which are basic and critical elements for the continued growth of the traditional agri-food industry.Our proposed cognitive-relational approach allowed us to understand how the studied firms radically transformed the ways they manage their business and develop new products. Using this approach, we now understand why these firms have become market leaders in this innovative sector of the food industry.

Collaborative Innovation — A Focus on Food SMES

In the SME context, the development of well established networks for innovation has been understood as necessity more than a choice (Goss, 1991; Pratten, 1991, Rothwell and Dodgson, 1993,). A large body of literature indicates that participation in networks and engagement in partnerships are important for SME as these factors enable firm toto tackle new technological and market frontiers and to cope with the fast changing envi‐ ronment (Hanna and Walsh 2002; Van de Vrande et al. 2009).

Conceptualizing Resource Integration to Advance Service Innovation

The chapter provides a literature review of the resource integration (RI) phenomenon through a bibliometric analysis including 1250 ISI listed journal articles. The main contribution of the study is an overview and analysis of how RI has been portrayed in marketing and management research and the six most important RI dimensions or themes. Furthermore, the analysis highlights two main research areas and approaches on RI: the traditional school of good-dominant logic (GD logic) and the recent school of service-dominant logic (SD logic).