Moira Fischbacher

New service development: a stakeholder perspective

Purpose – To increase understanding of both the process of new service development (NSD) and the nature of services as delivered to customers.Design/methodology/approach – Four qualitative, exploratory case studies encompassing public (health) and private (financial) sector service organisations.Findings – Managers select stakeholder groups for involvement in NSD attributing stakeholder salience, centrality to the process and power to influence the final service design. Customers are “dormant” stakeholders, thought to lack the knowledge/experience to contribute meaningfully to NSD. Their interests and needs are channelled through other stakeholders.Research limitations/implications – The research is confined to two service industries based on a key informant approach; thus generalisability to other industries may be limited.Practical implications – Multiple stakeholder involvement places a growing emphasis on the need for NSD managers to be skilled in managing complex, multi‐layered and multi‐faceted proc...

PFI, Public—Private Partnerships and the Neglected Importance of Process: Stakeholders and the Employment Dimension

The prominence of Private Finance Initiative (PFI) and Public—Private Partnership (PPP) policy and practice is growing as a mechanism for improving resources available to, and value for money throughout, UK public services. This interest has not been accompanied by an appropriate level of academic scrutiny, nor by depth of insight into the impact of the PFI/PPP process upon public sector organizations. The authors draw on the experience of a National Health Service PFI project to examine key aspects of the PFI process, in particular, structural characteristics affecting design and implementation of PFI projects, financial and other organizational costs, and the nature of stakeholder involvement and the wider employment dimension. The article concludes by reflecting on implications for PFI/PPP policy, management and research.

Service Design in the NHS: Collaboration or Conflict?

Continuous new service design / redesign is a key contributor to organisational performance. The NSD literature, originally evolving from new product development studies, often emphasised a sequential, linear process. More recently, however, the role of culture, internal politics and social dynamics in the NSD process has been highlighted. The potential for an enhanced role for political behaviour and stakeholder conflict within public sector organisations is apparent. In view of the increasing importance of consumer opinion as both an input into, and evaluation of, the design of public sector services, the need to understand the process of new service formation and its impact on consumer perceived service quality is of major importance. This study examines the design process for three mental health resource centres. Through interviews with a range of stakeholders, the role of conflict within complex, multi-organisational decision making is highlighted and the impact on the final consumer is assessed.

Multidisciplinary perspectives on core networking skills. A study of skills: and associated training needs, for professionals working in managed clinical networks

Possessing a wide mix of non-clinical competences is important for professionals involved in managed clinical networks (MCNs). Skills that stand out are related to interpersonal issues, problem solving, decision-making, and managing change. Interprofessional and interorganizational collaboration is important in health care generally and is not confined to MCNs. Skills are likely to have relevance in wider contexts. Training needs identified for professionals in MCNs relate to skills associated with working in challenging situations, including: ‘managing change,’ ‘conflict resolution,’ and ‘negotiation.’ Limited generalizations about profession-specific skills and training needs can be made. However, it is more appropriate to identify skills needed for the specific role(s) an individual is asked to perform, and to investigate if there are performance gaps between skills and competencies.

Improving Secondary Care Efficiency: Motives and Mechanisms in Scotland

Improving the efficiency of the NHS has been a consistent policy objective of British governments in recent years and the structures and mechanisms appropriate for stimulating efficiencies have led to both radical and incremental changes. This article discusses the attitudes and behaviour of fundholding and non-fundholding general practitioners (GPs) under the market system, and uses this as a basis for proposing efficiency improvements within the new health service structures in Scotland.