Gaining insights into the measurement of value in industrial service network

The quality of servitization in project-oriented organizations

Purpose

This study examines the criteria for evaluating the quality of servitization and the factors influencing the project–service system's success.

Design/methodology/approach

Evidence was collected through three rounds of Delphi consensus with 42 project managers.

Findings

The results indicate that the quality of servitization in project-oriented organizations is conceptualized as a cumulative construct driven by the product-service system's overall ability to offer more customer value. This value is defined by three interconnected dimensions: the service, the project and the integration system. The study also proposes a novel customer-oriented quality process with two connected levels comprising eight key factors influencing the quality of the project–service systems and nine key quality criteria that assist in evaluating the project–service systems.

Practical implications

Offering extra services is crucial for successful project-oriented organizations to deliver more customer value. The value of servitization is the combined value of products and services. The failure of one of these components to satisfy customers leads to the collapse of the whole system, which entails the need for a balanced-focus quality system toward projects and services.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the quality of servitization in project-oriented organizations, arguing that a balance between service orientation and project orientation is preferred to increase customer value and reduce the clash and ambiguity between project operations and service provision.

Organisational performance and the use of multiple performance measures in an emerging market

Purpose

This study is an empirical investigation of the relationship between the use of 41 multiple performance measures (MPMs), including financial performance measures (FPM), non-financial performance measures (NFPMs) and organisational performance (OP) in Libya.

Design/methodology/approach

The results are based on cross-sectional questionnaire survey data from 132 Libyan companies (response rate 61%), which were obtained just before the so-called Arab Spring.

Findings

MPMs are used by both manufacturing and non-manufacturing companies. Libyan business organisations are more likely to use FPMs than NFPMs. However, these companies still rely more heavily on FPMs. The relationships between the use of NFPMs and OP and the use of MPMs and OP are positive and highly significant. The relationship between the use of FPMs and OP is positive but not significant.

Research limitations/implications

The high power distance associated with the conservative, Libyan, Arab context will reinforce the tendency to use FPMs more than NFPMs. This may provide a performance advantage to those organisations which do adopt NFPMs.

Practical implications

Although there may be institutional barriers to the use of NFPMs in Libya, and other emerging markets, these are not insuperable and there is a payoff to their use.

Originality/value

No previous studies of emerging markets, such as the Middle East or North Africa, have looked at the relationship between OP and the adoption of such a large array of MPMs.

Value co-creation through digital service capabilities: the role of human factors

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the different human factor characteristics that are emphasized when co-creating value through digital service capabilities.

Design/methodology/approach

Empirical data are gathered from two small companies that deliver digital services and products in business-to-business markets.

Findings

The study highlights the role and importance of human factors as reflected in employees’ customer orientation while delivering digital service capabilities. The role of human factors also changes during the digital service production process.

Originality/value

Developing digital service capability is positively associated with value co-creation, but it requires new skills: firms need to evaluate their mechanisms for supporting continuous learning about the properties of digital technologies. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to focus on the role of human factors in in developing digital service capabilities.