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PublicationWhy the agile mindset matters( 2022-04-06)Volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA) are drivers in today's business world. To perform amid this accelerated change and the digitalization progress, organizations are implementing agility. However, such an implementation does not happen without stumbling blocks and some fail. One reason for this is actors’ agile mindset (AM), which is necessary to deal succefully within a VUCA environment. Knowledge of the AM is in its infancy and conceptualization and measuring tools for it are lacking. Furthermore, the relation of the AM in terms of strategic agility and performance is still unclear. Our study aims to close these gaps. We examine AM through 15 interviews and a survey (N = 449) to predict strategic agility and performance. As a result, we conceptualize AM as an attitude that comprises four dimensions: attitude towards 1) learning spirit, 2) collaborative exchange, 3) empowered self-guidance, and 4) customer co-creation. Furthermore, we describe how actors with an AM deal with new technologies. We found that AM affects organizational performance mediated by strategic agility. These findings contribute to the agility and management research by providing a conceptualization and measuring instrument for AM. Furthermore, its relevance for strategic agility is explained and its relationship with organizational performance outlinedType:Journal:Volume:Issue:
Scopus© Citations 31 -
PublicationHow Companies Can Benefit from Interlinking External Crowds and Internal Employees(Kelley School of Business, 2021-03-01)Based on insights from an engineering design project conducted by Airbus and Local Motors, we describe how companies can leverage hybrid working by interlinking external crowds and internal employees, to increase the agility, quality and speed of product development. We identify the benefits and risks of hybrid working and describe the different ways of interlinking external crowds and internal employees. Finally, we provide recommendations for company executives who want to explore the use of hybrid workingType:Journal:Volume:Issue:
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PublicationHow to scale up contact-intensive services: ICT-enabled service innovation( 2019)Purpose While scaling is a viable approach to respond to growing demand, service providers in contactintensive services – such as education, healthcare, and social services – struggle to innovate their offerings. The reason is that the scaling of contact-intensive services – unlike purely digital settings – has resource limitations. To help ease the situation, the purpose of this article is to identify and describe the practices used in scaling contact-intensive services to support ICTenabled service innovation. Design/methodology/approach The research draws on an in-depth analysis of three contact-intensive services to examine service innovation practices. The analysis informs model development for service scaling. Findings The analysis uncovers three practices for service scaling – service interaction analysis, service pivoting, and service validation – and their related activities that are applied in a cyclic and iterative logic. Research limitations/implications While the findings reveal that the scalability of contact-intensive services is limited and determined by the formative characteristic of personal interaction, this study and its findings describe how to leverage scalability in contact-intensive services. Practical implications The insights into the practices enable service providers of contact-intensive services to iteratively revise their service offerings and the logic of creating value with the service. Originality/value This research identifies and describes for the first time the practices for the scaling of contactintensive services as an operationalisation of ICT-enabled service innovation.Type:Journal:Volume:Issue:
Scopus© Citations 8 -
PublicationVon Kunden für Kunden: Crowd Services als Erweiterung der Digital Customer Experience(Springer Fachmedien, 2017)Type:Journal:Volume:Issue:
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PublicationAnatomy of Successful Business Models for Complex Services: Insights from the Telemedicine FieldTelemedicine services may improve the quality of life of individuals while also reducing the costs of service provisioning. They represent an important but as yet understudied type of complex services that integrates many stakeholders acting in service value networks. These complex services typically comprise a combination of information technology (IT) services and highly person-oriented, non-IT services, and are characterized by long service delivery periods. In such an environment, it is particularly difficult to generate successful and sustainable business models, which are necessary for the widespread provision of telemedicine services. Following a design research approach, we develop and evaluate the CompBizMod framework, a morphological box allowing for: (1) the analysis, description, and classification of telemedicine business models, (2) the identification of white spots for future business opportunities, (3) and the identification of patterns for successful business models. We contribute to the literature by presenting a specific business model framework and identifying three business model patterns in the telemedicine industry. We exhibit how business models for complex services can be decomposed into their constituent elements and present an easy and replicable approach for identifying business model patterns in a given industry.Type:Journal:Volume:Issue:
Scopus© Citations 94 -
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PublicationGenerative AI in Customer Support Services: A Framework for Augmenting the Routines of Frontline Service Employees( 2024-01-06)Customer support service employees are facing an increased workload, while artificial intelligence (AI) appears to possess the potential to change the way we work. With the advent of modern types of generative AI, new opportunities to augment frontline service employees have emerged. However, little is known about how to integrate generative AI in customer support service organizations and purposefully change service employee work routines. Following multi-method qualitative research, we performed a literature review, conducted workshops, and interviewed IT support agents, managers, and AI experts. Thereby, we examine AI augmentation for frontline service employees in the context of IT support to carve out where and how GenAI can be leveraged to develop more efficient and higher-quality customer support. Our resulting framework reveals that especially adapting solutions and retaining knowledge is subject to a high degree of AI augmentation.
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PublicationMoving towards a Non-Dyadic View on Service Systems and its Operationalization – Applying the Hypergraph-based Service System Model( 2020)In today’s VUCA world, that is characterized by high volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity, service provisioning is required to realize flexible and adaptable reconfiguration of service delivery systems and its stakeholders’ resources. However, services are often embedded in greater service systems and the context information of both customer and service provider form both its boundary conditions the suitable solution service. To capture the complexity and leverage the dynamic of service systems, we propose the formal service system model (SSM) method. Following general systems theory, we define boundaries for service delivery and show SSM’s applicability for ad-hoc service operations. We show its usefulness for structuring a service system for service operations, specifically scheduling, planning, and pricing of service provisioning. We contribute to service systems engineering by applying one generalizable mathematical model for both structuring and operationalizing service systems and provide insights in-to capturing the complex relationships of its componentsType:Journal:
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PublicationCrowdworking Platforms in Germany: Business Insights from a Study & Implications for Society( 2020)The competitiveness of organizations and whole economies depends on how successfully they are able to cope with the digital transformation and new technological trends. In the area of digital work, crowdworking platforms emerged as intermediaries that support a new form of service delivery and work organization. Despite their increasing importance, there is only few data about key characteristics of such platforms such as number of employees or revenues. Furthermore, extant data often focusses only on a few platforms, mostly from the US. Based on results from a study about the 32 crowdworking platforms that have their headquarters or a physical location in Germany, we provide data that for the first time allows to draw conclusions for the “total population” of crowdworking platforms in a defined larger region (Germany as Europe’s largest and the world fourth largest economy). These results are valuable for various stakeholders from economy and politics, allowing them to make economic or political decisions on a more informed basis. Furthermore, we develop an evaluation framework that depicts the implications for these groups along the dimensions costs, flexibility, “humanity”, quality, and time: Crowdworking platforms on the one hand provide several opportunities: Individuals gain more flexibility, groups can benefit from additional contributors, organizations have the potential to process work faster and cheaper. On the other hand, this novel form of work organization also includes potential threats for all groups: Low payments and ‘tayloristic’ work, insufficient quality or irritation of internal employees. Based on 12 interviews with company representatives and crowdworkers, we evaluate implications of this novel form of work organization for society.
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PublicationHow to Empower the Workforce – Analyzing Internal Crowd Work as a Neo-Socio-Technical System( 2019-01-08)
