Editorial: Service resilience in an increasingly ambiguous, dynamic and complex world – absorb, adapt and transform

PurposeThe technological revolution in the service sector is radically changing the ways in which and with whom consumers co-create value. This conceptual paper considers social robots in elderly care services and outlines ways in which their human-like affect and cognition influence users’ social perceptions and anticipations of robots’ value co-creation or co-destruction potential. A future research agenda offers relevant, conceptually robust directions for stimulating the advancement of knowledge and understanding in this nascent field.Design/methodology/approachDrawing from service, robotics and social cognition research, this paper develops a conceptual understanding of the value co-creation/destruction potential of social robots in services.FindingsThree theoretical propositions construct an iterative framework of users’ evaluations of social robots in services. First, social robots offer users value propositions leveraging affective and cognitive resources. Second, users’ personal values become salient through interactions with social robots’ affective and cognitive resources. Third, users evaluate social robots’ value co-creation/destruction potential according to social cognition dimensions.Originality/valueSocial robots in services are an emerging topic in service research and hold promising implications for organizations and users. This relevant, conceptually robust framework advances scholarly understanding of their opportunities and pitfalls for realizing value. This study also identifies guidelines for service managers for designing and introducing social robots into complex service environments.

This article explores the evolving role of sovereign governments in the provision of security in an increasingly complex and uncertain global world (in which the demand for security is increasing, whilst simultaneously the capability of the nation-states to manage it is being challenged) and the concept of resilience as a strategy to meet these challenges. In order to analyse the rise of resilience, national security and national resilience strategies from a number of countries are examined. It argues that whilst national resilience features prominently in national security strategies, its definition and goals remain ambiguous. Moreover, whilst resilience can be a pragmatic approach to security challenges, its relationship with national security and the state's responsibility as security provider requires further clarification. The article aims to contribute to the emerging discourse around the concept of national resilience, as well as to the identification of policies and practices required for establishing a strategic approach to national resilience.

The concept of leader's psychological resilience (PsyRes) is offered as a key in filling the need in today’s highly complex and fast-paced world to be able to handle problems, ambiguity, change, and a host of other demands while still maintaining a focus on the people in the organization that work to make the things happen each and every day to keep the organization viable. Resiliency dictates whether a disruptive life event will result in a digression of that person's life or transform it in a positive manner. The author posits that, based on the concepts of resiliency in the literature, PsyRes consists of three major components: emotional intelligence, authenticity, and meaning in life.

Understanding value creation processes between actors in business-to-business (B2B) settings is crucial (Lindgreen and Wynstra 2005). To that end, service-dominant logic (SDL) proposes that value co-creation is derived from interactions between service systems (e.g. customers, distributors, suppliers, etc.) (Vargo et al. 2008; Lusch and Vargo 2006). These interactions may occur and be studied not only at the dyadic but also at the network level (Cova and Salle 2008; Vargo et al. 2008). At the same time, research has mainly focused on value co-creation, and left aside the possibility of value co-destruction, or the potential dynamics between value co-creation and value co-destruction (Ple and Chumpitaz-Caceres 2010). However, Zhu and Zolkiewski’s (2015) show that a domino effect is evident in the chain of upstream service provider to service recipients and their downstream customers in a business-to-business service setting. This chain of interaction shows the complexity of multiparty relationships (Andersson-Cederholm and Gyimothy 2010). It also indicates that value co-creation and value co-destruction may be contingent in the service network but does not explain how value co-creation and co-destruction processes may be intertwined in a B2B service network, while such knowledge is needed (Cova et al. 2011; Payne et al. 2008; Echeverri and Skalen, 2011; Lindgreen et al. 2012). This empirical study aims to contribute to this gap by investigating how the nature of interacting actors, their activities, and the mobilization of their resources in a network influence the dynamics between value co-creation and value co-destruction in B2B service networks. In order to gain a holistic understanding of the phenomenon, a case study has been used to collect qualitative data from suppliers–distributors–customers triads. Preliminary findings will be presented in the conference.

The Shift to service economy is ongoing globally by transforming the social structure. This affects the research and development (R&D) organization as well. Manufacturing companies are shifting to service business, therefore the R&D in manufacturing companies needs a transformation to respond the social change. However, macro level surveys on service innovation do not capture the reality of service R&D activities yet. That is because most of companies in the service sector do not have R&D, so that they do not recognize R&D activities in service innovation. It would be important to study service innovation in a manufacturing company transforming to service business which has a R&D organization, and to understand R&D activities which contribute to service innovation. Research on service innovation is rooted mainly in product development based on technology trajectory. The modern service marketing introduces service-dominant logic (S-D logic) perspective without separating services and goods, which is based on value co-creation between service providers and customers. In this paper, a new service research model focusing on value co-creation is proposed based on the S-D logic view. A set of hypotheses on service research model for value co-creation is developed and tested using data on research activities of service innovation projects. We find that the technologies developed in the research, and the mutual organizational understanding of service and research contribute to the value co-creation interaction with customers and researchers. The value co-creation interaction is facilitated by service innovative orientation and technologies. It also advances the discovery of research themes. As the result, a new type of service oriented researchers is emerged, which is not only focusing on creating new technologies, nor adapting technologies to the customer's context, but discovering research themes by expanding the research scope to create the customer's service system. We discuss managerial implications of these findings and conclude with the study's limitations and directions for the future research.

This article examines the transformation of service systems through actors’ resource integration and value cocreation in contention. It is based on a netnographic study focusing on the use of information and communications technology (ICT) tools by online activists during the “Arab Spring.” The transformation of service systems is conceptualized on the basis of existing service research and on the theory of strategic action fields. Focusing on Syria, the findings suggest that activists transformed four interdependent service systems—the media, the social movement, health care, and the financial service systems—during the Arab Spring by means of integrating resources and cocreating value within several ICT tools. A key contribution to transformative service research is the fact that the positive transformation of service systems derives from the conflict between two types of actors, namely, incumbents and challengers. This article also contributes to our knowledge of triggers of service system transformation, what motivates actors to transform service systems, how service system transformation is enabled by actors’ integration and use of ICT tools serving as opportunity spaces, and the transformative roles actors adopt. In addition, this article contributes to the conceptualization of service systems and to the understanding of resource integration and value cocreation.

Ranking the factors that impact customer participation and engagement in value co-creation in service sector enables practitioners, especially service providers, to identify vital factors from those that are unimportant and that are essential for their service quality success and development. The objective of this study is to prioritize the factors that impact customer participation in value co-creation in the service sector. Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is adopted by using Multi-Criteria Decision Making technique (MCDM) to determine the relative importance of the factors in influencing customer participation in the value co-creation through online platform. In order to rank the factors, this study is planned and performed in two stages. In the first stage some critical success factors that impact customer participation in value co-creation were identified through the literature review and preliminary case study. In the second stage, a pairwise comparison is designed based on AHP method to collect the opinions of experts and questionnaires were distributed among 10 organizational experts and academics as respondents. The pairwise comparisons obtained from this stage are analyzed by AHP using super decision software and excel spreadsheet. The research findings indicate that the success factors to engage customers in value co-creation activities have different priorities and weights. The weights obtained from AHP indicate that the organizational factors and individual factors got higher scores and ranked higher than the technological factors respectively. The most important results indicated that organizational aspects such as rewards and remunerations, open innovation culture and the organization leadership style are higher priority than any other factors, and in technology aspect it is verified that platform reliability and easy access got the fourth higher priority as well. Therefore, such results and weights obtained from this study will be used for prioritizing the factors that impact customer participation in value co-creation in the service sector and will be taken into consideration when value co-creation online platforms or systems are designed.

The Complex World, originally published in Volume 1 of Foundational Papers in Complexity Science, presents an entirely new framing of nature, of the human role in the natural and technological worlds, and what it means to prosper on a living planet. We live in a complex world—meaning one that is increasingly connected, evolving, technological, volatile, and potentially poised for catastrophe. And yet we continue to treat the world as if it were simple: linear, unchanging, disconnected, and infinitely exploitable. Complexity science is an approach to understanding and surviving in a complex world. In this concise and comprehensive introduction, Santa Fe Institute President David C. Krakauer traces the roots of complexity science back to the nineteenth-century science of machines—evolved and engineered—into the twentieth-century science of emergent systems. By combining insights from evolution, computation, nonlinear dynamics, and statistical physics, complexity science provides the first scientific framework for understanding the purposeful universe.

Purpose This paper aims to explain the development of the dialogical conference, develop a framework for understanding the social construction of the dialogical conference and provide research priorities for further developing the practice in the services marketing discipline. Design/methodology/approach The growing challenge for service researchers is to generate new theory and knowledge to solve complex problems. Dialogical conferences offer an avenue to develop solutions in response to this challenge. Value co-creation provides a useful lens through which to view dialogical conferences. We draw on Ranjan and Read’s (2016) value-in-use and value co-production and Ramaswamy and Ozcan’s (2018) interactive engagement platforms for value co-creation. Mindful of the contributions of both, the paper presents an integrative framework that describes the relationships between the concepts to provide a firm grounding for developing dialogical conferences. Findings By mapping value co-creating activities in dialogical conferences according to the APPI framework – artifacts, persons, processes and interfaces – on to value-in-use and value co-production, we propose a new category of value-in-use, equality, to the conceptualisation of value co-creation outcomes. Equality in contribution, attribution and effort is under-represented in value co-creation. Originality/value Dialogical conferences are increasingly important for knowledge generation and creating potential for action, yet are underexplored in service research. This paper contributes to the literature by using service logic and dialogical conferences to extend our knowledge of value co-creation interactive platforms and outcomes. Second, we demonstrate the value of dialogical conferences for facilitating meaningful service research and knowledge development. Finally, the authors identify research priorities to encourage further work on extending the understanding and application of dialogical interactive platforms and value co-creation to enable the service community to be responsive in solving complex problems through service offerings.

Value Co-Creation in Services: An Economic Perception on the State of the Art in Economics, I.C.T. vs. Marketing

PurposeTechnology is revolutionizing the management logic of service systems. The increasing use of artificial intelligence (AI), in particular, is challenging interaction between humans and machines changing the service systems’ value co-creation configurations and logic. To envision possible future scenarios, this paper aims to reflect upon how the humans’ use of AI technology can impact value co-creation.Design/methodology/approachThe study is developed, at a conceptual level, using selected elements from managerial and marketing theoretical frameworks interested in value co-creation – Service-Dominant Logic, Service Science and Viable Systems Approach (VSA) – used as interpretative tools to reframe value co-creation in the digital age.FindingsThe interpretative approach adopted and, in particular, the new VSA notion of Intelligence Augmentation (IA), in the perspective of the information variety model, shed new light on value co-creation in the digital age framing a possible “IA effect” that can empower value co-creation in complex decision-making contexts.Practical implicationsThe study provides insights useful in the design and management of service systems suggesting a rethinking of the view of AI as a means for mainly increasing the smartness of service systems and a new focus on the enhancement of the human resources contribution to make the service systems wiser.Originality/valueThe paper provides a refocused interpretative view of the interaction between humans and AI that looks at a possible positive impact of the use of AI on humans in terms of augmented decision-making capabilities in conditions of complexity.

Contemporary service organizations create value through multiple inter-organizational relationships. The relationships between the service organization and its customer have been the dominating focus in literature on value co-creation in large service organizations. This paper introduces the novel phenomenon of value co-creation emerging around interpersonal and digital customer-to-customer (C2C) connections. With the advent of the Internet, social media, “digital native” customers, and the availability of big data and new analytical tools, service organizations are afforded to tap into existing social relationships among their customer base or even to ‘engineer’ novel connections. We present a theory-led model to explain how firms can create new sources of service value through “C2C connected value co-creation”. By extending Teece’s concept of complementary asset in the service context, this model subsumes two major building blocks: a firm’s potential for C2C connections and complementary service assets, namely the network capital, mirroring service resources, and advancing services resources of the connected customer. We present three strategies for C2C connected service value co-creation describing combinations of these building blocks: (1) embedding, (2) substituting, and (3) expanding. Multiple case examples illustrate our propositions. Our novel form of theorizing has implications for future research on management of information systems in service organizations.

The current research suggests a new service research framework for service researchers and practitioners. A comprehensive and streamlined research framework is essential for rapid growth of service industry with support of academic researches. An in-depth analysis on relevant service research fremeworks and major research issues on service sector and service nature has been performed. Past and present research frameworks on service sector have been reviewed based on the nature of service and the desirability for service industry development. A new research framework has been derived and a five-section model has been suggested. The results of this research can be used for finding useful research topics in service sector. Future research is needed to develop service research as a solid and major academic field in the new economy.

Purpose The purpose of this article is to introduce and explicate the concept of responsible aging, defined as the lifelong, proactive pursuit of personal well-being in ways that also support the well-being of other generations. The article also examines the antecedents and outcomes of responsible aging and outlines directions for future research. Design/methodology/approach This conceptual paper offers a critical review of the extant literature, aiming to develop new theoretical insights. We develop a comprehensive framework with key aspects that are essential for understanding the nature, antecedents, and outcomes of responsible aging. Findings The proposed framework illustrates the relationship between aging and multiple dimensions of well-being, highlighting that aspirations, intentions, and behaviors converge in the pursuit of responsible aging. It reveals reciprocal associations between responsible aging and both individual and contextual characteristics. It also emphasizes the active role of individuals across all age groups in promoting responsible aging practices and fostering intergenerational well-being. Research limitations/implications The article broadens the aging literature by integrating individual and intergenerational well-being, thereby unlocking the transformative potential of aging. It reconceptualizes aging from a narrative centered on individual loss to a collaborative, multi-generational process focused on sustaining well-being across age cohorts. The responsible aging framework contributes to the research in service, marketing, and innovation, particularly by encouraging scholars to explore aging as a dynamic, relational phenomenon that involves shared responsibilities, co-creation of value, and systemic innovation across generations. Practical implications The article assists organizations and service stakeholders by identifying key factors relevant to developing inclusive practices for aging populations. The framework offers a foundation for healthcare providers, service organizations, and other societal actors to reflect on how systems and services can better accommodate, support, and engage individuals across generations. Social implications Responsible aging carries important societal implications, as it offers an intergenerational perspective that supports social cohesion, shared responsibility, and the sustainable well-being of aging populations. By encouraging individuals to contribute not only to their own well-being but also to the betterment of others, it fosters a more inclusive and resilient society. Originality/value This article presents a novel perspective on aging, emphasizing intergenerational well-being for sustainable and equitable outcomes in aging societies. It challenges traditional views of aging as an isolated experience and presents responsible aging as a dynamic, multifaceted process with far-reaching implications for individuals, families, and society at large.

Resilience has become a central concept in academic and political debates about government policy over the last decade or so. In a complex, global and interconnected world, resilience appears to be the policy buzzword of choice, assumed to be the answer to wide-ranging range of policy issues. In his book Resilience: The Governance of Complexity, David Chandler takes on the concept of resilience and the ways in which it is used by policymakers and academics. In their discussion of the book, Julian Reid and Philip Hammond critically engages with some of Chandler’s conclusions while approving of other aspects of the book. They query the relationship between the concept of resilience, the concepts of biopolitics and neoliberalism, and the possibility of critique. The debate about resilience thus sits at the heart of contemporary politics, and the debate links concerns of scholars in a number of sub-disciplines within political science.