Service Development Projects Research Articles

Evaluation of new service development strategies using multicriteria analysis: predicting the success of innovative hospitality services

The purpose of this study is to gain insight into criteria that contribute to the success in new service development (NSD) projects in the hospitality economy. The results of the exploratory study are conducted in a precise predictive model for the successful hotel services. The analysis is based on data collected via in depth structured interview with questionnaires from hotel managers knowledgeable about NSD in their organization. A multicriteria methodology is used to examine the potential of a predictive model for successful NSD projects in the hotel sector. A comparative analysis with other popular classification methods is also performed.

Dimensions of uncertainty and their moderating effect on new product development project performance

In this study, we measure the dimensions of uncertainty, starting from the definitions constructed for and generally used in innovation projects. We then evaluate their direct and indirect effects on the performance of product and service development projects. Four dimensions of uncertainty are delimited with satisfactory validity and reliability, suggesting a differential moderating effect of the four types of uncertainty (technical and project uncertainty, market uncertainty, fuzziness and complexity) depending on the performance dimension (effectiveness and efficiency) and co‐moderator (project methods and human resource adequacy). Of the four dimensions explored, technical and project, and market uncertainty are true moderators and have the largest interactive effect, fuzziness has a strong direct effect on both performance dimensions whereas complexity weakly directly influences effectiveness. The latter two also influence the relations between performance and the factors related to human resources and project management methods.

Involvement of system firms in the development of complementary products: The influence of novelty

This paper focuses on the involvement of system firms in the development of complementary products to their systems. The central question is: to what extent do the novelty of the system and the novelty of the complementary product affect the appropriate degree of involvement of system firms in the development of complementary products? A system firm has several options: it may develop the complementary product completely by itself, it can leave the development completely to a specialized producer of complementary products, or it can apply different forms of collaboration with such specialized firms. This paper presents a model for the most appropriate degree of involvement of the system firm contingent upon the degrees of novelty of the system and the novelty of the complementary product. Basic to the model are two objectives of firms developing a new complementary product: the reduction of information and transaction costs in the development process, and the timely creation of installed base of the novel system and/or complementary product. We performed a pilot test of the model using data on new service development projects in mobile telecommunications. The results show that the novelty of the system and complementary product indeed affect the expected performance effects of system firm involvement. Particularly when the system is mature and the complementary product new, the system firm could better leave complementary product development to a specialized external firm. In other cases, the system firm can choose its degree of involvement from low to either medium or high, depending on novelty conditions.

Competences, education and support for new roles in cancer genetics services: outcomes from the cancer genetics pilot projects

In 2004 the Department of Health in collaboration with Macmillan Cancer Support set up service development projects to pilot the integration of genetics in mainstream medicine in the area of cancer genetics.In developing these services, new roles and responsibilities were devised that required supporting programmes of education and training. The NHS National Genetics Education and Development Centre has worked with the projects to draw together their experience in these aspects. New roles include the Cancer Family Nurse Specialist, in which a nurse working in a cancer setting was trained to identify and manage genetic or family history concerns, and the Genetic Risk Assessment Practitioner--a small team of practitioners working within a secondary care setting to deliver a standardised risk assessment pathway. Existing roles were also adapted for a different setting, in particular the use of genetic counsellors working in a community ethnic minority setting. These practitioners undertook a range of clinical activities that can be mapped directly to the 'UK National Workforce Competences for Genetics in Clinical Practice for Non-genetics Healthcare Staff' framework developed by Skills for Health and the NHS National Genetics Education and Development Centre (2007; draft competence framework). The main differences between the various roles were in the ordering of genetic tests and the provision of advice on invasive preventive options such as mastectomy. Those involved in service development also needed to develop competences in project management, business skills, audit and evaluation, working with users, general management (personnel, multi-agency work and marketing), educational supervision, IT, public and professional outreach, and research. Important resources to support the development of new roles and competences included pathways and guidelines, a formal statement of competences, a recognised syllabus, appropriate and timely courses, the availability of a mentor, supervision and opportunities to discuss cases, a formal assessment of learning and continuing support from specialist genetics services. This represents a current resource gap that will be of concern to cancer networks and a challenge to providers of educational resources and regional genetics services.

Innovation in project-based firms: The context dependency of success factors

Innovation management literature typically concerns functionally organized firms. In this paper we investigate innovation management in a different type of firm, the project-based firm. Project-based firms, such as engineering and construction companies, consultancies and system integrators, are service firms that solely execute projects for clients. We focus on new service development projects in these firms. Based on an in-depth study of six projects in four different firms, we develop hypotheses on differences between success factors for development projects in project-based firms and in functionally organized firms. Some of the success factors for functionally organized firms, as described in the literature, appear to be more important in project-based firms, others seem redundant. Our findings suggest that the specific structure and capabilities of project-based firms provide an explanation for these differences.

New service development in high tech sectors

Service companies in high tech sectors frequently implement decentralized decision architectures in their innovation processes to improve responsiveness under extremely dynamic and uncertain business conditions. As a corollary to the empowerment of decision makers at the product management level, the success of new service development projects depends increasingly on individual managers’ information processing and decision‐making performance. This article investigates antecedents of decision‐making effectiveness in high tech NSD projects, and report on a case study performed in the mobile telecommunication services industry. NSD managers’ unique task conditions are articulated, and antecedents and moderators of effective decision making are identified in a study of four innovation projects. A theoretical framework integrates the findings. The study reveals the crucial role of decision makers’ flexible use of various cognitive strategies, their proactive attitude, and their capability to mentally represent various interfaces between service, customer, technology and firm. Managerial implications and suggestions for further research are provided.

Having a say in health: involving young people with a chronic illness or physical disability in local health services development

Increasing attention is being paid to involving users in local NHS service development, and to involving young people as users in their own right. However, we know little about the views and experiences of young participants, especially those with a chronic illness or physical disability, which could inform more effective approaches to their involvement. The paper reports on research investigating the views of young patients and staff who have taken part in NHS service development projects, and suggests a range of issues for consideration when involving young patients in future. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Creating a project climate for successful product innovation

This paper reports the results of a study into leadership of new service development projects in consumer banking. A sample of UK businesses embracing both new entrants and mature incumbent players was studied. The results highlight considerable similarity in the project “micro‐climate” for successful projects. It is argued that a micro‐climate is created by appropriate leadership practices and styles. The paper highlights lessons in the organisation of innovation and the contributions of different types of leaders.

Modes of governance of new service development for mobile networks: A life cycle perspective

This paper focuses on governance modes for service development of mobile telephone networks (GSM, Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), GPRS, UMTS). ‘Services’ refer to services containing information. The paper shows that the phase of the life cycle of the network and the service affects the choice of governance mode of new service development projects. Governance modes include internal development by the telecom operator, several forms of collaboration between telecom operator and service firm, and only providing a network by the telecom operator to the service firm, which then develops and provides its services (external). In this paper a model is developed for the governance mode of service development in different phases of the life cycles of the mobile network and service, based on the degrees of uncertainty and urgency involved in the network and service development processes. Four cases are presented of service development projects for mobile telecom networks. These cases indicate that the number of redesigns and the level of communication costs in collaboration projects indeed depend on the degree of urgency and uncertainty involved in these projects, which are in turn affected by the life cycle of the network and service.

Many leaders make light work in banking innovation projects

This paper reports the results of a study into leadership of new service development projects in consumer banking in the UK. It endorses the findings of previous research which shows more than one leader involved in major innovation projects, but highlights the importance of leadership team-working to successful projects. Furthermore it discusses the critical role of the senior leader in setting a leadership style for project leadership teams. The study found a power sharing (empowerment) approach in successful projects together with greater involvement by top management.

Focus groups as a research method: a critique of some aspects of their use in nursing research.

To evaluate and critique reports in the nursing literature in the period 1990-1999 of the use of focus groups as a research method. The articles were identified by a computerized search of the CINAHL database and subjected to critical review. The result of the search was that very few articles were found that reported on a specific piece of research using the method. Methodological discussions were more common and these were sometimes at a somewhat superficial level without analysis or critique. The largest category of articles was concerned with service development projects. The research-based articles were found to be relatively unsophisticated in their use of the method, in particular in relation to data analysis and social interaction within focus groups. Terms such as 'content analysis' and 'grounded theory' were used in nonrigorous ways and incompatibility between the underlying research approach and implementation of the method was identified in the cases of phenomenology and grounded theory. Whilst selection of the focus group method was often justified in terms of the benefits that participant interaction could yield, this interaction was rarely reported or discussed in the articles. One author proposed a scheme for analysing this type of interaction, and this is recommended to future researchers as a possible framework for interaction analysis. The article concludes by calling for more in-depth consideration at the research planning stages of the underlying assumptions of methodological approaches that may be used to underpin focus group research and methods to be used to analyse and report the data generated.

New service development: initiation strategies

This paper addresses the issue of initiating new service development (NSD) projects. The aim of the article is to investigate whether firms use systematic procedures to generate and screen ideas for new services. Utilising a survey of marketing managers in UK service companies, data were collected in the areas of NSD strategy, idea generation and screening. It was found that only half the sample have a formal NSD strategy, idea generation is undertaken on an ad hoc basis and idea screening, although more prevalent, is failing to support the NSD strategy. Management implications and areas for further research are discussed.

Utilisation of indigenous workers and its relevance to human service organisations and development projects in South Africa∗

The article discusses major issues related to the employment of indigenous workers in human service organisations and development projects. Main motives for introducing this new type of worker and the essential tasks they perform as well as their unique attributes are presented. The discussion concludes by advocating the expansion of the efforts in the South African context.

Local Residents as Mediators between Middle-Class Professional Workers and Lower-Class Clients

Previous articleNext article No AccessLocal Residents as Mediators between Middle-Class Professional Workers and Lower-Class ClientsCharles F. GrosserCharles F. Grosser Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Social Service Review Volume 40, Number 1Mar., 1966 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/641855 Views: 1Total views on this site Citations: 6Citations are reported from Crossref Copyright 1966 University of ChicagoPDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:John H. Noble, John J. Stretch Grade-Induced Beliefs About Undergraduate Generalist Social Work Practice Competency, Evaluation Review 26, no.22 (Jul 2016): 213–236.https://doi.org/10.1177/0193841X02026002004Barbara Bremner, Cathy C. Campbell, Jeffery Sobal Comparison of the beliefs and practices of EFNEP clients with staff perceptions of clients, Journal of Nutrition Education 26, no.33 (May 1994): 123–130.https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-3182(12)80386-4J Katan, D Nghatsane Utilisation of indigenous workers and its relevance to human service organisations and development projects in South Africa∗, Development Southern Africa 3, no.44 (Nov 1986): 636–649.https://doi.org/10.1080/03768358608439273William Riley Citizen participation in community mental health center service delivery, Community Mental Health Journal 17, no.11 (Mar 1981): 37–45.https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00754207Lee Holder Some Theoretical and Practical Considerations in Influencing Health Behavior, Health Education Monographs 1, no.3030 (Feb 1970): 49–69.https://doi.org/10.1177/109019817000103005 Robert Pruger , and Harry Specht Assessing Theoretical Models of Community Organization Practice: Alinsky as a Case in Point, Social Service Review 43, no.22 (Sep 2015): 123–135.https://doi.org/10.1086/642363