Value-creating Activities Research Articles

技術系教養課程の技術マネジメント教育プログラムの開発

This paper discusses models for the development of an educational program for technology management in a liberal arts curriculum at the undergraduate level, and analyses and evaluates the attitude changes of the learners who complete the program in 2014 and 2016. The programs developed are based on the concept of fusing technology management and career design. In this program, students learn mechanisms to promote novel value creation activities, select an industry and vocation that capitalizes on their own abilities, and cultivate the ability to create precise motivations through self-management and industry/company research. Some models are proposed and applied in the development of an educational program within the liberal arts program at Kanazawa Institute of Technology in Japan.

Determining Service Value: Exploring the Link Between Value Creation and Service Evaluation

Starting from the evolution of the service-dominant logic and critiques emerging from this, the purpose of this paper is to explore the link between value creation and service evaluation in order to understand what can be evaluated in a service, when and from which perspective, to ascertain its value. Even though in theory of service logic there is a quite clear understanding of service value creation dynamics, a reflection is missing on how to measure that value. The authors thus take on the concept of service evaluation as a further development of service logic, introducing a possible way to approach it. Bridging service logic studies and evaluation studies in the field of social sciences, this paper identifies temporal aspects of service evaluation, and possible evaluation objects and objectives that are meaningful for the service provider in value-facilitation activities and for the service user in value-creation activities. A framework is developed and some considerations are done upon shifting the reflection on value creation from theory to an evaluation practice.

Useful business cases: value creation in IS projects

Business cases have become popular as part of managing value creation in IS projects. Nevertheless, business cases are often poorly linked to value creation activities and organizations struggle to develop business cases that are useful and express more than simple cost savings. This action research study seeks to improve the usefulness of business cases in IS projects. We used collaborative action research with Danish municipalities to improve their practices when developing and using business cases and to change their perceptions of what constitutes a good business case that is useful during implementation and value creation. This article presents lessons learned from our action research, lessons that we incorporated into a business case method and subsequently evaluated with IS managers. There are three lessons on (1) improving the content of business cases, (2) how to develop business cases, and (3) the use of business cases in subsequent value creation. These lessons summarize our findings and the contributions are that we in the business case method propose to (1) include minimal contents, (2) develop social commitment, and (3) structure for dynamic use during value creation. We discuss the lessons and contributions related to research on IS business cases and value creation.

SOCIAL ENTERPRISE AS A MECHANISM OF YOUTH EMPOWERMENT

Empowerment is one of the most important social value creation activities performed by social enterprises (SEs). Despite the burgeoning research on SEs, there is limited research on the meaning and aspects of empowerment from the SE perspective, or the so-called SE-as-Empowerment research. In light of this research gap, we employed the Gioia’s methodology and data triangulation to analyze a renowned Hong Kong’s SE that focuses on youth empowerment. This study contributes to the SE-as-Empowerment literature by revealing five types of empowerment — building social awareness, meaningful participation, social connections, building entrepreneurial skills, and power sharing between youths and adults — which can be broadly categorized into social-capacity empowerment and entrepreneurial-capacity empowerment. This study makes novel contributions to the SE-as-Empowerment literature by proposing new concepts including multi-directional (internally and externally oriented) aspect of empowerment, the pluralistic notion of agency, and power sharing between youths and adults as important elements of youth empowerment in SE. Finally, we discuss the implications of this study for the SE practitioners, educators, and policy makers and propose avenues for future research.

Social Enterprise as a Mechanism of Youth Empowerment

Empowerment is one of the most important social value creation activities performed by social enterprises (SEs). Despite the burgeoning research on SEs, there is limited research on the meaning and aspects of empowerment from the SE perspective, or the so-called SE-as-Empowerment research. In light of this research gap, we employed the Gioia’s methodology and data triangulation to analyze a renowned Hong Kong’s SE that focuses on youth empowerment. This study contributes to the SE-as-Empowerment literature by revealing five types of empowerment –– building social awareness, meaningful participation, social connections, building entrepreneurial skills, and power sharing between youths and adults –– which can be broadly categorized into social-capacity empowerment and entrepreneurial-capacity empowerment. This study makes novel contributions to the SE-as-Empowerment literature by proposing new concepts including multi-directional (internally and externally oriented) aspect of empowerment, the pluralistic notion of agency, and power sharing between youths and adults as important elements of youth empowerment in SE. Finally, we discuss the implications of this study for the SE practitioners, educators, and policy makers and propose avenues for future research.

A study of value in agile software development organizations

Examines how Value is interpreted in 14 agile software development organizations.Data is collected from 13 project managers and 10 product owners.Sixteen categories of Value Aspects are identified and prioritized.The most important Value Aspect is Delivery process w.r.t. time.The most used activity to achieve Value is activities related to agile practices. The Agile manifesto focuses on the delivery of valuable software. In Lean, the principles emphasise value, where every activity that does not add value is seen as waste. Despite the strong focus on value, and that the primary critical success factor for software intensive product development lies in the value domain, no empirical study has investigated specifically what value is. This paper presents an empirical study that investigates how value is interpreted and prioritised, and how value is assured and measured. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews with 23 participants from 14 agile software development organisations. The contribution of this study is fourfold. First, it examines how value is perceived amongst agile software development organisations. Second, it compares the perceptions and priorities of the perceived values by domains and roles. Third, it includes an examination of what practices are used to achieve value in industry, and what hinders the achievement of value. Fourth, it characterises what measurements are used to assure, and evaluate value-creation activities.

HUMAN CAPITAL IN THE CONDITIONS OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF EMERGING GLOBAL VALUE CHAINS

The article is devoted to studying the features of the development of human capital in the context of emerging global value chains. It is determined that the modern global economy is creating unprecedented challenges and opportunities for continued progress in human development. The world's production plays an important role in promoting social progress through the expansion of international value chains. Analyzing the process of transnationalization reveals that the dominance of production within global production chains attributed to transnational corporations (TNCs) promotes competition between countries for localizing the most productive links of the chains in terms of creating added value. This competition manifests itself in training, investments in infrastructure, the introduction of a favorable tax regime etc., as well as the requirement of placing a certain stage of a TNC's production process on the territory of a country as a condition of accessing its market. It is concluded that education has become a major resource that distinguishes economic actors that have the potential for prosperity under the influence of globalization from those, whose status is becoming increasingly marginal. Knowledge, whether it is highly specialized or more general, as reflected in the ability to solve problems, the ability to learn based on well-developed reading and computational skills has become a necessary condition for value-creating activities and for quickly switching from one kind of activity to another. Taking the international experience into account, the article proves that it would be beneficial for our economy to improve the redistribution mechanism of income formed from natural resource export, in order to promote human capital development, development of the technological base and strengthening (or developing) institutions and infrastructure required for the influx of investments into production of finished products with an initial focus on medium-tech small industrial business, then on the development of medium-tech industries, and at last on integrating large enterprises into global value chains

Corporate Social Responsibility and Cost Stickiness

This article examines the effects on cost stickiness of firms’ involvement in corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities. Cost stickiness represents asymmetric cost behavior whereby the magnitude of cost increases in response to an increase in the activity level is greater than the magnitude of cost decreases with a decrease in the activity level. We hypothesize that CSR involvement requires ongoing investments in value-creating activities; hence, it is difficult to scale down committed resources instantly even when the activity declines. We use two different CSR proxies and find support for the CSR-related cost stickiness hypothesis. We further decompose CSR into strategic and tactical CSR and find that cost stickiness is more pronounced for strategic CSR. Finally, we examine the CSR-related cost behavior pattern across business cycles and find some evidence of cost stickiness during an expansionary phase of the economy and cost anti-stickiness during a recessionary phase but only for the tactical CSR component.

Sustainable supply chain models for base of the pyramid

Institutional barriers and constraints in developing countries require new supply chain models where economic, social and ecological aspects are integrated. Sustainable supply chain management discourse has focused on ecological aspects and neglected social issues, while Base of the Pyramid studies have neglected ecological considerations. This study links the sustainable supply chain management discourse with insights from Base of the Pyramid studies in order to suggest an integrated sustainability perspective. This work adopts a multiple case study design based on secondary data analysis in order to investigate supply chain concepts of 18 successful products and develop sustainable supply chain models in the areas of sourcing, making and delivering. Findings suggest that by employing localized and simplified approaches, companies targeting low-income markets can overcome existing local institutional barriers. We conclude that employing simplified and localized approaches to supply chains and simultaneously integrating local communities in the value creation activities can serve as success factors. Therefore, by linking sustainable supply chain with the Base of the Pyramid strategies discourse, we fill an important research gap in the literature. From a practitioner's perspective, the derived supply chain models serve as best practices for managers of multi-national companies, local entrepreneurs, non-governmental organizations and political institutions designing, operating and regulating supply chains for low-income markets.

The use of forest information in timber sales planning – a case study in a Swedish forest-owning company

ABSTRACTInteractions between value-creating activities are vital to increasing product value. Information sharing is a cornerstone of such interactions. For a forest-owning company with the primary objective to be leading in selling roundwood to forest industries, it appears therefore crucial that the sales people within a forest company have up-to-date knowledge about the forest in planning their sales, and that the forest knowledge is presented in a format that is suitable for them. To investigate if this is the case, a study was conducted at Sveaskog, a large Swedish forest-owning company. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with respondents from different levels in the organization. The results show that most sales managers did not directly use the knowledge about the forests when planning their sales; instead, they relied on historical data and had low trust in the knowledge presented in the tactical forest plan. The study pinpoints the organizational obstacles for using forest information in sales planning. These obstacles need to be addressed if more sophisticated information made available through new technology is to be utilized.

Improvement in Patient Transfer Process From the Operating Room to the PICU Using a Lean and Six Sigma-Based Quality Improvement Project.

Ineffective and inefficient patient transfer processes can increase the chance of medical errors. Improvements in such processes are high-priority local institutional and national patient safety goals. At our institution, nonintubated postoperative pediatric patients are first admitted to the postanesthesia care unit before transfer to the PICU. This quality improvement project was designed to improve the patient transfer process from the operating room (OR) to the PICU. After direct observation of the baseline process, we introduced a structured, direct OR-PICU transfer process for orthopedic spinal fusion patients. We performed value stream mapping of the process to determine error-prone and inefficient areas. We evaluated primary outcome measures of handoff error reduction and the overall efficiency of patient transfer process time. Staff satisfaction was evaluated as a counterbalance measure. With the introduction of the new direct OR-PICU patient transfer process, the handoff communication error rate improved from 1.9 to 0.3 errors per patient handoff (P = .002). Inefficiency (patient wait time and non-value-creating activity) was reduced from 90 to 32 minutes. Handoff content was improved with fewer information omissions (P < .001). Staff satisfaction significantly improved among nearly all PICU providers. By using quality improvement methodology to design and implement a new direct OR-PICU transfer process with a structured multidisciplinary verbal handoff, we achieved sustained improvements in patient safety and efficiency. Handoff communication was enhanced, with fewer errors and content omissions. The new process improved efficiency, with high staff satisfaction.

Big data reduction framework for value creation in sustainable enterprises

Value creation is a major sustainability factor for enterprises, in addition to profit maximization and revenue generation. Modern enterprises collect big data from various inbound and outbound data sources. The inbound data sources handle data generated from the results of business operations, such as manufacturing, supply chain management, marketing, and human resource management, among others. Outbound data sources handle customer-generated data which are acquired directly or indirectly from customers, market analysis, surveys, product reviews, and transactional histories. However, cloud service utilization costs increase because of big data analytics and value creation activities for enterprises and customers. This article presents a novel concept of big data reduction at the customer end in which early data reduction operations are performed to achieve multiple objectives, such as (a) lowering the service utilization cost, (b) enhancing the trust between customers and enterprises, (c) preserving privacy of customers, (d) enabling secure data sharing, and (e) delegating data sharing control to customers. We also propose a framework for early data reduction at customer end and present a business model for end-to-end data reduction in enterprise applications. The article further presents a business model canvas and maps the future application areas with its nine components. Finally, the article discusses the technology adoption challenges for value creation through big data reduction in enterprise applications.

Achieving Value in Primary Care: The Primary Care Value Model.

The patient-centered medical home (PCMH) model provides a compelling vision for primary care transformation, but studies of its impact have used insufficiently patient-centered metrics with inconsistent results. We propose a framework for defining patient-centered value and a new model for value-based primary care transformation: the primary care value model (PCVM). We advocate for use of patient-centered value when measuring the impact of primary care transformation, recognition, and performance-based payment; for financial support and research and development to better define primary care value-creating activities and their implementation; and for use of the model to support primary care organizations in transformation.

Interactive effects of corporate social responsibility and other value-creating investments on corporate financial performance

Research on the financial benefits of corporate social responsibility (CSR) has proliferated in recent years but generated mixed results. Rather than asking if CSR helps or hinders firm performance, it might be more worthwhile to explore conditions impacting relations between CSR and firm performance. That is, given the potential trade-offs between investments in CSR and those in other value-creating activities, it is necessary to examine their interactive impacts on corporate financial performance (CFP). Toward this end, this study explores if, and how, investments in innovation capabilities, branding capabilities and managerial capabilities moderate the effect of CSR on CFP. Testing the hypotheses with a sample of 579 US firms from 1991 to 2010, we found that the positive effect of CSR on CFP is weaker in firms that are more innovative and better at branding, and stronger in firms that spend more on acquiring managerial capabilities.

Determinants of Discretionary Investments

Theoretical and empirical studies have focused on discretionary investments such as research and development (R&amp;D) and advertisement as value-creating activities. This empirical research article examines the determinants of the discretionary investment policy of food sector firms in India. The study aims to analyze the impact of financial policies and firm characteristics on the discretionary investment strategy of the food industry firms. The article uses the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to understand the drivers of discretionary investment policy of food sector firms. The study finds that investment policy of firms is a major determinant of profitability of food sector firms. Higher investments in capital expenditures and working capital result in higher profitability. Management efficiency significantly influences firm profitability. The results suggest that riskier firms in food sector might focus on R&amp;D investments as a strategy to generate more cash flows. Size of firm is negatively related to R&amp;D intensity. Smaller firms in food sector tend to invest more in R&amp;D. The study does not provide evidence to suggest that profitable firms invest more in R&amp;D activities.

An incubation perspective on social innovation: the London Hub – a social incubator

In the context of incubators, particularly those that are driven to achieving social objectives, this paper investigates core processes that support the development of social innovation. Social innovation, as this paper argues, is underpinned by a new form of social collaboration and engagement built upon strong forms of sharing knowledge and learning. Coupled with this is the element of social capital reinforced by entrepreneurship and leadership that promotes sustainability in the community. These factors drive innovative thinking and ways of engaging among stakeholders in order to create new forms of socio‐economic impact. Such value‐creating activity occurs in firms that operate within incubators involving a wide range of stakeholders who work through networks to co‐create and meet social challenges. Through a case study of a social incubator and an incubatee, we demonstrate the core processes that irradiate the argument on social innovation. The contribution of this paper is threefold: First, social innovation is an emerging area of research, of which there is a dearth in terms of examining the processes empirically. We address the gap in this field by demonstrating the value of social collaboration and engagement using different innovation models. Second, we establish links between social innovation and incubation using the concept of social capital. This allows us to achieve our third contribution: exemplification of a dyadic value‐based partnership and collaboration processes between an incubator and an incubatee, through activities driven by social innovation that aim to have social impact. The paper concludes with practice implications and suggests directions for future research.

The effect of brand experience, service quality and perceived value on brand loyalty study (Case Study: National Bank of Birjand city)

In the era of knowledge-based economy, the value-creating activities of the organization ??are not only based on their tangible assets, but the organization's ability to use the intangible assets, will form the main power of their value creating. The aim of this study is to identify the effect of brand experience, service quality and perceived value on loyalty to the brand in the National Bank of Birjand city. Hypothesized relations between the dimensions of brand marketing experience, service quality and perceived value of loyalty, with data that were selected through structured questionnaires from 254 in person clients of National Bank of Birjand by simple random sampling, were collected and analyzed. Research methodology in this study, from the nature dimension is applied and in terms of methodology is descriptive - survey. For the questionnaire validity, content validity was used and for the reliability, the Cronbach's alpha that the results of which were calculated 0.97 for the questionnaire was used and for data analysis, the structural equation modeling method with the partial least square approach of Smart PLS software has been used. The results of the analysis showed that there is a relation between brand experience marketing dimension and perceived value with brand loyalty directly and indirectly (through a mediator variable), however, a direct relationship between the quality of service and loyalty is not confirmed, but through mediator variables, the consent of the brand and trust to the brand the relation was confirmed.

Customer Value Dimensions in E-Healthcare Services

Healthcare services have been extensively researched for customer value creation activities. There has been, however, limited attention on the dimensions of customer value, as reported by customers themselves, in e-healthcare services. The purpose of this paper is to investigate customer value dimensions in which customers experience e-healthcare services. Narrative techniques were used to investigate customer experiences of e-healthcare services offered by eight private Finnish providers. The findings show that customers evaluate e-healthcare services in four value dimensions: 1) The outcome of e-healthcare service (‘What'), 2) The process of e-healthcare service (‘How'), 3) The responsiveness and temporal aspect of e-healthcare service (‘When'), and, 4) The location of e-healthcare service provision (‘Where'). The value dimensions reflect customer expectations that service providers can fulfill for improved customer value creation. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this study is one of the first researches to investigate customer value dimensions in e-healthcare services in Finland.

Whom are you promoting? Positive voluntary public disclosures and executive turnover

Research summary: This paper uses signaling theory to bring together two complementary research streams that have largely ignored each other: strategic human resource management and media relations management. We argue that when publicly traded firms voluntarily and publicly disclose positive information about their value creation and appropriation activities, they also send positive signals to managerial labor markets regarding executives' capabilities. Accordingly, we hypothesize a positive association between public disclosures and voluntary executive turnover. An analysis of pharmaceutical and communications equipment firms from 1990 to 2004 supports this prediction, underscoring the need to understand better the effects of voluntary public disclosures on a firm's ability to protect its human capital. More generally, our results highlight the importance of considering the impact of a single signal on multiple receivers.Managerial summary: Given the organizational benefits of positive media coverage, the considerable effort that firms put into managing their image in the media is not surprising. We argue and show, however, that when a firm enhances its public image it also improves its executives' positions in the managerial labor market and, by so doing, increases their likelihood of voluntarily leaving the firm. In particular, we find that corporate press releases, an important mechanism for managing information released in the public domain to signal a firm's competitive advantages, may result in unintentional loss of senior management talent. This trade‐off suggests that firms should increase coordination between their strategy, human resources, and corporate communications/investor relations departments to ensure that they collectively weigh the benefits and costs of publicly disclosing value‐relevant information. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.

From the front end of projects to the back end of operations: Managing projects for value creation throughout the system lifecycle

Morris (2013) calls for value creation for project stakeholders using project outcomes. This is an attempt to link the front end of the system lifecycle – the project phase – to the back end, i.e. the operations phase. Little is however known about how value creation occurs through developing project outcomes which have the capacity to continue value-creating activities even decades after a project is completed. We establish that projects are multi-organizational systems which transit from the project phase to the operations phase in system lifecycles, and we use the systems view to analyze value creation mechanisms within the system lifecycle. We carry out empirical research into the lifecycle of a shopping center. Four distinct value-enhancing integration mechanisms in the operations of this multi-organizational system are identified, and propositions for four new project management approaches that create value during the project and have long-term value-enhancing impacts in the operations phase are derived.