Browsing by Author "Sousa, Rui"
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- Advanced services and differentiation advantage: an empirical investigationPublication . Sousa, Rui; Silveira, Giovani J.C. daPurpose – This study theoretically articulates and empirically validates a model of relationships between market complexity (competition intensity, heterogeneity and technological change), strategic focus on product and service differentiation, ADS offerings and differentiation advantage. Design/methodology/approach – The authors develop and test hypotheses through structural equation modeling based on data from the Sixth International Manufacturing Strategy Survey (IMSS-VI), involving 931 manufacturers from 22 countries. Findings – The results indicate that (1) market complexity has a positive impact on strategic focus on product and service differentiation; (2) focus on product and service differentiation, but not market complexity, has a positive impact on the extent to which business units offer ADS to their customers; (3) ADS have a positive impact on service differentiation advantage, but no influence on product differentiation advantage. Practical implications – Managers should incorporate decisions related to ADS provision as part of their manufacturing strategy formulation processes to align markets, strategic focus on product and service differentiation, and ADS provision. ADS seem an appropriate lever for market differentiation, because they appear not only to support service differentiation advantage, but also to be consistent with strategic focus on product differentiation. Originality/value – The study provides novel insights and large-scale empirical evidence on the influence of the market environment on the offering of ADS, as well as on how relationships between the product and service activity in the manufacturing organization may affect differentiation advantage.
- Analysis of the Relationships between Operations Strategy Paradigms and PerformancePublication . Silveira, Giovani J. C. da; Sousa, RuiWe investigate the relationships between performa nce and three paradigms of manufacturing strategy choice: fit, best practices, and capability development. Dependent variables of performance include efficiency, quality, and flexibility. Regression analyses are used to test hypotheses of paradigm-performance relationships in a large database of international manufacturers. The results suggest that paradigms of capabilities and best practices have direct relationships with efficiency, quality, and flexibility. However, fit did not seem to be directly associated to changes in any performance variable .
- Architectures for multichannel front-office service delivery modelsPublication . Sousa, Rui; Amorim, MarlenePurpose – Multichannel (MC) service providers have been adopting a wide diversity of front-office service delivery models, i.e. different ways of employing channels to support the delivery of the service activities that involve customer interaction. Despite this, we are still faced with a paucity of concepts to understand the myriad of possible choices. The purpose of this paper is to develop a theoretical framework and basic design architectures to provide a structured understanding of the diversity of operational design choices for MC front-office service delivery models, their efficacy implications, and how they fit with the provider’s service strategy. Design/methodology/approach – The study employs the analytical conceptual approach. The authors logically develop the architectures based on the operations management theory and provide corresponding empirical illustrations based on secondary sources, direct observation, and case studies. Findings – The authors propose two theoretically meaningful dimensions to characterize and distinguish between delivery models (channel redundancy and channel span) and put forward four anchor architectures for such models: generalist, parallel, constricted, and centralized. The authors identify the operational efficacy implications (effectiveness and efficiency) of the different architectures, and develop a set of propositions and design principles for selecting appropriate architectures. Research limitations/implications – Future research should develop empirical measures for the dimensions underlying the architectures. Originality/value – The study extends existing service process classifications by capturing the MC traits of front-office processes. The authors offer design principles to assist firms in selecting architectures that are aligned with their service strategy. The framework and architectures provide seminal concepts to support a wealth of future empirical studies.
- Barriers to internal benchmarking initiatives: an empirical investigationPublication . Amaral, Paulo; Sousa, RuiPurpose – The purpose of this paper is to focus on the identification of barriers to the implementation of benchmarking initiatives. Managers have little guidance on strategies for successful implementation and face difficulties in anticipating problems. The main objective of this paper is to provide a better understanding of typical barriers that occur in a specific type of benchmarking: internal benchmarking. Design/methodology/approach – This paper systematically develops a categorized list of barriers to internal benchmarking based on the literature; and validates and enriches them with an in-depth case study of an internal benchmarking initiative. Findings – Barriers to internal benchmarking initiatives of different types are found: organizational barriers (people, culture, and context), benchmarking project management barriers (planning and implementation, leadership, and business pressures) and benchmarking data barriers (difficulty to access/compare data). Future studiesmight take these categories as a solid starting point in furthering the understanding of barriers to benchmarking. Research limitations/implications – The exploratory nature of the paper limits its generalizability. Practical implications – The paper paves the way for the process of devising strategies to overcome the identified barriers. This is especially relevant because few studies to date have focused on these issues and benchmarking practitioners have insufficient knowledge to anticipate and overcome benchmarking-related problems. Originality/value – This paper contributes to theory building on the implementation of benchmarking in general; and on barriers to internal benchmarking initiatives in particular.
- Barriers to internal benchmarking initiatives: An empirical investigationPublication . Amaral, Paulo; Sousa, RuiBenchmarking initiatives are typically of difficult implementation. Little research to date has focused on the identification of barriers to the implementation of benchmarking initiatives. As a result, managers have little guidance on strategies for successful implementation and have difficulty in anticipating problems. The main objective of this study is to provide an increased understanding of the typical barriers that occur in a specific type of benchmarking, namely internal benchmarking. To do so, this study systematically develops a categorized list of barriers to internal benchmarking based on the literature; and validates and enriches them with a case study of an actual internal benchmarking initiative. The research and managerial implications are discussed.
- Best practices, performance advantage and trade-offs: new insights from frontier analysisPublication . Sousa, Rui; Camanho, Ana S.; Silva, Maria Conceição; da Silveira, Giovani J. C.; Arabi, BehrouzThere are still important theoretical and empirical gaps in understanding the role of best practices (BPs), such as quality management, lean and new product development, in generating firm’s performance advantage and overcoming trade-offs across distinct performance dimensions. We examine these issues through the perspective of performance frontiers, integrating in novel ways the resource-based theory with the emergent practice-based view. Hypotheses on relationships between BPs, performance advantage, and trade-offs are developed and tested with stationary and longitudinal (recall) data from a global survey of manufacturing firms. We use data envelopment analysis, which overcomes limitations of mainstream methods based on central tendency. Our findings support the view that BPs may serve as a source of enduring competitive advantage, based on their ability to lead to a heterogeneous range of dominant and difficult-to-imitate competitive positions. The study provides new insights on contemporary debates about the role of BPs in generating performance advantage and how practitioners can sustain internal support and extract benefits from them.
- Capability antecedents and performance outcomes of servitizationPublication . Sousa, Rui; Silveira, Giovani J. C. daPurpose - The purpose of this paper is to theoretically articulate and empirically test an integrated model of capability antecedents and performance outcomes of servitization strategies. The authors characterize servitization strategies based on the offering of two types of services: basic services (BAS) and advanced services (ADS). Design/methodology/approach - Hypotheses are tested based on statistical analyses of a large survey of manufacturers from different countries and sectors. Findings - The authors find that manufacturing capabilities associate with the provision of BAS, while service capabilities associate with both BAS and ADS; BAS do not impact financial performance, but support the offering of ADS; there seem to be naturally occurring servitization trajectories involving the gradual development of balanced levels of BAS and ADS and adequate levels of manufacturing and service capabilities. Research limitations/implications - The findings on servitization trajectories are based on the observation of manufacturing business units at different stages of servitization (cross-sectional data). Practical implications - Manufacturers wishing to servitize should distinguish between BAS and ADS and deploy a balanced adoption of BAS and ADS, using BAS as a platform. This should be accompanied with the building of appropriate capabilities. Originality/value - This is one of the first studies to show an explicit link between different servitization strategies, capabilities, and servitization maturity. It provides new insights into the servitization paradox and servitization trajectories.
- Challenges at the marketing–operations interface in omni-channel retail environmentsPublication . Bijmolt, Tammo H. A.; Broekhuis, Manda; Leeuw, Sander de; Hirche, Christian; Rooderker, Robert P.; Sousa, Rui; Zhu, Stuart X.To compete in today’s omni-channel business context, it is essential for firms to co-ordinate their activities across channels and across different stages of the customer journey and the product flow. This requires firms to adopt an integrative approach, addressing each omni-channel design decision from a dual demand-side (marketing) and supply-side (operations) perspective. However, both in practice and in academic research, such an integrative approach is still in an immature stage. In this article, a framework is developed with the following key decision areas: (i) assortment & inventory, (ii) distribution & delivery and (iii) returns. These affect both the customer journey and the product flow. As a consequence of the resulting interdependencies between the firm’s functions, addressing the issues that arise in the three decision areas requires an integrated marketing and operations perspective. For each of the areas, the key decisions that affect or involve both the customer journey and product flow are identified first. Next, for each decision, the marketing and operational goals and the tensions that arise when these goals are not perfectly aligned are described. The opportunities for relieving these tensions are also discussed and possible directions for future research aimed at addressing these tensions and opportunities are presented.
- Contingency research in operations management practicesPublication . Sousa, Rui; Voss, Christopher A.As operations management (OM) best practices have become mature, research on practices has begun to shift its interest from the justification of the value of those practices to the understanding of the contextual conditions under which they are effective—OM practice contingency research (OM PCR). This article sets out to examine and critique the current state of OM PCR. We review OM PCR studies through the lens of the major theoretical view on contingencies, contingency theory, along a number of relevant dimensions: contingency variables, performance variables, measurement, research design and employed form of fit. In this process, we put forward a number of tasks that need to be accomplished in order to move OM PCR forward and develop more solid conceptual foundations in which to anchor rigorous research in this area. Finally, we reflect on the theoretical arguments that underlie OM PCR (which are based on the contingency approach) and identify its limitations in fully explaining the currently observed patterns of use of OM practices and associated performance outcomes. As a result, we propose that in order to increase our understanding of these patterns, OM scholars need to study in more depth the process of selection of OM best practices by organizations. Accordingly, we put forward a framework to underpin such research integrating contingency theory and other theoretical perspectives.
- Customer heterogeneity in operational e-service design attributes: n empirical investigation of service qualityPublication . Sousa, Rui; Yeung, Andy C.L.; Cheng, T.C.E.Purpose – This study aims to empirically examine whether heterogeneity in personal customer profiles translates to heterogeneity in the valued operational e-service design attributes. It focuses on a key operational e-service design attribute – service quality – by investigating whether customers with different profiles (demographics, pattern of use of the service, and pattern of channel use) attach different levels of importance to different dimensions of web site quality. Design/methodology/approach – The study is based on path analysis of data collected from multiple sources in a commercial e-service setting (e-banking): data from an online survey of the customers of the e-service; data stored in the transaction and log files generated by the operation of the e-service over time; and data from the e-service provider’s customer database and back office IT systems. Findings – The results suggest that: customer demographics, pattern of service use, and pattern of channel use have no influence on the importance attached by customers to web site quality dimensions; and customer demographics affect the pattern of use of an e-service. Research limitations/implications – Future research should examine this question in other types of e-services and should examine other types of profile variables. Practical implications – Service providers may not need to employ customization at the level of web site quality dimensions. The findings support the existence of the concept of an “optimal” web site design for quality. Originality/value – The paper answers calls for an increased understanding of the design of high quality e-services and for multidisciplinary research in the field of services management, in particular, incorporating operations management perspectives.