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Theoretical model explaining the emergence of smart service ecosystems based on material properties of smart products and socio‐technical antecedents
Source publication
As physical products are increasingly augmented with digital technology, manufacturing firms have become part of the development of so-called smart products and smart services. As such, manufacturing firms are challenged by new market participants and ecosystem partners, particularly from the software development industry, and by the dynamic nature...
Citations
... SDL (Vargo et al., 2023b), an emerging theoretical perspective in service marketing, has reconceptualized and re-defined the relationships between service firms and customers, offering a broader viewpoint. These discussions have revolutionized the formation of service ecological systems, specifically conceptualized as service 'ecosystems' in the SDL literature Herterich et al., 2023). A service ecosystem is defined as a "relatively self-contained, self-adjusting system of resource-integrating actors connected by shared institutional logics and mutual value creation through service exchange" (Lusch and Vargo, 2014, p. 161;Vargo and Lusch, 2016, p. 10). ...
... The definition of a service ecosystem in SDL is more holistic, providing a broader and more mature perspective on the specific roles of institutions, actors, and technology (Vargo et al., 2015;Herterich et al., 2023). In this context, institutions are norms and procedures created by different actors to assign meanings and understand structured phenomena . ...
Despite the significant importance of service innovation in a value-centered retail environment, less is explored regarding its conceptualization through firms' information technology (IT) based strategic capabilities to promote the value formation process in a retail service ecosystem. To address this gap, this study aims to develop an integrated framework based on the concepts of service-dominant logic and resource advantage theory. By conducting 24 in-depth interviews (12 with employees and 12 with customers) across various non-fuel retail stores commonly referred to as tuck shops, this study highlights the significant role of firms' strategic IT-enabled capabilities in enhancing service process innovation and customer service. These IT capabilities, combined with service process innovation and customer service, not only create opportunities for value co-creation through resource exchange (value-in-exchange) but also enable customers to create value through individual service consumption (value-in-use). The findings further suggest co-creation experience within the retail ecosystem is shaped by customers' emotional involvement, role projection, and escapism, which collectively determine their value-in-experience. Finally, the proposed framework offers valuable implications for practitioners, emphasizing the need to design more integrative IT-enabled platforms to achieve improved customer value outcomes.
... We continued the data collection to saturation, where additional data did not reveal more information (Charmaz, 2006). A quantity of 12 interviews to reach saturation is also in line with literature (Hennink & Kaiser, 2022). Data analysis. ...
... Another striking finding is the strong correlation of opportunities with the interviewee role (e.g., innovation managers perceive innovation potentials). This shows the generative capacity -"the capacity to produce unprompted change driven by large, varied and uncoordinated audiences" (Zittrain, 2006(Zittrain, , p. 1980) -which has been demonstrated for many digital technologies (Herterich et al., 2023) and already suggested for the Industrial Metaverse (Holler et al., 2024). Factoring in the introduced studies (e.g., Salminena & Aromaa, 2024), our data confirms known potentials (e.g., initial contact in an Industrial Metaverse showroom), but also contributes novel exciting cases (e.g., immersive information provision/business intelligence). ...
For many thought leaders the Metaverse represents the next wave of digital transformation. While the media-prominent consumer and enterprise Metaverses (e.g., Meta, Microsoft) are slowly gaining momentum, more potential is seen in its adaptation for industrial environments, i.e. the Industrial Metaverse, which extends the physical-digital paradigm by integrating the most advanced technologies such as IoT, AI and XR. As literature on a holistic perspective is sparse, this study aims to explore the role of the Industrial Metaverse for industrial companies grounded on a triad of research questions. To tackle this research endeavor, we draw on an exploratory qualitative approach and empirical interview data from industrial companies in the European DACH region. The results comprise (1) 3 clusters on understanding, (2) 5 clusters on opportunities and (3) 4 clusters on obstacles. Against the inherent criticalities of the qualitative approach and non-existing real Industrial Metaverse, we make a contribution to research (insights and agenda), practice (developers and applicants) and society (public and policy makers) to better cope with this novel industrial cyberspace.
... These systems are inherently dynamic, evolving due to the recursive structuring of technical infrastructure and social constructs. This evolution is evident in actions, which reshape the nature of processes at various levels, including the technical, task, structure and actor dimensions (Herterich et al., 2023). The socio-technical perspective offers an innovative theoretical framework for exploring consumers' purchasing behavior within a digital ecosystem for mhealth apps, particularly through the formation of trust in mhealth apps. ...
Purpose
This study aims to examine the factors influencing trust toward mobile health applications (mhealth apps) among young consumers. By building on the socio-technical systems framework and self-congruence theory, the authors develop and examine a conceptual model of the trusting intentions of young consumers toward mhealth apps.
Design/methodology/approach
The data for the study was collected from a sample of 285 young consumers via an online survey by using a purposive sampling method. All the respondents were existing users of health apps and resided in the urban areas of the country. The sample comprised 53% male respondents and 47% female respondents. Subsequently, the data was analyzed using the structural equation modeling technique.
Findings
The findings revealed that psychological factors like self-congruence and technical factors such as flow experience and perceived playfulness aid in building trust among young mhealth app users, which in turn influences the purchase intention and user loyalty toward the application. Social factors like perceived critical mass and social influence did not significantly impact trust.
Research limitations/implications
The data was collected from Generation Z, recognized as the most influential consumer demographic worldwide, primarily involved in mhealth app usage. Nonetheless, it is essential to understand that these findings might only partially apply to a specific user group. In addition, the study did not focus on any specific mhealth applications. Hence, it is prudent to exercise caution when generalizing these results to the broader population.
Originality/value
This study advances the comprehension of socio-technical elements in establishing trust, subsequently impacting purchase intentions and loyalty among young users in the context of mhealth apps. In addition, it expands the socio-technical framework by incorporating a psychological factor that could influence trust and purchase intentions toward mhealth apps. Furthermore, the post hoc findings reinforce this comprehension by identifying the moderating effects of operating system type and gender. These insights could provide valuable guidance for developing tailored marketing strategies targeting the young consumer base.
... As can be seen in Table 2, group-level analysis has become a common trend in the application of the theory in IS. With the recent focus on digital technology and digital innovation that often cross organizational borders, the application of the theory at the ecosystem level of analysis (Herterich et al., 2022;Li et al., 2023;Tan et al., 2016) is being reported. Judging the papers on their position on the ontological origin (existence) of affordances was not easy. ...
This essay explores the theory of affordance-actualization and its use in IS research. While
the theory of affordances originated with the seminal works of J.J. Gibson from ecological
psychology to study the human-technology interaction and its effect on organizations, the
original concept has evolved in IS research. Whereas Gibson’s notion of affordances was
both real (dispositional) and relational, the latter perspective dominates most IS research.
Yet, with the increasing uptake of a critical-realist perspective in recent IS research,
researchers have started to acknowledge affordances as both dispositional and relational,
proving the usefulness of the theory for both positivists as well as interpretivists equally.
Furthermore, while prior research established affordance existence, perception, and
actualization as distinct stages in the affordance actualization process, recent literature
suggests an experimentation/learning step between perception and actualization. Our
exploration of the theory also indicates that despite the plethora of empirical research
using the theory, its theoretical development is low. Finally, despite calls for an emphasis
on group and organization-level analysis, recent trends, due to digital technology
affordance, are shifting the unit of analysis back to individuals.
... This theory was selected as it "provides a powerful lens for studying the co-constitutive relations between technology and people in organizations" [25:237]. Furthermore, the affordance theory has already proved successfully to study IT phenomena [26,27]. ...
The metaverse is often regarded as the next successor of the current internet, and also for the industrial sector, the metaverse has the potential to enhance physical-digital approaches like the Industrial Internet of Things and facilitate the shift from Industry 4.0 to 5.0. To move away from context-specific value and comprehensively grasp its potential, we develop a classification model following the research question: “[RQ] Which dimensions and characteristics are suited to holistically describe use cases of the Industrial Metaverse?” To address, we pursue a taxonomic approach leveraging the reliable taxonomy development method by Nickerson et al. (2013) based on real-world uses cases of the Industrial Metaverse. Guided by the theory of the affordances, the resulting model classifies use cases by (1) IT artifact- (dominant building block, technology materiality, technology origin), (2) Organization- (lifecycle context, environmental context, role of the human) and (3) Affordances- (lifecycle value-add, sustainability pillar, value objective, value direction, impact) -related dimensions. Keeping review- and classification-related limitations in mind, we contribute a “theory for analysis” for science and a “tool to understand and innovate” for practice.
... These platforms serve not only to inform the visitors about cultural events in a region but also offer personalized recommendations based on individual visitor preferences (Beverungen et al., 2021). Lastly, cultural institutions are confronted with the challenge of digital ecosystem-level transformation, impacting nearly every participant within the ecosystem (Herterich et al., 2023). In the context of cultural institutions, active participation in a digital ecosystem or dataspace, such as a cultural heritage dataspace (European Commission, 2022), which aggregates meaningful data and engages various stakeholders, can facilitate real-time, location-based, and personalized recommendations for travelers. ...
Cultural institutions being part of the cultural and creative industries hold a special place in society by preserving history, embracing diversity, and encouraging creativity. However, dwindling visitor numbers and visitor (re)attraction is by far one of the greatest challenges these institutions are grappling with. This research delves into how digital transformation can help tackle these issues and simultaneously enhance inclusivity. Our approach involves developing a taxonomy, i.e., a structured classification, to understand the strategies cultural institutions deploy to improve the visitor experience, retain visitors, and reduce visitor churn. The findings offer practical guidance for professionals in cultural institutions, while also providing illustrative examples of how digital transformation can be applied. The study aims to empower cultural institutions and help them adapt to the evolving landscape and maintain their relevance. Our taxonomy contributes a theoretical perspective and first understanding of potential anchor points for the forthcoming digital transformation of cultural institutions.
... Oliveira et al., 2019). Most often, TCS requires cooperation in an ecosystem of the following actors (Herterich et al., 2023): ...
Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the potential of Large Language Models (LLMs) in transforming technical customer service (TCS) through the automation of cognitive tasks. Design/Methodology/Approach: Using a prototyping approach, the research assesses the feasibility of automating cognitive tasks in TCS with LLMs, employing real-world technical incident data from a Swiss telecommunications operator. Findings: Lower-level cognitive tasks such as translation, summarization, and content generation can be effectively automated with LLMs like GPT-4, while higher-level tasks such as reasoning require more advanced technological approaches such as Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) or finetuning ; furthermore, the study underscores the significance of data ecosystems in enabling more complex cognitive tasks by fostering data sharing among various actors involved. Originality/Value: This study contributes to the emerging theory on LLM potential and technical feasibility in service management, providing concrete insights for operators of TCS units and highlighting the need for further research to address limitations and validate the applicability of LLMs across different domains.
... The evolution of studies on value cocreation has led to further analysis of the main conceptual differences between an actors' network and a service ecosystem [28]. Herterich et al. [29] suggested a focus on the service ecosystem since they had observed the lack of a more complete approach in previous studies; indeed, they have stressed the narrow approach scholars adopted in previous studies, thus missing the emergencean innate feature of the ecosystemand centering their debate on designed solutions. This view limits the value creation and socio-technical approach that an ecosystem would offer. ...
... The interplay of KMS and information systems by the sociotechnical indicators align well with sustainable practices whereby a firm's CSR efforts can inform the corporate decision-making process and intersect with the values and ethical considerations for advancing entrepreneurial ventures (Kim & Thapa, 2018;Thorisdottir & Johannsdottir, 2020). These sociotechnical indicators of KMS and information systems constitute how a firm's effec-tiveness, efficiency, and comprehensive feat can measure up to its dynamic operational capabilities to process technological interactions toward using impactful solutions across an organization's supportive entrepreneurial ecosystems (Herterich et al., 2022;Saarikko et al., 2020). The impactful solutions of sociotechnical indicators are embedded in disciplinary orientations that feature action-oriented solution management systems of collaborative professional dimensions involving moral, ethical, political, and aesthetic motivational innovations (Dwivedi et al., 2022;Dyball & Newell, 2015). ...
Disciplinary-based knowledge management systems (KMS) shape societal firms, organizations, associations, business enterprises, and social institutions. KMS shaping potency rests in their functional capacities as obligatory mechanisms to provide an ethical sustainability framework for supportive entrepreneurial ecosystems. It is, therefore, imperative to safeguard KMS’ instrumentalities of functional capacity against any potential threats to their ethical sustainability frameworks of productive goal attainments. The obligatory mechanisms’ outcomes of ethical sustainability frameworks are their catalytic synergies from which KMS collaborative-integrative linkages propel ethical action-learning solutions. These collaborative-integrative linkages are the byproducts of sustainability development, corporate social responsibility, entrepreneurial intention, and values-analysis frameworks. It thus requires providing a modeled ethical case-analytic assessment framework for exploring the obligatory mechanisms of KMS’ potentialities to enrich the supportive entrepreneurial ecosystems. This chapter, therefore, introduces students and practitioners to the disciplinary-based KMS obligatory mechanisms that shape ethical sustainability frameworks through collaborative-integrative linkages of the ethical action-learning solutions model for supportive entrepreneurial ecosystems.
... Thus, information system integration is essential to foster seamless enterprise business interactions, connecting various business partners, departments, functions, processes, and data. In this context, an API Gateway is an architectural component that sits between a caller and a collection of application services, allowing the collaboration of various organizational actors across the company's IT boundaries [4]. Furthermore, it may be an effective data source for mining cross-organizational interactions as it also monitors traffic on company boundaries and their information systems. ...
... API Gateways are architectural components that mediate calls from clients to a collection of applications, APIs, or services by creating a façade that intercepts API requests to enforce security, validate data, transform messages, throttle traffic, route calls to the backend service or orchestrate requests between multiple backend services, and cache idempotent responses to improve performance [7]. It allows the collaboration of different organizational actors across industrial boundaries [4], [8]. Fig. 1 depicts the general schema and the central capabilities of the API Platform. ...
Enterprise Architecture (EA) is defined as a set of principles, methods, and models that support the design of organizational structures, expressing the different concerns of a company and its IT landscape, including processes, services, applications, and data. One role of EA management is to automate modeling tasks and maintain up-to-date EA models while reality changes. However, EA modeling still relies primarily on manual methods. Contributing to EA modeling automation, EA Mining is an approach that uses data mining techniques for EA modeling and management. It automatically captures existing information in operational databases to generate architectural models and views. This paper presents an ontology for EA Mining that focuses on generating architectural models from API gateway log files. An ontology defines the concepts and relationships among them to uniquely describe a domain of interest and specify the meaning of the terms. API Gateways are information technology components that serve as a facade between information systems and enterprise business partners. The ontology development methodology followed the SABiO process, whereas the Unified Foundational Ontology provided the foundations of the ontology and OntoUML, the ontology modeling language. An experiment in an e-commerce application scenario was conducted to evaluate the theoretical feasibility and applicability of the ontology. Automatic semantic and syntactic validation tools and semi-structured expert interviews were used to confirm the desired ontology properties. This study aims to contribute to the evolution of the knowledge base of EA Management.
