Anssi Smedlund

Finnish Institute of Occupational Health | FIOH

This conceptual paper aims to connect the concept of service platform business models to current theories in service science. The paper does this by first dividing the business models into four types according to their combinations of investments in front-end information and communications technology (ICT) and in interfirm collaboration, and second...

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to provide a tool to map the critical roles of intermediate organizations. To clarify the concept of intermediate organizations in a regional context, especially from the network dynamics point-of-view. Design/methodology/approach – Regional dynamics are presented as networks of production, development and i...

Purpose In professional services, innovation occurs in the delivery. The purpose of this paper is to provide a framework for classifying innovation in professional services by taking into account the strength of the relationship with the client in addition to the incremental‐radical nature of innovation. Design/methodology/approach Based on the fr...

Multi-sided markets mediated with digital platforms are taking over many sectors of the economy and society. In the healthcare sector, Apple Healthkit and Google Fit are emerging digital platforms for managing fitness data and developing a connected market. Technology firms should consider platform complementor roles as alternatives to so-called tr...

Digital platforms are systems consisting of a platform owner and complementary and interdependent components. Service artifacts are boundary objects created by the digital platform owner that engage the end user and facilitate the knowledge processes required for value co- creation. These service artifacts function as communication mechanisms in th...

In the service sector, digital platforms now enable service providers to reach customers through an online marketplace and use the value‐adding complementary services offered. However, despite the widespread prevalence of digital platforms, there has been little research on the market reach and financial performance captured by service providers. W...

We build on recent developments in network theory and the sociology of valuation, and we propose that the overlapping connections that groups have with each other (i.e., structural folds) and differences in within-group values are substitutes for explaining creativity (coming up with new ideas and practices). Thus, only groups that lack overlapping...

In this paper, we consider whether brokerage in an intra-organizational communication network and type of work role interact to predict individual performance in a professional organization. The independent–interdependent nature of work roles is considered a key factor in structural contingency theory, but is yet to be studied in relation to broker...

Purpose We illustrate how multi-sided retail marketplaces enabled by a digital platform, engage suppliers, creating new rules of retail altogether. Specifically, we describe how these marketplaces create relational value for their suppliers, as through marketplaces like Amazon.com, suppliers are fully integrated members of the value-exchange relati...

This book offers a service science perspective on platform orchestration and on collaborative consumption, providing an overview of research topics related to service dominant logic in multi-sided markets. The chapters give an international and multi-disciplinary overview of the current topics of digital service platforms from many angles. This ove...

Platform research has expanded its focus from management of technology domains towards the service of a business. Digital service platforms facilitate ecosystems of participants and compete against each other. Platform ecosystems cannot be managed in a goal-oriented fashion because the number of actors, transactions, and relationships increases bey...

The increasing connectivity provided by the Internet of Things (IoT) supports novel business opportunities for actors in overlapping service systems. Therefore, the co-creative nature of IoT business needs to be further studied. This article reports an empirical study on a European IoT initiative. It contributes to the understudied area of IoT ecos...

Purpose Digitalization has transformed several industries during the past two decades. In this paper the authors focus on the retail sector, where new business models help retailers and suppliers meet the ever changing and demanding needs of retail shoppers. One example of this business model innovation is multi-sided digital platforms, which have...

This chapter sheds light on the dynamics of innovation activity and its prerequisites for industry-research collaboration practice. It focuses on a particular intentional attempt to change the prerequisites of innovations. This new kind of research programme aimed to improve the competitiveness of the Finnish metals and engineering industry through...

Research about the psychological effects of contracts on relationship quality hints that effective contract design is not only a matter of selecting the right clauses but also of communicating them in the right way. Recent studies have shown the benefits of using visualizations in contracts to advance clarity, but our understanding of contract visu...

Verkostoanalyysi on ollut sidoksissa pisteistä ja viivoista koostuvan ”sosiogrammin” malliin. Tämä lähtökohta on tarjonnut kehyksen tieteenalojen väliselle vuoropuhelulle. Rakenteellisesti on samantekevää, koostuvatko verkostot hyönteisistä, tietokoneista vai ihmisistä. Monialaisuudesta on ollut etua verkostojen lukuisissa esiintymismuodoissa, jois...

This is a working paper condensing the main results of the following research report. Please cite as following: Konttinen, J., Smedlund, A., Rilla, N., Kallio, K. & van der Have, R. (2011). Knowledge Transfer in Service Business Development – Transfer Mechanisms and intermediaries in Finland. 123 pp. VTT Publications 1455-0849 (URL: http://www.vtt....

Platform research has expanded from management of technology domains towards the service of a business. Any kind of venue – physical or virtual -enabling a one-sided, two-sided or multi-sided market can be thought of as a platform. Digital platforms compete against each other and some become successful while others fade away. Platform cannot be man...

Customers can be thought of as active co-creators of value, and each customer’s experience is unique. One type of co-creation takes place during the sales of customizable industrial services: the supplier provides the customer with service alternatives through different representations and descriptions, and by tailoring the final offering with and...

Service activities are important in most of today's businesses. For this reason, decision makers need to place emphasis on service-oriented development and service innovations, as well as knowledge transfer and the sharing of service business-related capabilities to increase their competitiveness. This study sheds light on the processes and dynamic...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to propose that there is not one ideal network structure of knowledge flow, but many, and that the network structures of knowledge flows between employees in teams are task‐related. Design/methodology/approach Ideal knowledge network structures in teams are examined on the basis of the literature. A case study...

In this paper, a model of capability-based service system of Knowledge Intensive Business Services (KIBS) is introduced. The model combines and clarifies existing service innovation models. According to the model, it is argued that KIBS create end-user value with unique combinations of capabilities of the service provider and the customer, and with...

Proceedings of the 11th European Conference on Knowledge Management, 1216-1218 This paper and accompanied poster presents first phase results of an on-going research project which target is to identify and classify different knowledge transfer mechanisms of service business development. The first classification revealed that mechanisms differ on th...

The purpose of this conceptual article is to develop argumentation of the knowledge assets of a firm as consisting of three constructs, to extend the conventional explicit, tacit dichotomy by including potential knowledge. The article highlights the role of knowledge, which has so far not been utilized in value creation. The underlying assumption i...

This paper examines the models and paths that KIBS use when they go global. Based on literature, we divide the models to actual business operations (FDI, exports and operations through third parties) and to indirect activities that may prepare international business (e.g. serving foreign clients in the home country). Among the paths, we identify th...

The purpose of this conceptual article is to develop argumentation of the knowledge assets of a firm as consisting of three constructs, to extend the conventional explicit, tacit dichotomy by including potential knowledge. The article highlights the role of knowledge, which has so far not been utilized in value creation. The underlying assumption i...

This paper discusses the production of KIBS-type services in manufacturing. Several researchers have emphasized that manufacturers not only provide services that are linked to goods, but increasingly also services that aim to support the use of goods or the client’s business in a broader sense. We argue that the latter types of services show featur...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to bring clarity to the concept of social capital in the value creation in firms from the knowledge management perspective. To discuss the social characteristics of different types of knowledge. Design/methodology/approach Based on a review of the literature, it is argued that different types of knowledge have...

In this theoretical chapter, we examine the contribution of IT systems and tools to the emergence and use of different types of knowledge in a firm. We divide knowledge into explicit, tacit and potential and argue that these three types of knowledge characterize firms' three main functions - operational effectiveness, gradual development, and innov...

The strategic importance of organisations working together for innovation activities will be emphasised even more in the future. Continuous improvement of the effectiveness of collaboration requires an adequate and comprehensive assessment and measurement system between the organisations. The present method, quality and maturity method QMM, for mea...

Purpose The paper seeks to introduce the concept of knowledge‐intensive business services (KIBS) in the context of regional networks and to analyze the roles of KIBS in regional development, especially from the viewpoint of regional intellectual capital. Design/methodology/approach Regional networks are presented as the networks of production, dev...

To provide a theoretical model of the dynamics of intellectual capital creation in regional clusters and in inter-organizational networks. The model has been constructed on the basis of earlier studies, especially system's theoretical interpretation of organizations as knowledge systems, and then applied to the examination of a regional cluster ope...

Inter-firm network relationships, knowledge intensiveness and regional competitiveness are fashionable subjects in management science today because of globalization, advancement in IT and firms' increasing focus on their core competencies. There is a need for clarifying the models and concepts to make sense of the phenomena of inter-firm network dy...