Emerald | Journal of Business Strategy | Table of Contents

Gauging performance in the service industry

literatinetwork@emeraldinsight.com (Rajesh Tyagi, Praveen Gupta) — Fri, 10 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Abstract

Purpose – Traditional performance measurement models and frameworks fail to take into account the intricacies and specificity of service businesses. The important characteristics of services, role of employees and partners, important of measures and concurrent production and delivery need to be incorporated into the framework. This paper seeks to address these issues. Design/methodology/approach – The research followed a case-based methodology using semi-structured interviews. Literature review and case-based methodology led to the conception of initial deployment framework. Findings – Existing scorecards do not emphasize the deployment aspects of the scorecard and overlook trade-offs and benchmarking decisions. Practical implications – The scorecard provides guidance for successful deployment. The framework incorporates the importance of service innovation and role of employees and partners into the scorecard. Relative decision trade off and benchmarking are an integral part of the deployment process. Originality/value – The two founding blocks of the scorecard are value maximization theory proposition and Six Sigma methodology. The service scorecard supports stakeholders that drive business performance thus ensuring accountability, innovation and collaboration. The scorecard offers a set of measures that builds upon existing measures.

Not by money alone: the emotional wallet and talent management

literatinetwork@emeraldinsight.com (Hari Kumar, Satish Raghavendran) — Fri, 10 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Abstract

Purpose – The conventional talent management approach views human relationships as transactional, akin to the commodities that traverse through the supply chain maze. In short, there is a quid pro quo relationship between wage and services, depriving any role for other non-monetary influences on this relationship. This naïve view of human behavior has distracted the fundamental purpose of talent management – to unlock the value of talent to organizations. Two fundamental drivers that have challenged this transactional view espoused by HR include technology and advances in neuroscience. The technological advancements have created a demand for highly skilled professionals who value autonomy and meaningful engagement. This has brought employee engagement within the focus of managers – a topic that had less significance in earlier decades. The transactional view of workplace relationships has been challenged by discoveries of human behavior by neuroscience. Human beings are wired to have emotions and perceptions, and a workplace is no exception. Reframing the issue through a simple-yet-powerful framework, fundamentals of talent management can be restored, paving the way for a meaningful design of organizations. This paper seeks to address these issues. Design/methodology/approach – Using rigorous in-depth secondary research about current talent practices, the report offers a novel framework to unlock the drivers of employee's motivation and performance. The framework serves as a diagnostic leadership tool to identify breakdowns and foster a meaningful conversation to restore the organization back to equilibrium. A holistic alternative that is agnostic to the rank of the employee, job role, and geography offers promise over the current practice of dealing with employee issues in fragmented manner. Findings – The proposed framework helps identify the sweet-spot that lies at the intersection of three fundamental drivers; employee's preferences on the type of work, employee's core competency and activities that are value-adding to the organization. The sweet-spot is the employee's emotional wallet that the organizations must proactively capture to unlock the true drivers of motivation and performance. The proposed framework serves as a diagnostic tool to meaningfully tackle breakdowns and restore organizations to equilibrium. The sweet-spot provides the clue to design an effective organizational structure, identify the enablers and catalyst that can unlock employee motivation and performance. Practical implications – There is a compelling need for today's organizations to refocus their energies to unlock the value of their talent to drive higher performance and motivation. Deploying the proposed framework will empower organizations to capture the “share of emotional wallet” that is critical to drive higher levels of employee engagement and motivation. Smarter organizational structures and job role can be meaningfully designed. Social implications – The proposed framework challenges conventional talent management views of human relationships as transactional akin to the commodities that traverse through the supply chain maze. This blind spot has deprived the organizations in unlocking the drivers of employee motivation and performance. Overcoming this blind spot empowers talent management to capture the emotional share of wallet instead of trying to perfect the delivery supply chain. Originality/value – Despite new organizational complexities, the fundamental focus for talent management is to unlock the value of its resource. Despite the pristine appeal of this fundamental tenet of talent management, it is ironic that HR has drifted its focus from its core. Reframing the issue through a simple-yet-powerful framework, fundamentals of talent management can be restored, paving the way for a meaningful design of organizations. This is a paradigm shift for talent management to get back to basics of what really matters to the organizations.

Creative professional service firms: aligning strategy and talent

Fri, 10 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Abstract

Purpose – Reliance on individual talent and motivation renders creative professional service firms (PSFs) highly dependent on their ability to attract and mobilise the right individuals. This paper aims to build an integrated framework showing firstly how creative industry PSFs can differ in their strategy for growth, and secondly how these alternative strategies for growth can influence the firm's approach to organising and the type of talent required. Design/methodology/approach – The findings are based on a series of interviews with managing directors, senior management and practitioners of architectural organisations in a single country, combined with an extensive literature review. Findings – The authors' framework illustrates how the proposed growth strategies for creative PSFs are aligned to alternative professional talent profiles – a product portfolio strategy where the firm structures for efficiency aligned to a managerial talent profile, and an artistic competency strategy where the firm structures for creativity aligned to a technical talent profile. Research limitations/implications – The usual limitations apply in terms of generalisability of findings from case studies. Practical implications – The authors' proposed framework represents a novel attempt to help management of creative PSFs to align their growth strategies with human resource practice to achieve the firm's objectives, and provide valuable practical advice to managers on achieving this “fit”. Originality/value – By linking the firm's strategy and structure to identify the organisation's human resource requirements, the authors provide a novel framework for how creative PSFs can attract and retain the type of talent profile and motivational characteristics best suited to perform consistently and contribute to achieving the firm objectives.

The stakeholder or the firm? Balancing the strategic framework

literatinetwork@emeraldinsight.com (Graham Kenny) — Fri, 10 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to investigate why stakeholder frameworks have struggled for acceptance in strategy and to put forward a clearly articulated framework which, while firm-centric, acknowledges that stakeholders hold the key to organization success. Design/methodology/approach – The framework outlined is the result of more than two decades of action research. This has involved an iterative process of framework design and field testing with clients to assess validity followed by redesign. This evolution has been conducted in conjunction with a continuous review of progress in the strategy-related literature. Findings – For many directors, managers, consultants and academics, there is a disconnect between strategy and what is often referred to as “stakeholder management”. In the latter, stakeholders are the first and final focus. Such a perspective might suit the needs and language of fields like public policy, social services, welfare and ethics, but it isn't appropriate for strategy and strategic planning. Being stakeholder-centric, it holds back the acceptance of a stakeholder framework in strategy. The firm-centric stakeholder framework for strategy gels with boards, CEOs and senior executives, focusing as it does on the long-term prosperity and sustainability of an organization. Originality/value – Organizations in all sectors – business, government and not-for-profit – can benefit greatly by re-orienting their thinking and the way they go about designing strategy and structuring their strategic plans. A firm-centric stakeholder approach to strategy solves many conceptual and practical problems that directors and managers face in designing organization objectives and shaping precise strategies.

Capturing strategic competences: cloud security as a case study

literatinetwork@emeraldinsight.com (Mingtao Shi) — Fri, 10 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Abstract

Purpose – This paper intends to propose a concept for capturing the strategically important competences of a firm. Design/methodology/approach – A case study accompanies the development of the concept advanced in this paper. The case study relies on project findings within the context of cloud security in the health, banking and telecommunications industries. Findings – The strategic competences of a firm can be recognised effectively when managers follow the sequential steps “elicit-solve-categorise-formulate-map-prioritise-conduct” as an analysis instrument. Different patterns of action are required for treating the competences identified, according to their strategic significance. Research limitations/implications – Scholars are invited to improve the proposed concept and enrich it with more empirical cases or data. Practical implications – The concept suggested in this paper may serve as a basis for managers to pursue durable advantages by recognising and embarking on strategic competences. Originality/value – Competences are commonly acknowledged as sources to achieve sustained competitive advantage for firms. Many authors have commented on the properties that competences must possess in order to be strategic. Few, however, have discussed the potential of a more general concept for capturing and treating strategically important competences. A structured framework is therefore suggested in this study.

Customer-oriented organizations: a framework for innovation

literatinetwork@emeraldinsight.com (Kaushik Mukerjee) — Fri, 10 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to acknowledge the importance of customer orientation in business organisations. The paper adopts a practical approach and delves into the relevant issues to present a conceptual framework and the steps that organisations could use to become customer-oriented. Design/methodology/approach – The methodology for this paper involves studying the relevant literature on customer orientation and highlighting the noteworthy findings of other researchers. Thereafter, based on the practices of leading companies with regard to customer orientation, the conceptual framework is developed and explained using suitable illustrations. Findings – The findings include the conceptual framework and the steps that lead to customer orientation for organisations. Originality/value – Although customer orientation is a desirable characteristic for organisations, it is also not easy for organisations to determine the precise issues and the approach that needs to be adopted for achieving customer orientation. This paper presents the framework and the steps pertaining to customer orientation that can be adopted by organisations.

Editor’s note

Fri, 10 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100