Capable design or designing capabilities? An exploration of service design as an emerging organizational capability in Telenor – Martinkenaite

This empirical paper examines a process, starting with the managerial decision to make service design an organizational capability, and follows it as it unfolds over time within one organization. Service design has become an established business practice of how firms create new products and services...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Ieva Martinkenaite, Karl Joachim Breunig, Annita Fjuk
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Cognitione Foundation for the Dissemination of Knowledge and Science 2017-01-01
Series:Journal of Entrepreneurship, Management and Innovation
Subjects:
Online Access: http://jemi.edu.pl/uploadedFiles/file/all-issues/vol13/issue1/JEMI_Vol13_Issue1_2017_Article3.pdf
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1832568723015204864
author Ieva Martinkenaite
Karl Joachim Breunig
Annita Fjuk
author_facet Ieva Martinkenaite
Karl Joachim Breunig
Annita Fjuk
author_sort Ieva Martinkenaite
collection DOAJ
description This empirical paper examines a process, starting with the managerial decision to make service design an organizational capability, and follows it as it unfolds over time within one organization. Service design has become an established business practice of how firms create new products and services to promote differentiation in an increasingly uncertain business landscape. Implicit in the literature on service design are assumptions about strategic implications of adopting the prescribed innovation methods and tools. However, little is known about how service design evolves into an organizational capability enabling firms to transform their existing businesses and sustain competitiveness. Through a longitudinal, exploratory case study of service design practices in one of the world’s largest telecommunications companies, we explicate mechanisms through which service design evolves into an organizational capability by exploring the research question: what are the mechanisms through which service design develops into an organizational capability? Our study reveals the effect of an initial introduction of service design tools, identification of boundaryspanning actors and co-alignment of dedicated resources between internal functions, as well as through co-creation with customers. Over time, these activities lead to the adoption of service design practices, and subsequently these practices spark incremental learning throughout the organization, alter managerial decisions and influence multiple paths for the development of new capabilities. Reporting on this process, we are able to describe how service design practices were disseminated and institutionalized within the organization we observed. This study thus contributes by informing how service design can evolve into an organizational capability, as well as by bridging the emerging literature on service design and design thinking with established strategy theory. Further research will have to be conducted to confirm if the same mechanisms are observable across contexts and in other firms, and several future research directions are identified. In addition, the study also has implications for practice as it demonstrates how service design methodology can be implemented and has strategic implications for organizations.
format Article
id doaj-art-a3dc336f04f646b88f12149d9fc193d3
institution Kabale University
issn 2299-7326
language English
publishDate 2017-01-01
publisher Cognitione Foundation for the Dissemination of Knowledge and Science
record_format Article
series Journal of Entrepreneurship, Management and Innovation
spelling doaj-art-a3dc336f04f646b88f12149d9fc193d32025-02-03T00:45:39ZengCognitione Foundation for the Dissemination of Knowledge and ScienceJournal of Entrepreneurship, Management and Innovation2299-73262017-01-01131698710.7341/20171313Capable design or designing capabilities? An exploration of service design as an emerging organizational capability in Telenor – MartinkenaiteIeva Martinkenaite0Karl Joachim Breunig1Annita Fjuk2 Telenor Research – Telenor ASA Oslo Business School – Oslo and Akershus University College Telenor Research – Telenor ASA This empirical paper examines a process, starting with the managerial decision to make service design an organizational capability, and follows it as it unfolds over time within one organization. Service design has become an established business practice of how firms create new products and services to promote differentiation in an increasingly uncertain business landscape. Implicit in the literature on service design are assumptions about strategic implications of adopting the prescribed innovation methods and tools. However, little is known about how service design evolves into an organizational capability enabling firms to transform their existing businesses and sustain competitiveness. Through a longitudinal, exploratory case study of service design practices in one of the world’s largest telecommunications companies, we explicate mechanisms through which service design evolves into an organizational capability by exploring the research question: what are the mechanisms through which service design develops into an organizational capability? Our study reveals the effect of an initial introduction of service design tools, identification of boundaryspanning actors and co-alignment of dedicated resources between internal functions, as well as through co-creation with customers. Over time, these activities lead to the adoption of service design practices, and subsequently these practices spark incremental learning throughout the organization, alter managerial decisions and influence multiple paths for the development of new capabilities. Reporting on this process, we are able to describe how service design practices were disseminated and institutionalized within the organization we observed. This study thus contributes by informing how service design can evolve into an organizational capability, as well as by bridging the emerging literature on service design and design thinking with established strategy theory. Further research will have to be conducted to confirm if the same mechanisms are observable across contexts and in other firms, and several future research directions are identified. In addition, the study also has implications for practice as it demonstrates how service design methodology can be implemented and has strategic implications for organizations. http://jemi.edu.pl/uploadedFiles/file/all-issues/vol13/issue1/JEMI_Vol13_Issue1_2017_Article3.pdf capability developmentdesign thinkingorganizational capabilitiesservice design practicesstrategy-innovation link
spellingShingle Ieva Martinkenaite
Karl Joachim Breunig
Annita Fjuk
Capable design or designing capabilities? An exploration of service design as an emerging organizational capability in Telenor – Martinkenaite
Journal of Entrepreneurship, Management and Innovation
capability development
design thinking
organizational capabilities
service design practices
strategy-innovation link
title Capable design or designing capabilities? An exploration of service design as an emerging organizational capability in Telenor – Martinkenaite
title_full Capable design or designing capabilities? An exploration of service design as an emerging organizational capability in Telenor – Martinkenaite
title_fullStr Capable design or designing capabilities? An exploration of service design as an emerging organizational capability in Telenor – Martinkenaite
title_full_unstemmed Capable design or designing capabilities? An exploration of service design as an emerging organizational capability in Telenor – Martinkenaite
title_short Capable design or designing capabilities? An exploration of service design as an emerging organizational capability in Telenor – Martinkenaite
title_sort capable design or designing capabilities an exploration of service design as an emerging organizational capability in telenor martinkenaite
topic capability development
design thinking
organizational capabilities
service design practices
strategy-innovation link
url http://jemi.edu.pl/uploadedFiles/file/all-issues/vol13/issue1/JEMI_Vol13_Issue1_2017_Article3.pdf
work_keys_str_mv AT ievamartinkenaite capabledesignordesigningcapabilitiesanexplorationofservicedesignasanemergingorganizationalcapabilityintelenormartinkenaite
AT karljoachimbreunig capabledesignordesigningcapabilitiesanexplorationofservicedesignasanemergingorganizationalcapabilityintelenormartinkenaite
AT annitafjuk capabledesignordesigningcapabilitiesanexplorationofservicedesignasanemergingorganizationalcapabilityintelenormartinkenaite