Engaging stakeholders in the designing of a service : a case study in the B2B service context
Alade, Adeyanju (2013)
Alade, Adeyanju
Laurea-ammattikorkeakoulu
2013
All rights reserved
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-201303193440
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-201303193440
Tiivistelmä
The future of service design among others has been predicted to include a paradigm shift from a focus on delivery of customer value to stakeholder value. Stakeholder value can be co-created through the effective engagement of key stakeholders in the designing of a service. These stakeholders are individuals or groups of people that can impact or be affected by the design and delivery of a service. The idea of stakeholder engagement in the designing of a service seeks to create a more transparent and all participatory approach to designing a service. There have been many studies on value propositions with a strong emphasis on customers or end users. However, as much as the importance of customers or end users in a service system cannot be overemphasized, lesser attention has been given to other stakeholders. It is also important to bear in mind that potential customers or prospects can also be found among the stakeholders that have not been given the necessary attention. In view of this, there exists a gap in the effective engagement of customers or end users and the other stakeholders in the designing of a service.
The aim of this thesis is to contribute to the body of knowledge which explores the role of effective stakeholder engagement in the design of a service. In other words, service design is the context upon which stakeholders were to be engaged. In this study, a descriptive approach was used to propose a new process model. This process model applied a standard stakeholder engagement framework to complement the stakeholder approach to designing a service. This framework was explored and presented in a simple form for the purpose of benchmarking by businesses and organisations. Consequently, beyond service designing, businesses and organisations can as well use this process model as a guide to address other issues that entail stakeholder engagement. Several useful stakeholder engagement tools that form part of this framework have been presented in this thesis.
In this thesis, qualitative research methods such as thematic interviewing and observation were used to collect data. Service blueprint was used to explore the service touchpoints and essential issues that existed in the service offering of the partner company. A Co-creation tool was tested and used to analyse the current states of case companies (business-to-business customers) and partner company (service provider) with respect to co-creation approaches in service. This tool examined how evident were co-creation approaches in the activities of the partner company. A new quantitative approach was also tested and used to confirm the results from the qualitative analysis. The use of an additional quantitative approach in confirming the result of the qualitative analysis was based on methodological triangulation of data. The result from the data triangulation helped in increasing the reliability of the research result. Among the results of the current state analysis were individual co-creation trees of the case companies and the partner company. The results from the case companies were further analysed and summarised into a single co-creation tree as a final result. A co-creation tree presents a visual way of displaying the performance of a company in terms of co-creation approaches with its selected case companies. Its result can help a company to assess its co-creation strengths and weaknesses in order to take the appropriate steps towards necessary development and improvement.
The aim of this thesis is to contribute to the body of knowledge which explores the role of effective stakeholder engagement in the design of a service. In other words, service design is the context upon which stakeholders were to be engaged. In this study, a descriptive approach was used to propose a new process model. This process model applied a standard stakeholder engagement framework to complement the stakeholder approach to designing a service. This framework was explored and presented in a simple form for the purpose of benchmarking by businesses and organisations. Consequently, beyond service designing, businesses and organisations can as well use this process model as a guide to address other issues that entail stakeholder engagement. Several useful stakeholder engagement tools that form part of this framework have been presented in this thesis.
In this thesis, qualitative research methods such as thematic interviewing and observation were used to collect data. Service blueprint was used to explore the service touchpoints and essential issues that existed in the service offering of the partner company. A Co-creation tool was tested and used to analyse the current states of case companies (business-to-business customers) and partner company (service provider) with respect to co-creation approaches in service. This tool examined how evident were co-creation approaches in the activities of the partner company. A new quantitative approach was also tested and used to confirm the results from the qualitative analysis. The use of an additional quantitative approach in confirming the result of the qualitative analysis was based on methodological triangulation of data. The result from the data triangulation helped in increasing the reliability of the research result. Among the results of the current state analysis were individual co-creation trees of the case companies and the partner company. The results from the case companies were further analysed and summarised into a single co-creation tree as a final result. A co-creation tree presents a visual way of displaying the performance of a company in terms of co-creation approaches with its selected case companies. Its result can help a company to assess its co-creation strengths and weaknesses in order to take the appropriate steps towards necessary development and improvement.