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PurposeDue to the convergence of rapid business developments and digitization challenges, service orientation is back on the research agenda as a concept to improve firms' business services. Yet, little is known about the type of determinants that are relevant and to what degree they affect a firm's service-oriented strategy.Design/methodology/approachBuilding on structural equation modeling (SEM) and a unique data set of 131 international firms from different continents, the authors identify and analyze the key determinants in the context of a firm's service-oriented strategy.FindingsThe findings show that in order to cater for changes, organizations have to manage and adapt the coherence of the determinants' business services, business processes and knowledge sharing continuously. Moreover, the results show that a service-oriented strategy is not only influenced by business services as such, but business services mediate the relationships between business processes, governance and process-aware information systems to a service-oriented strategy.Research limitations/implicationsA limitation is imposed by the limited sample size and the unbalanced response of participants (executive management). In future research, a more extensive survey among a broader group of participants will help the authors to develop their model further in order to generalize the results, as well as more finely grained research related to geography and size might be pursued. Future empirical research is necessary to identify and test the relationships between other constructs and study their effect on a firm's service-oriented strategy.Practical implicationsOn a practical level, the authors postulate that an organization's executive management should pay attention to invest in an organizational entity (department) that manages business services continuously. This organizational entity has to ensure that related processes and knowledge sharing are in place to establish and maintain a service-oriented strategy.Originality/valueThis research contributes to service-oriented literature by operationalizing the implementation of an organization's service-oriented strategy. The authors' insights go beyond the findings of Aier et al. (2011). The authors found that a service-oriented strategy influences service-oriented project success positively. The authors extended these findings, based on a unique data set, by studying business services and influencing determinants (i.e. business processes, governance, PAIS and knowledge sharing) within the context of service orientation. The renewed attention to the concept of service orientation provides insights into critical determinants that influence the implementation of a service-oriented strategy.

AbstractThis paper focuses on multi‐attribute design problems in which several quantitative and/or qualitative attributes are simultaneously involved. Preference elicitation methods dealing with decision‐makers' preferences are often employed to solve such problems. The present paper proposes a conceptual framework that considers preference elicitation as a process shaped by the interaction of different factors including the researcher, methodology, questionnaire and respondent in a given context, at the same time. The aim of the framework is to assist in choosing a decision support tool among various multi‐attribute decision‐making methods, as well as in evaluating and understanding preference elicitation results. To illustrate and exemplify the use of the framework, it is applied to a real‐world case of end user preferences of mobile service platforms. We make use of two methods that are suitable for such a setting: analytic hierarchy process and conjoint analysis. Albeit with considerable discrepancies, the results show that both methods provide insightful information on the principle. Nonetheless, to a large degree, these methods perform differently in the case of non‐complex tasks and unknowledgeable respondents, which the process view aids in evaluating and understanding. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Smartphones are finding their way into our daily lives. This paper examines the domestication of smartphones by looking at how the way we use mobile applications affects our everyday routines. Data is collected through an innovative quantitative mixed-method approach, combining log data from smartphones and survey (perception) data. We find that there are dimensions of domestication that explain how the use of smartphones affects our daily routines. Contributions are stronger for downloaded applications than for native applications. Especially applications that require interaction with others, such as social media and instant messaging, have a serious impact on our day-to-day routines. As a result, appropriation is core in incorporating smartphones in daily life routines. However, frequency of use and the total number of minutes spent on a given type of application per day affect our everyday routines in different ways. This paper is the first quantitative domestication study that focuses on smartphones rather than feature phones. The theoretical contribution and practical implications are outlined.

PurposeTo co-create value through dynamic collaborations, enterprises and their suppliers need to orchestrate the integration of complementary resources when providing business services. As such enterprises' strategic decision to apply a plural sourcing strategy to establish dynamic collaborations with their suppliers implies that both in-house and outsourced business services should be bundled into a business services portfolio. However, the antecedents that affect a business services portfolio have rarely conceptually been identified. Design/methodology/approachDrawing on resource orchestration theory, the authors theoretically developed and empirically validated a business services portfolio conceptual model. The model aims at explaining the critical antecedents to a business services portfolio based on a unique data set, comprising 121 international enterprises with variation in the degree of outsourcing, size, geographies and maturity. Partial least squares structural equation modelling was used to examine the relationships among the antecedents and a business services portfolio.FindingsThe findings show that the antecedent, i.e. plural sourcing strategy, modularised business processes and customer orientation have a direct and significant effect on the enterprises' business services portfolio orchestration. The results of the mediation test indicate that modularised business processes fully mediate the relationships between three independent variables with the orchestration of business services portfolio.Originality/valueThis study is the first to analyse the impact of plural sourcing strategy, modularised business processes and customer orientation on the business services portfolio orchestration from a plural sourcing context. Additionally, it examines the mediating role of modularised business processes in the relationship between the antecedents and business services portfolio orchestration.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to revisit the conceptualization and measurement of entrepreneurial intentions. Significant studies anchored in the Theory of Planned Behavior use causal statistical approaches to entrepreneurial intentions. This methodological approach, leads to the conclusion that there is a single pathway for all groups of people to achieve business start-up. Even though theory suggests approaches by women entrepreneurs to start a business may be influenced by different factors from those influencing men, results are inconclusive in these analyses. The authors argue that methodological preferences for linear, causal analytical approaches limit the understanding of gender similarities and differences in the business start-up process. The authors propose that when considering diverse samples, it is unreasonable to assume there is only a single pathway leading to business start-up.Design/methodology/approachBuilding on fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) and data set of 2,038 respondents, the authors investigate factors predicting the intentions to start a business and evaluate the alternative conjunctive paths that emerge.FindingsThe fsQCA results shows that the relationship among conditions leading to entrepreneurial intentions is complex and is best represented as multiple and conjectural causation configurations. In other words, there are multiple significant pathways (refers to equifinality) that predict intentions to start a business start-up, and there are significant differences by gender.Originality/valueThis study is one of the first to examine the roll of gender as a sperate condition in the analysis. This paper offers implications for theory and future research and highlights the complexity of this domain.

Purpose
By drawing on various theoretical approaches and a gender perspective, this paper aims to examine business model (BM) experimentation as a step towards BM experimentation capabilities as an outcome and, as such, a key antecedent to firm performance.


Design/methodology/approach
In this paper, using a unique data set of 444 European small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the authors draw on various theoretical perspectives to devise a structural equation model that examines BM experimentation as a step towards business model innovation (BMI) as an outcome and, as such, a key antecedent to firm performance. Potential differences are examined between female-owned and non-female-owned businesses with regard to hypothesized relations.


Findings
Multi-group analysis results reveal that drivers of BM experimentation and the paths linking BM experimentation to overall firm performance are different for female owners in comparison to male owners.


Research limitations/implications
Theoretical and practical implications are various. For SME entrepreneurs, experimenting with their BMs does lead to improved performance.


Practical implications
Theoretical and practical implications are various. For SME entrepreneurs, experimenting with their BMs does lead to improved performance.


Originality/value
Despite the increasing number of papers focussing on the relationship between BM and firm performance, the focus on female entrepreneurship, gender differences and BMI, more specifically the process of BMI as BM experimentation, is relatively rare.