Challenges of measuring service productivity in innovative, knowledge-intensive business services

Abstract

The productivity of services has recently become an intensively researched topic, but the measurement concepts developed up to now are very abstract and aimed at services in general. In this paper, a catalogue of requirements to measure and control the productivity of innovative, knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) will be developed. Existing concepts of measuring productivity in services will be assessed based on these requirements. Strengths and weaknesses of the concepts will be identified and serve as a basis for developing a productivity-measurement concept for innovative and KIBS in further research

Innovation in Services: A Literature Review

“…Services are considered intangible because, unlike products, they cannot be perceived physically nor can the results be fully preconceived by the customer before delivery (Biege et al 2013). In other words, service products and processes are characterized by a "fuzzy", information-rich, and intangible nature, which means that they are not embedded in material or physical structures.…”

“…Inseparability refers to the simultaneous provision and consumption of services; the customer is a co-producer and has to be included in the processes of both providing and consuming a service. Finally, perishability refers to "the transitory nature of services since these cannot be kept, stored for later utilization, resold, or returned" (Biege et al 2013). …”

Innovación y productividad en las empresas de servicios y manufactureras: El caso del Perú

“…Si bien la medición de la productividad tiene diversos defectos, no solo en los productos (Tybout, Katayama y Lu, 2009;Syverson, 2011), sino también en los servicios (Dean y Kunze, 1992;Griliches, 1992;Crepon, Duguet y Mairesse, 1998;Gallouj y Djellal, 2008;Gallouj y Savona, 2009;Crespi y Zúñiga, 2010;Biege y otros, 2011), en este estudio la productividad del trabajo se midió como el valor agregado real (o ventas netas 15 ) por trabajador 16 .…”

A Study on the Relationship between the Typology of Knowledge-Intensive Businesses (KIBs) and Performance Measurement Systems (PMS): Evidence from Taiwan

“…They often use innovation and marketing differentiation strategies to build the leader and unique image in the related industries (e.g. IBM, Intel, Sony, and Honda, etc) (Biege, Lay, Zanker, and Schmall, 2013). The famous bicycle manufacturer of Giant and handheld devices ODMs (original design manufacturers) of High Tech Computer are all good examples of knowledge creator companies in Taiwan.…”

“…External environment of KIBs is often dynamic and unpredictable (Biege et al, 2013), so the external environment of KIBs is highly uncertain. This study adopts the measurement items developed by Duncan (1972), and Gordon and Narayanan (1984) to measure the environmental uncertainty.…”