Improving professional service operations: action research in a law firm

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how action research-based interventions can effect change in a complex and challenging professional service environment (Lewis and Brown, 2012). This paper presents a successful way to do this. First, by eliciting factors for change driven by deregulation in the United Kingdom’s (UK) legal service sector (Falconer, 2005). Second, by designing and implementing context-sensitive change in a selected legal service firm.Design/methodology/approachThis research adopts a participatory action research methodology involving the use of systems thinking (namely the PrOH modelling methodology) to design suitable interventions and catalyse change.FindingsThis study has generated new knowledge on three fronts–to the legal service operations, to methodology and to the intellectual framework used for abductive reasoning (Checkland and Poulter, 2006). Lessons are transferable to wider professional service operations research. Findings indicate, despite traditional challenges of delivering typical professional services, there is potential for rationalising processes and service delivery commodification, mainly in the low volume, high variety legal service typology (Silvestro et al., 1992).Research limitations/implicationsThis research uses data from an in-depth study of a single organisation.Practical implicationsThis research helped legal service professionals to improve overall efficiency and effectiveness and create new management tools.Social implicationsThis research could help improve legal service operations and make them more accessible.Originality/valueThis research applies a novel, systems thinking based methodology for the first time in a complex professional service operations environment leading to three-fold contributions in the areas of practice, theory and methodology. The paper uses a change management framework (the Change Kaleidoscope), a soft systems methodology (PrOH modelling) and applies these to legal services.

Service modularity in e-learning programs: an analysis from the perceived usefulness perspective

“…E-learning programs can provide a cost advantage to universities by enabling the mass delivery of the content and lectures (Govindarajan and Srivastava, 2020). However, service customization requires the provision of service variety and the involvement of users and thus, decreases operational efficiency (Balthu and Clegg, 2021), hence increasing the cost of education service delivery (Finne, 2018). Thus, it is crucial for service providers to devise smart service design strategies considering both student experience and operational efficiency, bearing in mind Horton's (2012) assertion that, “E-learning can be the best learning possible—or the worst.…”

Working together in emergency care? How professional boundaries influence integration efforts and operational performance

“…, 2013; Pagell et al. , 2004) and on professional service operations more generally (Balthu and Clegg, 2021; Harvey et al. , 2016; Lewis and Brown, 2012) and support the need for more research on antecedents of integration (Turkulainen et al.…”

“…Additionally, studies that focus on this level of integration should be conducted across different professional and knowledge-intensive operational contexts (e.g. law firms, engineering made to order, universities) (Balthu and Clegg, 2021) to further examine the antecedents to integration at the level of professionals more generally.…”

Quality Management, Customer Inputs and Operational Complexity in Knowledge-Based Service Operations

“…Knowledge-based service (KBS) operations are one of the fast-growing subsectors of the service industry driven by rapid technological innovations and com-Journal of Service Science and Management plexities of the global business environment (Lafuente et al, 2019;Mustak, 2019). The distinctive characteristics of KBS operations such as high customer contact, service customization, and knowledge intensity make it difficult to control the quality of services and standardize service processes (Balthu & Clegg, 2021;Javalgi et al, 2009;Lewis & Brown, 2011;Ponsignon et al, 2011). For instance, the core capabilities of KBS operations are the tacit knowledge and expertise talents of professional employees, which may not be accessible by customers when assessing the quality of outcomes (Edvardsson et al, 2020;Jayaram & Xu, 2016).…”