A design-thinking perspective on capability development

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the interaction between new product development (NPD) capabilities and business model innovation (BMI) by studying the adaptation of capabilities in a manufacturing firm as it adopts a service business model. Design/methodology/approach An in-depth case study is used to identify design capabilities and document how these have been developed as the firm has adapted its NPD processes to the needs of its service business model. Findings Design capabilities are proposed as a facilitator of servitization, allowing a manufacturing firm to develop service offerings that build on resources such as knowledge and experience. Conversely, the scope of servitization is restricted by the extent to which these design capabilities can be updated to suit the demands of a new business model. Practical implications Servitization is presented as an imperative for manufacturing firms, yet research has not addressed the implications for NPD nor investigated how BMI affects NPD capabilities. This study shows the need to identify whether current NPD processes help or hinder BMI and proposes how managers can adapt NPD processes to a new business model. Originality/value A three-stage process is identified for adapting NPD processes – as BMI changes the nature of products and services required, existing processes are supplemented by design activities requiring expert knowledge, these are subsequently refined into design methods that can be incorporated into the NPD process, and eventually design tools allow automation and efficiency.

Opening the Dynamic Capability Black Box: An Approach to Business Model Innovation Management in the Digital Era

“…Technological capabilities evaluate a company's ability to design and implement technological solutions to problems [82]. It is key for coupling value proposition to customer segments and for improving the offering [83].…”

Designing, writing-up and reviewing case study research: an equifinality perspective

“…Gummesson, 2007;Gummesson and Mele, 2010) and operations research (e.g. Voss et al, 2002Voss et al, , 2016 ( Jaakkola and Hallin, 2018) Examine how innovation is shaped by specific phenomena, such as service design (Yu and Sangiorgi, 2018), resourcing across organizational practices (Wiedner et al, 2017), ICT and partnerships (Chen, 2017), and capabilities (Beltagui, 2018) Explore how and/or why specific types of innovation emerge or evolve, such as radically new services (Goduscheit and Faullant, 2018), service innovation (Baron et al, 2018) and innovative service ecosystem (Di Pietro et al, 2018) 14…”

“…More transparency about why and how cases are selected and an in-depth description of these cases may contribute to more rigors in case study research. Moreover, researchers can even detail the impact of their case selection choices on the research, thereby showing reflexivity (Corlett and Mavin, 2018) (Beltagui, 2018) Explore how the interplay between capabilities and mindset can shape innovation over time (Töytäri et al, 2018) Value co-creation Examine how customer participation can influence the perceived value outcomes of multiple actors in networks (Mustak, 2019) Explore how expectations of relationship value are formed and how they evolve over time (Lyons and Brennan, 2019) Servitization Examine the way in which uncertainty types can manifest themselves (Kreye, 2018) Explore how servitization can influence the interface between customers and product-service systems (Resta et al, 2017) Actor engagement Examine how to maintain stakeholder engagement over time ( Jonas et al, 2018) Explore the nature of engagement dispositions and their role in the engagement process (Li et al, 2017) (continued ) Well-being Understand how participation of vulnerable customers in value co-creation can influence value outcomes experienced by the group or society Process design Explore the design of interfaces according to the different stages of the service concept (Avlonitis and Hsuan, 2017) Analyze how formalization projects can influence the level of employee agency over time (Tuominen and Martinsuo, 2018) Outsourcing Explore the role of design teams in different organizational arrangements through a semiotic lens (Oshri et al, 2018) Investigate different ways in which firm/customer activity transfers manifest themselves (Rouquet et al, 2017) Service triad Explore how buyers attempt to synchronize various service components to create a comprehensive service offering for its customers (Broekhuis and Scholten, 2018) Service networks and ecosystems Examine how the meta-space of a service ecosystem can influence different types of innovation (Chandler et...…”

Investigations on business model innovation and company’s development

“…E.g. a study of Beltagui (2018) presents results of analysis on capabilities of manufacturing firms which allow them to implement a service business model. In the paper servitization is believed to be dependent on design capabilities possessed by the companies, which give the final shape of an offered service.…”