Coronavirus crisis and health care: learning from a service ecosystem perspective

Abstract

PurposeThe COVID-19 pandemic has created a crisis for healthcare systems worldwide. There have been significant challenges to managing public and private health care and related services systems’ capacity to cope with testing, treatment and containment of the virus. Drawing on the foundational research by Frow et al. (2019), the paper explores how adopting a service ecosystem perspective provides insight into the complexity of healthcare systems during times of extreme stress and uncertainty.Design/methodology/approachA healthcare framework based on a review of the service ecosystem literature is developed, and the COVID-19 crisis in Australia provides an illustrative case.FindingsThe study demonstrates how the service ecosystem perspective provides new insight into the dynamics and multilayered nature of a healthcare system during a pandemic. Three propositions are developed that offer directions for future research and managerial applications.Practical implicationsThe research provides an understanding of the relevance of managerial flexibility, innovation, learning and knowledge sharing, which offers opportunities leading to greater resilience in the healthcare system. In particular, the research addresses how service providers in the service ecosystem learn from this pandemic to inform future practices.Originality/valueThe service ecosystem perspective for health care offers fresh thinking and an understanding of how a shared worldview, institutional practices and supportive and disruptive factors influence the systems’ overall well-being during a crisis such as COVID-19.

Bridging employee curiosity and service creativity: a new lens

“…Secondly, existing knowledge contends that employee curiosity motivates employees’ knowledge sharing (Wang and Hou, 2015) and emphasises the value of knowledge sharing for ServiceC and benefits (Brodie et al , 2021; Radaelli et al , 2014). Our results shed new light on the connection of the two knowledge streams by clarifying how and why KD matters in service creativity.…”

How to Reach the Goal of Quadruple Aim Today in Healthcare Service Ecosystem: Nudges from the A4A Approach

“…Learnings from the pandemic inform future practices. Knowledge sharing among service providers in the H-SES offer opportunities leading to greater resilience in the healthcare system [44]. Data, collected and transformed into tacit knowledge through actor collaboration [45], can support decision makers in addressing the surrounding complexity by making the H-SES more smart and resilient and promoting its renewal [46].…”

Learning from Pandemics Past and Present for Service Theory and Practice

“…The four manuscripts published in this issue consider pandemics as transformational periods and combine to describe both the unique challenges of a pandemic as well as offering unique opportunities for both businesses and individuals to rethink how they operate. The manuscripts in this SI focus on service businesses (Mele et al, 2021), lean service implementation (Tortorella et al, 2021), health care services (Brodie et al, 2021) and service to marginalized groups of people (Finsterwalder et al, 2021).…”

“…However, a lesson for managers from the current pandemic is that organizations with more extensive adoption of lean practices might be spared the negative impact on performance experienced by others in the 'new normal' that the pandemic has brought. Brodie et al (2021) examine the management of health care during the COVID-19 pandemic through a service ecosystem perspective. This conceptual article identifies ways of alleviating some difficulties of health care provision.…”

“…These important issues were identified through a case study in Australia; one interesting observation made is that shocks to the system, such as that of the pandemic, offer the opportunity for improvements that would not have occurred otherwise. Brodie et al (2021) also propose that having a shared world-view and institutional practices benefit a healthcare system in times of crisis. The article concludes with three propositions for future research, including: (1) highly indeterminate crises with widespread effects require complex solutions, (2) resources skilfully combined can cocreate positive well-being and overcome adverse outcomes and (3) uncertainty triggers supportive and disruptive actions that enable complementarity in practices.…”