Dialogic at scientific management conferences

This summer, various researchers from Dialogic will be presenting the results of studies on different aspects of innovation management. Through their empirical and theoretical work, researchers contribute to the development of scientific knowledge and insights on topics in which Dialogic is also active. The central themes in the papers focus on coordinating open innovation and managing service innovation.

Starting off, the Academy of Management Annual Meeting in Boston has accepted a paper by Bram Kaashoek, senior advisor at Dialogic, Bjorn Smeets (student at Tilburg University; intern at Dialogic), and Maryse Chappin (lecturer at Tilburg University). The paper discusses how companies can utilise crowdsourcing and how the crowdsourcing process leads to desired outcomes. Crowdsourcing, a relatively new phenomenon, aligns with the trend of open innovation where companies involve the 'crowd' to tap into knowledge not held internally to drive innovation. Well-known Dutch examples include Lays seeking new chip flavours, BNN searching for new TV formats, and NS asking passengers for solutions to prevent train toilets from being vandalised. Dialogic, in collaboration with Tilburg University, studied 12 cases to determine the optimal implementation of crowdsourcing. For more information on the results, contact Bram Kaashoek (kaashoek@dialogic.nl; 030-2150598).

Another paper accepted at the prestigious Academy of Management conference was authored by Matthijs Janssen (junior researcher at Dialogic), Pim den Hertog (partner at Dialogic), Alex Alexiev (VU), and Carolina Castaldi (TU/e). Their research delves into the relationship between management innovations and competitiveness in the service sector. The study indicates that introducing organisational improvements alone does not guarantee business success. It is crucial that internal changes are also accompanied by a new or enhanced service offering.

The management of service innovation is also a focal point in two other papers from the aforementioned team. A paper accepted for the European Academy of Management conference examines 'service innovation skills'. Pim den Hertog has already introduced a conceptual set of specific skills in his thesis. The essence of the new paper lies in utilising both case studies and survey data to provide empirical evidence for the skills. By employing new measurement scales, the skills can be quantified, enabling further research on their relevance.

In another paper accepted for the DRUID conference in Copenhagen, the researchers augment the framework with additional theory, offering a better understanding of the crucial skills for service innovations and outlining the processes and structures managers can influence to develop these skills.

Lastly, at the aforementioned EURAM’12 conference, a paper was accepted in which Matthijs Janssen, Pim den Hertog, and Alex Alexiev present a (partial) study on open service innovation. Through statistical analyses, they examine the extent to which service providers utilise techniques and tools to leverage external knowledge or capitalise on their own expertise. For further details, please contact Matthijs Janssen (janssen@dialogic.nl; 030-2150566) or Pim den Hertog (030-2150585).

Once the papers are available online, hyperlinks to the aforementioned papers will be posted:

• Janssen, M., Alexiev, A., Den Hertog, P. and Castaldi, C. Management Innovation and Firm Performance in Service Innovation Management. Accepted for presentation at Academy of Management Annual Meeting 2012, Boston.
• Janssen, M., Alexiev, A., Den Hertog, P. and Castaldi, C. Towards a new scale for measuring dynamic capabilities in service innovation management. Accepted for presentation at European Academy of Management EURAM’12 Conference.
• Janssen, M., Alexiev, A. and Den Hertog, P. Open innovation practices in service innovation: the relation with size, partnerships and environmental turbulence. Accepted for presentation at European Academy of Management EURAM’12 Conference.
• Janssen, M., Alexiev, A., Den Hertog, P. and Castaldi, C. A multi-level multidimensional approach for measuring dynamic capabilities in service innovation management. Accepted for presentation at DRUID 2012.