Yes / The leading frameworks of internationalization have contributed significantly to our knowledge of how firms internationalize, but do not fully explain how firms actually create and capture value from customers when internationalizing their activities. Understanding the value creation and capture activities defining their business model(s) is critical for firms moving into less familiar markets, and is particularly relevant for service firms where variability is an inherent feature of the firm/client experience. To address this gap, we take a business model perspective to analyze 144 internationalization events of 10 professional service firms. We find that the case firms adopted four different business models when internationalizing, and that single firms may utilize portfolios of business models. Our findings contribute to both the services internationalization and business model literatures by showing how variability in the internationalization process substantiates the need for business model portfolios.

The evolution and proliferation of mobile devices (m-devices) in the workplace have been rapid. In comparison to conventional services provided by mobile phones (m-phones), smartphones feature sophisticated functionality, such as Internet access, video/audio streaming, and business productivity applications. As a consequence of increased demand for smartphones in the workplace, an understanding of the factors that determine the decision to adopt smartphones in business settings is necessary. The goal of this investigation was to identify the key factors that have an impact on the adoption of smartphones. This dissertation investigation provided an understanding of the key factors that affect the adoption of smartphones for the domain of professional consultants and validated the key constructs of a conceptual map of smartphone adoption through the analysis of data generated from a survey of professional consultants from a global professional services firm, ZS Associates. A total of 130 valid responses from an online survey distributed to 336 ZS Associates professional consultants located in North America, European Union, Japan, China, and India were used in this study. The results of this investigation indicated that social influence, perceived ease of use (PEU), perceived usefulness (PU)/compatibility in the workplace, job relevance, and technology are the key factors that affect the adoption of a smartphone. Demographics and observability factors such as age and observing others' using smartphones in the workplace were found to have no significant impact on smartphone adoption. The outcomes of this investigation indicated that there were no significant cultural differences between respondents in the North America, EU, and Asia-Pacific regions in regard to the adoption of a smartphone. The results of this investigation expanded the research on the adoption of smartphones to the domain of professional consultants. The investigation expanded the research of smartphone adoption from a cultural perspective. Further, the research bridged the gap in the information technology (IT) literature on the intention to use a smartphone by incorporating the key constructs from the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technologies (UTAUT), and the Diffusion of Innovations Theory (DOI) models.

An organisation’s survival is dependent on the support of a number of stakeholders. However, professional service firms tend to lose the support of their most important stakeholders, which are their well-educated employees, also referred to as their ‘talents’. This study has used Harrison and Wicks’ (2013) framework of stakeholder value creation as its point of departure, which consists of four value aspects: goods and services, organisational justice, organisational affiliation, and opportunity cost. The framework states that managerial actions, related to these four aspects, are likely to create value for stakeholders by increasing their happiness. “Happy” stakeholders are further considered to keep supporting their organisation, which generated the principal research question of this study: How can professional service firms increase the happiness of their talents? Moreover, the study was limited to neo and classic-professional service firms, which include: consultancy, advertising, accountancy, architecture, and law firms. In order to explore what managerial actions increase talents’ happiness, a case study was conducted at a British law firm. Nine solicitors of three different levels of seniority were interviewed and the firm was observed for two days. This study not only confirms the validity of Harrison and Wicks’ (2013) framework but also extends it by identifying additional managerial actions, categories for analysing ‘talent happiness’ as well as a fifth value aspect: ‘job characteristics’. In a broader perspective, this study contributes to stakeholder theory by providing an empirical and micro-level illustration of the theory.

Increasingly the services sector is seen as important to economic development. In recent years competition has increased within this sector, in particular, within the professional service sector. Consequently, as competition increases service firms need to provide value for clients and need to differentiate their service offerings from those of competitors. In other words, service firms must be innovative in order to attain and maintain profitable organisational performance. Innovation is seen as a core capability, and a key source of competitive advantage. Nonetheless, despite the importance of innovation to all organisations, prior research has focused on manufacturing and high-technology industries. While this has contributed to our understanding of innovation within these industries, the role and significance of innovation in service industries is less well understood. Importantly, our understanding of innovation within the professional service sector is underdeveloped. This research addresses this significant gap. The aim of the thesis is to create new knowledge by providing a clearer understanding of the organisational innovation capabilities and their effects on organisational performance within professional service firms (PSFs). Specifically, the research is designed to: (1) develop and validate an organisational innovation capabilities scale for PSFs; and (2) model the relationships between dimensions of organisational innovation capabilities and dimensions of organisational performance in PSFs. An integrated multi-methods research program was undertaken. First, a critical review of relevant literature was conducted to identify the key constructs and theories on organisational innovation. Second, Study 1 consisted of thirty-seven semi-structured in-depth interviews with professional service providers. The key objective of Study 1 was to determine the types of innovation capabilities specific to PSFs. Additionally, the interviews assisted in refining constructs for the conceptual model. Third, Study 2a involved the development of a multi-dimensional innovation capabilities scale for PSFs (n = 255) which was validated on a sample of professional executives (n = 208). Refinement of existing organisational performance measures was also carried out. Fourth, Study 2b tested the hypothesised relationships of the structural model, and provided insights into the firm characteristics that influence organisational innovation capabilities. The findings of this research highlight the importance of innovation within a professional service context. Specifically, this research found that the ability to innovate is viewed as a way to add value for clients, differentiate the firm and the firm’s services and products and to attain competitive advantage. Professional service innovation capabilities was found to be a multi-dimensional construct comprised of client-centred solutions, marketing strategy and technology innovation capabilities. The results support a positive and significant relationship between client-centred solutions innovation capability and customer performance, and in turn, firm performance. The results also support a positive and significant relationship between marketing strategy innovation capability and firm performance. Interestingly, no support was found for a relationship between technology innovation capability and firm performance. Further, PSFs in country and regional areas had a higher level of total innovation capability and technology innovation capability than their city counterparts. Small PSFs, where the total number of employees was approximately three, and whose main client-base were individual or corporate clients had a higher level of client-centred solutions innovation capability. Finally, the findings and frameworks developed in this thesis provide a basis for the development of a clearer understanding of the conceptual and empirical links between organisational innovation capabilities and performance outcomes within the professional service firm context, thus contributing to theory and practice.

Purpose The aim of this study is to explore, describe and analyze how service firms overcome barriers of internationalization at an early stage. Thus, this study is aiming to increase a better understanding of what kind of preconditions these firms have in the very early stages of internationalization. Methodology This research has been based on qualitative case study and abductive approach. We wanted to pursue this research strategy since we were aiming to receive an in-depth understanding of service firms’ early internationalization process. A delimitation we further have applied in this study is a focus only on early entry to Norwegian market and on Swedish consulting firms. These delimitations have been based mainly on the fact that it would be easier to compare the results from the empirical data. We have furthermore conducting a total of 5 interviews with 6 interviewees. Three of these have been with our chosen case companies and the other two have been with two external actors with profound knowledge about the Norwegian market.   Conclusions In our conclusions, we have identified the main characteristics of barriers in an early internationalization stage for service firms and enablers to overcome these barriers. The three key enablers are networks and relationships, international entrepreneurship and presence at the foreign market.

This thesis analyses individual experiences of the promotion process to Managing Director within a global bank to identify the contribution made by social capital. Using Nahapiet and Ghoshal’s (1998) three-dimension framework as the theoretical lens, the thesis extends social capital research beyond its largely quantitative focus on network analysis (structural dimension) to understand more clearly the relative importance and impact of the relational and cognitive dimensions. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 34 men and women in an investment bank and a template-based analysis of their accounts was made. The findings make visible, the invisible mechanisms which enable or constrain the creation, development and use of social capital and, therefore, its contribution to securing the position of Managing Director. The findings highlight the need to consider the importance of agency, relationship level and gender in this context. The study makes three key contributions. First, it extends Nahapiet and Ghoshal’s (1998) theory of social capital, in the context of career progression, by demonstrating how each social capital dimension is operationalized and interdependent. Second, the research explicitly demonstrates the crucial role social capital plays in an executive-level promotion process, thereby revealing a complex and multi-layered system. Third, the study extends our knowledge of the gendered nature of senior-level career progression by identifying the particular barriers women face, compared to men, in their efficacious use of social capital for promotion in a global bank.

This thesis analyses individual experiences of the promotion process to Managing Director within a global bank to identify the contribution made by social capital. Using Nahapiet and Ghoshal’s (1998) three-dimension framework as the theoretical lens, the thesis extends social capital research beyond its largely quantitative focus on network analysis (structural dimension) to understand more clearly the relative importance and impact of the relational and cognitive dimensions. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 34 men and women in an investment bank and a template-based analysis of their accounts was made. The findings make visible, the invisible mechanisms which enable or constrain the creation, development and use of social capital and, therefore, its contribution to securing the position of Managing Director. The findings highlight the need to consider the importance of agency, relationship level and gender in this context. The study makes three key contributions. First, it extends Nahapiet and Ghoshal’s (1998) theory of social capital, in the context of career progression, by demonstrating how each social capital dimension is operationalized and interdependent. Second, the research explicitly demonstrates the crucial role social capital plays in an executive-level promotion process, thereby revealing a complex and multi-layered system. Third, the study extends our knowledge of the gendered nature of senior-level career progression by identifying the particular barriers women face, compared to men, in their efficacious use of social capital for promotion in a global bank.

We are amidst a period of radical change in Management Consulting worldwide. The latter half of the twentieth century has seen major extensions to the range of services promoted under the umbrella of Management Consulting. The traditional Management Consulting Firms, such as McKinsey & Co., tend to provide strategy consulting. By contrast, the other multinational Management Consulting Firms have focused on Business Process Re-engineering and other services with an Information Technology emphasis. Significantly, several multinational Management Consulting Firms have come under the control of Information Technology companies. As yet, very little research has been conducted into the issues that Management Consultants face in Australia. This research project provides an empirical investigation aimed at identifying these issues. In doing so, the study intends to answer the following research question "What are the major issues facing Management Consulting Firms in Australia?" To assist in answering this overarching question the study endeavours to address three investigative questions (1) What is the relative severity of issues facing Management Consulting Firms in Australia? (2) What are the Knowledge Management related issues facing Management Consulting Firms in Australia? And (3) What distinctions can be made between Knowledge Management issues and approaches of small-medium sized Management Consulting Firms and large Management Consulting Firms? This thesis is a compilation and comparison of evidence gathered from four separate but related sub-studies into the Management Consulting industry. The first, a Context Case Study of Management Consulting issues faced by small-medium sized firms, aimed to generate a rich, qualitative description of the study context, which, in turn, provides background to a larger follow-up Issues Delphi Study. Interpretation of the data gathered for the Context Case Study focuses on gaps between the literature and observed practice. The Issues Delphi Study garners response from members of the Institute of Management Consultants (IMC) in two survey rounds that inventory issues and then gauge their importance. In addition, an exploratory and descriptive case study was performed to investigate Knowledge Management Strategies and Practices in the Australian branch of Accenture, a well known International Management Consulting Firm. Though the Accenture Case Study has an operational emphasis, both macro and micro issues of Knowledge Management are considered; macro issues pertain to the strategic leverage of Knowledge Assets, while micro issues pertain to creation, transfer and reuse of knowledge within the firm, and between the firm and its clients. Knowledge Management is identified as essential to the achievement of sustained competitive advantage for all Professional Service Firms; of which Management Consulting Firms are a subset. As such, a conceptual analysis of the Knowledge in Professional Service Firms model, developed by Empson and Morris (1998), was performed to enhance the researchers understanding of Knowledge Management in Management Consulting Firms. The analysis of the model's constructs and their relationships assists the researcher's analysis of data gathered from the other three sub-studies. In addition, the attempt to develop several model variants is explored and an argument for the resulting final model variant which incorporates a new construct, Knowledge Management, is presented. Finally, the study compares the issues identified from the four separate sub-studies. The issues gathered are mapped into Knowledge in Professional Service Firms model, providing useful insights into the importance of sound Knowledge Management practices in small, medium and large Management Consulting Firms.

Increasingly the services sector is seen as important to economic development. In recent years competition has increased within this sector, in particular, within the professional service sector. Consequently, as competition increases service firms need to provide value for clients and need to differentiate their service offerings from those of competitors. In other words, service firms must be innovative in order to attain and maintain profitable organisational performance. Innovation is seen as a core capability, and a key source of competitive advantage. Nonetheless, despite the importance of innovation to all organisations, prior research has focused on manufacturing and high-technology industries. While this has contributed to our understanding of innovation within these industries, the role and significance of innovation in service industries is less well understood. Importantly, our understanding of innovation within the professional service sector is underdeveloped. This research addresses this significant gap. The aim of the thesis is to create new knowledge by providing a clearer understanding of the organisational innovation capabilities and their effects on organisational performance within professional service firms (PSFs). Specifically, the research is designed to: (1) develop and validate an organisational innovation capabilities scale for PSFs; and (2) model the relationships between dimensions of organisational innovation capabilities and dimensions of organisational performance in PSFs. An integrated multi-methods research program was undertaken. First, a critical review of relevant literature was conducted to identify the key constructs and theories on organisational innovation. Second, Study 1 consisted of thirty-seven semi-structured in-depth interviews with professional service providers. The key objective of Study 1 was to determine the types of innovation capabilities specific to PSFs. Additionally, the interviews assisted in refining constructs for the conceptual model. Third, Study 2a involved the development of a multi-dimensional innovation capabilities scale for PSFs (n = 255) which was validated on a sample of professional executives (n = 208). Refinement of existing organisational performance measures was also carried out. Fourth, Study 2b tested the hypothesised relationships of the structural model, and provided insights into the firm characteristics that influence organisational innovation capabilities. The findings of this research highlight the importance of innovation within a professional service context. Specifically, this research found that the ability to innovate is viewed as a way to add value for clients, differentiate the firm and the firm’s services and products and to attain competitive advantage. Professional service innovation capabilities was found to be a multi-dimensional construct comprised of client-centred solutions, marketing strategy and technology innovation capabilities. The results support a positive and significant relationship between client-centred solutions innovation capability and customer performance, and in turn, firm performance. The results also support a positive and significant relationship between marketing strategy innovation capability and firm performance. Interestingly, no support was found for a relationship between technology innovation capability and firm performance. Further, PSFs in country and regional areas had a higher level of total innovation capability and technology innovation capability than their city counterparts. Small PSFs, where the total number of employees was approximately three, and whose main client-base were individual or corporate clients had a higher level of client-centred solutions innovation capability. Finally, the findings and frameworks developed in this thesis provide a basis for the development of a clearer understanding of the conceptual and empirical links between organisational innovation capabilities and performance outcomes within the professional service firm context, thus contributing to theory and practice.

In this study, I have developed the theoretical concept Service Bullwhip Effect (SBWE) by examining it within the professional services context through a single case study at a Swedish consultancy firm. The research questions that have been guiding the study are the following: F1. How does the service bullwhip effect differ in professional service firms compared with other service firms? F2. How can the service bullwhip effect be mitigated within professional service firms? The purpose of the study is thus to contribute to the research area of Service Supply Chain Management, and its theoretical concept SBWE. I do this by studying the SBWE within the context of professional service firms (PSF), and analyze how it differentiate itself from other service firms, and how it can be mitigated within this context. The methodology used have been a combination of data sources that were collected in the form of primary qualitative data, and secondary quantitative data from the service supply chain of a consultancy firm. My findings indicate that a SBWE exists to some extent within the professional services context. Its presence, however, was limited due to the inherent characteristics of PSFs. From this I put forward the following three propositions: H1. The service bullwhip effect exists to some extent within professional service firms, and primarily in the form of a negative effect due to a work underdelegation. H2. Shortage gaming does not exist within the professional services context due to the close relation these firms have with its customers. H3. Batch ordering exists within professional service firms in the form of project clusters. Furthermore, managerial recommendations are also provided on how to mitigate the SBWE within the PSFs. My findings points towards a reduced emphasis on the individual utilization rate for the more senior consultants within the firm. Instead, I see that a larger emphasis should be put on the economic performance of projects when evaluating consultants that are project leaders. Research implications & limitations - As a single case, the research achieves a significant depth within the studied consultancy context, but have a limited generalizability. Therefore, the developed propositions will need to be tested within other types of PSFs, and thus with different sets of characteristics. / I denna studie har jag byggt vidare på teorier kopplade till Service Bullwhip Effect (SBWE) genom att undersöka konceptet inom den kunskapsintensiva tjänstesektorn. Detta har jag gjort genom en fallstudie på analys- och teknikkonsultföretaget WSP i form av en kvalitativ och kvantitativ datainsamling. Den insamlade empirin jämfördes med resultat från tidigare studier för att analysera huruvida SBWE existerar inom kunskapsintensiva tjänsteverksamheter, och hur denna effekt i så fall skiljer sig från andra tjänsteverksamheter. Utifrån analysen har jag fört en diskussion med koppling till de forskningsfrågor som styrt studien: F1. Hur skiljer sig Service Bullwhip Effect inom kunskapsintensiv tjänsteverksamhet jämfört med andra tjänsteverksamheter? F2. Hur kan Service Bullwhip Effect hanteras inom en kunskapsintensiv tjänsteverksamhet? Studiens slutsatser utifrån den första forskningsfrågan (F1) pekar bland annat på att en SBWE existerar till viss del inom kunskapsintensiva tjänsteföretag. Dock inte i samma utsträckning som inom icke kunskapsintensiva tjänsteverksamheter. Dessa slutsatser summeras i form av tre nya hypoteser: H1. The Service Bullwhip Effect existerar till viss del inom kunskapsintensiv tjänsteverksamhet, och främst i form av en negativ effekt på grund av en underdelegation av arbetsuppgifter. H2. Shortage Gaming existerar inte inom kunskapsintensiv tjänsteverksamhet på grund av den nära relationen med kunderna. H3. Batch ordering existerar inom kunskapsintensiv tjänsteverksamhet i form av uppdragskluster. De dragna slutsatserna konfirmerar därmed teorierna inom området samtidigt som branschspecifika adapteringar av teorin föreslås utifrån de särskilda förhållandena som råder inom den kunskapsintensiva tjänstesektorn. Dessa slutsatser har dock en låg generaliserbarhet och validitet då jag i denna studie undersökt ett specifikt fall, och därmed presenterar jag mina slutsatser i form av hypoteser som kräver testning genom ytterligare studier. Slutligen ger jag ledningsmässiga rekommendationer utifrån den andra forskningsfrågan (F2). Dessa rekommendationer har sitt fokus på hur SBWE kan motverkas utifrån det specifika fallet inom konsultföretaget, och hur en rådande underdelegation kan bearbetas av verksamhetens ledning. För att motverka SBWE, och en underdelegation av arbetsuppgifter, så rekommenderar jag bland annat att seniorkonsulterna utvärderas med en låg prioritet utifrån deras beläggningsgradskrav, och med hög prioritet utifrån deras ansvar över uppdragsekonomin.