Hsieh, Kuo-Nan (2011) The influence of inter-firm relationships and routines on service development: a study of Taiwanese convenient stores. Doctoral thesis (DPhil), University of Sussex.

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Abstract

This thesis examines how inter-firm relationships and routines influence the process and
outcomes of new service development (NSD). The research questions addressed are: 1)
How do inter-firm relationships and routines influence the speed of NSD? and 2) In
what ways do the different types of service development affect inter-firm relationships
and organisational routines associated with the speed of NSD? Prior research has
emphasized the importance of cooperating with other organizations to exploit external
sources of knowledge and capabilities, but relatively little is known about the specific
mechanisms to achieve this and how these affect the outcomes of new service
development. This research contributes to the literature on new service development and
innovation networks.

The research design consists of comparative case studies and draws on empirical
evidence from the development of two contrasting e-commerce services in the four
dominant Taiwanese convenience store chains. In total 52 interviews were conducted
with members of staff of convenience store chains and suppliers. The interviews were
analyzed using the thematic framework approach, which represents the patterns and
relationships in the interview data. Cross-case synthesis was chosen as the analytical
technique to summarize the findings from the individual cases.

The present study found that trust and interdependence have positive influence on the
speed of NSD. Intensity of inter-firm collaboration has a negative effect on the speed of
NSD under some circumstances (e.g. task complexity and project newness). Moreover,
the relationship between organizational routines for knowledge transfer and the speed of
NSD may vary under different degrees of project newness. The thesis demonstrates the
interaction of organizational and project level characteristics in new service
development, and the multi-dimensional nature of service development compared to
that of conventional product development.

Item Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Schools and Departments:	School of Business, Management and Economics > SPRU - Science Policy Research Unit
Subjects:	D History General and Old World > DS History of Asia > DS701 China > DS798.92 Taiwan H Social Sciences > HF Commerce
Depositing User:	Library Cataloguing
Date Deposited:	05 Jul 2011 07:24
Last Modified:	14 Aug 2015 14:21
URI:	http://srodev.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/6938
Google Scholar:	2 Citations

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