At present, service-oriented organizations must confront growing challenges and competition due to the rapid pace of digital transformation and a shortage of skilled workers, catalyzed by the COVID-19 pandemic. This publication-based dissertation project covers research on the antecedents of service innovation as dynamic capabilities with the aim of enhancing competitive advantage, given the current business dynamics. The first section of this dissertation introduces service innovation as a dynamic capability, emphasizes the need for antecedents of service innovation, and summarizes the four research papers that make up this dissertation. The second section presents a qualitative research paper employing a grounded theory approach. Digital leadership-related capabilities are conceptualized and the impact on dynamic service innovation capabilities in digital transformation contexts is derived using an inductive framework. The third section is a mixed-method research paper that qualitatively conceptualizes innovative new work practices in service organizations and quantitatively assesses their effects on workplace attractiveness for employees. The fourth section presents a multi-method exploratory research paper that identifies digital leadership capabilities using expert interviews and measures the influence of these capabilities on service innovation performance. The research paper in the fifth section uses a structural equation model as a methodological frame. It identifies employee-perceived service innovations and validates customer expectations within the context of political behavior. The sixth section concludes the dissertation project, summarizing the theoretical and practical contribution, describing limitations, and outlining further ideas for research.
Leadership's long arm
(2023)
Introduction: In this qualitative study, we examine digital leadership (DL) capabilities and their positive influence on the management of technology-driven change by leveraging service innovations. The context of digital transformation (DT) has triggered a new leadership paradigm, among others referred to as digital leadership (DL). However, despite its practical relevance, leadership research has yet paid little attention to conceptualise DL as an approach to digitally transform organisations.
Methods: Drawing on mid- and top-level mangers’ experiences with service innovation projects, and based on Grounded Theory, we develop a taxonomy of DL-related capabilities and a conceptual framework which exemplifies their influences on dynamic service innovation capabilities (DSICs). DSICs build on the dynamic capabilities view (DCV) and represent the “organisational muscle” to repeatedly deliver service innovations indicating an effective management of technology-driven change.
Results and Discussion: Taxonomy results show that aggregated dimensions in terms of a digital leader’s personal, social, and organisational capital serve as underpinnings (DL-related capabilities) to drive strategic change in DT contexts. The conceptual framework further reveals that especially the personal and organisational capital of a digital leader owns several strong and moderate influences on DSICs which demonstrates DL’s “long arm” on the management of technology-driven change. Our findings contribute to leadership research by advancing the conceptualisation of DL and by adding a novel micro-foundational perspective towards the DCV discourse. As organisations struggle to realise the full benefits of DT initiatives, our results also provide a valuable contribution for practitioners by supporting them to strategically prepare for the human-related challenges of DT.
This paper seeks to explore innovation in new work practices in the context of the current COVID-19 pandemic and identify which indicators of same lead to workplace attractiveness. From a socio-demographic perspective, service industry employees constituted the focus of this study. The study employed a two-step mixed-methods approach. First, the qualitative component deduced a data structure of innovative new work practices by conducting 21 semi-structured interviews with top- and middle-level managers. Second, hypotheses were formulated based on the qualitative data, and a quantitative survey with 155 employees was used to test the effectiveness and attractiveness of innovative new work practices using psychological empowerment as a mediator. The data structure was conceptualised according to three dimensions: (i) innovating approaches to new work, (ii) innovating leadership attitudes, and (iii) innovating organisational culture. The results of the quantitative study suggest that the innovation in leadership attitude and in organisational culture have a strong influence on psychological empowerment, thereby positively influencing workplace attractiveness. This article contributes to a uniform understanding of innovative work practices in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Through empirical testing, the article highlights specific indicators of innovation in work that lead to increased workplace attractiveness. Service organisations during such crises as pandemics can concentrate on the three dimensions and the specific indicators to implement innovative work measures while increasing workplace attractiveness for their employees.
Wo stehen Leipziger Unternehmen bei der Gestaltung einer innovationsförderlichen Unternehmenskultur? Ist Leipzig hinsichtlich der Innovationsfähigkeit wettbewerbsfähig? Was hat sich mit Corona und weiteren Großereignissen wie dem Ukraine-Krieg verändert? Das sind die zentralen Fragen, die mit der vom Amt für Wirtschaftsförderung der Stadt Leipzig geförderten und gemeinsam mit der Handelshochschule Leipzig (HHL) durchgeführten Studie zur Leipziger Innovationskultur beantwortet werden. Ziel war es, den Status-Quo der Innovationskultur in verschiedenen Branchen der Stadt Leipzig zu untersuchen und darauf aufbauend die wichtigsten Handlungsfelder für die Weiterentwicklung hin zu einer innovationsförderlichen Unternehmenskultur zu identifizieren.
Herausgeber: Digital Impact Labs Leipzig GmbH, ein Unternehmen der LF Gruppe und HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management. Gesamtleitung: Dr. Michael Wächter, Dr. Justine Walter, Prof. Dr. Claudia Lehmann, Silvia Schönstedt,Timo Brunner. Weitere Mitarbeit: Melina Friedrich. Artdirektion: Monique Beauvais. Leipziger Foren Services GmbH,
kontakt@digitalimpactdlabs.de
Leading in the digital age
(2023)
Although firms rely on employees’ innovative work behaviour and effective leadership to achieve service innovation performance, these relations remain underexplored, especially regarding digital leadership. We conceptualise a digital leader’s capabilities and explore influences on innovative work behaviour and service innovation performance, using the dynamic capabilities view as a theoretical lens. Applying a multi-method exploratory research design, our qualitative results, based on 34 expert interviews, deliver a taxonomy of digital leadership capabilities along three dimensions. With 249 survey participants, we quantitatively tested dimensional influences individually (multidimensional view) and collectively (unidimensional view) using structural equation modelling. In line with our mediation results, both views are significantly positively related to innovative work behaviour; still, only the unidimensional view significantly influences service innovation performance. Our results underpin the comprehensive character of digital leadership capabilities contributing to innovation research with a new “antecedal” perspective. We also provide practical relevance by revealing innovation-effective leadership capabilities.
The purpose is to provide a framework guiding service organizations while adopting new work practices and to specify effects of psychological empowerment. This research is based on a mixed-method approach to establish new theory and to determine correlations. It is claimed that the managerial framework ensures solid foundation for the quantitative analysis arguing that new work practices have positive effects on service organizations. This study contributes to new work and service literature by equipping service organizations with a framework and stating the positive effects on employees using psychological empowerment as a mediator where employees are the central resource to success.
New work practices in service organizations are perceived as a key factor to overcome external and internal challenges as well as to maintain a competitive position in the market. As academic literature solely addresses individual or fragmented measures of new work practices, literature lacks a holistic assessment for organizations revising their knowledge and updating their competencies in the field of new work. By applying a qualitative research approach the paper addresses how service organizations can acquire further competencies in the field of new work practices. Respectively, the paper identifies a conceptual framework of five dimensions: recruitment, leadership, organizational, requirements and needs as well as location decision. Therefore, the contribution of the paper is twofold. First, the paper contributes to the understanding of how new work practices are constituted and how they can foster the acquisition of knowledge in this field. Second, it introduces a conceptual framework service organizations can use as an assessment basis to revise and update
their understanding of work by implementing the five dimensions.
Leipziger New-Work-Studie
(2021)
Wie ist der aktuelle Stand von New Work in Leipziger Unternehmen? Was wünschen sich Arbeitgeber und Arbeitnehmende von der Arbeitswelt der Zukunft und welche Fähigkeiten müssen sie dazu mitbringen?
Diesen Fragen geht eine wissenschaftliche Untersuchung der Handelshochschule Leipzig (HHL) und der LF Gruppe nach.