Service development and new service performance

VU Research Portal Service Development and New Service Performance Flikkema, M.J. 2008 document version Publisher's PDF, also known as Version of record Link to publication in VU Research Portal citation for published version (APA) Flikkema, M. J. (2008). Service Development and New Service Performance: A conceptual essay and a projectlevel study into the relationship between HRM practices and the performance of new services. General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal ? Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. E-mail address: vuresearchportal.ub@vu.nl Download date: 23. May. 2021 both in service industries and in manufacturing. Goods have become a qualifier, whereas the services offered have become the order winner. Human resources make a difference in both the delivery and the development of services. Well-designed and carefully applied HRM practices are therefore of utmost importance to service firms. This thesis presents the results of a cross-sectional, project-level study into the relationship between HRM practices and the performance of new services. Data analysis shows that both firm-level and project-level HRM practices indirectly contribute to new service performance. Autonomous and functionally diverse development teams outperform teams having low or moderate autonomy and teams composed of a limited number of functional disciplines. In addition, the study shows that job analysis, rewarding and selection practices in service development projects have positive performance consequences. This means that it makes sense to analyze the characteristics of new service development jobs ex-ante, to specify team member profiles accordingly, to select project managers and team members carefully, and to reward them after a successful market introduction. The results of the HRM-New Service Performance study reported in this thesis point to the relevance of embedding HRM practices in project management, in particular in innovation projects. These results complement those of studies claiming the importance of creativity, technological synergy and uncertainty reduction for the performance of new products and services. HRM practices stimulate employees to integrate and elaborate creative and market-driven ideas and they push their commercialization. Further research is required to test the external validity of the results, that is, to test the meaning of HRM practices in different projects and in project-based organizations. Service Development and New Service Performance Ongoing new service development represents a critical resource for survival and growth, Service Development and New Service Performance Meindert Flikkema A conceptual essay and a project-level study into the relationship between HRM practices and the performance of new services. Meindert Flikkema Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam CoverMeindert.indd 1 15-2-2008 10:05:00