Using blueprinting and benchmarking to identify marketing resources that help co-create customer value

Outline

• Abstract
• Keywords
• 1. Introduction
• 2. Literature Review
• 2.1. Resource Based Theory
• 2.2. Rbt and Its Contribution to Services Management
• 2.3. Service Blueprinting and Rbt
• 2.4. Benchmarking and Rbt
• 3. Method
• 3.1. Research Setting
• 3.2. Benchmarking by Ausbargain
• 3.3. Measurement of the Quality of Service and Value Perceptions
• 3.4. Service Blueprinting by Ausbargain
• 4. Results
• 5. Discussion and Conclusions
• Appendix 1.
• References

Discussion and conclusions

The resource based theory has much to offer service management, as it helps focus practitioners on key aspects of their businesses and networks, which can provide a long-term competitive advantage. The critical aspect is to find the resources and capabilities that are most important for a specific organization. This paper suggests that service blueprinting and benchmarking are key methods for the implementation of the RBT, as they respectively target both ‘inside-out’ (operand) and ‘outside-in’ (operant) resources and capabilities. These approaches are particularly helpful in a market with poor industry practices. Blueprinting that provides assessment of organizational inside-out capabilities, and international and national benchmarking that provides information on outside-in capabilities seem particularly useful and are recommended by this and other service management studies (Aarikka-Stenroos & Jaakkola, 2012; Randall, Gravier, & Prybutok, 2011).

Service blueprinting and benchmarking provide service managers with a set of tools to identify the inside-out and outside-in capabilities critical to creating and delivering customer value. Ultimately, focusing on, investing in, maintaining and developing these critical resources and capabilities can lead to further innovations in service value and the creation of a sustainable competitive advantage. Focusing on RBT and its usability in creating customer value presents a new direction in service management research. Identifying and using the key resources and capabilities that create customer value is a necessary first step that can inform new approaches. Apart from a focus on value creation, RBT and service blueprinting can be used to assess service value and, consequently, to take appropriate action to improve service quality and overall service value. Benchmarking is a next step that many firms should consider in their attempts to determine the outside-in capabilities that provide customer value. Benchmarking is not only important in terms of identifying best internal practices but how these practices impact on consumers’ trust in their providers, which some researchers suggest is crucial for the co-creation of value (Randall et al., 2011).

The main issue when applying the RBT framework to services businesses is that, unlike firms that produce physical products, service organizations’ resources and capabilities are processes that co-create value with consumers. In other words, there is a partnership between consumers and providers who collectively co-create the value of the service (Lusch, Vargo, & O′Brien, 2007; Payne, Storbacka, & Frow, 2008; Vargo, Maglio, & Akaka, 2008), which is why blueprinting and benchmarking have great relevance to service businesses, as they identify the stages in which resources and capabilities are used in value creation. Through blueprinting and benchmarking, firms have a greater chance of identifying resources and capabilities that lead to the co-creation of value and to better managing these moments of truth (Spohrer & Maglio, 2008; Yazdanparast, Manuj, & Swartz, 2010). It seems that while competitive conditions and outcomes of benchmarking are important, so too are internal service delivery processes. Research into the application of RBT frameworks would gain much from an interdisciplinary approach, as such service engineering, logistics, strategic human resources management and operations science, as such approaches are likely to provide answers and directions for future practice. No research is without its limitations and this study is no different. We only examine one company in a single industry context. Future research should replicate the suggested methods (service blueprinting and benchmarking) in other industries and in a number of companies to demonstrate their usefulness for identifying critical resources for creating customer value. However, this paper makes an important contribution by showing how the application of RBT in a service management context improves organizational performance and, most importantly, improves service quality and customer value. Future research should consider not only an internal analysis of service processes and best industry practices, but also how consumers’ interactions with these processes create value for both parties (Payne et al., 2008). The suggestions made here are a significant first step that demonstrate RBT’s applicability in service management contexts, and provide an important future research agenda.