CALL FOR PAPERS

SSE/SAÏD BUSINESS SCHOOL CONFERENCE ON PROFESSIONAL SERVICE FIRMS

9-11 July, 2017
Stockholm School of Economics, Stockholm, Sweden

Call for papers: Service co-creation and delivery

The theme for the 2017 conference on professional service firms sponsored by Saïd Business School is service co-creation and delivery. While considerable research efforts have been made to understand how professional service firms function, more limited work has been done on the services these firms deliver.

Thus, more work is warranted on how their services are delivered to and co- created with clients. Over the last 15-20 years there has been an increasing recognition that services – and in particular professional services – are designed and created in co-operation with clients and that value in many cases is as dependent on the client as on the professional. We encourage submissions that reflect a wide range of topics that the terms service delivery and co- creation encompass. The below, non-exclusive, list of topics is indicative of the aims of the conference:

• What constitutes a highly valuable professional service for a client? What are key determinants of value in professional services?
• What are key contingencies in how value is created and perceived; i.e. what are key commonalities and what are key differences in how professional service value is created/perceived in different client industries, geographies or institutional domains?
• How do PSFs create value for clients before a service is delivered, during services-creation and after the service is delivered?
• How do new technology, digitalization and new business models affect service delivery and value creation?
• How are services developed over time, and what is the role of clients in the service innovation process?
• How are client needs and value defined in the context of service purchasing? What is the role of individual, firm and service reputation and status in this context?
• What are conflicting demands in professional services and how can firms balance these conflicts? How are paradoxes dealt with and ambidexterity created?
• How are human resources managed to maximize the value created from professional services? What is the role of the staffing function and process and how is quality in service delivery ensured?
• How can individual characteristics of professionals in PSFs explain the sometimes significant differences in effectiveness and value creations (e.g. as measured by their billing rates)?
• How does leadership impact client delivery and value co-creation?
• How do ecosystems impact the development and service delivery of professional services? Which are key actors in these systems and how do they collaborate in the co-creation of value?

We welcome papers using a variety of theoretical perspectives, research approaches and methodology as well as conceptual papers.

Timing and Venue:

The conference will be held July 9th – 11th at the Stockholm School of Economics, Stockholm, Sweden (following the EGOS conference in Copenhagen). It starts with an informal dinner on the evening of Sunday July 9th and ends with a lunch on Tuesday the 11th of July.

The Stockholm School of Economics is situated at the center of Stockholm (more information can be found on SSE’s website: https://www.hhs.se/en/contact/, see also Stockholm City’s website for visitors: http://www.visitstockholm.com/en/.

It takes about one hour by plane from Copenhagen to Stockholm and direct low cost flights are available.

The Journal of Professions and Organization

Journal of Professions and Organizations

The conference will once again partner with the Journal of Professions and Organization (JPO), launched in 2013 by Oxford University Press to further research on professionals and their organizations. The PSF Hub at Oxford is sponsoring JPO’s 2015/16 Best Paper Award, and the winners will be recognized during a short ceremony at the Conference. JPO Editor-in-chief, David Brock (dmb@bgu.ac.il), will attend the conference to encourage potential submissions to the journal.

Additional Information

There is no fee for registration, accommodation, or meals for those who are invited to attend, but all delegates will be expected to cover their own travel costs. Further information will be made available to participants via the conference website in early 2017 once decisions on papers have been made.

In the first instance, please send an abstract of up to 1200 words to PSFconference@sbs.ox.ac.uk.

Deadline for submissions is 15th of February 2017.

We look forward to your submissions!

Kind regards,

Frida Pemer, Tale Skjølsvik and Andreas Werr

The Nordic Professional Service Firm Hub Represented by Stockholm School of Economics

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