Service modularity: literature overview of concepts, effects, enablers, and methods

Service modularity in e-learning programs: an analysis from the perceived usefulness perspective

Purpose

This study investigates the effects of service modularity on the perceived usefulness (PU) of e-learning programs through the perceived ease of use (PEoU) and service customization.

Design/methodology/approach

Structural equation modeling was used to test four hypotheses with survey data from 517 undergraduates in Turkey.

Findings

Results show that service modularity affects the PU of e-learning programs through the PEoU. Service customization negatively moderates the effect of service modularity on the PEoU, but positively moderates the effect of the PEoU on the PU of e-learning programs.

Practical implications

This study offers insights that support the decisions of policymakers and higher education institutions on how to design appealing e-learning programs cost-effectively.

Social implications

This study reveals the determinants of the PU of e-learning, which could support the democratization of access to higher education in emerging countries where barriers to higher education are relatively greater than in developed countries.

Originality/value

The concept of service modularity is explored in the e-learning context from the students' perspective. This study shows that the standardized interfaces across course modules increase the PU of e-learning programs by improving the ease of use. It also shows, interestingly, that service customization, enabled by modularity, is not always appreciated by service consumers, because of the potential extra effort demanded in communicating their unique needs to service providers.

Value configurations for balancing standardization and customization in chronic care: a qualitative study

BACKGROUND

Demands for both customization and standardization are increasing in healthcare. At the same time, resources are scarce, and healthcare managers are urged to improve efficiency. A framework of three value configurations - shop, chain, and network - has been proposed for how healthcare operations can be designed and organized for efficient value creation. In this paper, use of value configurations for balancing of standardization and customization is explored in the context of care for chronic mental conditions.

METHODS

A typical case is presented to illustrate the manifestations of conflicting demands between customization and standardization, and the potential usefulness of the value configurations framework. Qualitative data were collected from managers and care developers in two focus groups and six semi-structured interviews, completed by a national document describing a care pathway. Data were coded and analysed using an insider-outsider approach.

RESULTS

Operationalization of the balance between standardization and customization were found to be highly delegated and ad hoc. Also, the conflict between the two demands was often seen as aggravated by scarce resources. Value configurations can be fruitful as a means of discussing and redesigning care operations if applied at a suitable level of abstraction. Applied adequately, all three value configurations were recognized in the care operations for the patient group, with shop as the overarching configuration. Some opportunities for improved efficiency were identified, yet all configurations were seen as vital in the chronic care process.

CONCLUSIONS

The study challenges the earlier proposed organizational separation of care corresponding to different value configurations. Instead, as dual demand for customization and standardization permeates healthcare, parallel but explicated value configurations may be a path to improved quality and efficiency. Combined and intermediate configurations should also be further investigated.

Sustainability as a Challenge and Driver for Novel Ecosystemic 6G Business Scenarios

Climate change, the deterioration of the environment and exceeding Earth’s carrying capacity are major threats in operating environment which require new actions in industrialized and digitalized society. In parallel with the global deployment of 5th generation (5G) mobile communication networks, the telecommunication community has already started to envision 6G networks that target the year 2030. This paper discusses the unprecedented opportunities in the future 6G ecosystem specifically from the business perspective and applies a futures-oriented scenario planning method utilized in two strategy workshops in 2020. The paper portrays four scenario themes and a total of 16 alternative future scenarios for the business of 6G. Through the identification of key trends, their interactions, and related uncertainties, the scenario development process generates alternative futures where 6G business strategies are then developed and assessed through the business model perspective. Scenarios were created under four themes: user experience, business, sustainability, and geopolitics and they are discussed in terms of economical, societal, and environmental perspectives. The findings of the paper highlight the achievement of a preferred sustainable future that calls for attention to the privacy and security aspects considering business and regulatory needs: public/governmental, corporate, community, and human perspectives and aims of governance; ecosystem configuration related to users, decentralized business models, and platforms; user empowerment; and the role of service location-specificity. The findings indicate that it is vital to bring together relevant stakeholders to solve sustainability problems within the ecosystem and pay special attention to open ecosystem-focused value configuration and decentralized poly-nodal power configuration, while responding to the diversified demands of various users across the different verticals.