In recent years, applied studies have shown widespread, profound and increasing heterogeneity across firms in terms of their strategy, organization arrangement and performance. This book investigates the diversity of business firms, offering a picture of the different organizational settings...

Trust deals with a range of questions such as: what are the roles of trust? What can we trust in? Can trust serve as an instrument for the governance of relations? Is trust a substitute, a precondition or an outcome of contracts? The author then goes on to analyse what trust is based on, what...

pt. I. The micro-foundations of economic organization : extending behavioral assumptions on knowledge, interest, and rationality -- pt. II. The constitution of economic organization between interacting and contracting -- pt. III. The shaping of economic organization between design and evolution...

Archetypes are common patterns containing hidden images of human motivations, offering inspiration and awakening imagination. This book is a collection of such tales, connected to twelve organizational archetypes, where each is illustrated by more general theoretical reflections, current...

The authors of this fascinating and original work contend that by analysing the conduct of organization members, a great deal can be learnt about firm behaviour and about the cooperative and competitive forces that underlie industry evolution

"If Design is about forming materials, then what are the materials of Service Design? In this ground-breaking book, Johan Blomkvist, Simon Clatworthy and Stefan Holmlid explore this question by establishing a discourse around the materials of service design, discussing materials as a means to...

"This Handbook examines the impacts of AI on the innovation of services, service processes and business models. It presents state-of-the-art conceptual and empirical evidence concerning uses and applications of AI in different service sectors and from varying perspectives. Experts from across...

The definition and measurement of productivity in services raises important conceptual, methodological and strategic problems. This book aims to provide a critical review of the main debates on productivity in the domain of services. The first part examines the theoretical consequences of...

Economic Performance in the Americas compares the economic performances of Brazil, Mexico and the USA over the past half century. As with most other high and middle-income countries their economies are service-sector orientated and have been for several decades. This book encompasses all sectors...

This compilation of original essays by an international cast of top scholars addresses some of the major issues now facing postal and delivery services throughout the world. The European Commission and member states wrestle with the problem of how to implement the scheduled liberalization of...