The circular economy (CE) is heralded as reducing material use and emissions while providing more jobs and growth. We explored this narrative in a series of expert workshops, basing ourselves on theories, methods and findings from science fields such as global environmental input-output analysis, business modelling, industrial organisation, innovation sciences and transition studies. Our findings indicate that this dominant narrative suffers from at least three inconvenient truths. First, CE can lead to loss of GDP. Each doubling of product lifetimes will halve the related industrial production, while the required design changes may cost little. Second, the same mechanism can create losses of production jobs. This may not be compensated by extra maintenance, repair or refurbishing activities. Finally, ‘Product-as-a-Service’ business models supported by platform technologies are crucial for a CE transition. But by transforming consumers from owners to users, they lose independence and do not share in any value enhancement of assets (e.g., houses). As shown by Uber and AirBNB, platforms tend to concentrate power and value with providers, dramatically affecting the distribution of wealth. The real win-win potential of circularity is that the same societal welfare may be achieved with less production and fewer working hours, resulting in more leisure time. But it is perfectly possible that powerful platform providers capture most added value and channel that to their elite owners, at the expense of the purchasing power of ordinary people working fewer hours. Similar undesirable distributional effects may occur at the global scale: the service economies in the Global North may benefit from the additional repair and refurbishment activities, while economies in the Global South that are more oriented towards primary production will see these activities shrink. It is essential that CE research comes to grips with such effects. Furthermore, governance approaches mitigating unfair distribution of power and value are hence essential for a successful circularity transition.
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One of the claims the OER movement makes is that availability of (open) digital learning materials improves the quality of education. The promise is the ability to offer educational programs that take into account specific demands of the learner. The question is how to reach a situation where a customized demand can be met using OER with acceptable quality against acceptable costs. This situation resembles mass customization as is common in industry for several decades now. Techniques from an industry where an end product is assembled with the demands of the customer as a starting point can be translated to the field of education where courses and learning paths through a curriculum are assembled using a mixture of open and closed learning materials and learning services offered by an institution. Advanced IT support for both the modeling of the learning materials and services and a configurator to be used by a learner are necessary conditions for this approach.
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The capacity to guide the evolution and creation of new products (manufactured goods or services) is crucial for the enterprise's profitability. Hence, enterprises have acquired the capacity to manage the future of their product portfolio. However, companies that offer a combination of manufactured goods and services as an integrated system or a Product-Service System confront challenging conditions to maintain or increase their market share due to the complex relationship between manufacturing and service production systems. The complexity of a PSS makes it challenging to adapt its physical products to new customer requirements, satisfy new standards, or develop/adopt new technologies because any modification in one part of the system will undoubtedly affect the other. Therefore, it is necessary to propose an approach for managing the development process of a PSS from a broad perspective. The approach presented in this article combines the advantages of the Business Model Canvas to define the crucial functions of a business model with the service blueprinting capacity to represent service processes. The proposal describes a five stages methodology: Conceptualization, Business Model Design, Product-Service System (PSS) Scenarios, Blueprint design, and Validation. The methodology helps the analysis of a PSS from three perspectives: product, use, and result, which are the typical PSS scenarios. A case study applied to a company that distributes purified water is helpful to illustrate the methodology. Finally, the methodology includes some aspects that favor implementing creative and dynamic business models, emphasizing the constant changes in the evolution of products and services.
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Consumers currently place increasing importance on the values that companies represent. Modern values such as transparency, benevolence to society, sustainability and fairness are becoming more relevant, as noted by many major consulting firms among which are Nielsen (2013), the World Federation of Advertisers (2013) and the Boston Consultancy Group (2013). Modern values are grounded in social, political and economic developments and represent the new values of this era. As a consequence, a company’s value to consumers no longer has to lie solely in its products and services. This new, broader scope of value may include the entire business process and organizational culture, ranging from the management’s integrity to values being found in the company’s contributions to society. Although the role of values in human behaviour has been extensively discussed in the psychology literature since the beginning of the 1900s (e.g. Feather 1995; Hofstede 1980; Olson and Maio 2003; Rokeach 1973; Schwartz 2012), limited attention has been dedicated to values in marketing literature. This was the conclusion of a systematic literature review that we conducted on this subject (Voorn et al. 2016). As a follow-up, we organized an online survey (n = 1109) to empirically investigate the role of values in the brand selection process. In this paper, we report on the relationship between values and brand purchase intentions through the concept of value congruence and in relation to several product categories representing services, durables and consumables. Overall, the results confirm the relevance of value congruence as a predictor of brand purchase, in particular in services and durables. Our study shows that companies can benefit from incorporating values into their marketing strategies, especially those values that are congruent with (higher-order) personal goals, rather than more (instrumental) category-specific values. This offers new marketing perspectives, especially for brands. Brands are – by definition – more than just one product or service, which means they can serve as an umbrella for the incorporation and propagation of new values. However, an important question remains for the brand manager: the extent to which values have an advantage over brand personality traits and functional attributes, since investing in values is not only about communication – it means that an organization needs to embody them in the very fibre of its being; otherwise it may be perceived as ‘green washing’, which can undermine brand trust.
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Although there exist various product and services to support people with dementia in their everyday activities and challenges, people with dementia and their informal caregivers experience many unmet needs. In this paper, we present the ongoing development process of a decision aid that aims to reveal these unmet needs and match them with relevant support and care solutions. This entails investigating the needs of people with dementia and caregivers, making an inventory of the product and service solutions, co-creating the question articulation to be used in the decision aid and developing and testing three design concepts. We aim that the insights we gained from the tests will inspire interaction designers and researchers that investigate person-centered dementia care.
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The definition of ‘Assistive Technology’ (AT) includes both assistive products and the services or actions necessary for safe and effective provision of the assistive products to people who need them. International standards and product specifications exist for assistive products. Despite huge unmet need for effective AT provision, a variety of service delivery models across different countries, and a shortage of personnel trained in this field, nowidely useable and accepted AT service provision guidelines currently exist. Aligned with contemporary global initiatives to improve access to AT, a scoping review was commissioned to inform the development of globally useable provision guidance. The aim was to deliver a rapid scoping review of the literature regarding quality guidelines for AT service provision. Method: The rapid scoping review utilised a two-tiered approach to identifying relevant publications: 1) systematic search of academic databases; 2) consultation with assistive technology organisations. The review was conducted in March 2023 across four databases (Medline, CINAHL, SCOPUS and Google Scholar) with no date limitations. Systematic outreach to international and global AT networks was used to access expert informants. Non-English publications were included utilizing Google Translate and support from expert informants to verify content. Analysis was guided by the body of work on quality AT provision and service delivery processes in Europe, as well as the World Health Organization-GATE 5P framework for strengthening access to AT. Results: The search strategies yielded 41 publications from diverse countries, and directed at differing assistive products, personnel and provision contexts. Results are reported from the charted data through to the data extraction framework, including type of publication, study design, audience and reach. We report on the type of AT and the AT provision ecosystem elements discussed, and service delivery process or steps and quality criteria service delivery. Conclusion: This review did not find established guidelines or standards for service provision, but it did identify key service delivery steps which may form part of such guidelines, and many of the 3 publications included mentioned the need for practice guidelines. Despite different contexts such as type of assistive product, recipient of the guidance, language, location and authorship, core elements of AT provision including service delivery steps can be identified. Consideration regarding the nuances of vocabulary, of process, and of enabling flexible foci, is recommended in systematizing globally applicable guidance. This review offers a strong starting point for developing guidance for assistive technology provision to meet global need.
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Background: Recent transitions in long-term care in the Netherlands have major consequences for community- dwelling older adults. A new paradigm expects them to manage and arrange their own care and support as much as possible. Technology can support this shift. A study has been conducted to explore the needs of community- dwelling frail older adults with regard to an online platform. An existing platform was subsequently modified, based upon these needs, resulting in an online community care platform (OCC-platform) comprising of care, health, and communication functions. The purpose of this platform was to support frail older adults in their independence and functioning, by stimulating self-care and providing reliable information, products and services. Methods: The study used a User-Centred Design. The development processes involved the following steps: Step 1) Identification of the User Requirements. To assess the user requirements, direct observations (N = 3) and interviews (N = 14) were performed. Step 2) Modification of an Existing Online Platform. Based upon Step 1, available online platforms were explored to determine whether an existing useful product was available. Two companies collaborated in modifying such a platform; Step 3) Testing the Modified Platform. A total of 73 older adults were invited to test a prototype of the OCC-platform during 6 months, which comprised of two phases: (1) a training phase; and (2) a testing phase. Results: An iterative process of modifications resulted in an interactive software concept on a Standard PC, containing 11 Functions. The Functions of ‘contacts’, ‘services’ and ‘messaging’, were by far, the most frequently used. The use was at its highest during the first 2 weeks of the testing and then its use steadily declined. The vast majority of the subjects (94%) were positive about the usability of the platform. Only a minority of the subjects (27%) indicated that the platform had added value for them. Conclusion: The overall prospect was that an OCC-platform can contribute to the social participation and the self-management competencies of frail older adults, together with their social cohesion in the community. In order to validate these prospects, further research is needed on the characteristics and the impact of online platforms.
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Businesses today are facing ever greater competition. Products and services need to be delivered faster, more efficiently and at lower price. Companies are forced to supply customised products: demand-oriented production. In order to meet this changing demand, companies have to subcontract and collaborate. An efficient web service system that defines tasks and roles is indispensable for achieving this. The spiders in the web are people. People have a number of tools to hand that enable them to design or adapt the process-oriented organisation. In this regard, people have access to an ever increasing number of standardised process objects (web services) that are available via the Internet.
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‘Creating the Difference’ is the theme of the 2014 edition of the Chi Sparks conference. It is also the challenge that the Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) community is facing today. HCI is a creative field where practitioners engage in design, production, and evaluation of interactions between people and digital technology. Creating excellent interfaces for people, they make a difference in media and systems that people are eager to use. Usability and user experience are fundamental for achieving this, as are abilities at the forefront of technology, but key to a successful difference is getting the right concepts, addressing genuine, intrinsic, human needs. Researchers and practitioners contribute to this area from theory as well as practice by sharing, discussing, and demonstrating new ideas and developments. This is how HCI creates a difference for society, for individuals, businesses, education, and organizations. The difference that an interactive product or service makes might lie in the concept of it but also in the making, the creation of details and the realisation. It is through powerful concepts and exceptional quality of realisation that innovation is truly achieved. At the Chi Sparks 2014 conference, researchers and practitioners in the HCI community convene to share and discuss their efforts on researching and developing methods, techniques, products, and services that enable people to have better interactions with systems and other people. The conference is hosted at The Hague University of Applied Sciences, and proudly built upon the previous conferences in Arnhem (2011) and Leiden (2009). Copyright van de individuele papers ligt bij de betreffende auteurs.
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An overview of innovations in a particular area, for example retail developments in the fashion sector (Van Vliet, 2014), and a subsequent discussion about the probability as to whether these innovations will realise a ‘breakthrough’, has to be supplemented with the question of what the added value is for the customer of such a new service or product. The added value for the customer must not only be clear as to its direct (instrumental or hedonic) incentives but it must also be tested on its merits from a business point of view. This requires a methodology. Working with business models is a method for describing the added value of products/services for customers in a systematic and structured manner. The fact that this is not always simple is evident from the discussions about retail developments, which do not excel in well-grounded business models. If there is talk about business models at all, it is more likely to concern strategic positioning in the market or value chain, or the discussion is about specifics like earning- and distribution-models (see Molenaar, 2011; Shopping 2020, 2014). Here we shall deal with two aspects of business models. First of all we shall look at the different perspectives in the use of business models, ultimately arriving at four distinctive perspectives or methods of use. Secondly, we shall outline the context within which business models operate. As a conclusion we shall distil a research framework from these discussions by presenting an integrated model as the basis for further research into new services and product.
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