Title: The front/back office configuration in new service development: case study of local commercial bank in China

Authors: Jing Hua Li; Qiu Bo Huang

Addresses: Research Centre for Technology Innovation and Service Management, School of Business Administration, Zhejiang Gongshang University, No. 18, Xuezheng Road, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310018, China ' Institute of Modern Services, Zhejiang Shuren University, No. 8, Shuren Street, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310015, China; Research Centre for Technology Innovation and Service Management, School of Business Administration, Zhejiang Gongshang University, No. 18, Xuezheng Road, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310018, China

Abstract: This study aims to gain the theory progress and practical insights on new service development (NSD) organisation. We outline the structure strategy type of NSD organisation by adopting the concept of front/back office, then we explore the factors determining those structure. Two-step exploratory case study is adopted in the investigation of four local commercial banks in China. Four types of configuration are defined, including the front/back offices-merging type, chelating type, parallel type, and embedding type. The study indicates affect factors of the adoption to front/back office configuration are multiple, such as authorisation level, organisational culture, and staff capability, etc. Our findings provide some preliminary insights into three key areas of service innovation, service types and NSD stages in general knowledge-intensive services.

Keywords: new service development; NSD; front office; back office; office configuration; interface; service innovation; commercial banks; banking industry; China; organisational structure; authorisation level; organisational culture; staff capability; service types; knowledge-intensive services; KIS.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSTM.2012.052858

International Journal of Services Technology and Management, 2012 Vol.18 No.3/4, pp.184 - 203

Published online: 09 Aug 2014 *

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