This study examines the relationship between service provision and innovation in international professional service firms (IPSFs). Through an extended study in one IPSF, we find that innovation stems from the provision of services in the past and present. Different service provisions offer different learning opportunities which influence the modification, renewal, and creation of service concepts, service processes, technologies, and relationships. In order to take advantage of the learning opportunities, certain operational and dynamics capabilities are identified as important. With regard to operational capabilities, understanding customer needs, internal learning, formalization, external and relational learning, integration, and commercialization are identified as important capabilities. Further, two dynamic capabilities driving innovation are identified: learning and knowledge accumulation and scaling and expanding the service portfolio. The learning and knowledge accumulation capability is grounded in the efficient provision of standardized-provided services. By providing these services, insights into customer’s needs are gained, specialized expertise is developed, and reputation and legitimacy for solving novel and complex problems increase. The scaling and expanding capability enables the IPSF to develop customized–co-produced services into standardized-provided services over time with global outreach. Our study shows that careful management of the service portfolio is of utmost strategic importance for the sustainable competitive advantage of IPSFs.

E(lectronic)-democracy has the potential to promote democracy through the usage of Information Communication Technology (ICT), especially for direct democracy via increased citizen participation.

The paper discusses one aspect of rising importance and should be taken into consideration while discussing e-democracy, namely, time divide or the division into time-rich and time-poor. This division can become more visible and important in the longer perspective than today’s existing digital divide or illiteracy of using Internet.

This is an exploratory paper and the subject will need more investigation in order to compare the situation in different countries and under longer time periods.

During the last couple of years, there has been a tendency to include more and more political goals into public procurements, such as environmental and societal considerations. This can result in higher prices paid by the public sector compared with similar procurements in the private sector. The decision makers at local level are elected and should represent the interest of their communities andvoters, which includes promoting regional/local companies and economic development. This task can sometimes get into conflict with public procurement law or the political goals of a central government.

The aim of this paper is to analyse longitudinally the development of purchasing strategies in the automotive industry during the last 20 years. The amplitude of the business cycle during this time frame hasbeen very high and includes periods of financial/automotive crisis as well as high sales and demand. Our empirical data is primarily drawn from a 1990–2010 longitudinal case study of the relationship between automaker Volvo Personal Cars and Autoliv, a supplier of seat belts andairbags, complemented with secondary data framing the development of the industry level. The theoretical focus is on outsourcing and purchasing strategies developed within long‐lasting buyer‐supplier relationships;theoretical pillars are found in transaction‐cost theories and the resource‐based view of the firm.

Based on the longitudinal case study, our analysis pinpoints the importance of intimate cooperation between customer and supplier in areas close to the core values and core competences of the buyer (that is, the automaker). From an industry‐level perspective, the winners in the automobile industry from 2010 and onwards have been and will be those who can organize long‐term collaboration partnerships between the automakers, their suppliers, and the political stakeholders, and who can outsource a large part of the technical development to the suppliers in areas also close to the core competences. The automakers must accept that their suppliers have competing automakers as their customers and search for synergies in their product portfolio. Theoretically, there is a need for conceptual development through deeper studies of the firm’s relational capability and its implications.

Public procurement is one of the most frequent types of transactions between organizations, in this case between public and private ones. All types of transactions follow specific laws that regulate the rights and obligations of all parties involved.  All parties involved in public procurement have to adhere to the national public procurement law, which in the case of the European Union member states is based on the European Union directives for public procurement. The decision making process and a number of stakeholders as well as their specific goals in the public procurement differ from the purchasing process between private organizations.

This paper points out conflicts of interest in public procurement within three main areas:

-          Political versus value of money approach

-          Interest of EU versus member states

-          Interest of Central government versus regional/local governments

Already the base for the EU directives for public procurement can be a source of conflicts as the EU directives are derived from the five pillars of the Rome Treatise. These pillars are the base for the EU common market and none of them directly deals with public procurement. The EU directives, hence, also national public procurement laws, are there in order to fulfill the political goals of the common European market, which can be in conflict with economical and/or political goals of member states.

During the last couple of years, there has been a tendency to include more and more political goals into public procurements such as environmental and societal considerations. This can result in higher price paid by the public sector compared with similar procurements in the private sector.

The decision makers on regional/local levels are elected and should represent the interest of their communities and voters, which includes promoting regional/local companies and economic development. This task can sometimes get into conflict with the public procurement law or the central government political goals.

Public procurement is a large part of any country's economy, independently of its geographical location, political inclination or level of development. On average, public procurements amount to 17% of GDP among the EU countries (Bolkenstein, Frits, 2004).

Public procurement can be considered as a special case of business transactions between organizations. Public procurement is based on a different and stricter jurisdiction than transactions between private companies.

Just as in the private sector, the public sector strives to get the best possible deal. However, profit is not the driving force in the public sector, which means that public procurements have other and broader consequences than the private sector's purchasing activities.

Purpose

This paper explores, investigates and analyses positive and negative  consequences of different aspects of public procurement and its influence on the market and as a tool to achieve political goals.

The public sector is the biggest buyer on all national markets. The focus on public procurement and especially electronic public procurement has for several reasons increased in later years with more choices due to more competition nationally and internationally, rapid technical development which provides competing solutions, buying services instead of building own solutions etc.

Public procurement aims in the same way as the private sector’s purchasing for the best possible outcome in the short and long run. However, public procurement often also aims for achieving certain political goals, which can result in an array of consequences both for the procuring organization as well as for businesses and citizens.

Purpose – Despite the increased focus on industrial services in manufacturing companies, little research to date has focused on understanding the roles of local and central organizations in global service management. In order to address this research gap, the paper investigates how industrial service offerings are developed and managed in multinational manufacturing companies.

Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative case study with respondents from two internationally leading manufacturers was conducted. Eight industrial service offerings with different characteristics serve as units of analysis.

Findings – A broad portfolio of industrial service offerings implies having a very wide range of skill sets, including both global efficiency and local responsiveness. With specialized and extensive offerings, it becomes more important to have a high level of central-local and product-service integration and to internalize service provision. Furthermore, with global customers, the central service organization needs to assume a more prominent role, initiating both an organizational exploitation of current service capabilities and the exploration of new ones.

Research limitations/implications – The main focus was on service offerings performed by high-volume manufacturing companies operating primarily in developed markets.

Originality/value – Previous studies of industrial service management in manufacturing companies have not explicitly considered the roles of central and local organizations. Thus, the authors were able to complement the existing theory. The paper promotes a deeper understanding of the complexity of managing service offerings on a global basis.

Outsourcing has long term implications that sometimes can be difficult to foresee at the time of the deal. After the original outsourcing contract expires it becomes necessary to purchase the now outsourced functionality through recurring procurements. This is especially important in case of the public sector. This paper identifies three main types of outsourcing in the public sector: hiving off, outsourcing with taking over of the staff and without taking over of the staff.