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Omni-Channel Service Architectures in a Technology-Based Business Network: An Empirical Insight

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Exploring Service Science (IESS 2018)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing ((LNBIP,volume 331))

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Abstract

This article investigates the existing omni-channel service architectures in the front-office of technology-based business networks. It discusses the implications from the existing alignment between the network-preferred channel with other channels and clients. The methodological approach is qualitative, exploratory in nature, and employs case study research in a large private retail bank in Portugal. It includes multiple sources of data collection for corroboration purposes, including semi-structured interviews, direct observation and institutional documents. Although we have identified four types of omni-channel architectures in a business network context, the case analysis revealed that only two of them meet all the requirements, namely: the mixed services and pure virtual services. For academics this is the first attempt to discuss a growing topic in the operations management literature. Thus, this study may also help practitioners to understand the challenges they may have to deal with an omni-channel strategy in a business network context.

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Acknowledgment

This work is partially financed by funds from CINAMIL/CISD research and development center. Furthermore, we would like to thank the continuous support of the Polytechnic Institute of Viseu and CI&DETS.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Military Science and CINAMIL/CISD, Military Academy, Lisbon, Portugal

    João Reis

  2. Department of Economics, Management and Industrial Engineering and Tourism, and GOVCOPP, Aveiro University, Aveiro, Portugal

    Marlene Amorim

  3. Department of Management and CI&DETS, School of Technology and Management of Viseu, Polytechnic Institute of Viseu, Viseu, Portugal

    Nuno Melão

Authors
  1. João Reis
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  2. Marlene Amorim
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  3. Nuno Melão
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to João Reis .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Karlsruhe Service Research Institute (KSRI), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany

    Gerhard Satzger

  2. INESC TEC, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal

    Lia Patrício

  3. Institute for Manufacturing, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

    Mohamed Zaki

  4. Karlsruhe Service Research Institute (KSRI), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany

    Niklas Kühl

  5. Karlsruhe Service Research Institute (KSRI), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany

    Peter Hottum

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Reis, J., Amorim, M., Melão, N. (2018). Omni-Channel Service Architectures in a Technology-Based Business Network: An Empirical Insight. In: Satzger, G., Patrício, L., Zaki, M., Kühl, N., Hottum, P. (eds) Exploring Service Science. IESS 2018. Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing, vol 331. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-00713-3_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-00713-3_3

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-00712-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-00713-3

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