This document summarizes a research article about the relationship between creativity and standardization in knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS). The researchers studied a design company called Idiom to analyze how it balances customization and standardization. They found that Idiom uses a standardized "business design" working method with three project phases to support its creative output. This working method allows for customized solutions while maintaining quality and productivity standards. The researchers concluded that creativity-based KIBS can effectively couple creativity with standardization by codifying certain parts of their working processes.

1. ARTICLE ANALYSIS:
CREATIVITY VERSUS STANDARDIZATION
KNOWLEDGE-INTENSIVE BUSINESS
SERVICES: A REAL TRADE-OFF?
BETTIOL M., DI MARIA E. AND GRANDINETTI R.
Anna Perttu
Perttu Pohjola
24.11.2016

2. CONTENT
Introduction
Theoretical background
Data
Discussion
Conclusions

3. INTRODUCTION
 The role of standardization among knowledge-based business services (KIBS)
 Customization
 Standardization
 KIBS in design and communication  creativity
 Research question: “Can standardization and creativity go together?”
 The target of this study: to analyze relationships between creativity and standardization
in the KIBS processes.
 The scholars argue that trade-off between creativity and standardization can be solved.

4. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
Standardization in KIBS
 Standardized service: the same every time. Customized service: varies depending on the
situation and the individual needs of the customer.
 Services are tailor-made and more customized than manufactured activities
 Relationships are important in services and quality plays big role
 Challenges in customization
 Efficiency
 Measuring productivity
 Modularization, when service is possible to divide into parts that are interchangeable and can
be replaced using standard interfaces.
 Authors here argue that in cases where the output of service is entirely customized, KIBS
specializing in creativity-based services concentrate more on standardization of the
process than standardization of the product.

5. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
 Design and communication: Creativity based services
 In creativity based industries the output is usually unique
 The process is normally informal  lack of productivity
 The solutions
 Codification of creative activities
 Organizational support for creativity

6. CASE STUDY (DATA)
 A qualitative research approach
 Target company Idiom
 Resarch to analyze the definition and use of methods by KIBS specializing in design and
communication services
 Data was colleced in different ways: interviews with founders, managers, designer, and also articles
related to the company
 The case study was designed to explore:
 The structure and organization of the innovation and management process
 The structure and forms of relationships with customers
 The forms and nature of cooperation with other players in value chain
 The use of information and communication technologies
 Intellectuel property strategy
 The approach of knowledge management (also suppliers and customers roles)
 Case study aimed to point out the features of the working method

7. CASE STUDY (DATA)
 Working method called business design
 The idea behind this was improving business design through design
 Designing business models, supply chains and sustainable revenues
 Business partner for clients and understanding the clients
 Three phases in the projects
 1. Insights: Needs of the customer are surveyed
 2. Ideas: The transformation of concept into operational inputs
 3. Implemantation
 Knowledge management strategy
 Design process based on information and communication technology, and knowledge management plays
an important role
 The bank of ideas
 Junction (customized project management software)

8. DISCUSSION
 The elements characterizing the company´s working method
 Values
 The firm´s operating principles
 How people do their work (practical)
 The division of labor
 Creative input management
 How to improve creativity
 The degree of process codification

9. CONCLUSIONS
 The working method is a crucial tool for supporting the creative production in KIBS
 Helps to maintain standardized quality
 The continuity of firm´s input
 Productivity
 According to the results of the study customization can be pursued effectively and
efficiently beyond modularization with the aid of working method
 Creativity based services can be industrialized trough a detailed codification of KIBS´s activities
 KIBS can adopt appropriate strategies for effectively coupling creativity with
standardization

10. CONCLUSIONS
 The biggest finding of this study and the most useful input to this discussion between
standardization and customization is that the actual working method of a certain company
can, and in to some extent should, be standardized. By doing this, economic of scale and
other advantages could be achieved.

11. CONCLUSIONS
 Creativity plays bigger role in KIBS in the future. Organizational and managerial support is
important.
 It is current topic to research creativity and productivity together
 This article provides extremely good and useful perspective to the debate between
standardization and customization of KIBS
 Communication and design services are so creative branches that it is very hard to define
whether the KIBS services should be customized or standardized.
more useful is to define certain parts of the actual working process, which can be
customized. This can be achieved by codifying the KIBS-activities.

12. THANK YOU 