Understanding Service Value through Case Study Research

*This Lab. is not accepting new student.

KOHDA Laboratory
Professor：KOHDA Youji

E-mail：
［Research areas］
Service Science
［Keywords］
Internet service, social innovation sharing service, qualitative analysis

Skills and background we are looking for in prospective students

Students who read books habitually and write logically
Students who are interested in what is happening in society

What you can expect to learn in this laboratory

• The source of organizational competitiveness is the knowledge and skills of the organization members. Knowledge and skills themselves are useless; the people who know how to use them are of value.
• It is also necessary to update knowledge and skills in keeping with the rapid pace of technological development. “Just knowing” or “just doing” has no value in the age of AI and robotics. “Learning how to learn” gives you a competitive advantage for your whole career.

【Job category of graduates】 Information and communication industry, service industry

Research outline

It is not enough to just examine goods and money exchange to comprehend the essence of service business. We are engaged in case study research on the latest service phenomena, to clarify the principle/mechanism of service value co-creation.

In our world today, several service phenomena (e.g. sharing services) that raise fresh and interesting research questions (RQs) are emerging. We are expecting to approach the study of service science by answering research questions.

The form of research questions determines the adequacy of the research methods. Case study research is a research method that answers “how” and “why” type questions.

Qualitative analysis is mainly used to derive theoretical propositions from interview data. QCA (qualitative comparative analysis) is applied to get insights from questionnaire data, in addition to conventional statistical analysis.

We have been focusing on sharing services and have conducted research on various sharing services, noting the value creation that is unique to each service. We have also conducted research on Islamic banking, noting its similarity to sharing services.

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How did Didi Chuxing outcompete Uber?

Uber’s business model has been accepted in the global market. Uber’s service value is price transparency, which provides comfort and security for people visiting unfamiliar countries. On the other hand, Didi Chuxing (滴滴出行) in China has integrated the price negotiation mechanism into its business model, which conforms to social customs in China. This is why Didi Chuxing outcompeted Uber in the Chinese market.

Key publications

1. Youji Kohda. (2020). Mastering Creating Value. Journal of Creating Value, 6(2),149-154.
2. Janthorn Sinthupundaja, Navee Chiadamrong, Youji Kohda. (2019). Internal capabilities, external cooperation and proactive CSR on financial performance. The Service Industries Journal, 39(15-16), 1099-1122.
3. Napaporn Rianthong, Aussadavut Dumrongsir, Youji Kohda. (2016). Improving the Multidimensional Sequencing of Hotel Rooms on an Online Travel Agency Web Site. Electronic Commerce Research and Applications, 17, 74-86.

Equipment

QDAS: Qualitative Data Analysis Software