Knowledge Transfer in Service Research

Due to the influence of economic changes, young SMEs which are at the corporate identification stage of development must pay particular attention to general conditions such as the micro and macro environment. These often difficult starting points and problem situations make adjustment processes essential as there is freedom to act and the pursued strategies need to be reconsidered. Priority for all young SMEs is stable, sustainable and healthy growth. Therefore, it is a key management task to deal with the definition, planning, and implementation of strategies. The objective of this thesis was to generate practical knowledge for young SMEs in the area of strategic corporate planning and service engineering and establish a workable and applicable phase approach for management. The research results were systematized and evaluated to an action plan for a solution of the problem. The applications of the different instruments have been evaluated for their practicability using primary research in 17 multiple case studies over a two-year period. The evaluations of these case studies highlight the applicability of instruments in young SMEs. Based on these results, consequences were derived and future strategic challenges were pointed out.

Patrick Siegfried, born 1967 in Kassel, studied business administration at the University of Cooperative Education Mannheim, at the University of Bradford/UK, at the University of Wroclaw/PL as well as at the Leipzig Graduate School of Management. As a research assistant at the WHL Graduate School of Business and Economics in Lahr he was involved in a research project of the Baden-Württemberg Stiftung. About this research project is this dissertation, which was successfully defended for the PhD degree at the University of Kaposvár/HU in January 2014.