Table A2 Interview protocol. Section... | Emerald Publishing

Table A2

Interview protocol.

Section	Topic	Questions
1	Identification of the respondent	• What is your position inside the company today?
		• What are the main responsibilities connected to your working position?
		• Does your current working position include transversality between organizational functions? – If yes, which ones?
		• Does your current working position involve direct contact with external actors? – If yes, which ones?
		• Is this your first role in the company? – If not, which role(s) did you perform previously?
		• How long have you been working in the company?
		• Do you have working experience in other firms? – If yes, which ones?
2	Description of the DSS	• Can you describe the DSS of the firm? – What have been the main phases or stages, experienced along with the DSS? – In your opinion, what are the critical events characterizing the DSS?
		• In temporal terms, when did the firm start considering the option of a DSS? – When did the official implementation of the DSS start? – What are the main events that followed the official start?
		• Was the firm involved in service strategies before officially investing in the DSS? – If yes, how?
		• How would you define the service orientation of the firm before the DSS? – Would you define it differently today, after the initiation of the DSS?
		• Which stage of the DSS process do you think the firm is experiencing today?
		• What do you think will happen next? – What are your expectations about the future developments of the DSS?
3	Implications of the DSS and solutions	• Could you identify the conditions that triggered the idea of the DSS?
		• While evaluating the DSS idea, what were the main concerns and perceived barriers? – What were, instead, the facilitators in choosing to invest?
		• After the initial decision to invest, what were the main changes? – Internally, what happened at the organizational level? – What were the main organizational criticalities? – Did some resistances emerge? – If yes, of what kind? How have they been managed? – Which functions were mostly involved in the DSS at this stage? – What did you perceive as the main advantage of the DSS at this stage? – How was the leadership involved in this stage? – Did you need the support of external actors? – If yes, what actors? – For what purposes? – Did some existing relations with external actors modify because of the DSS? – If yes, which ones and why? – What were the main difficulties in the relationship with the external actors at this stage, if any? – How have they eventually been managed?
		• During the official launch of the DSS, what were the main changes? – Internally, were some changes in the organizational structure required? – If yes, of what type and why? – What were the main barriers that you perceived during this stage of the DSS? – How have they eventually been managed? – What advantages of the DSS did you perceive in this stage, if any? – What was the reaction of employees? – How was the leadership involved in this stage? – Toward the external actors, what happened? – Were new actors involved at this stage? – If yes, which ones and why? – What barriers did you perceive in the relation with external actors? – If any, which ones and in relation to which actor? How have they eventually been managed? – How did customers react to the introduction of digital services?
		• What are the main activities led today in relation to the DSS? – Do you feel there are still internal criticalities related to the DSS? – If yes, which ones? – What strategies of the firm do you think we’re the most effective to solve previous criticalities if any? – What is today the response of employees to the DSS? – What are the perceived advantages acquired from the DSS today? – How is the leadership involved in the DSS today? – How is now the responsibility of the external actors to the DSS? – How do customers react to the DSS today? – How is the relationship with suppliers managed? – What is the institutional and public response of the market to the DSS?

Section	Topic	Questions
1	Identification of the respondent	• What is your position inside the company today?
		• What are the main responsibilities connected to your working position?
		• Does your current working position include transversality between organizational functions?– If yes, which ones?
		• Does your current working position involve direct contact with external actors?– If yes, which ones?
		• Is this your first role in the company?– If not, which role(s) did you perform previously?
		• How long have you been working in the company?
		• Do you have working experience in other firms?– If yes, which ones?
2	Description of the DSS	• Can you describe the DSS of the firm?– What have been the main phases or stages, experienced along with the DSS?– In your opinion, what are the critical events characterizing the DSS?
		• In temporal terms, when did the firm start considering the option of a DSS?– When did the official implementation of the DSS start?– What are the main events that followed the official start?
		• Was the firm involved in service strategies before officially investing in the DSS?– If yes, how?
		• How would you define the service orientation of the firm before the DSS?– Would you define it differently today, after the initiation of the DSS?
		• Which stage of the DSS process do you think the firm is experiencing today?
		• What do you think will happen next?– What are your expectations about the future developments of the DSS?
3	Implications of the DSS and solutions	• Could you identify the conditions that triggered the idea of the DSS?
		• While evaluating the DSS idea, what were the main concerns and perceived barriers?– What were, instead, the facilitators in choosing to invest?
		• After the initial decision to invest, what were the main changes?– Internally, what happened at the organizational level?– What were the main organizational criticalities?– Did some resistances emerge?– If yes, of what kind? How have they been managed?– Which functions were mostly involved in the DSS at this stage?– What did you perceive as the main advantage of the DSS at this stage?– How was the leadership involved in this stage?– Did you need the support of external actors?– If yes, what actors?– For what purposes?– Did some existing relations with external actors modify because of the DSS?– If yes, which ones and why?– What were the main difficulties in the relationship with the external actors at this stage, if any?– How have they eventually been managed?
		• During the official launch of the DSS, what were the main changes?– Internally, were some changes in the organizational structure required?– If yes, of what type and why?– What were the main barriers that you perceived during this stage of the DSS?– How have they eventually been managed?– What advantages of the DSS did you perceive in this stage, if any?– What was the reaction of employees?– How was the leadership involved in this stage?– Toward the external actors, what happened?– Were new actors involved at this stage?– If yes, which ones and why?– What barriers did you perceive in the relation with external actors?– If any, which ones and in relation to which actor? How have they eventually been managed?– How did customers react to the introduction of digital services?
		• What are the main activities led today in relation to the DSS?– Do you feel there are still internal criticalities related to the DSS?– If yes, which ones?– What strategies of the firm do you think we’re the most effective to solve previous criticalities if any?– What is today the response of employees to the DSS?– What are the perceived advantages acquired from the DSS today?– How is the leadership involved in the DSS today?– How is now the responsibility of the external actors to the DSS?– How do customers react to the DSS today?– How is the relationship with suppliers managed?– What is the institutional and public response of the market to the DSS?