English (United Kingdom)

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/featured_content/oa?rat=en

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/highlighted_journal/

Global: Zendy Plus annual

Presents the access of premium content as premium feature

Premium Content

Presents the keyphrase highlighting as premium feature

Keyphrase Highlighting

Presents the summarisation as premium feature

Summarisation

Insights

Presents the pdf analysis as premium feature

PDF Analysis

Presents the zaia usage as premium feature

ZAIA

Global: Zendy Tools annual

Global: Zendy Free Plan

Global: Zendy Tools monthly

Global: Zendy Plus monthly

To date, the relevance of service industries in many countries and in various aspects of economic activities has been widely acknowledged (Gallouj et al. 2015; Lowendahl, 2000; Patterson, 2016). Recent data reveal that the value added by services has grown worldwide, and lately, interesting research about the heterogeneity among service industries has been diffused (Gronroos 2000; Lowendahl, 2000; Von Nordenflycht, 2010). Particularly, this paper pays attention to one set of services, comprising those involving a high level of specific expertise or knowledge, constant pressure for customisation and difficulties in quality measurement, often provided by one firm to another (Alistair et al., 2016; Goodale et al., 2008; Greenwood et al., 2005; Lowendahl, 2000; Von Nordenflycht, 2010). The companies providing these kinds of services are often called professional service firms (PSFs). They are worth studying because they constitute a significant sector of the economy, whether measured by size, profit or influence. The statistics from the European Union (EU) reveal that among EU non-financial businesses, professional, scientific and technical services accounted for 4,041 thousand enterprises in 2013, employing 11.7 million persons and generating €625 billion of value added. Their contributions to the non-financial business economy comprised 17.9% of the enterprise population, 10.0% of the workforce and 8.8% of value added (Eurostat, 2016). Surprisingly, however, few studies on the topic of management accounting in these firms have been reported (Groen et al., 2012; Karreman et al. 2002) and, to the best of our knowledge, detailed studies on cost accounting in PSFs were not published. The majority of researches concern organizational features, competitive strategies or communications to clients (Alistair et al., 2016; Briscoe, 2007; Cusumano et al., 2015; Greenwood et al., 2005; Morris et al., 1998; Patterson, 2016; Verma, 2000). The complexity of professional services involves both providers and clients. From the providers’ point of view, the services are often described as unique because they have highcredence qualities, and their core outputs are applied knowledge and skills that are difficult for customers to acquire. These PSFs are also defined as firms “whose primary assets are a highly educated workforce and whose output[s] are intangible services encoded with complex knowledge” (Greenwood et al., 2005, p. 661). Their employees are usually highly experienced, and the firms have to Abstract

Managing customer profitability to improve corporate performance in PSF