Abstract

Service researchers have employed routine dynamics theory to examine the practices on value co-creation routines. Prior research suggested that the manuals and work role behaviors of employees interact to enhance the effectiveness of routines. To facilitate comprehension of this phenomenon, our study investigated the complex interrelationship between the utility of manuals, the work role behaviors in the context of home visiting rehabilitation services. To conduct the fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis, questionnaires and monthly sales data were collected from 52 professionals in charge of rehabilitation at company A. The results showed three pathways that led to high sales and four pathways that led to low sales. The findings suggest that manuals contribute to high sales only when employees use them adaptively and take initiative to improve their work. Simply creating and distributing manuals is not enough to achieve high sales.