DIGITAL DIFFUSION OF WORKFLOW KNOWLEDGE IN SERVICE MICROENTERPRISES: PRODUCTIVITY GAINS AND BOOKING INFRASTRUCTURE

Abstract

Purpose. The article examines the digital diffusion of procedural know-how among self-employed nail service operators and investigates how productivity gains resulting from digitally transmitted skills are allocated between additional revenue-generating bookings and reduced working time. Particular attention is paid to the role of online booking infrastructure in shaping these allocation decisions. Methodology. The study adopts a conceptual and reconstructive approach, drawing on practice records from 2019 to 2025, enrollment records and written feedback from a recorded training program completed by more than 170 practitioners across several countries, and statements from two licensed practitioners. The analysis examines how procedural knowledge, codified into stage sequences, time targets, and decision rules, can be reproduced and distributed digitally at negligible marginal cost. It also considers how practitioners allocate the working capacity released through improved procedural efficiency. Results. The findings indicate that digitally distributed procedural know-how functions as an information good that can be reproduced for additional learners at negligible cost and delivered internationally without travel. Users reported reductions in procedure duration of approximately 25–33%. The resulting capacity was allocated either to additional bookings and increased revenue (yield) or to shorter working days while maintaining stable revenue (reclaim), with hybrid arrangements also common. The analysis identifies a booking-default asymmetry: online scheduling systems make released capacity available for sale by default while recording only booked time, leaving time-based productivity benefits largely invisible in digital business records. Practical implications. The findings highlight the importance of considering both revenue growth and recovered working time when assessing the economic effects of digitalization in service microenterprises. They offer implications for measuring small-business productivity, developing recorded professional training as an exportable service, and designing booking software that makes alternative uses of released capacity more visible and manageable. Value / originality. The article contributes to research on digitalization and productivity by identifying the diffusion of procedural know-how as a mechanism of efficiency improvement distinct from automation. Its principal conceptual contribution is the introduction of booking-default asymmetry, which explains how digital scheduling infrastructure can influence the allocation and measurement of productivity gains. The study further distinguishes between yield and reclaim as alternative economic outcomes of efficiency improvements in self-employed personal services.