Socially responsible service operations management: an overview

Abstract

Socially Responsible Service Operations Management (SRSOM) can be defined as managerial activities to design and control (or optimize) various service operations that involve (or integrate) social responsibility toward legal, ethical, and environmental concerns. We propose a framework of research on SRSOM from the perspective of the service triad: target market, service concept, and service delivery system design choices. Unlike conventional service operations management, SRSOM focuses on: (1) non-voluntary citizens rather than voluntary customers as the main target group; (2) the provision of a general necessary service to citizens as the service concept; and (3) effectiveness and responsibility rather than efficiency as the service delivery system design choice. We also provide an overview of the related research on SRSOM published over the past 20 years, and attempt to place the seven papers shown in this collection in the proposed framework. While the current literature on SRSOM is limited, the number of papers has been steadily increasing. We hope that this paper will lead to further research on SRSOM among researchers and practitioners in related fields.