Modular Service Research Articles

Service modularity in the digital era: integrating environmental sustainability and post-pandemic insights

Purpose This study aims to explore service modularity in the context of digital technology and environmental sustainability, particularly considering the transformative impacts of the post-pandemic world. It aims to shed light on how service modularity can adapt to and thrive in these evolving circumstances. Design/methodology/approach Using a comprehensive analytical approach, this paper addresses the critical concerns and limitations inherent in traditional service modularity concepts. It proposes novel perspectives on service modularity, enriched by recent technological advancements and sustainability imperatives. Findings The research reveals new dimensions of service modularity, emphasising its significance in the era of digital transformation and heightened environmental awareness. It provides empirical insights into how service modularity can be effectively reimagined and implemented in response to the challenges and opportunities arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. Practical implications The findings offer valuable guidance for organisations seeking to enhance their service delivery through modularity. The study underscores the importance of integrating digital innovation and sustainability principles into service design and execution in the post-pandemic era. Originality/value This paper makes a novel contribution to the field of service modularity by intertwining it with the realms of digital technology and environmental sustainability. It offers a unique perspective on adapting service modularity to contemporary challenges, thereby enriching the existing body of literature and providing a foundation for future research in this area.

Reuse of service concept elements for modular service design

PurposeThis research investigates the systematic reuse of service concept elements within modular service design, aiming to offer actionable insights into effective conceptualization of services and extending methodological underpinnings to enhance the approach of service design.Design/methodology/approachEmploying a design science research approach, this study investigates the intentional and targeted reuse of service concept elements for modular service design. It develops four general design principles and applies them in a real-world context to demonstrate and evaluate the purposeful integration of service concept elements.FindingsThis research reveals the efficacy of reusing service concept elements for modular service design, highlighting the benefits of this approach in conceptualizing new services. It theorizes generalizable design knowledge by formalizing four design principles that allow to underpin the reuse of service concept elements.Originality/valueThis research contributes to service design literature by providing actionable insights into the systematic reuse of service concept elements, particularly within the framework of modular service design. We develop and test general design principles and, specifically, apply them for analytics-based digital services.

A Modular Service for Causal Inference in the Context of the Gaia-X Ecosystem.

Causal inference seeks to learn the effect of interventions on outcomes. Its potential in the health domain has been dramatically increasing recently, due to advancements in machine learning, as well as in the growing amount of medical data collected. Gaia-X provides a framework to implement Health Data Spaces at scale, in a compliant, secure, and trustable manner. In this paper, we provide a modular online service for causal inference using observational data, building on the Gaia-X framework. While two versions of the IDA algorithm for causal inference are already provided, the service allows users to further contribute algorithms in various programming languages (not only for causal inference), as well as their data, and efficiently execute these on a central server. Additionally, the platform facilitates the exchange of algorithms and data among participants. Users of the platform can enter into agreements with other users over the use of algorithms and data. Calculations can be carried out directly on the platform without the need to locally store foreign data.

Design of Coproductive Systems: is Service Modularity Preferable over Resource Flexibility?

Design of Coproductive Systems: is Service Modularity Preferable over Resource Flexibility?

From hospital-centered care to home-centered care of older people: propositions for research and development

PurposeProviding high-quality and cost-efficient care of older people is an important development priority for many health and social care systems in the world. This paper suggests a shift from acute, episodic and reactive hospital-centered care toward longitudinal, person-centered and proactive home-centered care. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the knowledge of a comprehensive development strategy for designing and providing home-centered care of older people.Design/methodology/approachThe study design is based on qualitative research with an inductive approach. The authors study development initiatives at the national, regional and local levels of the Swedish health and social care system. The data collection methods included interviews (n = 54), meeting observations (n = 25) and document studies (n = 59).FindingsThe authors describe findings related to policy actions and system changes, attempts to achieve collaboration, integration and coordination, new forms of care offerings, characteristics of work settings at home and differences in patients' roles and participation at home and in the hospital.Practical implicationsThe authors suggest home-centered care as a solution for providing person-centered and integrated care of older people and give examples of how this can be achieved.Originality/valueThe authors outline five propositions for research and development related to national policies, service modularity as a solution for customized and coordinated care, developing human resources and infrastructure for home settings, expanding services that enable older people living at home and patient co-creation.

Does service modularity enhance new service development performance in supply chains: an empirical study

PurposeCustomer firms and suppliers are valuable knowledge resources that can be used for achieving superior new service development (NSD) performance. This study aims to investigate how supply chain relationship quality (SCRQ) and knowledge sharing promote the success of NSD, and examines service modularity as an important contingency factor that enhances NSD performance in supply chains.Design/methodology/approachBased on service-dominant logic, this study builds a conceptual model to empirically explore the impacts of SCRQ and knowledge sharing on NSD performance, and highlights the moderating effect of service modularity by means of survey methodology of 295 Chinese service firms to test the research hypotheses.FindingsRegression analysis results show that SCRQ has significant positive effects on knowledge sharing and NSD performance; knowledge sharing plays a partial intermediary role between SCRQ and NSD performance; and service modularity partially moderates the relationships between SCRQ, knowledge sharing and NSD performance.Research limitations/implicationsGeneralizations here are limited to Chinese service firms. Service modularity in manufacturing firms experimenting with servitization has yet to be examined and provides a good avenue for future research.Originality/valueThis study contributes to service management literature by providing empirical understanding of how service modularity affects NSD performance in multiprovider contexts. Furthermore, this study offers novel insights on the impacts of inter-firm relationship quality and knowledge sharing in modular collaborative innovation.

Antecedents and consequences of effective customer participation: the role of customer education and service modularity

PurposeUsing multiple theoretical lenses, the paper develops and empirically tests a service design-based framework of effective customer participation (CP) in service delivery. Particularly, the paper examines the impact of customer education on effective CP, besides the latter's effect on service quality. The direct and moderating effect of service modularity on the association between customer education and effective CP is also studied.Design/methodology/approachCovariance-based structural equation modeling is used to test the hypotheses using the survey data collected from the healthcare industry within Pakistan.FindingsThe results lend support for the presence of individual and mutually reinforcing effects of customer education and service modularity on effective CP in service delivery, ultimately affecting service quality.Research limitations/implicationsBuilding on the CP and customer learning literature, this research extends the work on antecedents and consequences of effective CP in the larger domain of the service design and service delivery literature.Practical implicationsThe findings reveal that service managers should design services such that by design, CP is ingrained within service delivery processes so that it is effectively managed during service delivery for superior service quality.Originality/valueGiven the already scant research that has either taken a narrower view of CP (mostly in pre- or post-service delivery), the current research makes one of the initial attempts to identify, theorize and empirically test the service design level antecedents for holistic CP spanning over the physical, behavioral and informational participation during the service delivery.

Analysis of airport design for introducing infrastructure for autonomous drones

PurposeConnecting autonomous drones to ground operations and services is a prerequisite for the adoption of scalable and sustainable drone services in the built environment. Despite the rapid advance in the field of autonomous drones, the development of ground infrastructure has received less attention. Contemporary airport design offers potential solutions for the infrastructure serving autonomous drone services. To that end, this paper aims to construct a framework for connecting air and ground operations for autonomous drone services. Furthermore, the paper defines the minimum facilities needed to support unmanned aerial vehicles for autonomous logistics and the collection of aerial data.Design/methodology/approachThe paper reviews the state-of-the-art in airport design literature as the basis for analysing the guidelines of manned aviation applicable to the development of ground infrastructure for autonomous drone services. Socio-technical system analysis was used for identifying the service needs of drones.FindingsThe key findings are functional modularity based on the principles of airport design applies to micro-airports and modular service functions can be connected efficiently with an autonomous ground handling system in a sustainable manner addressing the concerns on maintenance, reliability and lifecycle.Research limitations/implicationsAs the study was limited to the airport design literature findings, the evolution of solutions may provide features supporting deviating approaches. The role of autonomy and cloud-based service processes are quintessentially different from the conventional airport design and are likely to impact real-life solutions as the area of future research.Practical implicationsThe findings of this study provided a framework for establishing the connection between the airside and the landside for the operations of autonomous aerial services. The lack of such framework and ground infrastructure has hindered the large-scale adoption and easy-to-use solutions for sustainable logistics and aerial data collection for decision-making in the built environment.Social implicationsThe evolution of future autonomous aerial services should be accessible to all users, “democratising” the use of drones. The data collected by drones should comply with the privacy-preserving use of the data. The proposed ground infrastructure can contribute to offloading, storing and handling aerial data to support drone services’ acceptability.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, the paper describes the first design framework for creating a design concept for a modular and autonomous micro-airport system for unmanned aviation based on the applied functions of full-size conventional airports.

Modularization of the front‐end logistics services in e‐fulfillment

AbstractThis study exploits service modularity in front‐end logistics services in e‐fulfillment, from a customer‐centric approach, particularly in order management, delivery, and return. Through an online survey of UK customers, the service priorities of 494 respondents via AHP (Analytic Hierarchical Process) were analyzed. Extracting customers' service priorities, ordering behavior, and demographic information as input data, the clustering algorithm KAMILA (KAy‐means for MIxed LArge data sets) was further applied. The three identified customer clusters (multichannel shoppers, infrequent shoppers, and online fans) provide preliminary evidence on how commonality and variability aspects of service modularity in front‐end logistics services can optimize the number of service options and their performance levels. Therefore, our study, building on value co‐creation and modularity, proposes a systematic way of exploiting service modularity for the customer segmentation process that addresses heterogeneous customer preferences cost‐efficiently and uncomplicatedly. Furthermore, we provide a framework for the governance of front‐end logistics services, guiding outsourcing decisions. Accordingly, it reveals the implications of customer priorities and service decomposition logic choices on value creation. Finally, the propositions formulated aim to develop theoretical foundations for explaining how the heterogeneity in customer priorities for logistics services can be managed with modularity, creating value both for customers and retailers.

Service productisation through standardisation and modularisation: an exploratory case study

ABSTRACT This research study examines service productisation through the standardisation and modularisation of service. This concept is studied and applied to a professional service company which is running a productisation project for improving its services. This productisation project continues further through defining, describing, and developing a service platform and standardisation of its overall services. The main objective of this study was to promote sales through the identification and definition of products and their accompanying services. Moreover, the study explores and applies service development models, namely the model of integrating markets, modular service platform, identification of modules using design structure matrix (DSM), and model for service automation. Furthermore, the study also aims to find solutions for the standardisation and modularisation of services through these models and investigates the associated benefits and issues related to overall services.

Facilitators of modularity in healthcare services: An interpretive structural modeling approach

The purpose ofthis paper is to perform structural analysis of facilitators of modular architecturein healthcare services by applying interpretive structural modeling (ISM).Inputs were taken from healthcare industry experts and academicians inidentifying and understanding interdependencies among facilitators of modulararchitecture in healthcare services. Further these interdependencies arestructured into a hierarchy in order to derive structural models to deliveruseful insights for theory and practice. Using the ISM approach the facilitatorsof modularity in healthcare services were clustered according to their drivingpower and dependence power. Patient centricity is at the bottom level of thehierarchy implying highest driving power and requires higher attention todeliver quality care outcomes. Facilitators like value dense environment, knowledgeand competence, goal alignment and le-agile strategies have medium driverand dependence powers. The study added insights to the theory of modularsystems. Theauthors recognize that modularity helps in enhancing the patientcentric orientation. The findings provide potentially important information tohealth service managers and providers, enabling them to understand therequisites of modular architecture. This is the first study exploring therelationships between facilitators of modularity in healthcare services. Thestudy complements literature on service modularity with reference to specializedcare unit of maternity services.

Bridging modular service architecture and performance of the service delivery process: An example from the healthcare setting

Bridging modular service architecture and performance of the service delivery process: An example from the healthcare setting

DEVELOPING A NEW TECHNIQUE FOR DETERMINING SERVICE MODULARITY LEVEL

This paper addresses the existing methodological gap in assessing service modularity level. The study uses a qualitative approach and develops a technique to quickly and cost-effectively determine service modularity level. The theoretical framework builds on the principles of measurement theory, evaluation theory, and multicriteria analysis (MCA). To test the developed technique, an exploratory case study was conducted focusing on three service companies in Lithuania. Data were collected by interviewing key informants using the proposed instrument. The collected data were analysed and linked to the developed multidimensional scale for measuring the service modularity level. The obtained results support the view that qualitative evaluation can be an alternative for calculating modularity indices in the field of service modularity. The paper provides a practical tool for service modularity assessment for service industry practitioners to accelerate decision-making. The study contributes to the field of service modularity by delivering insights into assessing service modularity level. These insights are particularly important because the literature on measuring modularity level in services has been quite scarce.

Service design in healthcare: a segmentation-based approach

PurposeThe study aims to explore how segmentation as a methodology can be adapted to the healthcare context to provide a more nuanced understanding of the served population and to facilitate the design of patient-centric services.Design/methodology/approachThe study was based on a collaborative project with a national healthcare organization following the principles of action design research. The study describes the quantitative segmentation performed during the project, followed by a qualitative interview study of how segments correspond with patient behaviors in an actual healthcare setting, and service design workshops facilitated by segments. A number of design principles are outlined based on the learnings of the project.FindingsThe segmentation approach increased understanding of patient variability within the service provider organization and was considered an effective foundation for modular service design. Patient characteristics and life circumstances were related to specific patterns of health behaviors, such as avoidance or passivity, or a persistent proactivity. These patterns influenced the patients' preferred value co-creation role and what type of support patients sought from the care provider.Practical implicationsThe proposed segmentation approach is immediately generalizable to further healthcare contexts and similar services: improved understanding of patients, vulnerable patients in particular, improves the fit and inclusivity of services.Originality/valueThe segmentation approach to service design was demonstrated to be effective in a large-scale context. The approach allows service providers to design service options that improve the fit with individual patients' needs for support and autonomy. The results illuminate how patient characteristics influence health and value co-creation behaviors.

Blueprinting construction logistics services for quality improvement

Construction logistics services can, if implemented with high quality, positively impact both efficiency and sustainability of construction projects. However, present quality management frameworks have not been developed for temporary multi-actor contexts, such as construction, which is largely lacking industrialised processes. Still, construction logistics service providers provide service offerings to temporary settings and could thus benefit from a service quality perspective. Applying this perspective, this study supports the quality improvement of construction logistics services by using a service modularity approach to identify the services to prioritise for improvement. Building on interviews, concept mapping, and a service blueprint of a construction logistics setup, a priority matrix for improvements is developed. The first step in using this matrix is to operationalise the construction logistics setup in modules based on blueprinting. Second, the matrix evaluates the modules against nine empirically derived improvement enablers such as practices and forums for learning, and data measurements enabling the comparison and follow-up of construction logistics services. In conclusion, the priority matrix helps focus the improvements on modules with high likelihood of successful improvements. Improvements that can become sustained over time through the reuse of standardised modules in upcoming projects.

From legacy to microservices: A type‐based approach for microservices identification using machine learning and semantic analysis

AbstractThe microservices architecture (MSA) style has been gaining interest in recent years because of its high scalability, ability to be deployed in the cloud, and suitability for DevOps practices. While new applications can adopt MSA from their inception, many legacy monolithic systems must be migrated to an MSA to benefit from the advantages of this architectural style. To support the migration process, we propose MicroMiner, a microservices identification approach that is based on static‐relationship analyses between code elements as well as semantic analyses of the source code. Our approach relies on machine learning (ML) techniques and uses service types to guide the identification of microservices from legacy monolithic systems. We evaluate the efficiency of our approach on four systems and compare our results to ground‐truths and to those of two state‐of‐the‐art approaches. We perform a qualitative evaluation of the resulted microservices by analyzing the business capabilities of the identified microservices. Also a quantitative analysis using the state‐of‐the‐art metrics on independence of functionality and modularity of services was conducted. Our results show the effectiveness of our approach to automate one of the most time‐consuming steps in the migration of legacy systems to microservices. The proposed approach identifies architecturally significant microservices with a 68.15% precision and 77% recall.

Complexity in a platform-based servitization: a complex adaptability theory perspective

ABSTRACT This paper aims to investigate the impacts of a platform-based servitization process on system complexity and how the characters of internal complexity further affects system adaptability. We adopt complex adaptive system (CAS) theory as a theoretical lens to address these two issues by conducting a multiple case study. Three leading enterprises with digital platform-based servitization, i.e. JD.com, Siemens, and Alibaba, are chosen as our case companies. This research proposes a conceptual framework through case analysis and identifies the relationships among servitization, internal complexity, supply chain resilience (SCR), and vulnerability (SCV). Specifically, our study illustrates how service modularity, platform development and digitalisation affect the system complexity. More importantly, we demonstrate a mechanism of improving system adaptability through pursing the balance between SCR and SCV.

Modularisation Metrics – Contrasting Industrial Practice and State-of-Research

AbstractIn many industrial sectors, modularization of products and services is considered as an important contribution to increased efficiency and competitiveness. Research has developed many modularization approaches, however, there is a gap between industrial practice in modularization and state-of-research in this field, which partly is due to shortcomings in "measuring" the value and state of modularization. This papers contribution is an analysis of industrial real-world cases to contrast practice and research, and a compilation of metrics in the context of modular product design from research.

Modular Service Design of Information Technology-Enabled Services

The literature has proposed ways to modularize information-technology-enabled services (ITeS) with limited success. We argue that applying design principles (DPs) can address this gap and revitalize the service modularization literature. With a qualitative research study, we develop exemplar DPs and a set of prioritized DPs for ITeS. We contribute to the literature by demonstrating how complex service systems, specifically ITeS, can be modularly designed. Our DPs show how different ITeS design elements or service attribute combinations impact the outcome-driven design of service experience. Based on the findings, we present a modular service design framework and a service design method that adopts DPs to create effective modular ITeS designs. We also offer ways to conceptualize and apply service modularization to improve the adoption of the modular service design by service designers and managers.

Corruption as a perverse Innovation: The dark side of digitalization and corruption in international business

Digitalization has had pervasive effects on corruption, introducing new opportunities and challenges to minimize the use of corruptive behaviours. This study investigates the dark side effects of digitalization, documenting its facilitation of corruption across countries as a form of perverse innovation. Building upon the theory of moral intensity and the extant literature on innovation, modularity, and complexity and considering the international business context, we develop a multilevel conceptual model with testable future research propositions. The core of our model is that each act has a component of moral intensity that determines the likelihood of individual MNE agents engaging in corrupt business behaviour. Furthermore, the complexity and modularity of products and services, coupled with a highly complicated international business environment, can facilitate the ease with which individual actors can engage in corrupt business practices. Finally, we provide recommendations for both theory and practice.