Service System Design Research Articles

A review of product–service systems design methodologies

Product–service systems (PSS), motivated to fulfil customers’ needs, are seen as good strategies to face today's competitive business environment. The field of PSS research is however not fully mature and many different methodologies are proposed for the PSS design. This paper seeks to understand the directions taken in eight state-of-the-art methodologies so as to identify common needs in future research. The methodologies are studied across their authors’ views and definitions of services, PSS and their objectives and challenges, along with the tools that have been developed. A maturity model is built to access the current PSS design across 20 dimensions. The model highlights that only three dimensions are strongly treated: design processes for integrating products and services, definitions of new terminologies and considerations concerning planning and designing life-cycle phases. To enhance the industrial application, collaboration between researchers and practitioners can be spurred through two challenges: common ontology and models for representation of PSS. Particular attention must also be placed on sustainability as current models do not support the generation of sustainable PSS. As a whole, the review shows that the PSS design is still in initial stages of development and substantial research is required to develop a practical PSS design methodology.

Does service‐dominant design result in a better service system?

Purpose – Few empirical studies have been conducted to explore the mechanisms and drivers of service exchange and value co‐creation. In particular, no study has compared a service system design informed by service‐dominant logic (SDL) with a service system design informed by goods‐dominant logic (GDL). The purpose of this paper is to address this knowledge gap. The research question is: does a service‐dominant system design result in a more favourable customer experience than a goods‐dominant service system?

Coercion in Treatment: Researchers' Perspectives: In Reply

Back to table of contents Previous article Next article LettersFull AccessCoercion in Treatment: Researchers' Perspectives: In ReplyJanice L. LeBel, Ed.D.Janice L. LeBelSearch for more papers by this author, Ed.D.Published Online:1 Jul 2011AboutSectionsPDF/EPUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InEmail I agree with Dr. Roskes: coercion is a complex phenomenon with multiple dimensions. The question that he poses in his letter has three parts, which I address below.Is research conducted by nonconsumers who have not experienced coercion flawed? Yes. Work in the area of emancipatory research has shed more light on the inherent power imbalance between those who conduct social inquiry and those who experience it (1). In addition, measurement bias, instrument bias, and interviewer bias are all basic challenges in conducting research (2). Research design is compromised when the construction of tools does not include the input of consumers with direct experience of coercion. Moreover, the research process itself can have an impact on outcomes. This is confirmed by the Hawthorne effect—or its corollary in physics, the Heisenberg effect—where observation affects the object of study (3). Fundamentally, all research is flawed (4).Is research by nonconsumers of less value? No. Studies by consumers and nonconsumers are both valued.Is research conducted by consumers unbiased? Yes and no. Consumers who have experienced coercion bring an unassailable veracity and credibility to any study. Each person's unique experience cannot be regarded as “bias” when it is first-hand knowledge of coercion. Jonathan Delman, a leading consumer advocate and consultant, recounted, “I would compare my experience of coerciontotorture, with medication changes that have left me in a zombie-like state; coercion causes a sane person to feel insane or akin to a criminal” (personal communication, June 1, 2011). However, consistent with the Rashomon effect (5), individual experience is not uniform, standardized, or universal. Each person's perception is different, which makes the study of coercion challenging.More important than debating who should claim the high ground in coercion research is appreciating the damaging effects of coercion on individuals who receive care. These effects have been well articulated and should be taken as the sentinel call to recognizing that coercive practices thwart the purpose of mental health services—to facilitate recovery by improving a person's mental health condition and functioning—and have no place in a treatment paradigm. It is also important to recognize an inherent flaw in service system design, a flaw based on exploitation of a power imbalance. Tom Lane, a nationally recognized consumer leader who has experienced seclusion and restraint, summed it up well, “To suggest that ‘patients’ who have had coercive experiences are merely ‘unlucky’ or ‘unfortunate’ is a grave misrepresentation of what is, in fact, a gross injustice. It is not a matter of luck or fortune, like winning the lottery or not. It is a further reflection of the lack of understanding of a failed framework of those mental health systems which see coercive practices as treatment or acceptable ‘interventions’” (personal communication, June 5, 2011).References1 Letherby G : Emancipatory research; in Sage Dictionary of Social Research Methods. Edited by , Jupp V . London, Sage, 2006 Google Scholar2 MacCoun RJ : Biases in the interpretation and use of research results. Annual Review of Psychology 49:259–287, 1998 Crossref, Medline, Google Scholar3 Albright Linda , Malloy TE : Experimental validity: Brunswik, Campbell, Cronbach, and enduring issues. Review of General Psychology 4:337–353, 2000 Crossref, Google Scholar4 Ioannidis JPA : Why most published research findings are false. PLoS Med 2(8): e124, 2005. DOI 0.1371/journal.pmed.0020124 Crossref, Medline, Google Scholar5 Chin MH , Muramatus N : What is the quality of quality of medical care measures? Rashomon-like relativism and real-world applications. Perspectives in Biology and Medicine 46:5–20, 2003 Crossref, Medline, Google Scholar FiguresReferencesCited byDetailsCited ByNone Volume 62Issue 7 July 2011Pages 806-807 Metrics PDF download History Published online 1 July 2011 Published in print 1 July 2011

Coercion in Treatment: Researchers' Perspectives: In Reply

Back to table of contents Previous article Next article LettersFull AccessCoercion in Treatment: Researchers' Perspectives: In ReplyJanice L. LeBel, Ed.D.Janice L. LeBelSearch for more papers by this author, Ed.D.Published Online:1 Jul 2011AboutSectionsPDF/EPUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InEmail I agree with Dr. Roskes: coercion is a complex phenomenon with multiple dimensions. The question that he poses in his letter has three parts, which I address below.Is research conducted by nonconsumers who have not experienced coercion flawed? Yes. Work in the area of emancipatory research has shed more light on the inherent power imbalance between those who conduct social inquiry and those who experience it (1). In addition, measurement bias, instrument bias, and interviewer bias are all basic challenges in conducting research (2). Research design is compromised when the construction of tools does not include the input of consumers with direct experience of coercion. Moreover, the research process itself can have an impact on outcomes. This is confirmed by the Hawthorne effect—or its corollary in physics, the Heisenberg effect—where observation affects the object of study (3). Fundamentally, all research is flawed (4).Is research by nonconsumers of less value? No. Studies by consumers and nonconsumers are both valued.Is research conducted by consumers unbiased? Yes and no. Consumers who have experienced coercion bring an unassailable veracity and credibility to any study. Each person's unique experience cannot be regarded as “bias” when it is first-hand knowledge of coercion. Jonathan Delman, a leading consumer advocate and consultant, recounted, “I would compare my experience of coerciontotorture, with medication changes that have left me in a zombie-like state; coercion causes a sane person to feel insane or akin to a criminal” (personal communication, June 1, 2011). However, consistent with the Rashomon effect (5), individual experience is not uniform, standardized, or universal. Each person's perception is different, which makes the study of coercion challenging.More important than debating who should claim the high ground in coercion research is appreciating the damaging effects of coercion on individuals who receive care. These effects have been well articulated and should be taken as the sentinel call to recognizing that coercive practices thwart the purpose of mental health services—to facilitate recovery by improving a person's mental health condition and functioning—and have no place in a treatment paradigm. It is also important to recognize an inherent flaw in service system design, a flaw based on exploitation of a power imbalance. Tom Lane, a nationally recognized consumer leader who has experienced seclusion and restraint, summed it up well, “To suggest that ‘patients’ who have had coercive experiences are merely ‘unlucky’ or ‘unfortunate’ is a grave misrepresentation of what is, in fact, a gross injustice. It is not a matter of luck or fortune, like winning the lottery or not. It is a further reflection of the lack of understanding of a failed framework of those mental health systems which see coercive practices as treatment or acceptable ‘interventions’” (personal communication, June 5, 2011).References1 Letherby G : Emancipatory research; in Sage Dictionary of Social Research Methods. Edited by , Jupp V . London, Sage, 2006 Google Scholar2 MacCoun RJ : Biases in the interpretation and use of research results. Annual Review of Psychology 49:259–287, 1998 Crossref, Medline, Google Scholar3 Albright Linda , Malloy TE : Experimental validity: Brunswik, Campbell, Cronbach, and enduring issues. Review of General Psychology 4:337–353, 2000 Crossref, Google Scholar4 Ioannidis JPA : Why most published research findings are false. PLoS Med 2(8): e124, 2005. DOI 0.1371/journal.pmed.0020124 Crossref, Medline, Google Scholar5 Chin MH , Muramatus N : What is the quality of quality of medical care measures? Rashomon-like relativism and real-world applications. Perspectives in Biology and Medicine 46:5–20, 2003 Crossref, Medline, Google Scholar FiguresReferencesCited byDetailsCited ByNone Volume 62Issue 7 July 2011Pages 806-807 Metrics PDF download History Published online 1 July 2011 Published in print 1 July 2011

Six cognitive gaps by using TRIZ and tools for service system design

The purpose of this paper is to develop a conceptual framework of service system design. When reviewing the past literatures in the field of TRIZ solving processes, it was found that there were several drawbacks in the TRIZ solving processes which were: (i) the TRIZ depended on the researchers’ subjective viewpoints; (ii) the TRIZ lacked a customized contradictory matrix and innovative principles; (iii) and the innovative principle of TRIZ could not provide comprehensive solutions to apply to all service fields. In attempting to understand the reason for the additional above drawbacks, much of the literature was organized to find six cognitive gaps, which might support TRIZ implementation during the TRIZ solving processes for service system design (SSD). The six cognitive gaps which are: (i) identifying the opportunity by mapping the specific features and characteristics; (ii) the ideal contradiction matrix; (iii) evaluating the results especially by checking the KM-based profession-oriented tools; (iv) checking the KM-based context; (v) human factors and teamwork; (vi) innovative supplemental technologies. Finally, the six cognitive gaps were integrated into a conceptual framework of SSD development, which will provide an improved guide for further researchers.

Research Opportunities Related to Consumer Response to Product Design*

This essay identifies five research opportunities that concern consumer response to product design. The first opportunity involves the need for more research on the interaction between form and function in consumer product evaluations. To this end, more knowledge about how product appearance characteristics influence consumer evaluation of both product form and function, and how this differs between countries and in time, is needed. The second research opportunity concerns the influence of consumer input in the front end of new product development on product success. Although the positive effect of market information use on product success is known, more actionable insight into which consumer information or input is beneficial in which circumstances is largely missing. The third opportunity for research concerns how to include subjective product attributes in concept testing. Getting valid feedback from consumers, which includes functional as well as emotional and experiential aspects, can improve proficiency in the early stages of product development. In this essay, several ways of approaching this research endeavor are highlighted. Next to enhancing market receipt and the assessment of product design, two topics that concern consumer response to product design from a more managerial viewpoint are identified. The first of these is strategic management of product styling. The importance and opportunities of visual design for brand management has gained more attention in the literature; different strategies and the cases in which they are beneficial are issues for further research. And finally, the design of product service systems (PSSs) provides opportunities for future research. Here, engendering perceptual unity between products and services and an explicit managing of meanings and feelings that PSSs should communicate are issues at play.

Study on Mobile Meteorological Information Services for Urban Area

On the limited urban area, precise measurement of meteorological data is not easy for the cost problem. The facilities collecting the data require high installment costs. The mobile sources can be a solution in city region. For example, a public bus on which some meteorological sensors are installed can act as moving information gathering station. The information is gathered on a server and aggregated to generate useful information for smart phone application. To implement the services, several obstacles are exists. This paper studies on a design of this mobile meteorological information service system for urban area.

서비스 분야에서 인간공학과 인적오류 연구

The aim of this study is to review previous studies on human errors in the service delivery processes. Service industry is sharply growing in the advanced countries. Many people are looking for something to contribute to the service industry. Although there are many research topics related to service domain that human factors and ergonomics specialists can do contribute, a few researchers are studying such topics. This paper indicated how previous researches on human factors and human errors have addressed the service domain, in order to prompt human factor study on the service domain. A variety of sources were inspected for literature reviews, including books and journals of managements, medicine, psychology, consumer behavior as well as human factor and ergonomics. The characteristics of human errors in the service domain were investigated. Human error studies in several service sectors were summarized such as medical service, automotive service operation, travel agent service and call center service. Until now, human factors community was not much interested in human errors in service domain. However, there is much space to contribute to service domain; human error identification, human error analysis and control of human error. The research of human error in service domain can provide clues to improve service quality. This paper helps to guide to identify human error of service domain and to design service systems.

The Design of Service System for SMEs Collaborative Alliance: Cluster Supply Chain

In order to help small and medium enterprises (SMEs) cluster to face the global challenges, the definition of “cluster supply chain” is put forward as a new type of management pattern, which is the combination of industrial cluster and supply chain management. However, the related research on cluster supply chain is still in its infancy, and it is difficult to put theory results into practice. Based on the background, this paper presents an analytic framework to bridge the gap between theory and practice in the field. The framework includes four views - business modeling, specification modeling, realization modeling, system evolution, and integrates methods from value network modeling, agent oriented modeling and service oriented analysis &design. In the end, we utilize a case study of China textile industry for demonstrating how to apply the framework to provide new insights into the construction and development of cluster supply chain.

Call for Papers—The M&SOM Special Issue on the Environment

• Analysis of novel operational problems faced by organizations that develop or adopt new products or services in areas such as renewable energy, energy efficiency, green chemicals, organic agriculture, sustainable mobility, or green building; • Adaptation of supply chain design and operations to scarcity of fresh water, seaport disruption, and other manifestations of climate change; • Integration of environmental impact measurement into the optimal design and operation of manufacturing and service systems.

Informance design modeling for product service system design

Informance design modeling for product service system design

Contributors

Contributors

Alternate risk measures for emergency medical service system design

The stochastic nature of emergency service requests and the unavailability of emergency vehicles when requested to serve demands are critical issues in constructing valid models representing real life emergency medical service (EMS) systems. We consider an EMS system design problem with stochastic demand and locate the emergency response facilities and vehicles in order to ensure target levels of coverage, which are quantified using risk measures on random unmet demand. The target service levels for each demand site and also for the entire service area are specified. In order to increase the possibility of representing a wider range of risk preferences we develop two types of stochastic optimization models involving alternate risk measures. The first type of the model includes integrated chance constraints (ICCs ), whereas the second type incorporates ICCs and a stochastic dominance constraint. We develop solution methods for the proposed single-stage stochastic optimization problems and present extensive numerical results demonstrating their computational effectiveness.

Intelligent service machine

Introduction The service sector is becoming increasingly important to the economies of many countries, especially developed countries. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) recently released its report Promoting Innovation in Services, which noted that government policy in developed countries has not been attuned to the service sector. For better satisfying the needs of customers, providers now attempt to add or create value through services. To unravel the changing worldview of marketing, a new dominant logic is service-centered model of exchange (such as intangibles, competences, dynamics, exchange processes and relationships, and operant resources) in 21 st century. In many leading companies, services are more than half of the company's revenue, and usually the fastest growing part, for example, IBM, GE, Xerox, and GM. Whereas the two paradoxes dominate the future of competition in services---customers face choices that yield less satisfaction, while managers face more strategic options that yield less value. They argue that the traditional system of company centered value creation needs to be re-examined. Meanwhile, a service can be regarded as a service system (composed of subsystems/components) and service innovation is to co-create the service productivity and satisfaction. Spohrer indicated that service systems are complex adaptive systems made up of people and people are complex and adaptive themselves, which are dynamic and open rather than simple and optimized. Therefore, facilitating the development of service systems for value co-operation is crucial to the fulfillment of service innovation. A traditional service industry generally adopts the physical medium in co-producing service systems, while the emerging service industry is increasingly exerting the electronic medium4 so as to raise service productivity. As a consequence, the competitive position of a service company now depends much on its ability to use technologies to co-create the service productivity and satisfaction through innovative electronic delivery channels. In this paper, we suggest the notion of intelligent service machine to provide service companies with a systematic and quantitative capability on designing service systems aiming for both service productivity and satisfaction (in analogy to the machine metaphor in the manufacturing era). Furthermore, we propose a construct model of intelligent service machine, followed by a machine-aware service-system design framework (named iDesign ) and an ex-emplifier of intelligent service machine (named mDesignStorming ).

Design and Implementation of E-mail Pushing Service System for Paper Indexed by Three Famous Indexes

Design and Implementation of E-mail Pushing Service System for Paper Indexed by Three Famous Indexes

Mass customization in design of service delivery system: A review and prospects

The paper intends to present clear pictures of research evolution in two research domains based on a thorough literature review: The service system design and mass customization areas. It identifies a necessity for integrating these two areas, which adopted the concepts of mass customization to guide the service delivery system design to cope with the traditional operation dilemma. This could lead to a new research area for exploration with both great industrial and academic significance. The paper finally presents brief research suggestions to stimulate further research efforts in application of mass customization in the service delivery system design at both macro and micro level from an integrated product/process view. Key words: Mass customization, service delivery system, modularity, postponement.

Strategy selection for product service systems using case-based reasoning

A product service system integrates products and services in order to lower environmental impact. It can achieve good eco-efficiency and has received increase in the last decade. This study focuses on strategy selection for product service system design. Case-based reasoning is utilized to provide suggestions for finding an appropriate strategy. To build a case database, successful PSS cases from the literature and websites were collected and formulated. Twelve indices under three categories were analyzed and selected to describe cases. A lot of successful PSS cases and their information were collected. Forty seven cases were used in this study because of the completeness of information. The analytic hierarchic process is used to find the relative weights of the factors that relate to the selection of customers. These weights are used in calculating the similarity in the case-based reasoning process. The successful strategy of the most similar case is extracted and recommended for PSS strategy determination. More than 90% of tested cases obtained an appropriate strategy from the most similar case. Finally, two new products are introduced to find the best strategy for product service system design and development using the proposed case-based reasoning system. Key words: Product service system, analytical hierarchic process, case-based reasoning.

Call Centres of the Future: Issues and Perspectives

This report discusses issues of concern with existing call centres and proposes a vision for the future of the call centre in terms of the main issues that need to be addressed and the research perspective that needs to be adopted. The existing issues were identified during a workshop held at the Centre for Service Research in Manchester Business School based on input from researchers from different disciplines and these were validated through a case study examining the same issues from a practitioner’s perspective. For analysis purposes, the issues were grouped into three areas namely service system design, business strategy and evaluation.

Smart Service Systems and Viable Service Systems: Applying Systems Theory to Service Science

The objective of this paper is to review recent developments in service theory and systems theory with a view to identifying common features between the two. In particular, the study explores the issue of whether so-called ‘smart service systems’ can be understood in terms of the ‘viable systems approach’ of systems theory. The paper begins with a review of recent developments in service theory by examining the fundamental principles of service-dominant logic (S-D logic) and service science (SS). The similarities and differences of the two are explored, with particular emphasis on the common feature of the service system. The study then moves to the realm of systems theory by exploring the main proposals of the viable systems approach (VSA), which is an interdisciplinary systems theory that includes elements derived from resource-based theory, biology, sociology, and mechanics. The paper then draws together service theory and systems theory by examining whether ‘smart service systems’ can be best understood in terms of ‘viable service systems.’ The most important finding of the study is that the VSA provides valuable insights into the design and management of smart service systems, especially with regard to harmonisation, systems governance, and successful value co-creation processes. [Service Science, ISSN 2164-3962 (print), ISSN 2164-3970 (online), was published by Services Science Global (SSG) from 2009 to 2011 as issues under ISBN 978-1-4276-2090-3.]

Peningkatan Pelayanan di Poli Kebidanan dan Kandungan RSUD Saiful Anwar dengan Menggunakan Simulasi Antrian

This research have aim to reduce waiting time of patient in pregnant division at RSUD Saiful Anwar Malang. First step, collecting the time between arrival data and service time data at each division. These data were tested using Kolmogorov-Smirnov to find a kind of distribution and the parameter of the data. Them making service system design based on the initial condition using ARENA and run to find the mean of waiting time from the beginning design, using trial and error then tried some new altematives design to minimize waiting time.