Service Science: The Foundations of Service Engineering and Management

Chapter 4

Service Science Fundamentals

At the end of the day, the cocreated total value of a service lies in its ability to satisfy the needs of its provider-side and customer-side people. Hence, the resource, operations, and management models of service systems should be centered on the end users. From the discussions in the preceding chapters, it is understood that both service providers and customers are the core elements that constitute a service system, cocreating services by transforming the customers' needs with the support of infrastructural, financial, social, and natural resources. Even though in a solely self-service system, we are frequently personifying its serving units and processes to improve our service effectiveness and customer satisfaction. For instance, personifying allows a service provider to have empathic and pleasing considerations in service provision to enrich personal touches. As a result, the service provider can avoid creating apathy and negativity that people might feel when physical machines are only present in carrying on certain service encounters from the service provider side at a given time.

As compared to manufacturing that has been mainly centered with physical matters, services are people-centered. Because the resources in service systems, largely people, cannot be held. It becomes extremely challenging for us to model the dynamics of service systems. We understand that people participating in service production and consumption have physiological ...