Offshoring service work is an accelerating trend. While the cost-savings from offshoring service work are usually clear, operating at a distance also brings with it certain ''invisible costs.'' We combine existing service operations theory with insights from the literature on communications and culture to present a new conceptual framework, organized around interaction intensity and interaction distance. We identify the drivers of these costs. We conclude with recommendations for controlling or attenuating invisible costs in offshoring service work. #

A service framework is needed to foster strategic thinking in services. This paper introduces the service process/service package matrix to meet that need. The important feature of the service process is the degree of customer influence on the service process. The unique characteristic of the service package is that it consists of both tangible and intangible aspects. The service package is described by the degree of customization found in those tangible and intangible elements. Strategic competencies are identified and discussed along the service process dimension, the service package dimension, and the main diagonal of the matrix. Some existing strategic frameworks are embedded and incorporated in the matrix. Additionally, we formulate research propositions based on the matrix. Service firms can use this matrix to gain strategic insights by aligning the type of service package offered with the type of process used to create the service and to have a better understanding of their service operations strategy. matrix (Schmenner, 1986). Each of these models, rich and insightful in some aspects, falls short in illuminating the complex strategic issues in service settings. This paper introduces a new conceptual framework, the service process/service package (SP/SP) matrix, designed specifically to address unique strategic issues found in service businesses. The SP/SP matrix links the service process structure with the service package structure, a feature that is missing in existing models. The service process structure features the customer influence on the service production and delivery process. The service package structure is described by the degree of customization of the service package. The use of the matrix allows service firms to gain strategic insights based on their position in the matrix. 0272-6963/95/$09.50 © 1995 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved SSDI 0272-6963(95)00036-4

We provide conceptual clarity and new empirical findings for the question of whether or not TQM is universal in its applicability. At the conceptual level, we reposition and reframe the ''universality of TQM'' question in light of two conflicting theoretical perspectives in the international business literature -one that supports the universal applicability of TQM (i.e., the Convergence Hypothesis argument) and another that questions the universal applicability of TQM (i.e., the National Specificity argument). We do so to provide a stronger theoretical basis for the ''universality of TQM'' question and to motivate and initiate a ''strong inference'' epistemological approach [Platt, J.R., 1964. Strong inference. Science 146 (364), 347-353] to examine, at the empirical level, the applicability of TQM across multiple countries. For this empirical assessment, we compare both the adoption levels of the Deming-based TQM constructs and the patterns of Deming-based TQM relationships among German, Italian, Japanese, and USA plants, using secondary data from 143 plants in Round Two of the World-Class Manufacturing project. After assessing measurement quality (i.e., reliability and validity) and measurement equivalence (i.e., translation, calibration, and metric), MANOVA analysis and regression analysis were deployed to derive relevant empirical resultsempirical results that have implications not only for the question of whether or not TQM is universal in its applicability but also for the theoretical tension between the Convergence Hypothesis argument and the National Specificity argument. #