A typology of de‐coupling strategies in mixed services

Abstract

A typology of a class of service systems is proposed. The typology links strategic operational objectives to the decision to de‐couple work between the front and back offices of a service system. Four specific ideal types of a strategy/de‐coupling mix are described; each of which has distinct operational, marketing and human resource ramifications. A type that has had significant representation in traditional literature is the “Cost Leader” type, where back‐office activities are de‐coupled from the front office for the purpose of lowering costs. Another traditional type representative of the craftsman legacy is the “Personal Service” type, which retains back‐office tasks in the front office to pursue non‐cost‐oriented strategic goals. Theoretical and empirical evidence is also given for two non‐traditional types: the “Kiosk” type, where all tasks remain in the front office to achieve lower costs, and the “Focused Professional” type, which de‐couples front‐ and back‐office activities to enable front‐office workers to provide higher service, rather than to reduce costs. Empirically, retail bank lending systems are analyzed to support the typology.

Process design principles in service firms: Universal or context dependent? A literature review and new research directions

“…It focuses on the contingent relationship between the use of process design principles and the service strategy context of the firm. This framework is consistent with the work of several authors who have developed propositions linking the strategic context of the firm to the operational characteristics and design principles of the service organisation (Kellogg and Nie, 1995;Metters and Vargas, 2000). …”

“…decoupled) and staffed with different employees. Zomerdijk and de Vries (2007) and Metters and Vargas (2000) studied task allocation in banking processes containing both customercontact and non-customer-contact work. These empirical studies have shown that diverse task allocation principles are appropriate to achieve different performance objectives under different strategic conditions.…”

“…This leads to a better utilisation of capacity and a tighter control of costs (Zomerdijk and de Vries, 2007). In contrast, these activities may be allocated to different employees to provider higher service levels rather than to control costs (Metters and Vargas, 2000). Further, evidence exists for design principles where all tasks remain in the front office to achieve lower costs as well as where front office and back office activities are decoupled to enable front office employees to provide better service, rather than to reduce costs.…”

“…Further, evidence exists for design principles where all tasks remain in the front office to achieve lower costs as well as where front office and back office activities are decoupled to enable front office employees to provide better service, rather than to reduce costs. Metters and Vargas (2000) suggest that there is there is no link between the service offering customisation levels and task allocation. Overall, the literature suggests that task allocation principles are not contingent on service strategy.…”

Four archetypes of process improvement: a Q-methodological study

“…Chase advocates separating the front office, which is to focus on customers, from the back office, which is to be managed for cost reduction; this approach protects the technical core. Extending these works, Metters and Vargas (2000) empirically derive two distinct process configurations that rely on decoupling customer contact work from non-contact activities. The 'cost leader' decouples to lower costs while the 'focused professional' decouples to provide higher service.…”