Service modularity and architecture – an overview and research agenda

Abstract

Purpose Services are highly important in a world economy which has increasingly become service driven. There is a growing need to better understand the possibilities for, and requirements of, designing modular service architectures. The purpose of this paper is to elaborate on the roots of the emerging research stream on service modularity, provide a concise overview of existing work on the subject, and outline an agenda for future research on service modularity and architecture. The articles in the special issue offer four diverse sets of research on service modularity and architecture. Design/methodology/approach The paper is built on a literature review mapping the current body of literature on the topic and developing future research directions in service modularity and architecture. Findings The growing focus on services has triggered needs to investigate the suitability and implementation of physical-product-focused modularity principles and theories in service contexts, and to search for principles/theories that enhance services. The expanding research stream has explored various aspects of service modularity in empirical contexts. Future research should focus on service-specific modularity theories and principles, platform-based and mass-customized service business models, comparative research designs, customer perspectives and service experience, performance in context of modular services, empirical evidence of benefits and challenges, architectural innovation in services, modularization in multi-provider contexts, and modularity in hybrid offerings combining service and tangible product modules. Originality/value Nine areas are recommended for further research on service modularity and architecture. The introductory piece also discusses the roots of service modularity and provides an overview of current contributions.

Customization of product, service, and product/service system: what and how to design

“…This section addresses module-based PSS design as a large area for future research. According to Brax et al (2017), issues of service modularity have recently responded to the growing demand for architectural and design knowledge. They also stated that PSS modularity is a fertile area to be researched.…”

The role of modularity in the supply chain context: current trends and future research directions

“…In the past decade, scholars have devoted increasing attention to the topic of service modularity (e.g. Voss and Hsuan 2009;Brax et al 2017). Modularity and its impacts related to serviceslike modularity and its effects related to physical productscan be discussed at different levels (e.g.…”

“…Besides Operations Management (OM), modularity has also been addressed in interdisciplinary domains such as engineering, technology management and economics. Within OM, there have been substantial contributions made in the research areas of product modularity (Jacobs et al 2011), alignment of product and process modularity (Gualandris and Kalchschmidt 2013; Patel and Jayaram 2014) supply chain modularity (Hoetker, Swaminathan, and Mitchell 2007), interaction of product and supply chain modularity (Lau et al 2010;Chang and Yeh 2013) and, more recently, on service modularity (Brax et al 2017).…”

Discourse on service modularity: investigating service delivery process

“…The idea of a modular system can be related to the natural sciences (Levin, 2015) and the development of its application to artificial systems -with systems engineering and information technologies. In the context of management, the modularity has long been associated with the production of goods (Brax, Bask, Hsuan, & Voss, 2017). However, with services becoming dominant in the global economy (Skačkauskienė & Vestertė, 2018) and with increasing interest in them, two essential differences between services and goods have been clarified in the operation management and marketing theories (Brax et al, 2017).…”

“…In the context of management, the modularity has long been associated with the production of goods (Brax, Bask, Hsuan, & Voss, 2017). However, with services becoming dominant in the global economy (Skačkauskienė & Vestertė, 2018) and with increasing interest in them, two essential differences between services and goods have been clarified in the operation management and marketing theories (Brax et al, 2017). Firstly, services are of processual nature, and secondly, customer involvement as a resource is necessary for service delivery.…”