The service concept: the missing link in service design research?

Abstract

The service concept plays a key role in service design and development. But while the term is used frequently in the service design and new service development literature, surprisingly little has been written about the service concept itself and its important role in service design and development. The service concept defines the how and the what of service design, and helps mediate between customer needs and an organization’s strategic intent. We define the service concept and describe how it can be used to enhance a variety of service design processes. As illustrations here, we apply the service concept to service design planning and service recovery design processes. Employing the service concept as an important driver of service design decisions raises a number of interesting questions for research which are discussed here.

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

“…Similarly, in a service operations environment the dominant paradigm advocates a contingency approach emphasising consistency between business strategy and service design to achieve high performance (Heskett, 1987;Kellogg and Nie, 1995;Silvestro, 1999;Goldstein et al, 2002;Roth and Menor, 2003). According to this literature, the design of the service process is driven by contextual factors, and a multitude of contextual variables have surfaced in OM.…”

“…First, the service design literature emphasises the importance of conceptual models of strategic service alignment (Heskett, 1987;Armistead, 1990;Goldstein et al, 2002;Roth and Menor, 2003). These models broadly discuss the importance of aligning business strategy, the service concept, and the design of the service delivery process.…”

Innovation in Services: From Service Concepts to Service Experiences

“…The service concept has also commonly been defined in terms of the service package; Collier [5] coins the phrase "Customer Benefit Package" whereas Goldstein et al [7] see it as the mix of physical and non-physical components that combine to create the service. Marketing theorists [12,17] have sought to identify the sub-components of the service package using the numerous P-models which encompasses the elements of the service product -product, process, place, physical evidence, people, productivity plus additional marketing elements of price and promotion.…”

“…al. [7]. The need to articulate how customer needs are to be satisfied is dealt with through the inclusion of the service process [12] and the form and functions of the service operation [9,4].The need to balance the attainment of a holistic picture of the service with the desire to break the service concept into components for operational ease of articulation remains a fundamental area of discourse.…”

Realigning Service Operations Strategy at DHL Express

“…The management board recognized that country-level managers would need to make hard-line decisions about (1) -who‖ should be the right customers in DHL's target market, (2) -what‖ product bundles would be contracted or promised to customers via the service concept, and (3) -how‖ the service components would be executed throughout the service delivery system. These three concepts represent the basics for any service operations strategy (Heskett et al 1987, Goldstein et al 2002, Roth and Menor 2003. A high level of strategic fit, congruence, or alignment between all three concepts usually leads to greater customer satisfaction and desirable performance.…”