The services sector employs a large and growing proportion of workers in the industrialized nations, and it is increasingly dependent on information and communication technologies. While the interdependences, similari...The services sector employs a large and growing proportion of workers in the industrialized nations, and it is increasingly dependent on information and communication technologies. While the interdependences, similarities and complementarities of manufacturing and services are significant, there are considerable differences between goods and services, including the shift in focus from mass production to mass customization （whereby a service is produced and delivered in response to a customer＇s stated or imputed needs）. In general, services can be considered to be knowledge-intensive agents or components which work together as providers and consumers to create or co-produce value. Like manufacturing systems, an efficient service system must be an integrated system of systems, leading to greater connectivity and interdependence. Integration must occur over the physical, temporal, organizational and functional dimensions, and must include methods concerned with the component, the management, and the system. Moreover, an effective service system must also be an adaptable system, leading to greater value and responsiveness. Adaptation must occur over the dimensions of monitoring, feedback, cybernetics and learning, and must include methods concerned with space, time, and system. In sum, service systems are indeed complex, especially due to the uncertainties associated with the human-centered aspects of such systems. Moreover, the system complexities can only be dealt with methods that enhance system integration and adaptation. The paper concludes with several insights, including a plea to shift the current misplaced focus on developing a science or discipline for services to further developing a systems engineering approach to services, an approach based on the integration and adaptation of a host of sciences or disciplines （e.g., physics, mathematics, statistics, psychology, sociology, etc.）. In fact, what is required is a services-related transdisciplinary - beyond a single disciplinary - ontology or taxon展开更多
Innovation in the services area - especially in the electronic services （e-services） domain - can be systematically developed by first considering the strategic drivers and foci, then the tactical principles and ena...Innovation in the services area - especially in the electronic services （e-services） domain - can be systematically developed by first considering the strategic drivers and foci, then the tactical principles and enablers, and finally the operational decision attributes, all of which constitute a process or calculus of services innovation. More specifically, there are four customer drivers （i.e., collaboration, customization, integration and adaptation）, three business foci （i.e., creation-focused, solution-focused and competition-focused）, six business principles （i.e., reconstruct market boundaries, focus on the big picture not numbers, reach beyond existing demand, get strategic sequence right, overcome organizational hurdles and build execution into strategy）, eight technical enablers （i.e., software algorithms, automation, telecommunication, collaboration, standardization, customization, organization, and globalization）, and six attributes of decision informatics （i.e., decision-driven, information-based, real-time, continuously-adaptive, customer-centric and computationally-intensive）. It should be noted that the four customer drivers are all directed at empowering the individual - that is, at recognizing that the individual can, respectively, contribute in a collaborative situation, receive customized or personalized attention, access an integrated system or process, and obtain adaptive real-time or just-in-time input. The developed process or calculus serves to identify the potential white spaces or blue oceans for innovation. In addition to expanding on current innovations in services and related experiences, white spaces are identified for possible future innovations; they include those that can mitigate the unforeseen consequences or abuses of earlier innovations, safeguard our rights to privacy, protect us from the always-on, interconnected world, provide us with an authoritative search engine, and generate a GDP metric that can adequately measure the growing knowledge economy, 展开更多
文摘The services sector employs a large and growing proportion of workers in the industrialized nations, and it is increasingly dependent on information and communication technologies. While the interdependences, similarities and complementarities of manufacturing and services are significant, there are considerable differences between goods and services, including the shift in focus from mass production to mass customization （whereby a service is produced and delivered in response to a customer＇s stated or imputed needs）. In general, services can be considered to be knowledge-intensive agents or components which work together as providers and consumers to create or co-produce value. Like manufacturing systems, an efficient service system must be an integrated system of systems, leading to greater connectivity and interdependence. Integration must occur over the physical, temporal, organizational and functional dimensions, and must include methods concerned with the component, the management, and the system. Moreover, an effective service system must also be an adaptable system, leading to greater value and responsiveness. Adaptation must occur over the dimensions of monitoring, feedback, cybernetics and learning, and must include methods concerned with space, time, and system. In sum, service systems are indeed complex, especially due to the uncertainties associated with the human-centered aspects of such systems. Moreover, the system complexities can only be dealt with methods that enhance system integration and adaptation. The paper concludes with several insights, including a plea to shift the current misplaced focus on developing a science or discipline for services to further developing a systems engineering approach to services, an approach based on the integration and adaptation of a host of sciences or disciplines （e.g., physics, mathematics, statistics, psychology, sociology, etc.）. In fact, what is required is a services-related transdisciplinary - beyond a single disciplinary - ontology or taxon
文摘Innovation in the services area - especially in the electronic services （e-services） domain - can be systematically developed by first considering the strategic drivers and foci, then the tactical principles and enablers, and finally the operational decision attributes, all of which constitute a process or calculus of services innovation. More specifically, there are four customer drivers （i.e., collaboration, customization, integration and adaptation）, three business foci （i.e., creation-focused, solution-focused and competition-focused）, six business principles （i.e., reconstruct market boundaries, focus on the big picture not numbers, reach beyond existing demand, get strategic sequence right, overcome organizational hurdles and build execution into strategy）, eight technical enablers （i.e., software algorithms, automation, telecommunication, collaboration, standardization, customization, organization, and globalization）, and six attributes of decision informatics （i.e., decision-driven, information-based, real-time, continuously-adaptive, customer-centric and computationally-intensive）. It should be noted that the four customer drivers are all directed at empowering the individual - that is, at recognizing that the individual can, respectively, contribute in a collaborative situation, receive customized or personalized attention, access an integrated system or process, and obtain adaptive real-time or just-in-time input. The developed process or calculus serves to identify the potential white spaces or blue oceans for innovation. In addition to expanding on current innovations in services and related experiences, white spaces are identified for possible future innovations; they include those that can mitigate the unforeseen consequences or abuses of earlier innovations, safeguard our rights to privacy, protect us from the always-on, interconnected world, provide us with an authoritative search engine, and generate a GDP metric that can adequately measure the growing knowledge economy,
