Tackling the Granularity Problem in Service Modularization

In the last few years, the principle of modularity has been increasingly applied to services as service providers seek to reduce time and cost of delivering customized services. Theoretically, the modularization process of a complex service system can be divided into three core steps: Analysis, module design, and architecture design. Practically, this process is much more complex and highly influenced by the degree of granularity of the considered service system elements. Depending on this degree, different interdependencies between the elements can be considered resulting in different modules. Therefore, we argue that diverse design decisions across the modularization process have to be made upfront from the end of the overall design process to the beginning of the service system analysis. Following this, we tailor a formerly proposed framework for service modularization by adding a framework calibration phase

Recombinant Service System Engineering

Although many methods have been proposed for engineering services and customer solutions, most of these approaches give little consideration to recombinant service innovation. In an age of smart products and smart data, we can, however, expect that many of future service innovations need to be based on adding, transferring, dissociating, and associating existing value propositions. The purpose of this paper is to outline what properties constitute recombinant service innovation and to identify if current service engineering approaches fulfill these properties. Based on a conceptual in-depth analysis of 24 service engineering methods, we identify that most methods focus on designing value propositions instead of service systems, view service independent of physical goods, are linear or iterative, and incompletely address the mechanisms of recombinant innovation. We discuss how these deficiencies can be remedied and propose a first conceptual model of a revised service system engineering approach

Providing person-centered care for patients with complex healthcare needs: A qualitative study

Background People with chronic conditions have complex healthcare needs that lead to challenges for adequate healthcare provision. Current healthcare services do not always respond adequately to their needs. A modular perspective, in particular providing visualization of the modular service architecture, is promising for improving the responsiveness of healthcare services to the complex healthcare needs of people with chronic conditions. The modular service architecture provides a comprehensive representation of the components and modules of healthcare provision. In this study, we explore this further in a qualitative multiple case study on healthcare provision for children with Down syndrome in the Netherlands. Methods Data collection for four cases involved 53 semi-structured interviews with healthcare professionals and 21 semi-structured interviews with patients (the parents of children with Down syndrome as proxy). In addition, we gathered data by means of practice observations and analysis of relevant documents. The interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and analyzed utilizing the Miles and Huberman approach. Results Our study shows that the perspectives on healthcare provision of professionals and patients differ substantially. The visualization of the modular service architecture that was based on the healthcare professionals’ perspective provided a complete representation of (para)medical outcomes relevant to the professionals’ own discipline. In contrast, the modular service architecture based on the patients’ perspective, which we define as a person-centered modular service architecture, provided a representation of the healthcare service that was primarily based on functional outcomes and the overall wellbeing of the patients. Conclusion Our study shows that visualization of the modular service architecture can be a useful tool to better address the complex needs and requirements of people with a chronic condition. We suggest that a person-centered modular service architecture that focuses on functional outcomes and overall wellbeing, enables increased responsiveness of healthcare services to people with complex healthcare needs and provision of truly person-centered care

The Effect of Mobile Gamification on Brand Loyalty

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Turning modularity upside down:Patient-centered Down syndrome care from a service modularity perspective

Modularity involves the decomposition of a service into components and modules that can be mixed and matched to individual needs, so that each customer receives an individualized modular package. As such, every customer can be offered a different combination of components and modules and thus each is treated as unique. This is especially important in healthcare since patients are becoming more demanding and call for healthcare services that are tailored to their needs. However, evidence on the applicability of modularity in complex healthcare services, for example on healthcare for people with complex care needs, is missing. This doctoral thesis is composed of five studies to advance knowledge on service modularity in complex healthcare provision and explore to what extent service modularity can support the provision of patient-centered service provision. These studies characterized chronic healthcare provision for children with Down syndrome from a modular perspective and show how modularity, and specifically interfaces, can contribute to the delivery of coordinated and patient-centered care provision. In general, this doctoral thesis contributes to the service modularity literature, and in particular to interfaces in service modularity, as well to the practice of delivering patient-centered care for patients with complex care needs, such as individuals with Down syndrome

Understanding service modularity - antecedents, processes, and operationalization

The concept of service modularity has emerged as a promising solution to achieve a sound balance between growing customer requirements for individualization and a companya s necessity to standardize services for cost efficiency reasons. Although service modularity has been on the academic agenda for some time, not many examples of modularized service portfolios can be identified. Therefore, this dissertation aims to examine service modularity in the context of professional services by connecting the decisions made before, during, and after service modularization with a specific focus on the effect on the sales process. The enhanced understanding of the concept is expected to uncover new research gaps in service modularity, as well as promote its application in the context of professional services. Apart from its theoretical contribution, this dissertation will provide practitioners with an improved understanding with respect to what it means to offer a modular service portfolio, what needs to be done for the transformation, as well as what to expect from its completion