Integrative Service Innovation: An Industrial Use Case

© 2015 IEEE. Industrial production is evolving towards service orientation so as to enhance the manufacturing firm's competitive positioning and profit potential. This 'paradigm' shift by manufacturing towards service thinking calls for a suitable service design method and corresponding business model design to create a competitive product service system (PSS) for industrial production. However, an integrated method for innovation and business model design of a PSS is not well established nor understood. In this study an integrative innovation and business model design method, known as iSIM, is illustrated through two industrial use-cases from one coorporation to demonstrate its applicability. The results confirm the importance of integrative innovation and business model design methods and point to the applicability of the methods like iSIM in industrial settings for PSS

Valuing service design: Lessons from SROI

This paper describes lessons learned through the use of a Social Return On Investment (SROI) approach to evaluate a completed Service Design project with a large vocational training company. It is written by the Service Design team that led the original project and who subsequently used SROI to evaluate its impact. Experiencing the SROI evaluation process first-hand, in a live setting, is the approach by which the authors develop a discussion about its potential fit with Service Design processes. The SROI method enabled both the design team and the case-study organisation to acknowledge and measure additional social/stakeholder benefits created through the design work. These elements would not have been visible in a traditional ROI evaluation. There is the promise of a useful fit between SROI and Service Design in larger projects. The approach could be used as a framework for forecasting and evolving indicators for likely social impacts (and their financial proxies) throughout a Service Design project, to guide decisions at each stage. Its usefulness depends, however, on there being a will at Design Management level to rehearse the approach and develop tailored approaches towards it. In the current study, the method was found to be time-intensive for the Service Design team as lay-users and also for some key project stakeholders, but that could be better managed with experience. SROI will not suit every project, however may fit very well with those projects that already count a full business plan amongst their deliverables. One of the main limitations encountered in using the SROI process was difficulty identifying appropriate proxies for the calculations. It is proposed that social benefit might be expressed to multidisciplinary co-design teams through visual and emotive means rather than in quantitative, financial terms. Such ‘visual proxies’ would better fit with the semantic mode of design

The development of service provider's BPO-IT framework

Purpose The decision to operate BPO-IT organisational model by a business process outsourcing (BPO) service provider has far reaching benefits. The purpose of this paper is to develop a service provider’s BPO-IT framework that provides in-house IT function (software) required to process client services. Design/methodology/approach The multi-case study adopted an exploratory sequential mixed method research approach. In the first instance, seven BPO service provider organisations were investigated in the qualitative phase and 156 in the quantitative phase, respectively. Findings The adoption of the developed framework indicates that it could reduce failures in BPO relationships through reduced turnaround time in processing client services, improved quality of service, reduced cost, improved client and provider’s competitiveness, and confidentiality of client operations. Outsourcing clients could lay the foundation for a successful relationship by adopting a selection process that could choose the right provider. Originality/value The paper reveals BPO-IT organisation’s operation towards in-house provision of software required to process client services. A research exploring BPO service providers from a top outsourcing destination like India could provide offshore outsourcing clients the information to move towards onshore outsourcing. </jats:sec

An Exploratory Study On Service Quality Infrastructure In Malaysian Hotels

The purpose of this study is to explore the scope and the level of commitment among employees towards service quality management practises in a hotel's organisation. Descriptive research design is used to know the parameters of service quality management in hotels. By applying a mixed of qualitative and quantitative data collection method from 100 hotels in Kuala Lumpur, 54 hotels responded, resulting in a response rate of 45%. The results indicate that the design and monitoring functions were ranked as the two most important phases in the service management process to incorporate service quality practises into a hotel's infrastructure for improved service quality gap management, followed by the implementation and planning functions.The purpose of this study is to explore the scope and the level of commitment among employees towards service quality management practises in a hotel's organisation. Descriptive research design is used to know the parameters of service quality management in hotels. By applying a mixed of qualitative and quantitative data collection method from 100 hotels in Kuala Lumpur, 54 hotels responded, resulting in a response rate of 45%. The results indicate that the design and monitoring functions were ranked as the two most important phases in the service management process to incorporate service quality practises into a hotel's infrastructure for improved service quality gap management, followed by the implementation and planning functions

A systems engineering approach to performance-based maintenance services design

Traditionally, industrial services have been mainly transaction-based, i.e., the equipment user pays the service provider for getting a job done or providing assistance and support for equipment operations. Recently, a trend has emerged of increasing the relational perspective of these services, which are becoming more oriented towards customer value and service performance levels. Among these emergent industrial services, performance-based services represent an opportunity for equipment manufacturers to transform their service offerings towards more relational and customer-oriented services. The purpose of this work is to study the design of a generic performance-based maintenance service under a novel perspective given by systems engineering. This paper is intended to serve as a starting point to fully understand this type of services and to develop a method that can support equipment manufacturers who wish to advance their service offerings

Inciting Networks Effects Through Platform Authority: A Design Theory for Service Platforms

The provisioning of software has shifted towards a service model, where applications are hosted, metered, and billed through service platforms rather than being sold as on-premise software. These services can exhibit network effects, which are self-enforcing effects of value generation. They describe the interdependency of service or platform value, service consumption, and third party service provisioning. Service platforms need to be designed to incite these network effects. We propose a design theory which is based on the operator’s platform authority as the key factor for controlling and influencing stakeholders in and around the service platform in different control modes. As a design method, we propose a conceptual modeling language which supports service platform design with staged areas of authority, process flows as well as control methods. We present the rationale behind the language, discuss its application, and propose testable hypotheses for an empirical evaluation

Between past and future: stories of pre-service mathematics teachers’ professional development

We study the efficiency of a pre-service teachers’ education method that is based on a theory-informed analysis of teaching-learning processes, design of tasks for pupils and subsequent creation of fictional classroom discussions focused on the same tasks. A key element of the method is the request, to pre-service teachers, of writing down, after each session of the course in which the method is implemented, accounts of the session, under the guide of suggestive questions. In the contribution we analyse such accounts in order to study the evolution of pre-service teachers’ attitude towards mathematics and mathematics teaching and the development of their identity as future teachers

Testing a Multi-Channel Service Design Method

Although the multi-channel shopper has recently become a dominant consumer type, firms are still struggling with consciously designing their multi-channel service mix. In this paper, a design method based on QFD (Quality Function Deployment) is introduced and tested for defining eservices that have to function in a multi-channel context. Within a design research perspective, a structured field experiment was conducted, using control group testing. Two measurement instruments were used: questionnaires for business participants (n=62) and a protocol for external observers (n=56) to measure performance of design tasks throughout the process. We found that business teams tend to bias towards the supplier’s perspective at the expense of customers and channel partners. The new method scored significantly better than the control group method on a number of evaluation criteria: customer orientation, channel coherence and communication between different stakeholder perspectives

Customer Satisfaction towards Q Mobiles Brand

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to measure the customer satisfaction towards Q mobiles brand affe by discussing variables such as service quality, product quality, , work load financial benefit, perceived value. Design/methodology/approach: Being descriptive study, survey method was adopted for data collection to find out the factors. A sample of 150 students of Islamia university of Bahawalpur was selected for the survey. Data was analyzed by using Cronbach?s Alpha, correlation and regression in SPSS software. Findings: The independent variable service quality was correlated with dependent variable customer satisfaction. Originality/value –. Keywords: customer satisfaction, product .quality, service quality, financial benefit, perceived valu

Factors Influencing In-flight Service Quality towards Airline Passenger Loyalty in Myanmar, at Yangon Airport

This study aims to analyze the influence of in-flight service quality on factors towards airline passenger loyalty in Myanmar, at Yangon Airport. The key variables as the factors include perceived value, electronic-word of mouth (EWOM), passenger satisfaction and airline brand image. This research employs a non-probability sampling method in collecting data from online questionnaires using quantitative research methodology with simple and multiple linear regressions and descriptive data analysis to provide a comprehensive understanding of passengers’ perceptions and experiences. The results show that passenger satisfaction is the strongest influence on passenger loyalty, followed by airline brand image and EWOM. Purpose: The purpose of this study aims to identify the influence of in-flight service quality on the variables towards passenger loyalty in Myanmar, at Yangon Airport. As the aviation industry continues to grow, understanding the influence of in-flight service quality on the factors towards passenger loyalty has become crucial for airlines. By identifying the influence of in-flight service quality through the passenger loyalty, this study examines the positively impact on passenger loyalty which helps to Myanmar airlines enhancing positive passenger experiences through in-flight service and building long-term relationships with passengers leading to ultimate growth. Design/Methodology/Approach: This study employs quantitative research method to comprehensively investigate the influence of in-flight service quality on the variables towards passenger loyalty. Through a non-probability method using snowball sampling approaches, data is collected online surveys from passengers who have flown with Myanmar airlines and flown from Yangon Airport. The survey in the questionnaires includes three sections with total 29 items to collect data. Moreover, JAMOVI Program is used to test the reliability of questionnaires with pilot test and the hypotheses of the research. Findings: This study reveals that the influencing of in-flight service quality towards passenger loyalty based on the factors: passenger satisfaction which is the most significantly influence, followed by airline brand image and lastly, EWOM. Research Limitations/Implications: This study is specific to Myanmar Airlines and their services, limiting the application to the broader airline industry, which varies in quality across different airlines, regions, and customer segments. However, this study has implications for airlines seeking to enhance passenger experiences and loyalty through tailored in-flight service offerings. Originality/value: This study contributes to the growing body of knowledge in the field of aviation and passenger perceptions, particularly in the unique context of Yangon Airport and Myanmar’s aviation landscape