Towards a process model for service systems

Service Science is a new interdisciplinary approach to the study, design, implementation. and innovation of service systems. However due to the variety in service research, there is no consensus yet about the theoretical foundation of this domain. As a basis for a common understanding of service systems and their interactions, Service Science researchers Spohrer and Kwan proposed the service systems worldview. The ISPAR model was presented as a part of this service systems worldview as a tool for identifying ten possible interaction episodes, i.e., the sequences of activities that are undertaken by two interacting service system entities. In this paper we evaluate the use of the ISPAR model as a process model for service systems. We identify the shortcomings of the ISPAR model and propose possible improvements. This analysis leads to the development of a new service process model which is demonstrated through tree different examples

Towards a Process Model for Service Systems

Service Science is a new interdisciplinary approach to the study, design, implementation. and innovation of service systems. However due to the variety in service research, there is no consensus yet about the theoretical foundation of this domain. As a basis for a common understanding of service systems and their interactions, Service Science researchers Spohrer and Kwan proposed the service systems worldview. The ISPAR model was presented as a part of this service systems worldview as a tool for identifying ten possible interaction episodes, i.e., the sequences of activities that are undertaken by two interacting service system entities. In this paper we evaluate the use of the ISPAR model as a process model for service systems. We identify the shortcomings of the ISPAR model and propose possible improvements. This analysis leads to the development of a new service process model which is demonstrated through tree different examples

Determinant Factors of Logistic Information Technology (LIT) Adoption by Logistic Service Providers ( LSPs) in Malaysia : A Review

Purpose- This paper aims to identify the determinant factors of Logistic Information Technology (LIT)Adoption by Logistic Service Providers (LSPs) in Malaysia. Many LSPs in Malaysia however have not realized the need to employ technology in their operations and haven’t implemented information technology and aligned their strategies with the changes in technology. Technology has been used as competitive tool to again competitive edge against competition and in most instances redesigning the sales process. With these developments, efficiency in service delivery has been key in pushing many organisations towards implementation of computer systems. Logistic Information Technology is where LSPs implement various logistics systems is one of the technologies implemented towards improving service delivery. The purpose of this study is to understand factors affecting the implementation of LIT adoption by LSPs in Malaysia. This research was guided by TOE model in identifying factors determining LIT adoption by LSPs in Malaysia. PLS-SEM is used to analyse the relationship of each construct using the structural equation modeling. This research concludes a need for LSPs to further understand the importance of LIT and how it can shape their operations towards improving service delivery

Methodical Approach for Detailed Planning of Services to offer Product Service Systems

The transformation of current business models towards offering product service systems (PSS) provides manufacturing companies numerous opportunities to consolidate or even expand their competitive position. Companies are confronted with the challenge of successfully designing this transformation process simultaneously. In order to approach the development of new business models and the transformation process, business model patterns and best practices provide a good first orientation for companies. However, these are designed to be industry-neutral and rather abstract when considering the actual processes. Thus, they do not offer any individual support to companies in the specific development of a business model and its required service delivery processes. Service delivery processes are part of a business model and describe activities that take place to provide services. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in particular do not have the necessary time, technical and methodological resources to manage a transfer from abstract business model examples to an individual business model. This barrier often leads SME to remain with their traditional business model. Therefore, this paper presents a methodology for the detailed planning of service delivery processes. The designed methodology supports the phases design and implementation, which are part of the business model development. The methodology describes a structured procedure, in which relevant services first have to be identified. These services are then broken down into individual process modules on a second level. The modules are elements that can get combined to services. On a third level there are explicit process models. The process models are assigned to the modules and define the respective process steps and the requirements for the implementation. The approach is designed to support companies successfully transform to new business models for PSS by applying the detailed planning for services with specific modules that contain detailed process models and requirements

Process-based Organization Design Model: Theoretical Review and Model Conceptualization

The complexity of today's business world is translated into complexity of the company's organization design (Galbraith, 2002). Organizations are forced to quickly adapt to emerging complexity if they want to survive. The change is addressing all areas of business, especially questioning organizational effectiveness and trying to find optimal solutions for doing business. In accordance with requirements, competitive trends are pushing executives to rethink traditional design configurations. Factors such as increased competition in cost, quality and service, and technical change have forced companies not only to seek out new ways of doing old tasks, but also new ways of organizing either old or new tasks (Cross, 1990). Such focus on the flow of work within organizations, but as well as between them, is emphasizing process orientation as a new management paradigm. Inefficiencies of the two most commonly present structures – functional and divisional, in addition to emerging business trends, place the emphasis on a process-based organization as one of the possible solutions. The process-based organization is lead by the process paradigm, which is focused on the horizontal view of business activities and alignment of organizational systems towards business processes. Regardless of a large interest on business processes, existing organization design theory offers only general guidelines for process-based organizations or more precisely, a process-based organization design model. Consequently, the purpose of the paper is to demystify process-based organization design model. By clearly distinguishing between different levels of process orientation, and by addressing characteristics of the chosen model the paper will lead to better understanding of this way of organizing. Eventually, an operationalized model of process-based organization is developed. Furthermore, the paper elaborates on differences between process-based and other organizational structures and philosophies (e.g. functional, product, matrix, project, team-based). Besides structural elements, which will be in the primary focus, the paper will discuss the alignment of all other important organization design elements for process environment (e.g., management style, reward systems, performance metrics, people practices, organizational culture, etc.). There would be proposed necessary adjustments of organizational elements which should be aligned with the process-based structural solution. In such way, some of the blind spots of process-based organization design model would be revealed, providing practical implications for its implementation and ultimately, offering solution for rising business complexity.organization design, process-based organization, process-based organization design model, business processes

MOSDEN: An Internet of Things Middleware for Resource Constrained Mobile Devices

The Internet of Things (IoT) is part of Future Internet and will comprise many billions of Internet Connected Objects (ICO) or `things' where things can sense, communicate, compute and potentially actuate as well as have intelligence, multi-modal interfaces, physical/ virtual identities and attributes. Collecting data from these objects is an important task as it allows software systems to understand the environment better. Many different hardware devices may involve in the process of collecting and uploading sensor data to the cloud where complex processing can occur. Further, we cannot expect all these objects to be connected to the computers due to technical and economical reasons. Therefore, we should be able to utilize resource constrained devices to collect data from these ICOs. On the other hand, it is critical to process the collected sensor data before sending them to the cloud to make sure the sustainability of the infrastructure due to energy constraints. This requires to move the sensor data processing tasks towards the resource constrained computational devices (e.g. mobile phones). In this paper, we propose Mobile Sensor Data Processing Engine (MOSDEN), an plug-in-based IoT middleware for mobile devices, that allows to collect and process sensor data without programming efforts. Our architecture also supports sensing as a service model. We present the results of the evaluations that demonstrate its suitability towards real world deployments. Our proposed middleware is built on Android platform

Design and Analysis of an Optimized Scheduling Approach using Decision Making over IoT (TOPSI) for Relay based Routing Protocols

This research work focuses on support towards QoS approaches over IoT using computational models based on scheduling schemes to enable service oriented systems. IoT system supports on application of day-to-day physical tasks with virtual objects which inter-connect to create opportunities for integration of world into computer-based systems. The QoS scheduling model TOPSI implements a top-down decision making process over top to bottom interconnected layers using service supportive optimization algorithms based on demandable QoS requirements and applications. TOPSI adopts Markov Decision Process (MDP) at the three layers from transport layer to application layer which identifies the QoS supportive metrics for IoT and maximizes the service quality at network layer. The connection cost over multiple sessions is stochastic in nature as service is supportive based on decision making algorithms. TOPSI uses QoS attributes adopted in traditional QoS mechanisms based on transmission of sensor data and decision making based on sensing ability. TOPSI model defines and measures the QoS metrics of IoT network using adaptive monitoring module at transport layer for the defined service in use. TOPSI shows optimized throughput for variable load in use, sessions and observed delay. TOPSI works on route identification, route binding, update and deletion process based on the validation of adaptive QoS metrics, before the optimal route selection process between source and destination. This research work discusses on the survey and analyzes the performance of TOPSI and RBL schemes. The simulation test beds and scenario mapping are carried out using Cooja network simulator

Ontology based contextualization and context constraints management in web service processes

The flexibility and dynamism of service-based applications impose shifting the validation process to runtime; therefore, runtime monitoring of dynamic features attached to service-based systems is becoming an important direction of research that motivated the definition of our work. We propose an ontology based contextualization and a framework and techniques for managing context constraints in a Web service process for dynamic requirements validation monitoring at process runtime. Firstly, we propose an approach to define and model dynamic service context attached to composition and execution of services in a service process at run-time. Secondly, managing context constraints are defined in a framework, which has three main processes for context manipulation and reasoning, context constraints generation, and dynamic instrumentation and validation monitoring of context constraints. The dynamic requirements attached to service composition and execution are generated as context constraints. The dynamic service context modeling is investigated based on empirical analysis of application scenarios in the classical business domain and analysing previous models in the literature. The orientation of context aspects in a general context taxonomy is considered important. The Ontology Web Language (OWL) has many merits on formalising dynamic service context such as shared conceptualization, logical language support for composition and reasoning, XML based interoperability, etc. XML-based constraint representation is compatible with Web service technologies. The analysis of complementary case study scenarios and expert opinions through a survey illustrate the validity and completeness of our context model. The proposed techniques for context manipulation, context constraints generation, instrumentation and validation monitoring are investigated through a set of experiments from an empirical evaluation. The analytical evaluation is also used to evaluate algorithms. Our contributions and evaluation results provide a further step towards developing a highly automated dynamic requirements management system for service processes at process run-time