Unified Service Theory and Perspectives on Services

Unified Service Theory and Perspectives on Services

Study Circle in Service Systems

What is a Service?

“A service is an abstract resource that represents a capability of performing tasks that represents a coherent functionality from the point of view of provider entities and requester entities.” (W3C)

”Services are heterogeneous outputs produced to order and typically consist of changes in the conditions of the consuming units realized by the activities of producers at the demand of the consumers.“ (United Nations)

“A service is the provision of something of value, in the context of some domain of application, by one party to another.” (Chris Preist)

What is a Service?

“A service is an abstract resource that represents a capability of performing tasks that represents a coherent functionality from the point of view of provider entities and requester entities.” (W3C)

”Services are heterogeneous outputs produced to order and typically consist of changes in the conditions of the consuming units realized by the activities of producers at the demand of the consumers.“ (United Nations)

“A service is the provision of something of value, in the context of some domain of application, by one party to another.” (Chris Preist)

Service properties

Intangibility

Inseparability

Heterogeneity

Perishability

Unified Service Theory

”Services are production processes wherein each customer supplies one or more input components for that customer’s unit of production. With non-service processes, groups of customers may contribute ideas to the design of the prodct, but individual customers’ only participation is to select, pay for, and consume the output.”

Scott E. Sampson, ”The Unified Service Theory” in Handbook of Service Science, ed. P. Maglio et al., Springer, 2010

Actor

ProcessInput Output

A Non-service Process

A Service Process

Provider

Customer

Service processInput Output

Sources of Heterogeneity

Provider

Customer


Variability in provider input

Variability in customer input

Perishability

Provider

Customer


? ?

Management Applications

Service development: handling variability in customer input, robust processes

Service innovation: finding new roles for customers in service processes

Are Services Processes?

Sometimes we talk of services as resources:

”Our company offers car washing services”

Strengths of Services

A service consumer does not own a service. She does not need to take on typical ownership responsibilities, like infrastructure management, integration, and maintenance. She can focus on how to make use of the service for her specific business.

Taxi Service

Customer

Encapsulated resources

A Motivating Problem

You have bought a snow ploughing service for the winter, saying that whenever more than five cm snow has fallen, your street will be ploughed

A Motivating Problem

You have bought a snow ploughing service for the winter, saying that whenever more than five cm snow has fallen, your street will be ploughed

However, it never snows this winter

Has the service been delivered?

Value Modelling and REA

REA Ontology:

modelling exchanges and conversions of resources

Resource – an object viewed as valuable by some agent

Event – exchange of resources or conversion of resources

Agent – a legal entity that controls resources and performs events

Exchanging Resources

Agent Agent

Resource Resource

Exchanging Resources

Agent Agent

Resource Resource

Eventsexchangingresources

Converting Resources

Resource

Resource

Converting Resources

Resource

Resource

Resource

Eventsconvertingresources

REA Conceptual Model

CONVERSION_PROCESS

EXCHANGE_PROCESS

FEATURE

RESOURCE

0..* 0..*0..*

hasPart

0..*

AGENT

ECONOMIC EVENTstockflow

1 0..*1 0..*for

1

0..*

1

0..*

performs

RESOURCE TYPE0..*

0..*

0..*

subsumes

0..*

1..*

0..*

1..*

0..*has

1

0..*

1

0..*

isOf

1..*

0..*

1..*

0..*

offersPROCESS

1

0..*

1

0..*

hasRespons...

11..* 11..*

partOf

PROCESS TYPE

0..*

0..*

0..*

subsumes

0..*

1

0..*

1

0..*

isOf

ECONOMIC EVENT_TYPE

stockflowtype1

0..*

1

0..*

isOf

1 0..*1 0..* 10..* 10..*


CONVERSION_PROCESS

EXCHANGE_PROCESS

FEATURE

RESOURCE

0..* 0..*0..*

hasPart

0..*

AGENT


1 0..*1 0..*for

1

0..*

1

0..*

performs

RESOURCE TYPE0..*

0..*

0..*

subsumes

0..*

1..*

0..*

1..*

0..*has

1

0..*

1

0..*

isOf

1..*

0..*

1..*

0..*

offersPROCESS

1

0..*

1

0..*

hasRespons...

11..* 11..*

partOf

PROCESS TYPE

0..*

0..*

0..*

subsumes

0..*

1

0..*

1

0..*

isOf

ECONOMIC EVENT_TYPE

stockflowtype1

0..*

1

0..*

isOf

1 0..*1 0..* 10..* 10..*

The stockflow tells how an economic event affects a resource


CONVERSION_PROCESS

EXCHANGE_PROCESS

FEATURE

RESOURCE

0..* 0..*0..*

hasPart

0..*

AGENT


1 0..*1 0..*for

1

0..*

1

0..*

performs

RESOURCE TYPE0..*

0..*

0..*

subsumes

0..*

1..*

0..*

1..*

0..*has

1

0..*

1

0..*

isOf

1..*

0..*

1..*

0..*

offersPROCESS

1

0..*

1

0..*

hasRespons...

11..* 11..*

partOf

PROCESS TYPE

0..*

0..*

0..*

subsumes

0..*

1

0..*

1

0..*

isOf

ECONOMIC EVENT_TYPE

stockflowtype1

0..*

1

0..*

isOf

1 0..*1 0..* 10..* 10..*

The stockflow tells how an economic event affects a resource

A process is a set of economic events

What is Transferred?

What do you get when

you buy a book at a bookstore?

a book



a book


you borrow a book at a library?

a book



a book

the right to read, sell, or even destroy a book


X

X

you borrow a book at a library?

a book

the right to read a book for a period of time

Hohfeldt’s Classification of Rights

Claim

One actor has a claim on another actor if the second actor is required to act in a certain way for the benefit of the first actor


Claim


Privilege

An actor has a privilege on an action if she is free to carry out that action without any interference from the environment


Claim


Privilege


Power

A power is the ability of an actor to create or modify social or legal relationships


Claim


Privilege


Power

A power is the ability of an actor to create or modify social or legal relationships

Immunity

An immunity refers to the restriction of power of one actor in terms of creating relationships on behalf of another actor

Three Perspectives on Services

Abstraction – focus on the use of resources

Restricted access – accessing resources without owning them

Co-creation – supplier and customer create value together

Service for Abstraction

Goods are concrete resources having properties like weight, volume, and colour

Service resources are abstract in the sense that they are defined only through the benefits they can bring

A service resource is defined through the process in which it can be used


A laundry service is defined in terms of the effects it has on clothes – making them clean

A laundry service may be based on different resource sets:

{washing machines, synthetic detergent}

{water tank, soap, labour}


A service resource is defined through the process in which it can be used


A capability is like a service resource but can be used in many processes


Restrictions are used to constrain the resources a capability is based on

Service for Restricted Access

How can a provider offer access to his resources?

• By selling them. The customer will own the resources.

• By lending them. The customer will be allowed to use the resources for a period of time.

• By offering a service. The customer will get access to the resources only through the provider.




• All privileges

• Power




• All privileges

• Power

• By lending them. The customer will be allowed to use the resources for a period of time.

• Some privileges




• All privileges

• Power

• By loaning them. The customer will be allowed to use the resources for a period of time.

• Some privileges

• By offering a service. The customer will get access to the resources only through the provider.

• Claims

From Offering to Commitment

When an offering is accepted, a commitment is created


How are the different kinds of commitments fulfilled?

An ownership/loan commitment is fulfilled by giving rights



A service commitment is fulfilled by a service delivery that consumes a service resource



Triggers are used to specify any type of condition under which a Service Commitmentbecomes active

The Snow Ploughing Case


There is never any service delivery

The Snow Ploughing Case


There is never any service delivery

But the service commitment is honoured because the trigger never fires

Service for Co-creation of Value

Goods are produced internally at a provider

who later on sells the goods to a customer

who uses them without the involvement of the provider

Service deliveries are usually parts of processes where value is co-created in an interaction between provider and recipient

The recipient provides some of his resources as input to the process

Service for Co-creation of Value

Concluding Remarks

Three aspects on services

Abstraction

Restricted access

Co-creation of value

Captures the basics of several service analyses in the literature

A basis for service descriptions

Unified Service Theory and Perspectives on Services

Technology

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