Services Management Overview

Principles

Definition

Services management is an academic field and methodological approach focused on the strategic design, operational delivery, and continuous improvement of service processes, systems, and customer experiences. It investigates the unique characteristics of services, such as intangibility and co-creation, to optimize resource utilization, enhance service quality, and achieve strategic organizational objectives.

Ontological type

Core Frameworks

Service Design Methods

Operational Performance Metrics

Key developments

Key Figures

Service-Driven Foundations era

Yong-Ki Lee [1], associated with Korea National University of Transportation [2] during this era, contributes to service management scholarship. The paper The determinants of perceived service quality and its relationship with satisfaction [3] identifies determinants of perceived service quality and links them to customer satisfaction, providing a measurable basis for quality assessment and its relation to outcomes. Lee [1]'s work on perceived service quality informs cross-functional approaches to service quality assessment and frontline empowerment in this era. This line of work underlines the importance of systematic service quality measurement for loyalty and profitability in service-driven performance management, as captured by Lee [1]'s contributions.

Servitization and Service Science era

Rogelio Oliva [1] is associated with Harvard University [3] and Texas A&M University [4] during the Servitization and Service Science era. Oliva [1]'s 2003 paper Managing the transition from products to services [7] articulates the shift from product-centric to service-centric offerings, highlighting how bundling services with products reshapes operations and strategy and why this matters for the era. Stephen Brown [2] is associated with Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry [5] and Yale University [6] during this period. Brown [2]'s 2010 paper Moving Forward and Making a Difference: Research Priorities for the Science of Service [8] reframes service research as a cross-disciplinary program and outlines priorities that shaped the science of service and service design practices during the era.

Public Service Logic era

Stephen P. Osborne[1] is a scholar associated with King's College London[2] and the University of Edinburgh[3] during this era. He contributed to the shift from public service-dominant logic to public service logic, as exemplified by the 2017 paper From public service-dominant logic to public service logic: are public service organizations capable of co-production and value co-creation?[4], which argued that public service organizations can enable co-production and value co-creation. This work anchored the era's emphasis on citizen co-creation and platform-mediated governance by reframing value creation as a collaborative process across public and non-public actors. Through this contribution, Osborne helped establish the public service logic framework as a basis for analysis of ecosystem-level governance, design-driven interventions, and digital servitization in public services.