Joy M. Field, Liana Victorino, Ryan W. Buell, Michael J. Dixon, Susan Meyer Goldstein, Larry J. Menor, Madeleine E. Pullman, Aleda V. Roth, Enrico Secchi and Jie J. Zhang
The purpose of this paper is to present exciting and innovative research questions in service operations that are aligned with eight key themes and related topics determined by…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present exciting and innovative research questions in service operations that are aligned with eight key themes and related topics determined by the Journal of Service Management (JOSM) Service Operations Expert Research Panel. By offering a good number of such research questions, this paper provides a broad range of ideas to spur conceptual and empirical research related to service operations and encourage the continued creation of deep knowledge within the field, as well as collaborative research across disciplines that develops and incorporates insights from service operations.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on a Delphi study, described in the companion article, “Service Operations: What Have We Learned?,” the panel identified eight key research themes in service operations where leading-edge research is being done or has yet to be done (Victorino et al., 2018). In this paper, three or four topics within each theme are selected and multiple questions for each topic are proposed to guide research efforts. The topics and questions, while wide-ranging, are only representative of the many ongoing research opportunities related to service operations.
Findings
The field of service operations has many interesting research topics and questions that are largely unexplored. Furthermore, these research areas are not only increasingly integrative across multiple themes within operations but often transcend functional disciplines. This creates opportunities for ever more impactful research with a greater reach throughout the service system and suggests that service researchers, regardless of functional affiliation, can contribute to the ongoing conversation on the role of service operations in value creation.
Originality/value
Leveraging the collective knowledge of the JOSM Service Operations Expert Research Panel to expand on the research themes generated from the Delphi study, novel questions for future study are put forward. Recognizing that the number of potential research questions is virtually unlimited, summary questions by theme and topic are also provided. These questions represent a synopsis of the individual questions and can serve as a quick reference guide for researchers interested in pursuing new directions in conceptual and empirical research in service operations. This summary also serves as a framework to facilitate the formulation of additional research topics and questions.
Details
Keywords
Liana Victorino, Joy M. Field, Ryan W. Buell, Michael J. Dixon, Susan Meyer Goldstein, Larry J. Menor, Madeleine E. Pullman, Aleda V. Roth, Enrico Secchi and Jie J. Zhang
The purpose of this paper is to identify research themes in service operations that have great potential for exciting and innovative conceptual and empirical work. To frame these…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify research themes in service operations that have great potential for exciting and innovative conceptual and empirical work. To frame these research themes, the paper provides a systematic literature review of operations articles published in the Journal of Service Management (JOSM). The thorough review of published work in JOSM and proposed research themes are presented in hopes that they will inspire impactful research on service operations. These themes are further developed in a companion paper, “Service operations: what’s next?” (Field et al., 2018).
Design/methodology/approach
The JOSM Service Operations Expert Research Panel conducted a Delphi study to generate research themes where leading-edge research on service operations is being done or has yet to be done. Nearly 700 articles published in JOSM from its inception through 2016 were reviewed and classified by discipline focus. The subset of service operations articles was then further categorized according to the eight identified research themes plus an additional category that primarily represented traditional manufacturing approaches applied in service settings.
Findings
From the Delphi study, the following key themes emerged: service supply networks, evaluating and measuring service operations performance, understanding customer and employee behavior in service operations, managing servitization, managing knowledge-based service contexts, managing participation roles and responsibilities in service operations, addressing society’s challenges through service operations, and the operational implications of the sharing economy. Based on the literature review, approximately 20 percent of the published work in JOSM is operations focused, with earlier articles predominantly applying traditional manufacturing approaches in service settings. However, the percentage of these traditional types of articles has been steadily decreasing, suggesting a trend toward dedicated research frameworks and themes that are unique to the design and management of services operations.
Originality/value
The paper presents key research themes for advancing conceptual and empirical research on service operations. Additionally, a review of the past and current landscape of operations articles published in JOSM offers an understanding of the scholarly conversation so far and sets a foundation from which to build future research.
Details
Keywords
Michael Dixon, Ekaterina V. Karniouchina, Bo van der Rhee, Rohit Verma and Liana Victorino
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the importance of a coordinated marketing and operations strategy in goods and service producing business organizations. Customer…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the importance of a coordinated marketing and operations strategy in goods and service producing business organizations. Customer engagement and co-production are imperative service delivery considerations, and therefore an aligned marketing and operations strategy is essential for the formulation, development, and effectiveness of managerial decisions especially for service sector firms.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors present arguments in support of this paper's primary objectives by reviewing past research that have introduced theoretical frameworks, empirical support and applications in support of the close coordination between marketing and operations strategy. The paper then describes how the inter-relationship between marketing and operations strategy impacts several managerial decisions.
Findings
The paper discusses several different types of managerial decisions within goods and service producing firms that require active interaction between marketing and operations. These decisions include aligning strategic priorities, new product development, service design, and experience design.
Research limitations/implications
This paper is primarily theoretical and therefore does not include any new empirical data.
Practical implications
The inter-relationship between the marketing and operations functions is well known to practicing managers. However, they may not have a specific understanding of the academic research described in this paper that shows how firm performance can be further improved by better managing these interactions for specific managerial decisions.
Originality/value
This paper is theoretical and provides a comprehensive review of literature and a compelling argument for including marketing and operations strategy in the corporate executive suite. Therefore, this paper should be of interest to researchers and practitioners interested in the functional areas of marketing, operations, and strategy for service organizations.
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Liana Victorino, Rohit Verma, Gerhard Plaschka and Chekitan Dev
The purpose of this paper is to understand the impact service innovation has on customers' choices within the hotel and leisure industry. The paper also discusses the influence of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to understand the impact service innovation has on customers' choices within the hotel and leisure industry. The paper also discusses the influence of the creation of new services on both service development and operational strategy.
Design/methodology/approach
The analysis is based on a national survey of approximately 1,000 travelers in the United States, using a web‐based data acquisition approach. The travelers are segmented by reason of travel (business or leisure), and discrete choice analysis is applied to model customer preferences for various hotel service innovations.
Findings
Overall, the study finds that service innovation does matter when guests are selecting a hotel, with type of lodging having the largest impact on a customer's hotel choice. In addition, service innovation is found to have a larger influence on choices when guests are staying at economy hotels rather than mid‐range to up‐scale hotels. Also, leisure travelers were found to be more influenced by innovative amenities such as childcare programs and in‐room kitchenettes than business travelers.
Practical implications
The understanding of customers' choices allows managers to better design their service offerings and formulate corresponding operational strategies around customer needs.
Originality/value
This paper examines the addition of innovation to the hotel service concept and is an excellent tool for managers deciding on which innovations to implement.
Details
Keywords
This paper introduces the special issue on service innovation management.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper introduces the special issue on service innovation management.
Design/methodology/approach
Provides a brief review of the papers within the issue.
Findings
Compares and contextualizes the contributions, finding that the papers use state of the art methodologies and each furthers knowledge of service innovation management – a recently emerged academic discipline.
Originality/value
The perspectives considered represents a small sample of the diversity that exists within this area.