Differentiated service

About: Differentiated service is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 5539 publications have been published within this topic receiving 105225 citations.

The Customer Contact Model for Organization Design

Abstract: The literature on organization design has been dominated by descriptive models in its dealing with structure and operations. This paper takes an alternative view advocating the use of a normative model to be used in the design of service organizations. This model sees the extent of customer contact with the service organization as a major variable affecting system performance and advocates reconfiguring the structure of the service organization to reflect this impact. The discussion describes a taxonomy used to classify firms along the contact dimension and develops 13 propositions which convey critical distinctions between high and low contact services. Application of the model for managerial decision making involves the use of decoupling and the paper identifies factors which favor/disfavor decoupling in light of existing and desired service delivery objectives.

SWORD: A Developer Toolkit for Web Service Composition

Abstract: The formidable problem of automatic or semi-automatic composition of existing Web services is the subject of much current attention. We address a particular subset of this problem with SWORD, a set of tools for the composition of a class of web services including ``information-providing'' services. In SWORD, a service is represented by a rule that expresses that given certain inputs, the service is capable of producing particular outputs. A rule-based expert system is then used to automatically determine whether a desired composite service can be realized using existing services. If so, this derivation is used to construct a plan that when executed instantiates the composite service. As our working prototype and examples demonstrate, SWORD does not require (but could benefit from) wider deployment of emerging service-description standards such as WSDL, SOAP, RDF and DAML. We also distinguish SWORD from some other plausible existing approaches, especially information integration. We show that although SWORD's expressive capabilities are weaker, the abstractions it exposes capture more appropriately the limited kinds of queries supported by typical Web services and thus result in simplicity and efficiency. [Word Count: 7950 words]

Method and apparatus for policy based class service and adaptive service level management within the context of an internet and intranet

Abstract: A method and apparatus for robustly enhanced Class of Service (COS) at the application layer permits highly flexible privilege based access and enables implementation of complex policies and rules for classification and differentiation of services. Differentiation facilitates categorization of traffic to permit flexible design and implementation of multiple Class of Service levels.

Web service syndication system

Abstract: A syndicator for disseminating Web services and other resources from service and content providers to service consumers and for establishing and implementing subscription agreements specifying the terms upon which digital assets are provided to subscribers. A registration database stores a service description for each of a plurality of different Web services and other resources. Each stored service description contains an input processing specification, an output processing specification, and the specification of the business terms upon which the described service or resource is offered by its provider to subscribers. A subscription manager conducts a negotiation with a prospective subscriber and receives from the subscriber an acceptance of the business terms upon which a specified Web service or resource is offered to establish a subscription agreement. Event tracking records information describing the performance of each service on behalf of each subscriber to perform subscription accounting functions.

E-Service and the Consumer

Abstract: Many Internet applications do not fully utilize the unique nature of the Web, which in its purest form involves interactive, personalized information service. The true nature of the Web, here termed e-service, will be the key to marketing most effectively to the consumer, for it is the logical continuation of a 100-year trend toward information service in the economy. This paper examines the aspects of e-service that are critical in effectively interacting with consumers in interactive, networked information environments like the Internet. It discusses three central changes brought about by the advent of the Internet (true interactivity with the consumer, customer-specific, situational personalization, and the opportunity for real-time adjustments to a firm's offering to customers), as well as changes in consumer expectations regarding firm service strategies that flow from these developments. Based upon these changes in technology and consumer expectations, important elements of the e-service experience are defined. The paper concludes by showing how e-service strategies will play a significant role in growing the overall value of the firm. In each of these areas, a set of research questions is proposed that will lead to a stronger understanding of e-service and consumer behavior.