Showing papers on "Service system published in 2013"

Customer positivity and participation in services: an empirical test in a health care context

Abstract: Many service interactions require customers to actively participate, yet customers often do not participate at levels that optimize their outcomes, particularly in health care. To gain insight into how customers shape a service experience with highly uncertain outcomes, we construct a model on the broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions. The model is used to empirically assess how situation-specific emotions and customer participation during a health care service experience affect perceptions of the service provider. The model is tested using data from 190 medical clinic customers. Consistent with theory, results reveal that as customers’ relative affect levels become more positive, levels of participation increase as well. In turn, higher levels of positivity and participation improve customer perceptions of the quality of the service provider and satisfaction with the co-produced service experience. Implications of this research focus managers on designing services to help clients manage their emotions in ways that facilitate positivity and participation and thus improve service perceptions.

Single certificate service system and operational method thereof

Abstract: The present invention relates to single certificate service support, and more particularly to a single certificate service system which includes: a terminal for accessing at least one of a plurality of application service devices in response to an activation request of at least one of a plurality of applications to receive a service token used for the service operation from the application service device on the basis of a single certificate token without additional certificate information; an application service device for providing the data for the application service operation of the terminal showing the service token and for delivering a message received in connection with single certificate to a single certificate service device; and a single certificate service device for delivering the information for the single certificate service operation to the application service device or through the application service device to the terminal if receiving the message from the application service device in connection with single certificate, and to each structure of the system, and an operational method thereof.

A new conceptualization of service innovation grounded in S‐D logic and service systems

Abstract: Purpose – The aim of this paper is to conceptualize service innovation through a service‐dominant logic (S‐D logic) lens and a service system foundation.Design/methodology/approach – This conceptual paper offers a service‐dominant logic lens and a structuration theory approach emphasizing an actor perspective on service innovation. Since the value of innovation unfolds in practice, this paper will use customer to denote the key actor in co‐creating value in context.Findings – The paper shows how a resource constellation in a service system is reconfigured and thus explains service innovation from the lens of S‐D logic, emphasizing customers' value co‐creation of value in practices. The focus is on the interdependencies between the configuration of resources in a service system and schemas that shape customers and other actors when integrating resources and co‐creating value.Research limitations/implications – There is a need to discuss service innovation in a social constructivist view to better understan...

Steering Manufacturing Firms Towards Service Business Model Innovation

Abstract: Increasingly, manufacturing firms are turning to services as a new way of creating and capturing value. Despite its potential benefits, many new product-service providers struggle to deploy service activities effectively, not least because they fail to reflect the presence of service activities in their performance management systems. This article reports the results of an in-depth case study, which examines how manufacturers can steer the transition towards services. It shows that manufacturing firms need to emphasize two separate but related dimensions of the market performance of service activities: “service adoption,” reflecting the proportion of customers who purchase the manufacturer's services; and “service coverage,” signaling the range of service elements or the comprehensiveness of the service contract that customers opt for. These two indicators, reflecting service market performance, should be supplemented with a “complementarity index” designed to disclose whether the relationship between products and services is reinforcing or substitutive. When combined, these indicators allow manufacturing firms to deploy a service-based business model in an integrated and sustainable manner.

International Services Marketing

Abstract: Discusses and applies a general framework for services quality to make a comparative evaluation of ten dimensions of service quality between developed and developing countries Derives specific hypotheses for each of the service quality dimensions based on the relevant environmental factors characterizing developed and developing economies Discusses managerial implications of the hypotheses that are derived, and proposes the empirical investigation of these hypotheses as a direction for future research

The value of health and wellbeing: an empirical model of value creation in social marketing

Abstract: Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of multiple actors in the value creation process for a preventative health service, and observe the subsequent impact on key service outcomes of satisfaction and customer behaviour intentions to use a preventative health service again in the future. Design/methodology/approach An online self-completion survey of Australian women (n=797) was conducted to test the proposed framework in the context of a free, government-provided breastscreening service. Data were analysed using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). Findings The findings indicate that functional and emotional value are created from organisational and customer resources. These findings indicate that health service providers and customers are jointly responsible for the successful creation of value, leading to desirable outcomes for all stakeholders. Practical implications The results highlight to health professionals the aspects of service that can be managed in order to create value with target audiences. The findings also indicate the importance of the resources provided by users in the creation of value, signifying the importance of customer education and management. Originality/value This study provides a significant contribution to social marketing through the provision of an empirically validated model of value creation in a preventative health service. The model demonstrates how the creation and provision of value can lead to the achievement of desirable social behaviours - a key aim of social marketing.

Publishing and discovering context-dependent services

Abstract: In service oriented computing, service providers and service requesters are main interacting entities. A service provider publishes the services it wishes to make public using service registries. A service requester initiates a discovery process to find the service that meets its requirements using the service registries. Current approaches for the publication and discovery do not realize the essential relationship between the service contract and the conditions in which the service can guarantee its contract. Moreover, they do not use any formal methods for specifying services, contracts, and compositions. Without a formal basis it is not possible to justify through a rigorous verification the correctness conditions for service compositions and the satisfaction of contractual obligations in service provisions. In our recent works, we have identified the role of contextual information, trustworthiness information and legal rules in service provision. This paper focuses on the publication and discovery of trustworthy context-dependent services as supported by the novel framework FrSeC. It introduces a novel ranking algorithm that ranks trustworthy context-dependent services according to the degree they match service requesters requirements. Finally, this paper introduces a prototype implementation for the matching and ranking of services as supported by FrSeC.

The value of health and wellbeing : an empirical model of value creation in social marketing

Abstract: Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of multiple actors in the value creation process for a preventative health service, and observe the subsequent impact on key service outcomes of satisfaction and customer behaviour intentions to use a preventative health service again in the future Design/methodology/approach An online self-completion survey of Australian women (n=797) was conducted to test the proposed framework in the context of a free, government-provided breastscreening service Data were analysed using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) Findings The findings indicate that functional and emotional value are created from organisational and customer resources These findings indicate that health service providers and customers are jointly responsible for the successful creation of value, leading to desirable outcomes for all stakeholders Practical implications The results highlight to health professionals the aspects of service that can be managed in order to create value with target audiences The findings also indicate the importance of the resources provided by users in the creation of value, signifying the importance of customer education and management Originality/value This study provides a significant contribution to social marketing through the provision of an empirically validated model of value creation in a preventative health service The model demonstrates how the creation and provision of value can lead to the achievement of desirable social behaviours - a key aim of social marketing

Exploring switching behavior of US mobile service customers

Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the switching behavior of mobile service customers in the USA with a focus on service quality, innovation and lock-in strategies as deterrents of switching. Design/methodology/approach – A thorough literature review coupled with two focus group interviews provided the impetus for the design and development of a survey instrument that was then administered to graduate and undergraduate students in the Southeast USA. Findings – The paper finds that: mobile service quality (m-SERVQUAL) is a significant detractor of switching intentions of customers – if customers perceive their provider to be innovative, they are less likely to switch to another provider; the perception of being innovative is equally as important as the perception of the service quality delivered by the provider; hard lock-in (unreasonable contract length) leads customers to increase their intention to switch, which is completely counter to its intended purpose; and service quality perception...

ICT as a catalyst for service business orientation

Abstract: Purpose - Information and communication technology (ICT) is a key enabler for new product- and process-oriented services. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how ICT can enable service differentiation and, in doing so, act as a catalyst for a service business orientation.Design/methodology/approach - The paper is based on a qualitative, multi-case research design with eight multinational goods manufacturers.Findings - The paper identifies two distinct types of service-oriented differentiation: services in support of the product (SSP) and services in support of the client's actions (SSC). The study finds that SSC have the largest positive impact on firms' service business orientation.Research limitations/implications - Western firms in a limited sample of industries are studied. Furthermore, the service business orientation construct does not include any measurements of service profitability or impact on overall competitive advantage.Practical implications - To various extents, successful firms are likely to pursue both SSP and SSC differentiation traits through ICT. The two options are interdependent and the framework presented helps managers to understand both key specificities and their interrelatedness.Originality/value - The study contributes to theory on service strategies by specifically focusing on the enabling role of ICT for new services and its effects on each of the three dimensions of the service business orientation construct.

Connectivity in Service Systems: Does Technology-Enablement Impact the Ability of a Service System to Co-Create Value?

Abstract: Does technology-enablement impact the ability of a service system to co-create value? In this study, we assess and compare the relative importance of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and human relationships in service systems, by drawing on findings from a multiple case study in the consulting industry and subsequent analysis through a sociotechnical connectivity lens We present a theoretical model and propositions which indicate that successful technology-enabled value co-creation is contingent upon the quantity and quality of interpersonal relationships, or social connectivity, between humans that interact and exchange resources by means of ICT Our findings indicate that technology-enablement in service systems does not, in and of itself, influence human behavior, goals, or motivation regarding the value co-creation process, and argue that the ability of these service systems to co-create value is contingent on the levels of social connectivity between its human entities, more so than IC

Ldap-based multi-customer in-cloud identity management system

Abstract: A cloud infrastructure system offering a set of cloud services are disclosed. The cloud infrastructure system may store a service catalog of a set of registered services provided by the cloud infrastructure system. For each registered service, a service declaration can be associated with the registered service. A customer may order a selected service from the set of registered services provided by the cloud infrastructure system. A service declaration from the set of service declarations specific to the requested service is determined and used to provision resources for enabling the selected service. The selected service is provisioned based on the determined service declaration.

Cloud computation based remote service system for medical internet of things

Abstract: The invention provides a cloud computation based remote service system for medical internet of things. The cloud computation based remote service system comprises a remote medical module, a cloud computation data service module and a cloud storage module. An integrated process including communication establishment, telemedicine, diagnosing data acquisition, data cloud storage and data sharing service between a telemedicine patient terminal and a doctor terminal is realized via mutual coordination of the above modules.

Consumer perceptions of service constellations: implications for service innovation

Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate how the service constellation perspective affects innovation strategies and potentially contributes to the innovation literature, proposing a research agenda.Design/methodology/approach – By analyzing the notion of a service constellation, the authors provide an overview of major implications for service innovation research and practice.Findings – Firms and service innovation researchers need to focus on the perceived consumer value of the constellation rather than on individual services. The authors illustrate how service innovation from the constellation perspective requires coordination and synchronization between projects and different approaches to portfolio management and screening.Originality/value – Adoption of the service constellation perspective creates new opportunities.

Community parking space sharing and use reserving service system based on vehicle identification

Abstract: The invention discloses a community parking space sharing and use reserving service system based on vehicle identification, which is used for improving the usage rate of community parking spaces so as to relieve the problem that the parking spaces are limited and the parking is difficult. Existing parking management equipment in a community needs to be updated and modified or replaced, so that the parking management equipment is provided with the functions of vehicle identification, intelligent management and server connection, and a server can conveniently carry out intelligent management on vehicles and the parking spaces. A sharing management mode is adopted for the parking spaces, and a member can use the parking spaces shared by other members in the server through sharing his own parking space, so that the member has the double characteristics of sharing and using. The member can reserve the parking space through logging in a mobile phone client end application and a service website, and finish the reservation through directly selecting a nearby community and a parking space on a map. The service enjoyed by the member is purchased according to time limit, and in the service validity period, the parking service is used for free without limit.

Service association model

Abstract: Enabling associations between cloud services in a computer network cloud infrastructure system is described. Cloud services can include infrastructure as a service (IAAS) storage and processing services, platform as a service (PAAS) database and Java services, and software as a service (SAAS) customer resource management services. Associations between the services can include automatically sharing security certificate-based keys and tokens or otherwise sharing data. Upon subscribing to a cloud system through an automated system, a user is prompted to select allowable associations between the selected services. The services are then provisioned and the user-selected associations are enabled.

Building an agricultural extension services system supported by ICTs in Tanzania: Progress made, Challenges remain

Abstract: The conventional agricultural extension service in Tanzania is mainly provided by extension officers visiting farmers to provide agricultural advisory service. This system of extension service provision faces a number of challanges including the few number of extension officers and limited resources. This article assessess the effectiveness of an impact-driven, radio-based extension service delivery system that has been introduced in some rural areas of Tanzania. The system aims to enable extension officers to reach many farmers with minimum efforts. However little is known about the effectiveness of this new extension service delivery system. Structured questionnaire, focus group discussion, interviews and participant observation were used to collect data from 55 small holder farmers who who had been receiving an impact-driven, radiobased extension services through Farmer Voice Radio project. Additional data were collected from interviewing extension officers and from archives of participating community radio stations. The results indicate that in some rural areas, farmers have started sharing agricultural information and best practices. Some farmers have also started to change their farming practices. This brings a new finding that farmers can adopt and practice easily what is aired by their fellow farmers in the community radio stations.

A survey of service composition in ambient intelligence environments

Abstract: This article presents a comparative review of systems performing service composition in Ambient Intelligence Environments. Such environments should comply to ubiquitous or pervasive computing guidelines by sensing the user needs or wishes and offering intuitive human-computer interaction and a comfortable non-intrusive experience. To achieve this goal service orientation is widely used and tightly linked with AmI systems. Some of these employ the Web Service technology, which involves well-defined web technologies and standards that facilitate interoperable machine to machine interaction. Other systems regard services of different technologies (e.g. UPnP, OSGi etc) or generally as abstractions of various actions. Service operations are sometimes implemented as software based functions or actions over hardware equipment (e.g. UPnP players). However, a single service satisfies an atomic only user need, so services need to be composed (i.e. combined), in order to provide the usually requested complex tasks. Since manual service composition is obviously a hassle for the user, ambient systems struggle to automate this process by applying various methods. The approaches that have been adopted during the last years vary widely in many aspects, like domain of application, modeling of services, composition method, knowledge representation and interfaces. This work presents a comparative view of these approaches revealing similarities and differences, while providing additional information.

Metamodel for service analysis and design based on an operational view of service and service systems

Abstract: This paper presents a metamodel that addresses service system analysis and design based on an operational view of service that traverses and integrates three essential layers: service activities, service systems, and value constellations. The metamodel's service-in-operation perspective and underlying premises diverge from a view of service systems as systems of economic exchange that has appeared a number of times in the journal Service Science. In addition to the metamodel itself, this paper's contributions include an explanation of eight premises on which it is based plus clarifications concerning concepts such as service, service system, customer, product/service, coproduction and cocreation of value, actor role, resources, symmetrical treatment of automated and nonautomated service systems, and the relationship between service-dominant logic and service systems. Many articles have discussed these topics individually; few, if any, have tied them together using an integrated metamodel.