Almaden Visitor Talk: Service Science Series

In conjunction with ISSIP.org (contact: info@issip.org)

Talk: Creating Service Inventories for Competitive Advantage
Speakers:   Mark Davis (Bentley), Joy Field (Boston College)
Date: November 20, 2012
Location: IBM Almaden Research Center, 650 HarryRoad, San Jose, CA, 95120
Time: 11:00am-12:00pm, Room J2-109
Host: Jim Spohrer  Director, IBM University Programs Worldwide
Contact spohrer@us.ibm.com to attend (space limited).

Abstract

Technology has dramatically affected today’s competitive environment for businesses in general, and for services in particular. Service organizations in virtually every industry now have access to basically the same external resources. Even economies of scale, which were once seen as a significant competitive advantage, are now being democratized by advances in information technology. As a result, emerging service organizations can compete on a regular basis with larger well established firms. In such a competitive environment, service firms must look internally to how they design their service delivery processes to develop a truly sustainable competitive advantage in the market place. One element in the design of the service delivery process that appears to offer such opportunities for developing a competitive advantage is the creation of service inventories in the service delivery process.

The simultaneity of production and consumption during the service delivery process coupled with the perishability of the provider’s capacity (both of which are due to the customer’s interaction with the service process) lead to the natural conclusion that services cannot be inventoried.  Prior to the introduction of the concept of service inventory by Chopra and Lariviere (2005), this basic tenet of services remained unchallenged. Although service inventories can be either physical or digital, we focus primarily on the creation of digital service inventories.

Our objective in developing this framework is to explicitly acknowledge the increasing role of technology and how it can provide service firms with a competitive advantage in the design of their service delivery processes with specific emphasis on the creation of service inventory. The shifting of the boundary towards the customer provides increasing opportunities for creating service inventories. This synergistic effect of both increasing the level of customer interaction during the value co-creation process and creating service inventories can provide firms with a sustainable competitive advantage.

Speaker Bios

Mark M. Davis is Professor of Operations Management at Bentley College in Waltham, MA.   He received a BSEE from Tufts University, and an MBA and DBA from Boston University. He worked as a manufacturing engineer for the General Electric Company and is a graduate of its Manufacturing Management Program. He was also a programs manager for the U.S. Army Natick Research Laboratories, where he focused on the design of military foodservice systems.   In addition to publishing numerous articles, Dr. Davis is also the co-author of two textbooks: Operations Management: Integrating Manufacturing and Services, (McGraw-Hill/Irwin, 2005, 5th edition, with Janelle Heineke), and Managing Services: Using Technology to Create Value (McGraw-Hill/Irwin, 2003, with Janelle Heineke).  Dr. Davis is a Past President of the Decision Sciences Institute (DSI). He also served as Program Chair for the 2003 DSI Annual Meeting, Secretary and as a member of the DSI Board of Directors, and is a Past President of the Northeast Decision Sciences Institute. In 2000, he was named a Fellow in the Decision Sciences Institute. In 1998, Dr. Davis received Bentley College’s Scholar of the Year Award. He was appointed to the 1996 Board of Examiners for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. Dr. Davis won the Innovative Education Award for Best Paper (with Jane Tchaicha) at the 2002 Annual Meeting of the Northeast Decision Sciences Institute. Dr. Davis currently serves on the editorial review board of The Journal of Service Management and on the Board of Overseers for Mass Excellence.   As a visiting professor, Dr. Davis has taught courses/workshops in service operations/management at Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration in Ithaca, New York; Instituto de Empresa in Madrid, Spain; Groupe HEC in Paris, France; Keio University in Tokyo, Japan; Al Akhawayn University in Casablanca, Morocco, and Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia.

Joy M. Field is an Associate Professor of Operations Management in the Carroll School of Management at Boston College. She received an MBA, MS in statistics, and PhD in operations management from the University of Minnesota. Her research and consulting focuses on designing and managing the service co-creation process to improve its efficiency and effectiveness, with an emphasis on the role of the customer co-producer. Her work has been published in leading journals such as Academy of Management Journal, Decisions Sciences, Journal of Operations Management, Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, Production and Operations Management, and Strategic Management Journal. In addition to journal publications, she is the author of the book, Designing Service Processes to Unlock Value, published by Business Expert Press.  She serves as an associate editor for Decision Sciences and Journal of Operations Management.  Prior to her career in academia, she was an industrial engineer and financial analyst for Unisys.

Talk: Creating Service Inventories for Competitive Advantage
Speakers:   Mark Davis (Bentley), Joy Field (Boston College)
Date: November 20, 2012
Location: IBM Almaden Research Center, 650 HarryRoad, San Jose, CA, 95120
Time: 11:00am-12:00pm, Room J2-109
Host: Jim Spohrer  Director, IBM University Programs Worldwide
Contact spohrer@us.ibm.com to attend (space limited).

In conjunction with ISSIP.org (contact: info@issip.org)
Almaden Visitor Talk: Service Science Series