Dear colleague,

Service science is challenging to define, such that people know what it is and is not.

Here are some thoughts about defining service science…

1.  Service science and arts is the study of and design of service or value-cocreation phenomena, historical, present-day, and future possibilities, and the life-cycle and evolution of the types of nested, networked service system entities that interact in diverse, dynamic service ecology. An example of value-cocreation phenomena important in human history is division-of-labor and capability optimization and specialization of people, businesses, cities, states, and nations.

2. Service science is the study of service phenomena (value co-creation) and service systems.   Service systems are dynamic configurations of resources including people, technology, organizations, and shared information, interconnected by value-propositions.   Each of the four types of resources (people, technology, organizations, and shared information) varies in terms of physical/non-physical and rights/no-rights, leading to the ability to re-balance what is done by people or technology, by people as self-service or organization as service provisioning, etc.  Many permutations and variations are possible, and to understand the dynamics of the evolution of capabilities and their distribution over time is central to service science.

3. Service science is the study of value co-creation phenomena in human-serving systems, over multiple scales, geographies, and time-frames.  What may appear to be value-cocreation at one scale, region, or time, may appear to be sustainable value-cocreation or even value destruction from another perspective, and new knowledge in the system can cause a shift in perspective.   The dynamics of service are shifted when the unknown unknown, becomes the known unknown, known known, or unknown known.  Societies can gain or lose knowledge, which impacts the types of service interactions in that society.

4. Service science is the study of win-win or non-zero-sum game phenomena in human social systems. Robert Wrights book “Non-Zero: The Logic of Human Destiny” provides a good historical, philosophical, and mathematical introduction to non-zero-sum games in human social systems.    The notion of what is the fundamental building block, what is “human” and what are the capabilities, rights, and responsibilities of humans, ultimately becomes central to what non-zero-sum games are possible.

Not yet formalized:
Our research suggests that T-shaped people and T-shape regions have better properties than pure specialization and division of labor for accelerating innovativeness, equity, sustainability, and resilience of service systems.  If it was only about specialization, where are all the scribes?  Why do we not use division of labor for reading and writing?   Our research also indicates their may be an equivalent of Moore’s Law for service system evolution, but the limits are not known because it depends on knowledge, and the unknown unknown is a wild card.   Better methods of characterizing the unknown unknown are very important to “deep” service scientists.  However, most service scientists are concerned with just service productivity (usual from application of technology or network restructuring), service quality, service compliance, and service innovation.
Service science, management, engineering, design, arts, policymaking (SSME+DAP) is too long but captures the multidisciplinary nature of service science….

SOSE 2013: 7th International Symposium on Service Oriented System Engineering
March 25 – March 28, 2013
Hotel Sofitel, San Francisco Bay, USA.

IEEE SOSE 2013 is in conjunction with and co-located with the following conferences:

IEEE Mobile Cloud 2013 – The IEEE International Symposium on Mobile Cloud, Computing and Service Engineering

IEEEIC2E2013 – International Conference on Cloud Engineering

Starting from 2005, SOSE is one of the pioneering symposia devoted to the research in engineering service-oriented systems, from the architecture and computing paradigm to the development and management. Service-Oriented Computing (SOC) exploits services as the fundamental elements for developing computer-based systems. It has been applied to various areas and promotes fundamental changes to system architecture, especially changing the way software systems are being analyzed, architected, designed, implemented, tested, evaluated, delivered, consumed, maintained and evolved. Recently, Cloud Computing emerges as a popular service delivery paradigm and further expands the scope of SOC to include new subjects such as Software as a Service, Platform as a Service, Infrastructure as a Service, Testgin as a Service, Management as a Service and Thing as a Service. Service Engineering for Cloud Computing brings new challenges as well as opportunities to SOSE and becomes the theme of the 7th symposium.

Continuing the tradition of the last six SOSE Symposia, the 7th SOSE intends to provide a forum for researchers and practitioners to exchange latest observations, insights, achievements and visions in the Service-Oriented System Engineering. Particularly, SOSE 2013 invites original submissions in all the areas of the system engineering and software engineering methods, techniques, tools, applications, and experiments for software services.

URL:
http://www.engr.sjsu.edu/gaojerry/IEEESOSE2013/index.htm

QUIS13 Call for papers

The 13th International Research Symposium on Service Excellence in Management
June 10 -13, 2013 Karlstad, Sweden

HOSTED BY
CTF, Service Research Center, Karlstad University, Sweden

IN CONJUNCTION WITH
Center for Services Leadership, W. P. Carey School of Business, Arizona State University, USA
Warwick Business School, University of Warwick, UK
Center for Hospitality Research, Cornell University, USA 

QUIS is considered to be the world’s leading biannual symposium on service research and brings together the best interdisciplinary academic research and management practice. The QUIS symposium draws attendees from around 35 countries. We will start with a reception on Monday evening and sessions and social programs will continue until Thursday lunch. The symposium takes a broad interdisciplinary and international view of service excellence in management. The topics are representative but not exclusive themes. A Best Paper Award will be presented during the conference and a special issue with selected papers from QUIS13 will be published in Journal of Service Management and Cornell Hospitality Quarterly.

Call for papers

Abstract submissions due November 10, 2012.

The symposium takes a broad interdisciplinary and international view of service excellence in management. The topics are representative but not exclusive themes.A Best Paper Award will be presented during the conference and a special issue with selected papers from QUIS13 will be published in Journal of Service Management and Cornell Hospitality Quarterly.

Submit an abstract

Researchers and practitioners are invited to submit an abstract describing their rigorous work for consideration for presentation at QUIS13 in Karlstad, Sweden, June 10-13, 2013. Each abstract (maximum 500 words) should clearly identify the primary speaker’s contact information.

All submissions will be reviewed by the conference co-chairs and acceptance will be based on its contribution to theory, research and/or implications for practice for service management. By submitting an abstract, at least one of the authors agrees to attend QUIS13 if the work is accepted.

Please submit your abstract no later than November 10, 2012 to quis13@kau.se

Notification of acceptance will be sent out by December 20, 2012. Authors of accepted abstracts will have the option of submitting an extended abstract (1000 words) or a complete paper (maximum 10 pages) by March 31, 2013.

Topics

•Customer experience
•Customer satisfaction and loyalty
•Healthcare service
•Hospitality service
•Human resource management service
•New service development and innovation
•Not-for-profit and government service
•Service leadership and culture
•Service logic
•Service marketing & customer management
•Service operations management
•Service outsourcing
•Service pricing and revenue management
•Service productivity enhancement
•Service quality & performance management
•Service recovery & complaint management
•Service science, management & engineering
•Service strategy
•Service supply chains
•Services in manufacturing companies
•Social media & interactive service channels
•Technology & e-service
•Theoretical perspectives on service
•Transformative service
•Other topics related to service

CONFERENCE CO-CHAIRS
Professor Bo Edvardsson, CTF, Service Research Center, Karlstad University, Sweden
Professor Mary Jo Bitner, Center for Services Leadership, Arizona State University, USA
Professor Robert Johnston, Warwick Business School, University of Warwick, UK
Professor Rohit Verma, Center for Hospitality Research, Cornell University, USA

QUIS Coordinator
Ingrid Hansson, Coordinator, CTF, Service Research Center, Karlstad University, Swede

For up-to-date conference information please visit www.kau.se/quis13

Best regards

************************

Ingrid Hansson

Coordinator

CTF – Service Research Center

Karlstad University

SE- 651 88 Karlstad, Sweden

Tel: +46 54 700 1031

www.ctf.kau.se

URL: www.kau.se/quis13

Service Mining:  Market, Technology, and Application

To be published in Service Science, ISSN (Online) 978-1-4276-2090-3, ISSN (Print) 978-1-4276-2091-0

URL: http://www.informs.org/Pubs/Service-Science/News/Call-for-Papers-Service-Science-Special-Issue

GUEST EDITORS

¹Wei-Lun Chang and ²Yen-Hao Hsieh

¹Associate Professor, Dept. of Business Administration, Tamkang University, Taiwan, wlchang@mail.tku.edu.tw

²Assistant Professor, Dept. of Information Management, Tamkang University, Taiwan, yhhsiehs@mail.tku.edu.tw

INTRODUCTION

The service mindset gradually becomes more and more important in the twentieth century. The shift focus of service from 1980’s to 2000’s has addressed that IT not only lowers the cost of service but creates avenues to enhance revenue through service. Enterprises expand revenue through IT–based service nowadays. For instance, e-service has several features including mobile, flexible, interactive, and interchangeable. Additionally, e-services have much to offer in overcoming obstacles faced by traditional service industry. The concept of Service Science was proposed by IBM which combines several issues into traditional service management. Moreover, the paradigm of service also transferred from traditional service industry to IT-based service industry. FedEx is an excellent example that successfully transfers to paradigm of e-service, including self-service, customization, search engine, flexibility, and automatic response. Google is another great example of enterprise to provide IT-based services (e.g., e-services) in the new paradigm.

Service-dominant (SD) logic can be considered as a new direction for enterprises to get high competency in dynamic service contexts. Accordingly, SD logic based service mining, which is novel, addressing several research areas from the viewpoints of technology, model, management, and application. SD logic based service mining is defined as a systematical process including service discovery, service experience, service recovery and service retention to discover unique patterns and exceptional values within the existing service pool. The goal of SD logic based service mining is similar to data mining, text mining or web mining which aims to detect something new from the service pool. The major difference is the feature of service which is quite distinct to mining target such as data or text. In other words, service is a process of value co-creation and different by various perception of customer. In the concept of SD logic based service mining, the mining target is not only the traditional services but also IT-based services.

As aforementioned, SD logic based service mining covers a process of discovering patterns, such as service discovery, service experience, service recovery, and service retention. According to the four steps of SD logic based service mining process, the concept covers from service exploratory to service maintenance. Furthermore, SD logic based service mining covers beyond the existing service management and is considered as a branch of Service Science.

In addition, SD logic based service mining covers four dimensions: technology, model, management, and application. This special issue is to devote to the exploration from four dimensions across different disciplines with regard to the issue of mining “services” under Service Science. With the growth of the significant revenue of service industry around the world, SD logic based service mining is worth investigating to help enterprises to gain and create values with customers from now on. Hence, we seek high-quality, unpublished contributions on the following and other related topics:

• Technology: Service Value Networks, service system complexity, service system scalability, service infrastructure
• Model: Service computing, system configuration, service system reconfigurability
• Management: Service cooperation, service branding, service pricing, service innovation, service recovery, service sustainability, service experience
• Application: Social network services, web services, e-services, traditional services

The contributors to this special issue will be asked to explain how and what SD logic based service mining positions, giving a tentative answer to the following questions:

• What are the keys to build a quality mechanism of SD logic based service mining?
• What are useful service mining mechanisms to systematically explore the appropriate service?
• How can stakeholders accurately deliver/require suitable services?
• What are core values by using mining approaches in services?
• How can stakeholders effectively co-create values in services?
• How can stakeholders apply and put SD logic based service mining into practice?
• What contributions will bring stakeholders to SD logic based service mining?
• What role can SD logic based service mining play in Service Science?

IMPORTANT DATES

Submission of full paper: January 31, 2013

Notification of acceptance: April 30, 2013

Final papers due: June 30, 2013

Tentative publication date: October 31, 2013

SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

Papers must not have been published, accepted for publication, or presently be under consideration for publication elsewhere. A standard double-blind review process will be used to select papers for the special issue. All submissions must be made electronically at http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/serv .

For any questions and article submissions, please contact:

Prof. Wei-Lun Chang (wlchang@mail.tku.edu.tw) and Prof. Yen-Hao Hsieh (yhhsiehs@mail.tku.edu.tw)
Guest editors, Service Science
Tamkang University
No.151, Yingzhuan Rd., Danshui Dist., New Taipei City 25137, Taiwan (R.O.C.)

For more information on the Journal visit the Service Science web site:

http://www.informs.org/Pubs/Service-Science .

Enhancing Global Workforce Competitiveness through PSMs
NPSMA 3rd National Conference and Members’ Meeting
Denver, Colorado
November 7-9, 2012
http://www.npsma.org/upcoming-national-conferences

Creating T-shaped professionals with depth in science and breadth across business, law, and policy.  Very good background for service innovation.

The Professional Science Master’s (PSM) degree is a two-year graduate degree designed to fill a management need for technology-based companies, governmental agencies, and non-profit organizations. Professional Science Master’s programs combine rigorous study in science or mathematics with coursework in management, policy, or law.

Overview of the NPSMA and the PSM Degree

The National Professional Science Master’s Association (NPSMA) is a collaborative of Professional Science Master’s (PSM) degree program directors, faculty, administrators, industry representatives, alumni, and students that supports PSM degree initiatives. It engages businesses, industries, nonprofit organizations, governmental agencies, and trade associations in the development of PSM degree programs and internship and job placement opportunities for PSM students and graduates.

The NPSMA serves as the focal point for the collective interaction of the nation’s PSM degree programs with organizations that have a stake in graduate education in science, mathematics, and technology. The NPSMA initiates and encourages these exchanges by holding workshops and conferences, publishing research findings on PSM degree developments, sharing PSM policy developments, and, most importantly, connecting the various constituents of the PSM.     Click Here to see Overview Presentation.

The Professional Science Master’s (PSM) degree is a two-year graduate degree designed to fill a management need for technology-based companies, governmental agencies, and non-profit organizations. Students pursue advanced training in science, while simultaneously developing valued business skills. Professional Science Master’s programs combine rigorous study in science or mathematics with coursework in management, policy, or law. Professional Science Master’s programs emphasize writing and communication skills, and many include project management.  Most PSM programs require a final project or team experience, as well as an internship in a business or public sector enterprise.

Developed in concert with industry, PSM programs are designed to dovetail into present and future professional career opportunities. Graduates are equipped to manage the breakthroughs that are created by the research teams. They can interact comfortably and intelligently with scientific researchers and business managers, especially in the marketing, finance, and legal departments.  Courses such as policy or regulation are often included in programs designed for those interested in working in governmental agencies.

The Professional Science Master’s (PSM) degrees serve the needs of scientists who want to improve their skills in business. The PSM program is designed to fill a management need for technology-based companies, governmental agencies, and non-profit organizations. The business training is complemented by advanced science training in pertinent fields depending on the degree science/engineering focus.  The U.S. is on the verge of losing its lead as an innovative and technological leader in the world, because it is not generating an adequate highly-trained workforce. PSM degrees are part of the solution!

For More Information:
http://www.npsma.org/

The current version of the Systems Engineering Body of Knowledge (SEBoK) is intended for broad world-wide use, adds to the rapidly maturing discipline of systems engineering.  It consists of 7 parts broken into 26 knowledge areas, with 112 topics.  There are 5 use cases, 7 case studies, and 6 vignettes to illustrate the contents.  The glossary has 363 entries, and there are 224 primary references plus hundreds more additional references.

The operational phase for the SEBoK is beginning, with anticipated minor updates twice a year, and a possible major update every third year.

Shared stewardship of the SEBoK between INCOSE, IEEE-CS, and the SERC, is expected soon.

About Systems Engineering

Systems engineering is an interdisciplinary approach and means to enable the realization of successful systems. Separate articles in Part 1 provide an overview of systems engineering, place it in historical context, and discuss its economic value.

Systems engineering has roots in systems science. Major sections (called knowledge areas (KAs)) in Part 2 discuss Systems Fundamentals, Systems Thinking, Representing Systems with Models, and the Systems Approach Applied to Engineered Systems.

About the SEBoK

The SEBoK is organized into 7 parts, with a Glossary of Terms and a list of Primary References.

• Part 1 discusses the Scope of the SEBoK, and its structure, including its hierarchy of parts, knowledge areas, and topics. Part 1 also includes a lengthy discussion of SEBoK Users and Uses, including five use cases.

The other parts are:

• Part 2 Systems,
• Part 3 Systems Engineering and Management,
• Part 4 Applications of Systems Engineering,
• Part 5 Enabling Systems Engineering,
• Part 6 Related Disciplines, and
• Part 7 Systems Engineering Implementation Examples.

As a compendium, much of the contents has restricted intellectual property rights. This copyright information is placed on each page, and must be respected. The current SEBoK copyright is held by the Trustees of the Stevens Institute of Technology, and plans for the transfer of the copyright are discussed in SEBoK Evolution.

As a living document, each page footer also contains version identification in a link called “About SEBoK 1.0.”

A PDF version may be downloaded at Download SEBoK PDF.

There is a link in the left margin under Toolbox explaining how to Cite the SEBoK correctly.

For More Information:
http://www.sebokwiki.org/1.0/index.php/Main_Page

Service Management and Design (SMD)

For Leaders and Managers in Service-Based Industries

Designed for

Service is at the heart of a new business paradigm that assumes co-creation of value across a network of suppliers. Many businesses have been driven to reinvent themselves to meet global challenges as they change their business model for commercial advantage. This transition requires strong leadership that blends multidisciplinary expertise.

This MSc course is suitable for you if you want to work as a leader or manager in service based industries. You will learn the systems and techniques used to manage service industries and creation of value in the business across suppliers within the industry and within industry processes.

Learning Outcomes

Through a combination of both practice and academic rigour you will develop the skills and knowledge to be able to:

• Throughly understand customer needs, be able to manage business performance through the development of personal awareness/capabilities for managing services.
• Understand the importance of experience and value to all stakeholders and be able to create a stakeholder map and use it to inform service design or redesign.
• Develop awareness of excellence in service from a variety of sectors from across the globe.
• Understand the lifecycle of service systems and have a working knowledge of tools, techniques and trends for service design and management.
• Understanding the principles of selling services and the implications on structuring a service organisation.
• Gain the theoretical knowledge to understand and explain the emergent behaviour of systems and recognise the importance of data, process control and measures to drive the right behaviour.
• Appreciate costing techniques and the implications of networks of value and lifecycle cost models to make the right decisions.
• Have awareness of information systems and enabling technologies for service.

Lean Six Sigma Green Belt Accreditation

Enrolment on the MSc Service Management and Design gives you the opportunity to take the “Lean Six Sigma Green Belt” course in addition to your Masters programme. This additional professional qualification aligns with the MSc project, the work undertaken for the Green Belt qualification can form the basis of the case for your dissertation.

For more information:
http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/wmg/education/wmgmasters/courses/smd/

Each year, about 100,000 students graduate worldwide with standard degrees  (business, engineering, etc.) that include some elements of  service science related course materials.   This number is probably increasing by about 1,000 to 2,000 university graduates per year.  About 9-10 million people worldwide graduate with college degrees every year…   So about 1% of college graduates have some service science exposure, and this is growing by about 1-2% per year…

The growth is proportional to the size of the knowledge-intensive service sector in nations….

Globally service sector jobs are 40% of all jobs, and 50% of those are knowledge-intensive, so 20% of jobs world-wide are knowledge-intensive service sector jobs… to first approximation, think of knowledge-intensive jobs in banking,  finance, health, education, government, legal, business professionals, science-technology-engineering professionals, etc.  — all industry and societal sectors have executive, management, and technical-specialists who can be considered part of knowledge-intensive service workers – knowledge workers, for short.

These grow annually as a result of automation and urbanization.  For example,  (1) smarter machines and robotic processes continue to transform agriculture and manufacturing, and low-end service jobs (automation), and (2)  villagers move to the cities around the world (urbanization)

The numbers increase every year, but the growth rate declines – because a larger percentage of the worlds population lives in cities doing service sector jobs…

(for example, in Europe almost everyone already lives in Cities, and North America will be next…)

So about 20% of all jobs worldwide are knowledge intensive service jobs, and this percentage is increasing by about 1-2% per year…

Of these knowledge-intensive service jobs, many need some post-secondary education, and many need college degrees.

The college degrees whether engineering or business degrees require some level of exposure to service science related concepts….

Service engineering, service computing, service marketing, service management,  service operations, service design, etc.

So while we do not know how many students are graduating with service science degrees, we estimate that over 100,000 students are graduating each year with standard degrees that have some element of service science in them…. these students get jobs as computer scientists, industrial engineers, marketing, operations, etc. – which is there major degree… service science is being infused in their curriculum.

The world has ~3 billions workers…
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/lab_for_tot-labor-force-total

Currently 6.7% of the world population holds a college degree, and that is increasing
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/19/percent-of-world-with-col_n_581807.html

Worldwide about 18 millions students enroll in colleage each year (2007)
http://howtoedu.org/college-facts/how-many-people-go-to-college-every-year/

Graduate rates around the world are about 40-50%
http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2011/11/03/how-u-s-graduation-rates-compare-with-the-rest-of-the-world/

Of course, these are very rough estimates, and it would be a good service science PhD student project to improve our understanding of this…

Service Science, Fall 2012: 4(3)

1. Ching-I Teng, Shao-Kang Lo, and Yi-Jhen Li
How Can Achievement Induce Loyalty? A Combination of the Goal-Setting Theory and Flow Theory Perspectives

Abstract: The motivation theory has identified achievement as a critical factor for online game play. However, how achievement induces gamer loyalty (the intention to play a certain game continuously) has not been explored. This study thus used the goal-setting theory to identify two achievement-related motivators: achievement striving (desire for achievements) and competence (confidence at obtaining achievements). Moreover, flow theory was used to develop hypotheses on how achievement striving and competence induce gamer loyalty. Based on the responses from 994 online gamers, our results indicate that achievement striving and competence among gamers are positively related to skill and perceived challenge. Additionally, skill and perceived challenge are positively related to flow, and flow is positively related to gamer loyalty. We recommend that game providers target individuals who are high in achievement striving and competence, or increase gamer desire for those motivators at obtaining achievements, in order to construct a loyal gamer base.

2. Robert M. Saltzman
Planning for an Aging Fleet of Shuttle Vehicles with Simulation

Abstract: San Francisco State University operates a small but aging fleet of shuttle vehicles that facilitate travel by its affiliates to, from, and around campus. Its shuttle system is primarily intended to supplement municipal bus service in connecting the university to the nearest Bay Area Rapid Transit train station in Daly City, California, approximately a mile and a half south of campus. This article presents an animated discrete-event simulation model of the system that can be used by campus planners to make capital improvement decisions about the fleet. In particular, the model can help identify the best type of shuttle (in terms of capacity and number of doors) to replace the older existing vehicles. Furthermore, experimentation with the model can predict how different fleet configurations would accommodate various increases in ridership; e.g., if ridership increases 40% over the next few years, a satisfactory level of service can be maintained by replacing just two of the fleet’s six existing shuttles with new 39-passenger, two-door, low-floor vehicles.

3. Stephen L. Vargo and Melissa Archpru Akaka
Value Cocreation and Service Systems (Re)Formation: A Service Ecosystems View

Abstract: This article explores a service-dominant (S-D) logic, service-ecosystems approach to studying value cocreation and the (re)formation of service systems. We outline the central premises of S-D logic and elaborate the concept of a service ecosystem to propose a framework that focuses on resource integration as a central means for connecting people and technology within and among service systems. This ecosystems view emphasizes the social factors that influence, and are influenced by, service-for-service exchange. We draw on systems theory and a structurational model of technology to underscore the importance of networks of actors, as well as institutions—e.g., rules, social norms—as critical components of service systems. We argue that this service-ecosystems framework provides a robust and dynamic approach for studying resource integration, value cocreation, and the (re)formation of service systems, and provides important insights for systematically innovating service.

4. Steven Alter
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.

5. Tiaojun Xiao, Tsan Ming Choi, Danqin Yang, and T. C. E. Cheng
Service Commitment Strategy and Pricing Decisions in Retail Supply Chains with Risk-Averse Players

Abstract: We study the service commitment strategy and pricing decisions in a single-supplier single-retailer supply chain where all the players (and consumers) are risk averse. Motivated by various industrial practices, we explore the case where the retailer determines whether to provide a service guarantee (SG) or to provide no service guarantee (NSG). The main incentive for using SG is to reduce the service-level risk to consumers. We derive the range of the supplier’s degree of risk aversion and the range of the consumer’s sensitivity (or attitude) to service reliability over which the retailer chooses SG. We find that (i) the retailer’s motivation to use SG increases with the consumer’s product quality perception, (ii) the retailer’s motivation to use SG decreases with the retailer’s degree of risk aversion but increases with both the consumer’s degree of risk aversion and the retailer’s service investment efficiency, and (iii) the unit wholesale price under NSG is lower than that under SG if and only if the consumer’s service-level sensitivity is sufficiently small. In addition, we illustrate that the endogenization of unit wholesale price raises the retailer’s motivation to use SG if the consumer is sufficiently risk averse; otherwise, it may decrease this motivation. In the make-to-stock mode, we also find that a higher unit-holding cost weakens the retailer’s motivation to use an availability guarantee.

6. Hyunwoo Park, Trustin Clear, William B. Rouse, Rahul C. Basole, Mark L. Braunstein, Kenneth L. Brigham, and Lynn Cunningham
Multilevel Simulations of Health Delivery Systems: A Prospective Tool for Policy, Strategy, Planning, and Management

Abstract: Computer simulations are effective tools for addressing enterprise transformation in terms of alternative organizational policies, operating procedures, and allocations of resources. We present a multilevel approach to computationally model health delivery enterprises. This approach is illustrated by its application to an employer-based prevention and wellness program. The decision of interest in this application concerns the design of prevention and wellness programs that are self-sustaining and provide a positive return on investment for the overall enterprise. The nature of this decision is shown to have enormous implications for how delivery services are organized.

7. M Ramkumar and Mamata Jenamani
E-procurement Service Provider Selection—An Analytic Network Process-Based Group Decision-Making Approach

Abstract: E-procurement is used by companies as a tool to reduce procurement costs, bring transparency into the purchasing process, and reduce the procurement cycle time. The specialized expertise involved in building such systems and its associated costs have compelled some companies to hire third-party e-procurement service providers. Selecting the right service provider is a tricky task for two reasons: First, the company must be aware of the factors that need to be considered when comparing alternative providers. Second, the executives of the company must have a tool in place to compare the alternative providers in the most unbiased manner possible. In this paper we identify a set of selection criteria and subcriteria based on an extensive literature survey and discussions with procurement executives in an organization. From these criteria, we then propose a two-stage selection process that consists of an initial screening of the providers and a final analytic network process-based selection with group decision making. Finally, the proposed framework is applied to a real-life case to study the individual bias involved in the selection process and to study the sensitivity of the final selection process.

Manuscript Submission

http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/serv

INFORMS PubsOnLine

http://servsci.journal.informs.org      (http://servsci.journal.informs.org/content/current  Fall 2012)

Stanford Highwire (Searchable Database used for all the INFORMS publications)

http://highwire.stanford.edu/

=================================================================
Robin G. Qiu, Ph.D.
Division of Engineering and Information Science
The Pennsylvania State University
30 E. Swedesford Road, Malvern, PA 19355, USA

Fellow, Center for Service Enterprise Engineering
The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA  16802

Phone: 1-610-725-5313 (Office), Fax; 1-610-648-3377 (Office)
Email: robinqiu@psu.edu
Personal Web: http://www.personal.psu.edu/gxq102

Editor-in-chief, INFORMS <<Service Science>> http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/serv
=================================================================
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