Start Date
10-12-2017 12:00 AM
Description
Widely cited papers that have tried to define service science during its brief recognized existence tend to present rosy views of service and service systems that are inconsistent with many published accounts of service in everyday life. This paper proposes definitions and portrayals of service and service system that attempt to cover almost all situations that most people consider services. Based on those definitions and portrayals, it proposes 25 axioms that attempt to describe all sociotechnical and totally automated service systems without implying that outcomes necessarily are positive or negative. The axioms are organized in five categories: 1) service system in context, 2) service system operation, 3) service system goals and goal attainment, 4) service system uncertainties, and 5) service system-related change. This paper also summarizes how specific axioms complement, overlap, or contradict foundational premises of service-dominant logic, which is often described as the conceptual core of service science.
Recommended Citation
Alter, Steven, "Service System Axioms that Accept Positive and Negative Outcomes and Impacts of Service Systems" (2017). ICIS 2017 Proceedings. 1.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/icis2017/ServiceScience/Presentations/1
Service System Axioms that Accept Positive and Negative Outcomes and Impacts of Service Systems
Widely cited papers that have tried to define service science during its brief recognized existence tend to present rosy views of service and service systems that are inconsistent with many published accounts of service in everyday life. This paper proposes definitions and portrayals of service and service system that attempt to cover almost all situations that most people consider services. Based on those definitions and portrayals, it proposes 25 axioms that attempt to describe all sociotechnical and totally automated service systems without implying that outcomes necessarily are positive or negative. The axioms are organized in five categories: 1) service system in context, 2) service system operation, 3) service system goals and goal attainment, 4) service system uncertainties, and 5) service system-related change. This paper also summarizes how specific axioms complement, overlap, or contradict foundational premises of service-dominant logic, which is often described as the conceptual core of service science.