Service Science

The Elephant and the Blind Men, Who’s Who

Farhad Shafti – Umit Bititci – Robert Van Der Meer

University of Strathclyde

“Service science is just___________”

OR/IEMS

CS/AIMultiagent Systems

Economics & LawGame Theory

MIS Anthropology& Psychology

OrganizationTheory

ServiceSystem

Jalāl ad-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī

Strathclyde Service Science Workshop – 9th June 2008

3Rumi Metaphoric Stories

Questions/Research Agendas for Service Science (output of the Strathclyde Service Science Workshop)

“Service science is just___________”

OR/IEMS

CS/AIMultiagent Systems

Economics & LawGame Theory

MIS Anthropology& Psychology

OrganizationTheory

ServiceSystem

What is it?Strathclyde Service Science Workshop – 9th June 2008

http://www.ibm.com/university/ssmehttp://www.ibm.com/university/ssme

“By far the largest and best-established academic literature in service has emerged from service marketing. While the engineering/systems/operations viewpoint is a valuable one, and is an integral part of what SSME should be, its present dominance in the discussion threatens to make SSME much narrower than it ought to be.”

Rust, 2006

Service quality cannot be measured by low variability of service output; it is a personal affair, a matter of psychology. If this is perceived and knowledge of it pursued then Service Science has a far better chance of improving the quality and productivity of service provision

Chase, 2006

“Service (the whole) is just ___________”

Service Science

Service (the whole)

??

???

Perhaps more emphasis on the core concept rather than titles and definitions?

Fore instance:

“Core concept is Collaboration”

There is a new discipline

It is calledService/s Science/s

It means …

It calls for collaboration

We need to collaborate

This means we should do the following

……

This calls for a new discipline

Any suggestions for the title?

Current Perception of Audience What I think was intended

The Story of the Four Travellers

I want GRAPES

No, ANGUR!

Only UZUM or I will break your

neck

I hate grapes, I want ENAB

How to collaborate?Strathclyde Service Science Workshop – 9th June 2008

Barriers to adoption in academia

• Discipline specific funding

• Greater development in certain fields

• Inflexible existing processes

• Vertically organised departments

• Discipline specific terminology

Adapted from Davies 2008, Glushko 2008, Bitner 2006

ENGINEERING SOCIAL SCIENCE BUSINESS …..

ENGINEERING SOCIAL SCIENCE BUSINESS …..

SSME:

The Story of the Tattoo

AAARGH

NOOOOO

MA

MM

A!

T-Shaped People? Strathclyde Service Science Workshop – 9th June 2008

100% Success

98% Success?

Some times only a full success is the real success!

Higher E

ducation

Work Experience

?

What makes this even more complicated

SSME?

COLLABORATION T-SHAPED PEOPLE

"a new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it.”

Max Planck

If each had a candle, all differences would have been resolved!

The Rumi (Persian) version of the story

Elephant and the dark room

Any questions?

Please ask Jim