Fundamentals of service science

Abstract

Service systems are value-co-creation configurations of people, technology, value propositions connecting internal and external service systems, and shared information (e.g., language, laws, measures, and methods). Service science is the study of service systems, aiming to create a basis for systematic service innovation. Service science combines organization and human understanding with business and technological understanding to categorize and explain the many types of service systems that exist as well as how service systems interact and evolve to co-create value. The goal is to apply scientific understanding to advance our ability to design, improve, and scale service systems. To make progress, we think service dominant logic provides just the right perspective, vocabulary, and assumptions on which to build a theory of service systems, their configurations, and their modes of interaction. Simply put, service-dominant logic may be the philosophical foundation of service science, and the service system may be its basic theoretical construct. © Academy of Marketing Science 2007.