Service Operations Management

Author: Metes
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-11-01
Features: In the knowledge economy era, a common trend in the economic activities of various countries is that the proportion of the service sector is continuously increasing and has become the dominant industry of the national economy. According to the internationally recognized definition, when the value of a country's service sector accounts for more than 50% of its GDP, it is considered to have entered the service economy era. Developed countries like the United States entered the service economy era about 30 years ago, and currently, the service sector in the U.S. economy accounts for approximately 80% of its total economy. Although China has not yet officially entered the service economy era according to international standards, the rapid development of the service sector in China is undeniable. People's focus has gradually shifted from material products to quality of life, which has injected new vitality into service industries such as finance, insurance, healthcare, education, and entertainment. Therefore, it has become imperative to conduct in-depth research and develop operation management theories closely related to the service economy, using them to guide service operation management practices—this is the main theme of this book. The significance of service operation management is very broad; it not only includes the operation management of service-oriented enterprises but also encompasses the service operations that exist in any organization. In fact, not only is the proportion of the service sector in a country's economy continuously increasing, but an increasing portion of the output value created by the manufacturing sector is also derived from its service activities. The higher the technological content of a product, the more service activities (such as display, distribution, maintenance, usage guidance, training, installation, etc.) involved in its production and operation, as well as the greater the value created by these activities, and the higher the proportion of employees engaged in service-related work in the company. For example, DuPont's non-physical product implementation mentioned in Chapter 4 of this book and IBM's service logistics mentioned in Chapter 10 are cases of manufacturing companies that not only benefit from service activities but also enhance their competitiveness through high-quality service operations. Therefore, manufacturing companies also need to strengthen the management of service operations. This further underscores the importance and urgency of studying service operation management. However, to date, the methods and tools for service operation management have lagged far behind those for manufacturing, with productivity also significantly lower. One reason for this is that many traditional operation management tools and techniques in textbooks were based on the manufacturing industry during the Industrial Revolution. Although some of these, such as project management, process analysis, and inventory management, are equally applicable to the service sector, their structure and focus differ entirely when applied to service contexts. Therefore, many topics in this book, although derived from the broader field of operation management, are analyzed and discussed more from the perspective of partial managers. This is also the significance of this book. Additionally, this book discusses some tools and concepts specifically tailored for the service sector, such as investment return management, data envelope analysis, experience management, and scoring systems, for which there has been almost a blank slate in previous literature. Overall, this book not only provides a detailed explanation of the concepts and tools involved in the entire process of establishing a service-oriented enterprise but also includes numerous examples to help readers understand how these concepts and tools are applied in practice. The content of this book is comprehensive and rich in examples, making it highly worth reading.