Introduction

Service process design is evolving with opportunities for new design configurations being supported and limitations diminishing. Tasks usually done by the service provider are now sometimes done by customers, resulting in customers having a bigger role in the service process through self-service and offering information to service providers to create a personalized service experience. This book examines how service processes should be designed to use expanding opportunities for customers and service providers to create value together. Frameworks and models are given for designing various kinds of service processes and knowledge-intensive services. The text also takes COVID-19 into account, offering examples of how services adapted during the pandemic. Technology-enabled innovations are also discussed, which provide flexibility in service process design and influence how service providers and customers co-produce services. Readers will learn about the important impacts these service innovations can have on benefit and cost trade-offs and synergies that determine value co-creation. Chapter 1 begins by discussing and giving examples of service processes, which are defined as transformations that convert inputs to outputs. Two familiar service processes are ATMs and self-service checkouts. These two processes are compared and contrasted, looking at benefits and drawbacks for businesses and customers concerning aspects from value to technology. Value is when benefits are seen to be greater than the costs. The chapter ends by offering an outline of the rest of the text.

• Process improvement
• Strategy
• Process design
• Customer experience
• Service management
• Service system design