On integration and adaptation in complex service systems

Abstract

The services sector employs a large and growing proportion of workers in the industrialized nations, and it is increasingly dependent on information and communication technologies. While the interdependences, similarities and complementarities of manufacturing and services are significant, there are considerable differences between goods and services, including the shift in focus from mass production to mass customization (whereby a service is produced and delivered in response to a customer’s stated or imputed needs). In general, services can be considered to be knowledge-intensive agents or components which work together as providers and consumers to create or co-produce value. Like manufacturing systems, an efficient service system must be an integrated system of systems, leading to greater connectivity and interdependence. Integration must occur over the physical, temporal, organizational and functional dimensions, and must include methods concerned with the component, the management, and the system. Moreover, an effective service system must also be an adaptable system, leading to greater value and responsiveness. Adaptation must occur over the dimensions of monitoring, feedback, cybernetics and learning, and must include methods concerned with space, time, and system. In sum, service systems are indeed complex, especially due to the uncertainties associated with the human-centered aspects of such systems. Moreover, the system complexities can only be dealt with methods that enhance system integration and adaptation. The paper concludes with several insights, including a plea to shift the current misplaced focus on developing a science or discipline for services to further developing a systems engineering approach to services, an approach based on the integration and adaptation of a host of sciences or disciplines (e.g., physics, mathematics, statistics, psychology, sociology, etc.). In fact, what is required is a services-related transdisciplinary - beyond a single disciplinary - ontology or taxonomy as a basis for disciplinary integration and adaptation.

Keywords

Services / service system / system components / system integration / system adaptation / system of systems / decision informatics / real-time decision making

References

[1] BeroggiB.E.G., WallaceW.A.. Real-time decision support for emergency management: an integration of advanced computer and communications technology. Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, 1995, 3(1): 18-26

[2] DavenportT.H., HarrisJ.G.Competing on Analytics: The New Science of Winning, 2007, Boston, MA, Harvard Business School Press

[3] FriedmanT.L.The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century, 2005, New York, NY, Farrar, Strauss & Giroux

[4] GovindarajanV., TrimbleC.Ten Rules for Strategic Innovators: From Idea to Execution, 2005, Boston, MA, Harvard Business School Press

[5] GuptaM., SaridisG., GainesB.Fuzzy Automatica and Decision Processes, 1977, New York, North-Holland

[6] HipelK.W., JamshidiM.M., TienJ.M., WhiteC.C.. The future of lower case, man and cybernetics: application domains and research methods. IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics Part C, 2007, 30(2): 213-218

[7] JainR., ChandrasekaranA., EliasG., CloutierR.. Exploring the impact of systems architecture and systems requirements on systems integration complexity. IEEE Systems Journal, 2008, 2(2): 209-223

[8] KaplanE.H., CraftD.L., WeinL.M.. Emergency response to a smallpox attack: the case for mass vaccination. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2002, 99(16): 10935-10940

[9] LarsonR.C.KamienD.. Decision models for emergency response planning. Handbook of Homeland Security, 2005, New York, NY, McGraw-Hill

[10] MaglioP., SrinivasanS., KreulenJ., SpohrerJ.. Service systems, service scientists, SSME, and innovation. Communications of the ACM, 2006, 49(7): 81-85

[11] MendoncaD., WallaceW.A.. Studying organizationally - situated improvisation in response to extreme events. International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters, 2004, 22(2): 5-29

[12] National Academies.Engineering the Health Care System, 2006, Washington, DC, National Academies Press

[13] PalmisanoS.J.Global Innovation Outlook, 2004, Armonk, NY, IBM

[14] PineB.J.II, GilmoreJ.H.The Experience Economy, 1999, Boston, MA, Harvard Business School Press

[15] RouseW.B.. Health care as a complex adaptive system: implications for design and management. National Academy of Engineering: The Bridge, 2008, 38(1): 17-25

[16] QuinnJ.B., BaruchJ.J., PaquetteP.C.. Technology in services. Scientific American, 1987, 257(6): 50-58

[17] SanfordL.S., TaylorD.Let Go To Grow: Escaping the Commodity Trap, 2005, Upper Saddle River, NJ, Pearson Education

[18] SussmanJ.M.. Intelligent transportation systems in a real-time, customer-oriented society. National Academy of Engineering: The Bridge, 2008, 38(2): 13-19

[19] TienJ.M.. Individual-centered education: an any one, any time, any where approach to engineering education. IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics Part C: Special Issue on Systems Engineering Education, 2000, 30(2): 213-218

[20] TienJ.M.. Towards a decision informatics paradigm: a real-time, information-based approach to decision making. IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, Special Issue, Part C, 2003, 33(1): 102-113

[21] TienJ.M.. Viewing urban disruptions from a decision informatics perspective. Journal of Systems Science and Systems Engineering, 2005, 14(3): 257-288

[22] TienJ.M.ChengH.. Services innovation: decision attributes, innovation enablers, and innovation drivers. Service Enterprise Integration: an Enterprise System Engineering Perspective, Chapter 2, 2006, Norwell, MA, Springer Science

[23] TienJ.M.. Services: a system’s perspective. IEEE Systems Journal, 2008, 2(1): 146-157

[24] TienJ.M., BergD.. Systems engineering in the growing service economy. IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, 1995, 25(5): 321-326

[25] TienJ.M., BergD.. A case for service systems lower case. Journal of Systems Science and Systems Engineering, 2003, 12(1): 13-38

[26] TienJ.M., BergD.. On services research and education. Journal of Systems Science and Systems Engineering, 2006, 15(3): 257-283

[27] TienJ.M., BergD.. A calculus for services innovation. Journal of Systems Science and Systems Engineering, 2007, 16(2): 129-165

[28] TienJ.M., CahnM.F.An Evaluation of the Wilmington Management of Demand Program, 1981, Washington, DC, National Institute of Justice

[29] TienJ.M., KrishnamurthyA., YasarA.. Towards real-time customized management of supply and demand chains. Journal of Systems Science and Systems Engineering, 2004, 13(3): 257-278

[30] UrstadtB.. Social networking is not a business. Technology Review, 2008, 111(4): 36-43

[31] U.S. President.Executive Order on Critical Infrastructure Protection, 2001, Washington, DC, The White House

[32] XuL., LianN., GaoQ.. An integrated approach for agricultural ecosystem management. IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics Part C, 2008, 38(4): 590-599

[33] YasarA.. Real-Time and Simultaneous Management of Supply and Demand Chains. Ph.D. Thesis, 2005, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY

[34] Zadeh, L.A. (1996). The evolution of systems analysis and control: a personal perspective. IEEE Control Systems Magazine, 16 (3)

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

Systems Engineering Society of China and Springer-Verlag GmbH