Commentary: enabling service wisdom for MEA organizations and society

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Raymond P. Fisk
Keyword(s):  
Service System ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Human Condition ◽  
Service Systems ◽  
Social Implications ◽  
Service Research ◽  
Research Experience ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Human Needs

Purpose This commentary seeks to enable service researchers in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) regions and those in other regions to pursue service research that addresses the many difficult service system problems in the MEA. Design/methodology/approach This commentary is based on more than 40 years of service research experience and unique insights from a service research pioneer. The commentary addresses what service systems are and why they are important to human progress. Findings Three service wisdoms are offered to enable service researchers. Serving Human Needs focuses on the essential role of service because all human economies exist to serve human needs. It also provides the aspirational goal of improving human well-being by transforming service systems. The topic of Designing New Service Rules urges service researchers to design new service systems based on the win-win logic of mutualism. Collaborating With Each Other is the third service wisdom. With more than 7 billion humans living today, mutually beneficial collaborations are one of the best strategies for improving human well-being and the well-being of our crowded planet. Practical implications Practical ideas are offered for improving the human condition through collaboratively serving each other’s needs. Social implications Because service systems are both nonmonetary and monetary solutions to human needs, their social implications are profound. Human life itself depends on service systems. Originality/value This commentary offers service researchers guidance in understanding services, in designing better services, and in pursuing collaborative solutions to service system problems.

scholarly journals Billions of impoverished people deserve to be better served

2016 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raymond P P. Fisk ◽  
Laurel Anderson ◽  
David E. Bowen ◽  
Thorsten Gruber ◽  
Amy Ostrom ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Poverty Alleviation ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Community Action ◽  
Research Community ◽  
Social Implications ◽  
Service Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Call To Action ◽  
The World ◽  
Research Agendas

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to create a movement within the service research community that aspires to help the billions of impoverished people across the world achieve better service from each other, from their communities, from corporations, from their governments, and from nongovernmental organizations. The authors believe every human being is worthy of being served properly. To achieve this purpose, understanding and learning from this huge low-income segment of society known as the base of the pyramid (BoP) is essential. There are myths about the BoP that need to be dispelled and there is a fundamental lack of service research on this important problem. Design/methodology/approach – The existence of an extensive BoP literature combined with service research priorities has called attention to drafting research agendas. Human service systems are explored historically and systems theory provides a perspective for understanding and reducing poverty. Transformative service research, service design research, and community action research are presented to illustrate three research approaches that can contribute to understanding and then better serving the needs of the neglected billions of humanity. Findings – First, the authors present a practical and meaningful call to action by making the case for the service research community to contribute to poverty alleviation with the creation of fresh ideas and research agendas. Second, the authors describe the ample opportunity for conducting service research in and with the BoP and thereby expanding service knowledge about the BoP. Third, the authors suggest a number of approaches for service researchers to join this new movement and help improve the well-being of billions of impoverished people. Social implications – Most existing service research comes from highly developed Anglo-Saxon countries and concerns the service problems of customers in affluent societies. Therefore, there is a fundamental lack of service research at the BoP. The social implications are truly global. Poverty is a global service system problem that can be reduced. Effective poverty alleviation solutions in one part of the world can be adapted to other parts of the world. Originality/value – This paper is a new and very original call to action to the service research community. First, with the exception of a few previous manuscripts calling for research on the BoP, this is the first time a collaborative effort has been made to start systematically changing this knowledge gap. Second, the service research community has never worked on a project of this magnitude. The authors hope to offer a role model to other academic communities as to how to marshal their resources to have a collective, positive impact on the well-being of the world’s impoverished.

Service Ecosystem Health: A Transformative Approach to Elevating Service Science

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raymond P. Fisk ◽  
Linda Alkire
Keyword(s):  
Human Service ◽  
Ecosystem Health ◽  
Thought Experiment ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Modern Human ◽  
Service Systems ◽  
Service Science ◽  
Service Research ◽  
Service Ecosystem

Events in the year 2020 threw human service systems into chaotic states, threatening peoples’ lives and livelihoods. Before 2020, there were many profound challenges to human life that had been well documented by efforts such as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The COVID-19 pandemic seems to be a “last straw” crisis that has destabilized modern human civilization. This article diagnoses various crises of human service systems (e.g., COVID-19, inequality, and climate change) and proposes the metaphor of service ecosystem health for reimagining service science in a postpandemic world. Service ecosystem health is defined as the interdependent state of private, public, and planetary well-being necessary for sustaining life. This article reimagines service science, broadens transformative service research, builds the service ecosystem health metaphor, outlines the Goldilocks Civilization thought experiment, and explores designing for a Goldilocks civilization. Because service is for humans, the ultimate objective is to elevate service science to uplift human well-being.

Creating hospitable service systems for refugees during a pandemic: leveraging resources for service inclusion

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jörg Finsterwalder ◽  
Sertan Kabadayi ◽  
Raymond P. Fisk ◽  
Silke Boenigk
Keyword(s):  
Service Providers ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Service Systems ◽  
Service Research ◽  
Vulnerable Group ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Service Businesses ◽  
Practical Implications

PurposeThe overarching goal of this paper is to increase awareness among researchers and practitioners that refugees are disproportionally impacted by COVID-19, which increases their suffering. Second, it extends a recently introduced transformative refugee service experience framework by integrating and conceptualizing refugees' resource and service inclusion during a pandemic. Third, it explores lessons learned and implications from the COVID-19 pandemic for the future of service research and practice.Design/methodology/approachThis study synthesizes approaches on refugees, resources and transformative service research to develop an extended framework for addressing one of society's pressing issues during and after pandemics.FindingsRecognizing refugees as providing resources rather than just needing or depleting resources can enable more inclusion. It facilitates refugees' integration into society by drawing on their skills and knowledge. This requires hospitable refugee service systems that enable service inclusion and opportunities for refugee resource integration.Research limitations/implicationsThis article focuses on one vulnerable group in society. However, the extended framework presented warrants broader application to other contexts, such as subsistence marketplaces.Practical implicationsManagers of service businesses and public policymakers should create more inclusive and hospitable service systems for refugees. This may result in redesigning services, changing consumer behavior and reformulating public policy.Social implicationsBetter inclusion and integration of refugees and their resources should increase their individual well-being, reduce social issues in society, increase overall societal well-being and productivity.Originality/valueThis article presents a novel extended framework for service scholars and service providers to increase resource and service inclusion of refugees in a disaster context.

Design for service inclusion: creating inclusive service systems by 2050

2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (5) ◽  
pp. 834-858 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raymond P. Fisk ◽  
Alison M. Dean ◽  
Linda Alkire (née Nasr) ◽  
Alison Joubert ◽  
Josephine Previte ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Well Being ◽  
Service Systems ◽  
Service Organizations ◽  
Service Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Managerial Action ◽  
History Of ◽  
Conceptual Study ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
Fair Access

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to challenge service researchers to design for service inclusion, with an overall goal of achieving inclusion by 2050. The authors present service inclusion as an egalitarian system that provides customers with fair access to a service, fair treatment during a service and fair opportunity to exit a service.Design/methodology/approachBuilding on transformative service research, a transformative, human-centered approach to service design is proposed to foster service inclusion and to provide a platform for managerial action. This conceptual study explores the history of service exclusion and examines contemporary demographic trends that suggest the possibility of worsening service exclusion for consumers worldwide.FindingsService inclusion represents a paradigm shift to higher levels of understanding of service systems and their fundamental role in human well-being. The authors argue that focused design for service inclusion is necessary to make service systems more egalitarian.Research limitations/implicationsThe authors propose four pillars of service inclusion: enabling opportunity, offering choice, relieving suffering and fostering happiness.Practical implicationsService organizations are encouraged to design their offerings in a manner that promotes inclusion and permits customers to realize value.Originality/valueThis comprehensive research agenda challenges service scholars to use design to create inclusive service systems worldwide by the year 2050. The authors establish the moral imperative of design for service inclusion.

Customer delight during a crisis: understanding delight through the lens of transformative service research

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 129-141 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald C. Barnes ◽  
Jessica Mesmer-Magnus ◽  
Lisa L. Scribner ◽  
Alexandra Krallman ◽  
Rebecca M. Guidice
Keyword(s):  
Critical Incident ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Psychological Theory ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Service Research ◽  
Service Encounters ◽  
Need Fulfillment ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Customer Delight ◽  
Service Experiences

PurposeThe unprecedented dynamics of the COVID-19 pandemic has forced firms to re-envision the customer experience and find new ways to ensure positive service encounters. This context has underscored the reality that drivers of customer delight in a “traditional” context are not the same in a crisis context. While research has tended to identify hedonic need fulfillment as key to customer well-being and, ultimately, to invoking customer delight, the majority of studies were conducted in inherently positive contexts, which may limit generalizability to more challenging contexts. Through the combined lens of transformative service research (TSR) and psychological theory on hedonic and eudaimonic human needs, we evaluate the extent to which need fulfillment is the root of customer well-being and that meeting well-being needs ultimately promotes delight. We argue that in crisis contexts, the salience of needs shifts from hedonic to eudaimonic and the extent to which service experiences fulfill eudaimonic needs determines the experience and meaning of delight.Design/methodology/approachUtilizing the critical incident technique, this research surveyed 240 respondents who were asked to explain in detail a time they experienced customer delight during the COVID-19 pandemic. We analyzed their responses according to whether these incidents reflected the salience of hedonic versus eudaimonic need fulfillment.FindingsThe results support the notion that the salience of eudaimonic needs become more pronounced during times of crisis and that service providers are more likely to elicit perceptions of delight when they leverage meeting eudaimonic needs over the hedonic needs that are typically emphasized in traditional service encounters.Originality/valueWe discuss the implications of these findings for integrating the TSR and customer delight literatures to better understand how service experiences that meet salient needs produce customer well-being and delight. Ultimately, we find customer delight can benefit well-being across individual, collective and societal levels.

Guest editorial: Solving problems for service consumers experiencing vulnerabilities: a marketplace challenge

2021 ◽  
Vol 35 (6) ◽  
pp. 685-691
Author(s):  
Raechel Johns ◽  
Janet Davey
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Guest Editorial ◽  
Individual Characteristics ◽  
Service Systems ◽  
Social Implications ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Actor Network ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Key Issues ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose While there is burgeoning service literature identifying consumer vulnerabilities and questioning the assumption that all consumers have the resources to co-create, limited research addresses solutions for consumers experiencing vulnerabilities. Service systems can provide support for consumers but can also create inequities and experienced vulnerabilities. This paper aims to identify current and further research needed to explore this issue and addresses marketplace problems for consumers experiencing vulnerabilities. Design/methodology/approach This viewpoint discusses key issues relating to solving marketplace problems for consumers experiencing vulnerabilities. A call for papers focused on solving marketplace problems for consumers experiencing vulnerabilities resulted in a large number of submissions. Nine papers are included in this special issue, and each one is discussed in this editorial according to five emergent themes. Findings Vulnerabilities can be temporary, or permanent, and anyone can suddenly experience vulnerabilities. Inequities and vulnerabilities can be due to individual characteristics, environmental forces, or due to the structure of the marketplace itself. Solutions include taking a strengths-based approach to addressing inequities and using a multiple-actor network to provide support. Practical implications The recommendations addressed in this paper enable more positive approaches to solving marketplace problems for consumers experiencing vulnerabilities. Social implications Taking a solutions-focused lens to research relating to vulnerabilities will contribute toward addressing inequities within the marketplace. Originality/value Increasingly, service literature is identifying inequities; however, very limited research addresses solutions for solving marketplace problems for consumers experiencing vulnerabilities. This paper suggests taking an approach focusing on strengths, rather than weaknesses, to determine strategies, and using the support of other actors (Transformative Service Mediators) where required.

The individualism of motivation

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 96-103
Author(s):  
Andrew Mayo
Keyword(s):  
Employee Engagement ◽  
Psychological Contract ◽  
Extrinsic Motivation ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Human Condition ◽  
Goal Theory ◽  
Content Type ◽  
External Stimulation ◽  
Writing Models ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the components that drive employee engagement and show how important it is to understand the individualism of motivation as against generic assumptions. Design/methodology/approach This paper defines employee engagement and takes four drivers that influence it in turn. These are analysed and discussed, particularly as to the individualistic elements of them. Two approaches to understanding individual goals and priorities are illustrated. Findings There are four drivers of engagement, namely, the absence of dissatisfaction or irritation factors, intrinsic motivation (inner driven) and extrinsic motivation (external stimulation) and personal well-being. Each of these have highly individualistic elements, and models based on a generic human condition do not work effectively. Two instruments for understanding this individualism are illustrated, one based on goal theory and another based on the psychological contract. Practical implications Many motivational efforts fail because of an assumed commonality in what motivates people. The reality is that different personalities and different personal goals and values require individual approaches. Successful engagement demands that leader/managers make it a priority to understand each one of their people in these terms. Originality/value This paper is based mostly on the writing, models and experience of the author.

scholarly journals Transformative service research: a conceptual framework based on consumer's perspective

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Veronica Ungaro ◽  
Laura Di Pietro ◽  
Maria Francesca Renzi ◽  
Roberta Guglielmetti Mugion ◽  
Maria Giovina Pasca
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Service Research ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Bottom Line ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Consumer Perspective ◽  
Social Environmental ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Depth Interviews

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the consumer's perspective regarding the relationship between services and well-being, contributing to the knowledge base in transformative service research (TSR). More specifically the aim was to understand consumers' perceptions of the relationship between services and well-being and their views about how companies can contribute (directly and/or indirectly) to achieve the well-being.Design/methodology/approachTo reach the research aim, the study adopts an explorative inductive design, carried out through a qualitative approach and grounded in 30 in-depth interviews with consumers.FindingsService sustainability represents the fundamental characteristic that determines the service ability to be transformative, requiring the implementation of the triple bottom line dimensions: social, environmental and economic. It emerged that, in the consumer's mind, the service categories that present a stronger relationship between service and well-being are as follows: healthcare, financial and transport.Originality/valueThe paper proposes a conceptual framework to describe the consumer perspective of the services' transformative role in promoting well-being, providing a theoretical lens for conducting future research and continuing to expand transformative service research (TSR).

scholarly journals ISLAMISASI ILMU EKONOMI

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
IRFAN SAUQI BEIK
Keyword(s):  
Financial Services ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Poverty Measurement ◽  
Measurement Tool ◽  
Human Needs ◽  
Body Of Knowledge

Abstract. Islamization of Economics. Islamic doctrine teaches all areas of human life. How to extract economic principles in the Qur'an and hadith are the biggest challenge todays, and then makes it into a body of knowledge as well to build it into a theoretically and practically discipline that differ significantly from the schools of the existing the conventional economics. But the critique and issue come up those Islamic financial services only "follow" the conventional economics, so the scientific originality is often questionable. In the process of Islamization economy, which has been carried out, namely through the development of well-being and poverty measurement tool that is based on the concept with CIBEST Model. CIBEST Model is an effort to develop a welfare approach to poverty based on the conception that a tool to measure well-being and poverty are not solely based on purely material, but also spiritual approach. It is based on the concept of fulfillment, where the al-Qur’an and Hadith has outlined those basically human needs consists of two things, the material and spiritual needs.Abstrak. Islamisasi Ilmu Ekonomi. Islam merupakan ajaran yang mencakup seluruh bidang kehidupan. Tantangan terbesar saat ini adalah bagaimana mengekstraksi prinsip-prinsip ekonomi dalam Al-Qur’an dan hadits, kemudian menurunkannya menjadi sebuah body of knowledge sekaligus membangunnya menjadi sebuah disiplin ilmu yang secara teoritis dan praktis berbeda signifikan dengan mazhab-mazhab ilmu ekonomi konvensional yang ada. Namun muncul kritik bahwa ekonomi syariah hanya “mengekor” ekonomi konvensional semata, sehingga orisinalitas keilmuannya sering dipertanyakan. Dalam proses islamisasi ekonomi, yang telah dilakukan, yaitu melaui pengembangan alat ukur kesejahteraan dan kemiskinan yang didasarkan pada konsep syariah dengan Model CIBEST. Model CIBEST adalah upaya untuk mengembangkan pendekatan kesejahteraan kemiskinan yang didasarkan pada konsepsi bahwa alat untuk mengukur kesejahteraan dan kemiskinan tidak semata mata didasarkan pada material semata, namun juga pendekatan spiritual. Hal ini didasarkan pada konsep pemenuhan kebutuhan, dimana al-Quran dan Hadis telah menggariskan bahwa pada dasarnya kebutuhan manusia terdiri atas dua hal, yaitu kebutuhan material dan spiritual.

scholarly journals Service system well-being: conceptualising a holistic concept

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (6) ◽  
pp. 766-792 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Wei Cheryl Leo ◽  
Gaurangi Laud ◽  
Cindy Yunhsin Chou
Keyword(s):  
Service System ◽  
Case Study Research ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Holistic Concept ◽  
Multi Level ◽  
Multi Stakeholder ◽  
Service Managers

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop a concept of service system well-being by presenting its collective conceptualisation and ten key domains. Design/methodology/approach Service system well-being domains were established using multi-level theory and a qualitative case study research design. To validate the domains initially developed from the literature, 19 in-depth interviews were conducted across two case studies that represented the service systems of a hospital and a multi-store retail franchise chain. A multi-stakeholder approach was used to explore the actor’s perspectives about service system well-being. Key domains of service system well-being were identified using deductive categorisation analysis. Findings The findings found evidence of ten key domains of well-being, namely strategic, governance, leadership, resource, community, social, collaborative, cultural, existential and transformational, among service system stakeholders. Research limitations/implications Service system well-being is a collective concept comprising ten domains that emerged at different levels of the service system. The propositions outlined the classification of and interlinkages between the domains. This exploratory study was conducted in a limited service context and focussed on ten key domains. Practical implications Service managers in commercial and social organisations are able to apply the notion of service system well-being to identify gaps and nurture well-being deficiencies within different domains of service-system well-being. Originality/value Based on multi-level theory, the study is the first to conceptualise and explore the concept of service system well-being across multiple actors.

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