TY - JOUR
T1 - Operating without operations
T2 - how is technology changing the role of the firm?
AU - Breidbach, Christoph
AU - Choi, Sunmee
AU - Ellway, Benjamin
AU - Keating, Byron W.
AU - Kormusheva, Katerina
AU - Kowalkowski, Christian
AU - Lim, Chiehyeon
AU - Maglio, Paul
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited.
PY - 2018/11/8
Y1 - 2018/11/8
N2 - Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyze the history and future of service operations, with the goal to identify key theoretical and technological advances, as well as fundamental themes that can help to imagine the future of service operations in 2050. Design/methodology/approach: A review of the service operations literature was undertaken to inform a discussion regarding the role that technology will play in the future of service operations. Findings: The future of service operations is framed in terms of three key themes – complexity, orchestration, and elasticity. The paper makes three contributions to the service science literature by: reviewing key themes underpinning extant service operations research to frame future trajectories of service operations research; elaborating a vision of service operations in 2050 based on history and technology; and outlining a research agenda for future service operations. Practical implications: The case of service automation is used to provide an illustration of how the three themes converge to define future service operations, and in particular, to show how technology is recasting the role of the firm. Originality/value: Service operations in the next 30 years will be very different from what it was in the past 30 years. This paper differs from other review papers by identifying three key themes that will characterize and instill new insights into the future of service operations research.
AB - Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyze the history and future of service operations, with the goal to identify key theoretical and technological advances, as well as fundamental themes that can help to imagine the future of service operations in 2050. Design/methodology/approach: A review of the service operations literature was undertaken to inform a discussion regarding the role that technology will play in the future of service operations. Findings: The future of service operations is framed in terms of three key themes – complexity, orchestration, and elasticity. The paper makes three contributions to the service science literature by: reviewing key themes underpinning extant service operations research to frame future trajectories of service operations research; elaborating a vision of service operations in 2050 based on history and technology; and outlining a research agenda for future service operations. Practical implications: The case of service automation is used to provide an illustration of how the three themes converge to define future service operations, and in particular, to show how technology is recasting the role of the firm. Originality/value: Service operations in the next 30 years will be very different from what it was in the past 30 years. This paper differs from other review papers by identifying three key themes that will characterize and instill new insights into the future of service operations research.
KW - Operations management
KW - Operations strategy
KW - Service operations
KW - Service systems
KW - Technology
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85053356002&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1108/JOSM-05-2018-0127
DO - 10.1108/JOSM-05-2018-0127
M3 - Review article
SN - 1757-5818
VL - 29
SP - 809
EP - 833
JO - Journal of Service Management
JF - Journal of Service Management
IS - 5
ER -