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Service Systems in Changing Paradigms: An Inquiry Through the Systems Sciences

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The Science of Service Systems

Abstract

For professionals at the beginning of the twenty-first century, much of the conventional wisdom on business management and engineering is founded in the twentieth century industrial/manufacturing paradigm. In developed economies, however, the service sector now dominates the manufacturing sector, just as manufacturing prevailed over the agricultural sector after the industrial revolution. This chapter proposes the development of a body of knowledge on services systems, based on foundations in the systems sciences. The approach includes the design of the systems of inquiry, acknowledging that the body of knowledge on twenty-first century service systems is relatively nascent. A program of action science is proposed, with an emphasis on multiple realities and knowledge development through dialectic. The outcome pursued is an increased number of T-shaped people with depth and breadth in service systems, in communities of inquiry of researchers and practitioners.

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Acknowledgements

The author appreciates ideas and feedback on the earliest drafts of this chapter from the team on “The trajectory of systems research and practice” – Allenna Leonard, Gary Metcalf, Leonie Solomons and Jennifer Wilby – and other participants in the 2008 Fuschl Conversation hosted by the International Federation for Systems Research.

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  1. IBM Canada Ltd., 3600 Steeles Avenue East, Markham, ON, L3R 9Z7, Canada

    David Ing

  2. Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland

    David Ing

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  1. Department of Information Systems, W. P. Carey School of Business, Main Campus PO BOX 874606, Tempe, 85287, Arizona, USA

    Haluk Demirkan

  2. IBM Research - Almaden, Harry Road 650, San Jose, 95120-6099, California, USA

    James C. Spohrer

  3. IBM Almaden Research Center, San Jose, 95120-6099, California, USA

    Vikas Krishna

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Ing, D. (2011). Service Systems in Changing Paradigms: An Inquiry Through the Systems Sciences. In: Demirkan, H., Spohrer, J., Krishna, V. (eds) The Science of Service Systems. Service Science: Research and Innovations in the Service Economy. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-8270-4_16

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