Service Science: Past, Present, and Future

Abstract

Research in Service Science has evolved significantly for the past decade, and the current research reviews research in this area. Specifically, I investigated research from the past, present, which focused on the definition of topics of Service Science research, and discuss future research directions for the topic. In earlier years, research in Service Science was defined as a convergence discipline for service innovation, and the research was based on service-dominant logic against goods-dominant logic. These narrow definitions and studies are not consistent with the essence of the service, and are not enough to lead the tremendous changes in the current economy where service is dominant. Therefore, I have incorporated the essence of service to redefine Service Science as a new discipline. Service studies that renew the paradigm of existing disciplines, including profound research on the nature of human life, are defined in the new Service Science discipline. Topics such as service theory/philosophy, service economy/society, service management, service engineering, service technology, and service design are defined as specific topics for research in Service Science. In the near future, I expect more active research in service theory/philosophy, and therefore, I provide results from primary research in this area. We expect this to be a foundation for future research in this area. Taken together, we believe Service Science would be one of the new disciplines that would lead the future.