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Work System Theory: Overview Of Core Concepts, Extensions, And Challenges For The Future, Steven Alter
Work System Theory: Overview Of Core Concepts, Extensions, And Challenges For The Future, Steven Alter
Steven Alter
This paper presents a current, accessible, and overarching view of work system theory. WST is the core of an integrated body of theory that emerged from a long-term research project to develop a systems analysis and design method for business professionals called the work system method (WSM). After discussing WST’s basic premises and its two central frameworks, this paper summarizes the relationship between WST and WSM. It shows how experience with early versions of WSM led to three extensions of WST that addressed limitations-in-use in one of the central frameworks in WST. After comparisons with related theories, this paper closes …
Making A Science Of Service Systems Practical: Seeking Usefulness And Understandability While Avoiding Unnecessary Assumptions And Restrictions, Steven Alter
Steven Alter
This book’s theme is “The Science of Service Systems,” yet there is substantial question about whether the definition and nature of service systems have been articulated adequately. This paper examines definitions of service and service system that could frame or otherwise influence future developments in service science and could have implications for what should and should not be included within service science. It argues that the initial development of service science should use straightforward definitions that are understandable, useful, broadly applicable, and teachable. It proposes a definition of service system that is different from the definition proposed in this book’s …
Service System Fundamentals: Work System, Value Chain, And Life Cycle, Steven Alter
Service System Fundamentals: Work System, Value Chain, And Life Cycle, Steven Alter
Steven Alter
Service systems produce all services of significance and scope, yet the concept of service system is not well articulated in the service literature. This paper presents three interrelated frameworks as a first cut at the fundamentals of service systems. These frameworks identify basic building blocks and organize important attributes and change processes that apply across all service systems. Although relevant regardless of whether a service system uses IT, the frameworks are also potentially useful in visualizing the realities of moving toward automated service architectures. This paper uses two examples, one largely manual and one highly automated, to illustrate the potential …