Microsoft Word Volume 2 Service and Service Quality Final docx

Conclusion 
In this section we discussed different service definitions and their elements. Contemporary definitions 
seem to be moving away from the market offering definition and IHIP characteristics to the interactive 
nature of services, and stressing more the interactive processes and capabilities of the service provider 
on one hand, and the experience, benefits, and notion of value-in-use to the service consumers on the 
other hand. Based on the above observations, we propose that the differing conceptions be abstracted 
into a single, related view of service integrating the perspective of service as a marketing offering, 
interactions, processes, capabilities, and benefits, as follows: 
A service is a (market) offering by one party (the provider) to create value for another party 
(customer) through interaction in a co-production process (with the consumer). 

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Business Service Management White Paper - Volume 2 
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Figure 2: Proposed Service Conceptualisation
Consumer: 
Value creation, interaction, experience, outcome 
A Market Offering 
Provider:
Processes, activities, capabilities
It is important to note that embodied within this definition is 
two perspectives
of service: service is 
both (1) an offering, or a service concept, that specifies what is being offered to a potential customer, 
e.g. a banking service, a customer service at department store, etc; and (2) an encounter, or what 
happens, when service (provider) and consumer interacts, e.g. when a consumer makes a withdrawal at 
a bank or funds transfer through internet banking, or when a consumer returns an item at a department 
store. The first perspective, which will impact upon the purchase or engagement intention of the 
customer, embodies the potential value and benefit from a (potential) customer’s point of view, and 
the processes, activities, and the capabilities put in place by a provider to deliver that value or benefit. 
The second perspective, which has impact upon the re-purchase or re-engagement intention of the 
consumers, embodies the co-production interaction that bring the provider’s capabilities to bear, and 
put the processes and activities in action to provide an experience and an outcome that delivers value 
and provides satisfaction to the consumer of the service.
The first perspective has clear implications for other research within the business service management 
framework, particularly the service life-cycle management, service marketing and sales, service 
purchasing, and parts of service value management (such as service portfolio management and service 
innovation management) while the second perspective is important for research such as service quality 
management and service performance management.

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Business Service Management White Paper - Volume 2 
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