Microsoft Word Volume 2 Service and Service Quality Final docx

 
 
 
 

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Business Service Management White Paper - Volume 2 
Page 13 of 46 
Service Classifications 
Cook, Goh and Chung (1999) believe that ‘no single definition of service is capable of encompassing 
the full diversity of services and the complex attributes that accompany them, a conclusion which is 
arrived at by many researchers. Zeithaml et al. (1985, p.43) suggest that ‘Diverse businesses, such as 
garbage collection, retail banking, and management consulting are often tied together under the 
heading of "services" in the literature, based on 
little more than a perception that they are intangible 
and do not manufacture anything
. Such definitions inadequately identify managerial and operational 
implications common among, and unique to, services.’ Therefore, many authors have turned to 
typologies, taxonomies, or classification schemes to more fully address the complexities of services.’ 
Service classification schemes ‘identify key commonalities across seemingly disparate service 
businesses’ (Sampson & Froehle, 2006). The suitability of a classification scheme depends on its 
purpose. Most service classification schemes have been developed in the Marketing field (e.g. 
Lovelock, 1983) with a few from the field of operations management (Wemmerlöv, 1990), and may 
not be suitable in other contexts. Wemmerlöv (1990) contends that when considering a taxonomy ‘it is 
necessary to address the following four issues: 

Purpose
: ‘A taxonomy should structure a complex field of interest and facilitate its 
understanding. It can also be used as a decision-making device for design-related problems.’ 
(p. 24) 

Level of Analysis
(at which the taxonomy is to be applied): ‘The chosen level of analysis can 
vary depending on purpose. A classification scheme for organisations (macro level) is not 
likely to be applicable with the same relevance to individual work activities (micro level), and 
vice versa.’ (p. 24) 

The categorising variables
: The key dimensions used for distinguishing the different types of 
services. 

Possibility of operationalising the variables
: ‘If a taxonomy is to be more than just an aid to 
stimulate thinking, the variables it relies on should be measurable. ... However, if the intent 
with a taxonomy is to analyse and evaluate organisational design issues, the analyst is more 
interested in relative than absolute comparisons. Categorisation of processes can then be done 
based more on judgement than on objective measurement.’ (p.28) 
A survey by Cook, Goh and Chung (1999) of four decades of service typologies found that different 
classification schemes have different levels of analysis, and even at the same level of analysis, may 
use differing set of categorising variables, because they are conceptualised for different purposes 
(some of which are discussed below). Below, we review some of the key classifications to highlight 
the range of purposes and categorising variables used in these classifications. 

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Business Service Management White Paper - Volume 2 
Page 14 of 46