Business Service Management White Paper - Volume 2
Page 17 of 46
Silvestro, Fitzgerald, Johnston and Voss (1992) propose a model of service processes (Figure 7),
which is analogous to the production process model in manufacturing operations. Silvestro et al.
suggest that there are three types of service process: professional, mass, and service shop. Each service
type is characterized in terms of six dimensions drawn from the service operations literature. Silvestro
et al. state: ‘On the basis of evidence from a small sample of service organizations
these dimensions
appear to correlate with volume of customers processed per unit per day. Just as production volume is
the unifying mechanism in the manufacturing process model, so it seems this volume measure can be
used to integrate the previously disparate service typologies.’ (p.73) The definitions given for the three
service archetypes are as follows:
Professional services
: organizations with relatively few transactions, highly customized,
process-oriented, with relatively long contact time, with most value
added in the front office,
where considerable judgement is applied in meeting customer needs’ (p.73)
‘Mass services
: organizations where there are many customer transactions, involving limited
contact time and little customization. The offering is predominantly product-oriented with
most value being added in the back office and little judgement applied
by the front office
staff’ (p.73)
‘Service shops
: a categorization which falls between professional and mass services with the
levels of the classification dimensions falling between the other two extremes’ (p.73)
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