Understanding Complex Service Systems Through Different Lenses: An Overview

The 2011 Grand Challenge in Service conference aimed to explore, analyse and evaluate complex service systems, utilising a case scenario of delivering on improved perception of safety in the London Borough of Sutton, which provided a common context to link the contributions. The key themes that emerged included value co-creation, systems and networks, ICT and complexity, for which we summarise the contributions. Contributions on value co-creation are based mainly on empirical research and provide a variety of insights including the importance of better understanding collaboration within value co-creation. Contributions on the systems perspective, considered to arise from networks of value co-creation, include efforts to understand the implications of the interactions within service systems, as well as their interactions with social systems, to co-create value. Contributions within the technological sphere, providing ever greater connectivity between entities, focus on the creation of new value constellations and new demand being fulfilled through hybrid offerings of physical assets, information and people. Contributions on complexity, arising from the value co-creation networks of technology enabled services systems, focus on the challenges in understanding, managing and analysing these complex service systems. The theory and applications all show the importance of understanding service for the future.