Excerpt] The purpose of this chapter is to present a model that integrates customer preferences and service design. In response to the need for interdisciplinary service management research, we present a framework that specifies the key elements of an integrated market utility-based model (MUM) and a method for determining optimal service designs based on customer needs and preferences. We also...

We develop a framework of service-unit behavior that begins with a unit’s leader’s service-focused behavior and progresses through intermediate links (service climate and customer-focused organizational citizenship behavior) to customer satisfaction and then unit sales. Data from a sample of 56 supermarket departments provide at least moderate support for our mediational hypotheses. We discuss ...

Developing secure software is still a software engineering challenge because of the complexity of software security. Yet integrating security engineering and software engineering is increasingly important, especially for serviceoriented applications, as they are exposed to new security challenges due to their open nature. Current security engineering approaches do not consider existing security...

Online rental of software is emerging as a new way of dissemination for several major software firms. Compared to outright selling, the renting scheme delivers the software as a service instead of a physical good. Hence, users cannot privately make copies for resale in the market. We investigate the impact of the renting mechanism on software piracy and pricing in a two-period model whereby a p...

Organisations claim to adopt IT fashions on the premise of achieving cost-savings, and performance improvements. However, current research reveals that such goals are not the only motivators behind the actual adoption of IT fashions. This paper illustrates, through the case studies of two universities, that the adoption of an IT fashion, such as Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions, can enhan...

This paper presents a proposal concerning the development of a sustainable support for modern education in services. It accounts for the development of a dedicated higher education study program on Service Science Management and Engineering (SSME) on different levels, i.e. master, undergraduate and compact modules dedicated to a lifelong education process (the SSME education model). The propose...