资源描述
The Evolvement and Innovation of Service ParadigmsFuxiang Wei （Management School of Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin 300387）Abstract: The theory of services marketing evolves fast, but the academic research on the service paradigm is few and far between. Using the tool of Kuhns paradigm assumptions, the thesis clarifies the three stages of services marketing paradigm evolvement, and implies the innovation of service paradigm. The research findings show that service science is right direction for the development of the service paradigm, but not replacement, what matters is the regeneration of the old paradigms.Keywords: paradigm evolvement innovationPurpose: Paradigm theory is applied to both nature and social science researches, and its paradigm, not other things, determines the basic frame work of a social science. However, science and technology revolution makes it incompatible between existing Service Marketing theory and service practice, which cant make right direction for Service Marketing practice. Therefore, it is necessary to reexamine Service Marketing Paradigm in technology revolution.Methodology: By analyzing the available literatures and interview with founders of the services marketing literature, such as Evert Gummesson, Christian Grnroos, etc., this paper tries applying paradigm theory to explore Service Marketing evolvement and elaborates 3 potential Service Marketing paradigms, which can not only help us clarify the discipline characteristic and background but also avoid the management confusion stemming from new philosophy and concept.Findings: The existing paradigms are out of date ,but up to now, we can not found the substitutable paradigms to construct a new frame of services marketing, so the old paradigms need innovation instead of replacement.Originality/value: the researches concerning the paradigms are really few and far between, what the paper deals with will determine the future of services marketing, and whether the service science can be generated.1 The Evolvement of Service Marketing Paradigm1.1 1970s-Service Marketing PrescienceBefore 1970s, the distinction between service and physical product was heavily neglected. Regan (Regan,1963) is the earliest scholar who pointed the service characteristics which are intangibility, inseparability, perishability and ubiquity，but he didnt make further illustrations. Say（Say, 1964）targeted at medical service and considered immaterial (intangibility) as the most distinct characteristic of service. He considered diagnosis procedure as the production process and the process of taking advice as the consumption, which are simultaneous. From then on, scholars proposed many other service characteristics.Developed countries deregulated the service industry from 1970s, which intensified competition in service industry. In order to survive in hot-white market competition, service firms cried for new theory to guide business practice. Service Marketing theory made a further development accordingly, and scholars viewed service issues as the appendage of goods to discuss（LaLonde and Zinszer，1976）, focusing on theory frame without any empirical studies. Theres no accepted service paradigm.1.2 1980s1990s Service-the Initial Normal Science of Service MarketingIt is an important period of Service Marketing development, during which service paradigm was forming. There are consensuses in academia: service is activity or effort with different characteristics from goods; Challenges stem from service characteristics never exist in traditional marketing; and traditional marketing for goods isnt available to solve the problems（Zeithmal，Parasuraman, and Berry，1985）；Evaluation model and dimensions of service quality are also constructed in this period, and 2 schools of Service Marketing-Nordic School and North America were developing.Grnroos, who the founder of Service Marketing and the scholar of Nordic School, proposed the concept of perceived service quality which differentiates service quality from goods quality radically. As Grnroos said, perceived service quality is composed of functional quality and technical quality. Service quality=PQ (Perceived service quality)-EQ (Expected Service Quality), depending on both service effort and customer expectation, which is so-called Dis/confirmation theory and become the basic of SERVQUAL developed by North America.Compared to Nordic School, the outstanding contribution of North America is the empirical study of Service Marketing, which propels Service Marketing theory to a new development. PZB ,who are scholars of North America developed the well-known service quality measurementSERVQUAL, which was revised in 1994 and 1996 to improve the applicability. Their researches combined service quality with customer behavior.As far as service characteristics, scholars still have different viewpoints: Grnroos (Grnroos，1990）defined service characteristics as: intangibility, activities rather than things, simultaneous (production and consumption) and customer participation. Rust（Rust，1996）considered intangibility, inseparability, variability and perishability as important service characteristics. PZB discovered the frequencies of service characteristics are: intangible（all）, inseparability(most), heterogeneity or nonstandardization （70%） and perishability (more than 50%）by survey. In spite of the controversy, 5Is of service -intangibility, inability to own, inconsistency, inventory and inseparability is established and intangibility is considered as the foremost characteristic of service. Service Marketing theory is developed and is applied to deal with service challenges.1.3 After 1990s-Challenge Faced by Service MarketingWith the development of internet technology, e-commerce is playing more and more important role in KIBS (knowledge intensive business service). Traditional face-to-face interaction is replaced by virtual interaction, by which customers can act as both service providers and consumers. The difference between service and goods and the heterogeneity among services are disappearing, terms “service manufacture” and “manufacturing services” are emerging. For example, IBM acclaimed that its a service firm because of the value created by service is much more remarkable than goods.Above all, the original paradigm of service discipline, premise and presumption has changed. Service production and consumption can be separated by internet technology in some cases (eg. internet medical system). In traditional service, perceived service quality depends on employee, emotion and attitude of customers. However, perceived service based on internet not only depends on service providers skill but also the internet quality; Service customizing is limited by both service designing and the customer acceptance of technology. In internet environment, customers have to evaluate intangible service by means of intangible elements. The perceived mechanism of service has changed: its much more difficult to own service because of the intangible technology which is hard to operate for customers, but customers can also get the visual result through screen, which improves the service tangibility and availability of service. Due to such big transformation, some scholars challenge the scientificity of Service Marketing. Kotter and Heskett （1992）：I sense a kind of malaise in services marketing. Berry (2000): The field seems to lose its bearings. Therefore, some new researches and practice are emerging, for example, e-servqual and e-tailq measurements for e-commerce based on traditional SERVQUAL. The review of Service Marketing paradigm indicates that service paradigm evolvement is the independence from traditional marketing for goods. However, with the development of technology, especially internet, the original Service Marketing paradigm and research method is facing great challenge. It is necessary for us to reexamine and develop new Service Marketing paradigm.2. The Innovation of Service Marketing Paradigm2.1 Services Science Induced by Technology DynamicsIn 2004, Service Science is proposed in America as one of key innovation strategies: “Service Science is the synthesis of management science, mathematics, decision science, IE and other social science, with the core of service system management, service innovation management, computer science and applied theory”. Recently, Service Science is also noticed by Chinese academia. From 2004, the 1st International Conference on Service Systems and Service Management was held in Qing Hua University. In 2006, ICSSSM06 attracted more than 500 papers from 23 countries, and 284 of them were accepted, and these papers were presented concerning 29 topics.As we can see from Table 1 and Table 2, both subject and object of Service Marketing are changing: background of researchers is diversity, disciplines are mingling, new technology (especially computer and internet technology) is extensively applied to service management and the gap between manufacturing and services is fuzzy.In addition, the forum hold by NSFC in Tianjin Normal University in 2008 is also focused on “Service Science Development Strategy”, which suggests that “Service Science” is taken into account by Chinese government and academia. However, theres no uniform and accepted definition of Service Science.Table 1 Topics and researchers nationality in ICSSSM 04TopicsAuthorsChinese Foreigners TotalCooperation technologies and knowledge management for e-services2 6 8Customer relationship management 3 2 5Data analysis and empirical studies for service systems 6 3(1) 10Design and management of knowledge systems for service 9 0 9Design and management of manufacturing systems 0 5 5Forecasting, pricing, inventory control and lot sizing 16 9 25Hospital and health care systems 2 12(1) 5Information technology 4 0 4Integration of simulation & optimization for operations planning 0 8 8Logistic service 6 6(2) 5Maintenance systems 0 5 5Markets and financial systems 8 0 8Modeling, design and service 2 2 4Models and concepts for service 8 9(2) 19Multi-Agents systems and service 2 7 9Multiobjective decision 2 6 8Optimization 2 8 10Performance evaluation 1 4 5Production planning and inventory control models 1 4 5Risk management 7 0 7Robustness issues in the field of the design, organization and planning of service or manufacturing systems 0 5 5Scheduling 1 28 29Service quality 7 2 9Service systems: between optimization and management 6 5 11Supply chain 11 3 14Telecommunication4 1 5Transportation Service 1 4 5Web and service 7 2 10Applications0 5 5Resources：Service Systems and Service Management. Proceedings of ICSSSM 04, Beijing: Qinghua University.Table 2 Involved Disciplines in ICSSSM 04Involved Disciplines Number of PapersE-commerce37Management Science and Engineering57Operational Research62Science of Behavior19Supply Chain and Logic Management59Resources：Summarize from Service Systems and Service Management. Proceedings of ICSSSM 04, Beijing: Qinghua University. As far as we are concerned, “Service Science” is an emerging discipline combining information technology with industrial engineering. It is the right direction but not replacement for the development of the service paradigm, which can guide economy development much more effectively.2.2 Rental/Access -A Potential Basis for a New Service Marketing ParadigmIt is out of question that the application and development of technology in service makes “intangibility” which is the original accepted service characteristic is out of date. Gummson had proposed that the hypothesis “service is intangible” is not supported at all, let alone the distinguishing characteristic of service. Therefore, we have to develop a new service paradigm, and “nonownership” could be the basis for new service paradigm. According to Rental/Access paradigm, services involve a form of rental/ access in which customers get benefits by gaining the right to use a physical object, to hire the labor and expertise of personnel, or to obtain access to facilities and networks. As we can see, most of scholars are still discriminating service from goods, believing that service is different and distinctive from goods. They always define service compared with goods, since service must has its own milestone.2.3 Service Logic based on Value CreationGrnroos (Grnroos, 2008) thinks there are 3 different aspects of the concept of service used in literatures at present: Service as an activity; Service as a perspective on the customers value creation; Service as a perspective on the providers activities (business logic). The service concept is probably more important for businesses as a perspective than as an activity only (Edvardsson et al, 2005), so service as a perspective or logic need to be developed further.Theres no difference between service and goods, which means that people buy goods and services in order to create value for them. For example, groceries are not bought for the sake of having them in store, they are bought to provide input resources in the process of cooking dinner for a nice family occasion around the dining table, which is the value of the process of cooking dinner.; A precious painting is not bought only for the sake of the painting, but in order to be able to appreciate it, to show it to others, or just for the sake of knowing that it is in the buyers possession, which are all processes where the painting is an input resource needed to create value for the owner.From value creation perspective, the customer service logic relates to how customers create value for themselves by consuming service. It is different from provider service logic, which in turn is a perspective on how firms adjust their business strategies and marketing to customers service consumption-based value creation by adopting service approach. However, value is created when customers use goods and services (value-in-use) rather than being embedded in goods or services (value-in-exchange). Value-in-use is the foundation for value-in-exchange which is the function of value-in use, if customers cannot make use of a good, value-in-exchange is nil for them. Therefore, customers and providers exchange resources for value rather than value. Customer is the creator of value (value-in-use), but existing researches confuse the dual roles of customer as service production resource and value creator.The role of providers in value creation depends on whether they adopt service logic (Table 3). According to service logic, firms are not restricted to making value propositions only, they have the opportunity to influence value fulfillment as a value co-creator. According to the goods logic, firms can only make value proposition, they cannot get involved in customers consumption and value-generating processes nor actively influence the process during which value is really created as value fulfillment.Table 3 Value Creation and Value Fulfillment according to Service Logic (Value Fulfillment Model) and Goods Logic ( Value Facilitation Model)RoleSupplierCustomerCreation of value-in-use according to a service logic:Value FulfillmentModelValue facilitatorProviding customers with a foundation for their value creation in the form of resources(goods, service, information and other resources)Value co-creator Engaging in interactions with customers during value- generating process(consumption)Value creatorOther necessary resources available to customers and skills held by customers are added during value-generating processes(consumption); interacting with suppliers as providers during the value-generating processes, where value-fulfillment takes place Creation of value-in-use according to a goods logic:Value FacilitationModelValue facilitatorProviding customer with a foundation for their value creation in the form of resources(goods, service, information and other resources)Value creator Other necessary resources available to customers and skills held by customers are added during value-generating processes(consumption)Recourses：Grnroos, Service Logic Revisited: Who creates value? And who co-creates? European Business Review, Vol. 20, No. 4 (July 2008)When value creation is the goal for marketing and customer value is viewed as value-in-use, interaction rather than exchange becomes the foundation for marketing. When focusing on interactions, firms can extend their value facilitation efforts to value co-creation with its customers and directly influence value fulfillment. The market offering is also expanded from a goods-based offering to including firm-customer interactions, and marketers are no longer restricted to making value propositions only. 3. ConclusionFirstly, due to the different development backgrounds, the evolvement of Service Marketing paradigm experiences a reverse path compared to traditional Marketing paradigm (classical marketing-marketing management-relation marketing): Independence-Relation Marketing-Service Science. Though Service Science is the right direction for Service Marketing paradigm, it is not the replacement for original service paradigm (at least at present). It is only the innovation of Service Marketing research paradigm and a kind of service operation science. Secondly, Rental/Access paradigm can distinguish service from goods effectively and depict typical service, but still cant include all kinds of service. Moreover, researching and defining service compared to goods constraints the universality of service logic and impedes the further development of Service Marketing theory.Lastly, the crisis faced by Service Marketing doesnt reduce the effect of service logic. In the period during which customers create value for themselves, all firms are facing service competition, rather than the competition on a kind of goods or service. Firms provide customers with proposition for solving problems rather than goods or service. Service is a perspective, both manufacturing and services should be oriented by service and following Service Logic.Acknowledgment The first author gratefully acknowledges a research grant from the Humanities and Social Science Research Program of Education Ministry of China (Grant No. 07JA630005) and Special Research Project of Binhai New Area(Grant No.52LE32).References1 Berry, Leonard L. (2000), in Services Marketing Self-Portraits: Introspections, Reflections, and Glimpses from the Experts. R.P. Fisk, S.J. Grove and J. John, Chicago: American Marketing Association. 1-18.2 Edvardsson, B., Gustafsson, A. & Roos, I.(2005)Service Portraits in Service Research: a Critical Review. International Journal of Servcie Industry Management, 16(1), 107-1213 Grnroos, C. (1990) Service Management and Marketing: Managing Moments of Truth in Service Competition. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books4 Grnroos (July 2008) Service Logic Revisited: Who creates value? And who co-creates? European Business Review, Vol. 20, No. 4 5 Grove, Stephen J., Raymond P. Fisk, and Joby John (20
展开阅读全文