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Source publication
The service industry significantly contributes to gross value added and employment. However, it is difficult to make generic statements about the service industry because of the nature and productivity of the distinct het-erogeneity of services. The present work will address productivity improvements being subject to multiple causes. Through a stru...
Contexts in source publication
Context 1
... increase of the respective input factors or the total input, ceteris paribus, leads to a decline in productivity. Figure 2 illustrates the representation of the formula. This understanding will be relevant later on, to accurately display the analysis results. ...
Context 2
... is important to note, at this point, that according to the studies, the relationships have a direct impact on productivity. The interpretation of these relationships is com- plicated in terms of representing the productivity formula in Figure 2. The authors of the evaluated studies do not consider the formal composition of productivity. ...
Citations
... In the literature on the subject, it has been divided into four specific processes: the process of planning and acquiring necessary resources, the process of developing human resource qualifications, the process of providing a service to the customer and the process of ensuring service quality. In each of the processes, errors and shortcomings may occur that will affect the consumer's subjective appraisal of the provided service (Gotsch et al., 2013). ...
The process of globalisation in world markets, and the growing number of enterprises competing with one another in terms of the products and services they offer, naturally leads to the improved efficiency of management systems. Efficiency is required in order for these entities to maintain competitiveness. To assess the efficiency of their management systems, enterprises use quality cost calculation.
This book fills the research gap concerned with the scientific study of the quality cost calculation, with regard to service companies. It offers the authors’ concept of using the cost of quality calculation as a tool for assessing the efficiency of the management systems of service companies. The book consists of six chapters that present both a theoretical and an empirical part. In the theoretical part, the following issues are discussed: quality costs; the evolution of quality cost
calculation; quality cost calculation models and their applications to date; and the specific way in which service companies operate. The practical part presents the authors’ model of quality cost calculation along with the adopted assumptions and cost structure, as well as the research methodology and verification of the use of the developed model in a selected service company. The research gives credence to the role and importance of this tool in economic practice.
The book will be desired reading by both theoreticians and practitioners of quality management and accounting. It is also a valuable resource for master’s and doctoral students wishing to broaden their knowledge of quality costs and their calculation in the fields of economics and management.
... A meta-study found 20 input and 3 output factors on the company level directly or indirectly related to productivity (Gotsch et al. 2013). Thus, productivity does not depend on a single input or output factor. ...
The interdisciplinary and cross-functional commitment of the Journal of Service Management Research motivated us to define interdisciplinary topics of service research that are important both in the present and in the future. Therefore, relevant publications in this research field were examined, especially Ostrom et al. (2010, 2015), which comprehensively addressed and collated research priorities. With that in mind, issues of 48 highly ranked service-oriented management and marketing journals from 2009 to 2015 were analysed to identify research topics of the recent past. Additionally, European scientists were interviewed on their focus in the field of service research in the previous year. The results demonstrate the vast array of management-oriented service research in Europe, but also the necessity of interdisciplinary research designs in service management.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to perform a comparative analysis between the productivity metrics recommended in the literature and those that companies in the knowledge-intensive services sector use in practice.
Design/methodology/approach
To collect information, a systematic review of the literature was used, to apply virtual surveys and interviews among managers of different companies representing the sector. For data analysis, categorical optimal scales, homogeneity tests, tetrachoric correlation matrices, word clouds and association coefficients for dichotomous variables were used.
Findings
There are association patterns between the metrics used and the nature of the work performed. Despite the heterogeneity observed in the productivity metrics, categorization guidelines related to the traditional, human resources and customer-oriented approaches emerge.
Practical implications
Possible neglects using metrics aimed at valuing the intellectual capital immersed in human resources are evident, particularly in the follow-up to autonomy, knowledge management, human capital, teamwork, training and capacity building metrics, among others. Conversely, face-to-face monitoring metrics, such as absenteeism, are overvaluation.
Originality/value
The approaches and metrics discussed and the results obtained, provide information so that knowledge-intensive companies have a reference framework to identify and select useful metrics to assess the work carried out by their workforce.
Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to differentiate the production process within services from the dominant manufacturing-based production process, with the objective of delineating the production process in services and highlighting its implication for service productivity.
Design/methodology/approach
– This study critically reviewed the extant literature on the production processes in manufacturing and services from a multidisciplinary perspective and proposed a framework for the service production process and its relationship with service productivity.
Findings
– The production process for services differs from the dominant manufacturing-based production process and entails an input, transformation process and outcome dimensions. Therefore, any advancement in services, particularly the conceptualisation and measurement of service productivity, is dependent on the application of a service-specific production process.
Research limitations/implications
– The understanding and delineation of the production process in services would further scholarly understanding of what is means to be productive in services and the impact on the validity of the conceptualisation and measurement of service productivity and other service-related concepts.
Practical implications
– The proposed service-based production process can further managerial understanding of the measurement and management of productivity in services.
Originality/value
– This paper delineates the production process in services and highlighted its implication for service productivity. This study, therefore, is a step forward in developing service-specific concepts and measures, particularly service productivity.
