Article: Service Science: Toward a Smarter Planet

Authored by: Jim Spohrer and Paul P. Maglio

Summary by: Ahsan Naeem Lone
Program: PhD Management
I.D: 14007051008
The article provides a rather comprehensive overview of the different debates which are
occurring with respect to the topic of service science. The debates revolve around
discussions pertaining to the origin of the field of service science as well as the
conceptual and empirical underpinnings that serve as the foundations for this area.
Furthermore, the paper also establishes the real life implications of service science and
that why the continuing development of this field will lead to a planet that will be
beneficial for all who inhabit it. All of these debates are spread throughout the entirety of
this paper and are categorized into three main headings: foundations, disciplines and
professions. Each of these headings will be detailed in the proceeding section of this
summary.
The core of service science revolves around the integration of different knowledge
areas from different domains through the perspective of service. The term service
science it is short for Service science, Management, Engineering and Design. The logic
behind naming the term as science pertains to the notion that any knowledge which is
deemed to be scientific, must have passed through a series of tests that determine the
empirical applicability of that knowledge within a particular worldview. Hence the area of
service science serves to develop within this notion. It aims to do this by developing
concepts and methods based around the central premise of mutual benefit of all
stakeholders who are involved in the process of value co-creation. From a service
science perspective, the scope of value co-creation ranges from simple to the very
complex in terms of the number of stakeholders involved as well as the inter and intra
play involved between the artificial world and the natural world.
Because of the scope of service science, the emerging field has been met with certain
skepticism on different areas. These areas as highlighted in the paper focus on three
major challenges of being too much, too little, too soon. The challenge of being too
much focuses on the fact that how can a single discipline aim to integrate so many other
disciplines such as management, science, economics, engineering etc. into a single
coherent one. The next challenge of being too little states that if the only premise of
service science is integration with a focus on value co-creation, then that alone does not
warrant the creation of a distinct discipline. Lastly, the third challenge of being too soon
states that while a theoretical base can be the established for the reasoning of service
science being a separate discipline, presently it cannot offer any real life implications as
no particular type of resource/s exists which can implement the propositions of the
discipline. The authors address these challenges by highlighting and detailing the
conceptual foundations of service science as well the theoretical applicability.
The authors discuss that the integration of different disciplines is not a far sighted
concept. Both the artificial and the natural world respectively operate on the principles of

interactivity and co-dependence. This means that no particular discipline operates on a

stand-alone basis and thus requires the interaction and support of other disciplines. The
nature of those interactions however are directed by the purpose of a desired action or
goal which lends to the creation of structures that dictate how those disciplines will
interact. Thus if the goal is value co-creation in a service perspective, then certain
disciplines can be organized into structures which will serve the purpose of value cocreation. The authors provide foundational concepts and terminologies which explain
and define the area of service science as a separate discipline.
In terms of the methods which can be used to improve service systems, the authors
provide two approaches, namely a process based approach and a network based
approach. Both follow a mapping procedure, with the main difference being that the
former maps the different processes which are involved in the co-creation of value while
the latter maps the network of resources, entities and stakeholders who are involved in
the co-creation of value. Ultimately, they propose that with the aim of value co-creation,
integration, implementation and control can be established along the lines of provision
of service is concerned. In terms of the practical aspects of service science, the authors
acknowledge that this emerging discipline will require individuals having a different type
of knowledge than from what can be found in different disciplines. For one, these
individuals or service scientists must be comfortable with the idea of blending together
different disciplines in order to form coherent service systems which serve the purpose
of value co-creation at different levels of either the processes or the networks or both.
For that, these scientists must be grounded in different disciplines which serve the need
of the type of value which is to be provided. This idea paves the way for the formation of
new types of professions that can enhance both the theoretical development as well as
the practical application of the new discipline respectively. Conclusively, the area of
service science is one which is still in the emerging stages but, which has the potential
to change not only the way how businesses think but rather how individuals think and
interact on both the micro and macro level respectively.