Different types of organizations provide services that require multiple, complex services to produce results. Oftentimes, those complex services morph into a maze of system processes that crisscross, impeding the smooth operation of processes and value creation. So how can you manage multiple services efficiently and effectively? This book outlines the strategy and execution needed to meet your goals. Numerous examples, exercises, and tools are included to help explain and clarify. The revised fourth edition includes a new focus on the impact of artificial intelligence in complex services, as well as links to video clips and podcasts. Professionals, semi-professionals, and technical workers in all areas, from law to medicine, accounting to engineering, social work to architecture, will find this book an invaluable tool in achieving success.

This book focuses on complex services, that is, services embodying the knowledge and capabilities of professionals, sought because of the client’s lack of knowledge or skills in specialized fields. This book is also concerned with the many organizations, such as hospitals and banks, that provide services requiring a mixture of professional and other services to produce the results that customers or clients need. Professionals, semi-professionals, and technical workers laboring in all spheres of human endeavor, from law to medicine, accounting to engineering, social work to architecture, who are involved or are interested in taking part in managing their businesses, small or large, will find this book an invaluable tool in achieving success. This third edition comes with an augmented value proposition: as you read and try to understand and experiment with the material, you are invited at various points to view video clips, lasting between 15 and 25 minutes, that will clarify, complement, illustrate, or go further than what you are reading.

The quest for value drives customer behavior in the services marketplace. This book focuses on complex service processes, and is written for professionals, quasi-professionals, and technical workers laboring in all spheres, from law to medicine, and accounting to engineering. It draws its theory and examples from these professional services and many more, with hands-on end-of-chapter exercises on all topics. A framework is presented for understanding how a set of shared fundamental beliefs drives the best-in-class professional service organizations in their learning, which is the source of sustained competitive advantage. Products and processes can be imitated or copied, but learning faster than your competition cannot. Processes create the benefits customers want by delivering the service, or by making this delivery possible in one way or another. The notions, methods, and tools presented in this book present readers with a perspective on their work they most likely never envisaged, and which will lead to a marked improvement in their effectiveness.

As the title makes clear, this book is about the design and delivery of service experiences. This includes the design of installations, facilities, technologies and scripts used in the staging of such experiences. It introduces the reader to many fundamental notions in service operations, from positioning to execution, with much attention paid to human experiences such as those of customers and service workers; be they performing simple repetitive tasks or complex mental tasks. The subject is treated in an user-friendly manner with a storytelling context, focusing initially on every day services (coffee shops, fast food, supermarkets) and then moving on to complex services (lawyers, physicians, engineers, accountants). Contrary to popular hype, not all service experiences are meant to be memorable. If all you need is a cup of coffee and this is done quickly, effortlessly, and painlessly, that’s good. If there’s a little plus along the way, that’s better: you’ll make a mental note that this is a good place to stop next time you are in the area. In an age of exponential technological change, service delivery processes are changing quickly and service industries are being creatively destroyed. You want to be the disruptor, willing to disrupt a large part of your actual income streams. The ability to maintain differentiation rests largely on an in-depth understanding of the service experience and operational excellence. The future belongs to the fastest learner. Intuition is only part of the story.

As the title makes clear, this book is about the design and delivery of service experiences. This includes the design of installations, facilities, technologies and scripts used in the staging of such experiences. It introduces the reader to many fundamental notions in service operations, from positioning to execution, with much attention paid to human experiences such as those of customers and service workers; be they performing simple repetitive tasks or complex mental tasks. The subject is treated in an user-friendly manner with a storytelling context, focusing initially on every day services (coffee shops, fast food, supermarkets) and then moving on to complex services (lawyers, physicians, engineers, accountants). Contrary to popular hype, not all service experiences are meant to be memorable. If all you need is a cup of coffee and this is done quickly, effortlessly, and painlessly, that's good. If there's a little plus along the way, that's better: you'll make a mental note that this is a good place to stop next time you are in the area. In an age of exponential technological change, service delivery processes are changing quickly and service industries are being creatively destroyed. You want to be the disruptor, willing to disrupt a large part of your actual income streams. The ability to maintain differentiation rests largely on an in-depth understanding of the service experience and operational excellence. The future belongs to the fastest learner. Intuition is only part of the story.

The two volumes IFIP AICT 414 and 415 constitute the refereed proceedings of the International IFIP WG 5.7 Conference on Advances in Production Management Systems, APMS 2013, held in University Park, PA, USA, in September 2013. The 133 revised full papers were carefully reviewed and selected for inclusion in the two volumes. They are organized in 4 parts: sustainable production, sustainable supply chains, sustainable services, and ICT and emerging technologies.

Betriebliche Weiterbildung soll lebenslanges Lernen im Arbeitskontext ermöglichen und befördern. Diese wird immer wichtiger, da sich das wirtschaftliche Umfeld immer dynamischer durch globalen Wettbewerb von Arbeit, Produktion und Dienstleistungen verändert. Dies bedingt auch veränderte Bedarfe an Fertigkeiten und Fähigkeiten sowie dem notwendigen Fachwissen. Es ist wettbewerbskritisch für Mitarbeiter und Unternehmen, kontinuierlich und immer besser lebenslang zu lernen. Daher gilt die betriebliche Weiterbildung als wichtige Voraussetzung, um volkswirtschaftliches Wachstum zu erreichen und zunehmend globalisiertem Wettbewerb begegnen zu können. In diesem Kontext widmet sich die vorliegende Arbeit der Erforschung von Messung und Beeinflussung der Produktivität von IT-gestützten Weiterbildungsformaten, konkret der Gestaltung von IT-gestützten Weiterbildungsformaten unter Berücksichtigung von Effizienz und Effektivitätsgesichtspunkten.