The systemic perspective of service processes: underlying theory, architecture and approach

Luciano Batista, Andy Smart, Roger Maull

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

20 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

As competition in the service industry grows, delivering high-quality service to meet customers’ needs and expectations becomes paramount. In order to achieve a thorough understanding of customers, companies are increasingly adopting Customer Relationship Management (CRM) initiatives. However, CRM does not have the process vision necessary to cope with complex and cross-functional processes. This problem is better handled by Business Process Management (BPM) initiatives, which, by their turn, struggle to built-in customer intelligence in their systems. Based upon systems theory, we discuss the roles of CRM and BPM in an integrated approach to deliver customer fulfillment. As the evolution of service-oriented approaches requires us to consider both customer interactions and experiences as key elements of service processes, we present a broader perception of service processes involving these two perspectives. Also, we discuss the architecture of a customer-facing system comprising customer processes that are aimed at better dealing with customer interactions.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)535-544
Number of pages10
JournalProduction Planning & Control
Volume19
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2008

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