Implementing the Service Concept through Value Engineering

摘要

As products have become commoditised and technology knowledge made available to all, the possession of customers has become crucially dependent on the service content of what is delivered. Initially service was seen as an add-on aspect of business and to be highly personalised to customers and employees alike. But the significance of service to justify price, to support brand, to enrich the product, even to learn about the customer, means that the service concept and the service delivery must be managed even if such management is much less well defined than physical product and process management. This paper sets out to establish the possibility of designing both the content of service value and the service system which is needed to provide it. Following the analysis of service itself, the paper identifies the tools needed to engineer the service system to inspect it and position it within the commercial scheme. The McDonald's operation and others will be used to illustrate the concepts and their application. The principle of effective design and evaluation will be stated and defended as the fundamental means of achieving the value of service to both clients and the providing company. The conditions for successful adoption of the principles will be identified.