Discourse on service modularity: investigating service delivery process

Abstract

Purpose – the purpose of this research is to determine aspects of the service delivery process what must be considered for modularisation. The aim is reached through (1) investigating the process construct; (2) describing and schematizing service delivery process through integration of customer and provider perspectives; (3) ascertaining the aspects of the service delivery process modularisation. Research methodology – the article is built on an overview of the scientific literature dealing with the topic, using methods of comparative analysis, systemic analysis, abstraction, synthesis, abductive reasoning. Findings – for achieving service modularisation, the service provider may apply standardisation and automation methods on three dimensions of service delivery process: (1) service offering; (2) parts of the service process that are managed by the provider; (3) organisational structure of the provider. Research limitations – the study examines the aspects of modularity only on the conceptual level. A natural extension of this research is an empirical investigation of the introduced approaches. Practical implications – the proposed approaches help practitioners in the decision-making process for a service delivery process modularisation. Originality/Value – the study approaches the modularisation of the service delivery process considering the customer and service provider perspectives and fills the gap in the literature on service modularisation management.