This PHD project aims to develop a service design system which has a customer-centric view and delivers a balance between profit and value for both customers and service providers. The system will enable designers to assess the design and provide decision support and rationale at an early service design development stage. Also during the lifecycle of the service it would provide a better cost estimation for the service provider to support its future decisions. The two first chapters give an overview of the service field and the research area. Chapter 1, the introduction, states the aim and objectives of this research along with setting the field of the rationale behind the motivation and scope. Chapter 2, the literature review, gives a thorough overview of the service design area mentioning the theories, techniques, methodologies and methods that have been used directly or indirectly for service modeling/design. Chapter 3, the research methodology, states the rationale behind the decisions to conduct this research in terms of purpose, design, strategy and data collection techniques. Moreover an analysis of the current methodology structure which was based on the adaptation of the aforementioned decisions is provided. In Chapter 4 there is a comparison among three different methods (Service Explorer (SE), Integrated Service CAD and Life cycle simulator (ISCL) and Service Blueprinting (SB)) as identified from the literature, which have been developed specifically for service design. The comparison looks at the dynamic features of each method. A dynamic feature is a property of a service method that has the ability to capture specific elements of the service design process which are subject to continuously change within a specific timeframe. At first, there is a brief discussion on how each method is applied and what the output as a generic process is. It starts with identifying generic key concepts of the service design approach by applying all methods to a rental service scenario. Following that, we create a virtual service of a rental machine scenario and map the previously identified key concepts into specific elements of the rental service. We test all methods against these service concepts to identify how well and in what scope each one performs. A merging process of the service concepts is then carried out to form 4 categories which form the specific dynamic features. We test all methods against these features. In particular we find that, SB lacks dynamic capability. SE does well on prioritising individual customer requirements but provides neither a modular design process nor the ability to deal with changes during the service lifecycle. ISCL can provide a process for generating models by combining previously established building blocks and a life-cycle service simulation. However the resources are fixed and there is no prioritisation on the requirements. A pragmatic service deployment requires a service environment that is subject to change, which in turn is not provided by the current methods we compared. The purpose of Chapter 5 is to demonstrate an open source agent-based simulation language that could be used for service design and to simulate the Emergent Synthesis (ES) methodology. This methodology was identified from the literature search as a potential solution to the research gap presented in Chapter 4. That would act as a validation of using the proposed method in the service design area. For this reason a service market is being used as a modelling example. First the area of agent-based modelling is introduced. Certain modifications take place according to the modelling language needs. Next step is the justification and discussion about these changes. The Systems Modelling Language (SySML) is being introduced as a diagrammatic notation method according to which the altered service market model is being represented. The purpose of Chapter 6 is to provide a new approach for accurate design of a service by combining and developing a unified modelling system which covers all important key aspects of a service scenario. To demonstrate the applicability and the output of the system, a case study has been selected. The rest of this chapter is structured as follows. Then there is the introduction and investigation of the service case study. Also the purpose of that choice is stated. Next step is the full breakdown of the system, the current data flow and how the combination of the individual methods has been implemented. Results of each method are produced while visualising the connections between each input-output. A comparison takes place to show the difference of using each method individually and how the emergence of the system as a result of the combination process affects the output. Last step is the validation and the analysis of the results. The penultimate chapter is the discussion, where the outcome based on the results of each chapter is discussed. In Chapter 4, we discuss the outcome of the comparative analysis process. In Chapter 5 we give the analysis and discussion of the service market modelling output and in Chapter 6 we place a discussion based on the system’s output. Last chapter is the conclusion where there is a brief restatement of the whole research work leading to major contribution points. The major contribution of the developed system is the integration of three major methods and methodologies (SE, ISCL, ES) in order to provide answers to the inherent limitations of current techniques (representation of social behaviours in an environment that is subject to change) in the service design domain.

Die Zielsetzung der Arbeit ist die Anwendung bestehender Ansätze aus dem Forschungsgebiet des Service Engineering sowie deren konzeptionelle Erweiterung, um eine methodische Verfahrensweise bei der Entwicklung und Gestaltung von Dienstleistungen in der Branche erneuerbare Energien zu unterstützen. Im Fokus der Arbeit stehen dabei industrienahe, komplexe und variantenreiche Dienstleistungen der Branche, für deren Beschreibung Methoden und Werkzeuge dargelegt werden. Hierbei wird ein möglichst ganzheitlicher Ansatz verfolgt, der die Beschreibung von EE-Dienstleistungen auf mehreren Ebenen ermöglicht. Im Vorfeld der Anwendung konkreter Ansätze wird erhoben, welche Potenziale bezüglich des Service Engineering in der Branche bestehen und welche Anforderungen sich aus diesen ergeben. Zur Erfüllung dieser Anforderungen werden die Konzepte eines Metamodells zur ganzheitlichen Beschreibung von Dienstleistungen auf den Ebenen Komponente, Produkt, Prozess und Ressource angewendet und spezifisch erweitert. Auf dieser Grundlage erfolgt die Implementierung verschiedener Softwareartefakte, die in einem Dienstleistungsframework verknüpft werden und eine integrierte Beschreibung IT-basierter Dienstleistungen ermöglichen. Mittels eines Anwendungsfalls wird die Integration der Beschreibung und Konfiguration von Dienstleistungen auf der businesslogischen Ebene mit der Orchestrierung und Ausführung auf der Ebene der Softwareservices veranschaulicht. Die Arbeit hat die Zielsetzung, zum einen wissenschaftlich und zum anderen praktisch zur innovativen Entwicklungen im Gebiet der EE-Dienstleistungen beizutragen und somit den Betrachtungsfokus auf die technologie-begleitenden Dienstleistungen zu richten.

published_or_final_version / Public Administration / Master / Master of Social Sciences

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Sciences

published_or_final_version / Public Administration / Master / Master of Social Sciences

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Politics and Public Administration / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

This thesis critically surveys the dynamics of social work modernization in the state of Indonesia. The study examines the polarization, characteristics and trends of social work throughout the history of Indonesia. The survey begins by reviewing the two contexts of the historical developments of social work in both the developed and developing countries of the Third World. This historical overview is pivotal to place the context of social work development in Indonesia. Tracing the origins and the nature of 'social work' in Indonesia under the pre- and colonial rule will further highlight the course of its development. The adoption of modern social work in the post-colonial is examined afterward. The historical examination of social work in Indonesia is particularly relevant in underscoring the roots of the present criticism leveled at Indonesian social policy and work.

Purpose - The purpose of this research is to analyse how employees’ perception of customer service is linked to the brand. The aim is to analyse the connections between brand and the employees’ perceptions and develop managerial implications based on those findings. Problem – Davis et al. (2008) brought the attention of the influence employees have in increasing or decreasing the firms’ brand. Connecting the employees work role in customer service to see how these influence the brand in reality at LSPs.   Method – A deductive mixed method was applied throughout this research and used in the format of several case studies. The qualitative data was retrieved from interviews with employees at LSPs both in Thailand and Sweden and regarded as the primary source of data collection with the quantitative data as support. The survey, based on the frame-work of SERV*OR, was structured on a 7-point Likert Scale and distributed from the same sampling as for the interviews. Pattern matching was applied to analyse the qualitative and quantitative data to determine if reality matched theory.   Conclusions – As seen from the findings, employees and customer service are inter-twined and not separate entities. This is due to them reflecting on their personal perception of what customer service is and how they view their position. Through customer service, employees become an extension of the firms’ brand and based on their individual perception they will project it to the customer thus being able to influence the customer’s overall perception. This shows how brand and employee-customer service are interdependent in the communication which is often based on individual perceptions and not from what the LSP wants their employees to perceive of their brand.   The branding of the firms in this study is perceived by employees in a way that reflects their individual roles in customer service in terms of being fast, professional and having the ability to problem solve. It is also indicated that employees wish for more training and guidance from managers, consequently they have needed to rely on each other to handle the function of customer service at the LSPs.

This research examines the concept of quality as it relates to the social work practitioner working within the large statutory organisation. It explores the practitioners perceptions about what constitutes quality practice, and how they know whether they are providing a quality service to their client groups. / While practitioners have individual views as to what constitutes quality practice, there are clear indications that this quality can be determined through a number of means, largely those that based on personal assessment or institution, and those processes determined by external review or evaluation criteria. There is however, evidence to suggest that practitioners would like to see the implementation of other review processes that would provide them with further input as to the nature and quality of service they are providing as individual practitioners, and as a team of agency. However, factors such as insufficient time, and lack of opportunity and resources, often prevent this from happening to the satisfaction of the practitioner. / This investigation also examines social work practitioners views as to their respective agencys and departments views on quality practice and the review process, particularly as it relates to the social worker. Practitioners are of the belief that workplaces and departments with whom they are employed support the development and implementation of review processes in principle, but in reality, the supports and opportunities to undertake such endeavours are not available. / Thesis (MSoSc(SocialWorkSocPolicy)--University of South Australia, 2000.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Auburn University, 2007. / Abstract. Vita. Includes bibliographic references (ℓ. 99-124)