Infrastructure networks that provide basic services such as transportation, telecommunications, electricity distribution, and water supply and drainage are critical for the smooth functioning of a nation’s economy and its society. To provide efficient and uninterrupted services, these infrastructure networks need to be periodically inspected, upgraded, and maintained. However, infrastructure networks are expensive to operate and maintain; many infrastructure service providers allocate more than half of their total capital investments to network maintenance and improvement. With increasing customer expectations, intensifying global competition, and challenging financial environments, the infrastructure service providers need to develop models that can optimize all of the different factors that must be taken into consideration when making important decisions related to infrastructure network inspection and maintenance. This dissertation, which consists of three essays, focuses on some of the key decision issues associated with inspection and maintenance of these large infrastructure networks. Specifically, the first two essays, respectively, address a project management problem to maintain and expand a large-scale network and a periodic network inspection problem. The third essay, motivated by the computational challenges of the first two problems, addresses the network reduction and approximation problem within the same context. These problems are deterministic optimization problems over large-scale networks, which are very difficult to solve, and have not been extensively studied in the literature. In this dissertation, we introduce new optimization models for each problem, develop theoretical and algorithmic strategies that exploit problem structures to effectively solve the problems, and implement and test these methods on actual problems using data provided by an infrastructure service provider. / text

This research takes the initial steps of evaluating resource planning for service operations in which the client is a direct resource in the service system. First, this research examines the effects of client involvement on resource planning decisions when a service firm is faced with efficiency and quality considerations. We develop a non-linear, deterministic, single-stage planning model that allows for examination of trade-offs among client involvement, efficiency and quality. Policy recommendations give service firms better insights into setting workforce, client intensity, and service generation levels. Second, we examine the sensitivity of estimates of technology functions to data analysis and make policy recommendations to service providers on how to allocate resources when there are technology function uncertainties and uncontrollable inputs. Results show that resources are allocated to compensate for technology function uncertainties. Third, we gain insights as to how resource decisions are made for multiple stages and for multiple clients. We extrapolate theoretical findings from the single-stage planning study to determine resource allocations across multiple services and stages. Results show that when the dynamic program in the single-stage study is extended there is trade-off between the cost of capacity changes and profits across multiple stages. / Ph. D.

Este artículo consiste en una revisión bibliográfica de los aportes teóricos que han ido surgiendo en el ámbito de los servicios. El primer objetivo de este artículo es determinar el estado actual de las investigaciones en la Dirección de Operaciones de Servicios, y el segundo es proponer una guía en este tema para futuras investigaciones. / This paper is a literature review about theoretical approaches that have emerged in the service field. The first purpose is to determine the state of the question in the research of Service Operations Management. The second is to offer a guide for future researches.

The service sector has been identified as the main force of economic and potentially sustainable growth in most developed economies. Nevertheless, despite the role of services in today's economy, little is known about what drives service innovation and which tools and methods determine successful service design and development. This dissertation focuses on addressing the challenges associated with the design, development and operation of service offerings. In the first essay (Chapter II) we explore the design challenges of an organization that develops an experiential service. In experiential services, the customer value extends beyond the functional benefits of the service, and it encompasses the overall experience. We draw upon the perspective of the customer journey, which is widely used by design firms (e.g., IDEO), and we model the entire service experience as a process comprising individual service steps (also known as touchpoints). The value of the service is "co-produced" over several touchpoints between the customer and the service provider. We identify the non-monotonic effects of the co-production losses and service complexity on the provider's design decisions, (i.e., price), and the touchpoints she controls. Finally, we fully characterize the conditions under which the service provider may use these design decisions to effectively signal the experience potential of the service offering. In the second essay (Chapter III) we study the auto manufacturer's choice regarding whether to provide mobility service (e.g., car sharing) in conjunction with the traditional sales channel. A utility maximization model is used to characterize the consumer's choice between purchasing a vehicle, benefiting from the mobility service or relying on an outside option (e.g., public transportation). We characterize the benefit to the manufacturer of providing mobility service and the environmental implications of this strategy. In the third essay (Chapter IV) we study the implications of "reference point" effects on the optimal service design. We envision the service delivery as a two-stage process in which customer satisfaction is stochastic. The service provider needs to determine the optimal level of effort to exert at each stage, given that the customer experience at the first stage of the process can affect the expectations regarding the experience at the second stage of the process.

This dissertation comprises three essays in which we develop optimization, econometric, and simulation models to help traditional retailers improve in-store operations. Our modeling efforts aim to tackle inventory record inaccuracy (IRI) and suboptimal staffing levels, both of which are pervasive problems in retailing and cause non-trivial profit loss. In the first essay, we devise two optimization models that represent current practices in industry to minimize costs induced by IRI: daily-fraction and all-or-none inspection. We further perform a case study to identify deficiencies of store operating practices given different risk preferences. Our findings provide practical guidelines for managers to design cost-efficient inspection policy. In the second essay, we develop a dynamic simulation model to analyze multiple antecedents of IRI. Based on simulation results, we derive two hypotheses on the association between IRI and labor. The panel data analysis shows that both the level and the mix of store labor have strong impacts on IRI. Our analysis derives qualitative insights for retail managers to prevent the occurrence of IRI. Finally, in the third essay, we perform an empirical study to improve staffing decisions in retailing. We first develop a response function to quantify the impact of labor and traffic on sales. Grounded on the function we propose a traffic-based staffing heuristic, which performs closely to the optimal and outperforms existing staffing levels in counterfactual experiments. A major contribution of our study is to quantify the benefits of delivering labor plans based on traffic information. Also, the staffing approach is easy to use and saves the need for traffic forecasting.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 255-265).

This study investigates the potential impact of organizational variables on the service recovery performance of frontline employees, and the impact of successful service recovery on frontline employees’ job satisfaction and intensions to resign. Data obtained from a survey of frontline employees working in several banks in two cities in Western Turkey serve as the study setting. Results and their implications are discussed.

Purpose: This study aims to develop and test a comprehensive model that begins with management commitment/concern and progresses through intermediate links of service climate and in-role frontline employee (FLE) performance to customer satisfaction and eventually to sales performance. Design/methodology/approach: Branches of a major retail bank in New Zealand serve as the study setting. Data pertaining to management commitment/concern and service climate were collected using an intranet survey distributed to the branch employees, and customer satisfaction data were gathered via mail questionnaires from the branch customers. Objective measures of in-role FLE performance and sales performance were provided by the bank from corporate records. Findings: Results showed that management commitment/concern was significantly related to service climate; service climate to in-role FLE performance; in-role FLE performance to customer satisfaction; and customer satisfaction to branch sales. Research limitations/implications: Testing viability of the model in other service sectors would be fruitful. Practical implications: Since service climate has a direct positive influence on FLEs' in-role performance, branch management should focus on creating a positive service climate by taking the necessary actions to improve training, rewards and technological support. Originality/value: The study uses an objective in-role performance measure in measuring branch employees' performance.

Supply-chain management is the practice combining theory from logistics, operations management, production management and inventory control. Therefore, it is often associated exclusively with manufacturing or materials management industries. Application of supply-chain management to other industries often results in implementations that do not satisfy the needs of the involved enterprises. To improve the implementation of supply-chain solutions outside of the materials management and manufacturing industries there is a need for industry specific standards. One industry sector in need of a standard is the services industry. The current problem facing the services sector is the inability to adapt current frameworks to the provisioning of a service. Provisioning a service translates into the supply-chain for the services industry since it influences the services supply and demand. A solution to the problem is development of a supply-chain standard specific to the provisioning of a service. Objectives of the research are to define comprehensively, a new services supply-chain model that is applicable to the United States government classification of a service and to ensure the scalability and integration capability of the model. To satisfy these objectives, it is necessary to understand the characteristics describing the services supply-chain process. The characteristics are the input into deriving the processes and terminology of the generalized services supply-chain. Terminology and processes are then used to create a supply-chain framework using input from the Supply-Chain Council's Supply-Chain Operations Reference (SCOR) model. SCOR provides a foundation for describing the processes and defining the terminology in an already accepted format. A final verification of the model by industry experts insures conceptually that the framework is applicable to the current problem. This research developed a three-level framework similar in structure to the SCOR framework. Presentation of the framework is a specification that defines and sequences the processes for implementation. A detailed case study applies the model using the framework and the definition of a comprehensive supply-chain.

No / Operations management theory suggests that professional services firms (PSFs) have some distinct operational challenges. The purpose of this paper is to trace the emergence of professional service operations management (PSOM) thinking within a legal partnership. With the impact of deregulation there is an emerging consensus that legal services is changing, due to the socio-economic and political climates in which they operate. The purpose of this paper is to trace the value-add through the legal profession and examine how PSOM practice can be applied within a legal practice in order to create a leaner thinking. The case study analysis suggests a potential methodological mismatch between the core theoretical frameworks, exploring features of effectiveness and efficiency across legal disciplines. This paper makes a contribution through a reflection of PSOM thinking in law.