Nick Frank was invited to Services Week at Cambridge University in September to participate in an event to shape the thinking of services research. Leading academics and practitioners came together in a series of meetings and roundtables to discuss industry leading examples of services and research.
BAE presented how they have transformed their business to deliver integrated solutions to their major defence clients. Not only do they deliver weapon systems, but also the support services needed to keep these ‘complex’ systems operational. This has propelled their services business to be more than 40% of their annual turnover.
IBM explained how their ‘SmarterPlanet’ strategy is driving them to look at new technologies that help manage scarce resources through service concepts such as the Smarter power and Smarter water.
On the research side, we could see how many leading thinkers see services as interdependent ecosystems between customer, supplier and their suppliers. We saw the importance of process mapping and blue printing in designing services, so as to understand the point of interaction with the customer and the difference between the front and back office.
A common theme to emerge was that service is no longer defined as managing ‘intangible ‘products, but is the co-creation of value between customer and supplier.
One of the key priorities that came out of the series of meetings was the need for academics to work more closely with practitioners to boost the development of services within the more developed countries industrial base. Hence the formal launch of the Cambridge Service Alliance, a partnership between academics and industry can only help but strengthen this relationship.
