The Paradox of Service Industrialization and the Creation of Meaning

The emergent interdisciplinary area Service Science Management & Engineering (SSME) considers the study of people, technology, and shared information as prime components in service systems. Frequently, the area regarding people is the one that draws less attention. The author analyzes how the knowledge and application of discoveries on how the human mind perceives and stores concepts and events has important implications regarding service design in the experience economy. Specifically, they analyzed the creation of meaning and the quality of experience assessment. The paradox of service industrialization arises when defining a continuum between maximum industrialization of the service on one end and complete personalization on the other. Under certain circumstances, industrialization, which on the one hand creates value, can also destroy it. The contribution of this work lies in pointing out research lines for Service Science (SSME).

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