Toward Service Systems Engineering

Abstract

This article describes an approach to service systems design that combines concepts and methods from systems engineering, organization theory, and behavioral science research. The approach, called service systems engineering (SSE), views the three fields of study as complementary disciplines that come together in the activity of designing efficient and effective service systems. It is shown that the domain of systems engineering includes service systems, but that input from behavioral science and organization theory research is needed to effectively apply systems engineering methods to human services. Behavioral science provides a body of knowledge on the basts of individual human behavior, and organization theory provides a body of knowledge on the effective organization of resources. Systems engineering provides knowledge on the design, modeling, and optimization of complex systems. The application of SSE to service system reliability, a subject in the domain of systems engineering, is demonstrated.

• behavioral science
• customer contact
• customer satisfaction
• organization theory
• reliability engineering
• service encounters
• service systems engineering
• systems engineering

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Thomas Pyzdek

Thomas Pyzdek is a doctorate degree student in the department of management and policy in the college of business and public administration at the University of Arizona. He earned a master's degree in systems and industrial engineering from the University of Arizona. Pyzdek may be contacted at the University of Arizona, College of Business and Public Administration, Department of Management and Policy, McClelland Hall 405A, Tucson, AZ 85721; 602-749-9113.