Browsing by Author "Johnston, Robert"
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- The object and the nature of service specificationsPublication . Pinto, Sofia; Johnston, RobertSpecifications are an instrument to make service operations reliable, consistent and replicable. In the service context little has been researched regarding the specification of the service experience, its nature and its effective control. This paper summarises the existent literature on service specifications and its control, and then presents the results of case research which explores the object and nature of service specifications in contexts of high intangibility and interaction. It analyses and discusses the empirical findings in face of the existent theory and it highlights some contributions to practitioners, and academics in the service management field.
- Tight versus lose specifications in service operationsPublication . Pinto, Sofia; Johnston, RobertIn this exploratory paper we contend that a service specification is an important mechanism which is needed to plan and control the design and delivery of a service. Despite this importance it is surprising that there is limited coverage of the nature of specifications in both the manufacturing and service operations literatures. The purpose of this paper is to explore some of the key differences between a service specification in a mass service and in a professional service. The underlying hypothesis is that mass services will have a tight specification and professional services a loose specification. Based on interviews with senior managers in a UK and a Portuguese bank we found, contrary to expectations, that both mass and professional services made use of tight specifications. Professional services created their customisation from the tightly specified base using skilled staff at the interaction with the customer. We would also seek to challenge the view that mass and professional service processes are distinct, as they both appear to have mass-type tendencies with standardised and tightly controlled cores, and that professional services differ simply through the addition of a degree of customisation.