Landscape of Service Science - A learner's concept map

Sometimes the overwhelming glossary of service related concepts makes it harder to digest the subject. It particularly blurs the picture of service science, the core idea and its requirements for growth.

This is my core concept map of service science as a learner.

The list of application domains of service science might be extended of course.

What I want to emphasis here is that S-D logic is acting as a lens, through which we look at the world in the science of service. In this world through the lens of SD logic, we see service systems, interacting with each other, through value propositions, integrating resources and co-creating value. Service science is the study of these systems or rather systems of these systems, their interactions and evolution.

The resulting understanding may then be used in various application domains like service marketing, service innovation, service improvement, you name it!

Where does Artificial Agents fit in service science?

It's time to get into the business!

I want to start with a discussion on artificial agents and where they (artificial agents) fit in this big picture (puzzle?) of Service Science.

Simply put, artificial agents enable us to simulate and study complex systems comprising them. These agents are bounded rational, autonomous entities who interact with other agents (and the environment) based on a simple set of behavioral rules. For example, suppose you are a pedestrian. When you are commuting in the morning rush hour from your apartment to the station, how do you behave? You may rely on the available information such as the train schedule, current time, signal lights and possible access routes to the station. You may avoid being hit on a fellow commuter by stopping or stepping aside. You may stop at a junction to cross the road until the green light appears or you may stop or slow down to make a glimpse at a billboard advertisement. Not to forget that you run when your clock says you are too late to the train!

Now, what would happen if thousands of commuters together with hundreds of drivers, dozens of signal lights, plenty of billboard adds, several train schedules, etc.? Traffic...isn't it? Traffic is an emergent property of this complex system of commuting agents and their local interactions. Similarly, the local behaviors of artificial agents lead to different emergent properties in the system being simulated.  Given that analyzing a system by decomposition is not effective in studying systemic outcomes, and mathematical modeling leads to unnecessary simplifications, artificial agents provide an alternative means of studying complex systems. If you are interested in studying agent-based modeling and simulation, you may read the work of Robert Axelrod, Nigel Gilbert, Joshua Epstein, Kathleen Carley, Takao Terano, etc.

Getting back to our topic, how can these artificial agents be used in the emerging domain of service science or service marketing?

Let me draw your attention to the definitions of service science and service systems on the sidebar. The objective of service science is to study and understand service systems. A service system comprises many actors rendering services to each other to co-create value. Therefore, studying service systems means studying those complex value co-creating customer-provider (actor to actor) interactions, outcomes and relationships. Unarguably, these interactions are dynamic, customers and providers are learning (and adaptive) and hence, the service systems are evolving!

Doesn't artificial agent-based research methodology sounds cool here?

Welcome!

OK, finally, I'm into blogging!

I have been thinking of blogging the thoughts I conceive as a doctoral degree student for a long time for many reasons. First and for most, i want to improve my writing, not academic or formal writing, but 'writing in English' to express my self. I believe it needs continuous practice to pickup common phrases and build up vocabulary. English is not my mother tongue but coming from a country (Sri Lanka), which once was under Britain, I have a reasonable command in  the language. Yet, I want to improve it further. Second, I get lots of half thoughts everyday about my research, which I soon tend to forget or loose my interest on them. So I need a way of codifying and keeping track of them for later use. Third, I need ideas, comments and criticisms about my research from outside. I'm not sure about the frequency of updating this blog, but...yeah, I hope to do it very often :)

If there is something that inspired me to start this blog, it's none other than this. Thank you professor Ng!