The 10 Commandments of Service System Management

There is no need to recount the statistics relating to service system growth or the frequent calls to utilize productivity as a strategic variable. These issues are well understood—services are the most rapidly growing of our economic sectors, and there is plenty of effort being devoted to studying ways of improving their productivity. What is needed, in my opinion, is a better understanding of the very nature of services themselves, and more specifically, some practical philosophy for designing the service delivery process. These two related issues can be addressed by 10 “commandments” gleaned from my 10 years of studying services, my recent research on branch banking, and a lifetime of living with services as a consumer.

In order to provide some structure to an admittedly idiosyncratic list, the commandments are grouped under the following headings: The Facility, The Customer, and The Server. (In reading the list and explanations, please assume that the normal academic caveats such as “other things being equal” and “subject to cost/benefit analysis” have been stated. In other words, grant me exemption from the type II error.)