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A case for service systems engineering

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Abstract

A case is made for further developing a branch of systems engineering that focuses on problems and issues which arise in the service sector. We promulgate this special focus not only because of the size and importance of the service sector but also because of the unique opportunities that systems engineering can exploit in the design and joint production and delivery of services. We begin by considering the economic, technological and demographic contexts within which the service sector has flourished; we then address both services, especially emerging services, and systems engineering, followed by a discussion of how to advance the field of service systems engineering, and concluding with several remarks. In particular, a number of service systems engineering methods are identified to enhance the design and production/delivery of services, especially taking advantage of the unique features that characterize services — namely, services, especially emerging services, are information-driven, customer-centric, e-oriented, and productivity-focused.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Decision Sciences and Engineering Systems, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Tory, New York, 12110-3590, USA

    James M. Tien & Daniel Berg

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  1. James M. Tien
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  2. Daniel Berg
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Additional information

James M. TIEN is the Yamada Corporation Professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, He is also an Honorary Professor at several Chinese Universities and an elected member of the U. S. National Academy of Engineering. He received the BEE from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (1966) and the SM, EE and PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1967, 1970, 1972). He has held leadership positions at Bell Telephone Laboratories (1966–69), at the Rand Corporation (1970–73), and at Structured Decisions Corporation (1974-Present). His areas of research interest include the development and application of computer and systems analysis techniques to information and decision systems. He has been honored with both teaching and research awards, including being elected Fellow (of both IEEE and INFORMS) and being a recipient of the IEEE/SMC Joseph G. Wohl Outstanding Career Award and the IEEE/EAB Major Educational Innovation Award.

Daniel BERG is an Institute Professor of Science and Technology at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (R.P.I.). While at Westinghouse, he was an adjunct Professor of Industrial Administration and Engineering at the Graduate School of Industrial Administration, and Engineering School of Carnegie-Mellon University. He served as Professor of Science and Technology and Dean of Mellon College of Science as well as Provost at Carnegie-Mellon. At R.P.I. he served as Vice President for Academic Affairs, Provost and President. His present research interests concern the role of technology in the service sector. He is acting director of the Center for Services Research and Education at R.P.I. and a member of the National Academy of Engineering. He is a Fellow of AAAS, AIC, IEEE and INFORMS. Dr. Berg is active as a board member for and advisor to many universities, federal agencies, and industrial organizations.

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Tien, J.M., Berg, D. A case for service systems engineering. J. Syst. Sci. Syst. Eng. 12, 13–38 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11518-006-0118-6

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