ABSTRACT
The general principles of production get amended in services. Services are collaborations where producers and customers agree on mutual rights and responsibilities in order to accomplish a state change. All services have to deal with issues that are central to healthcare, individual customer contact, immaterial explorative flows, and the distinction between what is done and how it is done. Services have back and front offices, preparations and encounters.
Service processes are defined in setups that can be explorative, routine, formatted, or standard. Explorative setups lead to explorative processes, customer journeys that can’t be planned in advance from end to end. In services, the distinction between what is done and how it is done affects customers. Service quality assurance and transactions are complicated by customer collaboration; customers introduce variability, and collaboration requires a balance between rights and responsibilities.
