Application of service modularity in consulting industry

dc.contributorAalto Universityen
dc.contributorAalto-yliopistofi
dc.contributor.authorOvtchinnikova, Anastassia
dc.contributor.departmentDepartment of Information and Service Economyen
dc.contributor.departmentTieto- ja palvelutalouden laitosfi
dc.contributor.schoolKauppakorkeakoulufi
dc.contributor.schoolSchool of Economicsen
dc.date.accessioned2012-01-10T13:07:29Z
dc.date.available2012-01-10T13:07:29Z
dc.date.dateaccepted2011-10-27
dc.date.issued2011
dc.description.abstractService modularity is gaining ground, as companies move away from simply offering traditional products to offering more services. Modularity offers a compromise and ability to combine customization and standardization in order to develop services more efficiently for the end customer. However, until now there has been limited research in the field of service modularity, mainly because of the heterogeneity of services, role of people in service personalization and customization and the nature of services as both products and processes. Therefore, there is a need to provide a more systematic point of analysis of modularity and customization in the pure service industry. The objectives of this research is to revise the framework on combining modularity and customization proposed by Bask et al. (2011) by developing own measurement criteria for modularity and customization and applying it to the pure service industry. The framework is revised by looking from both service offering and service production perspective. Case study is chosen as the principal research strategy for empirical part of this study. Three consulting companies from different areas (IT, management and strategy) within the consulting industry were selected as case companies. Semi-structured interviews were used as the primary method to collect data and questions were pre-defined beforehand. According to the responses provided each company was placed within the revised framework. The results of this study reveal that the revised framework is applicable in context of services. By developing and adding the measurement instrument with a well-defined scale the framework becomes more integrated and cohesive. According to the results each of the interviewed company fell into different quadrant within the revised framework and its position did not change significantly if looking from the service offering or service production perspective. IT and strategy consulting are seen as the brunches of consulting that moved the most towards modularization. Many companies can utilize this revised framework internally to evaluate their own strategy or/and benchmark against their competition in the market.en
dc.ethesisid12670
dc.format.extent94
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.urihttps://aaltodoc.aalto.fi/handle/123456789/2002
dc.identifier.urnURN:NBN:fi:aalto-201201111206
dc.language.isoenen
dc.locationP1 I
dc.programme.majorLogisticsen
dc.programme.majorLogistiikkafi
dc.subject.heleconlogistiikka
dc.subject.heleconlogistics
dc.subject.heleconpalvelut
dc.subject.heleconservice
dc.subject.heleconkonsultointi
dc.subject.heleconconsulting
dc.subject.keywordmodularity
dc.subject.keywordmass customization
dc.subject.keywordservice production
dc.subject.keywordservice offering
dc.subject.keywordservice management
dc.titleApplication of service modularity in consulting industryen
dc.typeG2 Pro gradu, diplomityöfi
dc.type.dcmitypetexten
dc.type.ontasotMaster's thesisen
dc.type.ontasotPro gradu tutkielmafi
local.aalto.idthes12670
local.aalto.openaccessyes

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