science

Industrialization of services business model

Industrialization of services business model is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Industrialization of services business model rather than just read about it. In short: The industrialization of services business model is a business model used in strategic management and services marketing that treats service provision as an industrial process, subject to industrial optimization procedures. It originated in the early 1970s, at a time when various quality control techniques were being successfully implemented on production assembly lines.

Key takeaways

Industrialization of services business model belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Industrialization of services business model to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Industrialization of services business model from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The industrialization of services business model is a business model used in strategic management and services marketing that treats service provision as an industrial process, subject to industrial optimization procedures. It originated in the early 1970s, at a time when various quality control techniques were being successfully implemented on production assembly lines. Theodore Levitt (1972) argued that the reason the service sector suffered from inefficiency and wide variations in quality were that it was based on the craft model. Each service encounter was treated as an isolated event. He felt that service encounters could be systematized through planning, optimal processes, consistency, and capital intensive investments. This model was the foundation of the success of McDonald's and many other mass service providers in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. Unfortunately, the application of assembly line techniques to service provision had several undesirable consequences. Employees found working under these conditions disempowering, resulting in low morale, high staff turnover, and reduced service quality. One of the most difficult aspects of this model for employees to deal with was the "smile incentives". Employees were instructed to put a smile on their face during the service encounter. This manufacturing and commercialization of apparent happiness has been criticised by many commentators, particularly Mundie (1987). Also many customers prefer the "personal touch". By the early 1990s most service providers turned their attention back to the human element and personalized their services. Employees were empowered to customize the service encounter to the individual characteristics of customers. Subsequently, scholars developed the service-profit-chain concept to understand how employees and customers interact to create value.

See also services marketing servitization of products business model list of marketing topics list of management topics

References

Levitt, T. (1972) "Production line approach to service", Harvard Business Review, Sept-Oct, 1972, pp. 41–52. Mundie, P. (1987) "Internal marketing: cause for concern", Quarterly Review of Marketing, spring-summer, 1987, pp. 21–24.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Industrialization of services business model

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Industrialization of services business model claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Industrialization of services business model before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Industrialization of services business model ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Industrialization of services business model

In research: Industrialization of services business model appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Industrialization of services business model in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Industrialization of services business model is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Business models, Services marketing, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Industrialization of services business model outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Industrialization of services business model in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Industrialization of services business model means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Industrialization of services business model out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Industrialization of services business model in simple terms?

Why does Industrialization of services business model matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Industrialization of services business model?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Industrialization of services business model.