Foundations of Service Research and Service-Dominant Logic

Abstract

This chapter discusses the central arguments of service-dominant logicService-dominant logic (S-D logic) and their implications to the developmentDevelopment of the forest sectorForest sector and forestForest sciences. The chapter starts from a short summary of earlier studies that have promoted an integrated analysis of different economicEconomic sectorsSector and fostered the perspective of customers and users. Then we examine S-D logic as a further advancement of these studies and point out that S-D logic is not a traditional serviceTraditional service theory, but a theory of value co-creationValue co-creation in actorActor systemsSystem. We analyze the contextualContextual and experientialExperiential nature of valueValue creation and the central role of the integration of resources. More practically oriented constructs—valueValue propositionsValue proposition and business models, and ecosystems and institutionsInstitutions—are also included. Together these analyses create a basis for the application of S-D logic in the forest sectorForest sector, which we discuss in the end of the chapter. In the current developmentDevelopment stage of this sectorSector, there is needNeed for understanding, not only services as add-ons to materialMaterial productsProduct (servitizationServitization), but first and foremost the co-creation of valueValue between different stakeholdersStakeholder, among which users play a crucial role. From the academic viewpoint, the systemicSystemic and multi-level perspectiveMulti-level perspective included in S-D logic is well in line with the emerging view of forestForest sciences as an integral part of the researchResearch into sustainabilitySustainability and ecologicalEcological thinking.