The three value proposition cycles of equipment-based service

Abstract

This article contributes to the emerging discipline of service science through an empirical investigation of value propositions as connections between service systems. The starting point for our research is that service science is an interdisciplinary approach to the study, design and implementation of service systems, a service system being considered a dynamic configuration of resources (people, technology, organisations and shared information) that create and deliver value between the provider and the customer through service (IfM and IBM 2008). Specifically, this article investigates value propositions in the context of equipment-based service systems. Our qualitative findings identify three value proposition cycles: Recovery, Availability and Outcome. In so doing, showing that providers offer three distinct propositions of value with three different primary transformations. This research contributes to theory in service systems by identifying value propositions as multiple, simultaneous and iterative connections between provider and customer systems. © 2012 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.