2010 - ERCIS

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University of Münster –
Department of Information Systems –
Chair for Information Systems and Information Management
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research method data envelopment
analysis (DEA) to develop a software
tool that is capable of benchmarking socalled
product-service-systems (often
described as hybrid service bundles,
Hybride Leistungsbündel, sometimes
even as customer solutions).
A product-service-system is defined as
a customized and integrated definition
of goods and services to meet a customer’s
business needs. A good example for
such a solution is a technical appliance
with a guaranteed uptime. This therefore
encompasses the appliance itself
as well as its development, the implementation
and maintenance services.
However, in some cases product-service-systems
can be also bought on the
consumers market. A phone-contract is
an excellent example: Customers buy
the hardware paired with services (e.g.,
the helpline, voice services, and data
plan).
Unfortunately in the business sector,
product-service-systems in the appearance
of highly customized products are
demanded. Therefore they are aligned
to the clients’ needs, making them very
individual in their configuration. This
great heterogeneity amongst productservice-systems
in conjunction with
the fact that services feature attributes
as immateriality, lack of storability and
heavy customer-involvement makes
comparing them very difficult, especially
with regard to traditional business
ratios as for example “productivity”.
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This challenge requires the application of
a new method to incorporate the diverse
features of product-service-systems. The
DEA has the capability to accomplish the
target of integrating these figures into
one single evaluation by rating different
subjects of study in relation to each other
(non-parametric).
By evaluating the described method in
tight cooperation with project partners,
the benefits and practical feasibility will be
assessed. The professional partners that
support the evaluation are DMG AG, ThyssenKrupp
AG and Trumpf GmbH + Co. KG.
The research-partners of this research endeavor
comprise the Chair of Prof. Wil ken
at the ESCP Berlin as well as the Chair of
Professor Backhaus (both marketing) and
the European Research Center for Information
Systems (ERCIS). The research project
is funded by the BMBF (Bundesministerium
für Bildung und Forschung) within
the funding program “Productivity of Services”.
KollaPro
From September 2010 to August 2013,
the new joint research project KollaPro will
explore innovative strategies for collaborative
business process management (BPM)
in the services sector. The services sector
has experienced a remarkable growth in
most advanced economies over the last
decades. The performance of service processes
is measured in terms of productivity;
a concept which is well understood
in the context of manufacturing but still
seems underdeveloped with regard to
services. Here, the need to develop new
instruments to manage and improve productivity
is evident.
As service organizations increasingly
find themselves becoming part of service
networks created through complex sets
of relationships with customers and other
stakeholders, including external opinions,
perspectives, and experiences into service
process design appears to be imperative
for reaching a higher level of service productivity.
In this view, service processes
can be regarded as cross-organizational
Contact Details
Leonardo-Campus 3
48149 Münster
Germany
Prof. Dr. Jörg Becker
web: www.wi.uni-muenster.de/is
mail: becker@ercis.uni-muenster.de
phone: +49 251 83-38100
fax: +49 251 83-38109
Key Facts
Institution
• 21 Research Assistants
• 7 Post Docs
• 20 Student Assistants
Research Topics
• Information Modelling
• Service Sciences
• Process Management
• Retail Information Systems
• eGovernment
Awards 2010
• Transfer Award of the
University of Münster
• Burkhard Weiß was awarded with a
scholarship of the DZ Bank Stiftung,
supporting his PhD studies
• Mathias Eggert was awarded with a
scholarship of the Konrad-Adenauer-
Stiftung, supporting his PhD studies
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