This paper discusses how the various values included in services can be studied by considering them as a kind of system that includes humans, artifacts, institutions, or cultures. First, it presents the aspects of value that have been focused on in representative academic fields such as engineering, psychology, and economics, as well as their limitations. Next, it argues for the importance of value transformation among functional, psychological, and economic values through interactions among autonomous agents through a discussion of the value for each agent included in the service system. Finally, it discusses the need for sustainable business models based on service excellence that take into account the market and society for the future through considering the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the service industry.

This paper examines and theorize the characteristics of retail development in emerging markets from the perspective of service innovation. Retail in emerging markets has been changed dramatically in recent years, garnering significant attention in research. A large number of studies have been extensively analyzed retail development from various aspects such as the development of retail formats, the organization of distribution channels, historical changes, and internationalization of retail firms. However, the studies from the service innovation perspective remain limited. Moreover, the predominant research has been focused on the retail in developed countries, resulting in a deficiency of studies targeting emerging markets. Therefore, this paper specifically examines the retail sector in Vietnam, a Southeast Asian emerging country, from the perspective of service innovation. The research results indicated that customer experience and value co-creation have been central axes for numerous innovations in the retail development of Vietnam. It represents a dual model retail where both modern and traditional retail coexist. This study added new perspectives on the characteristics of retail development in emerging markets.

The hospitality industry is facing a chronic shortage of human resources, both in quantity and quality and COVID-19 is bringing about a significant change in the face-to-face value of hospitality services. Therefore, this study conducted an exploratory study of the causes of employee dissatisfaction and the intention to change jobs among the With/Post COVID-19 lodging workers. The survey results showed that the causes of dissatisfaction were “organizational problems,” “lack of personnel,” “treatment problems,” “system problems,” “external environment,” and “guest attitude/response problems.” The results for reasons for the intention to change jobs were “low salary (no increase),” “uncertainty about the future,” “workload does not match salary,” and “low or unfair salary due to problems with the evaluation system.” The survey results indicate that “compensation” is the most crucial factor that needs to be improved in the intention to change jobs. Finally, we discussed the “introduction of robots” from the perspective of improving the working environment of human resources, which is an immediate issue in the hospitality industry.

In today’s Japan, material affluence is sufficient, and it is thought that the tendency to seek spiritual satisfaction will become stronger and stronger, and hospitality will be emphasized even more. Therefore, it is important to create a system that can reliably and stably provide hospitality. On the other hand, since hospitality services are centered on human customer service, they face various problems associated with that, but AI/DX is used to solve them. In the process of realizing hospitality services, the basic functions of the service must first be fulfilled by providing appropriate contents, and the provider must maintain appropriate communication with the recipient while keeping the heart of the customer in mind. As a result, hospitality services are realized by responding to the individuality of customers and co-creating value. Based on this foundation, we foster and strengthen relationships of trust. Various types of DX/AI support are effective in this process.

Behind the promotion of human capital management is the demand for companies to reform their existing sustainable management pattern in line with the rapid shift to a service economy. The core of this corporate transformation is to view employees as “capital” rather than “assets” or, more precisely, to shift to using human resources that respects employee autonomy rather than corporate convenience. The purpose of this paper is to present a conceptual framework that promotes change based on the essence of human capital management. The concept of the framework is based on value co-creation of the Nordic school, which recognizes the importance of human capital in service management, but it is applied by correcting its inadequacies. In other words, we will expand the concept of human capital to include employees and customers as “natural persons” and companies as “legal persons” and create a new foundation for corporate value creation through a tripartite system by focusing on these organic functions. In addition to demonstrating this, we also propose a concrete concept for reforming the existing employment system.

Rapid changes in the business environment require reconfiguration of organizational processes, and process innovation is considered as a source of competitiveness. However, despite its recognized economical value, process innovation has received less attention than product innovation. Especially in the industries related to services, where the simultaneity of production and consumption is pronounced, process innovation and product innovation are closely related, and therefore, process innovation efforts are essential. In this paper, based on the case of the lodging industry, service process innovation is reconsidered from the perspective of service capability. Through joint research between industry and university on the implication of technology into customer contact points, service process innovation was realized in accordance with the intended objectives. It is suggested that service process innovation requires integrated capital utilization and that joint research between industry and academia contributes to the capability.

This research presents an analysis of the risks associated with the service-oriented manufacturing supply chain based on the contingency theory. It aims to offer a comprehensive overview of the existing information by identifying and categorising diverse hazards into three primary tiers of risk determinants. The present research utilises a generic Risk Breakdown Structure (RBS) as a foundation but focuses on a particular industrial context to examine and validate hazards identified in the existing literature. Leveraging the Fuzzy Delphi-Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) technique, information was gathered from 50 local construction specialists, including government representatives, consultants, contractors, and clients. We propose formulating a comprehensive definition for a service-oriented manufacturing supply chain grounded on its fundamental significance within the contemporary economic landscape. Researchers and practitioners can consider a comprehensive list of seven risk categories: demand, supply, operations, information, finance, time (delays), and external sources (human-made or natural-related). These categories provide valuable insights into potential risks associated with various aspects of a given context. This study is one of the first research endeavours to provide the notion and attributes of the service-oriented manufacturing supply chain. The Fuzzy technique is employed to produce comprehensive and industry-specific Resource Breakdown Structures (RBSs) inside a singular investigation.

Business models in the digital age capture value from innovation and deliver it to customers as an intelligent offering that answers their needs. The interaction with networks of stakeholders that transcend an organization’s borders and work in globally distributed teams is common, driving the need for innovative co-creation and collaboration approaches. In this context, the paper discusses the design phase of innovative business models based on a design thinking concept for physical co-creation and a digital twin concept applied to design thinking itself, as a means to enable collective intelligence. These two dimensions are interrelated and encompass the value of a storyboarding approach based on SAP Scenes using the Scene2Model tool. Transforming tangible artifacts into digital artifacts is a significant benefit for designing innovative business models with the added value of facilitating model dependency and further analysis of models through a specific flavour of digital twin supporting design thinking, as demonstrated by Scene2Model. The approach was evaluated during a workshop for personalized service delivery in the context of Japanese hospitality.