La chaire Service Innovation par l'intermédiaire de M. Hervé Mathe contribue également à la formation des exécutives MBA et dispense un enseignement en phase directe avec son orientation scientifique, la stratégie et l'innovation dans les services.

Service Innovation and Strategy:

Technology, Processes, and Sourcing in a Global Environment

Hervé Mathe : mathe@essec.fr

Professor in Operations Strategy, Director of the Institute for Service Innovation and Strategy, and Head of Strategic Planning at ESSEC School of Management, Paris; Consultant in Strategic Management.

Doctorate in international relations: Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris, Doctorate in management science: Université Paris IX Dauphine, Ph.D. in technology management: Cranfield University, Bower Fellow: Harvard Business School.

Description of the Course

Services, for the purpose of this course, will be interpreted to include all activities in which the essence of what is being provided is a function which produces results for and, in many cases, actually modifies customers. The Service Sector –including industries such as: hospitality and related activities, retailing, health care, banking, audit and consulting, among others- is the largest component of all developed countries. In the U.S., it accounts for 70 percent of GNP and 80 percent of employment. The figures are roughly similar in Europe, however some differences still exist between countries. Almost in every country in North America, Europe and advanced Far East, 80 to 85 percent of all investment in information technology, for instance, occurs in service industries.

On the other hand, with services currently the fastest growing component of international trade, it seems safe to say that the benign period during which service companies were relatively sheltered locally from foreign competition is most definitely over. Despite this trend in services -or more likely because of its rapid acceleration- numerous service companies attempting to design their global strategy still face difficulties addressing certain issues.

So, the course will emphasize those issues which represent great challenges for entrepreneurs in the service sector and for managers of service operations in manufacturing companies. Special attention will be given to such topics as: the stimulation of innovation in a global environment, the selection and implementation of appropriate technologies, and the rationalization of value providing processes.

Service operations are defined as those generating value through their ability to provide the customer with information, time savings, travel or repose, entertainment, experiences or changes in the physical attributes or property. The delivery system associated with any type of service organization includes a number of sub-systems, such as the followings: front-line operations, back-office operations, planning and control, among others. The following topics will be explored during the sessions: develop a strategic service vision, design and delivery of services, measurement of productivity and quality, managing capacity and demand, reengineering of service delivery processes, and innovative management of technology in services.