Service Delivery and Technology ArchitecturesLaajuus (5 ECTS)

Objective

Maintaining consistent, high-quality service delivery and supply chains requires establishing processes, standards and infrastructure for better performance. These are enabled by modern information and communications technologies, which themselves continue to advance. This course is devoted to the delivery of excellence in service and building/improving service supply chains aiming to gain high customer satisfaction and improved productivity.
The objective of this course is to gain a comprehensive overview of the technology-based management of supply chains and get acquainted with the successful business practices. The course aims at developing strategic and tactical understanding of up-to-date supply chains and service delivery.

The student acquires a systematic understanding of the principles of effective service delivery and management of modern supply chains. The student develops competences for evaluating service delivery and supply chains, and learns to apply this knowledge to the analysis of his/her company operations. By working on business cases and training decision-making skills (such as choosing a location, suppliers, operations mode, configuring a supply chain/service delivery/technology architecture), the student gains skills for establishing/improving service delivery solutions.

Content

Sessions of the course include:

16. Dynamics of the service business in the telecoms sector • Cases in telecom and IT industries.

19. Service supply chains; cases in logistics and transportation services • Technology and the evolution of supply chains • Service delivery - establishing transparency, sustainability, productivity, and profitability • Service supply chain vs. product supply chain • Supply chain perspective to service delivery: from supplier’s supplier to customer’s customer • Supply chain processes and flows: order-to-delivery processes; material, money and information flows • Managing the flows; systemic, strategic implications of the tactical activities in a supply chain • Supply chain configuration and measurements (cost, quality, delivery) • Strategic cost management in service delivery and supply chain networks • The triple of a supply chain: agility, adaptability, alignment • Aligning incentives: outsourcing, subcontracting and improving supplier relationships • Processes: value creation and eliminating waste; processes integration • Operations network design and innovation • Operating methods: lean approach to services and manufacturing • Lean thinking; Lean in services; Lean consumption • Service operations management: do services have a supply chain? Distinctive characteristics of service operations: customer participation, simultaneity, perishability, intangibility, heterogeneity; taxonomy of service processes • Value threshold: a way to avoid commodity traps; its elements and enablers; customer lock-on through value threshold • Capacity management and theory of constraints: nature of demand, capacity options, tactics to deal with demand changes • Demand supply planning and balancing • Cases studies • Implication for services.

20. Technology management • Cases in information technology services • Offshoring IT services • Technology architecture cases: establishing dominance in platforms as a competitive advantage and a tool of strategic control for IT companies • Self-service technologies and technology-based service encounters.

Assessment criteria, satisfactory (1)

The following criteria are used for assessing the IM Master’s coursework (lecture involvement, discussion, written assignments and discussion leaders).

The coursework meets with many of the below criteria. The assignment meets more than three of the above criteria in a satisfactory manner.

• The student shows an understanding of the relevant course content in relation to the contents of the articles, lectures and discussion.
• The student's texts/presentations demonstrate an understanding of the article/lecture content and an ability to select, interpret and justify key messages in a grounded manner.
• The student shows interconnections between the proposed concepts and current business practice, showing abilities of reflection, evaluation and discussion.
• The student shows professional initiative, active participation and responsibility in both individual and team work.
• Student assignment is written in line with academic writing practice and instructions for Master’s Thesis, using the Harvard Referencing system, with references both in the text as well as reference list. The texts are written in coherent, fluent English.
• The student shows the ability to collect valid knowledge for his/her topic from outside the course sources by using scholarly search tools, by questioning current business practice and by practicing source critique.

Assessment criteria, good (3)

The coursework meets with most of the above criteria. Additionally the assignment shows good quality performance in three or more of the criteria or otherwise good interpretation.

Assessment criteria, excellent (5)

The coursework meets with all the above six criteria. Additionally the assignment shows excellence in three or more of the above criteria or otherwise deviating excellence.