Service Differentiation and Operating Segments: A Framework and an Application to After-Sales Services

Forthcoming, Manufacturing & Service Operations Management

38 Pages Posted: 1 Nov 2017 Last revised: 28 Nov 2017

See all articles by Jose Guajardo

Jose Guajardo

University of California, Berkeley

Morris A. Cohen

University of Pennsylvania - The Wharton School

Date Written: April 1, 2017

Abstract

The decisions of whether and how to adopt service differentiation are at the core of a firm’s service operations strategy. This paper proposes a framework for service differentiation that high-lights the identification and use of operating segments as a central component in the delivery of differentiated services. The notion of operating segments and the general empirical methodology to identify them proposed in this paper integrally considers the consumer’s preferences and operational capabilities required to fulfill the differentiated service offering. An application in the context of after-sales services for product-service bundles using data from a major manufacturer in the consumer electronics industry is presented, which illustrates how operational decisions need to be adjusted when multiple operating segments are defined to support a service differentiation strategy.

Keywords: Service differentiation, operating segments, after-sales services, service operations strategy

Suggested Citation

Guajardo, Jose and Cohen, Morris A., Service Differentiation and Operating Segments: A Framework and an Application to After-Sales Services (April 1, 2017). Forthcoming, Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3062786

Jose Guajardo (Contact Author)

University of California, Berkeley ( email )

310 Barrows Hall
Berkeley, CA 94720
United States

Morris A. Cohen

University of Pennsylvania - The Wharton School ( email )

Philadelphia, PA 19104
United States

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