Skip to main content

Onto-ServSys: A Service System Ontology

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
The Science of Service Systems

Abstract

In this chapter, we report the design of an ontology (called onto-ServSys) for the relevant service system construct used in the Service Science, Management and Engineering (SSME) arena. These conceptual artifacts have been used to establish a non-ambiguous and common set of basic constructs for supporting automated reasoning on a domain of interest in intelligent systems. While this reported ontology is initial, and still conceptual, we claim it is useful to advance on an integrated view of service systems, which at present, given the multiple and disparate literatures, is fragmented and disperse. Such integration is realized through a Systems Approach, and its design is guided by a conceptual design research method.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 139.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Ackoff, R. (1971). Towards a system of systems concepts. Management Science, 17(11), 661–671.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alter, S. (2008). Service system fundamentals: Work system, value chain, and life cycle. IBM Systems Journal, 47(1), 71–85.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Apte, U. and Mason, R. (1995). Global disaggregation of information- intensive services. Management Science, 41(7), 1250–1262.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Araujo, L. and Spring, M. (2006). Services, Products, and the Institutional Structure of Production. Industrial Marketing Management, 37, 797–805.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baida, Gordijn, J., Saele, H., Akkermans, H. and Morch, A. (2005). An Ontological Approach for Eliciting and Understanding Needs in e-Services. CAiSE 2005 Conference, Porto, Portugal, June 13–17, 3520 LNCS, 400–414.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bhaskar, R. (2008). A Realist Theory of Science, 2nd. Edition. London, UK: Routledge, 1st edition, 1975.

    Google Scholar 

  • Black, J., Draper, C., Lococo, T., Matar, F. and Ward, C. (2007). An integration model for organizing IT service management. IBM Systems Journal, 46(3), 405–422.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Braun, C. and Winter, R. (2007). Integration of IT Service Management into Enterprise Architecture. SAC’07, Seoul, Korea, March 11–15, 1215–1219.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carlock, P. and Fenton, R. (2001). System of Systems (SoS) Enterprise Systems Engineering for Information-intensive Organizations. Systems Engineering, 4(4), 242–261.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chandrasekaran, B., Josephson, J. and Benjamins, R. (1998). The Ontology of Tasks and Methods. KAW’98, Banff, Canada, April 18–23, 1–49.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chandrasekaran, B., Josephson, J. and Benjamins, R. (1999). What are Ontologies, and Why do We Need. IEEE Intelligent Systems, 1, 20–25.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chase, R. and Apte, U. (2007). A history of research in service operations: What’s the big idea? Journal of Operations Management, 25, 375–386.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chase, R. and Erikson, W. (1988). The Service Factory. The Academy of Management Executive, 2(3), 191–196.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chaurdhi, V., Farquhar, A., Fikes, R., Karp, P. and Rice, J. (1998). Open Knowledge Base Connectivity 2.0.3. Technical Report, AI Center, SRI International, 1–161.

    Google Scholar 

  • Checkland, P. (1983). O.R. and the systems movement: mappings and conflicts. Journal of the Operational Research Society, 34(8), 661–675.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chesbrough, H. and Spohrer, J. (2006). A research manifesto for services science. Communications of the ACM. 49(7). 35–40.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cook, D., Goh, C. and Chung, C. (1999). Service Typologies: a State of the Art Survey. Production and Operation Management, 8(3), 318–338.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Denny, M. (2002). Ontology Building: A Survey of Editing Tools. Internet document at www.xml.com. Accessed February 1st 2007.

    Google Scholar 

  • Demirkan, H. and Goul, M. (2006). Towards the service-oriented enterprise vision: bridging industry and academics. Communications of the Association for Information Systems, 18(26), 546–556.

    Google Scholar 

  • Demirkan, H., Kauffman, R., Vayghan, J., Fill, H., Karagiannis, D. and Maglio, P. (2008). Service-oriented technology and management: Perspectives on research and practice for the coming decade. Electronic Commerce Research and Applications, 7, 356–376.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ebert, N., Uebernickel, F., Hochstein, A. and Brenner, W. (2007). A Service Model for the Development of Management Systems for IT-enabled Services. AMCIS Conference, Colorado, USA, August 9–12, 1–8

    Google Scholar 

  • Edgington, T., Choi, B., Henson, K., Raghu, T. and Vinze, A. (2004). Adopting Ontology for Facilitate Knowledge Sharing. Communications of the ACM, 47(11), 85–90.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Feier, C., Roman, D., Polleres, A., Domingue, J., Stollberg, M. and Fensel, D. (2005). Towards Intelligent Web Services: TheWeb Service Modeling Ontology (WSMO). ICIC 2005, Hefei, China, August 23–26, 1–10.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ferrario, R. and Guarino, N. (2008). Towards an Ontological Foundation for Services Science. FIS 2008, Vienna, Austria, September 29–30, 1–13.

    Google Scholar 

  • Garschhammer, M., Hauck, R., Kempter, B., Radisic, I., Roelle, H. and Schmidt, H. (2001). The MNM Service Model – Refined Views on Generic Service Management. Journal of Communications and Networks, 3(4), 297–306.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gautschi, D. and Ravichandran, T. (2006). Services Science – a master in search of a discipline. almaden.ibm.com, 1–4. Accessed February 1st 2007.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gelman, O. and Garcia, J. (1989). Formulation and axiomatization of the concept of general system. Outlet of the Mexican Institute of Planning and Systems Operation, 19(92), 1–81.

    Google Scholar 

  • Genesereth, M. and Fikes, R. (1992). Knowledge Interchange Format: Reference Manual. Technical Report Logic-92-1, Computer Science Department, Stanford University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Glass, R., Ramesh, R. and Vessey, I. (2004). An Analysis of Research in Computing Disciplines. Communications of the ACM, 47(6), 89–94.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gruber, T. (1991). The Role of Common Ontology in Achieving Sharable, Reusable Knowledge Bases. In: J. A. Allen, R. Fikes, and E. Sandewall (Eds.), Principles of Knowledge Representation and Reasoning: Proceedings of the Second International Conference, (pp. 601–602) Cambridge, MA, USA: Morgan Kaufmann.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gruber, T. (1993). Toward Principles for the Design of Ontologies Used for Knowledge Sharing. Technical Report KSL 93-04, Knowledge Systems Laboratory, Stanford University, 1–23.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gruninger, M. and Fox, M. (1995). Methodology for the Design and Evaluation of Ontologies. Technical Report. Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto, Canada, 1–10.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hart, C. (1988). The power of unconditional service guarantee. Harvard Business Review, 66(4), 54–62.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heijst, G. van, Schreiber, A. and Wielinga, B. (1996). Using explicit ontologies in KBS development. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 46 (2/3), 183–292.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heskett, J. (1987). Lessons in the Service Sector. Harvard Business Review, March–April, 118–126.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heskett, J., Jones, T., Loveman, G., Sasser, E. and Schlesinger, L. (1994). Putting the Service-Profit Chain to Work. Harvard Business Review, March–April, 164–174.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hevner, A., March, S., Park, J. and Ram, S. (2004). Design Science in Information Systems Research. MIS Quarterly, 28(1), 75–105.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hooker, J. (1996). First Order Logic (Tutorial in). Pittsburgh, PA: GSIA, Carnegie-Mellon University, 1–29.

    Google Scholar 

  • Horrocks, I. and Sattler, U. (2008). Description Logics: Basics, Applications, and More (Tutorial). ECAI, Patras, Greece, July 18–25, 1–74.

    Google Scholar 

  • Huber, G. (1984). The Nature and Design of Post-industrial Organizations. Management Science, 30(6), 928–951.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • If M and IBM. (2008). Succeeding through Service Innovation: Developing a Service Perspective for Education, Research, Business and Government. Cambridge, UK: University of Cambridge Institute for Manufacturing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jegadeesan, H. and Balasubramaniam, S. (2008). An MOF2-based Services Metamodel. Journal of Object Technology, 7(8), 71–96.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, R. (1995). Measuring service quality: a systems approach. Journal of Services Marketing, 9(5) 6–19.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnston, S. (2005). UML 2.0 Profile for Software Services. www.ibm.com/developerworks, April, 1–9. Accessed February 1st 2007.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kettinger, W. and Lee, C. (2005). Zones of Tolerance: Alternatives Scales for Measuring Information Systems Service Quality. MIS Quarterly, 29(4), 607–623.

    Google Scholar 

  • Levitt, T. (1972). Production-line approach to service. Harvard Business Review, Sept–Oct, 41–52.

    Google Scholar 

  • Levitt, T. (1976). The Industrialization of Service. Harvard Business Review, Sept–Oct, 63–74.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewis, L. (1976). Service level: a concept of the user and the computer center. IBM Systems Journal, 4, 328–357.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lovelock, C. (1983). Classifying Services to Gain Strategic Marketing Insights. Journal of Marketing, 47, 9–20.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lovelock, C. and Gummenson, E. (2004). Whither Services Marketing? In Search of a New Paradigm and Fresh Perspectives. Journal of Services Research, 7(1), 20–41.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • MacKenzie, C., Laskey, K., McCabe, F., Brown, P. and Metz, R. (2006). Reference Model for Service Oriented Architecture 1.0. OASIS Standard. 1–31.

    Google Scholar 

  • March, S. and Smith, G. (1995). Design and natural science research on information technology. Decision Support Systems, 15, 251–266.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mills, P. and Moberg, D. (1982). Perspectives on the Technology of Service Operations. The Academy of Management Review, 7(3), 467–478.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mora, M., Gelman, O., Cervantes, F. et al. (2003). A systemic approach for the formalization of the information system concept: why information systems are systems?. In J. Cano (Ed). Critical reflections of Information systems: a systemic approach, (pp. 1–29), Hershey, PA, USA: Idea Group.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mora, M., Gelman, O., Forgionne, G., Petkov, D. and Cano, J. (2007). Integrating the Fragmented Pieces of IS research Paradigms and Frameworks: A systems Approach. Information Resources Management Journal, 20(2), 1–22.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mora, M., Gelman, O., Frank, M., Cervantes, F. and Forgionne, G. (2008a). Toward an Interdisciplinary Engineering and Management of Complex IT-intensive Organizational Systems: a Systems View. International Journal of Information Technologies and the Systems Approach, 1(1), 1–24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mora, M., Gelman, O., O’Connor, R., Alvarez, F. and Macias-Luevano, J. (2008b). A Conceptual Descriptive-Comparative Study of Models and Standards of Processes in SE, SwE and IT disciplines using the Theory of Systems. International Journal of Information Technologies and the Systems Approach, 1(2), 57–85.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mora, M., Raisinghani, M., O’Connor, R. and Gelman, O. (2009). Toward an Integrated Conceptualization of the Service and Service System Concepts: a Systems Approach. International Journal of Information Systems in the Service Sector, 1(2), 36–57.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Noy, N. and McGuinness, D. (2008). Ontology Development 101: A Guide to Creating Your First Ontology. Technical Report, Stanford University, 1–25.

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Leary, D. (1998). Using AI in Knowledge Management: Knowledge Bases and Ontologies. IEEE Intelligent Systems, May–Jun, 34–49.

    Google Scholar 

  • OMG (Object Management Group) (2006). UML Profile and Metamodel for Services (UPMS) (Request For Proposal). OMG Document: soa/2006-09-09, 1–69.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parasuraman, A., Zeithaml. V. and Berry, L. (1985). A Conceptual Model of Service Quality and its Implications for Future Research. Journal of Marketing, Fall 49, 41–50.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parasuraman, A., Zeithaml, V. and Berry, L. (1988). SERVQUAL: A Multiple-Item Scale for Measuring Consumer Perceptions of Service Quality. Journal of Retailing, 64(1), 12–40.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pitt, L., Watson, R. and Kavan, B. (1995). Service Quality: a Measure of Information Systems Effectiveness. MIS Quarterly, June, 173–185.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Quinn, J. (1992). Intelligent Enterprise. New York, USA: The Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rai, A. and Sambamurthy, V. (2006). The Growth of Interest in Services Management: Opportunities for Information Systems Scholars. Information Systems Research, 17(4), 327–331.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sasser, J. (1976). Match supply and demand in service industries. Harvard Business Review, 54 (6), 133–140.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scheselinger, L. and Heskett, J. (1991). The Service-driven Service Company. Harvard Business Review. Sept–Oct, 71–81.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sheth, A., Verman, K. and Gomadan, K. (2006). Semantics to Energize the full Services Spectrum. Communications of the ACM, 49(7), 55–61.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shostack, G. (1984). Designing Services that Deliver. Harvard Business Review, January–February, 133–139.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spohrer, J., Maglio, P., Bailey, J. and Gruhl, D. (2007). Steps Toward a Science of Service Systems. IEEE Computer, January, 71–78.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spohrer, J., Vargo, S., Caswell, N. and Maglio, P. (2008). The Service Systems as the Basic Abstraction of Service Science. In: Proceedings of the 41st Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, January 7–10, Waikoloa, Big Island, Hawaii, 1–10.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spohrer, J., and Kwan, S. (2009). Service Science, Management, Engineering, and Design (SSMED): An Emerging Discipline - Outline & References. International Journal of Information Systems in the Service Sector, 1(3), 1–3.

    Google Scholar 

  • The Open Group (2008). Service-Oriented Architecture Ontology. Draft Technical Standard, 1–112.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tien, J. (2008). Services: A System’s Perspective. IEEE Systems Journal, 2(1), 146–157.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tien, J. and Berg, D. (2003). A case for service systems engineering. Journal of Systems Science and Systems Engineering, 12(1), 13–38.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vargo, S. and Lush, F. (2004). Evolving to a New Dominant Logic for Marketing. Journal of Marketing, 68, 1–17.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wemmerlov, U. (1989). A Taxonomy for Services Processes and its Implications for Systems Design. International Journal of Service Industry Management, 1(3), 20–40.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This research was developed with the financial support of the Autonomous University of Aguascalientes, Mexico (www.uaa.mx) (Project PIINF08-2) and PROMEP (Research Network in Engineering and Management of IT Services (RIGSTI)).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Appendix: The Conceptual Design Research Method

Appendix: The Conceptual Design Research Method

See Tables 5–7.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2011 Springer Science and Business Media, LLC

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Mora, M., Raisinghani, M., Gelman, O., Sicilia, M.A. (2011). Onto-ServSys: A Service System Ontology. In: Demirkan, H., Spohrer, J., Krishna, V. (eds) The Science of Service Systems. Service Science: Research and Innovations in the Service Economy. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-8270-4_9

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-8270-4_9

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4419-8269-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4419-8270-4

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics