Worker-centered smart service development : Internal process perspective for value creation

Abstract

Recent advancements in data-driven and smart technologies have led organizations to achieve more intelligent capabilities, leading to productive and efficient business processes. However, technology alone does not guarantee the competitiveness and social wellbeing of their members. Human-centered smart service systems (HCSSS) address this issue by combining such technologies with people’s competencies and other resources to augment cognitive abilities that create social and economic value. The purpose of this study is to present a process for developing human-centered smart services from an internal process perspective, aiming to create value for workers and, consequently, for the members of an organization and society.

This study was conducted through four publications, and the results were used to determine the phases that integrate the worker-centered development process. The study comprises three in-depth single studies and one multiple case study in organizational settings that involve interaction between workers and smart technologies. The research approaches used are qualitative methods and action design research (ADR), which includes literature reviews, interviews, workshops, and intensive collaboration with workers and other relevant members involved in the internal processes. Along with the research methods, the study employed managerial tools and smart technologies that supported the formation of the development process.

The findings of the study introduce a knowledge-driven development process for workercentered smart services from an internal perspective that comprises four phases and ten steps. The process begins with the worker understanding phase, followed by the knowledge requirements elicitation and worker-centered service design phases, culminating in the smart service concept validation phase. The process employs managerial and technical tools throughout its phases, such as product development and service design tools, and data analytics. The theoretical contribution of the research is to present a process that deeply understands workers’ information and knowledge needs and ideate service concepts based on worker profiling and knowledge-driven capabilities of smart technologies. The managerial implications highlight how the created concepts might enhance operations by assisting workers in performing their cognitive tasks, such as decision-making, problem-solving, procedure guidance, and self-learning.