Service Business Enhancement Achieved by a Team of Engineers through a Service Sciences Framework: Research Activities in Japanese Industrial Organization

In order to enhance the service sector of the Japanese manufacturing industry and to increase its profitability, a new service-designing scheme is required. This new scheme involves designating products as outlets for service flow and designating knowledge concerning goods and services, customers, and service process. This paper proposes a new service-designing scheme based on a "service-sciences" oriented framework, which is suitable for the service sector of the Japanese manufacturing industry. Within this framework, services are classified according to A. H. Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory and categorized into 15 services types. These 15 service types consist of 5 types that satisfy individual needs; 5 types that achieve organization goals; and 5 types that perform the functions of infrastructure. Using this classification of the 15 service types along with various methodological techniques, including a technology road-mapping system, it may be possible for Japanese industrial organizations of engineering to enhance their services and to become more profitable Currently, engineers, from various companies in the engineering field, are collaborating on these activities to develop a common approach for new service business. Lastly, the possibility for the enhancement of the Japanese service sector is described based on recent case studies