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Modularity matters: a critical review and synthesis of service modularity

Nofie Iman (Prasetiya Mulya Business School, Jakarta, Indonesia)

International Journal of Quality and Service Sciences

ISSN: 1756-669X

Article publication date: 21 March 2016

935

Abstract

Purpose

The literature on modularity is extensive, but most research has been concerned with the manufacturing sector and much less with the service sector. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the existing research, to provide a critique of the empirical literature on service modularity and to discuss future research opportunities.

Design/methodology/approach

To perform this analysis of service modularity, a list of top-tier journals in the field of business management and organisation was compiled. From there, each and every article was identified, examined, coded and classified into high-level themes. These were then reviewed, analysed and interpreted.

Findings

This paper argues that the application of modularity in services will likely be influenced by certain characteristics that distinguish services from products. Second, modularity, from the service perspective, has been closely connected to productisation of services, and the discussion of modularity related to services has been greatly influenced by the earlier discussion on product modularity. This paper concludes that modularity in the service development context is still seeking its theoretical “identity” and requires further theoretical and empirical work on service design modularity conceptualisation, methods and measures.

Originality/value

This paper has reviewed several significant fields with which research on service modularity has been concerned. It captures and presents the core notion of service modularity in a critical way that might spur further research in the field.

Keywords

Citation

Iman, N. (2016), "Modularity matters: a critical review and synthesis of service modularity", International Journal of Quality and Service Sciences, Vol. 8 No. 1, pp. 38-52. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJQSS-05-2015-0046

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2016, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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