Expansive learning in a service system: insights from a study of car‐service advisors

Abstract

Purpose

Building on cultural‐historical activity theory, the purpose of this paper is to explore the service system of car‐service advisors as an activity system that evolves through cycles of expansive learning.

Design/methodology/approach

An ethnographic study involving participant observations, informal conversations, and interviews among car‐service advisors provides insights into how expansive learning takes place.

Findings

Expansive learning refers to a gradual process whereby individuals act collectively to reconfigure existing activity systems. Contradictions in the activity system can trigger learning and an awareness of the historical and socio‐cultural contexts of service systems is indispensable for an understanding of the development of those systems.

Practical implications

Managers need a thorough understanding of the structure of their service system and the contradictions that exist in it, as they constitute opportunities for development. Moreover, the study shows that social bonds between employees should be promoted and that frontline contact persons should be seen as integral resources in service development.

Originality/value

In contrast to much research on service systems, which has largely focused on the structure and characteristics of service systems, this paper offers a novel dynamic theoretical framework of a service system as a constantly evolving activity system in which learning takes place through the resolution of contradictions.

Citation

Wägar, K. (2011), "Expansive learning in a service system: insights from a study of car‐service advisors", International Journal of Quality and Service Sciences, Vol. 3 No. 1, pp. 13-38. https://doi.org/10.1108/17566691111115063