International Journal of Operations & Production Management

Purpose – Over many years there has been an emergence of a large-scale, worldwide academic movement concerned with the management of services. This paper, originally published in 1999, aims to chart the role and impact of operations management (OM) on this movement and to propose that the key focus for service academics should be with the application of frameworks and techniques.

Design/methodology/approach – A conceptual discussion and approach are taken.

Findings – Suggests that as the service movement has grown, with increasing overlap between the subjects of operations, marketing and HRM for example, there is a need to “return to roots”. Contends that service academics, in their bid to develop cross-functional service management material, may have lost, or inadvertently ignored, the strength of their core disciplines. Refocusing on the traditional strengths of OM, such as performance quality, design, and operational improvement, might help provide a greater rigour to the developing subject of service management.

Originality/value – Discusses nine areas for service operations research and suggests specific research questions.