Introduction to the Special Section: Service Science in Electronic Commerce

• Main Authors: BARDHAN, Indranil B., Demirkan, Haluk, Kannan, P. K., Kauffman, Robert J.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2010
• Subjects: Computer Sciences; E-Commerce
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/sis_research/2165; http://www.ijec-web.org/past-issues/volume-14-number-3-spring-2010/ijecv14n3/
• Institution: Singapore Management University

At the 2007 Cambridge Service Science, Management, and Engineering Symposium (www.ifm.eng.cam.ac.uk/ssme), held at Churchill College of Cambridge University, service science was defined as “the study of systems that are dynamic configurations of people, technologies, organizations and shared information that create and deliver value to customers, providers and other stakeholders.” The symposium called for an interdisciplinary and intercultural approach to service systems research that builds bridges between disciplines and examines issues that arise at the interface of disciplines. One cannot think of a more apt context for examining these service science issues than the electronic commerce environment, which is an amalgam of technology, customers, systems, and information, and presents exciting challenges and opportunities for the study of service systems. Even as there is a critical need to understand and study issues in e commerce for the sake of innovating and improving business applications in the area, the lessons learned in this domain can be very valuable in other service system contexts. This was our prime motivation for this special section, which was conceived as a vehicle for understanding service system issues at the interface of the interrelated disciplines of information systems (IS), consumer psychology, economics, finance, marketing, operations and supply chain management, and information science.