Transformative service research approaches for visitor experiences in major sporting events

PurposeThis research conceptualises the hallmark event, Melbourne Cup in Australia, as a major sporting brand experience. While numerous studies have explored consumer engagement and experiences in major sporting events, few research studies highlight the negative issues, such as alcoholism, gambling and violence, that may affect consumer engagement and experience. This article addresses the challenges and opportunities of providing immersive and transformative experiences through transformative service research (TSR) approaches when such negative issues are swirling around.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is conceptual. It uses the example of Melbourne Cup to illuminate aspects of the conceptual framework.FindingsThe article unpacks a myriad of positive and negative immersive brand experiences and contributes a conceptual framework to understand the sporting brand experience phenomenon and shows how authentically responsible marketing approaches can improve the sport spectator experience.Research limitations/implicationsInsights from the extended TSR framework presents implications for various organisations that are involved with strategic destination marketing approaches. It guides key stakeholders to engage in dialogue and collaborate in order to improve the attendee transformative experience. Inviting collaborators will facilitate the exchange of ideas that will improve event organisation. Consistent approaches among hospitality service providers would improve alcohol service and create a safe environment for attendees. The TSR framework guides players of the experience to engage in meaningful dialogue with a common goal to improve consumer wellbeing. Education and training therefore are key elements in the consumer sporting brand experience.Practical implicationsThe adapted TSR framework offers insights to destination marketers such as sporting agencies, tour operators and sporting organisations/clubs. Marketers may promote bigger sporting events and organise tours via travel agencies and ignore key elements that may influence attendee decision. Destination marketing organisations (DMOs) can use the framework to promote effective planning and the key initiatives that the iconic event is involved with. The framework can be used as a guide to manage similar international events. Events of major or mega size and international reputation need specific frameworks that address crowd behaviours of similar sizes.Originality/valueAn extended transformative service approach is being conceptualised for major sporting brand experiences. Practical implications are also highlighted for DMOs when raising the profile of city brands.

Creating hospitable service systems for refugees during a pandemic: Leveraging resources for service inclusion

Purpose: The overarching goal of this paper is to increase awareness among researchers and practitioners that refugees are disproportionally impacted by COVID-19, which increases their suffering. Second, it extends a recently introduced transformative refugee service experience framework by integrating and conceptualizing refugees' resource and service inclusion during a pandemic. Third, it explores lessons learned and implications from the COVID-19 pandemic for the future of service research and practice. Design/methodology/approach: This study synthesizes approaches on refugees, resources and transformative service research to develop an extended framework for addressing one of society's pressing issues during and after pandemics. Findings: Recognizing refugees as providing resources rather than just needing or depleting resources can enable more inclusion. It facilitates refugees' integration into society by drawing on their skills and knowledge. This requires hospitable refugee service systems that enable service inclusion and opportunities for refugee resource integration.Research limitations/implications: This article focuses on one vulnerable group in society. However, the extended framework presented warrants broader application to other contexts, such as subsistence marketplaces. Practical implications: Managers of service businesses and public policymakers should create more inclusive and hospitable service systems for refugees. This may result in redesigning services, changing consumer behavior and reformulating public policy.Social implicationsBetter inclusion and integration of refugees and their resources should increase their individual well-being, reduce social issues in society, increase overall societal well-being and productivity. Originality/value: This article presents a novel extended framework for service scholars and service providers to increase resource and service inclusion of refugees in a disaster context. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Towards NHS Zero: greener gastroenterology and the impact of virtual clinics on carbon emissions and patient outcomes. A multisite, observational, cross-sectional study.

Objective: The National Health Service (NHS) produces more carbon emissions than any public sector organisation in England. In 2020, it became the first health service worldwide to commit to becoming carbon net zero, the same year as the COVID-19 pandemic forced healthcare systems globally to rapidly adapt service delivery. As part of this, outpatient appointments became largely remote. Although the environmental benefit of this change may seem intuitive the impact on patient outcomes must remain a priority. Previous studies have evaluated the impact of telemedicine on emission reduction and patient outcomes but never before in the gastroenterology outpatient setting. Method: 2140 appointments from general gastroenterology clinics across 11 Trusts were retrospectively analysed prior to and during the pandemic. 100 consecutive appointments during two periods of time, from 1 June 2019 (prepandemic) to 1 June 2020 (during the pandemic), were used. Patients were telephoned to confirm the mode of transport used to attend their appointment and electronic patient records reviewed to assess did-not-attend (DNA) rates, 90-day admission rates and 90-day mortality rates. Results: Remote consultations greatly reduced the carbon emissions associated with each appointment. Although more patients DNA their remote consultations and doctors more frequently requested follow-up blood tests when reviewing patients face-to-face, there was no significant difference in patient 90-day admissions or mortality when consultations were remote. Conclusion: Teleconsultations can provide patients with a flexible and safe means of being reviewed in outpatient clinics while simultaneously having a major impact on the reduction of carbon emissions created by the NHS.

Constructing the transformative wellness service framework: A phenomenological study

Transformative Service Research (TSR) advocates shifting the lens on services from profits to well-being of both employees and customers, which is prominently important in contemporary post-COVID times. Engaging TSR in the wellness service context, we explore initial wellness offerings and how such services can be successfully delivered, using a case of Le Monastère des Augustines, in a wellness hotel in Québec, Canada. Emerging from the lived experiences of 13 employees, we advance the TSR framework by constructing a Transformative Wellness Service (TWS) framework. Those employee experiences not only reveal the essence of wellness, but also generate rich managerial implications regarding the ubiquitous organizational philosophy of healthcare, the maintaining of employee well-being, and the continuous role of customers in conveying the benefits to society of the holistic wellness ecosystem. The TWS framework is a holistic concept promoting hospitality, healthcare, and any service industry that aims to improve individual and societal well-being.

Mobile Health Interventions to Improve Health Behaviors and Healthcare Services among Vietnamese Individuals: A Systematic Review.

The purpose of this review is to summarize the feasibility, acceptability, and efficacy of interventions that utilize mobile health (mHealth) technology to promote health behavior changes or improve healthcare services among the Vietnamese population. Ovid MEDLINE, CINAHL, EMBASE, Scopus, and Web of Science were used to identify studies published from 2011-2022. Studies utilizing mHealth to promote behavior change and/or improve healthcare services among Vietnamese were included. Studies that included Vietnamese people among other Asians but did not analyze the Vietnamese group separately were excluded. Three independent researchers extracted data using Covidence following PRISMA guidelines. Measures of feasibility, acceptability, and efficacy were synthesized. The ROBINS-I and RoB2 tools were used to evaluate methodological quality. Fourteen articles met inclusion criteria and included 5660 participants. Participants rated high satisfaction, usefulness, and efficacy of mHealth interventions. Short message service was most frequently used to provide health education, support smoking cessation, monitor chronic diseases, provide follow-up, and manage vaccination. Measures of feasibility, acceptability, and efficacy varied across studies; overall findings indicated that mHealth is promising for promoting lifestyle behavior change and improving healthcare services. Cost effectiveness and long-term outcomes of mHealth interventions among the Vietnamese population are unknown and merit further research. Recommendations to integrate mHealth interventions are provided to promote the health of Vietnamese people.

The Indonesian Dentist Practice on The Coronavirus Disease-19 Pandemic: A Pilot Survey

Introduction: As a profession highly predisposed to coronavirus disease (COVID)-19, dentists should be aware of the possibility of cross-infection. The purpose of this study was to investigate descriptive statistics of dental practice during the covid-19 pandemic. Materials and Methods: This survey was conducted online using self-reported questionnaires created with Google Form®, among dentists in Indonesia. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the survey results. Results: In total 102 participants completed the survey. The mean age was 42.71 (6.65) years. 19 males (18.8%) and 83 females (81.44%). Of all respondents, 80 (78 %) dentists provided dental services to patients during COVID-19 pandemic. Of those who had provided dental services, the most commonly indicated reasons were due to the emergency procedural 66 (82 %). We also found 51 (64%) dentists prefer online consultation. All of the provided temperature checking and will postpone the service with the symptomatic patient. Additionally, our survey found no significant difference between dentists who provided services to patients during COVID-19 pandemic or not based on gender, age, years in practice (all p> 0.05, respectively). The majority of research participants continued to give dental treatments during the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusions: Personal protective equipment was essential, as well as a dental-care-safety environment. The small sample size of our survey limits its generalizability to the field of dentistry and needs further investigation. © 2023 UPM Press. All rights reserved.

Short- and long-term strategies for navigating research-ambivalent organizational cultures besetting embedded researchers.

Many health systems may host embedded researchers (ERs) and provide fiscal resources to encourage health service research. However, ERs may remain challenged to initiate research in these settings. This discussion examines how health system culture may impede research initiation, thereby exposing a paradox for embedded researchers immersed in research-ambivalent health systems. The discussion ultimately describes potential short-term and long-term strategies embedded researchers may employ to initiate scholarly inquiry in research-ambivalent health systems.

Effect of COVID-19 pandemic on utilisation of community-based mental health care in North-East of Italy: A psychiatric case register study.

AIMS: WHO declared that mental health care should be considered one essential health service to be maintained during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This study aims to describe the effect of lockdown and restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy on mental health services' utilisation, by considering psychiatric diagnoses and type of mental health contacts. METHODS: The study was conducted in the Verona catchment area, located in the Veneto region (northeastern Italy). For each patient, mental health contacts were grouped into: (1) outpatient care, (2) social and supportive interventions, (3) rehabilitation interventions, (4) multi-professional assessments, (5) day care. A 'difference in differences' approach was used: difference in the number of contacts between 2019 and 2020 on the weeks of lockdown and intermediate restrictions was compared with the same difference in weeks of no or reduced restrictions, and such difference was interpreted as the effect of restrictions. Both a global regression on all contacts and separate regressions for each type of service were performed and Incidence Rate Ratios (IRRs) were calculated. RESULTS: In 2020, a significant reduction in the number of patients who had mental health contacts was found, both overall and for most of the patients' characteristics considered (except for people aged 18-24 years for foreign-born population and for those with a diagnosis of schizophrenia. Moreover, in 2020 mental health contacts had a reduction of 57 096 (-33.9%) with respect to 2019; such difference remained significant across the various type of contacts considered, with rehabilitation interventions and day care showing the greatest reduction. Negative Binomial regressions displayed a statistically significant effect of lockdown, but not of intermediate restrictions, in terms of reduction in the number of contacts. The lockdown period was responsible of a 32.7% reduction (IRR 0.673; p-value <0.001) in the overall number of contacts. All type of mental health contacts showed a reduction ascribable to the lockdown, except social and supportive interventions. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the access to community mental health care during the pandemic was overall reduced, the mental health system in the Verona catchment area was able to maintain support for more vulnerable and severely ill patients, by providing continuity of care and day-by-day support through social and supportive interventions.

Seeking thrills during a crisis? A TSR and hierarchy of effects perspective of the transformative potential of travel

PurposeThis study aims to theorise and empirically test a model based on the hierarchy of effects behavioural learning approach ("do-think-feel”) to explain how travel during a crisis assists consumer well-being. The paper also examines whether the effect travel has on well-being is serially mediated by perceived risk and resilience and moderated by the personality trait of sensation-seeking.Design/methodology/approachThis research uses a quasi-experimental design involving Australian consumers based on a sample of n = 307 who had travelled and n = 277 who had not during the COVID-19 pandemic (N = 584). A replication study (N = 290) is also undertaken to assess the robustness of the hierarchy of effects uncovered in the main study. Data were analysed using structural equation modelling (SEM) and Hayes PROCESS macro.FindingsThe results reveal travellers have significantly higher levels of both hedonic and eudaimonic well-being than non-travellers, suggesting the transformative potential of travel experiences during a crisis. The transformative potential of travel is driven by perceived risk and psychological resilience, which mediate the relationship between travel frequency and well-being. Further, spotlight moderation analysis demonstrates that the effect of travel on well-being is most profound for those with lower levels of sensation-seeking. These relationships are also confirmed in the replication study.Originality/valueThis research is among the first in transformative service research (TSR) to test the mediators of perceived risk and resilience together in a singular study, showing how experiences such as travel are potentially transformative. It also evaluates personality traits such as sensation-seeking as a moderating factor, which is uncommon in TSR. Further, this study empirically validates a do–think–feel behavioural learning approach, as opposed to other hierarchy of effects sequences that are dominant in TSR and the wider services marketing literature.

We are in this together: Sport brand involvement and fans' well-being

Research Question: The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for a transformative perspective on the role of sport brands in promoting fans' psychological well-being. Drawing upon attachment theory, the current research explores how individuals' involvement with sport brands may contribute to their psychological well-being in the wake of COVID-19. Research Methods: Data were collected from sport fans (n = 770) in mainland China through an online survey. Machine learning-based model selection algorithms were used to optimize the balance between the predictive power and parsimoniousness of the empirical model. Bayesian structural equation modeling was performed to examine the effects of sport brand involvement (SBI), crisis management performance, and perceived togetherness (PT) on fans' sense of hope and emptiness. Results and Findings: The results indicate that fans' involvement with sport brands was positively associated with fans' psychological wellbeing. SBI mitigated fans' perceived emptiness. This relationship was partially mediated by PT but not by crisis management performance. Furthermore, sport brands' crisis management performance and PT fully mediated the positive relationship between SBI and hope. Implications: This research contributes to theorizing the transformative role of sport brands in enhancing fans' psychological well-being. We offer an alternative view of sport branding literature by moving beyond fans' contributions to business outcomes to explore how sport brands may benefit fans' well-being. Findings highlight the importance of the transformative power of 'we' in unifying sport brands and fans amid the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

BSG cross-sectional survey on impact of COVID-19 recovery on workforce, workload and well-being.

Objective: The aim of this survey was to understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and recovery phase on workload, well-being and workforce attrition in UK gastroenterology and hepatology. Design/method: A cross-sectional survey of British Society of Gastroenterology physician and trainee members was conducted between August and October 2021. Multivariable binary logistic regression and qualitative analyses were performed. Results: The response rate was 28.8% (180/624 of opened email invites). 38.2% (n=21/55) of those who contracted COVID-19 felt pressured to return to work before they felt ready. 43.8% (71/162) had a regular increase in out-of-hours working. This disproportionately affected newly appointed consultants (OR 5.8), those working full-time (OR 11.6), those who developed COVID-19 (OR 4.1) and those planning early retirement (OR 4.0). 92% (150/164) believe the workforce is inadequate to manage the service backlog with new consultants expressing the highest levels of anxiety over this. 49.1% (80/163) felt isolated due to remote working and 65.9% (108/164) felt reduced face-to-face patient contact made their job less fulfilling. 34.0% (55/162) planned to work more flexibly and 54.3% (75/138) of consultants planned to retire early in the aftermath of the pandemic. Early retirement was independently associated with male gender (OR 2.5), feeling isolated from the department (OR 2.3) and increased anxiety over service backlog (OR 1.02). Conclusion: The pandemic has placed an additional burden on work-life balance, well-being and workforce retention within gastroenterology and hepatology. Increased aspirations for early retirement and flexible working need to be explicitly addressed in future workforce planning.

UK endoscopy workload and workforce patterns: is there potential to increase capacity? A BSG analysis of the National Endoscopy Database.

Background: The lack of comprehensive national data on endoscopy activity and workforce hampers strategic planning. The National Endoscopy Database (NED) provides a unique opportunity to address this in the UK. We evaluated NED to inform service planning, exploring opportunities to expand capacity to meet service demands. Design: Data on all procedures between 1 March 2019 and 29 February 2020 were extracted from NED. Endoscopy activity and endoscopist workforce were analysed. Results: 1 639 640 procedures were analysed (oesophagogastroduodenoscopy (OGD) 693 663, colonoscopy 586 464, flexible sigmoidoscopy 335 439 and endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography 23 074) from 407 sites by 4990 endoscopists. 89% of procedures were performed in NHS sites. 17% took place each weekday, 10% on Saturdays and 6% on Sundays. Training procedures accounted for 6% of total activity, over 99% of which took place in NHS sites. Median patient age was younger in the independent sector (IS) (51 vs 60 years, p<0.001). 74% of endoscopists were male. Gastroenterologists and surgeons each comprised one-third of the endoscopist workforce; non-medical endoscopists (NMEs) comprised 12% yet undertook 23% of procedures. Approximately half of endoscopists performing OGD (52%) or colonoscopies (48%) did not meet minimum annual procedure numbers. Conclusion: This comprehensive analysis reveals endoscopy workload and workforce patterns for the first time across both the NHS and the IS in all four UK nations. Half of all endoscopists perform fewer than the recommended minimum annual procedure numbers: a national strategy to address this, along with expansion of the NME workforce, would increase endoscopy capacity, which could be used to exploit latent weekend capacity.

Towards NHS Zero: greener gastroenterology and the impact of virtual clinics on carbon emissions and patient outcomes. A multisite, observational, cross-sectional study.

Objective: The National Health Service (NHS) produces more carbon emissions than any public sector organisation in England. In 2020, it became the first health service worldwide to commit to becoming carbon net zero, the same year as the COVID-19 pandemic forced healthcare systems globally to rapidly adapt service delivery. As part of this, outpatient appointments became largely remote. Although the environmental benefit of this change may seem intuitive the impact on patient outcomes must remain a priority. Previous studies have evaluated the impact of telemedicine on emission reduction and patient outcomes but never before in the gastroenterology outpatient setting. Method: 2140 appointments from general gastroenterology clinics across 11 Trusts were retrospectively analysed prior to and during the pandemic. 100 consecutive appointments during two periods of time, from 1 June 2019 (prepandemic) to 1 June 2020 (during the pandemic), were used. Patients were telephoned to confirm the mode of transport used to attend their appointment and electronic patient records reviewed to assess did-not-attend (DNA) rates, 90-day admission rates and 90-day mortality rates. Results: Remote consultations greatly reduced the carbon emissions associated with each appointment. Although more patients DNA their remote consultations and doctors more frequently requested follow-up blood tests when reviewing patients face-to-face, there was no significant difference in patient 90-day admissions or mortality when consultations were remote. Conclusion: Teleconsultations can provide patients with a flexible and safe means of being reviewed in outpatient clinics while simultaneously having a major impact on the reduction of carbon emissions created by the NHS.

Influences of COVID-19 pandemic on hospital-at-home functions in Finland - a questionnaire survey.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate functions of Finnish hospital-at-home (HAH) during the first year of COVID19-pandemic 2020 compared with the previous year 2019. DESIGN: Retrospective questionnaire survey. SETTING: Finnish HAHs from Northern, Eastern, Southern, Western and Central parts of Finland participated in a questionnaire web-based questionnaire survey. The numbers of patients, activities and staff in 2019 and 2020, participation in the care of COVID19 patients, availability of protective clothing, attitudes of patients towards home care and development of new practices in the corona era were asked using both predefined and free questions. SUBJECTS: questionnaire was sent to the nurses and physicians in charge of the HAHs (N = 13), 77% responded. The HAHs provided services to a total of 1,196,783 inhabitants in their municipalities. RESULTS: There were no significant changes in the numbers of patients, staff or activities between the years 2019 and 2020. Although nurses did viral tests, COVID19 patients were cared only in 40% of HAHs. Protective clothing was well available. New instructions for infection management were created. CONCLUSIONS: The COVID-19 pandemic did not largely influence the functions of the examined Finnish HAHs in 2020. Most activities and patients' characteristics remained unchanged from 2019. The role of HAHs should be further developed in Scandinavian countries, particularly during pandemics.Key PointsHospital-at-home (HAH) is a cost-effective model to provide hospital-like services.Data about the role of HAHs during COVID19 pandemics is lacking in the Nordic countries.This study shows that, the large Finnish municipal HAHs have been not influenced by pandemics.

Worries about inadequate medical treatment in case of a COVID-19 infection: the role of social inequalities, COVID-19 prevalence and healthcare infrastructure.

BACKGROUND: This study investigates individual and regional determinants of worries about inadequate medical treatment in case of a COVID-19 infection, an important indicator of mental wellbeing in pandemic times as it potentially affects the compliance with mitigation measures and the willingness to get vaccinated. The analyses shed light on the following questions: Are there social inequalities in worries about inadequate medical treatment in case of a COVID-19 infection? What is the role of the regional spread of COVID-19 infections and regional healthcare capacities? METHODS: Based on data derived from the German Socioeconomic Panel (SOEP), a representative sample of the German population aged 18 years and over, we estimated multilevel logistic regression models with individual-level (level 1) and regional-level (level 2) variables. The regional variables of interest were (a) the number of COVID-19 infections, (b) the number of hospital beds as an overall measure of the regional healthcare capacities, and (c) the number of free intensive care units as a measure of the actual capacities for treating patients with severe courses of COVID-19. RESULTS: Women, older respondents, persons with migrant background and those with a lower socioeconomic status were more likely to report worries about inadequate medical treatment in case of a COVID-19 infection. Moreover, respondents with chronic illness, lower subjective health and those who consider COVID-19 as a threat for their own health were more likely to report worries. In addition, also regional characteristics were relevant. Worries were more common in poorer regions with higher COVID-19 infections and worse health infrastructure as indicated by the number of hospital beds. CONCLUSIONS: The analysis not only indicates that several social groups are more concerned about inadequate medical treatment in case of a COVID-19 infection, but also highlights the need for considering regional-level influences, such as the spread of the virus, poverty rates and healthcare infrastructure, when analyzing the social and health-related consequences of the pandemic.

What complications have arisen after early medical abortion -’both pills by post’’ policy in the uk during Covid? Do these increase the risk of subsequent premature birth?

BackgroundDuring 2019 NICE and the RCOG introduced UK guidelines normalising the early medical abortion (EMA) protocol for pregnancies prior to 10 weeks gestation. Mifepristone is taken at the abortion clinic, and the second pill, Misoprostol may be taken unsupervised at home 36–48 hours later. In March 2020, UK EMA policy changed, and telemedicine with ‘both pills by post’(BPBP) was authorised by DHSC, during Covid-19.MethodsA worldwide systematic review and meta-analyses were conducted to compare risk of PTB after one or more abortions compared to none, and PB after medical versus surgical abortion. Systematic evidence on outcomes after medical abortion are recorded through the Finnish Abortion registry. Mannisto (2013) published a paper showing that when surgical abortion, or evacuation of retained products of conception (ERPC) is required after a medical abortion, it increases the risk of subsequent PB by 241%. Very little data has been collected on this subject in England. We examine data from FOI requests to CQC in Dec 2020 and to NHS Acute hospital trust A&E departments in England and Wales (E&W) to investigate the incidence of complications (haemorrhage and sepsis) and ERPC after EMA and BPBP since April 2020.ResultsOur meta-analysis showed adj OR of 1.52, 95% CI (1.43–1.62), for increased risk of PTB after Abortion, compared to none. Surgical abortion carried more risk (RR 1.23) than Medical Abortion. FOI (response rate 67%) showed a 5.9% EMA failure rate in E&W from data from NHS A&E depts between April 2020 and 2021. This is similar to EMA failure rate (5.48%) published in Marie Stopes Australia 2020 report. It means that more than 7,400 women per annum across England have had complications from EMA since the Covid approval for telemedicine and BPBP. 2.4% needed a subsequent ERPC, which increases further the risk of a PTB in a later pregnancy. Incidence of complications or ERPC after EMA is 0.75%, 5x higher than reported by DHSC (0.15%).ConclusionThese results suggest that this policy of BPBP during Covid-19, should revert to in-person consultation for EMA for the safety of women. The BPBP was a departure from Evidence Based Medicine. Abortion should be appropriately governanced, and outcomes fully evaluated with evidence collected using longitudinal data via the NHS number on HSA4 forms. This would inform a safer policy for the wellbeing of women and help to reduce the increasing rates of PTB for the future.

Service research: past, present and future research agenda

Purpose>This study aims to explore past and present service research and to provide a future research agenda for service researchers by presenting a big picture of the intellectual connections and emerging topics in the discipline.Design/methodology/approach>This study is an empirical analysis of citations and cocitations on a sample of 5,837 articles published in leading service journals (from 1981 to December 2020). Network analysis was adopted to analyze the data. This study is exclusive in conducting the inquiry at the individual publication level, rather than using the normal aggregated author co-citation analysis approach.Findings>The findings reveal that the main themes of service research centered on customer satisfaction, service quality, service-dominant logic, methodological foundations, market orientation and service encounter. Also clarified is the periphery domain that may become more important in the future (i.e. technology). The findings also present anchor points for conceptual framing and conceptual development – five main themes that are momentous to navigate theory discovery and justification in the knowledge domain.Research limitations/implications>It calls for a more academic effort to evaluate the service research by considering different epistemological paradigms, such as positivism, monologic and hermeneutic, to better understand the process and progress of the discipline.Practical implications>Through exploring the transformation of service research into a customer-centric model and technology-based service logic, this study offers possible implications for practitioners and further research areas for service researchers.Originality/value>To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to use a citation, cocitation and network analysis to examine service research published in leading service journals. This study provides a significant contribution to the theory by combining main conceptual areas and interests in the given discipline.

A voice for the silent: uncovering service exclusion practices

Purpose>This paper aims to provide an in-depth conceptualization of service exclusion by drawing on our exploratory research as well as thick and rich insights from the authors’ qualitative data.Design/methodology/approach>Qualitative research was used to explore service exclusion practices against customers experiencing vulnerabilities. A total of 28 semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with refugees residing within Malaysia. The Gioia methodology was used for the authors’ data analysis and the findings were validated by an independent moderator.Findings>The authors’ empirical findings challenge how service exclusion is currently understood, by adding substantial depth and complexity beyond simply describing “the lack of access to services”. The authors also offer rich empirical findings describing 29 forms of exclusion, which were further reduced to seven types of service exclusion practices: discrimination, restriction, cost barriers, language and technology barriers, poor servicing, non-accountability and non-inclusivity.Originality/value>This study conceptualizes service exclusion from a process perspective, that is, “how” customers experiencing vulnerabilities are being excluded, rather than “what” is excluded.

Commentary – The ServCollab Perspective on Elevating Human Experience

Purpose>This commentary describes ServCollab’s perspective on Elevating Human Experience and urges researchers to join in collaborating on research to reduce suffering and improve human well-being.Design/methodology/approach>This commentary is based on ServCollab’s pioneering approach to building a serving humanity logic and growing service research capacity to work on the hardest service systems problems humanity faces.Findings>ServCollab’s ongoing efforts to Elevate the Human Experience are described. First, ServCollab seeks to develop a serving humanity logic. Second, ServCollab seeks to coalesce divergent perspectives on service. Third, ServCollab seeks to build a serving humanity movement capable of addressing complex service systems problems.Practical implications>Practical ideas are offered for serving humanity through collaboration.Social implications>Because human life depends on service systems, this ServCollab commentary has broad application to all human experience.Originality/value>This commentary offers a unique approach to building collaborative service research projects capable of addressing service inclusion, service language and climate change.