Designing Dynamic Service Networks Effectively through Information Management: Case Studies on Construction Project Management and Crisis Management

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Abstract - Designing Dynamic Service Networks Effectively through Information Management: Case Studies on Construction Project Management and Crisis ManagementThe service industry now dominates the US economy with over 67% of the labor force and 58% of the output. Taking manufacturing as the model, the service industry increasingly decentralized its operations and outsourced its activities, even their "back office operations." This has resulted in a network of services that, in order to provide customer satisfaction, require effective designed, management, and control. Current approaches for service network design focus on maximizing the productivity, reliability, and quality at the individual service unit level; they neglect issues associated with the network that ties these units. Information dependencies are an important link betwee service units, often forming the backbone of the service network. Identification and management of information dependencies between different service units within a network is thus tantamount to designing and managing an effective service network.This research will develop formalisms for the design of effective service networks by modeling and management of information dependencies between service units. The development effort will target construction project management and crisis management services since the need for effective service design tends to be emphasized in these types of short-lived (discontinuous) services that are composed of dynamic networks of service providers. Additionally, the unique characteristics of these service will provide an opportunity to explore and formalize less-studied areas of the service management field.Within the context of construction and crisis management, the research will explore and identify important design parameters, performance metrics, and project requirements needed to design a framework for service networks. Information flows and management requirements of the networks based on these factors will be characterized. Information and communications technology will be investigated as ways to meet those requirements. Existing information and communications technology tools/platforms will be evaluated as enablers of coordination and enhancers of performance for project-specific services. Existing operations/engineering modeling tools for designing robust and dynamic project-specific service networks will be analyzed and evaluated. Finally, case studies and a service network design simulation game will be developed to educate business and engineering students as well as industry and academic leaders about the challenges of designing service network organizations and the role of information technology.This research will significantly contribute in terms of a list of common network design parameters of short-lived dynamic service networks, assessment of the role of current information and communications technologies within service networks, an initial formalism designing service networks, and a simulation game on service network design. This formalism will help define the gaps in our knowledge and frame a research agenda for refining a framework for service network design, construction management and crisis management.