Exploring service sustainability

To date, the growing interest in sustainability has focused on manufacturing rather than services. This study seeks to develop a conceptual framework to improve understanding of service sustainability. We start by considering different conceptualizations of service - exclusion, IHIP, rental-access, and UST. We also consider different perspectives on sustainability - triple bottom line, sustainable products versus processes, and sustainability and competitive advantage. Having considered views of services and sustainability, we hope to develop a more nuanced view of sustainable service by considering different service types. For example, services could be differentiated in terms of the combination of elements delivered in the value package, the mix of performance objectives, or the volume-variety characteristics. It is likely that the focus of sustainability efforts will vary for different kinds of service and so will the extent to which sustainability can be implemented and have an impact