From the Analysis of Managerial Problematics Specific to the Inductrial and Service Sector to Methods and Tools Transfers from One Sector to the Other

The report concerning the ratio of force between the manufacturing industry and the tertiary sector in the modern Western economies is edifying. The later mainly benefit from service activities and the tertiary sector generates a lot of new employments and new companies. The distinction between the secondary and tertiary sector historically stems from the nature of their production system output: tangible good vs. intangible service. Based on that differentiation, each sector has searched for methods and tools to manage its own activities. Currently, many authors intend to denounce this dichotomy and promote a complementarity in particular within the increasingly widespread framework of joint product /service offers. This paper gives an overview of the differences and similarities between these two items of production and the daily managerial problems their providers face. The underlying objective is, on the one hand, to show the needs of each sector and, on the other, to show the enrichment that specific tools, methods and practices belonging to one sector can bring to the other one as the similarities between the problems are numerous.