Service Responsibility Tables: A New Tool for Analyzing and Designing Systems

Initiatives related to the proposed development of “services science” created a challenge for further development of the work system method, a systems analysis method designed for business professionals: Would it be possible to develop a version of the method that specifically addressed services? Although that research is on-going, thinking about services as a special type of work system led to the development of a simple but flexible tool that could be useful in describing, analyzing, and designing most systems in organizations. Service responsibility tables (SRTs) are simplified, two-column swimlane diagrams that identify specific step-wise responsibilities of service providers and service customers. SRTs can be used regardless of whether the customers are internal or external. The form of SRTs reflects the two-sided “co-production” of services by providers and customers that is cited in the marketing and service literature. SRTs may contain optional columns for selected analysis or design topics such as problems and issues, performance gaps, and information created or used by each activity. SRTs can be used to clarify the scope of the system and the problems and issues at hand. SRTs with various optional columns can also be used throughout the analysis and to clarify and sanity check recommendations.