A Typology of Service Organizations as a Function of Customer Participation, Intangibility and User Type | Banasree Dey, Jones Mathew & Anup K. Singh

Service classification schemes help in addressing the complexity and diversity of services by providing an organized structure that aids in the development of strategies by service managers. While several such frameworks abound in the literature, yet new schemes reflect fresh realities and stimulate newer perspectives. Recognizing the individual differences in services some of which are relatively more intangible or which require a greater customer role or that vary considering the buying situation or characteristics of the user, the present paper proposes a typology using three dimensions: intangibility, customer participation and type of user (business versus consumer). The study utilizes data from a sample of management professionals and management students who rate 50 services on the aforementioned dimensions using 10-point scales. Based on the results, eight service categories have been delineated: resourcebased, mechanistic consumer services; resource-based, mechanistic business services; knowledge-based, mechanistic consumer services; knowledge-based, mechanistic business services; resource-based, participative consumer services; resource-based, participative business services; knowledge-based, participative consumer services; and knowledge-based, participative business services. The managerial implications that arise due to the inherent characteristics of each type are discussed for a better understanding of services.