DURABILITY OF THE STRATEGIC SERVICE VISION FRAMEWORK

The strategic service vision framework is as valid today as when we first proposed it. As organizations like IKEA and others show, enterprises that continue to apply the vision will contribute to a further blurring of the line between manufacturing and service activities—until they are hardly distinguishable. Organizations will increasingly formulate strategies that concentrate not just on manufacturing things or providing services but instead on achieving value for both customers and employees alike. Assuming an equitable division of bottom-line profits, this in turn will provide exceptional value for investors.

Increasingly, competitors will focus on more-definitive assessments of the results and experiences sought by employees and customers. They will seek to leverage value over cost in developing operating strategies that provide competitive edge. The strategies will require the design of support systems that enhance human capability to achieve operating breakthroughs.

Risks Inherent in Strategic Success

Service leaders effectively implementing these ideas nevertheless face certain risks. They may subject themselves to special risks if they fail to perform up to expectations. For example, both UPS and Target, two of our example organizations from this chapter, were taken to task by the public during the 2013 Christmas season. UPS was castigated for failing to provide adequate capacity for a deluge of deliveries created by online shoppers in the final days of the season. Target's credit card information, on which it relies for much of its big data, was hacked, fueling the distrust of its customers. Both organizations had to take extraordinary steps to restore trust among their customers.

Similarly, elements of service strategies like "affordable solutions" may give companies like IKEA a wide range of choices about what to merchandise. However, they can represent a trap, if, for example, the same merchandising approach is applied to something like food as to furniture. The world was reminded of this when inexpensive meatballs being sold in IKEA's European stores were found to contain horsemeat, apparently without management's knowledge.

Addressing the Risks

Great service leaders have devised a number of ways of addressing the risks of breakthrough service success. They do such things as hire better and better talent that is naturally attracted to the organization, train them well, and raise the already high standards to which their organizations hold themselves. Note that the methods usually do not involve imposing more controls over the way a service is delivered. These leaders recognize that the solution lies in the talent, not the controls. As we will see later, a leader's primary task in such organizations is making sure that pride of accomplishment does not morph into arrogance in dealing with customers and others, and that good results can always be improved upon.