Services Science

Overview

The economies of most developed countries are dominated by services; even traditional manufacturing companies such as General Electric and IBM are adding high-value services to grow their businesses. Improving productivity in services often requires combining technical, social and business innovations. Effective combinations of these innovations often develop naturally together. Cross-disciplinary knowledge and skills relevant to services are becoming necessary for most college graduates.

The minor in Services Science aims to provide these skills by drawing together cross-disciplinary courses to understand services from management, economics, engineering and/or cognitive science perspectives.

Program Learning Outcomes

Our faculty members work to prepare students for a holistic understanding of the knowledge and skills of the discipline. Upon completion of the degree, we expect students to demonstrate the following.

• Describe through a multidisciplinary lens the process of how knowledge is converted to value in the services sector.
• Assess how goods and services can be improved, administered, and optimized.
• Apply appropriate information technology to analyze basic business processes and recommend strategies for improvement and optimization.
• Present basic knowledge of the relationship between IT and service systems.
• Use professionalism in writing and speaking that is consistent with the discipline.