service system decoupling for mass customization a case study in catering services服务系统解耦为大规模定制一个案例研究在餐饮服务.pdf

J. Service Science Management, 2009, 2: 255-264 255 doi:10.4236/jssm.2009.24030 Published Online December 2009 (www.SciRP.org/journal/jssm) Service System Decoupling for Mass Customization: A Case Study in Catering Services 1 2 Jue CHEN , Yunhong HAO 1The tourism school, Zhejiang Gongshang University, Hangzhou, China; 2School of Business Administration, Zhejiang Gongshang University, Hangzhou, China. Email: chenjue8@ Received April 17, 2009; revised June 19, 2009; accepted July 28, 2009. ABSTRACT The paper examines the key issues on system decoupling in service operations of mass customization by conducting a case study in catering services. It firstly justifies the effectiveness of applying concept of mass customization into service system decoupling to deal with the operation dilemma and then reveals the nature of decoupling decisions for mass customization purpose after discussions on the importance of modularization and the role of technologies including IT in the decoupling process. Based on these analyses, a Judgment-Matrix-based model on how to make the decoupling decisions in balancing the multiple operation objectives is then proposed and further research directions are finally suggested. Keywords : Mass Customization, System Decoupling, Customer Contact, Modularization 1. Introduction drawn for justification of the previous propositions. Fi- nally, the paper ends with conclusions and suggestions System decoupling is an effective approach to cope with for further research. the influences caused by customer contact by dividing the service system into two components: back-stage and 2.