Flexibility and technology in services: a conceptual model

Abstract

In common with most service companies, banks today are faced with a myriad demands on their delivery processes made by an increasingly fragmented market. Management theorists and consultants prescribe up‐to‐date technology and service personnel generalists as progenitors of the flexibility required by companies seeking to deliver quality of service. However companies gear up their systems to deal with variable market demands and expectations, penalties of time, finance and quality are inevitable. So, how flexible need a service company be, and what degree of variability need it countenance as acceptable from its customers in today’s marketplace? Can service companies approach such questions in ways similar to those taken in the past by manufacturing companies? Indeed, does “flexibility” mean the same in services as it does in manufacturing? Does it involve the same challenges and, if not, is a radically different model required in order to delineate the concept and challenges of flexibility in services? Attempts to answer such questions conceptually and in terms of information technology’s role in enhancing flexibility of service delivery. Proposes a model by which to integrate the most relevant elements in the service and manufacturing literature, and applies this model to explore four service‐specific dimensions of flexible delivery.