Operations management for public services: Imperatives and implications for empirical research

Abstract

Operations management (OM) offers immense opportunities for application in the domain of public services. A typical framework of “input-process-output” can also be applied to public services. This theory has evolved with the inclusion of service orientation, especially in an emerging economy such as India. Growing awareness among citizens, pressure on governments to perform, and increasing use of technology have made the application of the OM perspective in public services more challenging. The traditional theories of OM need a relook and reorientation in the context of public services. Theories give researchers different “lenses” through which to look at problems and issues in public services, thereby focusing attention on various aspects of the application and providing a framework within which to conduct empirical analysis. Public services have various expectations and aspirations based on societal and environmental considerations. Customer satisfaction and social value are less well understood in public services compared to their counterpart in the corporate sector. An attempt is made in this paper to look at some use cases wherein the imperatives for empirical model building are explored. A set of insights is developed based on the use case. The implications for both practitioners and theoreticians are also offered.