Applying the Principle of Service Design

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Applying the principle of service design thinking to improve customer experience and
business profitability: A case study on National Oil well Varco

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Abstract
The report explores the design of service in the oil field industry as it relates to activity of project
design, planning and organizing people, deployment of infrastructure, communication and
resources components of a service delivery, in a bid to improve customer experience and
enhance client satisfaction. The thesis will explore the interaction between oil field service
provider and its customers as well as thier overall experience. The increasing relevance of the
service sector, within the context of cultural bias of people employed, employee engagement and
of course, economic importance, requires services to be accurately conceptualized and designed
to be fit for purpose. Service delivery would be viewed and developed as a minimum viable
service, and then deployed and constantly iterated and improved upon to add additional value as
a consequence of customers feedback. Impact of future technology on service design,
Information flow and dynamic pricing, as driven by the forces of demand and supply will form a
critical element of this research. The study will also look into the significance of leadership
behaviour in the area of dynamic managerial capabilities, being a catalyst in navigating the
workforce to achieving organizations’ design of service. The report will particularly be interested
in what constitutes dynamic managerial capabilities, how they are developed and implemented,
and what is the net effect in fostering employee engagement towards improved service delivery
from customer satisfaction perspective.

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Table of content
Chapter 1: Introduction....................................................................................................................7
1.1 Introduction............................................................................................................................7
1.2 Rationale of Research............................................................................................................7
1.3 Aims and Objectives..............................................................................................................8
1.4 Research Questions................................................................................................................9
1.5 Background Information........................................................................................................9
1.6 Theories and Context of Study............................................................................................10
1.7 Research Outline..................................................................................................................12
Chapter 2: Literature Review.........................................................................................................12
2.1 Introduction..........................................................................................................................12
2.2 Service design concept........................................................................................................13
2.2.1 Service delivery system design..........................................................................................14
2.2.2 Principles of Service design..............................................................................................14
2.3 Background information on Service design thinking..........................................................15
2.4 Gaps Model in Service design quality.................................................................................19
2.5 Factors influencing service design concept.........................................................................20
2.6 Impact of service design thinking........................................................................................22
Chapter 3: Research Methodology................................................................................................24
3.1 Introduction..........................................................................................................................24

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3.2 Research Aims and Questions.............................................................................................25
3.3 Research Framework...........................................................................................................25
3.4 Research Philosophy............................................................................................................26
3.4 Methodological Paradigm....................................................................................................27
3.5 Research Approach and case study strategy........................................................................27
3.6 Research Design..................................................................................................................28
3.7 Data Collection....................................................................................................................29
3.8 Sampling..............................................................................................................................29
3.9 Ethical Consideration...........................................................................................................30
3.10 Validity..............................................................................................................................30
3.11 Reliability..........................................................................................................................31
3.12 Limitations.........................................................................................................................31
3.13 Conclusion.........................................................................................................................32
Chapter 4: Findings and Discussion..............................................................................................32
4.1 Introduction.....................................................................................................................32
Chapter 5: Conclusion and recommendations...............................................................................41
5.1 Conclusion...........................................................................................................................41
5.2 Addressing Research Questions..........................................................................................41
5.3 Recommendations................................................................................................................42
5.4 Research Limitations...........................................................................................................43

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5.5 Future Scope........................................................................................................................44
References......................................................................................................................................45

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Chapter 1: Introduction
1.1 Introduction
According to Hitt, Ireland and Hoskisson (2012), the transformation in the contemporary
business world has been taking place due globalization, technological changes, highly
competitive pressure, as well as the pursuit for producing new products. Performance of
individuals in the organizational world has created diverse issues and interests inside a business
cycle. As opined by Martins, Rindova and Greenbaum (2015), modification in business is quite
vital as it allows the workforce to adopt and acquire new abilities and skill as well as investigate
fresh opportunities. It also helps the firm to exercise their creativity in ways that ultimately
benefit the organization through new ideas as well as enhance commitment. According to
Morgan (2012), it is essential to keep track of individuals changing demands in this rapidly
transforming business environment. The organization should change its business structure and
management system as well as align their business goals according to the customers demand.
According to Stickdorn, Hormess, Lawrence and Schneider (2018), service design is stated as an
activity that explores the customer service by effective project designing, planning and
organizing people, infrastructure deployment, efficient communication and appropriate resources
mechanisms. This system is used to enhance the interaction and quality between the providers
and their customers.
1.2 Rationale of Research
The wonder of this report is that it focuses on the significance of service design thinking within
the oil field industry and its impact on various aspects of National Oilwell Varco. The research
conducted in quite wide and shows all the characteristics and models in service design thinking.

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According to Randhawa and Scerri (2015), there is a huge competition in the service business,
mostly in parts on designing services and configuration of the service delivery system. The
motivation for doing this research emerges while going through the service system of the
company, National Oilwell Varco. After analyzing all the information and gathering all the
knowledge about this topic, it was clear that service designers needs to incorporate holistic
approach to inculcate the contemporary designs in the organization. However, this report was
formulated to identify the concept of the service design thinking and its impact on consumer
experience and business profitability.
1.3 Aims and Objectives
The aim of the research is to apply the principles of service design thinking to enhance the
customer experience and business profitability of National Oilwell Varco. The purpose is to
explore the interaction between the providers and overall experience of their customers.
The research objectives are said to be the building blocks of any research work which is created
to determine the scope and overall direction of research. The report will seek to enumerate the
following objectives.
 To evaluate the research context and theoretical background of service design thinking
and its development of its framework.
 To study the impact of service delivery system on business profitability.
 To explore the underlying factors responsible for designing a service delivery concept
using Harvard Business model.
 To assess the level of service design implementation and its impact on business
profitability at National Oilwell Varco.

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 To propose recommendation to the top tier management of National Oilwell Varco on the
choice of appropriate design strategy for enhancing the customer experience and develop
questions accordingly.
1.4 Research Questions
1. To what extent does employee behavior impact service design in the work place
environment?
2. How does the Service Design integrate into organization overall strategy in creating
better end-user experience?
3. What are the factors that cause gaps in service quality and how these gaps closed to
enhanced better customer experience?
4. How does the principle of service design and its inter-relatedness with strategic
leadership breeds new thinking in design management?
1.5 Background Information
Actively, service design has experienced a lot of attention from various industry and the
customers over the years. The perception of service design has been highlighted and
hypothesized with numerous perspectives and definition. According to Lin, et. al. (2011), the
process of service design is an activity that assists in planning and establishing individuals,
infrastructure, communication and various material components of any services. These processes
are initiated to enhance the quality as well as improve interaction amongst the customers and its
service providers. The notion of this service design was presented and has been highlighted in
recent years, because of enhancement in technology and innovation. This technological
advancement has made the customers to expect more from product and services (Gabrielsson and
Gabrielsson, 2013). Hence, people are wanting transformation in service designs and it has been