SERVICE-DOMINANT LOGIC:

AN ALTERNATIVE MINDSET FOR INNOVATION

S-D
Logic

2009 Ministry of the Knowledge Economy

Conference on Service Innovation through R&D
Seoul, Korea
Nov 10, 2009
Stephen L. Vargo

Shidler Distinguished P rofessor of M ark eting

University of Hawaii at Manoa

Suddenly, Service(s) is Everywhere

S-D
Logic

Apparent transitions
From manufacturing economy to service
economy
From goods-oriented firms to services firms

Manifestations
Services marketing
Services operations
Service factories
Servitzation
Service Engineering

Service-oriented architecture

Software-as-a-service
Service systems
Services science
Service Innovation

The Message
S-D
Logic

The transitions are mythical

The apparent transitions are driven by an
inadequate logic of the market
arm-flapping logic?

The real transition is in the basic logic of

economic exchange markets
Emerging from diverse disciplines & sub-disciplines
Pointing to a more robust logic of economic exchange

The Prelude: The Blasphemy of

the Alternative Logic
S-D
Logic

There is no new service economy

There are no producers and consumers
Goods are not goods.
Firms do not create value
There are no services
There are no markets

And yet there are

The meaning of logic

S-D
Logic

The underlying philosophy for

organizing and understanding a
phenomena

Pre-theoretical
Paradigm level of thought
The lens that provides the perspective

Different from formal scientific and

mathematical logic

The Importance of the Right Logic

S-D
Logic

Without changing our pattern of thought, we will not

be able to solve the problems we created with our
current pattern of thought

The greatest danger in times of turbulence is not the

turbulence: it is to act with yesterdays logic.

Peter F. Drucker

The main power base of paradigms may be in the fact

that they are taken for granted and not explicitly
questioned

Albert Einstein

Johan Arndt

What is needed is not an interpretation of the utility

created by marketing, but a marketing interpretation of
the whole process creating utility.

Wroe Alderson

From Arm-Flapping to Airfoil Logic

S-D
Logic

Goods-dominant (G-D) Logic

S-D
Logic

Purpose of economic activity is to make and

distribute units of output, preferably tangible
(i.e., goods)
Goods are embedded with utility (value)
during manufacturing
Goal is to maximize profit through the
efficient production and distribution of goods

goods should be standardized, produced away

from the market, and inventoried till demanded

Firms exist to make and sell

value-laden goods

Value Production and Consumption

S-D
Logic

Supplier

Supply/Value Chain

Producer

Consumer

Services: The G-D Logic Perspective

S-D
Logic

Value-enhancing add-ons for goods, or

A particular (somewhat inferior) type good,
characterized by (IHIP Characteristics):
Intangibility
Heterogeneity (non-standardization)
Inseparability (of production and consumption)
Perishability

Services Economy = Post Industrial = Less-thandesirable economic activity

Services Innovation = using goods innovation principles
adjusted for services (IHIP) deficiencies

Problems with Goods Logic

S-D
Logic

Goods are not why we buy goods

Service (benefits) they render
Intangibles (brand, self image, social connectedness, meaning)
Experiences

Goods are not what we fundamentally own to exchange with

others
Applied knowledge and skills (our services)

Customer is secondary and seen as value receiver and

destroyer
Consumer orientation is an add-on--does not help

IHIP characteristics do not distinguish services vs. goods

But they do characterize value and value creation

G-D Logic Background

S-D
Logic

Smiths Bifurcation
Positive foundation of exchange:
specialized knowledge, labor (service), Value-inuse
Normative model of (national) wealth creation:
Value-in-exchange and production
Creation of surplus, exportable tangible goods

Says Utility:
Usefulness (value-in-use)
Morphed into a property of products (value-inexchange)

G-D Logic Background (2)

S-D
Logic

Bastiat (1848):
Services are exchange for services

Development of Economic Science

The Producer Consumer distinction
Built on Newtonian Mechanics
Matter, with properties
Deterministic relationships
The science of exchange of things (products), embedded with
properties (utiles)

Marketing (Business Disciplines) Built on G-D Logic

Foundation of Economic Science

What Has Changed?

Nothing and Everything
S-D
Logic

Exchange is about the reciprocal application

of knowledge skills (specialized information)
Service for service

Dematerialization and liquification

(IT and ICT)
The ability to separate and transport information apart
from and matter (and people) (Normann 2001)
Makes Service-logic compelling

A Partial Pedigree
S-D
Logic

Services and Relationship Marketing

Theory of the firm

(Hakansson and Snehota 1995)

Interpretive research and Consumer Culture theory

Hunt (2000; 2002); Constantine and Lusch (1994)

Network Theory

(Prahalad and Hamel (1990); Day 1994)

Resource-Advantage Theory and ResourceManagement Strategies

Penrose (1959)

Core Competency Theory

e.g., Shostack (1977); Berry (1983); Gummesson (1994) ;

Gronroos (1994); etc.

(Arnould and Thompson 2005)

Experience marketing

(Prahalad and Ramaswamy 2000)

Key S-D Logic

Publications
S-D
Logic

Service-Dominant Logic Basics

S-D
Logic

Service, rather than goods, is the basis of economic and

social exchange
i.e., Service is exchanged for service

Essential Concepts and Components

Service: the application of competences for the benefit of another
entity
Service (singular) is a processdistinct from services particular
types of goods
Shifts primary focus to operant resources from operand resources
See value as always co-created
Firm makes value propositions
Sees goods as appliances for service deliver
Implies all economies are service economies
All businesses are service businesses

Foundational Premises (Revised)

S-D
Logic

Premise

Explanation/Justification

FP1

Service is the fundamental

basis of exchange.

The application of operant resources

(knowledge and skills), service, is the
basis for all exchange. Service is
exchanged for service.

FP2

Indirect exchange masks

the fundamental basis of
exchange.

Goods, money, and institutions mask the

service-for-service nature of exchange.

FP3

Goods are distribution

mechanisms for service
provision.

Goods (both durable and non-durable)

derive their value through use the
service they provide.

FP4

Operant resources are the

fundamental source of
competitive advantage

The comparative ability to cause desired

change drives competition.

FP5

All economies are service

economies.

Service (singular) is only now becoming

more apparent with increased
specialization and outsourcing.

Foundational Premises (Revised)

S-D
Logic

Premise

Explanation/Justification

FP6

The customer is always a

co-creator of value

FP7

The firm can offer its applied resources

The enterprise can not
deliver value, but only offer and collaboratively (interactively) create
value following acceptance, but can not
value propositions

Implies value creation is interactional.

create/deliver value alone.

FP8

A service-centered view is
inherently customer
oriented and relational.

Service is customer-determined and cocreated; thus, it is inherently customer

oriented and relational.

FP9

All economic and social

actors are resource
integrators

Implies the context of value creation is

networks of networks (resourceintegrators).

FP10

Value is always uniquely

and phenomenological
determined by the
beneficiary

Value is idiosyncratic, experiential,

contextual, and meaning laden.

Clarifications: Service vs. Services

S-D
Logic

Services = intangible
products

The application of
knowledge and skills

Goods

Products
Services

Service =The process

of using ones
competences for the
benefit of some party

G-D Logic

S-D Logic
Service

Service transcends
goods and services

Direct
Indirect

Goods
Money

There
are No Services in Service-Dominant Logic

Clarifications:
Cocreation vs. Coproduction
S-D
Logic

Integration
With PublicFacing
Resources

Direct
Service
Provision

Provider of
Operand &
Operant
Resources

Coproduction

Service
Beneficiary

Service
Provision
via
Goods

Coproduction is relatively optional.

Cocreation
of Value

Value in
Context

Integration
With PrivateFacing
Resources

Value is always cocreated

What S-D Logic Might be

S-D
Logic

Foundation of a paradigm shift in

marketing
Perspective for understanding role of markets in
societyTheory of market
Basis for general theory markets and marketing

More generally, basis/foundation for

Service science
Theory of the firm
Reorientation for economic theory

Service Exchange through Resource

Integration and Value Co-creation
S-D
Logic

Resource
Integrator/
Beneficiary
(Firm)

Resource
Integrator/
Beneficiary
(Customer)

= Resource
Integrators

Service Ecosystems
S-D
Logic

An economic community supported by a

foundation of interacting organizations
that co-create value through service
exchange . It includes:

Suppliers
Producers
Competitors
Customers
Customers network of resources
Other social and economic stakeholders

Markets: Shared, or
Shaped and or (Co)Created
S-D
Logic

The MP3-Player Market

Or
The customizableentertainment- storageorganizer-and-personalassistant-and-lifeapplications-with-aWOW-factor-platform
market

The mineral-oil market

Or
The baby-butt-rash-avoidancemommy-guilt-reducingbody-massage-andsexual-lubricant market

The sodiumbicarbonate market

Or
The occasional-bakingBut-primarily-refrigeratorfreshening-teeth-cleaningclothes-brightening market

Korean Market Makers

S-D
Logic

The Thirsty Hippo

The Messages of S-D Logic

S-D
Logic

There are no services

There is only service
There is no new service economy
All economies are service based
There are no producers and consumers
All parties are resource integrators/enterprises
(i.e., Bs)

The Messages of S-D Logic (2)

S-D
Logic

Goods are not goods.

Goods are value propositions for service provision
Firms do not create value
Value is always co-created
Markets do not exist
The are imagined and created by linking resources
with peoples lives
And yet they do because we act as if they do.

Perspectives on Innovation
S-D
Logic

Goods
Innovation

Making better output (goods)

New technology
Efficient processes
Decreasing returns to scale
Purpose: increase market share

Services
Innovation

Making better output (services)

Apply goods innovation principles, adjusted
for IHIP deficiencies

Service
Innovation

Providing input into customers value-creation

processes
Link firm-available resources to peoples purposes
Effective solutions
Increasing returns to scale
Purpose: Owning the market -- market shaping

Innovation in Ecosystems Architecture

S-D
Logic

Innovations in Social Connectivity

S-D
Logic

Innovation in Outcome-Based Pricing/

Performance Contracting: Service for Sale
S-D
Logic

Power
By The
Hour

Innovation in Innovation (Cocreation)

S-D
Logic

Innovation Meets Marketing

S-D
Logic

Business has two basic functions:

Innovation & Marketing
Peter Drucker

In S-D logic, these become intertwined, if not

indistinguishable

True innovation is not

the making of novel units of output
but the designing and creating of new markets
through service provision

S-D
Logic

Thank You!
For More Information on S-D Logic visit:
sdlogic.net
We encourage your comments and input. Will also post:
Working papers
Teaching material
Related Links
Steve Vargo: svargo@sdlogic.net Bob Lusch: rlusch@sdlogic.net

Dynamics of the effectual network

S-D
Logic

Expanding cycle of resources

Actual courses of
Action possible

Who We
I amare
Who
I know
What We
know
Whom We
I know
know

What can
I do?
We
do?

(Affordable loss)

Interactions
with other
people

Effectual
stakeholder
commitments

Actual Means

Converging cycle of constraints

NEW MARKETS
AND NEW FIRMS

New
means

New
goals

S-D
Logic

The Source of the New

Service(s) Economy

G-D logic
classification

Increasing
division of
labor

Outsourcing

Apparent
New
Service
Economy

Resource Integration
S-D
Logic

Economic
Currency
Market-facing
Resource
Integrators

Private
Resource
Integrators

Social
Currency

Resource
Integrator
(individual,
family, firm,
etc.)

Public
Resource
Integrators

Public
Currency

New
Resources

Value