17, 2010
OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR (NY Times)
An Order of Prosperity, to Go
"PRESIDENT OBAMA called on America to "export more of our goods" in his State of the Union address last month, setting a goal of doubling what we sell abroad in five years. Good idea, but it would have been so much better if he had said "goods and services."
Editing the president's speeches isn't my job, but the missing words suggest that the White House, like much of the rest of the country, hasn't realized that exports of services are one of America's 21st-century success stories. We still picture exports being loaded on ships or planes, but - as the accompanying chart based on Commerce Department data shows - overseas sales are today increasingly delivered in person or sent across the Internet.
Exports of American services have jumped by 84 percent since 2000, while the growth rate among goods was 66 percent. America trails both China and Germany in sales of goods abroad, but ranks No. 1 in global services by a wide margin. And while trade deficits in goods have been enormous - $840 billion in 2008 - the country runs a large and growing surplus in services: we exported $144 billion more in services than we imported, dwarfing the surpluses of $75 billion in 2000 and $58 billion in 1992.
Equally important, Commerce Department data show that the United States is a top-notch competitor in many of the high-value-added services that support well-paying jobs..."

By W. MICHAEL COX

Guest Editor: Dr. Yingdong Lu, USA.

It is widely accepted that workforce management is critical to profitability, growth and client satisfaction of companies in service industry. Considerable amount of resources have been devoted in improving workforce management in industry practices. New methodologies emerge in a very fast pace in different areas. Meanwhile, at theory front, mimicking the development of supply chain management theory for the manufacturing industry, exciting new research topics on workforce management are being investigated from various angles by researchers from different fields.

Service Science aims to facilitate the development of new theories, as well as their permeation to the practice fields. Our goal is to provide a platform for both researchers and practitioners to communicate their new ideas, so that important problems in workforce management can be addressed from more complete point of view. Of course, every problem solved naturally generates many more new challenges, we also expect the interactions between academia and industry to stimulate new ideas, models and analytical methods.

The issue provides a global forum for presenting academically-thorough research and case studies in both theoretical development and applied research in the area of workforce management.  We are specifically interested in the development and implementation of quantitative methods, such as those developed in the field of statistics, operations research and machine learning.

Subject Coverage

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:

• Issues, gaps, and unmet needs in workforce management practice
• Service business trends and transformation
• Analytic methods for workforce management
• Data issues in workforce management analysis
• Performance analysis and capacity planning for contact centers
• Health care related workforce management
• Long term workforce evolution and planning

Notes for Prospective Authors

Submitted papers should not have been previously published nor be currently under consideration for publication elsewhere. (N.B. Conference papers may only be submitted if the paper was not originally copyrighted and if it has been completely re-written).

All papers are refereed through a peer review process. A guide for authors, sample copies and other relevant information for submitting papers are available on the Author Guidelines page (http://www.sersci.com/ServiceScience/author.php)

Important Dates

Full paper deadline: 30 April, 2010

Notification of acceptance and review results: 30 June, 2010

Revised submission deadline: 1 Aug., 2010

Final acceptance: 15 Aug., 2010

Editors and Notes

All papers must be submitted to the guest editor.

Guest editor’s contact information

Dr. Yingdong Lu

IBM T.J. Watson Research Center,

Yorktown Heights,

NY 10598, USA.

(yingdong@us.ibm.com)

Buy a hard copy of <<Service Science>> V1N1 at Lulu.com

(http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/service-science-v1n1/7610134)

"With a system like the one Tendril describes, utilities that charge nine cents per kilowatt-hour during ordinary times might charge a much higher price--say 75 cents--when demand peaks, says Harvey Michaels, an energy efficiency scientist and lecturer at MIT. Consumers could save money by using energy-intensive appliances when prices are lower, and the shift in demand could significantly reduce costs for utilities. Indeed, if pricing schemes could be used to redistribute demand equally throughout the day, no new electricity-generating capacity would need to be installed for as long as 28 years, according to an article appearing soon in the new journal Service Science by Richard Larson, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at MIT. "

More at MIT Technology Review: http://www.technologyreview.com/energy/22366/

Single checkout line, though long, can be faster, fairer, expert says

"Social networks enable people to manage far-flung relationships… Cars show you how quick acceleration reduces gas mileage… Medical data help you see how nutrition, exercise and habits like smoking and drinking impact specific health issues.

We are getting access to information at every turn, information that enables us to make better (mostly very small) decisions that improve our lives and add up to dramatically better use of our resources: money, energy, expertise and time."

Please read more:

http://www.ibm.com/ibm/ideasfromibm/us/smartplanet/20081117/sjp_speech.shtml

Nov. 20, 2008: After almost half year effort, Service Science goes alive today!

Service Science, a fully refereed journal focusing on fast-track publication, provides the primary and effective forum for both academic scholars and industry practitioners to propose and foster quick discussions on state-of-the-art research and development in the service science field and related areas. Ultimately, the presented empirical results, newly discovered science and technology can be effectively disseminated in academia and explained to policy makers, practicing professionals and managers.

Highlights of Service Science:
By taking advantage of the new Internet technology, Service Science will be substantially different from any current journals. As you will see, it has the following unique characteristics:

1.     A quick review and publication process (e.g., 3 months).

2.     Free public access to promote fast diffusion and dissemination.

3.     Wiki capability to promote timely discussion and research collaboration.

4.     Editorials from the editorial board to stimulate the debates around the "hot and emerging" topics.

5.     More contributions from practitioners. As practitioners would have more insightful information on the service-led economy and understand better the underlying issues, the challenges facing the developed and developing economies can be understood and accordingly addressed in a timely manner.

Please register yourself and log on, contribute and share your new findings or thoughts...With the enormous supports like yours, Service Science will certainly grow and be well developed to serve the community and worldwide economies.

Service Science Administrative Office