This book, edited by researchers from Aalto University, is a collection of articles that deal broadly with the relationships between peer-to-peer dynamics, and public services. Most of the cases  presented are illustrative of recent developments and discussions in Finnish society, however, also included are broader international perspectives, giving historical reflection and future-oriented speculation on how peer production might affect the structures of our society. Of particular interest is the role of Internet and new media in making these developments visible and scalable.

For more information and to download the PDF: http://co-p2p.mlog.taik.fi/
Join the Facebook online launch event: https://www.facebook.com/events/338776586194732/

This publication has been made with the support of Aalto Service Factory.

What do consumers expect from banks? How will people do their banking in 20 years from now? These questions are key topics in “The Future of Banking Services”, a book published by Aalto Service Factory today, discussing the trends and future of banking services and banking markets.

The book includes eight essays by academic researchers and professors on the trends of banking services as well as one special report of a research project carried out by students of the Aalto University. The book is sponsored by Nordea Bank Finland and edited by Jaakko Aspara, Risto Rajala and Virpi Tuunainen from the Aalto University.

The editors express that banking services and banking markets change significantly with globalization, digitalization and service economy advancing in our society. In the chapters of the book, scholars examine the role of banks as the promoter of consumers’ financial skills, the attitude of consumers towards banks’ personal communication and the elements constructing the reputation of banks in the social media. The students’ research report also visions four alternative scenarios that reflect the potential role of banks in the lives of consumers in the future.

The book is accessible as a pdf at: http://hsepubl.lib.hse.fi/pdf/hseother/Aalto_Report_BE_2012_001.pdf

The first Service Day event, jointly organized by Aalto Service Factory, VTT, and Hanken School of Economics, was held on Tuesday 29 May in Dipoli Congress Center, Espoo, Finland.

In the event, 250 participants got together to discuss cutting edge ideas in the field of service research and practice. The event’s opening and closing sessions featured inspirational key note speeches by leading service scholars including Professor Christian Grönroos (Hanken School of Economics, Finland), Professor Ezio Manzini (Politecnico di Milano, Italy), Professor Stephen Vargo (University of Hawaii at Manoa, USA), Honorary Professor Göran Roos (Warwick Business School, UK), and Research Professor Marja Toivonen (VTT, Finland).

The rest of the event was organized in two parallel sessions with different themes. IBM’s Jim Spohrer and many others from Finnish and international service companies gave interesting talks in the Industrial and Business Services-track, which was also the final meeting for VTT’s BestServ community. In the Co-Designing Services Workshop, the attendees used a “design games”-approach to solve a real-life problem scenario. The Grand Challenges in Service Research & Management session, in turn, discussed emerging opportunities in the services field driven by paradigm shifts in service thinking and changes in the services landscape.

Download the presentations (in pdf)

Keynote: Professor Stephen Vargo

Keynote: Professor Christian Grönroos

Keynote: Professor Ezio Manzini

Poster session

Co-designing services workshop

Grand challenges in service research & management session

Jim Spohrer at the Industrial and business services session

ASF hosted the Young Student – Go Services! event in Otaniemi this Wednesday, the 23rd of November. Students were invited to come and learn how to study services in the Aalto University and what is it like to work in the service sector after graduation. The event featured two keynote speakers; Professor Heikki Topi talked about the rise of services from the academic perspective while IBM’s Jyrki Koskinen talked about the importance of services in the business side. ASF Education Coordinator Mikko Heiskala gave an introduction to service-related studies in Aalto. The event ended in a panel discussion with professionals from Itella, IBM, and Mandatum Life who shared their experiences about working in service business and how it differs from traditional product industries.

Presentations from the event are now available online:

How to study services at Aalto University? Mikko Heiskala, ASF

Ubiquitous services. Professor Heikki Topi, Bentley University

Services for better business – and for better world. Jyrki Koskinen, IBM

Please also note Topi’s and Koskinen’s interview in the Aalto University web pages >>> (In Finnish, available in English soon)

Professor Heikki Topi

Jyrki Koskinen, IBM

Panel discussion

Panelist: Juhani Strömberg, Itella

Panelist: Sampsa Korhonen, IBM

Panelist: Henry Pesonen, IBM

Photos by Mikko Heiskala & Heikki Lempinen

More information: ASF Education Coordinator Mikko Heiskala (mikko.heiskala(at)aalto.fi)

Aalto Service Factory (ASF) grants funding for scientific research on services conducted in several multi-disciplinary research groups. On the grounds of on an open call for proposals, which resulted in 11 competitive proposals, ASF decided to grant a total of 240.000 euro to sponsor the following research groups and other activities in the services discipline during the 2011 fall season:

The main emphasis was laid on providing a continuation of the current thematic groups. The next round for funding will be organized during the fall 2011 to endow both the existing and new service research activities in 2012.

More information: Research Director Risto Rajala (risto.rajala(at)aalto.fi)

The application period for Aalto Service Factory coordinated Master’s Programs is open and closes on 28^th of February. If you want a to build successful career in services, Aalto University offers four Master’s Degree Programs that help you to lay the groundwork. See below for further information about program contents and how to apply.

- Service Management and Engineering Master’s Program. Aalto School of Science, Department of Industrial Engineering and Management. See http://information.tkk.fi/en/prospective_students/masters/sem/

- Service Design and Engineering Master’s Program. Aalto School of Science, Department of Computer Science and Engineering. See http://information.tkk.fi/en/prospective_students/masters/sde/

- Information and Service Management Master’s Program. Aalto School of Economics, Department of Business Technology. See https://www.hse.fi/EN/education/programs/p_21/ismi/

- Retail and Channel Management Master’s Program (in Finnish only). Aalto School of Economics, Department of Marketing. See http://www.hse.fi/FI/education/programs/p_17/trade/

More information: Education Coordinator Mikko Heiskala (mikko.heiskala(at)hut.fi)

Aalto Service Factory has appointed Mikko Heiskala as the new Education Coordinator starting 1st of January 2011.

Mikko Heiskala holds a M.Sc. from the Helsinki University of Technology, and is working towards a PhD in the Software Business and Engineering Institute (SoberIT). He has researched service mass customization, configurable services, and service modeling for the past seven years. He also holds a broad interest in topics related to service science, management, engineering and design (SSMED).

- I am thrilled to join the Aalto Service Factory. This new position gives me an opportunity to be involved in fulfilling the cross-disciplinary vision of the Aalto University. Creating synergies in education between all the Aalto schools – and on all levels spanning students, teaching faculty, and curricula – is an exciting challenge. Naturally, the importance of linking the latest research results and the practical challenges of business and industry with education cannot be emphasized enough – especially in a field developing as quickly as service currently does, Mikko Heiskala says.

We would like to warmly welcome Mikko to his new position and as part of the Aalto Service Factory core team!

More information: Coordinator Heikki Lempinen (heikki.lempinen(at)aalto.fi)

The website for Aalto Future Store, one of the Aalto Service Factory thematic groups, is now up and running at www.aaltofuturestore.fi

The website offers an environment for learning and research to all interested in the field of retail services. It includes blogs, student exercises, industry cases and other interesting market-related information on the topic, and is continuously updated by and with users of the website.  The website aims to bring new ideas as well as challenge the existing ones by facilitating discussion, collaboration and information sharing among researchers, students and industry people alike.

More information: Professor Arto Lindblom (arto.lindblom(at)aalto.fi)

More information about the Aalto Service Factory thematic groups

We warmly welcome You to an Open Lecture “Applying modularity principles to new services design” that
will be held by Professor Chris Voss, London Business School, and Associate Professor Juliana Hsuan,
Copenhagen Business School.

Thursday, January 20, 2011, 13.15-14.15
Aalto University School of Economics, Chydenia Building,
Hall “STORA ENSO” H-324, Runeberginkatu 22-24, Helsinki

More information >>

Please note, that the lecture is part of The Second International Service Modularity Seminar held in the Aalto University School of Economics.

ModSeC project (2008-2010) (Modularity Enabling the Development of New Service Offerings) was a two-year research project in the Serve Programme of the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation (Tekes). The project was conducted by researchers from the University of Oulu and the Aalto University School of Economics, with collaboration from a number of international researchers and company partners. The project explored how modularity can facilitate the development of innovative solutions in business-to-business services.

More information about key results»