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Componentization is a common approach in manufacturing that is suggested to lead to increased innovativeness at the firm level. Componentization has recently been given attention as a relevant approach for service providers. However, due to differences between services and manufactured products, and due to the diversity of the service sector, it is not obvious to what degree the application of componentization is relevant for all service providers. The purpose of this paper is to explore the usefulness of componentization for specialized service providers in the public sector.

The paper applies an interventionist research design, in which the componentization approach is implemented in one case organization.

The paper finds that componentization increases the service orientation of specialized public sector organizations (PSOs) and improves the ability of the top management to manage and control specialized PSOs. Perhaps most importantly, the paper determines that componentization represents a foundation and a baseline for identifying service innovation ideas in specialized PSOs.

The practical experiences reported in the paper may provide guidance to managers of specialized service providers who are seeking for ways to increase the efficiency, flexibility, and innovativeness of their organization.

By empirically testing and evaluating a componentization approach, the paper contributes to the knowledge base of how componentization increases the efficiency, flexibility, and innovativeness of specialized service providers. In addition, the paper demonstrates that the application of an interventionist research approach may be useful when the research aims to develop, adopt, or evaluate new service management methodologies.

Modularity promises to relieve problems of complexity in service systems. However, limited evidence exists of its application in specialized hospital services. The purpose of this paper is to identify enablers, constraints, and outcomes of modularization in specialized hospital services.

A qualitative comparative study of a hematology unit with modular service architecture and an oncology unit with integral service architecture in a university hospital is performed to analyze the service architectures, enablers and constraints of modularization, and outcomes.

A framework and five propositions combining the characteristics of specialized hospital services, enabling activities, and outcomes of modularization were developed. Modular service architecture was developed through limiting the number of treatment components, reorganizing production of standardized components into a separate service unit, and standardizing communication and scheduling in interfaces. Modularization increased service efficiency but diluted ownership of services, decreased customization, and diminished informal communication. This is explained by the specific characteristics of the services: fragmented service delivery, professional autonomy, hierarchy, information asymmetry, and requirement to treat all.

Modularization can increase efficiency in specialized hospital services. However, specific characteristics of specialized care may challenge its application and limit its outcomes.

The study identifies enabling activities and constraints that hospital managers should take into account when developing modular service systems.

This is the first empirical study exploring the enablers, constraints, and outcomes of modularization in specialized hospital services. The study complements literature on service modularity with reference to specialized hospital services.

The purpose of this paper is to describe how frequent attenders (FAs), divided into different profiles, use of primary care, emergency care and specialised medical care and which social services have been granted to them.

The present study utilises previous research of FAs and their identification of four profiles. The data were acquired from three data registries in Finland. Analysis of the FAs (n = 56) data was undertaken using descriptive statistics methods and qualitative analysis.

Patients with multiple problems used primary care, emergency care and specialized medical care frequently, and they had the highest number of appointments with doctors and nurses. Social services were required mostly social work. Visits made by patients with an impaired capacity caused by substance abuse were mainly targeted at appointments and mental health care services to a nurse in primary care. The required types of social services were often rehabilitative work experience. For mothers requiring support, the most frequently used services in primary were the child health and maternity clinic. The social services granted were mostly social work. Children and adolescents who are burdened by everyday concerns visits were mainly focused on primary to the child health and maternity clinic. Use of social services often entailed the supervision of contact sessions between parents and children’s.

The study confirmed that there is a need for increase knowledge of FAs. The service needs of FAs should be understood multi-dimensionally and the research results justify the individualised integration of social and health services for FAs.

The research results justify the individualised integration of social and health services for FAs.

This paper aims to show how leagility can be applied in professional services, especially hospitals.

The case study approach was used to consider the concept of leagility in professional services. Therefore, it studies a specialized hospital in Iran as a professional service provider.

The specific condition of the patients forces the hospital to be highly agile and at the same time it can benefit from lean strategies. By grouping healthcare services into three pipelines, it identifies decoupling points for the supply chain. It also argues that while discussing leagility in a professional service organization, the important role of human resources should be highlighted.

The paper considers leagility in a specialized hospital. There is a need to discuss this concept in generalized hospitals with multiple pipelines. It is also limited because it considers one specialized hospital, thus the results of this research cannot be generalized to other specialized hospitals.

Leagility in professional services is something rarely dealt with in the literature. Thus, this research expands on the concept of leagility in professional service, particularly in hospitals, and the paper fills this gap in the literature which could be further explored.

This study examines the activities of a specialized service desk and provides guidance on conducting an analysis of the activities. The authors wanted to know what is essential in terms of expertise, staffing, technology, collections and space at a Maps and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Service desk. The purpose of the study was to explore whether the provision of these services require a staffed service desk.

The authors collected data using mixed methods, including observing space use, administering a survey and analyzing desk interactions.

Findings suggest that while this service desk may have relatively little traffic, the interactions are time consuming and require a high degree of subject expertise. The data indicated that this service does not need to be delivered in this specific location; however, retaining the expertise and access to collections is vital. The authors recommend that formal assessment of services and space should be conducted prior to making significant changes in a service model.

This study investigates a specialized service desk which are not well-represented in the literature. Additionally, the variety of approaches used in this study could serve as a model for others for service desk assessment in general.

The following is an introductory profile of the fastest growing firms over the three-year period of the study listed by corporate reputation ranking order. The business activities in which the firms are engaged are outlined to provide background information for the reader.

The purpose of this paper is to present and discuss mental health services for people with intellectual disability (ID) in Norway.

A literature review and a survey were conducted to map services for people with ID and mental health problems in Norway.

The results were sparse and confirmed what is already known among clinicians working with these patients. The Norwegian services are fragmented and there are geographical differences.

There are no special services for children with ID developing mental illness. For offenders with ID, a national unit assesses and follows up, also when the person is sentenced to compulsory care and services are provided in their home municipality.

More data about both the patients and the services are needed in order to improve mental health services for people with ID in Norway.

This paper describes mental health services for people with ID in Norway.

The effects of privatisation, public work force downsizing and schemes to re‐invent government have eroded the middle management capacity that is crucial to the success of many community development programmes and complex public and private partnerships for learning disability services in the US. The impact of these factors has been accelerated by reform proposals from within the learning disability field that associate government and management with the perceived ills of traditional specialised service agencies and assume that market and other approaches to providing services will be superior. In addition, the consolidation of learning disability within broader health and human services, at state and local levels, along with large losses in the number of managers in learning disability services, has added to the problems of managing community services. Managing community services is therefore an important challenge in the US, and attention needs to be paid to the unique problems in this environment, with the roles middle managers play in the large and complex organisational environment of community services crucial to their stability and success. Managers more than management frameworks are especially important in the US, as comprehensive administrative arrangements at local level are unlikely to emerge. Disappointment about traditional approaches in specialised provision should not lead to uncritical assumptions about the superiority of alternative arrangements for managing learning disability services.

The purpose of this paper is to study the profiles of adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) requiring an inpatient psychiatric admission.

This paper examines profiles of 27 inpatients with intellectual disability (ID) and ASD who were admitted to a specialized inpatient unit in two time periods (January 2005 to June 2009 and July 2009 to December 2013) to explore changes over time in patient profiles.

Findings suggest that individuals who were admitted more recently between July 2009 and December 2013, were younger and more likely to come from other ethnic backgrounds than those admitted between January 2005 and June 2009. There was a trend for recent admissions to come from family homes, have moderate to profound ID and have longer hospital stay.

This is the first study to compare profiles of adults with ASD receiving inpatient services over time. The value of the study lies in illustrating that the needs of this growing patient group are changing which has implications for the treatment provision including specialized inpatient treatment.