Taking services seriously: New directions in services management theory and research

Contemporary theoretical developments and global economic trends highlight the importance of services, and provide the impetus for developing new theory and research related to the role of organizations and employees in service design and delivery. We briefly summarize extant services management research and contextualize the four papers appearing in this special issue. These papers deal with theory development within the areas of human capital resources, emotions management HRM systems, employee-driven service delivery, and healthcare HRM, and provide detailed suggestions for future empirical inquiry. The conceptual rigor and innovativeness of perspectives characterizing these papers helps highlight the potential contribution of management scholars to the interdisciplinary study of services.