Jobs that won't be outsourced? Some say "services science."

[DeepModem Mom]

Academia Dissects the Service Sector, but Is It a Science?
By STEVE LOHR
Published: April 18, 2006


(Noah Berger for The New York Times)
Kurt Koester, a Berkeley student, is complementing his engineering studies with a course in services science.

On his Asian trip last month, President Bush urged Americans not to fear the rise toward prosperity of emerging economies like India. Education, Mr. Bush said, was the best response to globalization, climbing further up the ladder of skills to "fill the jobs of the 21st century."

But a ladder to where? That is, where are educated young Americans likely to find good jobs that will not be shipped off to India or China?

The answer, according to a growing number of universities, corporations and government agencies, is in what is being called "services science." The hybrid field seeks to use technology, management, mathematics and engineering expertise to improve the performance of service businesses like transportation, retailing and health care — as well as service functions like marketing, design and customer service that are also crucial in manufacturing industries.

A couple of dozen universities — including the University of California, Berkeley; Arizona State; Stanford; North Carolina State; Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; and Georgia Tech — are experimenting with courses or research programs in the field.

The push for services science is partly a game of catch-up — a belated recognition that services now employ more than 75 percent of American workers and that education, research and policy should reflect the shift. "Services is a drastically understudied field," said Matthew Realff, director of a new program at the National Science Foundation to finance university research in the field. "We need a revolution in services."...

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/18/business/18services.html

[msgadget]

1. I had to double check

to make sure Friedman han't written the article.

[mrcheerful]

2. A PHD so you can say, "you want fries with that burger"?

Talk about BS, well here you go.

[blogslut]

3. Proper service

Is not a science. It's an art.

[grottieyottie]

4. Walmart Managers n/t

[yy4me]

5. Talk about playing with words...

Service Sciences=door greeters, burger flippers, gas station attendants etc. These is nothing wrong with these jobs but to now call they "Service Science" jobs is like calling a water hazard on a golf course a "wetland".

[Earth_First]

6. Fortunately enough, the landscape industry...

Unfortunately enough, most will not be able to afford our services soon enough.

Sh*t, with the price of gasoline, I'm going to have a tough summer as an owner/operator attempting to keep contracts profitable and maintain those contracts.

[yy4me]

7. Our son-in-law is in the same business as you,

he is having problems now with the price of gas. Customers complain to him about his adding a small surcharge to help defray the cost of gas for mowers, blowers etc. For everyone who uses a landscaping service to cut the grass, step back before you complain about the cost to mow your lawn.
These guys work hard to do the job,but and maintain their equipment and make a living.