Billions of impoverished people deserve to be better served: A call to action for the service research community

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to create a movement within the service research community\r\nthat aspires to help the billions of impoverished people across the world achieve better service from\r\neach other, from their communities, from corporations, from their governments, and from\r\nnongovernmental organizations. The authors believe every human being is worthy of being served\r\nproperly. To achieve this purpose, understanding and learning from this huge low-income segment of\r\nsociety known as the base of the pyramid (BoP) is essential. There are myths about the BoP that need\r\nto be dispelled and there is a fundamental lack of service research on this important problem.\r\nDesign/methodology/approach – The existence of an extensive BoP literature combined with\r\nservice research priorities has called attention to drafting research agendas. Human service systems\r\nare explored historically and systems theory provides a perspective for understanding and reducing\r\npoverty. Transformative service research, service design research, and community action research are\r\npresented to illustrate three research approaches that can contribute to understanding and then better\r\nserving the needs of the neglected billions of humanity. Journal of Service Management\r\nVol. 27 No. 1, 2016\r\npp. 43-55\r\n© Emerald Group Publishing Limited\r\n1757-5818\r\nDOI 10.1108/JOSM-04-2015-0125\r\nReceived 12 December 2014\r\nRevised 7 April 2015\r\nAccepted 20 October 2015\r\nThe current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:\r\nwww.emeraldinsight.com/1757-5818.htm\r\nThis paper originated at the meeting of the International Network of Service Researchers held at\r\nthe Service Research Center (CTF), Karlstad University, Sweden, September 24-26, 2014.\r\n43\r\nA call to\r\naction\r\nDownloaded by Universita Cattolica del Sacro Cuore At 07:49 17 May 2016 (PT)\r\nFindings – First, the authors present a practical and meaningful call to action by making the case for\r\nthe service research community to contribute to poverty alleviation with the creation of fresh ideas and\r\nresearch agendas. Second, the authors describe the ample opportunity for conducting service research\r\nin and with the BoP and thereby expanding service knowledge about the BoP. Third, the authors\r\nsuggest a number of approaches for service researchers to join this new movement and help improve\r\nthe well-being of billions of impoverished people.\r\nSocial implications – Most existing service research comes from highly developed Anglo-Saxon\r\ncountries and concerns the service problems of customers in affluent societies. Therefore, there is a\r\nfundamental lack of service research at the BoP. The social implications are truly global. Poverty is a\r\nglobal service system problem that can be reduced. Effective poverty alleviation solutions in one part\r\nof the world can be adapted to other parts of the world.\r\nOriginality/value – This paper is a new and very original call to action to the service research\r\ncommunity. First, with the exception of a few previous manuscripts calling for research on the BoP,\r\nthis is the first time a collaborative effort has been made to start systematically changing this\r\nknowledge gap. Second, the service research community has never worked on a project of\r\nthis magnitude. The authors hope to offer a role model to other academic communities as to how\r\nto marshal their resources to have a collective, positive impact on the well-being of the\r\nworld’s impoverished.