PCN 2.0 Diagrams – An Improved Visual Framework for Service Processes Management and Innovation

Visual frameworks can be essential tools in service process management and innovation, but to do so, they should represent the following elements. First, they must visualize all the steps that make up the processes. Then, customer interaction (i.e., the interaction between customers and service providers) and customer participation (i.e., customer contribution to service production and delivery) are two key strategic factors that visual frameworks should represent. In addition, identifying interacting stakeholders and their roles seems essential to assess how stakeholders participate in the process to create mutual value for all of them. In addition, highlighting the non-valuable steps seems imperative to identify opportunities for improvement. Finally, the duration of process steps and the channels through which the service is delivered (e.g., face-to-face or telephone) are crucial as they can influence customer perceptions and service quality. Several visual frameworks have been developed (Business Process Modeling Notation, Service Blueprinting, etc.), but Process Chain Network (PCN) Diagrams are the most comprehensive. Unfortunately, those diagrams have some limitations. First, PCN diagrams assume that a process begins when the customer expresses a need and ends when the need is satisfied. However, this choice may be inconvenient or impossible. In addition, they usually group stakeholders. This grouping is generally functional, but sometimes more detail is needed. Also, they do not distinguish between steps where customers find value potential, steps where customers realize value, and steps that produce value. Finally, they do not indicate the duration of process steps or the delivery channels. These limitations are significant in complex and lengthy processes such as health services. Taking PCN diagrams as a reference, this paper proposes PCN 2.0 diagrams to overcome these limitations. We first conceptualized the elements a visual framework should include reviewing widely used ones. Then we refined our framework by trying to represent actual service processes. Finally, we demonstrated the power of our framework through its application to the televisit service offered by one of the leading children's hospitals in Europe.