As the service sectors play an increasingly important role in both developed and developing economies, engineers and service professionals are well advised to become prepared with the knowledge and skills needed to enhance the strategic differentiation and operational excellence of their service enterprises. This tutorial offers a specific pathway to generate creative ideas, select the profitable ones to pursue, justify projects financially, manage development projects of innovative services, reach out to customers, and support service customers. Examples of achieving operational excellence are illustrated by standardizing work processes, enhancing quality and time-to-market (e.g., applying tools, such as Lean Six Sigma, value stream mapping, quality assurance, FMEA, web-based enablers and SOA-based emerging productivity tools), involving staff based on the profit-chain model, seeking productivity utilizing emerging technology, and adopting and constantly improving known best practices. This tutorial summarizes the key skills and knowledge in a Three Decker framework comprising of engineering management, business management and service leadership, cumulating in a “Take Charge” model. After attending this tutorial, participants will know how to focus their efforts on selected activities to maximize their contributions in creating strategic differentiation and operational excellence for their service employers.

A modified stage-gage process is used to discuss the key factors affecting the development and commercialization of innovative service offerings in order to create strategic differentiation. Multiple tools, both established and emerging, are reviewed to prepare participants in driving for operational excellence of service enterprises. A total of 12 engineering management subfields, as summarized in a Triple-Decker Leadership Architecture, are outlined to ready service professionals for meeting these challenges in the future. These subfields represent a mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive set of fundamental skills important for all aspiring service professionals to master.