Theoretical Basis -- Service Engineering -- Transaction cost theory -- Customer processes -- Empirical Study -- The conceptual model -- Methodology -- Data analysis and interpretation -- Theoretical and practical implications -- Conclusion.

Services cannot be produced without the participation of the customer. The customer’s impact on the efficiency and effectiveness of the service process implies significant consequences for service process management. Due to this fact, customer processes need to be taken more into account. Janine Frauendorf analyzes how customer processes can be used to optimize the overall service process. In this context, the service blueprint represents the key tool of the thesis – originally a tool for designing and optimizing the internal process of the service operator, it is now extended by the customer process side. Transaction cost theory, as the link between supplier process and customer process, on the one hand and the script construct from cognitive psychology on the other, provide the theoretical basis for the thesis. On the basis of empirical results, the author presents significant implications for services research and helpful suggestions for business practice.