Project descriptions

Upcoming projects

Research master

The Maastricht University School of Business and Economic offers two Research Master programmes:

  1. a Master of Science in Business Research and
  2. a Master of Science in Economic & Financial Research, incl. a special track in Operations Research

The main differences between the regular Master of Science programmes and the Research Master programmes are the fact that a regular Master of Science programme lasts 1 year whilst a Research Master programme takes 2 years. On top of that the Research Master programmes are a step-up for a PhD of three 3 additional years: the so-called 2 + 3 PhD path.

The Service Science Factory is challenged to work on the marketing and communication efforts related to recruiting interested Research Master students. Here’s what our objectives are:

  1. To reposition the Research Master programmes and increase interest and participation of (inter-) national students.
  2. To rearticulate the intrinsic value of the Research Masters by defining an inspiring and promising value proposition.
  3. To weight the Research Master as a premium in the total program of SBE as a didactical concept of science research

In case this sounds interesting to you, please send us your application mentioning your interest in the project and motivating your expertise and skills that are added value to this project. Please send your application to: joinus@servicesciencefactory.com mentioning RESEARCH MASTER in the referral line.

Ongoing projects

Relationship management in the health sector

The department of general practitioners of the Maastricht University Health faculty is responsible for training and educating skilled future general practitioners. For this, close co-operation with existing general practitioners is of high importance. Practices of general practitioners provide internship possibilities to students and are involved in education and research at the Health faculty.

At the moment however, only a limited number of general practitioners are actively involved in education, training and research. In order to guarantee the quality and quantity of future general practitioners, active involvement is desirable.

This project will focus on identifying different types of general practitioners (personas) and the reasons for (un)involvement in the Health curriculum. Based on these outcomes, a new or improved structure or ‘landscape’ for managing relationships with the target groups will be designed.

Completed projects

Maastricht University Summer School (MUSS)

Maastricht University starts a Summer School that will receive its first students in the summer of 2012.
In the fall of 2011 the Summer School wants to launch itself as a new service of Maastricht University, targeting higher education students between 18-25 years old worldwide.

The Summer School programmes focus on two groups:

  • The Meet Maastricht University programme for bachelor students interested in an intellectual challenge and/or obtaining additional credits in the summer months.
  • The Pre Master Training is a the second programme aiming at (admitted) master students at Maastricht University who need or wish to work on deficiencies in i.e. Statistics, Academic writing, PBL preparation. Of course there will be a social and cultural programme alongside the hard work!

    • MUSS has approached the Service Science Factory to help them find the best way to position themselves on the summer school market: the proposition, the website, the mediamix and more.

    The summer school orientation phase of potential students starts in November, so MUSS is in a hurry to be in time!

    Océ: A documentary from 2020

    The emphasis of this project is on the future of the ‘document’ and information itself.

    To get a feeling for how information is perceived, we will examine the meaning of a ‘document’ across different stakeholders, generations, cultures and life roles (e.g. private/business) in the first phase of the project (Inspect Phase). In addition, the actual usage of documents also plays an important role – an analysis of how information is created and shared therefore constitutes another project element. These initial insights will be the basis for the second phase of the project: the Generate Phase. As we would like to take a look into the future, the gathered insights from the first phase will help us to make meaningful projections and assumptions about information exchange behavior in the year 2020.

    The “Siemens Energy” Project

    The focus of this project is the Compressors product line within the Oil & Gas and Industrial Application Services business unit of Siemens Energy, the division of Siemens that offers solutions for the utmost efficiency and productivity along the entire energy conversion chain. Though this specific product line performs within the company’s expectations, the service associated with it (e.g. components sales, overhauls, repairs, field services, modernization and upgrades) has fallen well below customers’ expectations. Siemens Energy suspects that the root of the problem might be internal in nature and that a cultural shift is required to transform the compressors product line into a more customer-centric and service-oriented business unit. Thus, the challenge of this project is to assess whether the company’s assumption is correct and how it can be addressed through service innovation.

    The “UM Sport” Project

    As part of the Student Service Centre (SSC), UM Sport is offering sports activities for students and employees of Maastricht University and Hogeschool Zuyd. Currently, the services are offered to 6,500 members out of whom approximately 6000 are students. Members can choose between participating in open hour group classes and trainings, courses, using the gym facilities and joining the Student Sports Associations (SSA). Nevertheless, the current membership concept is based on quite a complex system, involving several restrictions and exceptions. Therefore, potential customers often feel confused and thus UM Sports employees need to devote a lot of individual attention to new registrations, hence resulting in an increase in time and costs for both parties. The aim of this Service Science Factory project is to design a new and simpler to understand membership concept that is customer – centric, financially sustainable and easier to communicate to potential UM Sport customers.

    The “Geopark Maastricht” Project

    ENCI is a household name to many in Maastricht. ENCI a cement manufacturer operates a plant that processes marl from a large in-site quarry. Within a few years, the quarry will be taken out of production. The municipality has created a foundation that unites several stakeholders on the challenge to find new use for the quarry and the industrial area in-between the river and the quarry. SSF has been asked to co-create a service concept that will bring tourists to the former quarry (for example, to learn about its geological history and/or to engage in outdoor leisure activities). Perhaps even a part of the paleontological excavations from the quarry could be put on display, obviously in a way that will appeal to potential visitors. The outcome of this SSF project could become a key element of Maastricht’s bid to become European Capital of Culture in 2018. This exciting, yet demanding, service concepting project is recruiting team members that aim to have a lasting impact on the city and its natural treasures.

    “LWV” Project

    The subsidiary of LWV, called “Parkmanagement BV” being concerned with the enhancement of business parks is looking for a new tool to examine properties and conditions of these areas. Often, industrial areas are defined along several characteristics, prominently by the physical aspects, for example infrastructure. Companies looking for potential establishments are also interested in additional information that might not be observed directly. Safety issues and skilled employees are of interest and can be crucial factors in the decision making process of companies. The aim of the project is to develop a web-based scan comprising a variety of criteria defining the quality of a business park.

    “UM Library” Project

    The UM Library is currently looking for a way to broaden their offer towards researchers within the University. The idea is to create a physical area – a research support area – where researchers find an environment to work in and to cooperate with each other. In this regard, the environment needs to be “filled” with suitable services. Aiming at not just satisfying the wants and needs of researchers, but to generate a very positive experience with the library (delight). These efforts should result in satisfaction scores improving from 7 to 9+. Possible ideas could go into the direction of videoconferencing locations, facilitating networking with respect to EU subsidies, providing additional (virtual) communication channels for cooperation and article search methods. The service concept development is followed by a creation of a marketing and communication plan, ensuring to integrate the new offerings into the daily routine of researchers and to emphasize the usage of the library services.

    “Student Services Center” Project

    The Student Services Center is divided into different departments providing services to students with respect to the educational process (e.g. Admission and Registration Office) and student life (e.g. UM Sports). These separate departments recently investigated current sponsoring activities and this resulted in need for additional research questions. Especially, with respect to the marketing of the SSC, several issues still need to be covered. A division of the marketing into an internal and an external part seems appropriate. Internally, it needs to be decided what image the SSC wants to provide to their ‘customers’. A target group as well as the belonging value propositions should be defined clearly. With a proper communication plan the SSC can market their concept to all stakeholders, also in the external environment. The possibilities of a third money stream through sponsoring should be explored as well. Equipped with a proper marketing plan and value proposition, one can investigate the presence of possible partners, as well as provide a guideline of how to approach these external parties.

    “Kids University for Cooking” Project

    What we observe in today’s society is alarming: people are less and less active and a healthy lifestyle is often forgotten in times of a fast food culture. Therefore, it is very crucial that we start educating the youngest amongst us – children. How can we reach out to them and create a virtual platform that is attractive and educative at the same time? To find answers it is crucial to look at the target group of 6-16 year olds, examine where they spend their time and what triggers them to actively take part in a new community. Next to this, the new platform shall be integrated with the physical part of Kids University, and finding the right balance as well as establishing the links between those two is part of this project.