Services make up the largest part of the GDP in industrialized countries. In contrast to development, marketing and delivery of physical goods, research on development processes and value chains in services is still a young discipline.

Furthermore, there are different approaches to services, which have little overlap. One example: the economic view oftentimes contrasts services with products  while the computer science view sees services as software-based services.

At the same time, the increasing relevance of services in all areas of business - also in the manufacturing industry - has led to broader definitions of the core of services being the "co-creation" (between customer and provider) "of value", thereby encompassing a wide range of economic activities.