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The fast pace of the technological evolution forces workers to update their competencies in order to remain attractive in the labor market. Those changes suggest that in order to remain employable, workers need to add new skills (either soft or digital) to their “traditional” competencies, demonstrating the ability to work in an interdisciplinary agile fashion. We argue that this professional evolution resembles the characteristics of the T-shaped professionals, and that it is possible to interpret the changes of jobs that are caused by the technological revolution drawing on job design literature. Hence, analyzing the data of a survey administered to a sample of 238 workers employed in Veneto Region, we explore the skill shapes of jobs that are present in the labor market and we assess their relationship with the workers’ and organizational characteristics.

PurposePoverty, hunger, inequalities, diseases, unsustainable use of resources, etc., in spite of scientific progress, still remains unsolved worldwide issues. All these issues relate to the challenges of sustainability and sustainable development that now call for urgent answers. The purpose of this paper is to explore how the service research community can respond to this call and to identify key areas of potential contribution.Design/methodology/approachAfter a brief review of selected service literature aimed at exploring its interest in the topics of sustainability and sustainable development, the authors develop the interpretative proposal identifying the key requirements of a global engagement in the challenge of sustainability and sustainable development and highlighting the potential contribution of service research.FindingsFindings highlight the potential contribution of service research to the global challenge of sustainability and suggest acting upon education by considering the “T-Shaped” professional model as a possible reference for embedding sustainability in the education of future managers and addressing the need of interdisciplinary thinking through the systems approach.Research limitations/implicationsThe proposed study of service literature is only an exploratory analysis of main contributions that does not aim to identify gaps but only to highlight the potential of a greater engagement of service research in the global call for a more sustainable and inclusive development.Practical implicationsA trans-disciplinary approach is also required. This implies the involvement of the business and the social real world.Originality/valueThis paper represents a novel call for engaging the service research community in a boundary-crossing collaboration with the aim of contributing to address the challenge of sustainability.

Purpose of the paper: Building upon the advancements in knowledge proposed by the research stream about the “T-shaped professional”, the paper aims to investigate the opportunities and key factors of rethinking traditional education models and programs by exploring the contribution of service research in the field of education through the interpretative lens of systems thinking. Methodology: The paper traces a wide conceptual framework rooted in systems thinking and service research with the intent of highlighting the contribution of a T-shaped view in higher education programs. The proposed conceptual arguments are then tested through the analysis of the Master’s Degree program in Service Science, Management and Engineering (SSME) of the Masaryk University in Brno (Czech Republic). Results: The paper proposes basic arguments for the development of a T-shaped model in higher education programs and empirical evidence concerning the possibility of implementing an effective T-shaped approach based on systems thinking in order to revise/rethink higher education programs. Practical implications: The paper provides a path to combine traditional hyper-specialized knowledge with more dynamic and cross-sectional capabilities in higher education programs. Originality of the paper: A wide perspective about the “T-shaped professionals” as a possible reference model in which vertical expertise is combined with horizontal capabilities and cross-sectional knowledge is proposed in the light of Systems Thinking and Service Research.

Interdisciplinaire samenwerking - leren van elkaar. Presentatie op landelijk congres bewegen en activeren in de ouderenzorg. In de sessie over interdisciplinair werken zijn een presentatie en een workshop gegeven met als centrale thema de t-shaped professional.

Voor ieder kind een plek: t-shaped werken Presentatie gegeven tijdens de conferentie De care teacher als nieuwe professional op 18 januari 2016 te Utrecht. In deze presentatie gaat Doornenbal in op de vraag wat de kenmerken zijn van een inclusieve pedagogisch-educatieve cultuur en uitvoeringspraktijk voor jonge kinderen. Wat vraagt dit vervolgens van professionals, multidisciplinaire teams en leiderschap? Inmiddels is daar in de praktijk ervaring mee opgedaan. Wat zijn belemmerende en bevorderende factoren?

Hoofdstuk in het Handboek Werken in de Wijk.

Hoofdstuk in het Handboek Werken in de Wijk.

Purpose – Poverty, hunger, inequalities, diseases, unsustainable use of resources, etc., in spite of advances of the last decades, still result unsolved worldwide issues. All relate to the challenges of sustainability and sustainable development that now call for urgent answers. Education is one of the key drivers of a really transformative change. To address this change, however, a profound re-thinking of education programs is required, as has emerged at the end of the UNESCO’s Decade of Education for Sustainable Development. The purpose of this paper is to explore how the scientific community of the Naples Forum on Service responds to this call. Design/Methodology/approach – By adopting a “3Pillars-Based” integrated perspective, key assumptions and findings from the three scientific communities of the Forum are identified to find foundational elements of a lifelong education process, targeted to address the multiple challenges of sustainability and sustainable development. Findings – Through the interpretative lens of the Viable Systems Approach, convergence between the three scientific proposals of Network and Systems Theory, Service-Dominant logic and Service Science, relevant to the building of a common framework for re-thinking education, are discussed. Findings indicate the skills with which decision makers must be endowed to face the challenges of transformative change toward sustainability and sustainable development. Boundary crossing and systems thinking capabilities are specifically identified as key skills to be developed. These findings suggest the opportunity to consider the “T-Shape” model as a general reference for re-thinking education methodologies and programs, as it implies an effective integration of soft and hard skills. A trans-disciplinary systems thinking based body of theoretical and practical knowledge is required as fostered by Sustainability Science. Education of T-shaped People may be a solution. Research implications - An integrated effort of scientific communities engaged in research that can contribute to the global call for a more sustainable and inclusive world, is essential. Practical implications – Trans-disciplinarity implies the involvement of people from the business and social real world in the education process, to test and put in practice advances by adopting real problem solving approach. Originality/value – This paper represents a call for engaging the Naples Forum on Service scientific and professional communities in worldwide collaboration to contribute to address the global challenge of a more sustainable and inclusive world by leveraging on education. Paper type – Conceptual paper

A "service system" is a structured configuration of people, technology and shared information that interacts with other service systems to create value. It is a strategic question for organizations: what is one's own role in the value chain, how does one create value, and what is needed for ensuring value creation. Every successful organization needs diverse employees with communication skills and expertise from various different disciplines. Those kinds of employees are referred to as "T-shaped professionals." Our conceptual discussion aims to analyze the concepts of T-shaped professionals and diversity of the teams in the context of service systems value creation.

A "service system" is a structured configuration of people, technology and shared information that interacts with other service systems to create value. It is a strategic question for organizations: what is one's own role in the value chain, how does one create value, and what is needed for ensuring value creation. Every successful organization needs diverse employees with communication skills and expertise from various different disciplines. Those kinds of employees are referred to as "T-shaped professionals." Our conceptual discussion aims to analyze the concepts of T-shaped professionals and diversity of the teams in the context of service systems value creation.