Sustainability as service

Purpose - The authors aim to describe the mutual perspectives of sustainability and service science and characterize them for the design and development of more sustainable services and to promote an overall shift toward sustainability. Design/methodology/approach - The paper presents a novel model for the design of services that fulfill customer demands and that can be continued for long periods of time without having a negative impact on either the natural or the social environment. Sustainability was therefore incorporated into the service supply chain not only as a primary value, but also as a super value that enables the customer to deliver sustainability to the next generation. Findings - The authors' findings suggest that a sustainable service should both imbue the core‐value of the service with sustainability and recruit the customer as a supplier of sustainability to future generations. Thus, sustainable service should mimic natural processes, in so doing achieving energy efficiency, using future‐oriented and life cycle perspectives, and evolving to smoothly adapt to changes in its environment. Moreover, sustainable service should account for the rational use of natural resources, technologies, and information and knowledge and integrate environmental, social, and economic elements together with the inclusion of services and of manufacturing and agricultural processes. Originality/value - The authors present a novel approach and a model that conceptualizes sustainability as a service while exploring the benefit of doing so, both for sustainability and for service science.