The Operations Management Challenge in the Delivery of Complex Human Services Available to Purchase

Focuses on the problems associated with the dynamic harmonization of the actions of two or more complex and different human service agencies, in such a way that service packages are regularly reviewed in order to meet the changing needs of the client. Co‐ordinating the interventions of practitioners from different professions, employed by different organizations and working on the same cases, poses great challenges to operations managers. Elements of solutions currently being tested include the definition of a detailed delivery process common to all providers of human services to a given category of clients, the personalization of contact points between professionals (i.e. the human‐service equivalent of just‐in‐time in manufacturing) and the use of individualized service plans.