S.Lab – Service Management Lab – is a cutting-edge research centre of Católica Porto Business School. The objective of S.Lab is to produce and transfer knowledge for increasing productivity, quality and innovation in service-related industries and tasks.

Working in close cooperation with companies, S.Lab develops research projects focused on real-world problems in several areas of Service Management.

Mission and objectives
 

One of the major challenges faced by developing economies in the next few decades is to increase the efficiency, quality and innovation of their service delivery activities. The goal is to match the great development in best practices and performance that has taken place in the manufacturing sector.

The Service Management Lab (S.Lab) is a cutting-edge research centre of Católica Porto Business School whose purpose is to produce and transfer knowledge to increase the productivity, quality and innovation of service-related industries and service-related tasks. S.Lab works closely with the business world to develop projects and research that address concrete problems through a rigorous, independent and multidisciplinary scientific approach. S.Lab works not only with traditional service providers (retail, distribution, healthcare services, financial services, insurance, consulting, government services, communication, transportation, contact centres, etc.), but also manufacturing firms with a relevant service-delivery component.

Faculty 

S.Lab relies on a resident team of experts from Católica Porto Business School. To meet the specific requirements of each project, S.Lab brings together multidisciplinary teams with the necessary skills drawing on the resident faculty, the School’s faculty at large and students (particularly Master’s degree students). External researchers and international experts can be co-opted using the extensive network of S.Lab in the best international business schools.

The S.Lab team has extensive national and international experience in different sectors, in particular retail (SONAE and Jerónimo Martins), telecommunications (Optimus), banking (BES and BCP), transportation (TAP, Portugália and STCP), utilities (EDP and water companies from the UK), public administration (French and Portuguese Ministries of Finance), tourism (Douro Azul) and manufacturing (Rank Xerox, Siemens and ADIRA).

S.Lab Members 

S.Lab Partners 

Contacts 

Rui Soucasaux Sousa, S.Lab Director, Full Professor
rsousa@ucp.pt