The Ontology of (Supply Chain) Services

Deals with three topics -- capabilities, supply chain, and services -- all from an ontological point of view. A capability is defined as a disposition in whose realization an organism or group of organisms has an interest. Examples are both human skills and the capabilities of devices. A service is commonly regarded as a process of some sort, and the provision of a service thus consists in some action on the part of, for example, a hairdresser or gardener. Services are commonly considered in this respect as standing in opposition to goods, which survive the processes which create them. We show, providing examples from the supply chain domain, that this opposition does not hold -- many services give rise to patterns (for example the pattern on your head created by your hairdresser) which survive the process of providing the service. Services are focused on patterns also where protecting, maintaining, repairing or restoring a pattern of this sort.