When the Internet became a mass phenomenon in the 1990s, many companies began creating interactive offerings: “E-tailers” such as Amazon sold merchandise online, vendors such as Cisco launched online support, and new companies such as Hotmail provided purely virtual offerings.

Because anything that transpires during an online interaction represents a performance or a process, it seems logical to think of such interactions as services. That makes the ARC a service too.Therefore, it might be useful to contemplate some important aspects of services and how they relate to the ARC. With this in mind, I would like to talk about "voice" and "co-production."

Voice
Some years ago, I worked at the UCLA computer center, picking up enough money to allow me to continue my education (as grad students need to do). I worked in User Services; we were responsible for staffing the help desk and for keeping the academic software running. At the time, I was doing doctoral research and needed to use statistical software outside of my job. I would occasionally discover that some piece of software was not working. I then acted as I thought any user would—complain and make sure that the software got fixed.

Eventually, I developed the feeling that I was discovering "too many" software problems. I asked myself why I seemed to be discovering them. Why didn't they get noticed by other users first? Finally, I found a blatant problem that I knew must have been obvious to many users over many months. It was only then that it occurred to me that the system’s users simply didn't report problems.

A complaint directed at a service provider is sometimes called "voice." For a provider to know that its service is inadequate or to learn how to improve its service, clients must lend their collective voice. Most often, customers simply exit, which is to say that they stop being customers without providing any feedback.

Co-Production
When you tell your hairdresser that you want it trimmed short in front, you are helping produce the haircut. Of course, this is generally not the case for goods; however, services are characterized by customer involvement in the production process. Co-production carries plusses and minuses from a management perspective. In general, customer involvement is a good thing, and co-production provides an opportunity to learn about the customer. But customers may be unclear about their role or unwilling or unable to help.

The ARC Needs Your Voice and Co-Production
The ARC, being a service, relies critically on customers’ (that would be you) voice and co-production. You can make your opinion known quite simply by sending e-mail to arc@ama.org. Is something not working? Is there content missing from the ARC that you would like to see? By spending a minute sending me an e-mail, you can make the ARC better.

Similarly, there are many instances in which you can improve the ARC by lending your expertise, one minute at a time. For example, I may know of a resource on site X, and you may know of a resource on site Y. If we both share our knowledge with the ARC, we both end up richer for it. Sharing on the ARC is as easy as an e-mail to arc@ama.org. Here are some examples of ARC content that you can submit:

• Bibliographies - Lists of citations
  
  
• Cases - Cases that have worked for you
  
  
• News Stories - Teachable items in the news
  
  
• PhD Seminars - Course reading lists
  
  
• Texts - Lists of books for prepping a new course
  
  
• Slides - PowerPoint slides that you think are well done
  
  
• Syllabi - Syllabi for marketing courses
  
  
• Theories - Overviews and key literature related to marketing theories (offers opportunities to get grad students involved)
  
  
• Videos - Recommendations for good classroom videos

You can share content for any of these sections with a single e-mail to arc@ama.org. Your contribution will inspire others, and, in the end, we will all have co-produced a more valuable ARC!

-Charles Hofacker, ARC Editor