1. Waste of overproduction-Purchasing items before they are needed-Executing the service activity before the next personis ready for it for instance, processingpaperwork before the next person isready for it

2. Waste of motion-A layout of facility that promotes un-necessary movement of employees such as todiscuss with otheremployees-Scattered departments in an organisation-Walking to/from copier, central filing, faxmachine

3. Waste of inventory-Printed documents and files more than necessary-Filled in-boxes (electronic and paper)-More stationery than required-More IT equipment than required ina workplace-Documents/records stored beyond retention period

4. Waste oftransportation-Excessive e-mail attachments-Multiple handoffs adding little or no valueto the overall process-Bureaucratic procedures such as multiple approvals-Files moving from one branch toanother-Un-necessary movement of documents between employees

5. Waste of waiting-Customers waiting for the delivery of service-Employees waiting to receive from others preceding them in supplychain-Services activities waiting to be processed by the person next insupply chain for instance, files anddocuments waiting for signatures or approval-New employees awaiting infrastructure/computer-Information technology system downtimes suchas intranet, internet, and enterprise informationsystems downtimes-Time taken to respond to customer queries

6. Waste of underutilized people-More people involved in a job than necessary-Not involving theassociates in process improvements-Not leveraging the potential ofindividuals to thefullest-Not using the creative brainpowerof employees-Not giving the right assignment/work-Uneven workdistribution/load balancing

7. Waste of defects-Errors made in the execution ofservice-The end product/service not up tothe specifications-Rework on the project-Incorrect data entry8. Waste of over-processing-Redundant steps in a process which produce waste and add little or no value-Multiple inspections in a process the task of one person being checked by others-Overdesigninga product or service for a customer-Inept design of service delivering processes-Inadequate technology for handling, storing, and archiving information and planning processes

4.1 Management of knowledgeFor knowledge-intensive services the management of knowledge is a core requirement fordeveloping and maintaining competitive advantage. Knowledge management consists of four

interrelated processes: knowledge creation, knowledge storage and retrieval, knowledge transferand knowledge integration (Alavi & Leidner, 2001). We will address these four processes next.4.1.1 Knowledge creationThe important insights regarding knowledge creation could be obtained from Nonaka (1994) andNonaka and Takeuchi (1995) whoelaborated on various modes of knowledge generation throughan interplay of explicit and tacit knowledge. The explicit knowledge consists of knowledge thatcan be codified and is thus capable of being clearly stated. Collective explicit knowledge residesin operating procedures, documentation, information system, rules, blueprints, etc. The tacitknowledge, on the other hand, is acquired from experience and learning by doing. It is difficultto articulate in words. The tacit knowledge is found in organisational routines

4.2 Coordination of activitiesIn knowledge-intensive services, the processes are extensively inter-related. An importantrequirement in such services is the use of multidisciplinary expertise and effective coordinationamong individuals. The use of multiple handoffs and requirement for coordination also posescertain challenges. Firstly, the involvement of multiple handoffs may create problems at eachinterface. In an ideal situation the processes pass on from one employee to another in acontinuous and non-interrupting manner. However in practice variations from the standard timeare inevitable. Such variations in the processing time interrupt the whole value chain and thus arepotential sourcesof wastesuch as wasteof over-processing, underutilization, waiting, andwasteof over-production. These wastes can be overcome, to some extent, through enhancedcommunication such as regular meetings and effective capacity planning. But this brings inother types of waste, such as waste of moving and underutilization, as noted earlier. In suchcases, a trade-off between different types of wastes may beinevitable

4.3 Standardizing customized servicesThe company runs projects of various types. The project proposals are sent to potential as well asexisting customers. Each proposal is different and is unique to requirements of customers. Inorder to make project proposal more professional and appealing, participation of multipleemployees is encouraged. This is a source of waste since it involves more employees thannecessary as well as underutilization of employees who could be trained to do it moreprofessionallyontheirown.Thus,whiletheremaybemultiplemethodstomakethisprocesslean; the current process of proposal preparation is a potential source of waste.In addition, the project specifications and other technical and administrative communication withexternal parties need to be professional and accurate. Again using multiple individuals promotesan organisational culture where employees believe that their work would be checked by othersand thus relieves responsibility from them to some extent. One employee pointed out I amgladthat my documents are checked by another person.

4.4 Developing systematic continuous improvementThe service companies usually work under time pressures. Delivering the service and completingthe project in time is of utmost importance for the Houseconsult. Time pressures are furtheraccentuated in the presence of next projects in line. The need for a systematic review of thefinished projects, lessons learned from completed projects, and their integration into knowledgesources of the company was often ignored in such pressures. The lessons learned from previousprojectsandtheirintegrationintomainsourcesofknowledgeremainachallengeforthecompany. As such it carries the risk of not learning from previous mistakes and experiences andthus repeating same mistakes again and again. This is a potential source ofwaste generation.

4.5 Managing external partiesKnowledge-intensive services are characterized by their intangibility, hence are open fordiscussion with customers and suppliers. It is often difficult to exactly specify the services to bedelivered beforehand, due to the customers' specific requirements. Often the actual service isshaped during interaction between customer and service provider. This specific character ofknowledge-intensive services is prone to several types of wastes. For instance, in our research acustomer requested services from a supplier of his choice regarding paint and maintenance. Thiswas not discussed beforehand. This led to frequent communication between the company, thecustomer and the suppliers on specifications, offers and orders. These activities were notbudgeted, norbilled to thecustomer, hence contributing to financial loss. Spending more timeinpreparationoftheofferanddeterminingtheconditionsofacceptingtheoffer,couldhavepreventedwastesofwaitingandwastesofmotion(sendingallthedocumentsaround).Thechallenge is to what extent the ordering conditions need to be detailed to prevent these wastes, asdetailing contracts carries the waste of over-processing