Transformative Service Research (TSR) examines the transformative power of services in the lives of individuals, communities, and society. It focuses on how service systems—whether public, health, educational, digital, or technological—can serve as drivers of well-being, inclusion, and social justice. Moving beyond a vision focused solely on organizational performance, TSR places fundamental issues such as equity, access, dignity, the reduction of vulnerabilities, and the creation of positive societal impact at the heart of its analysis. It thus invites us to rethink services not only as spaces for exchange, but as instruments of transformation for a more just, inclusive, and humane society.

Flamure Ibrahimi’s research is rooted in this transformative perspective and focuses on corruption in service interactions involving frontline employees or service providers, particularly its implications for vulnerable and underserved populations. Shaped by her personal journey as the daughter of refugees who did everything they could to rebuild their lives in a new country with limited resources, Flamure became aware at a very early age of the essential role that service systems play in access to rights, recognition, dignity, and well-being. This experience inspired her interest in the ethical and societal dimensions of service systems.

Her doctoral thesis examines corruption beyond its legal, structural, or normative aspects, focusing instead on the phenomenon from a more interactional, process-oriented, ethical, and behavioral perspective.  Her current research, in collaboration with Prof. Dr. Wafa Hammedi (University of Namur), Prof. Dr. Linda Alkire (Texas State University), and Prof. Dr. Gazi Islam (Grenoble Ecole de Management), further explores this perspective.  In the context of frontline service interactions, corruption can impair access to essential resources and undermine mechanisms of equity and trust. While these effects affect all users, they are particularly pronounced for people in vulnerable situations or from underserved populations, for whom access to services is often a decisive factor in their life trajectories.

ServCollab is an international nonprofit organization at the forefront of global research in Service Research. Founded under the leadership of Prof. Dr. Raymond P. Fisk, a leading pioneer in the field, the organization draws on a network of top academic experts to translate scientific theory into drivers of societal impact. Transformative Service Research (TSR) is based on the idea that individuals operate within service systems that shape their access to resources and their well-being. When these systems malfunction, they can lead to inequality and suffering. The ServCollab Scholarship is awarded following a selection process by a jury composed of eminent researchers in this field, and supports doctoral students whose research aligns with this perspective and contributes to the betterment of humanity. 

Led by Professors Nathalie Burnay (sociology) and Michel Ajzen (management) from the Faculty of Economics, Management, and Communication (EMCP) at Sciences Po, University of Namur, this interdisciplinary project aims to conceptualize the ethics of care—“taking care” in French—within organizations and the conditions for its implementation to promote sustainability in the workplace. 

“For several years now, we have been witnessing a profound transformation of work, accompanied not only by a deterioration in working conditions but also by a search for meaning. More and more workers, whether skilled or unskilled, are no longer content with just a job: they are looking for work that is meaningful and suits them. " - Nathalie Burnay, Professor at the EMCP Faculty and researcher at the Transitions Institute.

In light of this observation, the pair of researchers explores the idea of care as a driver of sustainability in the workplace—that is, the living and working conditions that enable individuals to sustainably commit to a long-term professional career.

“The ethics of care is an emerging concept in management, sometimes overused under the term ‘benevolence.’ Our goal is to take a critical and rigorous look at this concept, drawing on the literature and empirical data.” — Michel Ajzen, Professor of Organizational and Innovation Management.

The SUScare project will span five years and will be structured around several phases: 

1. A review of the scientific literature to better understand the concept of sustainable work in a changing world;
2. A quantitative assessment to measure the current state of work sustainability in Belgian companies; 
3. In-depth interviews to understand how workers and managers perceive the issue of care in the workplace;
4. A case study to examine the conditions under which care can become a pillar of sustainability at work.

To carry out this work, Nathalie Burnay and Michel Ajzen will be supported by a multidisciplinary team consisting of two doctoral students—one in sociology and the other in management—as well as a postdoctoral researcher in the social sciences. 

The results of this research will take the form of a white paper for managers and a workshop with human resources professionals.

A phenomenon that has received little attention in the scientific literature has caught the attention of Catherine Guirkinger, an economist and professor at Sciences Po’s Faculty of Economics, Management, and Communication (EMCP), and her colleagues, Pablo Alvarez-Aragon, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Bologna, and Jean-Philippe Platteau, professor emeritus at UNamur: the conversion of African women to “new Christian churches.” This term encompasses new Christian-inspired religious movements such as evangelical or Pentecostal churches, which are growing rapidly on the African continent and in other regions of the world. 

“Statistical analyses show that women are much more likely to be members of these new churches than men. This imbalance is unique to these new churches and is not observed in Catholic churches or other traditional religions,” explains Catherine Guirkinger. 

To explain this trend of female conversion, Catherine Guirkinger puts forward a hypothesis centered on the support services offered by these churches, which encourage women in their economic empowerment. “In a previous research study conducted in Benin, we observed that when women gain access to new sources of income, they are more likely to convert,” explains Catherine Guirkinger. “When interviewed, they frequently mention these support services, which help them overcome the obstacles they face in accessing new economic opportunities. These services are not solely financial in nature but also include ‘spiritual protection,’ in a context where ‘successful’ women are often accused of or fall victim to witchcraft.” 

Thus, initial analyses suggest that religious conversion is correlated with the economic cycle: it is more frequent when incomes rise. “This is a rather unexpected finding,” the researcher notes. “Religious conversion is generally interpreted as a response to difficulties, particularly financial ones. Yet it would seem that economic growth, on the contrary, encourages membership in these new churches.” 

One of the gray areas Catherine Guirkinger hopes to shed light on is identifying the roles these churches play in the empowerment of these women in the face of rather conservative and patriarchal gender norms. To understand this, Catherine Guirkinger will employ a combination of methods: statistical data, qualitative surveys, econometric analyses, as well as “economic games”—role-playing exercises designed to understand individual behaviors through simulated scenarios.  

The project will run for four years, from 2026 to 2030. The project team includes a doctoral student (currently being recruited), Jean-Philippe Platteau, professor emeritus at the Defipp Institute, and Pablo Alvarez of the University of Bologna (Italy). 

Catherine Guirkinger specializes in development economics. At the Center for Economic Development Research (CRED) of the DeFIPP Institute (Development Finance & Public Policies), she conducts research on changes in family structures during development processes. Her work also focuses on the respective roles of women and men in society and on the role of public institutions in the broader sense. Catherine Guirkinger explores these issues particularly in the colonial context, drawing on archival data and historical surveys. In 2017, she received European ERC funding for this research program, and in 2024, she secured funding from the F.R.S-FNRS for a collaborative project with Bruno Schoumaker, professor of demography at UCLouvain, aimed at digitizing census data. As a professor, Catherine Guirkinger teaches courses in microeconomics and development economics. 

Process management is a key concept in business. By analyzing and monitoring how processes are carried out, a company can track its operational performance and identify opportunities for improvement. However, for many companies, this aspect of management is still too often underdeveloped.

The unique aspect of the U-BPM research project led by Malik Schinckus and supervised by Professor Anthony Simonofski (UNamur School of Management and member of the MINDIT research center) is its specific focus on the people who execute processes on the ground—namely, the employees themselves. “Most organizations still oversee operations from a distance, collaborating with their employees only through Q&A sessions or interviews. To better understand the field and find effective solutions, it is essential to optimize collaboration between the ‘management’ and the ‘domain experts,’ that is, the people responsible for executing the processes,” explains Malik Schinckus.

The goal of Malik Schinckus’s thesis is therefore to implement tools and methods that facilitate better communication between these groups and improve the flow of information, with the aim of sustainably optimizing process execution. To achieve this, generative artificial intelligence (AI) appears to be a promising avenue: “Generative AI is indeed accessible to everyone, as interactions are based on natural language,” continues Malik Schinckus.

To implement a sustainable solution tailored to the realities of Belgian businesses, Malik Schinckus is collaborating with the consulting firm Daïmo, which specializes in IT and management. This immersive research provides a step back to assess the possibilities offered by AI by comparing it with real-world applications. “At present, it is impossible to automate everything and replace an analyst for complex cognitive tasks. The analyst identifies what is implicit, contextualizes the information, and judges when understanding is sufficient. AI does not yet have these capabilities,” the researcher notes. 

The creation of innovative tools to solve complex problems encountered in the field is an approach known in academia as “Design Science Research.” 

The benefits of this methodology are already evident: reduced costs, improved service quality, and greater flexibility.

Ultimately, the data from this research will help refine this solution and, eventually, enable its deployment on a larger scale.