Service-sector Productivity

The adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies is resulting in a wave of digitalization and innovation. The changes have been sweeping throughout industry. Manufacturing is now embracing technological disruptions in the era of Industry 4.0. In 2022, the UN Economic and Social Council reported that the COVID-19 pandemic had accelerated the dissemination of digital technologies such as AI, robotics, and the IoT. The report also mentioned that the use of Industry 4.0 technologies could help increase productivity, reduce the environmental impact of industrialization, and create jobs.

On the other hand, the service sector has not been doing as well in adapting to the technology-enabled revolution. Many companies have been struggling with digital transformation since the 1990s. Today’s service sector could therefore benefit significantly if it embraced Industry 4.0 more actively.

However, technology-first thinking is not a guarantee of success, since technologies are simply enablers. Methods to adopt Industry 4.0 in the service sector depend on organizational culture, policy, strategy, and vision. In a service economy, much of the value generated is a result of human collaboration, communication, and creativity. It is crucial to take a more human-centric approach to business. Fumbling with new technologies without reckoning with culture, policy, and all the other intangible systems can have a detrimental impact on the service sector. Thus, with a human-centric perspective, the benefits of Industry 4.0 will result in improved productivity and efficiency, flexibility and agility, and profitability in the service sector in the long run.

Course Objectives

The main objectives of this course are:

  • Understand the concepts, tools, and methodologies of Industry 4.0.
  • Enhance the adoption of service-sector transformation in SME operations.
  • Introduce emerging technologies and future trends in the service sector and how to apply them in business operations to enhance productivity.

Course Modules

This e-learning course will cover the following modules:
Module 1: Industry 4.0 and the Fourth Industrial Revolution explained
Module 2: The service economy and Industry 4.0
Module 3: Emerging technologies for future trends in the service sector
Module 4: Industry 4.0 and labor productivity in service-sector organizations
Module 5: Case study: Impact of Industry 4.0 drivers on the performance of the service sector

Important Notes:

  1. Participants who register to take this course and pass the final examination with a score of 70% or higher will be eligible to receive the APO certificate. Please note that the final examination can be taken only once. Therefore, the most appropriate time to take the examination should be chosen carefully. The self-assessment quizzes are for personal evaluation only and are not related to the final examination results.
  2. Participants who perform well in this course and receive the APO certificate will be given preference, on a merit basis, for selection to attend follow-up face-to-face multicountry APO projects on similar topics, when nominated by their NPOs and if slots are available.
  3. Notes 1 and 2 are applicable only to participants from APO member countries. Participants from nonmember countries are welcome to take the course for self-improvement, although they will not have an opportunity to attend the follow-up face-to-face multicountry APO projects.
  4. Each module is in a prerecorded video format in which the expert delivers presentations by explaining each slide. Participants can access the video by clicking on the link provided under the title of each module.

Course Duration in Hours: 20 hours
Skill Level: Beginner
Upcoming Course: No
New Course: Yes

The very nature of services and the speed of change have changed significantly in recent years. The traditional aspects of service delivery are no longer enough. Companies need to learn how to tap the potential for service innovation by closely looking into evolving trends.

Greater involvement, personalization, customization, and mobility from services are being demanded more than ever, and immediate results are also expected by consumers. When cutting-edge service innovations in one industry are used and seen by them, it is natural to have the same expectations of other providers. For example, self-service kiosks for airline check-ins can be easily applied to the retail and hospitality industries. Once consumers have this experience, they will expect to see similar service in other industries. With time, industry boundaries blur. Thus, companies need to pursue new ideas beyond their immediate competitors.

The rise of the mobile internet should also be noted. According to Statista, a German company specializing in market and consumer data, as of 2021, the number of smartphones sold worldwide was 1.38 billion, and in the fourth quarter of 2020, around 20.8% of all smartphones sold were made by Apple. Thirty-eight percent of the world’s total population owned a smart device in 2018, and the smartphone penetration rate has continued climbing, reaching 46.5% in 2020. More than 100 billion apps were downloaded in 2013, up from 64 billion in 2012. The resulting mobile and self-service possibilities are dramatically changing service delivery. Grab’s disruption of the taxi business is also a good example. Advances in digital payments are increasingly spurring mobile commerce, with farreaching implications for retail and financial services. Halodoc, an Indonesian startup, is another good example of a game changer as it provides telemedicine through connectivity. Growth opportunities for the proliferation of smart devices are being unlocked, and the cost of developing services is being reduced, which also lowers barriers to entry.

Continued advances in analytic capabilities allow companies to gain insights from massive sources, leading to new service possibilities through big data and  advanced analytics. In addition, the IoT is indispensable for service innovation. Machine-to-machine connectivity is facilitating real-time service delivery in a number of business-to-business applications. The prevalence of connected devices opens up possibilities for proactive, touchless service, along with new commercial models. Service innovation has immense potential for applications and therefore should be leveraged by enterprises and individuals.

Course Objectives

The main objectives of this course are:

  • Understand the concepts, tools, and methodologies of service innovation.
  • Facilitate the adoption of service innovation and stakeholder engagement in organizational operations.
  • Introduce emerging technologies such as user experience customization, mobile apps, big data and analytics, and the Internet of Things (IoT).

Course Modules

This e-learning course will cover the following modules:

Module 1: Service Transformation
This module focuses on the different categories of services and introduces the essence of Service 4.0 Transformation.
Module 2: Adoption of User Experience Customization
This module highlights the use of core technologies of Service 4.0 in User Experience (UX) Customization and Personalization.
Module 3: Human Capital Transformation
This module comprises the core elements of Service 4.0 and Human Capital Transformation.
Module 4: Transforming Stakeholder Engagement
This module underscores the essentials of transforming communication with stakeholders using digital engagement tools.
Module 5: Agile Way of Working
This module underscores the key values, principles, practices and components, including practical implementation of Agile.

Important Notes:

  1. Participants who register to take this course and pass the final examination with a score of 70% or higher will be eligible to receive the APO certificate. Please note that the final examination can be taken only once. Therefore, the most appropriate time to take the examination should be chosen carefully. The self-assessment quizzes are for personal evaluation only and are not related to the final examination results.
  2. Participants who perform well in this course and receive the APO certificate will be given preference, on a merit basis, for selection to attend follow-up face-to-face multicountry APO projects on similar topics, when nominated by their NPOs and if slots are available. 
  3. Notes 1 and 2 are applicable only to participants from APO member countries. Participants from nonmember countries are welcome to take the course for self-improvement, although they will not have an opportunity to attend follow-up face-to-face multicountry APO projects. 
  4. Each module is in a prerecorded video format in which the expert delivers presentations by explaining each slide. Participants can access the video by clicking on the link provided under the title of each module.

Course Duration in Hours: 20 Hours
Skill Level: Beginner
Upcoming Course: No
New Course: Yes
In this digital age, with the world in the midst of a massive shift to the cloud, cloud computing skills are indispensable to help organizations transform their businesses. Worldwide cloud industry spending is expected to grow from USD257 billion in 2020 to USD364 billion in 2022 (Gartner, 2020), representing a 41% increase in just two years. As the cloud industry continues to grow, so will the demand for IT talent, presenting significant opportunities for both entry-level and experienced IT professionals alike. As this trend continues, it will be the source of new jobs over the next decade for cloud-native workers. This e-learning course aims to enable participants to build up basic skills in using cloud solutions for service-sector organizations.
The acceleration of cloud innovations in the healthcare sector offers new, exciting potential for future workers. While many other sectors struggle to survive during the pandemic, healthcare is one of the very few sectors that are thriving and making various breakthroughs, thus lending further strength to its resilience.
This e-learning course will acquaint participants with the value of the cloud, share examples of its applications in healthcare, and review cloud services for the healthcare sector. It will specifically examine how cloud computing technology can play important roles in the future of the healthcare sector and related services, which is especially relevant in the post-COVID-19 new normal. The course will also explain various cloud solutions that can increase productivity in other service subsectors. The knowledge gained will promote smart transformation efforts across APO member countries.

This course has the following objectives.

1) Discuss the most recent cloud solutions, concepts, tools, and methodologies for service-sector digital transformation.

2) Introduce innovation-led productivity improvements for service-sector organizations within the context of Industry 4.0 technologies, including cloud computing, cloud-native architecture, and cloud-based solutions. 

Module 1: Introduction to the cloud and cloud computing 

Module 2: Applications of cloud solutions in the service sector

Module 3: Relationship between cloud technologies and labor productivity in service-sector organizations 

Module 4: Case studies of cloud-driven productivity in the service sector

Module 5: Summary of concepts and future directions

Final examination
Course Duration in Hours: 30 hours
Skill Level: Beginner
Upcoming Course: No
New Course: Yes

As part of their resilience, SMEs should be flexible in business approaches to adapt to the challenges brought by the COVID-19 pandemic and other unexpected circumstances. However, given the small size of their workforces and structures, SMEs are often less clear in their strategic approach. This includes adopting design thinking and design innovation, which is a holistic approach to system changes and process innovation aimed at enabling maximum returns.
According to the European Academy of Design (2019), SMEs around the world often lack an innovation culture. Compared to global giants such as Amazon, SpaceX, Apple, and Salesforce, which possess the resources for highly evolved innovation cultures, average SMEs have much fewer resources and therefore feel less compelled to promote innovation. 
Service design thinking, however, is not the sole purview of large global companies. The principles, methodologies, and tools of service design thinking are applicable to small enterprises. Developing the appropriate service design thinking tools for SMEs will therefore enable the creation of innovation cultures that are essential for the continued growth and sustainable operations of SMEs. This e-learning course will introduce the participants to the key concepts, benefits, and applications of service design thinking to optimize the profitability and business sustainability of SMEs across APO member countries.

This course has the following objectives.

1) Introduce the concepts, tools, and methodologies of service thinking for SMEs.

2) Enhance the adoption of service-thinking approaches in SME operations.

3) Examine future trends in service thinking and their application for the business sustainability and productivity of SMEs.

Module 1: Introduction to service thinking: Benefits to SMEs

Module 2: Essential service-thinking concepts and applications for SME operations

Module 3: Case studies I: Service thinking in the food and beverage industry

Module 4: Case studies II: Service thinking in the hospitality and tourism industry

Module 5: Future trends in service thinking and service design for SMEs

Final examination

Course Duration in Hours: 30 hours
Skill Level: Beginner
Upcoming Course: No
New Course: Yes
The digital economy relies on innovative, advanced technologies in both the manufacturing and service sectors to improve products and processes. What this means for factories and production floors is that manufacturing processes are enhanced through cyberphysical integration of assembly lines. It involves digitalization and automation using devices, sensors, and robotics for work processes. It also facilitates connectivity through the integration of information, computing, and networking to improve manufacturing productivity, customization, flexibility, predictability, and performance.
For the service sector, which includes professional services and financial technology (fintech) firms, however, the methods are quite different. Productivity is often enhanced through measures and techniques aimed at protecting the integrity of data, computing devices, and other systems from damage or theft, and preventing disruption to the system’s overall functionality. Specific measures may include encryption, cyberintelligence, and the development of security control mechanisms to reduce risks. It also involves collecting, cleaning, transforming, and modeling data to discover useful information and provide critical insights. Such value-added services in data and business analytics are geared toward informed decision making.

This e-learning course will focus on introducing productivity and innovation tools, techniques, and methodologies in the service sector to acquaint participants with the latest solutions. The knowledge gained and sharing of experience will prepare participants to advance smart transformation ideas and initiatives across APO member countries and therefore prepare them for the digital economy.

This course has the following objectives.

1) Discuss the latest productivity concepts, tools, and methodologies for service-sector enterprises.

2) Introduce innovation-led productivity improvement solutions for the service sector in the digital economy era, including big data analytics, artificial intelligence, and cloud solutions.

Module 1: Service-sector productivity and innovation for the digital economy and Quiz 1

Module 2: Applications of productivity solutions in the service sector and Quiz 2 

Module 3: Data analytics, cloud computing, and AI contributions to labor productivity in service enterprises and Quiz 3

Module 4: Case studies of productivity and innovation in the digital economy and Quiz 4

Module 5: Summary and future directions for service productivity and innovation in the digital economy and Quiz 5

Final examination


Course Duration in Hours: 30 hours
Skill Level: Beginner
Upcoming Course: No
New Course: Yes

  • Course Description: The APO has been promoting the concept of Green Productivity (GP) since 1994, where the focus is to enhance productivity and simultaneously reduce negative impacts on the environment.  GP leverages various productivity tools and techniques to help organizations improve their quality, occupational safety, and environmental management. This course will provide participants with basic knowledge of energy efficiency techniques, specifically on different sub-components that are crucial for energy efficiency in organizations, together with an introduction to best practices. 
  • Course Objectives: To familiarize participants with the basic concepts, together with best practices, of energy efficiency techniques.

Course Duration in Hours: 40 hours
Skill Level: Beginner
Upcoming Course: No
New Course: No

The purpose of this e-course is to equip workshop participants and other APO professionals to continue their work in scenario planning and also to train other associates in the technique and associated tools. Scenario planning, the focus on this course, is a process that generates a group of plausible stories about the future. These can then be used to aid long-term planning. Well-written scenarios combine rigorous forecasts with immersive storytelling elements to bring possible futures to life. In so doing, they can help inspire readers to take action in a way that more “traditional” methods of communication might not. The traditional scenario planning methodology, pioneered by Royal Dutch Shell, emphasises that scenarios are not intended to present definitive predictions about the future. Rather, scenarios help to articulate the risks and opportunities present in a range of plausible futures, and serve as a discussion tool to stimulate debate about strategies to shape the future. Scenario planning can also be seen as a change management tool — specifically, a way to sensitise the participants in the process to indicators of change and to the unpredictability and volatility of the future. They can help cultivate a “contingency mindset” and build the capacity to react quickly when the need arises.

The course is structured according to the main elements of a strategic foresight / scenarios process. Throughout the report, there are also a number of call out boxes that describe different skills/techniques that are helpful in scenario work.
There are 10 modules:
1. Thinking About the Future
2. Introduction to Scenario Planning
3. Establishing a Project
4. Driving Forces
5. Building Blocks
6. Scenario Frameworks
7. Storytelling
8. Implications, Options and Indicators
9. Communicating Scenarios
10. Practical Considerations
There is also included, as an extra, a glossary of key terms and a further reading list. This e-learning course includes five interim quizzes and one final exam.

Course Objectives:
1. Equip participants with the fundamentals and principles of strategic foresight and scenario planning as well as explain its relevance and approaches specific to public and private organizations; and
2. Develop the capability of individuals to set forward-looking strategic directions derived from plausible scenarios for the future.


Course Duration in Hours: 15 hours
Skill Level: Beginner
Upcoming Course: No
New Course: No

The increased rates of female education and economic participation have gradually brought a change in women’s position in business. More women are attempting to be employers like entrepreneurs and business leaders rather than working in hired positions. According to a report by the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), 163 million women were estimated to start or run new businesses in around 74 economies in 2016. Despite the upward trend and women’s greater involvement in the market, their visibility is still much lower compared with their male business counterparts. One of the possible ways to promote female-run businesses is to support women in developing good business models. For entrepreneurs setting up a business, the importance of a business model cannot be overemphasized. Currently, however, most female entrepreneurs are associated with the wholesale and retail industry in SME family businesses, which are run by traditional handover practices from predecessors. Especially, rural women’s active participation in business significantly affects household income generation, which contributes to improving the livelihoods of families.

In this regard, this course is designed to build the capabilities of female agri-entrepreneurs as CEOs, managerial professionals, and agribusiness enterprise operators contributing to prospering rural economies.


Course Duration in Hours: 20 hours
Skill Level: Beginner
Upcoming Course: No
New Course: No

The crux of business success lies in marketing. Marketing helps create awareness in the eyes of the public about a company’s products/services, increase sales, build brand reputation, and foster an environment in the market for healthy competition.

 A marketing strategy takes a comprehensive view of all activities related to selling a product or service and helps ensure that these activities support each other. It helps to determine the right price for a company’s products/services, establishes effective distributive channels, and assists in effective communication to the outside world, in addition to creating an organizational environment in which the various units or departments work together to achieve common goals.

Branding is especially important for SMEs as it influences people’s perceptions of the company’s quality of customer service, image, advertising, and logo. When these parts of the business are working well, the overall brand tends to be healthy. A good brand helps improve recognition, creates trust, reinforces advertisements, builds value, generates new customers, and, last but not least, inspires employees.

Today, many SMEs have great products and provide excellent customer service, although most do not know how to develop appropriate marketing and branding strategies to keep the business afloat. This self-e-learning course was developed by the APO with the sole aim of helping small businesses develop the ability to market their products and services effectively.

Course Instructions

– There are seven modules in this course. Please start with Module 1 and complete each module in order.

– The recommended timeline to complete each module is:

Days 1–2: Module 1 + Quiz 1

Days 3–4: Module 2 + Quiz 2

Days 5–6: Module 3 + Quiz 3

Days 7–8: Module 4 + Quiz 4

Days 9–10: Module 5 + Quiz 5

Days 11–12: Module 6 + Quiz 6

Days 13–14: Module 7 + Quiz 7

Day 15: Final exam

– To confirm your understanding, quizzes are provided in each module. Please answer the questions and check your score for self-evaluation. Please note that the quiz scores are not related to the final exam results.
– It is recommended that you proceed to the next module only after satisfactory completion of the preceding module.
– After completing all modules, each participant should take the final exam. Remember that you are only allowed to take the final exam once. Please ensure that you have thoroughly understood all modules before taking the final exam.
– After completion of the course, the APO will provide e-certificates to successful participants from APO member countries who pass the final exam (minimum passing score is 70% or 70 points).

Course Objectives

This module aims to help SMEs in developing their marketing strategies and product branding strategies. The self-learning e-course modules are designed to enable participants to:

  1. Gain perspective on developing new products and services;
  2. Describe and explain product development strategies and the stages of product development and product lifecycles;
  3. Identify the factors affecting pricing and determine relevant pricing structures for products and services;
  4. Develop promotional strategies and analyse the process of bundling and packaging products and services;
  5. Develop competitive distribution channels;
  6. Design relevant branding strategies;
  7. Create appropriate loyalty programs to grow customer bases; and
  8. Gain insights on the linkages between branding and intellectual property.

Important Notes:

1. Participants who register to take this course and pass the final examination with a minimum score of 70% on the final examination is required to qualify for the APO e-certificate.

Course Duration in Hours: 40 hours
Skill Level: Beginner
Upcoming Course: No
New Course: No

Course Description

Entrepreneurship is a driving force for rural development. It involves strategic interventions to accelerate and revitalize declining rural economies by expanding business outreach to farm/nonfarm areas. People with entrepreneurial mindsets recognize unexploited market opportunities by thinking intuitively and reading future trends in given circumstances. In a rural context, entrepreneurship means building something meaningful by utilizing local resources not practically perceived or valued previously. In this way, the value of natural, capital, and human resources in rural communities can be recreated in a viable way to take the fullest advantage of them.

The interplay between rural development and entrepreneurship overcomes the constraints of primary industry, mainly agriculture, which is the principal source of income in rural areas. Rural populations are highly dependent on agricultural production, although its performance is volatile due to natural calamities such as droughts, flooding, insect pests, and others. Similarly, achieving drastic yield increases in agriculture is often not controllable.

In this regard, rural entrepreneurship can offer innovative, cost-effective sources of living by crossing the boundaries among primary, secondary, and tertiary industries. It enables local people to appreciate the value of resources in the area and utilize them as inputs for creating value-added products and services. Thus entrepreneurship diversifies sources of livelihood and increases per capita income. Furthermore, it creates jobs for the under/unemployed labor force and improves the autonomy and independence of rural households. In reality, however, nurturing successful entrepreneurs has often faced challenges such as a lack of financial support and social recognition, and rural people rarely start businesses or put their business ideas into practice. Therefore the social infrastructure that underpins entrepreneurs’ entry into markets and makes them resilient against failure needs to be discussed and developed. The entrepreneurial mindset is based on the idea of taking risks, and entrepreneurs should be able to enter and exit markets freely even after experiencing failure.

Course Objectives

The course is designed to build the capabilities of rural entrepreneurs, SME operators, and rural development planners, trainers, and consultants who are engaged in business advisory services and/or are interested in initiating businesses in rural areas. At the end of the course, the enrollees will be familiar with innovative entrepreneurial thinking and have an understanding of various entrepreneurial strategies in line with sustainable rural development. The specific objectives are for participants to:

  • Understand the concept and special features of entrepreneurship to provide livelihoods for rural populations and foster rural development;
  • Enhance the ability to design and manage rural enterprises using different techniques, tools, and models for strategic business development;
  • Recognize global trends, the changing environment consistent with agriculture 2030, and emerging topics to identify future challenges and opportunities; and
  • Learn about the role of government and institutional setups in developing entrepreneurial mindsets and conducive environments for rural entrepreneurship development.
Course Duration in Hours: 40 hours
Skill Level: Beginner
Upcoming Course: No
New Course: No