USM and Service-Dominant Logic (SDL) describe the same shift from goods-focused to service-focused thinking, but on different levels: SDL is the theoretical lens, USM is a practical management system built to work in that lens.

USM does not compete with SDL but uses its understanding of service and value co-creation as an implicit backdrop for a unified service-management architecture.

SDL explains how actors integrate resources, co-create value, and how value arises in use and experience, without prescribing concrete processes or roles.

USM, in contrast, specifies lean core processes, roles, and a generic service-management structure so organizations can operationalize this service-centered view across all service domains.

In short: SDL answers “how to understand service and value,” USM answers “how to build and run an organization’s service-management system consistent with that understanding.”