Marco Paiola

Service business development in small and medium capital goods manufacturing companies

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to focus on how small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) from the capital goods manufacturing sector develop the service business. Assuming the service business development depends on contingency factors, the paper aims to explore how SMEs align external environment, strategy and organizational design.Design/methodology/approach – A multi‐case study design on capital goods manufacturers from Italy, Sweden and Switzerland was employed.Findings – Service strategy formation and implementation in SMEs depend on their value chain position and the business environment. Suppliers with few customers selling directly to customers increasingly offer logistic and repair services as well as R&D‐oriented services. In contrast, OEMs selling through distributors do not primarily extend the services offered, but rather reconsider service process configuration together with distributors. Altogether, the paper describes four different service responses to specific combinations of va...

Service Business Development in Small- to Medium-Sized Equipment Manufacturers

Purpose: This article explores service business development by small- and medium-sized equipment manufacturers (SMEMs). It focuses on underlying dynamic and operational capabilities in service business development. Design/Methodology/Approach: The research design is based on case study research with nine companies from Germany, Italy, Sweden, and Switzerland. Findings: The findings are twofold. First, the authors elaborate the phases and capabilities necessary for service business development. Second, they argue that these phases and capabilities depend on sales channels (direct sales versus indirect sales through distributors) and customer structures (a limited number of strategic customers versus many end-customers). SMEMs selling directly to a limited number of strategic customers develop organizational capabilities through four phases: (1) consolidation of service offerings, (2) job enlargements in organizational functions, (3) job enlargement in the key account teams, and (4) orchestration of partners to widen the solutions offered to customers. SMEMs selling indirectly through distributors to many customers develop organizational capabilities through the following four phases: (1) rearranging collaboration with distributors, (2) enlarging the service competencies of distributors, (3) modifying distributors into subsidiaries, and (4) enlarging jobs in the sales function of the subsidiaries. Research Limitations/Implications: The research limitations are due mainly to the intrinsic nature of qualitative research. Practical Implications: Managers can obtain guidance for service business development from the phases and capabilities described in the paper. Originality/Value: The study offers a comprehensive framework for assisting researchers in conceptualizing service business development and operationalizing capabilities. The results provide testable propositions that can be used to guide future research.

Rethinking service innovation: four pathways to evolution

Purpose – Service‐dominant (S‐D) logic and service science provide a conceptual framework to describe evolutionary pathways that companies could follow by innovating in order to overcome and rethink traditional and non‐productive ways of managing their businesses. The purpose of this paper is to explore service innovation.Design/methodology/approach – Through a critical review of literature about service innovation, highlighting a dynamic perspective and building on the latest contributions from S‐D logic and service science, a research framework is designed. An in‐depth analysis of empirical data from almost 100 companies is conducted.Findings – Four evolutionary paths based on innovation pursued by companies to face the growing complexity of their competitive environment are identified. The paths are dematerialization of the offering system, virtualisation of the value systems, replication of the organizational models and multiplication of market niches.Research limitations/implications – This is a star...

Knowledge protection in knowledge-intensive business services

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the issue of knowledge protection in knowledge‐intensive business services (KIBS). In particular, it addresses four research questions: do KIBS firms perceive the necessity to protect their knowledge? If so, do they protect it? What method (or combinations of methods) they typically use? What are the main factors affecting the approaches to knowledge protection adopted by these companies?Design/methodology/approach – The paper illustrates and discusses the findings of a survey of 471 KIBS companies located in the Northeast of Italy and operating in three different sectors: IT Services, Design and Communication, Professional Services.Findings – The study classifies the types of knowledge protection mechanisms and investigates similarities and differences in knowledge protection between KIBS operating in distinct sectors, having different size, and pursuing different knowledge management strategies.Practical implications – The outcomes of the investigation c...

Searching for innovation knowledge: insight into KIBS companies

The paper analyses the activity of research for “innovation knowledge”—here defined as knowledge that can lead to the introduction of service innovations—by Knowledge-Intensive Business Services (KIBS) companies. It proposes a classification of the possible search approaches adopted by those companies based on two dimensions: the pro-activity of search efforts and the source primarily used. Such classification is then discussed on the basis of the findings of a multiple case-study investigation involving 15 Italian and Polish KIBS companies. The study confirms that KIBS firms follow various approaches to acquire knowledge for innovation: some companies adopt a passive behaviour (i.e. innovative ideas come as a kind of side effect of their daily business activities), while others an active one (namely, they actively search for new ideas originating from various sources); some rely more on internal resources (employees, in-house R&D, internal documents, etc.), while others on external sources (clients, suppliers, service providers, universities, etc.). The results of the study have implications both for research and management that are discussed in the conclusions.

Cognitive features of KIBS companies: evidence from a cluster analysis

The debate on managerial approaches and public policies that fit knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) firms is ongoing. A possible problem is that, while this sector is highly heterogeneous, most scholars still base their investigations on traditional sectorial classifications, like, e.g., NACE, that may fail in providing consistent information about the cognitive characteristics that denote these companies. In light of this, the paper aims to formulate a categorisation of KIBS companies according to their cognitive features. Specifically, a new taxonomy is developed based on the outcomes of a cluster analysis conducted on the data coming from a sample of 375 KIBS companies located in the Northeast of Italy. The resultant clustering provides a fresh view of the various cognitive features denoting KIBS companies, and can be of help in addressing the related managerial and policy issues more properly.

Characterisation of knowledge-based networking strategies: insights from the KIBS sector

In the current economy, individual firms cannot possess all the knowledge that is necessary to compete. Hence, networking relationships become an important way through which firms can develop their potential by accessing to resources of other players. However, the networking strategies that companies implement can vary depending on the nature of their competitive conditions and on their specific goals. The paper analyses this topic in the case of a particular knowledge-intensive business service industry, investigating the relationship between knowledge strategies and networking strategies pursued by companies. By developing and combining classifications previously proposed in the literature, the study examines the ways companies set their networking strategies based on their capability and necessity to share knowledge with specific business partners clients, suppliers, service providers, etc..