Melanie Kreye

Servitising manufacturers: the impact of service complexity and contractual and relational capabilities

Processes of servitisation will lead providers to change their service delivery structures, but they also need to transform broader organisational attributes including contractual and relational capabilities. Based on case studies in the European healthcare sector, we investigate the influence of increasing levels of service complexity on this transformation. Our findings are potentially counter-intuitive, suggesting that contractual capabilities do not increase with service complexity. Instead, we observed increased levels of relational capabilities, manifest in the visibility of the provider on the customer site, the number of ‘non-requested’ site visits and increasingly informal information exchange.

Employee motivation in product-service system providers

Abstract This research investigates how intrinsic and extrinsic motivation factors contribute to employee motivation in providers of product-service systems (PSS). Employee motivation determines the quality of the delivered service and is thus an area of great importance for PSS providers. We present rich case-based data collected through semi-structured interviews, a survey and secondary sources. The analysis showed the particularly high importance of intrinsic and individual motivation factors such as the fulfilling nature of the work and skill development showing the ownership and pride service employees took in their work. Further, the organisation needs to set the context of high employee motivation by enabling flexibility and performance feedback. Our research contributes to the literature by providing a first empirical study of employee motivation in PSS providers and thus providing important insights on the implementation of a servitisation strategy.

Relational uncertainty in service dyads

Purpose Relational uncertainty determines how relationships develop because it enables the building of trust and commitment. However, relational uncertainty has not been explored in an inter-organisational setting. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how organisations experience relational uncertainty in service dyads and how they resolve it through suitable organisational responses to increase the level of service quality. Design/methodology/approach The author applies the overall logic of organisational information-processing theory and presents empirical insights from two industrial case studies collected via semi-structured interviews and secondary data. Findings The findings suggest that relational uncertainty is caused by the partner’s unresolved organisational uncertainty, i.e. their lacking capabilities to deliver or receive (parts of) the service. Furthermore, the author found that resolving the relational uncertainty increased the functional quality while resolving the partner’s organisational uncertainty increased the technical quality of the delivered service. Originality/value The author makes two contributions: first,the author introduces relational uncertainty to the OM literature as the inability to predict and explain the actions of a partnering organisation due to a lack of knowledge about their abilities and intentions; and second, the author presents suitable organisational responses to relational uncertainty and their effect on service quality.

Can you put too much on your plate? Uncertainty exposure in servitized triads

Purpose Servitization increases the uncertainty exposure of provider firms due to the operational differences between services and production which is further increased when operations are set in triads. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the uncertainty exposure in servitized triads and explore suitable organisational responses. Design/methodology/approach A conceptual frame is defined detailing three uncertainty types (environmental, organisational and relational uncertainty) and suitable organisational responses to these. This frame guided the analysis of in-depth case evidence from a cross-national servitized triad in a European-North African set-up which was collected through 29 semi-structured interviews and secondary data. Findings The empirical study identified the existence of the three uncertainty types and directional knock-on effects between them. Specifically, environmental uncertainty created organisational uncertainty which in turn created relational uncertainty. The uncertainty types were reduced through targeted organisational responses where formal relational governance reduced environmental uncertainty, service capabilities reduced organisational uncertainty and informal relational governance reduced relational uncertainty. The knock-on effects were reduced through organisational and relational responses. Originality/value This paper makes two contributions. First, a structured analysis of the uncertainty exposure in servitized triads is presented which shows the existence of three individual uncertainty types and the knock-on effects between them. Second, organisational responses to reduce the three uncertainty types individually and the knock-on effects between them are presented.