Palie Smart

The servitization of manufacturing: A systematic literature review of interdependent trends

Purpose: The servitization of manufacturing is a diverse and complex field of research interest. The purpose of this paper is to provide an integrative and organising lens for viewing the various contributions to knowledge production from those research communities addressing servitization. To achieve this, the paper aims to set out to address two principal questions, namely where are the knowledge stocks and flows amongst the research communities? And what are generic research concerns being addressed by these communities? Design/methodology/approach: Using an evidenced-based approach, the authors have performed a systematic review of the research literature associated with the servitization of manufacturing. This investigation incorporates a descriptive and thematic analysis of 148 academic and scholarly papers from 103 different lead authors in 68 international peer-reviewed journals. Findings: The work proposes support for the existence of distinct researcher communities, namely services marketing, service management, operations management, product-service systems and service science management and engineering, which are contributing to knowledge production in the servitization of manufacturing. Knowledge stocks within all communities associated with research in the servitization of manufacturing have dramatically increased since the mid-1990s. The trends clearly reveal that the operations community is in receipt of the majority of citations relating to the servitization of manufacturing. In terms of knowledge flows, it is apparent that the more mature communities are drawing on more locally produced knowledge stocks, whereas the emergent communities are drawing on a knowledge base more evenly distributed across all the communities. The results are indicative of varying degrees of interdependency amongst the communities. The generic research concerns being addressed within the communities are associated with the concepts of product-service differentiation, competitive strategy, customer value, customer relationships and product-service configuration. Originality/value: This research has further developed and articulated the identities of distinct researcher communities actively contributing to knowledge production in the servitization of manufacturing, and to what extent they are pursuing common research agendas. This study provides an improved descriptive and thematic awareness of the resulting body of knowledge, allowing the field of servitization to progress in a more informed and multidisciplinary fashion.

Servitization within manufacturing: exploring the provision of advanced services and their impact on vertical integration

Purpose – The debate about services-led competitive strategies continues to grow, with much interest emerging around the differing practices between production and servitized operations. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to this discussion by investigating the vertical integration practice (in particular the micro-vertical integration, otherwise known as the supply chain position) of manufacturers who are successful in their adoption of servitization. Design/methodology/approach – To achieve this the authors have investigated a cross-section of four companies which are successfully delivering advanced services coupled to their products. Findings – Manufacturers who have embraced the servitization trend tend to retain capabilities in design and production, and do so because this benefits their speed, effectiveness and costs of supporting assets on advanced services contracts. Research limitations/implications – These are preliminary findings from a longer term research programme. Practical implications – Through this research note the authors seek to simultaneously contribute to the debate in the research community and offer guidance to practitioners exploring the consequences of servitization. Originality/value – Successful servitization demands that manufacturers adopt new and alternative practices and technologies to those traditionally associated with production operations. A prevailing challenge is to understand these differences and their underpinning rationale. Therefore, in this research note, the authors report on the practices of four case companies, explore the rationale underpinning these, and propose an hypothesis for the impact on vertical integration of successful servitization.

Towards technological rules for designing innovation networks: a dynamic capabilities view

Purpose – Inter‐organizational innovation networks provide opportunities to exploit complementary resources that reside beyond the boundary of the firm. The shifting locus of innovation and value creation away from the “sole firm as innovator” poses important questions about the nature of these resources and the capabilities needed to leverage them for competitive advantage. The purpose of this paper is to describe research into producing design‐oriented knowledge, for configuring inter‐organizational networks as a means of accessing such resources for innovation.Design/methodology/approach – This exploratory investigation conflates emerging constructs and themes analytically induced from a systematic survey of 142 scholarly and practitioner articles and 45 expert interviews with senior professionals operating in the biopharmaceuticals industry.Findings – The findings identify seven theoretically and empirically grounded technological rules associated with effective inter‐organizational networking for inn...

Servitization of manufacture: Exploring the deployment and skills of people critical to the delivery of advanced services

The servicisation agenda is arguably one of the most important facing western manufacturers. In a world of severe international competition, it can be the basis of distinct competitive advantage, and a means to differentiate a companys products from goods produced in low cost economies. The concept of Product Service Systems (PSS) is, in particular, a special case of servicisation. With PSS, the market proposition is designed as a system that exploits synergies between products and services while, at the same time, seeks to reduce the economic and environmental costs of delivery. Although key to sustaining western manufacturing operations, major issues arise with design and management of engineering, manufacturing and supply chain activities for successful implementation of such a service-led competitive strategy. This session includes presentations which examine the opportunities and challenges associated with servicisation in more detail.

Examining the information and communication technologies enabling servitized manufacture

Services-led competitive strategies are critically important to Western manufacturers. This paper contributes to our basic knowledge of such strategies by examining the enabling information and communication technologies that successfully servitized manufacturers appear to be adopting. Although these are preliminary findings from a longer-term research programme, through this paper we seek to offer immediate assistance to manufacturers who wish to understand how they might exploit the servitization movement.

Convergence and reorientation via open innovation: the emergence of nutraceuticals

The use of networked organisational arrangements to conduct exchanges is one of the most distinctive features of high-tech research-intensive industries. Advances in biotechnology and genomics research have enabled a generic technology platform that has fuelled a more ‘open’ approach to innovation and learning. This relies on collaborations between networked partners and allows for the convergence and reorientation of traditional sectors. This paper lends support to the view that some technologies can trigger a higher system level innovation, that is, in addition to the inter-firm level, an inter-industrial and inter-institutional level convergence and re-orientation process. This paper explores how this phenomenon is being witnessed in the pharmaceutical and food sectors and fast becoming a dominant logic in the emerging nutraceuticals industry.

Servitization within manufacturing operations: an exploration of the impact on facilities practices

Servitization is a growing area of interest amongst practitioners, policymakers, and academics, and much is still to be learnt about its adoption in practice. This paper makes a contribution to this debate by identifying the key facilities practices that successful servitizing manufacturers appear to be deploying, and the underlying rationale behind their configuration. Although these are preliminary findings from a longer-term research programme, this short communication seeks to highlight the implications for manufacturing professionals and organizations who are considering the servitization of their operations.

Pre-paradigmatic status of industrial sustainability: a systematic review

This paper seeks to progress Operations Management (OM) theory and practice by organising contributions to knowledge production, in Industrial Sustainability, from disparate researcher communities. It addresses the principal question ‘What scholarly dialogues can be explicated in the emerging research field of Industrial Sustainability?’ and sub-questions (i) what are the descriptive characteristics of the evidence base? and (ii) what thematic lines of scientific inquiry underpin the body of knowledge? Using an evidenced based approach, a Systematic Review of 574 articles from 62 peer-reviewed scientific journals associated with Industrial Sustainability is conducted. This paper distinguishes three prevailing dialogues in the field of Industrial Sustainability, and uses Kuhn’s Theory of Paradigms to propose its pre-paradigmatic scientific status. The three dialogues (i) ‘productivity and innovation’, (ii) ‘corporate citizenship’ and (iii) ‘economic resilience’ are conjectured to privilege efficiency strategies as a mode of incremental reductionism. Industrial Sustainability espouses the grand vision of a generative, restorative and net positive economy, and calls for a future research trajectory to address institutional and systemic issues regarding scaling-up and transition, through transformative strategies. The review is limited by the nature of the inquiries addressed in the literatures by specific researcher communities between 1992 and 2014. This study performs the first systematic review in the field of Industrial Sustainability, synthesises prevailing scholarly dialogues and provides an evaluation of the scientific status of the field.

In search of a circular supply chain archetype – a content-analysis-based literature review

Abstract This paper addresses questions of how extant research discourses concerning the sustainability of supply chains contribute to understanding about circularity in supply chain configurations that support restorative and regenerative processes, as espoused by the Circular Economy ideal. In response to these questions, we develop a content-based literature analysis to progress theoretical body of knowledge and conceptualise the notion of a circular supply chain. We derive an archetypal form from four antecedent sustainable supply chain narratives – ‘reverse logistics’, ‘green supply chains’, ‘sustainable supply chain management’ and ‘closed-loop supply chains’. This paper offers five propositions about what the circular supply chain archetype represents in terms of its scope, focus and impact. Novel insights lead to a definition of circular supply chain and a more coherent foundation for future inquiry and practice.

Supply chain operations for a circular economy

Abstract This editorial piece introduces the aim and content of the special issue on Supply Chain Operations for a Circular Economy. We initially provide an overview of the special issue themes and related inter-disciplinary topics. A summary of the accepted papers is presented in terms of the specific topics they address and their main contributions to the domain of supply chain operations. The discussions illustrate a breadth of theoretical perspectives and practical approaches considered by the academic community in addressing real world phenomena related to this special issue. The editorial piece concludes by identifying future research directions that seek to develop knowledge and understanding about circular economy operations, principles, praxis and theoretical advances.