Victor Guang Shi

Servitization: revisiting the state-of-the-art and research priorities

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to consolidate the servitization knowledge base from an organizational change perspective, identifying developed, developing and undeveloped topics to provide a platform that directs future research. Design/methodology/approach: This paper addresses three objectives: it comprehensively examines organizational change management literature for selection of a theoretical framework; it classifies extant studies within the framework through a systemic literature review; and it analyses 232 selected papers and proposes a research agenda. Findings: Analysis suggests increasing global awareness of the importance of services to manufacturers. However, some topics, especially related to servitization transformation, remain undeveloped. Research limitations/implications: Although the authors tried to include all publications relevant to servitization, some might not have been captured. Evaluation and interpretation relied on the research team and subsequent research workshops. Practical implications: One of the most significant challenges for practitioners of servitization is how to transform a manufacturing organization to exploit the opportunity. This paper consolidates literature regarding servitization, identifying progress concerning key research topics and contributing a platform for future research. The goal is to inform research to result eventually in a roadmap for practitioners seeking to servitize. Originality/value: Although extant reviews of servitization identify themes that are examined well, they struggle to identify unanswered questions. This paper addresses this gap by focusing on servitization as a process of organizational change.

A Delphi study to explore the adoption of servitization in UK companies

This paper explores and rationalises the process of servitization adoption across manufacturing firms. A Delphi research methodology has been applied to capture evidence and opinion from 33 senior executives, in 28 different sized organisations, from a cross section of British industry. The findings focus on five areas: (1) servitization and advanced services, (2) transformation: stimulus, drivers and organisational change, (3) impact on the customer and manufacturer, (4) enablers and inhibitors and (5) potential for business and the economy. Six findings are presented and collectively these contribute to our understanding of the broader change management processes that transform manufacturers to compete through advanced services.

Organisational change towards servitization: a theoretical framework

Purpose: The need for a holistic framework for studying organisational transformation towards Servitization is implicit. This is particularly relevant as Servitization demands consideration of both business model and organisational change. The purpose of this paper is, therefore, to provide an integrative framework that systematically captures and evaluate existing literature on Servitization. Design/methodology/approach: The aim of the paper has been achieved through three main objectives; comprehensively examine the literature in organisational change management that would assist with the selection of the most effective evaluation framework, classify previous studies against the proposed framework through a systematic literature review methodology and analyse the selected papers and propose research questions/propositions based on the identified gaps. Findings: Results indicate that there are two somewhat macro opportunities for the Servitization community, namely, stronger infusion of generic theory into the Servitization debate and exploring Servitization in action through the lens of the theoretical framework. Practical implications: The findings of the paper demonstrate the gaps in the Servitization literature, which indeed require further theoretical/empirical research. Originality/value: It is discussed the usefulness and practicality of viewing research contributions that are setting out to be either “descriptive” or “prescriptive”. Consequently, the authors have proposed several avenues for future research based on these two viewpoints.

Measuring Servitization Progress and Outcome:The Case of ‘Advanced Services’

Abstract The purpose of this paper is to establish a framework for assessing the progress and outcome of a manufacturer’s transformation towards becoming a provider of ‘advanced services’ – a complex bundling of products and services, whereby manufacturers offer capabilities and outcomes instead of products alone. ‘Advanced services’ represent the most complex offering in the current servitization trend amongst manufacturers. However, current performance measures lack the breadth and focus to assess progress or outcomes, and so support research and practice of organisational transformation efforts required. To address this gap the paper investigates how a manufacturer’s efforts to become an ‘advanced services’ provider can be comprehensively measured, and develops a framework for assessing the transformation journey towards becoming an ‘advanced services’ provider. The research method is based on (1) a systematic literature review process to create a comprehensive set of service-related performance measures that are available to assess a manufacturer’s servitization efforts, followed by (2) an engagement with an expert panel to synthesise the identified measures and create a set of ‘advanced services’ performance measures. The proposed framework is presented as a scorecard that can be used in practice to assess the progress and outcome of a manufacturer’s transformation towards becoming a provider of ‘advanced services’.

iServe: A serious game for servitization

Servitization concerns the process of manufacturers shifting from a focus on producing and selling tangible goods to service-based business models. Factors that drive adoption of servitization are financial, strategic (competitive advantage) and marketing. However, uptake is slow and active efforts are being made to transfer knowledge about servitization to the manufacturing sector. This paper presents early results from the first test of a serious computer game which has the goal of educating managers about what advanced services are and how they fit in supply chains. Results suggest the role-play scenario tested is appropriate for an audience of largely non-expert gamers, and that the approach has the potential to instruct users about the role of services in the supply chain.