Capability antecedents and performance outcomes of servitization

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to theoretically articulate and empirically test an integrated model of capability antecedents and performance outcomes of servitization strategies. The authors characterize servitization strategies based on the offering of two types of services: basic services (BAS) and advanced services (ADS). Design/methodology/approach Hypotheses are tested based on statistical analyses of a large survey of manufacturers from different countries and sectors. Findings The authors find that manufacturing capabilities associate with the provision of BAS, while service capabilities associate with both BAS and ADS; BAS do not impact financial performance, but support the offering of ADS; there seem to be naturally occurring servitization trajectories involving the gradual development of balanced levels of BAS and ADS and adequate levels of manufacturing and service capabilities. Research limitations/implications The findings on servitization trajectories are based on the observation of manufacturing business units at different stages of servitization (cross-sectional data). Practical implications Manufacturers wishing to servitize should distinguish between BAS and ADS and deploy a balanced adoption of BAS and ADS, using BAS as a platform. This should be accompanied with the building of appropriate capabilities. Originality/value This is one of the first studies to show an explicit link between different servitization strategies, capabilities, and servitization maturity. It provides new insights into the servitization paradox and servitization trajectories.

Uncovering Productivity Gains of Digital and Green Servitization: Implications from the Automotive Industry

“…An important finding of this study is the relevance of digital servitization for firm productivity, confirming Hypothesis 1. This result can be ascribed mainly to the technological attributes of digital services, which enable better coordination of operations [14,16,17], driving firm performance and competitiveness [23][24][25][26][27]; and to the nature of the automotive industry, which is characterized by high investment in R&D and high technological sophistication [8,67,78].…”

“…All of the above result in higher operating margins [23][24][25], while implementation of digital servitization gives companies sophisticated mechanisms to exploit value from data [62,63,69,71], facilitating and streamlining decision-making processes to respond to internal and external contingencies in a timely and effective manner [15,17]. Thus, digital servitization enables faster response to customer demands [14,18,65,67] and improves the quality of service provision [16,69], increasing the firm's performance and competitiveness [26,27]. As a result of these considerations, we propose the following hypothesis:…”

“…Throughout the last century, this industry moved from a Fordist production system-in which the key elements of firm performance were principally economies of scale, efficiency and promotion-to a smart system of production, in which the entire supply chain, from design to customer loyalty programs, is connected and monitored through digital technologies. Such evolving environments have forced automobile has analyzed different levels and types of servitization (e.g., [27]), to the best of our knowledge, no research so far has attempted to analyze the dichotomization of digital and green servitization in manufacturing companies and the effect of this dichotomous productivity.…”

Sustainability Impact on Manufacturing Operational Performance: An Empirical Investigation

“…The IMSS-VI sample consists of 931 manufacturing plants from 22 countries, with a 13% response rate (Sousa and da Silveira, 2017). The data selection was restricted to companies with the six International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC rev.4) codes ranging from 25 to 30 (see Table 10), preferably with more than 50 employees.…”

Navigating Manufacturing Firms to Service-led Business Models : a multi-case study from the capital goods industry

“…Sousa and da Silveira (2017) related servitization capabilities to the broader organizational capability literature (e.g., Helfat and Winter, 2011) by framing services as "new organizational processes" (Sampson and Froehle, 2009). They defined servitization capability as a "manufacturer's ability to carry out the management (design and delivery) of the service processes it offers, repeatedly and reliably" (Sousa and da Silveira, 2017).…”