Servitization in global markets: role alignment in global service networks for advanced service provision

Abstract

This study investigates how global manufacturers offer advanced services, such as outcomebased contracts, to global customers. Offering advanced services requires companies to engage in and manage win-win collaborations with a diverse set of service network partners. However, there is currently a lack of insights into the value co-creation challenges faced by manufacturers' R&D units and their service network partners. Equally, there is a pressing need for roles to be properly aligned when offering advanced services in global markets. Based on 34 exploratory interviews with respondents from two manufacturers and their six globally dispersed front-end service network partners, this study identifies diverse co-creation challenges related to the provision of advanced services in global markets. The results show that complex collaborations of this nature often do not lead to win-win relationships but rather to less understood win-lose or lose-win scenarios. Our proposed framework unpacks how to manage value co-creation challenges and establish win-win relationships through role alignment. This study's findings show that the successful provision of advanced services requires manufacturers to play the role of global service orchestrators and service network partners to act as global service integrators. Thus, role alignment provides greater latitude to establish a joint sphere of value co-creation for back-end and front-end actors. We conclude by discussing this paper's theoretical and practical contributions to the emerging literature on servitization in global markets and global service networks.

Managing a blockchain-based platform ecosystem for industry-wide adoption: The case of TradeLens

“…In particular, the digitalization of workflows has unlocked organizational and cross-organizational data silos (e.g., data islands) and allowed for efficient end-to-end collaboration across the entire global supply chain (Phadnis and Fine, 2017;Schmidt and Wagner, 2019). However, the value generated and prioritized may differ depending on the actor's type and role in the ecosystem (e.g., authorities, ports, ocean carriers) (Cennamo, 2021;Parida and Jovanovic, 2021). Additionally, the data layer allowed for the creation of a marketplace that can be opened to specialized complementors to develop innovative solutions that expand the platform ecosystem value (Jovanovic et al, 2021).…”

The link between advanced servitization, global distribution channels and the longitudinal performance of sales in international markets

“…However, international manufacturers who implement servitization strategy often face multiple challenges while penetrating new markets (Parida and Jovanovic, 2022). The main challenge facing managers is defining whether to offer basic services, where they maintain the minimal amount of effort and cost, or they offer more advanced services, where they require a higher cost of maintenance (Sousa and da Silveira, 2017).…”

“…, 2020b). However, little attention has been given to examine the link between product servitization, global distribution channels, and the firm's international performance (Parida and Jovanovic, 2022; Aminoff and Hakanen, 2018; Hakanen and Aminoff, 2016).…”

Front- and back-end employee satisfaction during service transition

“…These ambiguities stem from several issues echoed in the servitization literature: insufficient communication and coordination of activities, unspecified operative requirements, increasingly complex contracting, unclear views on how to address unanticipated demands and the risk of service failures (Benedettini et al, 2017;Finne et al, 2013). Similarly, Parida and Jovanovic (2022) argue that role ambiguities can detrimentally affect employee perceptions of how they conduct themselves within the organization and toward its customers. These might lead employees to experience a tension of belonging (Smith and Lewis, 2011), that is, a tension between one's own identity and that of the wider group (Dmitrijeva et al, 2022;Raja et al, 2022).…”

“…, 2013). Similarly, Parida and Jovanovic (2022) argue that role ambiguities can detrimentally affect employee perceptions of how they conduct themselves within the organization and toward its customers. These might lead employees to experience a tension of belonging (Smith and Lewis, 2011), that is, a tension between one's own identity and that of the wider group (Dmitrijeva et al ., 2022; Raja et al ., 2022).…”