Untangling service design routines for digital servitization: empirical insights of smart PSS in maritime industry

Abstract

PurposeThe present study sets out to understand how a manufacturing company in the maritime industry utilized creative design principles and developed service design routines to advance digital servitization (i.e. the transition to offering smart product-service-software systems–PSS) and realize subsequent positive growth outcomes.Design/methodology/approachWe build upon a longitudinal single case of a marine solution provider. Using an action research approach, we collected data through in-depth interviews and informal conversations involving senior managers, project members and customer representatives over a three and a half-year period. In addition, secondary data such as documentary data, service design tools and visualization were utilized.FindingsThe inductive analysis highlights the underlining role of four service-design routines that drive creativity and an innovative approach to digital servitization transformation. More specifically, we identify (a) user insights through creative customer data acquisition, (b) smart PSS collaboration through co-creation across departments, (c) smart PSS ideation through creative forms of collaboration and (d) effective smart PSS delivery and commercialization through creative concept design as the drivers of the case company digital servitization transformation.Practical implicationsWe encourage senior managers within large manufacturing companies to promote the development of service design routines as these promote the transformation process from being a product-centric to service-centric firm. The four service design routines are built on a set of service design sub-activities providing concrete actions that can be applied by senior managers to successfully develop and deliver smart PSS offerings and achieve growth outcomes.Originality/valueThis study contributes by integrating digital servitization and service design literatures. We illustrate how manufacturing firms can drive a transition to digital servitization through service design activities and routines development for smart PSS strategy implementation.

Business hybrid offerings by manufacturing SMEs: impact of servitization on internationalization of manufacturing SMEs

“…Among these, service innovation is seen as having considerable impact on internationalization and performance of SMEs (Bello et al, 2016;Weerawardena et al, 2019;Chatterjee et al, 2021a). Several studies highlight that servitization helps an enterprise to adopt a competitive Business hybrid offerings by SMEs strategy that could impact its performance (Lee et al, 2016;Chen et al, 2021;Solem et al, 2021). Servitization improves different activities of an enterprise by transforming a product-based system to a product-service-based system (Kastalli and Van Looy, 2013;Rana et al, 2020;Gomes et al, 2021;Sundbo et al, 2021).…”

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“…Agility and flexibility capacities are fundamental for firms in order to properly adapt to the changing environment as they stimulate creativity that, in turn, affect new product development. In this regard, the article Untangling Service Design Routines for Digital Servitization: Empirical insights of smart PSS in maritime industry, by Solem et al (2021), explores how the application of creative design principles in a manufacturing company in the maritime industry. Digital servitization business models are an important context for this work and are described as requiring a shift in organizational innovation activities and routines.…”

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