ABSTRACT
Both servitization and digitization are mainstream types of business model innovation. In recent years, there have been an increasing number of studies integrating these two research topics to develop a series of research on digital servitization. Facing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the development of digital servitization capabilities in the manufacturing industry can help companies provide smart product-service systems (PSSs) to address uncertainties and shocks in the external environment. This study aims to explore "the dilemmas and response strategies of digital servitization” using a qualitative multiple case study comparative analysis. Through in-depth interviews, we identified the difficulties and bottlenecks that small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises (SMEs) may encounter in the process of digital servitization and proposed corresponding response strategies. The results of this study contribute to the literature on digital servitization by accumulating and extending upon existing research.
ABSTRACT
This study examines how service-oriented business model diversification of manufacturing firms (i.e., servitization) has affected their organizational resilience during the COVID-19 outbreak. We investigate the impact of various types of servitization (i.e., product-oriented vs. customer-oriented services) on organizational resilience. Using secondary data collected from 1914 manufacturing firms that are listed in the US stock markets, we find that servitization is inversely related to organizational resilience during the COVID-19 disruption;that is, manufacturing firms with more revenue from service businesses endure more significant stock price loss and take longer to bounce back from the loss caused by the COVID-19 disruption. The impact is more pronounced for manufacturing firms providing product-related services (than customer-oriented services). This study extends the understanding of the dark side of servitization relating to organizational resilience during a major disruption.
ABSTRACT
Manufacturing companies operate in global environments where competition is increasingly aggressive. To remain competitive, they need to differentiate themselves by updating and expanding their offerings to customers, for instance through the digitalization and servitization phenomena, which allow companies to innovate business models in this direction. This paper deals with an analysis of the subscription business model, which has recently attracted the attention of manufacturing companies for the possibility to establish long-term partnerships with customers by providing services on a continuous basis in return of recurring payments. After a first analysis of the literature on this topic, the effective implementation of the subscription model in the manufacturing environment is analyzed through a case study. The analysis shows that the development of subscription models is strengthened by the utilization of digital tools since they enable processing customers’ data for new service offering generation, leading companies to differentiate their business towards customer-centric solutions. In conjunction, the case study shows how barriers to the implementation of subscription models in the manufacturing sector are still present. Despite this, the Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the potential of this offer, allowing companies to stay in touch with their customers, and to maintain, or even increase, the revenue streams. © 2022, IFIP International Federation for Information Processing.
ABSTRACT
Purpose Deglobalization and the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic have severely hindered multinational enterprise (MNE) investment. At the same time, digital technology is seriously challenging it with traditional production factor flows. Few studies have realized that the impact of digitalization is not limited to either transaction costs or the location-boundness of firm-specific advantages (FSAs), but extends to profound changes in the fundamental essence of MNEs. There is still limited understanding of this body of knowledge as a whole, including how its subtopics are interrelated. This study took the production factor change perspective to review MNE theory in the digital era. Therefore, this study aims to identify any upcoming and undeveloped themes in order to provide a platform suited to direct future research. Design/methodology/approach This paper presents a summary and a review of 151 articles published between 2007 and 2020. Such review was conducted to systematically explain the connotations and influential mechanisms of digital empowerment on MNE theory. This was achieved by using the CiteSpace citation visualization tool to build a keyword co-occurrence network. Findings The research findings pertain to how digitalization expands, breaks through, and even reshapes traditional MNE theory from four distinctive angles: the influential factors of internationalization, the process of internationalization, competitive advantage, and location choice. The findings are followed by the presentation of future research directions. Originality/value This paper presents an examination of MNE theory in the digital era from the perspective of production factor change. In doing so, it identifies significant theoretical innovation opportunities for future scholarly research priorities.
ABSTRACT
Transforming a traditional industry by adopting autonomous solutions is complex, generating paradoxical tensions on multiple aggregate levels. We undertake an in-depth case study of a leading maritime autonomous solutions provider and its ecosystem partners. We apply the paradox lens using thematic analysis. Our research contributes to the digital servitization literature by identifying six paradoxes inherent in the shift to autonomous solutions, nested in the micro, meso, and macro levels. We develop a multilevel framework of organizational paradoxes, delineating cascading effects of paradoxes across levels. We offer valuable insights for providers to integrate multilevel perspectives into the shift to autonomous solutions.
ABSTRACT
The fast-changing scenario related to the COVID-19 pandemic calls for firms to rapidly redefine and innovate their strategies to sustain their businesses, with research emphasizing the key roles of digital technologies and servitization. We aim to enrich the theoretical debate on this matter by assessing how small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) achieve product innovation under time constraints by leveraging two specific technology groups (information and communication technologies [ICT] and Industry 4.0 data-processing technologies) and servitization. The research is based on a mixed-method approach consisting of an original survey completed by 257 Italian SMEs (grounded on a previous qualitative study about such SMEs' behaviors during the first Italian lockdown), followed by in-depth interviews with the owners and/or managers of the eight SMEs that participated in the survey. The results show a positive relationship between the increased use of digital technologies (ICT and Industry 4.0 data-processing technologies) during the pandemic with servitization and, in turn, with product innovation. Specifically, the increased use of ICT during the pandemic had a direct positive effect on product innovation, while Industry 4.0 data-processing technologies affected product innovation only through the full mediation of servitization. The qualitative study allowed us to highlight how the different kinds of digital technologies supported SMEs' innovation (servitization and product innovation) during the pandemic. The theoretical and practical contributions of this study are discussed.
ABSTRACT
The Covid-19 pandemic has globally affected most of the industrial sectors, pushing public and private institutions to invest in digital transformation at a pace never experienced before. In such a turbulent scenario, companies, and especially small and medium-sized enterprise, must dynamically respond to this environment by undertaking a strategic transformation which involves changes in the organisation structure through the right digital interface and mechanisms to creating qualitative customer relationships and capturing value. Business success over time is built on leadership, people-based management, continuous improvements, management based on facts and constant customer focus. The evolutionary path of a firm's business model driven by digitalisation describes its maturity. This paper aims at assessing the relationship between digital business model maturity and the sustainability of business performance over time. The results of an online survey involving the executives of 162 small and medium-sized enterprise operating in the tourism sector of five different continents have been analysed to test this relationship. Through a Structural Equations Modelling approach, the study found statistical evidence of the positive effect of digital business model maturity on sustainable business success. In this manner, this study contributes to academic literature by linking the concepts of digital transformation, digital business model maturity and sustainable business excellence.
ABSTRACT
In the era of Industry 4.0, the innovative applications of the industrial internet of things continue to deepen, and the trend of digital transformation of the green manufacturing industry continues to expand. In this context, the study of digital finance innovation in green manufacturing enterprises is conducive to transforming and upgrading enterprises and national economic development. In order to review the theoretical foundations and the current state of research under this topic, this paper provides an overview of digital finance innovation in green manufacturing companies based on 296 papers published between 1900 and 2021 through bibliometric and scientific visualization methods. This paper uses HistCite to identify the most influential authors, institutions, and countries and uncover the lineage of research on digital finance innovation in green manufacturing companies. At the same time, VOSviewer is used to identify research hotspots and research clusters under the topic. Finally, on this basis, this paper classifies the types of digital innovation from the perspective of value creation. It proposes a theoretical framework for the realization path of digital finance innovation in green manufacturing enterprises based on intelligent servitization and orchestration capabilities. The findings of this paper enrich the existing innovation theory and facilitate scholars to conduct future research more effectively.
ABSTRACT
Due to Covid-19, many charities have had to rapidly adapt their face-to-face services and transition to using digital platforms. This digitisation of services has led to the concept of Digitally Enhanced Advanced Services (DEAS), a model of servitisation applied in the manufacturing sector, being discussed in relation to the charity sector. This paper examines the applicability of DEAS to the charity sector. It explores how trust, resilience and privacy are addressed in co-creating digital platforms as well as the sustainability of digital services. Using the Refugee Council Children's Section as a case study, a mixed methods approach was applied including data mining, participant observation, and semi-structured interviews with 10 practitioners and service users. Findings show that there exists a tension between the digital and the reality in the charity sector: digital services increase access to service users in remote areas but digital poverty and illiteracy remain significant obstacles for digital servitisation. Resilience and adaptability have enabled the charity sector to operate inside the tension between the digital and reality. The adoption of DEAS in the charity sector will be dependent upon maximising opportunities, implementing changes, and overcoming barriers. © 2021 Institution of Engineering and Technology. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
Driven by pressures for sustainable development and disruptions such as the COVID-19 pandemic, manufacturing companies in the 21st century are affected by two intertwined trends: Industry 4.0 and servitization. Digital servitization, which represents the transition from providing products to offering smart product-service systems, is currently seen as a black box by companies confronting them with major challenges. Current literature has not yet investigated which capabilities are required for the development and provision of smart PSSs. To address this gap, an exploratory multiple case study was performed using semi-structured interviews with 18 representatives of four manufacturing companies and six representatives of companies in a supporting role. A socio-technical systems perspective was adopted to cover the interconnectedness and complementarity of internal and external elements relevant for providing a smart PSS. The study identified 46 capabilities of digital servitization to offer and perform smart PSSs and systemically classified these within the dimensions of the socio-technical systems theory, thus providing companies with numerous insights into successful digital servitization. The results contribute to the practical and academic understanding of digital servitization by outlining capabilities to offer and perform smart PSSs and providing support for the use of socio-technical systems theory to frame these capabilities systematically.
ABSTRACT
For healthcare manufacturing firms, creating a crisis-prepared product and service portfolio and operational processes is essential for their long-term prosperity. In this paper, we examine how healthcare manufacturing firms cope with the operational disruptions and opportunities associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. We highlight the central role of organizational resilience and examine whether servitization and digitalization can improve the organizational resilience of healthcare manufacturing firms. On the basis of the organizational information processing theory, we suggest that servitization and digitalization can improve the stability and flexibility of operations, which make healthcare manufacturing firms more resilient to the COVID-19 pandemic. The hypotheses were tested using survey data from 163 manufacturing firms located in China. The results indicate that both servitization and digitalization improve the organizational resilience of healthcare manufacturing firms, leading to higher firm growth during the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, organizational resilience mediates the impacts of servitization and digitalization on firm growth. Environmental dynamism strengthens the relationship between digitalization and organizational resilience. This study offers new insights for healthcare manufacturing firms to prepare for crisis events and achieve sustainable development in a highly competitive environment.