Search Results (111)

Servitization has profound implications for the sustainable development of manufacturing, the economy, and the environment. Drawing upon the literature on servitization, resource-based theory, and social capital theory, this study examines the influence of diverse forms of slack resources in manufacturing firms on their transition to a service-oriented business model, as well as the threshold effects of two types of social capital in this process. By conducting an empirical study, using the sample of 538 listed companies in the Chinese manufacturing sector, we confirm that both absorbed and unabsorbed slack resources have a positive effect on servitization, with the former playing a more significant role. Moreover, as political social capital increases and exceeds a specific threshold, the positive influence of both forms of slack resources on servitization is enhanced. Conversely, the positive effect of absorbed slack resources is negated when business social capital exceeds a certain threshold. In addition, the heterogeneity analysis shows that both types of slack resources significantly promote servitization in non-high-tech firms, while their effects are insignificant in high-tech firms; both types of slack resources effectively promote servitization when the industry is highly competitive, and vice versa; for the eastern region, both types of slack resources significantly promote servitization, while their effects are insignificant in the central region, and the negative effects of unabsorbed slack resources are significant in the western region. This study innovatively integrates the dual factors of intra-organizational slack resources and extra-organizational social capital, offering deeper insights and more concrete practical guidance for enterprises in formulating their servitization strategies. Full article

This study investigates the mechanisms by which service-oriented transformation affects employee satisfaction with performance evaluation systems within the context of China’s electricity market reform. Using CGN New Energy’s Guangxi Branch as a case study and applying the grounded theory method, the research systematically analyzes employees’ perceptions of fairness, transparency, and career development during the transition from a product-oriented to a service-oriented model, based on in-depth interviews and surveys. The findings reveal that while servitization enhances employee skill development and career satisfaction, it also introduces challenges, such as increased work pressure and the demand for more transparent performance evaluation systems. This study provides valuable insights into optimizing management practices and performance evaluation systems in renewable energy companies, contributing both theoretically and practically to the literature on organizational transformation in the energy sector. These conclusions are not only significant for Chinese enterprises but also offer important reference points for global energy companies undergoing similar transitions. Full article

This study presents an analysis of the relationship between the servitization process and energy sustainability in the years 2015–2020. The research refers to 164 selected countries, also divided into two regimes: developed and developing. The transformation of the manufacturing process, and as a result, the economy’s structure, towards servitization, is observed in most countries worldwide. The positive influence of the servitization of production by individual manufacturers on sustainability is widely known. In this research, this relationship is considered on a macroeconomic scale, which is one of the novelties of the study. Particularly, sustainability in the energy sector, indicated as an achievement of the 7th goal of Sustainable Development, is discussed. Energy sustainability is evaluated using a synthetic measure by Perkal. This part of the research shows the problem of the low level of energy sustainability in developing countries (particularly in Africa) compared with developed ones. Moreover, spatio-temporal sensitivity models are estimated and verified. The sensitivity parameter in these models shows the impact of the progress in the servitization process on energy sustainability. The models have been enriched with the effects of spatial dependence between countries, taking into account two types of proximity matrices based on (1) the common border criterion and (2) the similarity of the development levels measured by the Human Development Index. Additionally, the differences in sensitivity between developed and developing countries are considered. The results of the study show that in both cases, the economic servitization positively influences energy sustainability, but the strength of the relationship is stronger in the group of developed countries. This can be, for example, the result of the individual characteristics of the given countries, where African countries mainly benefit from agricultural development. Only after reaching a certain level of economic growth will they be able to obtain sustainability faster through economic servitization. Full article

This paper studies the role of resource orchestration in promoting business model innovation in servitization transformation enterprises to achieve sustainable development. Taking Sany Heavy Industry as the research focus, a three-level evaluation index is constructed to identify the resources and capabilities that have a key impact in the process. Through the continuous decomposition and integration of resources and capabilities, the resource orchestration behavior of business model innovation in the process of enterprise service transformation is obtained. The research results reveal the strategic evolution from “acquisition–stabilization–mobilization” to “accumulation–enrichment–coordination”, and finally to “accumulation–pioneering–deployment”, which plays an important role in redefining servitization value creation and transforming business model logic. This research helps to understand how resource orchestration promotes business model innovation in the context of servitization transformation to achieve the sustainable development of enterprises. Full article

The fashion industry is recognized among the most impactful industries in relation to environmental and social damage due to unsustainable models. While countless research studies focus on the supply chain and product innovation, the presented inquiry studies the fashion retail sector with the goal of systematizing existing sustainable practices based on service offerings. We present the results of an extensive case-study analysis conducted on 370 initiatives of different natures gathered among international companies and local actors in the European context that offer services oriented toward sustainability. As a result, we propose an ontology that encompasses three areas (services for environmental sustainability, culture of sustainability, and implementation of social sustainability) and comprehensively describes existing sustainability strategies for helping retailers preserve the environment, while promoting socially inclusive practices and disseminating the culture of sustainability. The innovation of retailing from a similar perspective aims at rendering businesses more resilient to survive market and social transformations, especially in consideration of the boost to sustainable and circular transformation advocated by recent European legislation. Full article

Automated industrial Visual Inspection Systems (VIS) are predominantly designed for specific use cases, resulting in constrained adaptability, high setup requirements, substantial capital investments, and significant knowledge barriers. This paper explores the business potential of recent alternative architectures proposed in the literature for the visual inspection of individual products or complex assemblies within highly variable production environments, utilizing next-generation VIS. These advanced VIS exhibit significant technical (hardware and software) enhancements, such as increased flexibility, reconfigurability, Computer Aided Design (CAD)-based integration, self-X capabilities, and autonomy, as well as economic improvements, including cost-effectiveness, non-invasiveness, and plug-and-produce capabilities. The new trends in VIS have the potential to revolutionize business models by enabling as-a-service approaches and facilitating a paradigm shift towards more sustainable manufacturing and human-centric practices. We extend the discussion to examine how these technological innovations, which reduce the need for extensive coding skills and lengthy reconfiguration activities for operators, can be implemented as a shared resource within a circular lifecycle. This analysis includes detailing the underlying business model that supports shared utilization among different stakeholders, promoting a circular economy in manufacturing by leveraging the capabilities of next-generation VIS. Such an approach not only enhances the sustainability of manufacturing processes but also democratizes access to state-of-the-art inspection technologies, thereby expanding the possibilities for autonomous manufacturing ecosystems. Full article

Since 2014, China has been actively promoting the transformation of manufacturing servitization, clarifying the importance of manufacturing servitization. This paper investigates the correlation between manufacturing servitization and cost stickiness, supplementing the research on the economic consequences of manufacturing servitization and the influencing factors of cost stickiness. This paper launches an empirical study with a sample of A-share manufacturing companies from 2014 to 2022. The research results show that, first, manufacturing servitization can inhibit enterprise cost stickiness; second, manufacturing servitization affects enterprise cost stickiness through the path of reducing enterprise adjustment costs, reducing managers’ optimistic expectations and reducing enterprise agency costs; third, the negative relationship between manufacturing servitization and cost stickiness is stronger among firms with a low level of internal control, a strong degree of financing constraints, a good quality internal information environment, a strong degree of competition in the market, and firms that are in capital-intensive manufacturing industries; fourth, the role of embedded servitization on enterprise cost stickiness is not significant, while hybrid servitization can have a significant negative effect on enterprise cost stickiness; and fifth, the impact of manufacturing servitization on enterprise cost stickiness mainly lies in the cost of material resources rather than the cost of human resources. Full article

With the increasingly fierce market competition, customers’ needs are gradually becoming more complicated, specialized, customized, and personalized. How manufacturing enterprises adopt innovation strategies to achieve value-added products as well as value co-creation with customers is an important initiative for enterprises to maintain differentiated advantages in market competition. Therefore, the creation of service value has gradually become more and more important. The related research on manufacturing servitization has attracted extensive attention in recent years. Manufacturing servitization is the evolution process of manufacturing enterprises gradually from product-dominant logic to service-dominant logic. The purpose of this study is to explore the dynamic evolution of manufacturing servitization from the perspective of innovation strategy and analyze the dynamic evolution mechanism. This study shows the latest research progress of theories related to manufacturing servitization and lays the theoretical foundation for research on the mechanism of the dynamic evolution of manufacturing servitization. This study proposes a three-stage dynamic evolution model of manufacturing servitization: product production, technological innovation, and service innovation. This study primarily employs the research methods of model construction and computer simulation. Based on the Nelson–Winter model, this study establishes a decision model for manufacturing servitization innovation strategy. This study conducts a computer simulation study on the dynamic evolution of manufacturing servitization from the perspective of innovation strategy and draws conclusions. This study is of great significance for manufacturing enterprises in making appropriate service-oriented innovation strategy decisions in the context of the service-oriented transformation occurring widely in the manufacturing industry. Full article

At present, the progress of business model stages supported by a variety of technology categories may unclear, and the integration of technology application and business model innovation (BMI) is hard due to operational practices in various industries and research areas, which block the view of the integration of smart city technology (SCT) and BMI for further development. Thus, this paper aims to explore the current research on the integration of SCT and BMI and identify the current research status and hotspots, assisting in indicating the status of these technologies in the business model stages in order to determine future trends, and adopts a mixed research methodology including a macro-quantitative method based on bibliometrics and a micro-qualitative method using content analysis. The results reveal a 17-year (2007 to 2023) integration of SCT and BMI enhanced by cloud computing, big data, Internet of Things, and artificial intelligence in recent years, with the most current studies focusing on the ideation and design stages of the business model stages with an emphasis on using digital capabilities to refine, formulate, and design the corresponding business model while defining the strategy through internal and external factors. Interestingly, Industry 4.0 and digital servitization are currently the key trends. Full article

Enterprise Digital Intelligence Transformation is based on the Digital Conversion of information and process service upgrading, further touching the enterprise’s core business, with the goal of building a new business model of Digital Intelligence Transformation at a higher level. Based on dynamic capability theory, this paper conducts an in-depth study on the mechanism of enterprise Digital Intelligence Transformation and firm performance. This paper selects manufacturing companies listed in China’s Shanghai and Shenzhen A-shares from 2013 to 2022 as the research sample, and analyzes and tests the sample data using empirical research methods in order to explore the actual impact of Digital Intelligence Transformation on firm performance, including the specific pathways of action and moderating effects. This study helps enterprises to positively face the megatrend of Digital Intelligence Transformation and upgrading and the challenges it brings, and to grasp the new opportunities in the digital era. This study finds that enterprises carry out digital empowerment transformation and development strategies, and implement information Digital Conversion, service upgrading, and Digital Intelligence Transformation to promote firm performance to different degrees. Enterprise innovation resilience has a mechanism effect between information digitalization conversion enterprise performance and process service upgrading enterprise performance. The higher the environmental uncertainty, the greater the positive contribution of information digitalization to firm performance. Digital Conversion is the base and service upgrading is the process. The current sample enterprises have limited years of data collection, and most of them have only carried out the strategic implementation of Digital Conversion or servitization, and have not reached the high-level stage of digital and intellectual transformation. Therefore, it is found that enterprise innovation resilience has not yet shown a significant role mechanism effect between digital–intelligent transformation and enterprise performance at present. And environmental uncertainty has not yet shown a significant moderating effect in the stage of Servitization Upgrading and digital–intelligent transformation. The marginal contributions of this paper are mainly reflected in the following: (1) This study introduces the dynamic capability theory to explore the role of Digital Intelligence Transformation (Digital Conversion + service upgrading) on enterprise performance. (2) This paper investigates the role of Digital Intelligence Transformation in influencing the performance of enterprises from the Digital Conversion and service upgrading phases, and enriches the relevant role and regulatory mechanisms. (3) This study provides new ideas and strategic suggestions on Digital Intelligence Transformation for enterprises with different factor intensities, at different stages of development, and in different regions. Full article

Business-to-business (B2B) manufacturing companies are increasingly confronted with transformative trends such as sustainability, digitalization, and servitization. These trends are changing how product portfolios are developed, and how value contributions are assessed, and therefore have disruptive potential. Dealing with these disruptive factors in Product Portfolio Management (PPM) is a largely unexplored topic. This study presents an empirical-qualitative exploration that contributes significantly to the field. The aim is to clarify the extent to which disruptive factors influence the evaluation and shaping of the product portfolio in B2B manufacturing companies. The Gioia method was used to evaluate 21 semi-structured interviews with experts from leading B2B manufacturing companies. Eight overarching challenges in PPM resulting from disruptive factors were identified. Based on the eight overarching challenges and their associated causal relationships, two aggregated dimensions of action were derived: (1) increasing speed and flexibility by using generative artificial intelligence (AI) in a defined PPM process and (2) adjusting the product portfolio evaluation to consider various strategic drivers. These two dimensions of action call for future research to overcome the disruptive factors in PPM. Full article

With the goal of carbon peaking and neutrality, carbon productivity has become a means of sustainability in manufacturing, and the impact of the synergy of digitalization and servitization (DSS) on carbon productivity (CP) deserves in-depth study. Based on data with respect to manufacturing in 30 provinces in China from 2013 to 2020, a coupled coordination degree model is used to calculate the degree of manufacturing coordination. A regression effect model is used to explore the intrinsic mechanism of the impact of DSS on CP. The main results show the following: (1) The DSS in manufacturing positively contributes to enhancing CP, and there are non-linear features in both. (2) Technological innovation can contribute to the impact of DSS on CP, as does industry structure, and there is a mediating effect between the two. (3) When economic growth is used as the threshold, DSS and CP reflect a positive “U” relationship. Based on the above findings, policy recommendations are made to promote the sustainable development of manufacturing. Full article

Responding to changing value creation processes in the sheet metal working sector, where the complexity and interchangeability of products challenge traditional differentiation strategies, this exploratory analysis examines the integration of service-oriented and data-driven business models as new paths to ensure competitiveness, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This study aims to capture the current state and challenges associated with the implementation of these business models in this sector. This research was conducted through semi-structured interviews with SMEs in the industry. The findings indicate that service-oriented and data-driven business models are not yet widely adopted and that manufacturing companies require support in their implementation. Fields of action were identified for the industry. These are “Creating awareness and understanding”, “Recognizing added value”, “Increasing company maturity”, and “Understanding the change process”. Cooperation between science and industry is essential in tackling these fields of action to ensure the successful integration of such business models in manufacturing companies. This paper identifies challenges in the fields of action that companies must address through a structured approach, promoting awareness, recognizing value, improving organizational maturity, and understanding the change process to successfully implement service-oriented and data-driven business models. Full article

Artificial intelligence, as a novel form of infrastructure with both generality and knowledge spillover characteristics, plays a crucial role in facilitating the profound integration of the manufacturing and service industries, and achieving economic transformation. This paper empirically investigates the impacts of artificial intelligence on the process of manufacturing servitization, utilizing merged data from the OECD-ICIOT (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, Intercountry Input-Output Tables) industry data, the Chinese industrial enterprise database, and the customs trade database. The empirical findings of this research demonstrate that artificial intelligence has significant and positive effects on manufacturing servitization. These positive effects primarily occur through two channels: enhancing total factor productivity and optimizing the labor skill structure. Furthermore, this study examines the variations in the impact of artificial intelligence on the transformation of embedded services and blended services. The analysis reveals that artificial intelligence significantly promotes the transformation of embedded services, while its impact on the transformation of blended services is comparatively less pronounced. Full article

To enhance the competitiveness of the traditional handicraft industry, providers should offer service experiences using their products (i.e., servitization) instead of merely selling them. Effective management for servitization in the traditional handicraft industry must consider the differences in customers’ prior knowledge. Nevertheless, previous studies have overlooked how this knowledge about traditional handicrafts impacts service experiences. This study explores which factors of consumer behavior (during services) and service outcomes (post-services) are affected by customers’ prior knowledge about a traditional handicraft. An organic food restaurant booth was provided at an annual summer festival about pottery as an experiment, and data were collected on customers’ meal experiences with a pottery plate through a questionnaire. The findings suggest that customers’ prior knowledge about a traditional handicraft promotes their search for information from service resources (i.e., organic foods) which are integrated with the traditional handicraft and their creativity during services, thereby changing their understanding of service resources and increasing satisfaction with service experience. This study contributes to services marketing by identifying the factors of during and post-services that are affected by customers’ prior knowledge about a traditional handicraft in the context of servitization. Full article