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

Resumen

This thesis tackles an increasingly popular phenomenon – servitization of manufacturing – a growth opportunity for industrial firms through a service-led business model. However, implementing a servitization strategy in industrial firms triggers multifaceted challenges and requires further research.
The thesis builds on extensive studies of world leading multinational capital equipment manufacturers that develop a successful service business model. The dissertation builds on three closely interconnected studies. The first study is an in-depth exploratory case study of a Swedish industrial firm by cross-comparing two servitization initiatives—one that was highly successful, and one that was less so. The second study juxtaposes 10 worldwide subsidiaries of the same Swedish industrial firm to compare and contrast how the servitization process unfolded. This study focuses on the management of service capability development, as well as the management of emerging tensions between the product business units and service business units. The third study extends the research scope by analyzing four industrial firms that successfully developed advanced services (e.g. outcome-based contracts). Finally, the fourth study focuses on 12 case studies of product providers that shifted to open business models.
This thesis contributes to the servitization literature and business model literature by demarcating three business model archetypes for industrial firms: product business model, service business models and outcome business model. This thesis unpacks the content of the business model elements that underpins business model archetypes as well as the configuration and the relationship between the business model elements.