E – Strategic Transformation to Value-Centred Business Models
Zusammenfassung der Projektergebnisse
The objective of this research project was to understand how manufacturing firms transform from product-centred to value-centred business models. This strategic transformation implies substantial progress on the path towards servitization. In addition, we elaborated on the question when such a strategic transformation results in beneficial outcomes for firms. To answer these research questions, we used a multi-method approach and conducted three empirical studies. Our first study provides a comprehensive empirical analysis of the servitization process in the U.S. manufacturing industry over the last 10 years. Using a unique panel dataset of 1,381 U.S. manufacturers, we draw a pronounced picture of firms’ servitization trajectories. Our descriptive results establish servitization as an ongoing trend in several sectors of the manufacturing industry. The commercial machinery and electronic equipment sectors put the strongest emphasis on services, while services play only a minor role in the chemical products sector. Moreover, we distinguish different service types and reveal their specific role in the servitization process. Product-oriented services have reached a high yet saturated level of strategic importance, while customer-oriented services have become the major focus of the ongoing servitization process. A fine-grained analysis reveals considerable differences between large and medium-sized enterprises. These insights help managers to benchmark and improve their servitization strategy. The second study conceptually proposes and empirically validates a path perspective on the servitization process of manufacturing firms. Based on in-depth interviews with senior managers from different manufacturing industries, we find empirical support for consistent patterns in their firms’ service growth trajectories. While some firms pursue a customer path and develop value-creating services that target customers’ business processes, others follow an outcome path in their service growth strategy and develop services that promise to achieve valuable customer outcomes. In our sample, few firms were on a solution path that simultaneously combines a focus on customers’ business processes with outcome-based value propositions. Depending on the chosen servitization paths, we identify different roadblocks that companies face during their strategic transformation. The third study empirically validates the customer and outcome path, sheds light on the pivotal role of digital technology usage for both generic paths, and explores their financial and relational performance outcomes. The results reveal that digital technology usage is equally important for both paths. But servitization paths vary in their consequences for firms’ relational and financial performance. While firms on an outcome path profit from an increase in financial performance, they risk lower relational performance. In contrast, firms on the customer path benefit from higher relational performance, which in turn has an indirect effect on financial performance. Customer tenure and customer’s open-mindedness are important contingency variables in the digital technology usage – servitization path – firm performance framework that determine the effectiveness of firms’ strategic transformation. The corona pandemic was an unexpected situation occurring during our research project. While the pandemic poses several challenges to our research project (e.g., difficulty to recruit participants for our interviews and survey studies), we also took advantage of the situation and investigated value-centred business models from a pandemic perspective. In particular, we used the panel data collected in this research project to analyse how customer solutions perform during a crisis situation.
Projektbezogene Publikationen (Auswahl)
-
“Service Growth by Acquisition – An Event Study,” 9th BMM-EMAC Biennial International Conference on Business Market Management, Berlin.
Eggert, Andreas, Eva Böhm & Rodi Akalan
-
“Manufacturers’ Service Growth through Mergers and Acquisitions – An Event Study,” AMA Winter Marketing Educators' Conference Proceedings, San Diego, CA.
Eggert, Andreas, Eva Böhm, Rodi Akalan & Heiko Gebauer
-
“Exploring the Paths Towards Service Growth in Manufacturing Companies,” AMA Winter Marketing Educators' Conference Proceedings, St. Petersburg, FL.
Harrmann, Lisa, Eva Böhm & Andreas Eggert
-
Digital technology usage as a driver of servitization paths in manufacturing industries. European Journal of Marketing, 57(3), 834-857.
Harrmann, Lisa Katharina; Eggert, Andreas & Böhm, Eva
-
Servitization in the Manufacturing Industry: Where Do We Stand? Where Do We Come From?. Journal of Service Management Research, 6(3), 204-213.
Akalan, Rodi; Böhm, Eva & Eggert, Andreas
-
Strategic Emphasis on Service-Based Business Models During the Corona Crisis: Are Customer Solutions a Curse or Blessing for Manufacturing Firms?. Journal of Service Management Research, 6(1), 47-63.
Akalan, Rodi; Eggert, Andreas & Böhm, Eva
-
“Digital Technology Usage as a Driver of Servitization Paths in Manufacturing Industries,” 2022 EMAC Annual Conference, Budapest.
Eggert, Andreas, Lisa Harrmann & Eva Böhm
