An analysis of the trajectories of product firms’ servitization journey : contributions from a case study in a complex-product manufacturer

Abstract

Many manufacturing companies have been facing service offering as a complementary pathway to their products. There are different possible motivations for that, relying on competitive, demand-based or economic factors. Also, it is well-known that the differences in the industry lifecycle may demand the provision of different types of services. Thus, trajectories of the innovation journey may be affected by both internal motivations and external contextual aspects. The main purpose of this paper is to identify and analyze possible trajectories for servitization of manufacturing companies. To this aim, we used a longitudinal case study analysis at a multinational elevators manufacturer. Based on interviews and documental review, we map a servitization journey of 45 years in this company, allowing us to understand strategic decisions and motivations for each stage of this journey. As a result, a conceptual framework was proposed where 20 milestones were identified, correlated with 10 motivations, which four arose as new possible motivations for servitization. The principal trajectory pattern identified occur during the last phase of industry lifecycle, when manufacturing companies face a higher variety of possible servitization paths to become a systems provider than a complex products provider. Enablers and barriers of the servitization trajectories are then discussed, in order to understand company’s behaviors and actions.