Digital servitization business models in ecosystems:A theory of the firm

This study extends the discussion of digital servitization business models by adopting the perspective of the theory of the firm. We use four theories of the firm (industrial organization, the resource-based view, organizational identity, and the transaction cost approach) to understand digital servitization business models of firms in the context of ecosystems. Digitalization transforms the business models of solution providers and shapes their firm boundary decisions as they develop digital solutions across organizational boundaries within ecosystems such as harbors, mines, and airports. Thus, digitalization not only affects individual firms' business models but also requires the alignment of the business models of other firms within the ecosystem. Hence, business models in digital servitization should be viewed from an ecosystem perspective. Based on a rigorous literature review, we provide suggestions for future research on digital servitization business models within ecosystems

The evolution from products towards digital platforms: the Schneider Electric case.

Nowadays, servitisation is a common trend among manufacturing firms. Its goal is to increase the understanding of customers’ needs and respond to those needs in the best possible way. In this perspective, digitalization enables servitisation. The Internet of Things is about linking together the physical and the virtual Internet-based world. It allows to track, monitor and interact with physical products, resulting in the enhancement of manufacturing and industrial processes. In this context, many companies focused on the development of IoT-based platforms, which connect devices, industrial assets, etc. in order to gather data and perform data analytics. Accordingly, data collection and analysis are becoming more and more important in managing and understanding of the Global Value Chains, as well as the customers’ emerging needs, helping the companies to drive product innovation and guaranteeing better performances in terms of profitability and competitiveness. Although the results in terms of profits provided by these digital platforms vary greatly from one firm to another, the idea of IoT platforms as an ecosystem that promotes value co-creation beyond corporate boundaries could generate economic viability. In this fast-changing evolutionary path, the number of digital platforms is growing quickly, generating an incredible amount of opportunities and threats for companies, and affecting their strategic decisions. The consequences can be many and varied, for example, affecting the evolution of the firms’ business model. This paper aims at profoundly understanding the Internet of Things and IoT platforms, as well as the changes they generate in the manufacturing industry, by analysing several examples of ongoing real-business cases (e.g. Schneider Electric’s EcoStruxure) and investigating the ecosystem perspective.Nowadays, servitisation is a common trend among manufacturing firms. Its goal is to increase the understanding of customers’ needs and respond to those needs in the best possible way. In this perspective, digitalization enables servitisation. The Internet of Things is about linking together the physical and the virtual Internet-based world. It allows to track, monitor and interact with physical products, resulting in the enhancement of manufacturing and industrial processes. In this context, many companies focused on the development of IoT-based platforms, which connect devices, industrial assets, etc. in order to gather data and perform data analytics. Accordingly, data collection and analysis are becoming more and more important in managing and understanding of the Global Value Chains, as well as the customers’ emerging needs, helping the companies to drive product innovation and guaranteeing better performances in terms of profitability and competitiveness. Although the results in terms of profits provided by these digital platforms vary greatly from one firm to another, the idea of IoT platforms as an ecosystem that promotes value co-creation beyond corporate boundaries could generate economic viability. In this fast-changing evolutionary path, the number of digital platforms is growing quickly, generating an incredible amount of opportunities and threats for companies, and affecting their strategic decisions. The consequences can be many and varied, for example, affecting the evolution of the firms’ business model. This paper aims at profoundly understanding the Internet of Things and IoT platforms, as well as the changes they generate in the manufacturing industry, by analysing several examples of ongoing real-business cases (e.g. Schneider Electric’s EcoStruxure) and investigating the ecosystem perspective

Ecosystem transformation for digital servitization : A systematic review, integrative framework, and future research agenda

Manufacturing firms are increasingly seeking to capture the potential of digitalization by transforming towards digital servitization. Yet, most manufacturers struggle to realize the value through digital servitization because it requires a sustained focus on forming ecosystem partnerships. Digital servitization research has long recognized the importance of ecosystem tranformation but much of the existing discussion on this interlink is fragmented and understudied. Therefore, this study’s purpose is to investigate how manufacturing firms engaged in digital servitization transform their ecosystems. To this end, we have examined the triggers, firm-level enablers, ecosystem phases and activities, and effects of ecosystem transformation in digital servitization. We provide a comprehensive review of the phases of ecosystem transformation including ecosystem formation, orchestration, and expansion as well as their associated activities. These findings have been consolidated into an integrative framework for ecosystem transformation and, based on this analysis, suggestions for future research are provided for digital servitization scholars.© 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

IoT-liiketoiminnan mallintaminen

Our world is becoming increasingly digitized. Digitalization has changed and is changing business models at accelerating pace and creating new revenue and value-producing opportunities. We are now witnessing the age where the digital technologies are harnessed for our advantage - as the physical technologies were harnessed in the first industrial revolution. Still, the digital world and the physical world are separated from each other. This is the one significant issue, that the Internet of Things (IoT) is about to change. The vision of the IoT is to connect people and devices and produce a vast variety of new goods and services. As the IoT is a novel phenomenon, it can be a difficult concept to define. It can be difficult to create a comprehensive understanding on what the IoT is and what kind opportunities it has to offer. In addition, The IoT is a complex phenomenon in terms of monetization. It can be difficult to create a comprehensive understanding on where the real value of the IoT comes from. The goal of this study is to to create a framework of possible IoT business opportunities for the target company. This is done by creating a conceptualization that unfolds the different roles there are in IoT business for the target company to take or aim for. In addition to the conceptualization, there is also a need to create better understanding of the customership and value proposition related to the IoT business, and recognize the most important barriers of adoption and capabilities required for managing the barriers of adoption.Digitalisaatio on muuttanut ja muuttaa liiketoimintamalleja kiihtyvällä vauhdilla luoden uusia mahdollisuuksia arvontuotolle. Todistamme nyt aikakautta, jossa digitaaliset teknologiat valjastetaan käyttöön, kuten fyysiset teknologiat valjastettiin ensimmäisessä teollisessa vallankumouksessa. Siltikin digitaalinen ja fyysinen maailma ovat olleet tähän asti erossa toisistaan. Tämä on merkittävin asia, jonka esineiden internet tulee muuttamaan. Esineiden internetin visiona on yhdistää ihmiset ja laitteet ja luoda laaja valikoima uusia tavaroita ja palveluita. Koska esineiden internet on uusi ilmiö, sen määritteleminen voi olla vaikeaa. On haastavaa luoda kattavaa käsitystä siitä, mitä esineiden internet on ja millaisia mahdollisuuksia se tarjoaa. Lisäksi esineiden internet on minimutkainen ilmiö kaupallistamisen kannalta. On haastavaa luoda kattavaa käsitystä mistä esineiden internetin todellinen arvo tulee. Tämän opinnäytteen tavoitteena on luoda viitekehys, jonka avulla kohdeyritys voi paremmin hahmottaa esineiden internetin tarjoamia liiketoimintamahdollisuuksia. Tämä mahdollistetaan hahmottamalla erilaiset roolit, joihin kohdeyritys voi asettua. Viitekehyksen lisäksi opinnäytteen tavoitteena on luoda parempi ymmärrys IoT-liiketoimintaan liittyvistä asiakkuuksista ja arvolupauksista, sekä tunnistaa tärkeimmät käyttöönoton esteet sekä tarvittavat kyvykkyydet niiden hallitsemiseksi

The order of the factors matters:How digital transformation and servitization integrate more efficiently

This article draws on existing debates on standardization versus adaptation to propose two possible pathways for digital servitization. On the one hand, the standardization pathway posits that digital transformation enables servitized firms to make their service-based business model more standardized, and as a result, scalable. On the other hand, the adaptation pathway advocates that servitization enables highly digitalized firms to make their digital offerings more adaptable to heterogeneous customer needs, and as a result, customizable. We investigate which of these two paths integrates more effectively, and which one is thus likely to prevail in the long run. We use a purpose-built survey of 127 Spanish product firms to test these relationships using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM), and test single- and multi-mediation models. The results corroborate the existence of both pathways, but also suggest that the standardization pathway contributes more to performance than the adaptation pathway. This is consistent with historical transitions in adoption (services existed before digital transformation) and services being dependent on digital technologies delivered remotely. These findings suggest the benefits of customization in digital servitization are lower than previous studies seem to imply, and provide important managerial implications

The Financial Consequences of Servitization in Manufacturing Firms: An Empirical Analysis

Prior body of servitization research falls short to fully capture the financial consequences of servitization. This paper aims at investigating the financial consequences of servitization in listed manufacturing companies in four countries, namely UK, USA, Germany and China. By means of secondary data obtained from Worldscope database, regression models will be developed to compare servitized and non-servitized manufacturing firms in the aforementioned countries. This study contributes to the current understanding of the financial consequences in the transition towards service provision and aims to enhance managerial decision-making processes regarding servitization by comparing different contexts and countries

Consolidating digital servitization research : A systematic review, integrative framework, and future research directions

Manufacturing firms are increasingly transforming toward digital servitization, characterized by convergence and simultaneous gains from digitalization and servitization. Due to the marked academic and practical relevance of digital servitization, we are witnessing a significant upsurge in studies published on this emerging topic. Thus, the present study undertakes a comprehensive bibliometric analysis to synthesize the prior knowledge on digital servitization and, more importantly, to highlight areas for future research. The findings from the analysis are organized so that important authors and organizations are highlighted through analyses of citation chains and co-authorship networks. The bibliographic coupling analysis of HistCite and VOSviewer reveals the emergence of four dominant thematic areas in the digital servitization literature. These four thematic areas are aligning digitalization and servitization transformations, value co-creation perspectives on digital servitization, conceptualizing the platform strategy for digital servitization, and business model innovation in digital servitization. Finally, based on the analysis of how the literature on digital servitization has evolved over the last two decades and the deeper analysis of thematic analysis, we raise important research questions and provide numerous areas for future research.© 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed