Organisational transformation towards servitization

Purpose: The aim of this paper is to develop a model, which illuminates the transformation journey towards servitization in the manufacturing context. Design/Methodology/Approach: This is a theoretical paper based on extensive review of literature on organisation change and transformation, and servitization. This was followed by a series of structured engagement workshops with senior executives of 10 multinational manufacturers in order to synthesis the propositions and further inform the development of the framework. Findings: Our analysis demonstrates that the organisational transformation can be explained as four stages of development, which the manufacturers proceed through according to the impacts of five forces. Originality/Value: Previous studies on servitization succeed at identifying different stages towards servitization. However, the stages are loosely defined and struggled to demonstrate the relevant transformation pathways. This paper has, therefore, addressed this issue

Capturing the Benefits of Digitalization and Service Innovation: A Business Network Perspective

A core challenge for broad adoption of the Internet of Things (IoT) is to ensure that its benefits are captured by a wide range of stakeholders. Taking a business network perspective, this study: i) examines the benefit potential of widespread IoT-based digitalization and service innovation; ii) identifies key barriers to capturing these benefits; iii) develops recommendations to overcome these barriers. A three-stage qualitative methodology (based on interviews, a focus group and Delphi-based inquiry) examines the case of an emergent IoT-based digital business network in the UK road transport industry. The research reveals the critical importance of managers involved in digitalization initiatives balancing their interests with those of the wider business network, if the potential benefits are to be captured. It provides fresh insights into: i) IoT-based digitalization as a business network phenomenon; ii) the interplay between digitalization and innovation in the sphere of service business models; iii) digitalization’s disruptive impact on ‘traditional’ industries and the implications for future management research

An examination of NPD models in the context of business models

Most prior new product diffusion (NPD) models do not specifically consider the role of the business model in the process. However, the context of NPD in today's market has been changed dramatically by the introduction of new business models. Through reinterpretation and extension, this paper empirically examines the feasibility of applying Bass-type NPD models to products that are commercialized by different business models. More specifically, the results and analysis of this study consider the subscription business model for service products, the freemium business model for digital products, and a pre-paid and post-paid business model that is widely used by mobile network providers. The paper offers new insights derived from implementing the models in real-life cases. It also highlights three themes for future research

ELECTRONIC INFORMATION SHARING IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT: THE DECISION-MAKING PROCESS

Recently local authorities have been placed under enormous pressure due to problems arising from poor decision-making in relation to the sharing of personal information. While in some circumstances the incompetence of agency employees is identified as the cause, in other circumstances organisational failure, implicitly driven by inter-organisational distrust, is to blame for inappropriate decisions taken with regards to sharing information. Sometimes implicit policies and regulations set by policy makers are blamed, while at other times, explicit rules of confidentiality and data-protection acts are accused. During the last decades, several Local Government Authorities (LGAs) in the United Kingdom have started to employ Inter-Organisational Information Systems (IOIS) to support information sharing and networked collaboration within their departments in order to meet a diverse range of citizen needs including housing services, social care services, education services, etc. However, reaching this level of cross-agency collaboration is not easy and requires additional time and effort by individuals and agencies involved. Therefore, this paper proposes and validates a novel conceptual framework that can be used as a tool for decision-making while sharing information electronically. The framework consists of four main levels: (a) investigation and presentation of factors influencing Electronic Information Sharing (EIS) in LGAs based on external environment, organisational capacity, technology environment, EIS characteristics, and inter-departmental environment, (b) investigation and presentation of the processes that an LGA department should carry out to decide whether to share information with another department, (c) mapping of the influential factors on the participation phases, and (d) prioritisation of the factors influencing EIS in LGAs in different decision-making phases

Social media in emergency management:Twitter as a tool for communicating risks to the public

One of the main challenges of emergency management lies in communicating risks to the public. On some occasions, risk communicators might seek to increase awareness over emerging risks, while on others the aim might be to avoid escalation of public reactions. Social media accounts offer an opportunity to rapidly distribute critical information and in doing so to mitigate the impact of emergencies by influencing public reactions. This article draws on theories of risk and emergency communication in order to consider the impact of Twitter as a tool for communicating risks to the public. We analyse 10,020 Twitter messages posted by the official accounts of UK local government authorities (councils) in the context of two major emergencies: the heavy snow of December 2010 and the riots of August 2011. Twitter was used in a variety of ways to communicate and manage associated risks including messages to provide official updates, encourage protective behaviour, increase awareness and guide public attention to mitigating actions. We discuss the importance of social media as means of increasing confidence in emergency management institutions

IoT-enabled Advanced Services: exploring the IoT-artefact as a socio-technical construct

The present study draws on the Information Systems (IS) artefact theory (Lee, Thomas, & Baskerville, 2015) to systematically conceptualize the IoT and investigate its contribution to the manufacturer’s advanced services. The study employs qualitative methods to analyse the advanced services offerings of eight multinational manufacturers and identifies the specific IS artefacts, their underlying information-, social- and technology-subsystems and their enabling roles in an advanced services context. The study and its findings contribute to the development of a socio-technical IoT perspective and an enhanced understanding of the role IoT has in an advanced services context

Barriers to capturing the value of advanced services and digitisation in the road transport industry

Servitization and digitization together provide significant opportunities to raise the performance and profitability of the road transport industry. To date these opportunities are only sparsely captured and the potential economic, social and environmental value is forgone. We set out to investigate the barriers to capturing the value of servitization and digitization in the road transport industry

Enabling servitization by affordance actualization:The role of digitalization capabilities

Digital technologies enable servitization by providing opportunities for the manufacturer to understand the product usage and condition, in customer’s operations. The present study seeks to validate the applicability of affordance actualization theory in order to help identify these opportunities. A systematic literature review of the extent servitization research is conducted to identify the key constructs of the theory and their role in enabling servitization using digital technology. The review identified common affordances across the servitization literature along with specific digitalization capabilities required to actualize these affordances. The study contributes further by proposing future research extended to affordance interdependence

Business Model Innovation in Established SMEs: A Configurational Approach

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are at the heart of a nation’s wealth creation, employment generation and economic development. To help SMEs stay competitive in a fast-changing environment, researchers have recently emphasized the relevance of business model innovation (BMI). However, BMI and its performance are not linear but rather a complex phenomenon that depends on contingency factors. Based on configurational theory, this study extends the BMI research to SMEs, exploring the management approaches and BMI capabilities that foster BMI in established SMEs. To achieve this objective, this study of a purposive sample of 78 Spanish SMEs adopts the fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) method. Results suggest three substantive conclusions. First, long-term managerial orientation is a key factor for the development of BMI in SMEs. Second, five BMI capabilities (sensing customer needs, sensing technological options, conceptualizing and experimenting, collaborating and BMI strategy) support, in combination with the management approach, the development of BMI in established SMEs. Third, open innovation (open flows of knowledge regarding market needs and the potential of technologies, as well as collaboration with customers) are concrete preconditions of business model innovation. Therefore, managers in SMEs need both to actively consider their management approach towards BMI, and to develop some key dynamic capabilities in their organizations to implement BMI, an approach also valid for post-Covid-19 management

Telling Tales of Transformation:Towards a Prescriptive Framework for Storytelling to Engage Stakeholders with Advanced Services

This paper presents a framework for the use of storytelling to accelerate the engagement of various stakeholders with organizational transformation. Though storytelling is associated with organizational change, and research into organizational storytelling is extensive, it has yet to be adapted into a method for the practicing storyteller. To fill this knowledge gap, a review of the literature is conducted, which informs a framework for organizational storytelling adopting the practitioner’s lens. This has been used in workshops with senior executives from large, small and medium-sized enterprises, who have expressed the need for stories to engage stakeholders with advanced services