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PurposePrevious research has predominately focused on the servitization strategies of western manufacturers in advanced economies, neglecting the potential for servitization in those which are emerging, such as China. The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of the external service partner network of a European manufacturer providing services in China, in order to develop a better understanding of the resulting and associated challenges.Design/methodology/approachAn in-depth case study approach was used to examine the parent company, its subsidiary in China and the related service partner network. Data collection involved all three actors and took place in Denmark and China.FindingsThe findings suggest that motivation, opportunity and ability (MOA) need not only be mutually reinforcing for the organization attempting to move toward services but also aligned between organizational units, as well as with the service partner network. Furthermore, the findings suggest that while service partners are typically closer to the market, they may not be able to deliver the higher value-added services requiring customization.Research limitations/implicationsThis study is limited to a single manufacturer attempting servitization in China. Future studies may consider other case firms in other markets.Practical implicationsThe MOA framework provides a basis for understanding the managerial challenges of aligning and coordinating the MOA elements amongst different actors.Originality/valueThis paper contributes by exploring servitization in an emerging market through the MOA framework in order to better understand the challenges and complexities. Servitization is found to be a dynamic phenomenon which should be understood as a movement that is also dependent on an external service partner possessing the necessary capabilities. In turn, this requires understanding the MOAs of all actors in a network and how they may be influenced in order for the MOA elements to be mutually reinforcing.

Purpose
Research suggests that to structure for servitization, organizations should separate their front- and back-end units by reference to high vs low contact activities. However, these prescriptions are overly simplistic and largely based on anecdotal evidence that fails to account for context. The purpose of this paper is to explore the design decisions taken by organizations in support of servitization.


Design/methodology/approach
A large-scale exploratory case study was conducted, consisting of embedded cases in three divisions of a UK-based, global manufacturing firm.


Findings
Each division provided different combinations of offerings (i.e. product-, use- and result-oriented). The findings suggest that front-end/back-end configurations differ according to the offering and can exist concurrently within the same organization, challenging the assumption that different configurations within an organization are not possible. The findings show that underlying contextual factors, such as the complexity and temporality of the offering, as well as the power of the customer, have implications for the structuring of servitizing organizations.


Research limitations/implications
This is a context-specific, qualitative case study conducted within a large original equipment manufacturer, yet the findings are analytically generalized.


Originality/value
In identifying the relevance of different design decisions in terms of customer contact, decoupling of activities and grouping of employees, the findings challenge the extant view that organizations simply split activities between the front- and back-end functions. The research identifies an additional design configuration – integrated project teams – involving a dominant customer dictating organizational interfaces. This research exposes the need for further investigation into how to organize for servitization in project-based contexts.

PurposeThis paper examines the servitization phenomenon in the context of global value chains (GVCs) and presents a conceptual framework by connecting the two literature streams—servitization and GVCs—to depict the interconnected multilevel processes by which the influence of servitization on GVC structure and governance is manifested.Design/methodology/approachDrawing on cross-disciplinary literature, the authors develop a multilevel conceptual framework. The theoretically informed framework advances research on servitization and GVCs and provides a line of inquiry to be explored as avenues for future research opportunities.FindingsThe authors argue that servitization instigates the formation of new ecosystems and collaborative structures within GVCs, reduces the fragmentation of the overall network structure and increases embeddedness within the subclusters of GVCs. These changes are expected to be reflected in the increase in the complexity of firms' GVC governance tasks, a greater reliance on relational governance, and an increase in the dependency on local partners in terms of the governance of GVCs.Originality/valueThis conceptual paper establishes the link between servitization and GVCs, anchors the servitization phenomenon in GVCs, explains how servitizing firms can engage in and shape GVCs and offers insights into the servitization-driven changes in GVCs. The conceptual framework is intended to lay the foundation for future empirical research on the link between servitization and GVCs.

PurposeScholars studying servitization argue that manufacturers moving into services need to develop new job roles or modify existing ones, which must be enacted by employees with the right mentality, skill sets, attitudes and capabilities. However, there is a paucity of empirical research on how such changes affect employee-level outcomes.Design/methodology/approachThe authors theorize that job enrichment and role stress act as countervailing forces during the manufacturer's service transition, with implications for employee satisfaction. The authors test the hypotheses using a sample of 21,869 employees from 201 American manufacturers that declared revenues from services over a 10-year period.FindingsThe authors find an inverted U-shaped relationship between the firm's level of service infusion and individual employee satisfaction, which is flatter for front-end staff. This relationship differs in shape and/or magnitude between firms, highlighting the role of unobserved firm-level idiosyncratic factors.Practical implicationsServitized manufacturers, especially those in the later stage of their transition (i.e. when services start to account for more than 50% of annual revenues), should try to ameliorate their employees' role-induced stress to counter a drop in satisfaction.Originality/valueThis is one of the first studies to examine systematically the relationship between servitization and individual employee satisfaction. It shows that back-end employees in manufacturing firms are considerably affected by an increasing emphasis on services, while past literature has almost exclusively been concerned with front-end staff.