Nonlinear Characteristics of the Effect of Manufacturing Servitization on Consumer Business Performance

Abstract

Servitization is an important trend in the transformation and upgrading of the manufacturing industry, but whether it can significantly improve enterprise performance is the key to the transformation. Based on the sample of Chinese A-share listed companies from 2011 to 2019, we analyze the business scope of 2502 annual reports to identify the service level of consumer goods manufacturing enterprises. The results show the following. (1) The “service performance” curve shows obvious nonlinear trends and heterogeneity in different industries and different performance conditions. The curve between servitization and return on assets tends to show a positive “U” shape, but the relationship between servitization and revenue per employee obviously shows an inverted “U” shape. (2) Manufacturing enterprises with relatively low technical complexity and relatively high industry competition will reach the inflection point of service performance “U” curve more quickly and get rid of “service trap” more easily. (3) The automobile manufacturing industry invests in software development and other fields that are not related to its own advantages, which violates the correlation law of the industrial value chain, leading to the coexistence of “service trap” and “principle-agent dilemma.” The clothing and electrical appliances industries are more likely to fall into the “service trap” because they face the challenge of “Internet + manufacturing” transformation. The beverage and wine manufacturing industry has induced a “service spillover” effect, which is mainly due to its low technical complexity and service based on the industrial chain. It is proposed that manufacturing enterprises explore business growth points from the perspective of industrial value chain extension and strengthen upstream product R&D and terminal e-commerce services.