Enabling factors of manufacturing servitization: Empirical analysis and implications for strategic positioning

Abstract

The introduction of advanced technologies and new production paradigms has led an increasing number of manufacturing companies to adopt business models that include an integrated provision of products and services. This process is generally referred to as servitization. This article addresses two primary research questions: (a) How do the commodity sector, geographical location and company dimension affect the variety of services offered by manufacturing companies? (b) What is the impact of these structural factors on the type of services offered by manufacturing companies? To address these questions, this article provides new insights into the understanding of the servitization process. The main elements of originality of this study are (a) an unprecedented size of the analysed sample, composed of more than 190,000 manufacturing companies; (b) a quantitative analysis of the effects of the three aforementioned factors on the servitization process and (c) a definition of a pair of indicators for evaluating and benchmarking the strategic position of manufacturing companies with respect to their service provision.