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Exploring the journey to services

Accepted version
Peer-reviewed

Type

Article

Change log

Authors

Martinez Hernandez, Veronica  ORCID logo  https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8680-5106
Leinster-Evans, S 
Bisessar, D 

Abstract

Firms are increasingly providing services to complement their product offerings. The vast majority of studies on the service journey, also known as servitization or service transition, examine the challenges and enablers of the process of change through cases studies. Investigations that provide an in-depth longitudinal analysis of the steps involved in the service journey are much rarer. Such a detailed understanding is required in order to appreciate fully how firms can leverage the enablers while overcoming the challenges of servitization. This study investigates what does a service journey look like? It analyzes in some detail the actual service journeys undertaken by three firms in the well-being, engineering and learning sectors. The paper offers four contributions. First, in the change literature, there are two dominant theories: The punctuated equilibrium model and the continuous change model. This study demonstrates that servitization follows a continuous change rather than a punctuated equilibrium. It shows that such continuous change is neither logical nor structured but much more emergent and intuitive in nature. Second, the study provides empirical evidence to support a contingency view of the dominance and sequencing of the different process models of change across the change journey. Third, this research shows the pace of service development and when the coexistence of basic, intermediate and complex services occurs. Finally, it contributes to the literature in the service field by presenting three actual service journeys and the associated seven stages of the service strategy model that organizations should consider when managing their service journeys.

Description

Keywords

service journey, servitization, service transitions, change management, services

Journal Title

International Journal of Production Economics

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

0925-5273
1873-7579

Volume Title

192

Publisher

Elsevier
Sponsorship
Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) (unknown)