The Palgrave Handbook of Servitization

Book excerpt: Manufacturers have shifted their focus from products to smart solutions in search of higher returns and additional growth opportunities. This shift, described as servitization, or lately as a digital servitization, is not a simple process. Academic study has revealed that its issues are complex, problematic, contingent, and even paradoxical, involving multiple organizational layers, such as operations, strategic, relational, and even ecosystemic layers. Recent literature studies have called for improved theories in servitization, and even alternative narratives. In this handbook, the chapters take different perspectives towards servitization, digital servitization or Product-Service-Software systems, presenting and debating over concepts such as organizational transformation, change management, strategic management, business models, innovation and product-service operations. The handbook provides an opportunity to develop improved theoretical grounds for servitization, and thus to elaborate and develop the field further. This volume will be of great interest for the servitization community, including scholars, Ph.D. and master students, but also company managers, developers and consultants facilitating company’s servitization efforts.