Browsing by Subject "Service Network"

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Dienstleistungsnetzwerke im Kontext der Servicetransformation - Barrieren, Erfolgsfaktoren und Wirkungsmodell
(2017) Weigel, Sabrina; Hadwich, Karsten
Manufacturing firms face major challenges due to the commoditization of products and increasing competitive pressure, which causes them to develop new business models. In order to secure their competitive position, they offer additional services or innovative combinations of products and services in addition to their products. Due to limited capacities, however, it is often not possible for a single company to offer its customers not only products but also services or complete solutions. This is why many companies join forces with other companies in order to be able to provide services to customers in so-called service networks. A major challenge in the context of service networks during servitization is to ensure a consistent, high quality of service for the customer. Furthermore, working with other companies in a service network is a challenge, so that in some cases the expected benefits of the network are not achieved or the cooperation might even fail. Despite the great relevance of the topic, there is still a lack of literature on service networks in the context of servitization, so the aim of this thesis is to contribute to scientific research on service networks in the context of servitization and to provide relevant recommendations for the successful management of service networks in business practice. Therefore, the thesis focuses on a detailed analysis of the relationships and interactions between the various network partners in order to identify key points that enable a service network in the context of servitization to operate successfully and to provide customers with high-quality services that contribute to the success of the service network in the context of servitization. The work is divided into five chapters. After an introductory chapter on definitions, chapter 2 examines the barriers in the quality management of service networks in the context of servitization. To this end, an empirical qualitative investigation (n = 6) is carried out. The qualitative study aims to identify specific barriers in the quality management of service networks that prevent the creation of high quality service. That way, starting points are worked out on how to ensure high quality in service networks during servitization. Chapter 3 is devoted to the goal of identifying factors that lead to successfully operating service networks in the context of servitization. For this purpose, interviews with senior executives from companies in these service networks are conducted in a qualitative study (n = 25) in order to identify success factors for service networks during servitization. These levers provide companies in the process of servitization with important insights to increase the success of their service networks. The aim of the fourth chapter is to demonstrate the relationship between the identified success factors and the desired positive results of service networks in the context of servitization. To this end, a theoretical hypothesis model is developed, which is examined in a quantitative study (n = 257). Based on the results, factors can be deduced that have to be increased in order to realize a high-performance and customer-attractive service network in the context of servitization. Chapter 5 is the conclusion. In this chapter, the key results of the work are first summarized by succinctly answering the research questions. Then concrete recommendations are derived for corporate practice. In addition to limitations of this thesis, further research is provided. Overall, the thesis provides essential empirical findings on barriers, success factors and cause and effect relationships in service networks during servitization, from which relevant implications for theory as well as for an effective and successful management of these service networks in the context of servitization can be derived.