Employing the business model concept to study a product-service system: An explorative single case study from Finland
Mäkelä, Tino (2021-12-21)
Mäkelä, Tino
21.12.2021
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe2022012410056
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe2022012410056
Tiivistelmä
Aim: The thesis aims to study the barriers in the shift to use-oriented Product-Service System (PSS) by employing a business model (BM) concept. Another goal is to generate more in-depth
knowledge about PSSs through a unique case.
Framework: This study combines Product-Service System (PSS) literature and business model (BM) literature. The PSS section focuses on telling the history and defining the concept, describing the known benefits and barriers of PSSs, and presenting different PSS models. Also, BM as a concept is defined, it is described which components form a BM, and then different BM frameworks are presented. The BM concept is used as a lens when the case is being studied and analyzed.
Methodology: The empirical part of the thesis consists of an explorative single case study. The case company is a servitized industrial company that operates in a niche industry and focuses on serving one major customer. The primary data for the empirical study was collected by conducting semi-structured interviews with managers strongly involved in the case from the customer organization and the case company. Besides the semi-structured interviews, one workshop with case company executives was arranged. Also, observation was utilized, and notes were taken during the interviews and utilized in the data analysis phase.
Findings and contribution: The BM concept provided a fruitful approach to studying PSS. The BM concept gives the researcher an easy-to-understand framework, making it more convenient to place barriers in different BM components, which helps to recognize which parts of the current BM are the source of the barriers. In this case, the recognized barriers in the shift to use-oriented PSS were categorized to value proposition, revenue streams, key resources, and customer segments barriers. Overall, the findings present a unique case setting but simultaneously illustrate how the BM concept is utilized in the empirical study. Other contributions of the study are explanations of the case company’s servitization journey, what problems its offering solves and what type of value it creates with the current BM.
knowledge about PSSs through a unique case.
Framework: This study combines Product-Service System (PSS) literature and business model (BM) literature. The PSS section focuses on telling the history and defining the concept, describing the known benefits and barriers of PSSs, and presenting different PSS models. Also, BM as a concept is defined, it is described which components form a BM, and then different BM frameworks are presented. The BM concept is used as a lens when the case is being studied and analyzed.
Methodology: The empirical part of the thesis consists of an explorative single case study. The case company is a servitized industrial company that operates in a niche industry and focuses on serving one major customer. The primary data for the empirical study was collected by conducting semi-structured interviews with managers strongly involved in the case from the customer organization and the case company. Besides the semi-structured interviews, one workshop with case company executives was arranged. Also, observation was utilized, and notes were taken during the interviews and utilized in the data analysis phase.
Findings and contribution: The BM concept provided a fruitful approach to studying PSS. The BM concept gives the researcher an easy-to-understand framework, making it more convenient to place barriers in different BM components, which helps to recognize which parts of the current BM are the source of the barriers. In this case, the recognized barriers in the shift to use-oriented PSS were categorized to value proposition, revenue streams, key resources, and customer segments barriers. Overall, the findings present a unique case setting but simultaneously illustrate how the BM concept is utilized in the empirical study. Other contributions of the study are explanations of the case company’s servitization journey, what problems its offering solves and what type of value it creates with the current BM.