CASE STUDY OF INDUSTRIAL SERVITIZATION AS AN ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT PROCESS DIMENSIONS OF INDUSTRIAL SERVITIZATION – DISCOURSE ANALYSIS ON ANNUAL REPORTS

Abstract

This study examines how the transitioning process towards a more service-oriented logic has been carried out in four publicly-listed manufacturing companies based on their annual reporting; Kone, KoneCranes, Metso and Wärtsilä. The qualitative comparative case method is applied to analyze these companies in order to find out how far the com-panies are in the processes of service implementation and how they have reached this point. In this respect, a four-stage model is created to divide the service-implementation process into four distinctive phases; 1.) Product supplier, 2.) Add-on service provider, 3.) Solution supplier and 4.) Performance supplier. This model is further applied to de-termine how the servitization process has proceeded in case companies during the re-search period from 2001 to 2011.

Study results suggest that case companies have gone through relatively different service development processes in terms of both chronological lengths and contents of each de-velopment stage. Case companies were located in different phases in 2001 as Metso represented a Product Supplier, whereas Wärtsilä and Kone were situated in the Add-on service provider -stage. Only KoneCranes had advanced into the Solution Supplier -phase. All the case companies have ended up to the Solution Supplier -phase in 2011. However, some of the companies seem to share better premises to progress into the last service development phase in the future.

This paper complements the service-related research of manufacturing companies by paying attention especially on the comparative case study method with annual reports as the key source and by establishing the Four-stage service development model that can be further used to assess how companies have progressed in their servitization processes.