Advancing Smart PSS Through Institutional Work: A Model for Integrating Competing Logics

Abstract

This chapter explores the institutional work of managers to reconcile competing product, service, and sustainability logics to realize smart Product-Service Systems (PSS) and how addressing the challenges of sustainability can be supported by digitalization. Since its inception in the 1990s, PSS has been recognized for its potential to reduce resource consumption and waste; however, the economic benefits of PSS have often taken precedence to the detriment of achieving sustainability goals. The growing urgency to address climate change issues is refocusing attention on PSS, emphasizing its role in enhancing environmental responsibility while maintaining competitive advantage for firms. The trend toward digital servitization has further renewed interest in the sustainability aspect of PSS, emphasizing dematerialization and resource efficiency as key benefits. Implementing and realizing smart PSS requires managers to navigate the complexities of institutional work by mediating the often-conflicting logics of product, service, and sustainability. Managers play a pivotal role in this process, as they are the ones who can create, maintain, and disrupt institutional structures to enable change. Using the lens of institutional work, this chapter proposes a model for understanding how smart PSS can be realized, drawing on insights from an illustrative case. By focusing on the actions managers can undertake, this chapter underscores their critical role in managing competing logics and advancing the realization of smart PSS.