A Global PSS Framework for Sustainable B2B Partnership

Abstract

Committed Business-to-Business (B2B) relationships are linked to sustainable business partnerships and greater profitability. As competition increases, suppliers must seek to differentiate by shifting the focus of their offerings from the product to services that contribute to create additional value to buyers. This empirical research proposes a product-service system (PSS) framework within the context of a relationship marketing (RM) model tested across a sample of United States (US) and Brazilian buyers. The study examines the impact of value-added benefits on building sustainable B2B partnerships. Results demonstrate that a firm’s servitization strategy that delivers both functional and social benefits fosters greater information exchange and mutual cooperation, which in turn contributes to increase buyer’s trust in, satisfaction with and commitment to a supplier. Despite some noted differences found in the commitment-building process, results show the importance that additional services have on promoting long-term, sustainable B2B partnerships across countries in distinct stages of economic development.

Sustainability Amplified: Servitization, Integration and Buyer-Supplier Nexus

“…Sustainability within B2B relationships is an ideal condition, as it reduces expenses and enhances profitability, particularly in the context of global B2B operations (Graça, 2021). BSRCs can facilitate sustainability by building trust and cooperation between buyers and suppliers, thereby reducing transaction costs and promoting the exchange of sustainability-related information (Sarkis et al, 2011).…”

Organizing for Sustainable Development

“…Finally, with reference to the social dimension, scientific evidence of the impact of servitisation on social performance is limited and dispersed (Moro et al, 2022). Some studies have indeed found that servitisation has a positive impact on social sustainability (e.g., Graça, 2021;Zighan et al, 2021) while others have only indicated its potential influence (e.g., Martín et al, 2020;. However, a clear gap in the literature on this issue emerges, despite the development of new business and consumption models, such as MaaS, that can have positive effects from this perspective.…”