Building bridges: boundary spanners in servitized supply chains

Abstract

Solutions provision depends on effective and efficient supply chains. Existing discourse within servitization has remained at the organisational or inter-organisational level with a limited emphasis on the role of individuals. However, supply chains are not just relationships between organisations; they are complex, inter-personal relationships that span organisational boundaries. The limited focus on boundary spanners and their interactions means that managerial roles critical for the provision of solutions remain unidentified. The aim of this research is to identify the functions, roles and practices of boundary spanners that connect organisations and enable the effective provision of solutions. Design/methodology/approach: A case study comprising 61 interviews in 11 firms was conducted in the UK network of a commercial vehicles manufacturer, to investigate boundary spanning for product and solutions provision. Findings: The functions of boundary spanners in solutions provision move from communicating product and price features in product provision towards strategic communication, dissonance reduction, professional education, consultation and leveraging offerings. The study also identifies the boundary spanning roles and practices that form these functions for solutions provision. Originality/value: This is the first study in servitization that identifies and describes the boundary spanning functions, roles and practices. By adopting the lens of boundary spanning, the research addresses the lack of empirical managerial-level enquiry within servitization research. It extends the theoretical discussion on the differences between supply chain management in servitized versus product contexts.

Understanding the influence of servitization on global value chains: a conceptual framework

“…This complex nature of servitization that spans beyond a focal firm enhances the network's role in firm strategy and behavior and strengthens the relationships between networked actors (Bastl et al, 2012;Vendrell-Herrero et al, 2017). This is because service ecosystems, as parts of GVCs, underscore the systemic aspects of value cocreation, emphasizing service exchange and resources across interdependent actors (Koskela-Huotari et al, 2016;Vargo & Lusch, 2017), which is in line with research on product-service networks (Jaakkola & Hakanen, 2013;Reim et al, 2019) and the research on the link between servitization and supply chain management (Baines et al, 2009;Chakkol et al, 2018), both of which offer valuable insights into how service is created and delivered across and beyond organizational boundaries.…”

“…First, firms may draw on their internal product and service capabilities, which not many firms possess in totality (Ayala et al, 2019;Bastl et al, 2012;Vendrell-Herrero et al, 2017). Second, they may reach out to value chain partners, mobilize them, and deliver the servitized offering in a coordinated fashion, which is the increasingly dominant and most frequent approach yet to be fully acknowledged and investigated (Chakkol et al, 2018;Johnson et al, 2021;Raddats et al, 2019). Nonetheless, most value chains exist across national borders and signify interdependency among actors, resources, and activities in creating value.…”

“…Nonetheless, most value chains exist across national borders and signify interdependency among actors, resources, and activities in creating value. Thus, as the delivery of servitized offerings is a macro (i.e., network)-level issue (Burton et al, 2016;Chakkol et al, 2018;Reim et al, 2019), there is a need to explore the interplay between servitization and the properties of global value chains (GVCs) that encompass interorganizational dyads and ecosystems.…”

Power-based behaviors between supply chain partners of diverse national and organizational cultures: the crucial role of boundary spanners’ cultural intelligence

“…They typically are buyers in purchasing firms and sales and customer support managers of suppliers. Buyer-supplier relationships are built and sustained by individuals who span inter-organizational boundaries (Chakkol et al, 2018). Boundary spanners develop, facilitate, and sustain buyer-supplier relationships using practices such as negotiating with clients, leading innovation projects, communicating with SC partners, or contracting with suppliers (Korschun, 2015).…”

Top managers’ role in key account management

“…Other researchers have investigated TMs' contribution to the relationship established between their companies and KAs. Their findings have indicated that TMs can induce the use of customer knowledge (Salojärvi et al, 2010) to boost organizational readiness in servitization (Rabetino et al, 2017) or to create joint platforms for integrating technology into customer solutions (Chakkol et al, 2018). Another research stream has identified that TMs can help to remove internal resistance to KAM (Wilson and Woodburn, 2014) or leverage a little-formalized KAM programme (Marcos-Cuevas et al, 2014), Despite the actions performed by TMs a B2B relationship may not last forever (Kamp, 2005).…”