Improving firm positioning through enhanced offerings and buyer–seller relationships

Service infusion as agile incrementalism in action

“…Studies of service infusion in manufacturing firms generally view the strategy development process as rational, predictable, and limited to a predefined set of transition paths (Oliva and Kallenberg, 2003;Penttinen and Palmer, 2007;Wise and Baumgartner, 1999) or service maneuvers (Mathieu, 2001). Accordingly, exploring the concept of disjointed incrementalism and its tenets has the potential to bridge a gap in current theory.…”

“…Successful service infusion is attributed to "a deliberate, systematic and well-structured transformation effort" (Oliva and Kallenberg, 2003, p. 170) and to specific success factors that provide guidance for managers "seeking to design a successful transition process" (Gebauer and Friedli, 2005, p. 76). There are various two-dimensional positioning frameworks proposed as tools enabling managers to identify the firm's current position and to evaluate potential moves (e.g., Kowalkowski, Brehmer, and Kindström, 2009;Penttinen and Palmer, 2007). However, in more recent studies, Matthyssens and Vandenbempt (2008) find that an incremental transition might be preferable to quantum leaps, and Gebauer and Fleisch (2007) show that overambitious objectives for service infusion strategies often lead to negative results.…”

“…However, a broader view of industrial services includes an extensive range of service activities that relate directly to the industry's products (e.g., maintenance, repair, and overhaul) and production processes (e.g., process optimization), These can either be sold separately from the industry's products (e.g., service level agreement) or in a product-service bundle (e.g., rental agreement). In the service management and industrial marketing literature, service infusion is often a transition taken in a few large steps, moving from transactional, commoditized product sales to relational service and solution provision (Gebauer and Friedli, 2005;Oliva and Kallenberg, 2003;Penttinen and Palmer, 2007;Wise and Baumgartner, 1999). However, a more nuanced picture of service infusion is emerging that sees migration paths towards service infusion as incremental, rather than radical and unidirectional (Matthyssens and Vandenbempt, 2008).…”

Technology readiness in a B2B online retail context: An examination of antecedents and outcomes

“…Customers may lack the expertise to identify and describe their own needs accurately (Verhoeven & Pruyn, 2006;Eisingerich & Bell, 2007), and this can be an especially problematic issue when they need to source technology based solution services. Galetzka et al (2006) suggest that clients who don't fully understand what the dominant characteristics of a service are will use heuristic cues or other information available to them about how to evaluate the service encounter, such as service reliability and human contact, and the importance of this relational component between the parties in the provision of solution services has recently been recognized (Sawhney, 2006;Pennttinen & Palmer, 2007;Storbacka, 2011).…”

“…The implication for solution providers is that they should to consider the client firms' perspective and appreciate and satisfy the criteria these firms are most likely to use when selecting and evaluating potential providers. Consideration of the client perspective is greatly facilitated if some type of rapport can be developed between key decision makers in both firms and research has recently recognized the importance of this relational component when providing solution services (Sawhney, 2006;Pennttinen & Palmer, 2007;Storbacka, 2011).…”