International resource configuration of product-related services in the digital age – An analysis of its antecedents

Abstract

PurposeAlthough many manufacturers depend on international sales, and product-related services continue to increase in importance, little is known about how manufacturers should deliver their product-related services across borders. This paper examines the international configuration decision of industrial service offerings across borders by investigating the impact of different service characteristics and the servitization strategy on this decision. Additionally, the paper sheds light on how digitalization and administrative heritage impact this decision.Design/methodology/approach116 industrial goods manufacturers from Switzerland and Germany were surveyed.FindingsServitization leads companies to centralize their service resources in their home countries. However, most service characteristics do not impact decisions regarding centralization, except for knowledge intensity, which leads to more centralization of resources. This implies that the resource configuration does not depend on each service individually but on the overall service strategy. Furthermore, the digital readiness of the host country directly and positively impacts resource centralization. Notwithstanding other variables, larger companies tend to decentralize service resources more than smaller companies.Originality/valueThis paper is among the first to study the international configuration impact of servitization and of individual service characteristics, thereby adding important knowledge regarding the provision of product-related services in the international context. Additionally, different aspects of digitalization are included to analyze its impact on companies and host countries.

Digital technologies and knowledge processes: new emerging strategies in international business. A systematic literature review

“…Digitalization and globally available digital platforms have opened up strategic opportunities for incumbents and new entrants by amplifying the market knowledge and the possibility to customize international marketing strategies in terms of: international market access and local adaptation (Bei and Gielens, 2020; Caputo et al , 2021; Eid et al , 2019; Guo et al , 2023; Krings et al , 2021; Troise et al , 2023); and servitization (Bıçakcıoglu-Peynirci and Morgan, 2023; Jovanovic and Morschett, 2021). …”

“…Jovanovic and Morschett (2021) focus on the international configuration impact of servitization, analyzing how digitization has impacted the localization decision of resources for the service provision. While they find that servitization leads companies to centralize their service resources in their home countries, they also identify several variables that influence resource centralization decisions.…”

“…international market access and local adaptation (Bei and Gielens, 2020;Caputo et al, 2021;Eid et al, 2019;Guo et al, 2023;Krings et al, 2021;Troise et al, 2023); and servitization (Bıc ¸akcıoglu-Peynirci and Morgan, 2023;Jovanovic and Morschett, 2021).…”

Spiraling between learning and alignment toward digital service innovation

“…Horizontally, activities across functions need to complement and support each other as well. For example, the marketing and purchasing departments need to collaborate and integrate activities to produce better customer value (Kathuria et al, 2007;Matthyssens et al, 2016), while salespeople have to develop new competences to sell digitally enabled, outcome-based offerings (Jovanovic and Morschett, 2021;Vendrell-Herrero et al, 2021a).…”

“…, 2007; Matthyssens et al. , 2016), while salespeople have to develop new competences to sell digitally enabled, outcome-based offerings (Jovanovic and Morschett, 2021; Vendrell-Herrero et al. , 2021a).…”