Modularity in logistics services: a business model and process view

Abstract

Companies are currently looking for new and more cost-efficient ways to provide variety and customisation in services. We believe that modularity in business models and processes may help companies to meet development challenges and to offer flexibility. Consequently, this paper connects modularity to business models and processes in order to facilitate understanding of how modular structures can be applied in services.The theoretical focus of the paper is on the analysis of different types of business models, service processes, and modularity. The empirical focus is on the logistics service industry. The range and scope of logistics services has increased enormously in recent decades, making the industry interesting for studying service modularity. The findings show that by providing flexibility and customisation, modularity can provide a background for the development of business models and processes and can assist in the development of more efficient service processes.Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Bask, A., Lipponen, M., Rajahonka, M. and Tinnilä, M. (2011) 'Modularity in logistics services: a business model and process view', Int. . Her research interests include supply chain management, supply chain relationships, modularity, services, business models, service processes, sustainable supply chains and logistics services. . His specialisations are services, the business processes of electronic commerce, and also business models and service development.

The concept of modularity: diffusion from manufacturing to service production

“…Similar strategies should also exist in services. However, there are few frameworks for analyzing the impact of modularization on service strategies, business models, and processes (Bask et al , 2009). In service literature many matrix type analysis tools for strategic positioning have been presented (for a review, see Tinnilä, 2009), but service modularization is not specifically recognized as a tool for repositioning services.…”

Crowdsensing-based transportation services — An analysis from business model and sustainability viewpoints

“…Consequently, a business model describes the service offering and the value proposition to the customer, while also describing the processes needed to fulfil the service (Bask, Lipponen, Rajahonka, & Tinnilä, 2011). The level of description depends on the case, and sometimes a business model is rather loosely described, as "business models are stories that explain how enterprises work" Magretta (2002).…”

The intersection between business model and modularity: an overview of the literature

“…The literature highlights many benefits harvested from modularity and business models encompassing business model innovation (Aversa et al, 2015;Bouncken et al, 2016;Gärtner and Schön, 2016;Saebi, 2017a, 2017b;Minatogawa et al, 2018), enhanced strategic flexibility (Tsvetkova and Gustafsson, 2012;Aversa et al, 2015;Tsvetkova et al, 2015;Gärtner and Schön, 2016), and cost reductions and cost-efficient operations (Bask et al, 2011b;Tsvetkova and Gustafsson, 2012;Tsvetkova et al, 2015;Abdelkafi et al, 2018), allowing customization while providing standardization of modules in service modularity (Pekkarinen and Ulkuniemi, 2008;Bask et al, 2011a;Carlborg and Kindström, 2014;Abdelkafi et al, 2018), as well as upgradability in business model building blocks for enhanced business performance/functionality (Aversa et al, 2015). On the other hand, apart from the benefits of modularity to the business model domain, the lack of fertilization between modularity and strategic concepts persists (Gärtner and Schön, 2016) as modularity has not been applied to business model literature consistently (Bask et al, 2011b), opening multiple future research possibilities (Aversa et al, 2015).…”