Servitization 2.0: The Significance of Product and Service Dominant Logics for Public Service Organisations

Abstract

This conceptual paper explores servitization as significant to public service organisations (PSOs) within which there is a requirement to administer lean and sustainable provision. It specifically appreciates that the digital transformation of services has embraced customer processing machine technologies that facilitate volume growth. Notably, the efficient operating model runs alongside the process of information sharing; thus, fostering cooperation within collaborative network systems whilst pro-actively operating as elements of the product-service system (PSS). Design/Methodology/Approach: We attempt to evaluate and progress servitization research for novel and conceptual purposes by exploring the critical realities of its application as we enter the Servitization 2.0 era. We seek to determine from the academic literature the contextual issues and tensions experienced by PSOs at a point in time when they are rapidly digitally transforming their operational activities. With this comes the appreciation that organisations are therefore increasingly operating within interorganisational networks, requiring a more transparent, accountable measurement of their performance outcome. Therefore, since public transport systems are heavily reliant on information collected from their processing machines, to efficiently and effectively execute their service, they provide an ideal field of study. We seek out credible research literature in this field to determine the logic applied within the business ecosystem; and to understand the roles of service-dominant (S-D) and information-dominant (I-D) logic. Findings: Many arguments in the literature demonstrate that it is not necessarily the goods or service element that dominate the business model in the era of Industry 4.0. Pertinently, there is a growing body of empirical studies enabling us to explore business models in this specific field of PSOs, to understand servitization in the context of public transport systems and the future developments of information driven business models. We find that there is a shifting dominance towards information logic and explain how this is evident in the context of public transport services. Originality/Value: We demonstrate the significance of the S-D logic perspective when considering servitization within specific PSOs. Ultimately, we seek to better understand the strategic and operational realities for the era of Servitization 2.0, wherein the business operates within an ecosystem dominated and critically influenced by information. This is pertinent, in that we ultimately seek to understand more deeply the impact of servitization principles within PSOs, and particularly to explore the critical realities within public transport systems that rely heavily on service equipment for their customer processing and service quality and the information generated from its deployment.