SIMF 2016 - Special Issue on Service Implementation In Manufacturing Firms, Strategy, Economics And Practice

Guest editors:
Tim Baines, Aston Business School, t.baines-AT-aston.ac.uk
Oscar F. Bustinza, University of Granada / Aston Centre for Servitization, oscarfb-AT-ugr.es
Ferran Vendrell-Herrero, University of Birmingham, f.vendrell-herrero-AT-bham.ac.uk
Manufacturing firms are increasingly attempting to create greater value through services (Settani et al., 2014). This process has been called servitization (Vandermerwe and Rada, 1988) and is now receiving significant attention by the research community, especially in understanding the concept (Baines and Lightfoot, 2013), explaining the imperative (Neely, 2008), and exploring the barriers (Parry et al., 2012). With this foundation established, the major challenge is now to understand how to efficiently and effectively implement a servitization strategy. This special issue focuses on this topic. Our goal is to explore the strategies, economics and practices of servitization, in particular analyzing the pathways of service strategy implementation, economic evaluations, to deliver insights relevant for practitioners and researchers.
Contributions are invited that place servitization within the broader context of economics, performance management as well as strategic change. Although generic studies of strategy implementation have been researched for some time (see for example Amoako-Gyampah and Acquaah, 2008), little empirical work has comprehensively analyzed service strategy implementation in manufacturing firms. Organizational, technological and business model transformations clearly play an important role in analyzing servitization processes, as well as traditional “make or buy” decisions, but a holistic approach is lacking.
The absence of complete frameworks constitutes a source of uncertainty for companies, making it necessary to identify the pathways to sustainable growth through servitization for manufacturing firms. No consensus exists, however, on how to monitor and economically assess this at firm or territorial level (Tukker, 2013). Some voices warn that manufacturers are already disengaging from service business models (Kowalkowski et al., 2014), since the relation of such models to performance is complex (Opresnik and Taisch, 2015). Pioneering studies in the field have found a non-linear relation between advanced service implementation and financial performance (Suarez et al., 2013). Besides, there is not yet agreement on the objective measures that might be used to economically assess the implementation of advanced service (i.e. productivity, employment generation, financial returns, sales growth, consumer satisfaction, long-term survival, protect competitive advantage through setting entry barriers, etc.).
Scope
This special issue of International Journal of Production Economics invites contributions in the broad field of servitization with a particular focus on service strategy implementation and its economic evaluation. The Guest Editors seek submissions with an original perspective and advanced thinking on the topics proposed above and related issues. Novel and original papers on the theoretical framework proposed and with solid empirical grounding should include, but not be limited to, the following:
Comprehensive state-of-the-art reviews that present an integrated view of the service strategy practices applied to manufacturing firms. Manuscripts should specifically identify potential research avenues.
Proposals of novel theoretical frameworks for monitoring product-service formulation/implementation processes.
Theoretical identification and/or objective measurement of critical constructs related to servitization processes from a start/end points perspective.
Applied methodologies to better design and manage servitized supply chains and all of their independent processes.
Analysis of the linkages between processes and functions to be operationalized within and between firms during servitization.
Real-world studies analyzing cases in which companies design and manage servitization monitoring systems for national and international contexts.
Contrasted advances on the effect of new business models, on supply/demand simulation of companies, and across the industry in which the companies operate.
Theoretical identification and/or objective measurement of the performance indications that better describe the introduction of advanced services .
Economic assessment of the impact of product-service implementation of firm or territorial performance in servitized contexts
Development of theoretical and/or applied economic models to adequately assess the validity of monitoring servitization processes.
Processes of internal and external big data collection and management procedures within servitization processes to facilitate robust monitoring and economic assessment.
In methodological terms we encourage case-based, conceptual, model-based, and empirically-based submissions. Moreover, we recommend that authors pay explicit attention to the managerial and policy implications of their findings. Submissions should be sent electronically to: http://ees.elsevier.com/ijpe/. Authors should consult the Guide for Authors on the International Journal of Production Economics website for details on formatting their submissions.
Planned timeline
The deadline for the submission of full manuscripts is October 31st, 2015. The full review process is expected be completed within six months of the receipt of the papers. Online submission can be found at: http://ees.elsevier.com/ijpe/default.asp. Please stipulate ‘SI: Service implementation in manufacturing firms’ when asked to indicate the “Article Type” in the submission process. Submitted papers should not have been previously published nor be currently under consideration for publication elsewhere. Manuscripts will be refereed according to IJPE’s normal standards and procedures.
Guest editors
Authors with questions about the suitability of proposed topics for this special issue are encouraged to contact the guest editors:
Prof. Tim Baines (managing editor; t.baines-AT-aston.ac.uk) is director of the Aston Centre for Servitization Research and Practice and professor of operations management at Aston Business School (UK). Prof. Baines is a top-cited author in the field, and co-author of the book “Made to Serve”. He chairs the Spring Servitization Conference, which brings together international business and academic audience to discuss the strategic issues regarding the move from goods to service.
Dr. Oscar Bustinza (oscarfb-AT-ugr.es) is an Associate Professor of strategy and operations management at the University of Granada (Spain). His work analyses drivers of firms’ boundaries choice, servitization, and demand chain management based upon data driven analysis. Dr. Bustinza’s research has been published in International Journal of Production Economics, International Journal of Operations & Production Management, or British Journal of Management among other outlets.
Dr. Ferran Vendrell-Herrero (f.vendrell-herrero-AT-bham.ac.uk) is a lecturer in managerial economics in the University of Birmingham, UK. His work has a strong industrial orientation and takes a quantitative approach. His research interests are mostly devoted to the economic analysis of organizations, with special focus on assessing innovation practices. His research has been published in Regional Studies and Technovation. Additionally, Dr Vendrell-Herrero initiated and scientifically directs the International Conference on Business Servitization, which is now into its fourth edition.