nearly a quarter of a century and the increasing attention and growth in the broad area of servitization research. We subsequently turned to the more traditional theories on organizational change. Of we found in particular the organizational ecology and structural inertia theories to be very applicable and helpful to understand the problems that organizations where facing in restructuring their business to become more servitized. Then, following a similar approach as Rungtusanatham and Salvador (2008), we then evaluate these obstacles and the corresponding generalizations by mapping them onto the antecedents and tenets proposed by the organizational ecology/structural inertia theories (Hannan & Freeman, 1977, 1984, 1988).. In addition to addressing an under-research aspect of servitization, this paper makes an important contribution in that it strengthens the theoretical foundation of the servitization literature, which is found to be rich in empirical evidence and practical anecdotes but much lighter in theory. The rest of this paper is structured as follows: we first elaborate on the phenomenon of servitization and the potential that it may have for the strengthening the competitiveness of traditionally goods based manufacturers. We then delve deeper into the specific problems that companies face when transforming their organizations to become servitized followed by a relate of the important research gaps we identified in the servitization literature. Subsequently we provide a brief overview of the traditional theories of change and highlight the applicability on one of them, Organizational Ecology. We conclude with a brief discussion of the importance of our findings and highlight the opportunities for future research.
nearly a quarter of a century and the increasing attention and growth in the broad area of servitization research. We subsequently turned to the more traditional theories on organizational change. Of we found in particular the organizational ecology and structural inertia theories to be very applicable and helpful to understand the problems that organizations where facing in restructuring their business to become more servitized. Then, following a similar approach as Rungtusanatham and Salvador (2008), we then evaluate these obstacles and the corresponding generalizations by mapping them onto the antecedents and tenets proposed by the organizational ecology/structural inertia theories (Hannan & Freeman, 1977, 1984, 1988).. In addition to addressing an under-research aspect of servitization, this paper makes an important contribution in that it strengthens the theoretical foundation of the servitization literature, which is found to be rich in empirical evidence and practical anecdotes but much lighter in theory. The rest of this paper is structured as follows: we first elaborate on the phenomenon of servitization and the potential that it may have for the strengthening the competitiveness of traditionally goods based manufacturers. We then delve deeper into the specific problems that companies face when transforming their organizations to become servitized followed by a relate of the important research gaps we identified in the servitization literature. Subsequently we provide a brief overview of the traditional theories of change and highlight the applicability on one of them, Organizational Ecology. We conclude with a brief discussion of the importance of our findings and highlight the opportunities for future research.
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