Servitization: When added services drive competitiveness

CBS’ ‘Driving Competitiveness through Servitization’ project is a research project under the CBS Competitiveness Platform with a heavy focus on servitization (adding services to physical products as a strategic competitive resource) – its market penetration and use in Denmark as well as the business model’s advantages and challenges. Among the results of the project is a practical guide.

10/31/2017

‘Servitization’ refers to the business model of adding services to products in industries that traditionally have focused on production only. As a strategy for competitiveness, the purpose is to retain and increase one’s market share and form closer relationships to customers in order to increase customer loyalty.

Servitization is becoming more and more widespread as a competitive parameter, and it has become a widespread strategy among production companies to add services in order to differentiate their products.

A research perspective on servitization in Denmark

Danish companies have also embraced servitization as a business opportunity. But a lack of knowledge and of tools hindered companies in reaping the full benefits and maximizing the opportunities of servitization.

There has also been a lack of knowledge about the challenges – the complexities and dilemmas – that follow when businesses offer combined product and service bundles, not least when the business model is to be utilized in different markets globally.

In 2014, The Danish Industry Foundation granted DKK 400,000 to the CBS Competitiveness Platform so that a team of researchers from CBS’ Department of Operations Management could identify the challenges and opportunities that come with adding services to production, servitization.

Among other things the pilot project led to the establishment of a servitization network among Danish industrial enterprises and to a practical guide to servitization for use in Danish companies. [link]

The usefulness and perspectives of the pilot project were of such great value that The Danish Industry Foundation boosted the CBS Competitiveness Platform with another DKK 8 million. This research grant was to finance a four-year research project, ‘Driving Competitiveness through Servitization’, which has been carried out in collaboration with a series of academic partners and 13 companies.

The research project is coming to a close and has long since begun to convey its results.

Get to know more about servitization

Learn more about servitization at CBS Competetiveness Day 2017 on 14 November.
Register for Competitiveness Day – only few seats remaining 

In May 2018, there will be an opportunity to participate in a major event on the topic when CBS hosts the ‘International Spring Servitization Conference’, organized by Aston Business School and CBS in 2018.
Read more about the Spring Servitization Conference here

Download a guide for practitioners

Download a company case (Brüel & Kjær)

Read a research article from CBS

Learn more on the CBS Servitization Project blog

The page was last edited by: Alumni // 10/20/2021

Factbox

CBS Competitiveness Platform
The CBS Competitiveness Platform is one of CBS’ ‘Business in Society’ initiatives. The platform does research on, facilitates, and develops new perspectives on the competitiveness of companies. The purpose is to ensure better research and education within the field as well as to generate significant knowledge and ideas for companies and for the society as a whole.

The Servitization Project
The Servitization Project was the pilot project, which was carried out by CBS Competitiveness Platform on behalf of The Danish Industry Foundation. The researchers were Professor Christer Karlsson, Professor (MSO) Juliana Hsuan, and Associate Professor Thomas Frandsen, all from the Department of Operations Management. 

The ‘Driving Competitiveness through Servitization’ project
The ‘Driving Competitiveness through Servitization’ project is both referred to as ‘Driving Competitiveness’ (by The Danish Industry Foundation) and as ‘CBS Servitization Project’ (at the project blog). This is the four-year research project under the CBS Competitiveness Platform that has been carried out by researchers from CBS’ Department of Operations Management and is coming to a close.