Enabling organizational changes for development of product-service system offers

Paper in proceeding, 2013

The manufacturing industry is going through a transition from developing of products to the provision of product-service systems (PSS). Earlier research has identified different types of PSS offers, from product offers that include services as “add-on”, to the sale of services that include tangible goods as “add-on”. This paper addresses what consequences this has on manufacturing organizations undergoing PSS transition. The purpose of the paper is to clarify key success factors for organizational changes needed in the transition process of developing different types of PSS offers. The results are based on a case study of a manufacturer in the aerospace domain; the analysis approached organizational changes from organizational theory perspective. The study identified four key areas that need to be considered in the organizational transformation to PSS development: Business strategy and decision-making, Internal organizational structure, Team composition, and External networks and customer relationship. Based on the analysis of empirical data from these four areas, the paper discusses the successful organizational changes that are required in the transition towards PSS development.