Cultural change in servitization – a conceptual review and framework

Abstract

Purpose

(Digital) servitization, referring to service-driven strategies and their increasing implementation in manufacturing, is one of the most rapidly growing areas in industrial service research. However, the cultural change involved in successful servitization is a phenomenon that is widely observed but poorly understood. This research aims to clarify the processes of social construction as manufacturers change their organizational culture to transform into industrial service providers.

Design/methodology/approach

This research takes a systematic approach to integrate disparate literature on servitization into a cohesive framework for cultural change, which is purposefully augmented by rationale culled from organizational learning and sensemaking literature.

Findings

The organizational learning framework for cultural change in servitization introduces a dynamic perspective on servitizing organizations by explaining social processes between organizational and member-level cultural properties. It identifies three major cultural orientations toward service, digital and learning that govern successful servitization.

Originality/value

This research contributes to the servitization literature by presenting a new approach to reframe and explore cultural change processes across multiple levels, thus providing a concrete starting point for further research in this area.

Citation

Biesinger, B., Hadwich, K. and Bruhn, M. (2024), "Cultural change in servitization – a conceptual review and framework", Journal of Service Theory and Practice, Vol. 34 No. 3, pp. 361-398. https://doi.org/10.1108/JSTP-03-2023-0074