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The purpose of this paper is to examine what kinds of capabilities are required by process industry companies as they move toward servitization. The authors proceed in two steps. First, the authors explore the capabilities needed in servitization with a qualitative multiple case study. Second, the authors link the identified capabilities to the servitization steps that were derived from prior literature.

Based on earlier servitization literature, the authors build a five-step servitization model for industrial companies. Then, drawing on the empirical study consisting of three focus group sessions with three case companies and 20 interviews in 14 case companies, the authors identify 14 servitization capabilities and link them to the servitization steps.

The study reveals how dynamic capabilities are required in servitization. In contrast to operational capabilities, which are geared toward enabling firms to make a living in the present, dynamic capabilities extend or modify operational capabilities in response to market changes. Based on the empirical study, the authors were able to identify dynamic capabilities for all five steps of servitization: identification of current services and customer needs, determination of a service strategy, creation of new business models and pricing logics, improvements in capabilities, and, ultimately, management services as a separate function.

The current study is exploratory in nature and the number of empirical observations is limited to 14 industrial companies operating in the process industry.

Most importantly, in servitization, companies need dynamic capabilities to transform their operating capabilities in sales and marketing as well as in quantifying and communicating the value created for customers.

The study is the first one to make a link between the capabilities needed and the various stages of servitization and also the first to study the specific context of process industry companies.

In recent decades, supply chains have diverged and new types of services and operators have emerged in the logistics sector. The purpose of this paper is to focus on analyzing service strategies and service‐related business models, as well as their modular business processes in logistic services. The aims are to describe these three levels and to match strategic service positioning with business models and modular business processes. Different types of services are analyzed and the analyses are conducted on both the industry and corporate levels.

The theoretical focus of the paper illustrates frameworks for service strategy, service positioning, business models, and business processes. The corporate level approach aims to describe the efficiency and quality of services and their processes, while the industry level approach focuses on service strategies in an industry and on the organization of business, i.e. business models. A case study is used to illustrate the strategic level divergence in logistic services and to match this with the business model framework and the business process approach.

The findings show that a match exists between service strategy, business models, and operational level business processes. Standardization, service productization and modularization of services, and also service production structures are useful tools for efficient service production and output.

Companies are currently examining new roles in supply chains and the logistics market. For management, the frameworks presented facilitate analysis of the different options available for the firm in terms of strategic positioning, structural business model portfolio, and modular business processes. Based on the theoretical frameworks, it is possible to evaluate past developments and also predict the future of services.

The banking industry is definitely among the service industries that have been thoroughly transformed during the past decades. The direction of development has been toward more efficient mass services enabled by information and communication technologies (ICT). The purpose of this paper is to focus on analysing the changes in banking services, particularly the mass services offered through service factories. The aim is to review the previous literature on efficient production of banking services, and particularly analyse the effects of service factories in this area.

The theoretical focus of the paper reviews the frameworks and models for service positioning and efficiency for recognising the typical banking services used in the analyses. The Service Process Matrix is analysed for its components and implications for recognising efficient service processes for different types of services.

The findings show that the Service Process Matrix provides a tool for categorising different services for their efficiency in the case industry analysed. The matrix is adapted to better reflect the changes in banking services.

The quest for service efficiency is of importance, both in public services and service businesses alike. Several tools and models have been proposed to analyse the most appropriate way to produce services of different types. This paper analyses this area and provides insights for managers in how to position different service types for best customer value and efficient service processes. The paper also provides insights for service researchers looking for frameworks to categorise different service types.

The focus on reengineering in the early 1990s, and the more recent emphasis on process management and change management have increased both practitioners and researchers interest in the issues of measuring processes. The contradictory results of process change projects reported in the literature and our observations from research suggest conflicting requirements for measurement systems. In this article, we review process measurement schemes with particular emphasis on the measures of time, quality, costs and efficiency. With five case studies, we illustrate process structures and related measurements for both customized and standardized deliveries. A framework for setting objectives for different process types is proposed. The result is a normative scheme for different processes that suggests ways to set meaningful objectives for time, quality, costs and efficiency. Finally, conclusions and implications are presented.

There is a huge diversity among change initiatives, which range from streamlining single processes to corporate‐scale strategic restructuring. Accordingly, there is also similar diversity in the drivers and reasons for launching projects, as well as in results and tracers of projects. The reengineering literature has focused on operational improvement of a business process. More recently, the scope of process management has widened to examine the relation of strategic goals and the objectives of change projects. It seems to be that sometimes the drivers for starting a change project and tracers of the projects do not match. The results are often more limited in scope, than the objectives. Examines these relationships through 38 case studies. The results show that in all cases where the drives and tracers did not match, the shift was toward lower level results and tracers. Most apparently, this could be observed in projects aiming at changing business strategies, but with the result of updating information systems infrastructures. Develops a framework for analysing efficient matches of different types of drivers and tracers in development projects. The framework distinguishes between projects aiming at changing the business and those seeking to change processes. These can be further divided into classes according to objectives and results.

Modules and modularity have been popular concepts in operations research and management rhetoric for decades. Nevertheless, it seems that there is no single universal definition of modularity for classical research themes such as modularity in physical products or modular manufacturing. The purpose of this paper is to describe the current state of modularity research and to clarify the concept and impacts of modularity by means of a literature review. The paper discusses whether the modularity concept originally developed in the context of physical products could be applied in the context of product‐related services.

In this paper, the authors use a methodology called systematic integrative literature review to describe the current state of modularity research and to define – based on the findings of the review – the themes that are most commonly related to the modularity concept. As service modularity research is a relatively new topic, the authors look for definitions and themes related to modularity from other areas of modularity research.

The paper presents four key themes and definitions associated with modularity in different perspectives. To illustrate how modularity can be comprehended in the service context, the paper presents examples related to logistics services.

The use of an integrative literature review has its limitations and a more thorough review of service literature is needed for more in‐depth understanding of how modularity is actually manifested and conceptualized in the service context. In the future, in‐depth interviews of service providers will be needed for a more thorough understanding of whether the modularity approach can be used in services today and in the future and if so, how it can be applied in practice.

The findings may be useful particularly for manufacturers and logistics service providers in improving their service offerings and processes.

There is growing interest in issues related to modularity. The paper discusses the key themes related to modularity in the contexts of product, production and processes, organization and supply chain, and service. In addition, the paper illustrates some practical implications for modularity, particularly in the logistics services context.

Modularity has been identified as one of the most important methods for achieving mass customization. However, service models that apply varying levels of modularity and customization also exist and are appropriate for various business situations. The objective of this paper is to introduce a framework with which different customer service offerings, service production processes, and service production networks can be analyzed in terms of both modularity and customization.

The paper builds theory and offers a systematic approach for analyzing service modularity and customization. To illustrate the dimensions of the framework, the authors also provide service examples of the various aspects.

In the previous literature, the concepts of modularity and customization have often been discussed in an intertwined manner. The authors find that when modularity and customization are regarded as two separate dimensions, and different perspectives– such as the service offering, the service production process, and the service production network – are combined we can create a useful framework for analysis.

Rigorous testing is a subject for future research.

The framework helps companies to analyze their service offerings and to compare themselves with other companies. It seems that in practice many combinations of modularity and customization levels are used in the three perspectives.

This paper develops a framework for analyzing service offerings in terms of modularity and customization. The framework provides a basis for analyzing different combinations of these two aspects from the three perspectives, and herein lies its value.

The restructuring of service channels, driven by deregulation, intensifying global competition and emerging information technology, is forcing every company to re‐evaluate the adequacy of current customer services. Introduces a normative model, called service process analysis (SPA), that properly differentiates the concept of service from the specification of the delivery channel so as to facilitate the analysis of repositioning strategies. In SPA, efficient matching of services and channels is determined on the basis of the trade‐off between production costs and transaction costs involved. Compares the SPA model with some well‐known frameworks and measurement schemes and illustrates its implications for the repositioning of service strategies in selected industries.

Several world‐class companies have re‐designed or re‐engineered – their business processes with considerable success. However, failure rates of some 70 per cent have been reported in BPR projects. This may be due to focusing on operational and implementation issues, bypassing strategic aspects. Recognizes three perspectives to business process redesign prevailing in recent literature. The first sees information technology as enabler, improving the operative efficiency of processes. The second observes the potential of business processes in the redesign of organization. The third, and least emphasized perspective, calls for business processes as units of strategic planning and therefore acknowledges the need to define them as carriers of strategic capabilities. Illustrates these three perspectives with a case of redesigned industrial delivery processes. Finally, discusses the impacts of the strategic perspective on the successful implementation of BPR.

The objective of this paper is to understand the success factors of mobile operators.

Explores the business practices of leading carriers in Japan, South Korea, China, Europe and the USA.

The paper finds several common characteristics in the more successful markets including a handset design and quality of service that are aligned with the operators' service concepts, effective billing systems, reasonable prices, and targeted marketing strategies. While these internal factors can be easily copied by a mobile operator, it is found that there are additional, external factors such as the existing customer base and its preferences, government policy, technological constraints and value chain dynamics that can greatly affect the transferability of a mobile operator's business model to another market.

The findings present opportunities for further research including the possibility of developing a new theory into which factors are more difficult to transfer and why.

The practical implications of this paper are that operators who wish to pursue profitable business models need to take into account the factors of a successful business model and which ones are easily transferable in their respective markets and which ones are not.

The paper is unique in that we compare the business models of mobile operators across five different countries.