Actors’ interactions in the evolution of service supply networks of manufacturing firms

Abstract

With the expansion of manufacturers' servitization from local to domestic and even international, it is inevitable that manufacturers interact with service supply partners. However, the processes and mechanisms that promote manufacturing firms' construction of service supply networks to effectively implement servitization strategies are still understudied. In view of actor network theory (ANT), an exploratory case study is conducted, with the case firm being Hangyang Co., Ltd., which is the largest air separation equipment manufacturer in China and has reached a high level of servitization performance through a service supply network. First, our results reveal that the evolution of the service supply network goes through three stages: single-tie embedding, multitie linking, and regional contiguity. Second, manufacturers should regard their roles from a dynamic perspective and adjust them from the service supply network sponsor to the network operator and then to the network manager. Third, the agency of nonhuman actors should be taken into account when constructing service supply networks, transforming their function from sense-transmitting to sense-making and then to sense-giving. This paper explores role alignment mechanisms from a dynamic perspective and therefore proposes a guideline for manufacturers in interacting with service supply network partners to stimulate the network's evolution and sustain the effective implementation of servitization strategies.