Abstract
Smart service systems enable innovative value propositions based on smart products and data-driven value creation. Grounded in service-dominant logic as our theoretical lens, we argue that smart service innovation takes place in ecosystems of collaborating actors, as a single actor does not possess all required resources and competencies. We empirically explore smart service innovation using an interview study of 14 experts who were involved in real-world smart service systems engineering projects. As a result, we conceptualize 17 roles that describe the resources and competencies required for smart service innovation at an abstract level. Through the analysis of actor-role constellations in our sample of projects, we further identify four patterns that exhibit different strategic approaches to smart service innovation. Our results advance the theoretical understanding of smart service systems through an empirically grounded systematization of roles, which reflect the resources and competencies required for smart service innovation. With this study, we shed light on the multi-actor and inter-organizational settings of service innovation processes, which have been under-researched so far. Our insights are further helpful for practitioners, who participate in the smart service innovation and who need to analyze their strategic position in service ecosystems.
Highlights
In today’s digitally connected world, more than ever, service innovations result from the interactions between multiple actors
We empirically explore smart service innovation using an interview study of 14 experts who were involved in real-world smart service systems engineering projects
Smart service systems, which enable value propositions based on smart products and data-driven value creation, illustrate that resources and competencies from a whole network of actors are required to put them in place
Summary
In today’s digitally connected world, more than ever, service innovations result from the interactions between multiple actors. While we have traditionally seen the service provider as a rather independent actor in the driver’s seat of service innovation processes, we recognize that these firms require an increasing amount of help from external actors to successfully develop new digitally-enabled value propositions and corresponding resource integration mechanisms within their service ecosystems. Smart service systems, which enable value propositions based on smart products and data-driven value creation, illustrate that resources and competencies from a whole network of actors are required to put them in place. The value proposition of a smart service system is “preemptive in its behavior, adaptive to customer needs and contexts, thereby exceeding traditional offerings concerning both perceived customer value and provider efficiency” Examples include performancebased contracting for aircraft engines and industrial compressors in business-tobusiness (B2B) settings as well as home automation and driving-behavior-aware car insurances in business-to-consumer (B2C) settings
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