The mediating-moderating role of network capability in service strategy : sales performance link

• Corresponding to calls for studies to test important links between industrial service offerings and company sales performance, this study tests the role of two mediating constructs, service performance and network capability for traditional manufacturing companies that have started to add services to their product offerings. Moreover, this study tests the moderating role of network capability on the service offering – service performance as well as service offering – company sales performance links to highlight the interaction between implementation of industrial service strategy and service structure. We reasoned that these moderators would be important especially in times of economic downturn, whereby we collected data of how traditional manufacturing companies succeeded with implementation of extensive service strategies during the significant economic downturn the last couple of years. Through application of structural modeling and generalizable data of 115 Finnish product manufacturing companies, the findings confirm the hypothesized mediating role of service performance in the service strategy – company sales performance relationship for product manufacturers migrating from product manufacturing towards service business, and implementing service strategy suggesting that services can actually provide counter-cyclical, resistant and more stable source of revenues than products. In addition, the results confirm that implementation of service strategy facilitates the development of important network capabilities, which then further increase company sales performance. Most importantly, the results highlight the interaction between service strategy and network capability suggesting that network capability enables value creation from service offerings, as network capability moderates the service offering – service performance as well as service offering – company sales performance linkages. For manufacturing managers thinking of adding services to their operations, the results suggest that active development of service offerings in interaction with customers is important to effectively implement service strategy and to develop the necessary network capabilities needed to secure improvements in company sales performance for such a change of business operations.

Ämnesord

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Annan teknik -- Övrig annan teknik (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Other Engineering and Technologies -- Other Engineering and Technologies not elsewhere specified (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Entreprenörskap och innovation

Entrepreneurship and Innovation

Centre - The Faste Laboratory

Centrumbildning - Fastelaboratoriet

Publikations- och innehållstyp

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