Effects of Collaboration on the Industrial Companies' Flexibility

• The concept of flexibility has been recognized as an ambiguous and complex concept consisting of various dimensions. Antecedents and enablers of flexibility have also received much attention. However, research on the collaboration effects on the flexibility of industrial companies seems to be somewhat limited. Therefore, the research presented in this article contributes to the abundant literature on flexibility by qualitatively determining the effects of collaboration between industrial producers with their service distributors on the producer’s flexibility.The context of the present study is the collaboration between servitized industrial companies and their service distributors. The main levels of flexibility studied are strategic and tactical. The data are gathered through semi-structured interviews with the managers of four industrial companies and two of their distributors of industrial services and products.The results of this empirical study are presented and the findings discussed, determining the nature of the relation and the effects of the collaboration on flexibility. The findings and conclusions of the study expand the understanding of the enablers of flexibility and contribute to the completeness of the research on flexibility. Limitations and suggestions for future research are also presented.

Subject headings

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Ekonomi och näringsliv -- Företagsekonomi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Economics and Business -- Business Administration (hsv//eng)

Keyword

flexibility

collaboration

Business studies

Företagsekonomi

företagsekonomi

Business Administration

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

kon (subject category)