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Service strategy’s effect on firm performance: A meta-analysis of the servitization literature

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Abstract

The servitization literature has evolved into a rich field of academic inquiry that today calls for a consolidation of extant knowledge and opens new opportunities for meta-analytic reviews. The present research provides a fine-grained understanding of the servitization–firm performance relationship. We first develop an integrative conceptual framework that systematically ties together factors identified in prior research that affect the relationship. Through a meta-analysis of 379 effect sizes across 85 studies, we then provide broad-based empirical evidence that servitization indeed exerts a positive effect on firm performance. We further examine a broad set of potential moderators affecting the servitization–performance relationship to understand and explain the heterogeneity and, at times, the inconsistency of prior results regarding the relationship’s directionality and strength. Finally, we provide guidance for future research, from both a substantive and methodological standpoint, and sketch out an integrative conceptual model for future research.

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Notes

  1. Likewise, Palmatier et al. (2007) find that interorganizational relationship performance is explained best by integrating various theoretical lenses.

  2. Cost savings due to these synergies help firms in their transition. However, firms transitioning to higher service revenues also need to overhaul their fundamental business models, which represents a costly shift (Crozet & Milet, 2017).

  3. We thank an anonymous reviewer for suggesting that RBT-based mechanisms of the impact of servitization on performance should be positive and related to the creation of an SCA.

  4. We base our choices of moderators on their theoretical and practical relevance. However, we also view an occurrence of at least 5% of all observations for each variable (cutoff value Farley et al. [1995] suggest) as feasible for a moderator.

  5. Ulaga and Reinartz (2011) develop a different typology of four hybrid offering types, but for reasons of data availability and sample size, we stick with the distinction between SSP and SSC.

  6. Instead of replacing capital goods, customers might try to stretch the lifetime of an equipment by spending more on (repair and maintenance) services.

  7. We used a random-effect model for two reasons. First, from our theoretical discussion, we expect the mean to vary systematically under the influence of moderator variables. Second, in line with meta-analytic standards, we use the Q-test for homogeneity, which confirms that the assumptions of the fixed model do not hold (Table 5).

  8. The harmonic mean is less sensitive to outliers and more conservative than the arithmetic mean (Drees & Heugens, 2013).

  9. We also analyze the curvilinear effect of servitization on performance in part 2 of the Web Appendix. Given the main focus of our study, we did not include this analysis in the main text.

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Research Funding from the Department of Marketing, BI Norwegian Business School.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Sustainable Business and Organizations, Sciences and Humanities Confluence Research Center, UCLY, ESDES, 10 Place Des Archives, 69002, Lyon, France

    Ashkan Faramarzi

  2. BI Norwegian Business School, Nydalsveien 37, 0484, Oslo, Norway

    Stefan Worm

  3. INSEAD, Boulevard de Constance, 77305, Fontainebleau Cedex, France

    Wolfgang Ulaga

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  1. Ashkan Faramarzi
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Faramarzi, A., Worm, S. & Ulaga, W. Service strategy’s effect on firm performance: A meta-analysis of the servitization literature. J. of the Acad. Mark. Sci. (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-023-00971-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-023-00971-1

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