Servitization Strategies and Product-Service-Systems

This paper attempts to explain the concept of servitization in order to declare and emphasize its capabilities in being an influential strategy that provides competitive advantage in manufacturing industries. This is conducted by a detailed elaboration of its notion and origins in the literature as well as the characteristics and processes regarding value co-creation, which in turn is consolidated as fundamentals of servitization. Furthermore, the driving characteristics separated by general environmental trends, financial-, strategic-, as well as marketing-drivers are discussed in detail. The final part of the analysis refers to the classification of servitization and the actual options and alternatives of implementation.