Overcoming the knowledge gaps in early‐stage servitization journey: A guide for small and medium enterprises

Abstract Although the move to more service‐oriented business can be beneficial even to smaller firms, servitization in SMEs remains a largely unexplored topic. The authors contribute to fill this gap exploring how SMEs can overcome the knowledge gaps of servitization faced by companies in the early‐...

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Main Authors: Mario Rapaccini, Federico Adrodegari, Giuditta Pezzotta, Nicola Saccani
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2024-09-01
Series:IET Collaborative Intelligent Manufacturing
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1049/cim2.12106
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author Mario Rapaccini
Federico Adrodegari
Giuditta Pezzotta
Nicola Saccani
author_facet Mario Rapaccini
Federico Adrodegari
Giuditta Pezzotta
Nicola Saccani
author_sort Mario Rapaccini
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Although the move to more service‐oriented business can be beneficial even to smaller firms, servitization in SMEs remains a largely unexplored topic. The authors contribute to fill this gap exploring how SMEs can overcome the knowledge gaps of servitization faced by companies in the early‐stages of this journey. By combining systematic literature review and expert panel methodology, the authors identify three knowledge gaps that hinder servitization initiatives in SMEs and propose a set of managerial recommendations to tackle with these gaps. In particular, the authors suggest a structured plan of recommendations, and point out how each stakeholder can contribute to fill the mentioned gaps. The proposed actions are specifically suggested for SMEs and focus on greater engagement of internal and external stakeholders. In addition to contributing to the domain scientific research on servitization, the authors therefore respond to the call for application‐oriented research.
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spelling doaj-art-522abfed6cfb4905971ae28b750771fd2025-08-20T01:55:12ZengWileyIET Collaborative Intelligent Manufacturing2516-83982024-09-0163n/an/a10.1049/cim2.12106Overcoming the knowledge gaps in early‐stage servitization journey: A guide for small and medium enterprisesMario Rapaccini0Federico Adrodegari1Giuditta Pezzotta2Nicola Saccani3Department of Industrial Engineering University of Florence Florence ItalyDepartment of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering University of Brescia Brescia ItalyDepartment of Management, Information and Industrial Engineering University of Bergamo Dalmine ItalyDepartment of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering University of Brescia Brescia ItalyAbstract Although the move to more service‐oriented business can be beneficial even to smaller firms, servitization in SMEs remains a largely unexplored topic. The authors contribute to fill this gap exploring how SMEs can overcome the knowledge gaps of servitization faced by companies in the early‐stages of this journey. By combining systematic literature review and expert panel methodology, the authors identify three knowledge gaps that hinder servitization initiatives in SMEs and propose a set of managerial recommendations to tackle with these gaps. In particular, the authors suggest a structured plan of recommendations, and point out how each stakeholder can contribute to fill the mentioned gaps. The proposed actions are specifically suggested for SMEs and focus on greater engagement of internal and external stakeholders. In addition to contributing to the domain scientific research on servitization, the authors therefore respond to the call for application‐oriented research.https://doi.org/10.1049/cim2.12106customer servicesmanufacturing industriessmall‐to‐medium enterprises
spellingShingle Mario Rapaccini
Federico Adrodegari
Giuditta Pezzotta
Nicola Saccani
Overcoming the knowledge gaps in early‐stage servitization journey: A guide for small and medium enterprises
IET Collaborative Intelligent Manufacturing
customer services
manufacturing industries
small‐to‐medium enterprises
title Overcoming the knowledge gaps in early‐stage servitization journey: A guide for small and medium enterprises
title_full Overcoming the knowledge gaps in early‐stage servitization journey: A guide for small and medium enterprises
title_fullStr Overcoming the knowledge gaps in early‐stage servitization journey: A guide for small and medium enterprises
title_full_unstemmed Overcoming the knowledge gaps in early‐stage servitization journey: A guide for small and medium enterprises
title_short Overcoming the knowledge gaps in early‐stage servitization journey: A guide for small and medium enterprises
title_sort overcoming the knowledge gaps in early stage servitization journey a guide for small and medium enterprises
topic customer services
manufacturing industries
small‐to‐medium enterprises
url https://doi.org/10.1049/cim2.12106
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AT giudittapezzotta overcomingtheknowledgegapsinearlystageservitizationjourneyaguideforsmallandmediumenterprises
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