Servitization strategy and performance measurement systems: evidences from Italian truck industry

Servitization strategy consists of offering fuller market packages or “bundles” of combinations of products, services, support self-service and knowledge in order to increase the value of core offerings for the customer and the whole offering of the firm. Servitization introduces a significant change in the way services are produced and delivered by manufacturing companies. A variety of forms of servitization are identified in literature, considering their different potential applications along the so-called “product service continuum”, from traditional manufacturer where companies merely offer services as products add-on, through to service providers where companies have services as the main part of their value creation process. Notwithstanding the increasingly relevance of servitization in manufacturing industries, literature fails to provide a complete analysis of its impacts on performance measurement systems (PMS). In particular, it mainly focuses on how to design and engineer the offered product(s) and service(s), providing few suggestions supporting managers at identifying how to organise and manage their business both internally and externally (toward partners and customers), and how to cope with servitization strategy’s significant cultural and corporate challenges. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the understanding of the implications of servitization strategy on Performance Measurement Systems. The focus is on Product oriented Product Service Systems (PSS) , with particular focus on the After-Sales Services. Different strategic roles of After-Sales and the consequent impact on Performance Measurement Systems are highlighted. The paper proposes an integrated framework for performance measurement of servitization, and its relationship with After-Sales Service strategic roles. An empirical application of it to one case study, operating in the Italian truck industry, is then reported.