Organizing Service Operations in Manufacturing

Aalto University, P.O. Box 11000, FI-00076 Aalto www.aalto.fi Author Taija Tuulia Turunen Name of the doctoral dissertation Organizing Service Operations in Manufacturing Publisher School of Science Unit Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Series Aalto University publication series DOCTORAL DISSERTATIONS 4/2013 Field of research Service Operations Management Manuscript submitted 11 September 2012 Date of the defence 7 February 2013 Permission to publish granted (date) 17 October 2012 Language English Monograph Article dissertation (summary + original articles) Abstract Manufacturing firms in developed markets are increasingly striving towards greater service provision. Research has been providing valuable insights considering motivation and benefits of this transformation as well as offered some suggestions of likely challenges that this change causes. The academic and practical understanding of the subject has grown tremendously in the past years, however there are still significant gaps in the current knowledge regarding how this transformation takes place and what the organisational requirements are for this type of transformation.Manufacturing firms in developed markets are increasingly striving towards greater service provision. Research has been providing valuable insights considering motivation and benefits of this transformation as well as offered some suggestions of likely challenges that this change causes. The academic and practical understanding of the subject has grown tremendously in the past years, however there are still significant gaps in the current knowledge regarding how this transformation takes place and what the organisational requirements are for this type of transformation. This thesis explores this transformation process and its consequences. The aim is to clarify the journey from product centric business to total solutions in manufacturing context. The study takes into account the transformative process, as well as structural requirements for this change. The study was conducted using a multi-method approach, combining grounded theory methodology with case study designs. Three separate case studies were performed in order to investigate how the transformation process takes place and what implications it has on the organisational structure. Further, a conceptual evaluation of the factors posed by the operational environment is presented. The thesis contributes to the current theoretical and practical understanding in three ways. First, it offers an in-depth understanding of different paths that organisations can follow when aiming to enter the service business. Three possible routes are identified: traditional, reversed, and partial. A second set of findings reveals in detail how the organisational structure needs to be adjusted so that it meets the requirements of service operations. In this investigation, analyses of the internal structure and of the delivery processes have been taken into account when evaluating the functionality of different organisational solutions. Finally, this thesis sets ground to assess critically the factors coming from organisational environments that might inhibit or exhibit service transformation in manufacturing.