Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Uncertainty profiles in engineering-service development: exploring supplier co-creation

Uncertainty profiles in engineering-service development: exploring supplier co-creation Engineering service (ES) development, particularly with supplier co-creation, is nontrivial, and the literature has acknowledged the high relevance of uncertainty in this context. This study aims to investigate the relationship between different supplier co-creation modes (operationally independent [OI] and operationally dependent [OD]) and uncertainty criticality arising during ES development.Design/methodology/approachThis study develops a conceptual framework of five uncertainty types by synthesizing the relevant literature from service management and new product development. This framework guided the empirical work of two in-depth case studies, describing uncertainty criticality in OI and OD supplier co-creation.FindingsThe findings show that environmental and organizational uncertainty were generally of high criticality for ES development independently of the supplier co-creation mode. Moreover, uncertainty criticality varied between the two cases, with higher criticality of technical and relational uncertainty as well as less resource uncertainty experienced by the focal organization in the OD case. This suggests that supplier co-creation constitutes an uncertainty reallocation.Research limitations/implicationsFurther research is needed to test the generalizability of the qualitative results through quantitative studies.Originality/valueThis research contributes to the service management literature by showing the varying uncertainty profiles manufacturing organizations face when engaging in different supplier co-creation modes. Furthermore, this research provides novel insights on ES development to the broader discussion on ES management. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Journal of Service Management Emerald Publishing

Uncertainty profiles in engineering-service development: exploring supplier co-creation

Loading next page...
 
/lp/emerald-publishing/uncertainty-profiles-in-engineering-service-development-exploring-q6V0FeImxH
Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
© Emerald Publishing Limited
ISSN
1757-5818
DOI
10.1108/josm-08-2019-0270
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Engineering service (ES) development, particularly with supplier co-creation, is nontrivial, and the literature has acknowledged the high relevance of uncertainty in this context. This study aims to investigate the relationship between different supplier co-creation modes (operationally independent [OI] and operationally dependent [OD]) and uncertainty criticality arising during ES development.Design/methodology/approachThis study develops a conceptual framework of five uncertainty types by synthesizing the relevant literature from service management and new product development. This framework guided the empirical work of two in-depth case studies, describing uncertainty criticality in OI and OD supplier co-creation.FindingsThe findings show that environmental and organizational uncertainty were generally of high criticality for ES development independently of the supplier co-creation mode. Moreover, uncertainty criticality varied between the two cases, with higher criticality of technical and relational uncertainty as well as less resource uncertainty experienced by the focal organization in the OD case. This suggests that supplier co-creation constitutes an uncertainty reallocation.Research limitations/implicationsFurther research is needed to test the generalizability of the qualitative results through quantitative studies.Originality/valueThis research contributes to the service management literature by showing the varying uncertainty profiles manufacturing organizations face when engaging in different supplier co-creation modes. Furthermore, this research provides novel insights on ES development to the broader discussion on ES management.

Journal

Journal of Service ManagementEmerald Publishing

Published: Apr 27, 2021

Keywords: Servitization; Uncertainty management; Engineering service; Engineering service development; Co-creation

References