Readiness assessment of collaborative networked organisations for integrated product and service delivery

More and more firms are entering into alliances and coalitions to deliver competitive customer solutions, and there is a need to establish a common and recognised methodology in order to evaluate and qualify the impact of such company partnering on collaborative networks. These measures are necessary for informing decisions to admit/omit partners, for the delivery of integrated products and services, i.e. a product-service system, and for enhancing operational efficiency and competitiveness in the rapidly changing and dynamic global environment. In this article, a conceptual model is proposed for assessing the readiness of collaborative networked organisations for product-service system delivery. The model consists of a structural assessment of collaborative network topologies and densities, and a behavioural assessment of partner delivery competences and performance. Based on these concepts, an assessment process model was developed and used in case studies across industrials, consumer goods, health care, and utilities industries. The resulting implications of the assessment for researchers and practitioners are then highlighted and discussed.