Servitization of SMEs through Strategic Alliances: a Case Study

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

Opportunities and challenges connected to the shift towards a service-based business by product-centric companies (i.e. servitization, service strategy, service transformation) are rather under-explored in small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Using a single-case study of an Italian consortium, this paper explores how a strategic alliance among SMEs can facilitate this transformation. In particular, the paper shows that the strategic alliance has played a double role, first in (1) driving the elaboration of a service strategy as an emergent – not deliberated – strategy, and then (2) in enabling its implementation by providing a common environment that facilitated the allied companies in overcoming the traditional barriers of servitization. Implications of the paper are relevant, as it suggests how even small and medium sized firms can successfully servitize their business.