Background: Due to the escalated environmental concerns and the requirement of Paris Agreement, restraining the carbon emission is aimed on a global scale. Being a solution, the electrification of vehicles is inevitable whilst the problematization to the batteries continues. Many strategies, from improving the battery default as a product, to servitizing the batteries in the light of servitization, has been attempted by both battery suppliers and car manufacturers. In connection to sustainability concerns, which refers to the battery End-of-Life (EoL) Management, however, not many scholars believe that circular economy for electric vehicle batteries can shape itself. Deeming the massive adoption of electric vehicle as the foundation of circular economy, some scholars advocate, that servitization can propel the execution of sustainable goal when it changes the ownership of batteries from customers to manufacturers.  Purpose: The proposed relationship of battery servitization and sustainability is standing alone shortly since 2020 without much evidence support. Hence, it is put on the list of examination to identify the motives and interest of manufacturers by offering battery servitization. Moreover, owing to the fact that the literature of battery servitization is seen segmented for only single dimensioned service type, it is also aimed by this thesis to coin the status-of-art of battery servitization from the empirical study, with customers’ perspective included.  Methodology: This thesis is designed based on a mixed method including qualitative interviews and quantitative surveys to answer the research questions that none of the methods could answer alone. Both inductive and deductive approaches were adopted due to the discrepant results from the empirics. Particularly, triangulation design, obtaining different yet complementary data to study the same topic, is followed to structure the discussion.  Findings & Conclusion: Generally, the findings answer the purpose of writing this thesis well. From qualitative study, battery servitization is more of a marketing strategy and not after a goal of building the circularity. However, sustainability is deployed by manufacturers of all levels in the supply chain. Additionally, Battery-as-a-Service (BaaS) as an all-round service solution is enlarging the content to servitize. Further, not being much aware of though, battery servitization is enabling the circularity of batteries owing to the respective battery strategies of each manufacturer. This is to say, sustainability is considered in combination of battery servitization, as the theoretical base of this thesis suggests. From quantitative study, customers’ satisfaction level proves that the manufacturers’ aimed goal is partly achieved. However, to use battery servitization as a marketing strategy for electric vehicle adoption, which indirectly facilitate sustainability, it should be invested more efforts to help more potential customers accept it.

Research Problems: Every industry produces its own wastes, but if its development is handled well, these wastes can be used as an additional resource as well. However, every resource recycling industry will eventually have to face the fact that in this industrial world over a period of time, the ¡§Red Ocean¡¨ competition by offering a lower price as well as decreasing the value added to the industry. In the past, the China Steel Cooperation (CSC) used to dump these granulated blast furnace slag into the ocean as industrial wastes, which have caused pollutions to the ocean leading to protest with the local fishermen. Using the Slag Powder Resource Recycling Company as an example, they have taken in these wastes since 1986 from the CSC. Under research, the granulated blast furnace slag are used and developed into a resource to produce slag powder, which successfully substitutes the use of cements to be used to make concrete. After 20 years of development, slag powder production has been extremely competitive and consolidated, making it a mature product in the market. Therefore, knowing how to increase the value-added to a product for the customer has always been a very important issue to the company leader. ¡§This paper is mainly focused on studying how to use the concept of Servitization of Manufacturing to increase the value-added to its product towards its customers.¡¨ Research Design:¡@¡@ This research uses [a slag resource recycling plant] as an example to explore the concept of manufacturing service as a way to develop and cooperate in communications with the customer services. A total of 5 companies, namely A, B, C, D, E, with access to case the company¡¦s downstream clients, are expected to complete five questionnaire interviews. These surveys will provide analysis to enhance the value-added approach. Main Contribution: Through thorough discussion and case interviews with the company¡¦s colleagues and its clients, the direction of the service and its proposed approach is sorted out to give the company and its related industries an increase in production and will also be a very important direction for the company in its development.

Yes / The integration of products and services into a bundled product/service offering by manufacturing organisations is seen as a global trend in today’s competitive business environment. The shift of product-based manufacturers towards offering business solutions and value-added services to consumers is termed as ‘Servitization’. Contrary to the potential benefits expected by adding service activities to the offerings, advocates voice their concerns towards experiential problems and challenges in employing the servitization strategy – termed as ‘Servitization Paradox’. Nevertheless, the shift from product-based delivery to a service-based provision has the potential to significantly impact on developing sustainable and eco-friendly environment. To provide greater insights to the servitization phenomenon, this paper presents a comprehensive analysis of the servitization implementation in manufacturing organisations. In order to respond to the latter, we propose the following three research questions “Q1 – what are the different types of servitization strategies”, “Q2 – what are the different servitization definitions”, “Q3 – what are the potential benefits in selecting a servitization strategy?”, “Q4 – what are the challenges in transitioning towards servitization?”. A systematic literature review is carried out to understand the past trends and extant patterns/themes in the servitization strategy research area, evaluate contributions, summarise knowledge, thereby identifying limitations, implications and potential further research avenues. The key findings confirm servitization studies have contributed both conceptually and empirically to the development and accumulation of intellectual wealth to the manufacturing operations and supply chain discipline. Moreover, the findings clearly indicate the potential of servitization in transitioning manufacturing organisations (e.g. benefits) and utilising innovative technologies to generate business value. Nevertheless, some voices are backing further research/development in the area of servitization due to the several existing challenges.

Traditional manufacturing firms today are on the way to extend their product portfolio with services in order to broaden their offering and to strengthen the relation to their customers. New services are being developed, old services are substituted and replaced and existing services adapted, while the amount of services tends to increase in total. As the number of services increases, so does the administrative work and complexity that comes along with services. This thesis aims at investigating how to handle the rising amount of data internally created around services and which service data need to be managed to describe a service. The objective is to find a way that allows Volvo to focus on the development and adaptation of services and not being distracted with work on administration of data around services, but rather focus on value-creating work. Different types of metadata are identified that describe a service along its lifecycle, e.g. versions, lifecycle stages, dependencies to other services, etc. The way is summarized in a framework that illustrates which data are needed and how this information can be managed. Besides the literature study, a benchmarking study is conducted within three other, global operating companies that have made their way from a manufacturer to a service provider or are still on the way to become one. The objective is to analyze their way on handling service data and to compare those to the one of Volvo and use the gathered information to provide a recommendation that suits Volvo’s way of working. The benchmarking study aimed at investigating the current status and future objectives of the firms through interviews with service experts. The results show that there is a great variation among the firms, including Volvo. While the third benchmarking firm has a mature way of dealing with services in their administration, Volvo and the benchmarking firm 2 are at an early stage in the servitization process. However, benchmarking firm 1 has an intermediate state that is strongly supported by an existing ERP system that is capable of registering service data. The Volvo Group acts in a strong competitive market that demands fleet management services, maintenance agreements and repair contracts in addition to the product offering. A lean way of service data management with high efficiency allows Volvo to compete in this market successfully. Services can be developed quicker by reuse of existing modules, a tracking of changes allows users to see the evolution of a particular service and the impact of a change can be estimated with the right system that considers dependencies among services. A solution to improve in the service data management is presented in the developed framework of this thesis. It is one way to account for the growing number of data and services and to simplify the daily work with services with a software-based solution. It can help to approach the growing number of services and to structure them in a daily work environment as well as from a more holistic portfolio management perspective.

The integration of services and products into solutions can open up new business opportunities for firms. This thesis concerns how firms can provide solutions that are perceived as high quality. Solutions are often provided over several years, which implies a changed customer relationship compared to product provisions. Since the solution aims to support the customer’s activities, firms face new challenges when introducing solutions. One challenge is to integrate all components and activities of the solution, and simultaneously support the customer’s activities. In addition, the firm must ensure that the solution and all of its parts are of high quality. Most of the existing research on quality is related to the management of a firm’s internal activities and the interaction during exchange. Within the research on quality, customer orientation means that a firm should manage the relevant product or service to meet customer requirements. When this is achieved, the product or service is of high quality. Since solutions are seen as services and products that are integrated as an outcome, as well as a customer relational process that aims to support the customer’s activities, firms have little to learn from previous research about the quality of solutions. The aim of this thesis is to increase knowledge about how to manage solution quality. The thesis combines insights from research on quality with research on solutions and servitization. Three research questions are answered. The first question concerns the content of solution quality; the second deals with how firms can, with support from interventions, meet the new challenges that arise from solution provision; and the third question concerns how customers can be involved to achieve solution quality. The research questions are answered through five papers based on literature studies and empirical data. The papers contribute to an increased knowledge of solution quality and how firms can work to achieve it. The results of the thesis suggest that solution quality is built on seven quality dimensions: reliability, communicability, internal consistency, empathy, approachability, tangibility, and adaptability. In addition, knowledge of processes and customer relationships are two prerequisites for the concept. These dimensions and prerequisites are supported by interventions that can provide a change. However, it has become evident that whatever intervention is used must be related to the dimensions that are supposed to be improved. Furthermore, customer involvement is argued to be an intervention to support the prerequisites for solution quality, especially during the solution  development. The results of this thesis extend the research on quality by increasing the knowledge of the solution quality concept and by changing the view of customers and their involvement during solution development. / Den här avhandlingen berör hur företag kan möjliggöra så att produkter och  tjänster, integrerade i så kallade helhetslösningar, kan levereras med hög kvalitet. Helhetslösningar levereras ofta över en längre tid vilket medför en förändrad kundrelation till skillnad mot när endast en produkt levereras. Helhetslösningar syftar till att stödja kunden i dess aktiviteter. Det medför att företagen möter nya utmaningar. En utmaning är att få den komplexa helhetslösningen, bestående av olika komponenter och aktiviteter, att passa ihop och samtidigt bidra till att stötta kundens aktiviteter. Dessutom behöver företagen säkerställa att helhetslösningen och alla dess delar har hög kvalitet. Tidigare forskning inom kvalitetsutveckling berör företags interna processer och aktiviteter. När man inom kvalitetsutveckling talar om kundorientering innebär det att företaget med interna medel ska arbeta för att möjliggöra så produkten eller tjänsten möter kundens specifikationer. När detta är uppnått har produkten eller tjänsten hög kvalitet. Företagen har här inga riktlinjer att följa när de ska leverera helhetslösningar som ska anpassas efter kundens aktiviteter och när en så tydlig kundrelation ska utvecklas. Det finns med andra ord ingen vägledning för vad som är kvalitet eller hur man möjliggör hög kvalitet på helhetslösningar. Den här avhandlingen visar vad som ingår i begreppet kvalitet när det gäller helhetslösningar (lösningskvalitet) samt hur företag kan möjliggöra det. Tre olika frågor har huvudsakligen behandlats. Den första frågan besvarar vad lösningskvalitet innehåller. Den andra berör hur företag med hjälp av åtgärder kan bidra till en förändring inom företaget för att möta de nya utmaningar som uppstår med att leverera helhetslösningar. Den tredje frågan berör på vilket sätt kunden kan involveras för att uppnå lösningskvalitet. För att besvara frågorna har ett antal studier baserade på empiriskt material genomförts, och fem artiklar har författats under forskningsprocessen. Artiklarna bidrar till att öka förståelsen för lösningskvalitet och hur företag kan arbeta för att uppnå det. Avhandlingens resultat visar att lösningskvalitet består av sju olika dimensioner: tillförlitlighet, kommunicerbarhet, intern överensstämmelse, empati, nåbarhet, påtaglighet, och anpassningsbarhet. Dessutom är kunskap om processer och kundrelationer två förutsättningar för att uppnå lösningskvalitet. Dimensionerna betraktas som riktmärken för lösningskvalitet som företag kan arbeta mot. Dimensionerna och förutsättningarna stöttas i sin tur av åtgärder som används för att bidra till den interna förändringen inom företaget. Resultaten visar dock att använda åtgärder inte alltid leder till en förändring. Endast noga utvalda åtgärder som relaterar till en specifik dimension möjliggör en förändring. Exempel på en möjlig åtgärd är kundinvolvering. Speciellt vid utveckling av helhetslösningar, betraktas kundinvolvering som en möjlig åtgärd för att stötta förutsättningarna till lösningskvalitet. Resultaten i den här avhandlingen bidrar huvudsakligen till en ökad kunskap om vad kvalitet är när det gäller helhetslösningar. Ytterligare ett bidrag är att föreslå kundens förändrade roll under utveckling och vid leverans av helhetslösningar för att uppnå lösningskvalitet.

Many firms are transitioning from being a classic goods-focused company to becoming a solutions provider, a phenomenon called servitization. Evolving towards a service focus entails several challenges that need to be addressed in order to benefit from the opportunities that servitization entails. As most servitization research has focused on business-to- business contexts, this thesis applies servitization literature in a business-to- consumer context. By examining the challenges in a qualitative approach through semi-structured interviews and observations within three automobile dealerships selling premium brands, this thesis aims to further enrich the understanding of the phenomenon servitization by comparing the collected data with previously researched challenges. The thesis concludes that many of the challenges, such as creating integrated solutions, adequately charging for services and manage internal resistance, could be viable in a business-to- consumer context.

Tjänster, immateriella skapelser, som konstruerats för att interagera med, utveckla, komplettera och förstärka den påverkan materiella objekt har på människans vardag. Den potential som finns i dessa fenomen är, om den används på rätt sätt enorm och värdet som kan skapas av dem är gränslöst. Men hur vet man vad som är rätt sätt att använda dem på? Sedan 1980-talet, har svenska företag insett den kraft som finns i tjänster. Att kunna presentera ett erbjudande som fyller det behov kunden upplever, är att göra kunden en tjänst. När dessa tjänster är framgångsrika så är de ett oslagbart verktyg för lönsamhet. Detta leder till att fler och fler företag valt att fokusera på att bli mer tjänsteinriktade och genomgår därför en Servitization-process. Så är även fallet för Umeå Energi, där man tagit steget till att bli en mer kundorienterad organisation där fokus ligger på att öka lönsamheten genom att höja kundvärdet. För att lyckas med detta, har Umeå Energi skapat det nya arbetsområdet Design & Prissättning, som i sin tur presenterade oss möjligheten att ta fram en styrmodell som skulle hjälpa dem att leda verksamheten efter denna Servitization-process. Studiens teoretiska ramverk bygger på litteratur från service-dominanta logiken, Servitization samt Management control systems. Denna teoretiska kunskapsbank, tillsammans med semistrukturerade intervjuer med medarbetare har använts för att svara på studiens problemformulering, det vill säga, lokalisera vilka kritiska faktorer som Design & Prissättning måste fokusera på för att lyckas etablera en välfungerande styrmodell. I studiens empiriska del, har varje enskild respondents berättelse presenteras separat, för att på så sätt garantera en rättvis bild av deras uppfattning. Empirin har tematiskt analyserats utifrån den teoretiska ramverk vi presenterat ovan, för att slutligen presentera studiens slutsats samt rekommendationer. Resultatet från studien visar att de kritiska faktorerna som Design & Prissättning måste fokusera på för en lyckad implementering av en styrmodell är, vision och uppdrag, Information och kommunikation samt kultur.

Background: The servitization process of capital goods manufacturing is a contemporary issue and indicates that organizations are transforming from offering only products and goods to providing combinations of augmented services with their products. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to contribute to the body of knowledge on servitization and the challenges that manufacturers face in the transformation process towards servitization in a B2B context. Method: Through conducting a single- case study on a capital goods manufacturing organization in Sweden and interviewing six directors within the organization we have developed and intensified the current literature covering the challenges that encounter the organizations within this process. Findings/conclusions: Challenge facing a servitized manufacturer business is how to handle service offering customization to suit the final customers ' distinctive requirements. To guarantee adequate delivery, it is essential to have standardized control processes to guarantee consistency and quality of service offerings.

Num mercado com crescente competição como o atual, é mister que as empresas façam mais por seus clientes, ou seja, que em essência lhes entreguem mais valor. Para empresas industriais em particular, uma das ações mais comuns é a integração de serviços aos produtos existentes, a fim de oferecer uma solução que atenda às necessidades do cliente. A servitização, termo cunhado para denominar esse modelo de negócios, demanda uma transição organizacional, afinal prestar serviços é diferente de fabricar produtos. Não obstante argumentos em favor, nem sempre a servitização é bem sucedida. Nesta pesquisa, foram examinados os efeitos organizacionais da servitização no mercado editorial brasileiro, mais precisamente no segmento de livros didáticos. O foco recaiu sobre as editoras que criam, produzem e comercializam os livros, bem como sua relação com um de seus maiores clientes: as escolas particulares de ensino fundamental e médio. Usualmente vistas como produtoras de um bem manufaturado o livro e historicamente estruturadas segundo a tradição taylorista, essas editoras têm se reformado na direção de uma organização voltada à criação de conteúdo didático e prestação de serviços às escolas e professores. O presente trabalho teve como objetivo descrever e explicar como têm ocorrido as mudanças organizacionais decorrentes da servitização. Por meio de um estudo de caso múltiplo, coletaram-se evidências empíricas dos obstáculos e/ou facilitadores nesse caminho. Os resultados mostraram evidências de mudanças organizacionais devido à servitização, com destaque para a introdução de novas estruturas organizacionais e políticas de recursos humanos, que possibilitaram um relacionamento mais próximo dos clientes e de suas necessidades. Contudo, ainda há trabalho a fazer, como enfrentar os desafios da crescente digitalização dos conteúdos didáticos e o uso da Internet na distribuição de conteúdos e no relacionamento com os clientes. / In a marketplace with growing competition, it is mandatory that companies do more for their clients, i.e. that they ultimately deliver more value. For manufacturers in particular, one of the most common actions is the integration of services to the existing products, in order to offer a solution that meets customer needs. Servitization, a term coined to describe this business model, demands an organizational transition, given that providing services is different from manufacturing tangible goods. Despite the arguments for servitization, it is not always successful. The research investigated the organizational effects of servitization in the Brazilian publishing industry, specifically the textbook publishing segment. The focus was on publishers who create, produce and market the books, as well as their relationship with one of their major clients: the private Primary and Secondary Education Schools. Usually seen as manufacturers of a tangible good the textbook and historically structured according to the taylorist tradition, these publishers have reformed themselves towards an organization focused on the creation of didactic content and the provision of services to schools and instructors. The present research aimed to describe and explain how organizational changes occurred, due to servitization. A multiple case study was carried out, and empirical evidence was gathered, including the problems and successes on that matter. Results showed evidence of organizational changes due to servitization. Major examples include the introduction of new organizational structures and new human resources policies that enabled a closer relationship with customers and their needs. However there is still work to do, such as facing the challenges of growing digitalization of didactic content, as well as the use of Internet for content distribution and as a means of relationship with customers.

Bakgrund: Tjänstefiering i tillverkningsföretag är ett aktuellt ämne där företag övergår från att endast sälja varor till att erbjuda kombinationer av varor och tjänster. Denna förändring är inte helt enkel eftersom företaget måste förbättra attityden mot tjänster i företagskulturen samt upprätta lämplig infrastruktur för produktionen av tjänster. Genom att använda sig av extern tjänsteleverans där man samarbetar med en annan part är det möjligt att bli mer flexibel och dela riskerna. Syfte: Syftet med denna uppsats är att identifiera och kategorisera utmaningar med tjänsteproduktion för en serviceorganisation i ett tillverknings-företag. Vidare analyserar vi även hur användningen av externa tjänste-leverantörer påverkar dessa utmaningar. Genomförande: Genom att göra en fallstudie på ett tjänstefierat tillverkningsföretag i Sverige, och intervjua fyra chefer inom serviceorganisationen har vi haft möjlighet att utöka och fördjupa den nuvarande litteraturen som handlar om utmaningar med extern tjänsteleverans. Teori: Ett teoretiskt ramverk med utmaningar i de tre delarna av tjänste-produktion har skapats; tjänsteutveckling, intern organisatorisk design och leverans av tjänster. Slutsats: Att använda sig av externa partners vid leverans av tjänster medför flertalet utmaningar för en serviceorganisation i ett tillverkningsföretag. Vår studie visar även att extern leverans av tjänster påverkar vissa utmaningar med tjänsteutveckling såväl som med intern design av en organisation.