From servitization to digital servitization: How digitalization transforms companies' transition towards services

Abstract

Servitization and digitalization are two business model innovations that have affected product companies. From the convergence of these two trends, digital servitization emerged as a novel concept. Digital servitization pushes product companies to radically transform their business model, creating new challenges for its implementation. This paper aims to uncover how digitalization fundamentally transforms product companies in their transition towards services. Based on a systematic review of the literature, we analyze a sample of 180 articles published between 2005 and 2020 using both descriptive and content analysis techniques. Our review thereby offers both theoretical and managerial contributions. We descriptively analyze the evolution of the research field. Furthermore, we propose a new unified definition of digital servitization and discuss nine servitization dimensions where digitalization influences servitization—motivations; strategy; service offerings; structure; culture; resources and capabilities; processes; performance; and servitization ecosystems—leading to a new conceptual framework for digital servitization. Finally, we identify several directions for future digital servitization research.