Journal of Service Management最新文献

{"title":"Acquisition as a mode for servitisation: servitisation integration and consequences","authors":"Christina Öberg","doi":"10.1108/josm-08-2022-0255","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/josm-08-2022-0255","url":null,"abstract":"<h3>Purpose</h3>\u0000<p>While existing literature extensively explores manufacturing firms expanding into services, little is known about the modes of servitisation, the means by which they carry it out. This paper concentrates on acquisitions as a mode of servitisation. Post-acquisition integration is when the potential of an acquisition is realised. The paper therefore aims to categorise types of integrations following the acquisition of servitised firms and discusses their consequences for servitisation.</p><!--/ Abstract__block -->\u0000<h3>Design/methodology/approach</h3>\u0000<p>The empirical part of the paper is based on two case studies, each involving the acquisition of servitised firms. Both acquirers changed their integration approach over time.</p><!--/ Abstract__block -->\u0000<h3>Findings</h3>\u0000<p>The paper conceptualises three types of integrations: rhetorical, insulated and transformative integrations, indicating whether and how the acquirer becomes servitised following the integration. These highlight the analysis of integration based on business models and customer orientation in relation to servitisation.</p><!--/ Abstract__block -->\u0000<h3>Originality/value</h3>\u0000<p>This paper contributes to research on servitisation by emphasising acquisitions as a mode of servitisation and conceptualising three integration types related to business models and customer orientations. Furthermore, the paper highlights how an acquirer's servitisation leads to new offerings targeting new customers, as opposed to strengthening existing relationships.</p><!--/ Abstract__block -->","PeriodicalId":48089,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Service Management","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":10.6,"publicationDate":"2023-12-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139038768","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Digital service innovation in B2B markets","authors":"Christian Kowalkowski, Jochen Wirtz, Michael Ehret","doi":"10.1108/josm-12-2022-0403","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/josm-12-2022-0403","url":null,"abstract":"<h3>Purpose</h3>\u0000<p>Technology-enabled business-to-business (B2B) services contribute the largest share to GDP growth and are fundamental for an economy’s value creation. This article aims to identify key service- and digital technology-driven B2B innovation modes and proposes a research agenda for further exploration.</p><!--/ Abstract__block -->\u0000<h3>Design/methodology/approach</h3>\u0000<p>This conceptual paper adopts a techno-demarcation view on service innovation, encompassing three core dimensions: service offering (the service product, or the “what”), service process (the “how”) and service ecosystem (the “who/for whom”). It delineates the implications of three digital technologies – the internet-of-things (IoT), intelligent automation (IA) and digital platforms – for service innovation across these core dimensions in B2B markets.</p><!--/ Abstract__block -->\u0000<h3>Findings</h3>\u0000<p>Digital technology has immense potential ramifications for value creation by reshaping all three core dimensions of service innovation. Specifically, IoT can transform physical resources into reconfigurable service products, IA can augment and automate a rapidly expanding array of service processes, while digital platforms provide the technical and organizational infrastructure for the integration of resources and stakeholders within service ecosystems.</p><!--/ Abstract__block -->\u0000<h3>Originality/value</h3>\u0000<p>This study suggests an agenda with six themes for further research, each linked to one or more of the three service innovation dimensions. They are (1) new recurring revenue models, (2) service innovation in the metaverse, (3) scaling up service innovations, (4) ecosystem innovations, (5) power dependency and lock-in effects and (6) security and responsibility in digital domains.</p><!--/ Abstract__block -->","PeriodicalId":48089,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Service Management","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":10.6,"publicationDate":"2023-12-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138887368","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Designing the service delivery system for prevention-oriented goals: insights from two case studies","authors":"Frédéric Ponsignon, Laura Phillips, Philip Smart, Nicholas Low","doi":"10.1108/josm-02-2023-0069","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/josm-02-2023-0069","url":null,"abstract":"<h3>Purpose</h3>\u0000<p>This research explores how to design service delivery systems to facilitate a customer experience that enables the realisation of prevention-oriented goals.</p><!--/ Abstract__block -->\u0000<h3>Design/methodology/approach</h3>\u0000<p>Case-based research is undertaken to inform the design of service delivery systems for prevention-oriented consumption goals. Data from multiple informants, from both the provider and customer perspective, in two in-depth case studies, provide empirical insights.</p><!--/ Abstract__block -->\u0000<h3>Findings</h3>\u0000<p>Drawing on customer and provider perspectives, a model of service design for prevention-oriented goals is presented. The model is informed through the identification of service delivery system characteristics (facility layout, staff service orientation, facility appearance and staff presence/appearance) and perceived experience quality dimensions (control, duration, privacy and reliability impressions) that contribute to the fulfilment of prevention-oriented consumption goals.</p><!--/ Abstract__block -->\u0000<h3>Practical implications</h3>\u0000<p>The research affirms that it is critical for organisations to comprehend the goals they want their service delivery systems to enable in the customer experience. Specific attention should be given to the design of facility layout, staff-service orientation, facility appearance, staff presence/appearance to positively impact perceived quality dimensions and to facilitate the realisation of customer prevention goals.</p><!--/ Abstract__block -->\u0000<h3>Originality/value</h3>\u0000<p>The main research contribution lies in the articulation of the design characteristics of the service delivery system that enables a customer experience supporting the fulfilment of prevention goals. The empirical study draws on both customer and organisational perspectives to identify prevention-oriented goals, and corresponding experience quality dimensions, to inform service delivery system design.</p><!--/ Abstract__block -->","PeriodicalId":48089,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Service Management","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":10.6,"publicationDate":"2023-12-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138475771","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A Q&A primer and systematic review of meta-analytic reporting in organizational frontline service research","authors":"Kristina K. Lindsey-Hall, Eric J. Michel, Sven Kepes, Ji (Miracle) Qi, Laurence G. Weinzimmer, Anthony R. Wheeler, Matthew R. Leon","doi":"10.1108/josm-07-2022-0229","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/josm-07-2022-0229","url":null,"abstract":"<h3>Purpose</h3>\u0000<p>The purpose of this manuscript is to provide a step-by-step primer on systematic and meta-analytic reviews across the service field, to systematically analyze the quality of meta-analytic reporting in the service domain, to provide detailed protocols authors may follow when conducting and reporting these analyses and to offer recommendations for future service meta-analyses.</p><!--/ Abstract__block -->\u0000<h3>Design/methodology/approach</h3>\u0000<p>Eligible frontline service-related meta-analyses published through May 2021 were identified for inclusion (k = 33) through a systematic search of Academic Search Complete, PsycINFO, Business Source Complete, Web of Science, Google Scholar and specific service journals using search terms related to service and meta-analyses.</p><!--/ Abstract__block -->\u0000<h3>Findings</h3>\u0000<p>An analysis of the existing meta-analyses within the service field, while often providing high-quality results, revealed that the quality of the reporting can be improved in several ways to enhance the replicability of published meta-analyses in the service domain.</p><!--/ Abstract__block -->\u0000<h3>Practical implications</h3>\u0000<p>This research employs a question-and-answer approach to provide a substantive guide for both properly conducting and properly reporting high-quality meta-analytic research in the service field for scholars at various levels of experience.</p><!--/ Abstract__block -->\u0000<h3>Originality/value</h3>\u0000<p>This work aggregates best practices from diverse disciplines to create a comprehensive checklist of protocols for conducting and reporting high-quality service meta-analyses while providing additional resources for further exploration.</p><!--/ Abstract__block -->","PeriodicalId":48089,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Service Management","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":10.6,"publicationDate":"2023-11-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138297659","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Frontline service employee research: integration of systematic literature reviews and recommendations for future scholarship","authors":"Mahesh Subramony, Danielle van Jaarsveld, Helena Nguyen, Markus Groth, David Solnet","doi":"10.1108/josm-07-2023-0326","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/josm-07-2023-0326","url":null,"abstract":"<h3>Purpose</h3>\u0000<p>This paper integrates the findings of the articles included in the special issue (SI) on frontline employee (FLE) research. Articles included in this SI systematically review multiple research domains, including employee and customer engagement, FLE vulnerability, customer mistreatment, service teamwork and service encounters; provide instructions on effectively conducting meta-analyses and discuss the practical applications of FLE research. This paper also provides future directions for FLE scholarship with a focus on theoretical/methodological rigor and relevance.</p><!--/ Abstract__block -->\u0000<h3>Design/methodology/approach</h3>\u0000<p>This is a conceptual paper that integrates and critically evaluates extant research and provides directions for future scholarship.</p><!--/ Abstract__block -->\u0000<h3>Findings</h3>\u0000<p>An integrative framework of extant FLE research is proposed consisting of situational predictors, psychological mechanisms, attitudinal/behavioral outcomes and boundary conditions/moderators. Further, three main areas for future scholarship are recommended including examining the transformative effects of technology on FLE work, focusing on decent work for FLEs and conducting practically relevant and impactful research.</p><!--/ Abstract__block -->\u0000<h3>Originality/value</h3>\u0000<p>This paper provides reflections, integration and future directions for scholarship based on systematic reviews of key domains of FLE research, a primer for conducting systematic reviews (specifically – meta-analysis) and practitioner perspectives on extant research.</p><!--/ Abstract__block -->","PeriodicalId":48089,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Service Management","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":10.6,"publicationDate":"2023-11-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138297714","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"It takes two to tango: a multidisciplinary bibliometric review across six decades of dyadic service encounter research","authors":"David D. Walker, Su Kyung (Irene) Kim, Danielle D. van Jaarsveld, Simon Lloyd D. Restubog, Mauricio Marrone, Constantin Lagios, Arman Michael Mehdipour","doi":"10.1108/josm-08-2022-0286","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/josm-08-2022-0286","url":null,"abstract":"<h3>Purpose</h3>\u0000<p>The authors systematically review empirical dyadic service encounter research published in top-tier journals between 1972 and 2022.</p><!--/ Abstract__block -->\u0000<h3>Design/methodology/approach</h3>\u0000<p>The authors employed bibliometric techniques, co-citation analysis and bibliographic coupling analysis to map schools of thought and research frontiers within the dyadic service encounter literature. In total, the authors analyzed 155 articles. To ensure inclusion of high-quality research, the authors screened articles from 139 journals with “4” or “4*” ratings on the 2021 Chartered Association of Business Schools (ABS) journal list, in addition to articles published in three service sector-specific journals: <em>Journal of Service Management, Journal of Services Marketing</em> and <em>Journal of Service Theory and Practice</em>.</p><!--/ Abstract__block -->\u0000<h3>Findings</h3>\u0000<p>The authors' co-citation analysis identified four distinct clusters within the dyadic service encounter literature: (1) shaping and explaining service encounters; (2) emotions in service work; (3) modeling, manipulating and measuring encounter service quality and (4) emotional labor and regulation in dyadic service encounters. Furthermore, the authors' bibliographic coupling analysis generated three research clusters: (1) service encounter characteristics; (2) emotions and emotional labor and (3) service encounter interaction content.</p><!--/ Abstract__block -->\u0000<h3>Originality/value</h3>\u0000<p>The authors' comprehensive review synthesizes knowledge, summarizing similarities among research clusters within the service encounter realm. Noteworthy are research clusters that clarify the emotion-based underpinnings and reciprocal nature of behaviors and emotions within dyadic encounters. By conducting complementary bibliometric analyses, the authors trace the evolution of the service encounter literature, providing an overview of the present state of dyadic service encounter research. These analyses offer valuable insights into the current landscape of the field, identifying future dyadic service encounter research opportunities.</p><!--/ Abstract__block -->","PeriodicalId":48089,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Service Management","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":10.6,"publicationDate":"2023-11-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138293452","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Circular service management: toward conceptual understanding and service research priorities for a more sustainable future","authors":"Ingo Oswald Karpen, Bo Edvardsson, Bård Tronvoll, Elina Jaakkola, Jodie Conduit","doi":"10.1108/josm-06-2023-0269","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/josm-06-2023-0269","url":null,"abstract":"<h3>Purpose</h3>\u0000<p>Service managers increasingly strive to achieve sustainability through strategies centered on circularity. With a focus on saving, extending and (re)generating resources and their enclosing service systems, circularity can contribute to environmental, social and financial gains. Yet, the notion of circularity is surprisingly understudied in service research. This article seeks to provide an initial conceptual understanding of circular service management, introducing illustrative strategies and research priorities for circular service management. This paper provides a roadmap for scholars, practitioners and policymakers to develop a deeper understanding of the opportunities from adopting circular services.</p><!--/ Abstract__block -->\u0000<h3>Design/methodology/approach</h3>\u0000<p>The authors explore the concept of circular service management by drawing upon existing literature on sustainability, circularity and service research. Strategies of circular service management and research priorities emerge on the basis of industry best practice examples and research on sustainability challenges and opportunities.</p><!--/ Abstract__block -->\u0000<h3>Findings</h3>\u0000<p>Service researchers have largely ignored the concept and role of circularity for service businesses. Extant research on the topic nearly exclusively features in non-service journals and/or does not seek to advance service theory through circularity. This article argues that circular service management enables the implementation of service thinking in the pursuit of sustainability and outlines four types of circular service management strategies.</p><!--/ Abstract__block -->\u0000<h3>Originality/value</h3>\u0000<p>The authors introduce the concept of circular service management and highlight the role of service research for designing and managing circular systems and operations. This article also offers a research agenda connecting managerial challenges and opportunities with key service research priorities for circular service management. This provides a roadmap for scholars, practitioners and policymakers to develop a deeper understanding of pursuing circular services, thereby contributing to a more sustainable future.</p><!--/ Abstract__block -->","PeriodicalId":48089,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Service Management","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":10.6,"publicationDate":"2023-11-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71524879","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A meta-analysis of the relationship between service teamwork mechanisms and customer service outcomes","authors":"Yumeng Yue, Nate Zettna, Shuoxin Cheng, Helena Nguyen","doi":"10.1108/josm-08-2022-0253","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/josm-08-2022-0253","url":null,"abstract":"<h3>Purpose</h3>\u0000<p>In many contemporary service organizations, service teams or service units are the main engines used to deliver key services to customers, client or patients. However, it remains unclear how teamwork mechanisms (i.e. the ways team members work together) influence customer service outcomes, and whether these relationships vary across different service contexts. To advance knowledge on the nature of teamwork in service teams and to set an agenda for further work in this area, there is a need to integrate and synthesize findings across the diverse literature on service teamwork. This paper aims to discuss the aforementioned objectives.</p><!--/ Abstract__block -->\u0000<h3>Design/methodology/approach</h3>\u0000<p>Using a meta-analytic approach, the authors analyzed a substantial pool of relevant effect sizes (a total of 372 effect sizes from 82 studies, with 14,291 service teams/units) to examine the effects of affective, behavioral, cognitive, motivational as well as perceptual teamwork mechanisms on customer service outcomes. The authors also investigated two key service context variables (service climate and service type) as boundary conditions on these effects.</p><!--/ Abstract__block -->\u0000<h3>Findings</h3>\u0000<p>The authors found that cognitive teamwork mechanisms were more strongly positively associated with customer evaluative outcomes than other mechanisms, whereas motivational and perceptual teamwork mechanisms had stronger associations with financial outcomes. Further, four of the five teamwork mechanisms demonstrated stronger correlations under a high service climate. The strength of the correlations between the teamwork mechanisms and customer service outcomes also exhibited different patterns when considered for different service types.</p><!--/ Abstract__block -->\u0000<h3>Research limitations/implications</h3>\u0000<p>As with all meta-analysis, the quality of the primary studies influences the quality of the insights obtained from summarized effects. As most studies are cross-sectional design, the relationships examined in this paper cannot be interpreted causally. The authors cannot rule out the possibility of reverse causality, for example, reciprocal effects of customer service outcomes on teamwork dynamics due to the reciprocal feedback loop between customers and service providers.</p><!--/ Abstract__block -->\u0000<h3>Practical implications</h3>\u0000<p>The results hold important practical implications for enhancing customer evaluation and financial performance. First, the overall findings point to the need for employers to emphasize on certain types of teamwork training in order to encourage employee collaboration within service teams. For instance, service organizations could plan team building activities for service teams to promote trust, strengthen interpersonal bonds and improve problem-solving.</p><!--/ Abstract__block -->\u0000<h3>Originality/value</h3>\u0000<p>The results of this study provide an integration of previous research on service tea","PeriodicalId":48089,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Service Management","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":10.6,"publicationDate":"2023-10-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71417104","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The nature and fundamental elements of digital service innovation","authors":"Stephen L. Vargo, Julia A. Fehrer, Heiko Wieland, Angeline Nariswari","doi":"10.1108/josm-02-2023-0052","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/josm-02-2023-0052","url":null,"abstract":"<h3>Purpose</h3>\u0000<p>This paper addresses the growing fragmentation between traditional and digital service innovation (DSI) research and offers a unifying metatheoretical framework.</p><!--/ Abstract__block -->\u0000<h3>Design/methodology/approach</h3>\u0000<p>Grounded in service-dominant (S-D) logic's service ecosystems perspective, this study builds on an institutional and systemic, rather than product-centric and linear, conceptualization of value creation to offer a unifying framework for (digital) service innovation that applies to both physical and digital service provisions.</p><!--/ Abstract__block -->\u0000<h3>Findings</h3>\u0000<p>This paper questions the commonly perpetuated idea that DSI fundamentally changes the nature of innovation. Instead, it highlights resource liquification—the decoupling of information from the technologies that store, transmit, or process this information—as a distinguishing characteristic of DSI. Liquification, however, does not affect the relational and institutional nature of service innovation, which is always characterized by (1) the emergence of novel outcomes, (2) distributed governance and (3) symbiotic design. Instead, liquification makes these three characteristics more salient.</p><!--/ Abstract__block -->\u0000<h3>Originality/value</h3>\u0000<p> In presenting a cohesive service innovation framework, this study underscores that all innovation processes are rooted in combinatorial evolution. Here, service-providing actors (re)combine technologies (or more generally, institutions) to adapt their value cocreation practices. This research demonstrates that such (re)combinations exhibit emergence, distributed governance and symbiotic design. While these characteristics may initially seem novel and unique to DSI, it reveals that their fundamental mechanisms are not limited to digital service ecosystems. They are, in fact, integral to service innovation across virtual, physical and blended contexts. The study highlights the importance of exercising caution in assuming that the emergence of novel technologies, including digital technologies, necessitates a concurrent rethinking of the fundamental processes of service innovation.</p><!--/ Abstract__block -->","PeriodicalId":48089,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Service Management","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":10.6,"publicationDate":"2023-10-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71417103","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Spiraling between learning and alignment toward digital service innovation","authors":"Wim Coreynen, Paul Matthyssens, Bieke Struyf, Wim Vanhaverbeke","doi":"10.1108/josm-12-2022-0400","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/josm-12-2022-0400","url":null,"abstract":"Purpose This study aims to develop theory on the process toward digital service innovation (DSI) and to generate insights into how companies deal with the rising complexity associated with DSI, both inside and outside of the organization, through organizational learning and alignment. Design/methodology/approach After purposeful sampling, in-depth, longitudinal case studies of three manufacturers are presented as illustration. Per case, multiple semi-structured interviews are conducted, and insights are validated through rich additional data gathering. Each company's DSI pathway is reconstructed with critical incident technique. Next, using systematic combining, a middle-range theory is developed by proposing a theoretical frame concerning the relations between DSI maturity, learning and alignment. Findings The authors posit that, as companies gradually develop and progress toward DSI maturity, they deal with a rising degree of complexity, fueling their learning needs. Companies that are apt to learn, pass through multiple cycles of learning and alignment to overcome specific complexities associated with different DSI stages, with each cycle unlocking new DSI opportunities and challenges. Originality/value The study applies a stage-based view on DSI combined with complexity management and organizational learning and alignment theory. It offers a theoretical frame and propositions to be used by researchers for future DSI studies and by managers to evaluate alternative DSI strategies and implementation steps.","PeriodicalId":48089,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Service Management","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135667174","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}