Introduction — Servitization in B2B
This doctoral study investigated servitization in the B2B manufacturing industry, focusing on the shift from product sales to integrated product–service value propositions. Servitization was defined as the transformation from product-centri
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Introduction — Servitization in B2B
This doctoral study investigated servitization in the B2B manufacturing industry, focusing on the shift from product sales to integrated product–service value propositions. Servitization was defined as the transformation from product-centric to service-oriented business models that deliver value throughout a product’s lifecycle. We used this definition to study a manufacturer's downstream value creation, emphasising the end-user as the ultimate recipient of value rather than limiting focus to direct B2B customers.
Servitization has become a key strategy for incumbent manufacturers seeking to differentiate themselves from digital disruptors, who challenge traditional models by leveraging data and service platforms. As a result, manufacturers must rethink their value propositions and adopt relational business models centred on recurring revenue and long-term customer relationships.
The scoping review in Chapter 2 identified a major gap in the literature: most B2B servitization research focuses on direct customer relationships, neglecting the end-user—the ‘customer-of-the-customer’. This narrow view limits insight into downstream value creation, particularly relevant in capital goods sectors. To address this, we introduced ‘Overarching Servitization’: a strategic perspective that includes end-users and ecosystem partners as value co-creators, extending beyond traditional B2B relationships.
To investigate how manufacturers might adopt this approach, we, grounded my research in strategic design theory. Using methods such as service design and design roadmapping, we explored how end-user and future-oriented servitization strategies could be developed. Through a series of Action Research Cycles (ARCs), we examined how design-driven methods support the reconfiguration of end-user focused value propositions and foster engagement across the entire value chain.
Research Design
This doctoral research explored how B2B manufacturers can design overarching servitization strategies that go beyond direct customer relationships to also address end-users across the value chain. Existing practices in B2B industry typically focus on services for immediate customers, overlooking opportunities to create value for end-users.
To address this gap, the main research question was:
‘How can B2B manufacturers design overarching servitization strategies?’
Supported by three sub-questions:
‘What are the enablers and barriers of servitization within a B2B manufacturer?’
‘How can a B2B manufacturer explore end-users’ values?’
‘How can a B2B manufacturer organise a servitization transition?’
This research aimed to uncover design principles and strategic mechanisms that enable B2B manufacturers to co-create advanced service systems with multiple stakeholders. Realising this potential requires a transition beyond operational optimisation towards rethinking service innovation processes and business models to create sustainable value for all actors in the value chain, including end-users.
To operationalise overarching servitization and unlock new value across B2B networks, we adopted a strategic design lens—drawing on service design and design roadmapping—to explore how manufacturers can identify latent end-user needs, co-develop services, and build long-term collaborative relationships.
Guided by a pragmatic stance, we chose a qualitative Action Research approach, well suited to the iterative and participatory nature of design methods. Over a five-year longitudinal study (2018–2023), we worked closely with a Dutch B2B manufacturer of intelligent logistics systems for the aviation sector. Across four ARCs, we followed Coghlan’s (2019) framework of Constructing, Planning, Taking, and Evaluating Action, integrating reflective practice to guide decisions and adaptations.
Process theory informed my analysis of how strategic change unfolded over time, while practical knowledge was developed through action. we used Atlas.ti™ for coding and thematic analysis of qualitative data—including interviews, discussions, visual artefacts, and Miro™ boards—following Saldaña’s strategies. Though the findings are context-specific, they offer deep insight into how B2B manufacturers can design and implement end-user-focused servitization strategies.
Insights Derived from ARC 1
During the first Action Research Cycle (ARC), we gained valuable insights into how a B2B manufacturer can initiate the design of overarching servitization strategies. we reflected on 29 insights derived from sub-ARCs 1.1, 1.2, and 1.3, which we initially clustered using five servitization lenses. As the research progressed, we introduced two additional lenses—Overarching Servitization and Future Strategy—which enabled us to formulate design criteria for subsequent design interventions as part of follow-up ARCs.
Overarching Servitization – End-User Value as a Strategic Driver
The company’s innovation practices remained largely technology-driven, limiting its ability to fully embrace overarching servitization. To address this, we identified two critical shifts required for transformation. The first was the need for deeper engagement with end-users. Methods such as user trend research, context scenario development, and group discussions helped uncover latent needs and reframe the innovation process from the end-user’s perspective. This user-centred shift empowered the in-house design team to act as a catalyst for more meaningful, servitized offerings.
Building on these insights, we identified nine enabling factors that support this transformation—among them, the integration of strategic designers into innovation teams, a conscious shift from technological feasibility to end-user desirability, and the application of design-led interventions throughout the development process.
The second shift concerned the evolution of organisational capabilities. Engineers began acquiring foundational service design skills and, in mixed teams with designers, contributed to more relevant and user-centred solutions. Interdisciplinary collaboration, alongside the shift in focus from technical feasibility to user desirability, proved essential for identifying and exploring new service directions.
Future Strategy – Long-Term, Ecosystem-Driven Transformation
A key strategic shift was the move beyond short-term innovation. The innovation department had primarily focused on isolated, short-term projects, limiting its ability to pursue long-term, value-driven transformation. To address this, we introduced Strategic Design Roadmapping as a means to embed long-term thinking into the organisation. Collaborating with novice designers—less constrained by the company’s technical conventions—helped reframe the service innovation strategy from a fresh, forward-looking perspective.
Despite these efforts, four major barriers became apparent: persistent short-term thinking, a lack of strategic design capabilities, limited market foresight, and siloed innovation processes. These challenges underscored the need for a more integrated, future-oriented approach to innovation.
In parallel, we identified digital platforms and ecosystem thinking as essential enablers of future servitization strategies. Digital capabilities opened up new business models, while stakeholder analysis beyond the traditional value chain revealed opportunities for collaboration with non-traditional partners.
Through ARC 1, we concluded that designing overarching servitization strategies requires a deliberate shift:
• from internal, technological expertise to end-user empathy,
• from engineering silos to multidisciplinary teams,
• and from merely reactive product innovation projects to proactive, long-term product-service innovation strategies.
By embedding these transformation principles into the organisation, we established a foundation for subsequent ARCs to investigate how servitization could evolve into a future-oriented practice that creates value not only for customers, but also for end-users and partners across the value chain.
Insights Derived from ARC 2
In ARC 2, we addressed a key gap identified in ARC 2.1: the lack of a structured Explore phase to initiate product-service system innovations. Through ARCs 2.2 and 2.3, we developed and refined strategic design interventions to integrate future-oriented, end-user-driven innovation into the company’s servitization strategy. Three overarching themes appeared:
1. Strengthening Organisational Capabilities for Service Design
Embedding service and UX Design, along with cross-disciplinary collaboration, proved vital. Concept models supported communication of value propositions, while mixed teams encouraged knowledge sharing and a more open innovation culture.
2. Embedding a Future-Oriented Perspective in Innovation
To compensate for the absence of long-term exploration mechanisms, we introduced design interventions focused on future contexts and latent user needs. Adopting future visioning and cyclical trend research to uncover new opportunities are recommended.
3. Enhancing Organisational Agility and Resilience
Overarching Servitization required time and employee adjustment, particularly within R&D. Reframing disruptions like the COVID-19 pandemic as strategic opportunities helped improve adaptability.
Insights Derived from ARC 3
In ARC 3, we sought to embed an overarching servitization strategy process—referred to as The Long Now (TLN)—within the company’s existing innovation framework. This involved designing and facilitating exploratory, future-focused, and end-user-centric interventions, while also navigating the practical constraints of a large corporate environment, such as limited participant availability. The process provided key insights into how to structure and operationalise overarching servitization, which in turn informed the development of my research sub-questions.
TLN began with a kick-off intervention to establish its purpose and create a shared foundation. In the following Creative Trend Research intervention, participants identified 107 relevant trends in European travel and clustered them into 37 categories, which informed the next steps.
During interventions Empathising with End-Users and Envisioning the Future Context, participants developed four future scenarios and formulated a vision statement for the Airports business unit. These scenarios framed the subsequent intervention, Ideating End-User Value Propositions, in which participants designed new product–service offerings tailored to a future end-user lifeworld.
In the final intervention, Roadmapping & Connecting Dots, participants selected three promising propositions and mapped out the activities, resources, and partnerships required for implementation. This output shaped a preliminary Strategic Design Roadmap aligned with the company’s overarching servitization strategy.
ARC 3 thus introduced TLN, a six-part design process that deepened our understanding of how B2B manufacturers can create end-user value in a future-oriented context. Three interventions—Empathising with End-Users, Envisioning Future Contexts, and Ideating End-User Value Propositions—were particularly novel in the B2B setting.
Building on these insights, we contributed to the theory of Strategic Design Roadmapping by refining existing roadmap frameworks. By introducing three distinct value perspectives—Value Context, Value Exchange, and Value Creation—we advanced overarching servitization in the B2B industry and provided a new lens for designing end-user-focused, future-oriented product–service innovations.
Insights derived from ARC 4
ARC 4 demonstrated the full potential of the TLN strategy design process as both a strategic framework and catalyst for product–service innovation across three business units. TLN marked a shift from fragmented, short-term initiatives toward a cohesive, end-user-focused, future-oriented strategy.
Interviews with 14 TLN participants and a survey among 50 participants indicated that TLN supported cross-departmental alignment and prompted management to reconsider the company’s evolving role within Product–Service Systems (PSSs) and Product–Service Ecosystems (PSEs)—for example, as orchestrator, integrator, supplier, or partner. However, its long-term impact depends on successful organisational embedding.
To support continuity, we identified key measures:
• establishing a digital documentation system,
• embedding TLN as a recurring process,
• forming a cross-functional governance team, and
• securing consistent leadership support.
TLN contributed to a meaningful mindset shift: it encouraged participants to look beyond immediate challenges, adopt end-user perspectives, and embrace long-term, scenario-driven thinking. Its iterative, design-driven nature fostered learning through exploration, synthesis, and implementation.
The process also strengthened internal cohesion, fostering shared ownership of strategic goals across departments. Although only two TLN cycles (ARCs 3 and 4) were completed, momentum was building to institutionalise TLN in the company’s strategic planning.
To ensure continuity, we recommended TLN be governed by the Strategic Design Department, under the Strategic Design Manager. ARC 4 showed that TLN enables B2B manufacturers to structure service innovation around future user needs, laying the groundwork for sustainable, end-user-driven servitization.
Conclusion
In this doctoral research, we examined how a technology-driven B2B manufacturer of capital goods can strategically design and implement a servitization transition, with a focus on end-user value in future scenarios. Action research was conducted within the organisation, collaborating closely with designers and engineers to develop and evaluate strategic design interventions for enabling overarching servitization.
The thesis presents five main findings. First, we introduced the concept of ‘Overarching Servitization’, which extends beyond traditional B2B models by positioning end-users as central stakeholders in value creation. This approach encourages manufacturers to co-create value downstream through direct engagement with end-users and ecosystem partners.
Second, we identified nine enabling factors—including the integration of strategic designers, a shift towards end-user desirability, and design-led interventions—and four key barriers: short-term thinking, lack of strategic design capabilities, limited foresight, and siloed processes.
Third, we developed and validated the TLN process (The Long Now), a structured framework of six design interventions supporting the exploration of future user scenarios and alignment of innovation with long-term servitization goals. Evidence from ARCs 3 and 4 confirmed its value across three principles: Exploring End-user Perspectives, Envisioning Future Contexts, and Organisational Embedding of TLN.
Fourth, the Roles & Relationships framework helped redefine the manufacturer's position within PSSs and PSEs, enabling value co-creation as an orchestrator in multi-actor constellations.
Fifth, the Value-Driven Strategic Design Roadmap supports cross-departmental alignment through three value lenses—Value Context, Value Exchange, and Value Creation—across three-time horizons, enabling future-oriented, user-centred innovation.
Together, these frameworks offer a coherent methodology for designing and implementing servitization strategies in B2B settings, directly addressing the thesis’s main research question and sub-questions.
The research is grounded in four ARCs, embedded and implemented within a single company. This provided deep empirical insights but limits generalisability. My dual role as researcher-practitioner and contextual disruptions (e.g. COVID-19) may have introduced bias and complexity.
These frameworks hold relevance for design and engineering practice. They encourage engineers to incorporate end-user value and offer strategic designers practical tools for aligning innovation efforts. The TLN process also supports managers in embedding servitization into strategic planning and ecosystem positioning.
Finally, this research contributes to education by offering frameworks for teaching design strategy and service innovation. Further testing is recommended across other sectors—such as healthcare or government—to assess the broader applicability of overarching servitization.
