Servitization research: A review and bibliometric analysis of past achievements and future promises

Abstract

Manufacturing firms are increasingly adopting a strategy known as 'servitization' to add services to existing product-based offerings to stimulate additional revenue and growth. While the emerging research domain of servitization is mobilizing relevant knowledge across academic establishments, the present study aims to perform a comprehensive bibliometric analysis to organize the prior knowledge in this area, more importantly, highlights areas for future research. This study acknowledges important contributions from authors and organizations, as identified through analyses of citation chains and co-authorship networks. Next, a co-citation analysis of the prior literature is used to identify four main thematic areas relating to capability development, customer involvement, business models, and transformational challenges for servitization. Finally, the dynamic co-citation analysis technique reveals the development of these thematic areas. This study assumes importance in the extant literature by delivering valuable insights from the prior research on servitization and by providing guidance for future avenues of study.