Digitally enabled advanced services: a socio-technical perspective on the role of the internet of things (IoT)
International Journal of Operations & Production Management
ISSN: 0144-3577
Article publication date: 3 September 2020
Issue publication date: 20 November 2020
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate how the internet of things (IoT) contributes to manufacturers' advanced services development and delivery. To better understand the creation of these IoT contributions, the study adopts a socio-technical research perspective, which expands the scope of the investigation and integrates the technological, information and social factors that enable these IoT contributions.
Design/methodology/approach
A multiple-case research method was employed to investigate the IoT contribution scenarios of 15 manufacturers who offer advanced services and to examine their dependence on other non-IoT factors, using thematic analysis.
Findings
The analysis identified five advanced services value propositions, which are enabled by nine “IoT-enabled information systems (IS) artefacts” that specify the distinct interactions between the technological, information and social subsystems supporting the manufacturers' advanced services value propositions.
Originality/value
The study advances the servitisation research by demonstrating that IoT technology on its own is insufficient for the creation of the IoT contributions. It shows, instead, the need for close interactions with a diverse range of other factors, which are often not considered when developing an IoT strategy. The study also introduces the IS artefact notion as a unit of analysis that constitutes an alternative to the commonly adopted techno-centric perspective used to conceptualise IoT contributions. The study and its findings add to the development of a socio-technical perspective on the IoT in advanced services and thereby suggests a number of theoretical and practical implications.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Grant Ref ES/P010148/1: Pathways towards Servitization: A trans-national study of Organisational Transformation, EPSRC Grants Ref EP/K014064/1, EP/K014072/1, EP/K014080/1: ‘Transforming the adoption of Product-Service Systems through innovations in applied gaming technology’, and BBSRC Grant Ref BB/S020993/1: Next Generation Rice Processing.
Citation
Schroeder, A., Naik, P., Ziaee Bigdeli, A. and Baines, T. (2020), "Digitally enabled advanced services: a socio-technical perspective on the role of the internet of things (IoT)", International Journal of Operations & Production Management, Vol. 40 No. 7/8, pp. 1243-1268. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOPM-03-2020-0131
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited