Interactions between perceived uncertainty types in service dyads

TY - JOUR

T1 - Interactions between perceived uncertainty types in service dyads

AU - Kreye, Melanie E.

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2018 Elsevier Inc.

PY - 2018/11/27

Y1 - 2018/11/27

N2 - This paper investigates the dynamic interactions between uncertainty types in service dyads between servitized manufacturers and their customers. This is an important research area because servitized manufacturers face multi-source uncertainty and need to manage this uncertainty effectively to avoid business failure. A conceptual framework of four uncertainty types is investigated: environmental, technological, organisational, and relational uncertainty. We present insights from four empirical cases of service dyads collected via multiple sources of evidence including 54 semi-structured interviews, observations, and secondary data. The cases show seven interaction paths with direct knock-on effects between two uncertainty types and indirect knock-on effects between three or four uncertainty types. The findings suggest a causal chain from environmental, technological, organisational, to relational uncertainty. This research contributes to the servitization literature by (i) confirming the existence of uncertainty types, (ii) providing an in-depth characterisation of technological uncertainty, and (iii) showing the interaction paths between four uncertainty types in the form of a causal chain.

AB - This paper investigates the dynamic interactions between uncertainty types in service dyads between servitized manufacturers and their customers. This is an important research area because servitized manufacturers face multi-source uncertainty and need to manage this uncertainty effectively to avoid business failure. A conceptual framework of four uncertainty types is investigated: environmental, technological, organisational, and relational uncertainty. We present insights from four empirical cases of service dyads collected via multiple sources of evidence including 54 semi-structured interviews, observations, and secondary data. The cases show seven interaction paths with direct knock-on effects between two uncertainty types and indirect knock-on effects between three or four uncertainty types. The findings suggest a causal chain from environmental, technological, organisational, to relational uncertainty. This research contributes to the servitization literature by (i) confirming the existence of uncertainty types, (ii) providing an in-depth characterisation of technological uncertainty, and (iii) showing the interaction paths between four uncertainty types in the form of a causal chain.

KW - Case study

KW - Servitization

KW - Uncertainty

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85046153664&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.indmarman.2018.04.014

DO - 10.1016/j.indmarman.2018.04.014

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85046153664

SN - 0019-8501

VL - 75

SP - 90

EP - 99

JO - Industrial Marketing Management

JF - Industrial Marketing Management

ER -