Supporting servitization: Designing a tool to determine project approach attuned to the service orientation of Ideate’s clients

Supporting servitization: Designing a tool to determine project approach attuned to the service orientation of Ideate’s clients

Meuleman, N.M.A.

Snelders, H.M.J.J. (mentor)
De Lille, C.S.H. (mentor)

Industrial Design Engineering

Product Innovation Management

Master of Science Strategic Product Design

2016-03-24

Something interesting is happening. More and more companies are servitizing their business in order to gain competitive advantage. This graduation thesis focuses on service orientation (SO). Service orientation is the degree to which a company is set to move from selling products to delivering integrated products and services that deliver value in use. The transition is particularly interesting for Ideate, which specializes in helping clients by developing new services or improving current services. The Ideate consultants wanted to know what they can learn from their clients’ ‘status’ in the servitization process. Therefore, this thesis aims to answer the following question: How can Ideate deploy service innovation in a way that fits the service orientation of their (potential) clients? In order to answer this question, it was important to first know how to determine service orientation. By means of case study research, an assessment of the SO of ten large, commercial companies was made. It was concluded that in order to analyze a company’s service orientation, its dynamics and complexities should be maintained. This insight resulted in the development of a novel and unique methodology to assess service orientation, called the gear system approach. The gear system approach identifies all individual elements that influence service orientation. Subsequently, it uses a metaphor to map them in a way that emphasizes the effect they have on each other, their relative importance and illustrates a transition over time. All attuned to the characteristics of the industry and its context. The case study research has led to ten different service orientations, captured in gear system visuals. For Ideate, the best moment to determine the service orienation of a client is at the intake phase; the phase prior to the start of a project. This allows them to anticipate to it during the entire course of the project. The current intake process of Ideate was analyzed, after which results were combined with the findings of the case study research. Throughout this gradutation project, the gear system approach has proved to be more than just a tool for analysis. It is a means to understand, capture and communicate service orientation. Therefore, it was used as the foundation of a tool that Ideate can use in daily practice. The result is the project gear system: a tool to determine a project approach attuned to their clients’ service orientation. The tool consists of three parts: 1. The client gear system, to capture the client’s drivers, challenge and (missing) capabilities; 2. The Ideate gear system, to assess which of Ideate’s capabilities can complement the client’s; 3. The project gear system canvas, to find a suitable approach for a service innovation project together with the client. A new intake process was designed using this tool and an additional support file that lists general insights from the case study research. The ideal execution of a series of subsequent steps was determined. Following the steps ensures that both parties trust and understand the project approach that comes out of it. The structure of the process helps making a complex task such as the assessment of service orientation manageable and comprehensible. Moreover, the process creates a cooperative atmosphere between the Ideate consultant and its client. It builds trust in the service design process that will follow during the project. Insights from this graduation project can be used directly and will help Ideate to grow as a company.

servitization
service innovation
tool design

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:ad8b727d-0014-4d80-a801-bd8b852a3455

Campus only

Student theses

master thesis

(c) 2016 Meuleman, N.M.A.