Towards a new conception of value creationservitization and digitalization in project based firms

Resumen

SUMMARY OF THE THESIS Within the strategic management of value chain (Porter & Millar, 1985), understanding the paradigm shift in value creation and the study of new strategies based on it are key elements to the progress of research in this field. Following this line, it is particularly important the analysis of new business models configurations based on the introduction of services and to increase the knowledge in the exploitation of information flows generated through these services. On the other hand, there is growing interest on the processes of adoption of these new strategies of value creation in different productive sectors (Chacon & Aranda, 2014; Laursen & Svejvig, 2015). In particular, the introduction of Servitization strategy in project-based firms and the development of servitized business models in this sector are aspects which need further research (Wikström, Hellström, Artto, Kujala, & Kujala, 2009) and the present work tries to shed light on it. This study goes into the new conceptualization of value creation (Vargo & Lusch, 2004) and focuses on the need to generate knowledge in the development of Servitization strategies (Baines et al., 2016; Vandermerwe & Rada, 1989), as well as on the need to adapt and extend this strategy to other sectors apart from manufacturing. Another motivation behind this research is the need for companies to set up their business model so that they are able to exploit the potential of existing and new technologies to extract a value from processes, services and products in a way that until now was impossible to obtain. In general, this thesis seeks to put a focus on new value creation strategies. With particular emphasis on those strategies related to the inclusion of advanced services that rely on the use of new technologies (Vendrell-Herrero, Bustinza, Parry, & Georgantzis, 2016) The structure of this thesis seeks to facilitate a holistic understanding of the processes that have led to defining a new dominant logic of value creation and how this new conception of value drives the development of innovative strategies and changes in business models. This thesis adopts a time-line in trying to explain changes in the value creation and the development of new strategies based on services and value "in use", from its genesis to its practical application. To that end, we distinguish three main blocs within this study: a first part of contextualization and theoretical development including Chapters 2 through 5, a second part more focused on direct application of the concepts and theories presented in the first bloc, and finally a third part in which the overall conclusions and implications derived from this thesis as a whole will be presented. The leitmotiv of this research is to provide an overview allowing a proper understanding of the evolution of value creation and how the new conception involves the development of new strategies that focus on customer interactions and on an improved knowledge of his behavior. Finally, particularities of the new creation of value in the sector PBFs and in Project Management are studied, proposing business models adapted to this new understanding of the value; mainly characterized by the inclusion of services and the application of new technologies to create value. In this line, this work goes further in the study of value creation in projects, which is one of the main lines in which research is needed within Project Management theories (Winter, Smith, Morris, & Cicmil, 2006). This study seeks to collaborate in conceptualization of business strategies which are more based on global business level and less focused on the execution and delivery of projects. Another theoretical implication is to collaborate in the identification of business digitalization as the great enabler in which support new business strategies grounded on introducing advanced services (Grubic, 2014). Our contribution is taxonomy of fundamental technologies linked to the creation of value “in use” as well as a study of the potential of these technologies in business. Finally, the research expand the knowledge in implementation of strategies and business models based on services adapted to project business, seeking to advance in Project Management theories. In this line, several arguments for the adoption of servitization strategy in PFFs are identified: economic factors, customer orientation and obtaining competitive advantages. Impacts of services in business model of the PBFs and conditions to be met by projects to facilitate the addition of services are determined. To conclude, propositional structures for the introduction and management of advanced services in business models within this sector are proposed. LIST OF REFERENCES Baines, T., Bigdeli, A., Bustinza, O., Guang-Shi, V., B., J., & Ridgway, K. (2016). Servitization: Revisiting the state-of-the-art and research priorities. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, In Press. . CHACON, N. J., & ARANDA, D. A. (2014). Servitización y creación de valor: Implementación en plataformas de dispositivos móviles. Dyna, 89(5). Grubic, T. (2014). Servitization and remote monitoring technology: A literature review and research agenda. Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management, 25(1), 100-124. Laursen, M., & Svejvig, P. (2015). Taking stock of project value creation: A structured literature review with future directions for research and practice. International Journal of Project Management. Porter, M. E., & Millar, V. E. (1985). How information gives you competitive advantage: Harvard Business Review, Reprint Service. Vandermerwe, S., & Rada, J. (1989). Servitization of business: adding value by adding services. European Management Journal, 6(4), 314-324. Vargo, S. L., & Lusch, R. F. (2004). Evolving to a new dominant logic for marketing. Journal of marketing, 68(1), 1-17. Vendrell-Herrero, F., Bustinza, O. F., Parry, G., & Georgantzis, N. (2016). Servitization, digitization and supply chain interdependency. Industrial Marketing Management, In Press Wikström, K., Hellström, M., Artto, K., Kujala, J., & Kujala, S. (2009). Services in project-based firms–Four types of business logic. International Journal of Project Management, 27(2), 113-122. Winter, M., Smith, C., Morris, P., & Cicmil, S. (2006). Directions for future research in project management: The main findings of a UK government-funded research network. International Journal of Project Management, 24(8), 638-649. VISTO BUENO DE LOS DIRECTORES DE LA TESIS: Dr. OSCAR F. BUSTINZA SÁNCHEZ Dr. DANIEL ARIA S ARANDA