Servitisation in Danish Manufacturing Firms: A Strategy for Survival?

This chapter focuses on servitisation, i.e. the refocusing of firms from running fabrication and assembly processes to developing integrated product solutions with a large service component. The phenomenon has been recognised in the literature (e.g. Baines, Lightfoot, Benedettini, & Kay, 2009; Neely, 2008; Schmenner, 2009), and is perceived by many traditional manufacturers as a strategy for survival. Based on multiple cases of Danish companies, this paper discusses the main reasons and strategic implications of servitisation. Furthermore, it outlines the strategies for how traditional manufacturers can recoup the desired level of return from the developments associated with servitisation.