Enhancing the Design and Management of the Product-Service System Supply Chain: An Application to the Automotive Sector

The proper design and management of product-service system (PSS) supply chains is a prerequisite for the successful implementation of servitised business models. As underlined by empirical evidence, research on how different types of PSS offerings affect the design and management of the upstream supply chain of PSS providers still appears to be lagging. Therefore, this paper introduces a theoretical explanatory conceptual framework derived from a literature analysis and further developed by four case studies from the automotive sector, which highlight the linkages between the value proposition and supply chain of PSS providers. The results are summarised into 11 propositions that underline the key roles and capabilities that bridge PSS offering features with distinctive characteristics of the PSS supply chain. They also show specific patterns of partners’ relationships and organisational configurations that can be identified during the servitisation transformation.