Digital Servitization and Firm Performance: Technology Intensity Approach

Slavko Rakic; Margherita  Pero; Andrea  Sianesi; Ugljesa Marjanovic

doi:10.5755/j01.ee.33.4.29649

Authors

Slavko Rakic University of Novi Sad, Republic of Serbia
Margherita Pero Politecnico di Milano, Italy
Andrea Sianesi Politecnico di Milano, Italy
Ugljesa Marjanovic University of Novi Sad, Republic of Serbia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5755/j01.ee.33.4.29649

Keywords:

Digital servitization, technology intensity, firm performance, European Manufacturing Survey, Big Data Analysis

Abstract

Digital servitization provides radical changes in the offer of products from manufacturing firms. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of digital servitization on manufacturing firm performance and demonstrate the role of technology intensity, product-related services, and digital solutions in different industry sectors. This research collected data from 240 manufacturing firms from the Republic of Serbia under the European manufacturing survey from 2018. Multivariate regression analysis was used to test the impact of product-related services and digital solutions on manufacturing firm performance according to technology intensity. The findings show that the impact of digital servitization is more significant with the higher technology intensity level of the industry sector. Furthermore, the results show that Data-based services based on Big Data Analysis have the highest impact on manufacturing firm performance in all categories of technology intensity. Moreover, results from the fixed panel regression show production managers which combination of product-related services along with digital solutions make the highest financial performance according to the technology intensity of the firm.

Author Biographies

Slavko Rakic, University of Novi Sad, Republic of Serbia

Slavko Rakic received his PhD in Industrial Engineering/Engineering Management from the University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Technical Sciences. He is currently a Teaching Assistant at the Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, University of Novi Sad. His research interest focuses on digital servitization, Industry 4.0, and e-learning. His research appears in various international journals and books. Slavko is a project member of the European Manufacturing Survey and IFIP WG5.7 SIG on "Service Systems Design, Engineering, and Management".

Margherita Pero, Politecnico di Milano, Italy

Margherita Pero, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor at the Department of Management, Economics, and Industrial Engineering of Politecnico di Milano. She teaches Business processes reengineering and operations and supplies chain management at the School of Management of Politecnico di Milano. She is the director of the FlexEMBA program at MIP – Politecnico di Milano Graduate School of Business. She is the author of more than 100 papers at the national and international levels. Her main research interests are related to production planning, supply chain design and management, and supply chain management-new product development coordination.

Andrea Sianesi, Politecnico di Milano, Italy

Andrea Sianesi is a Full Professor at the Department of Management, Economics, and Industrial Engineering of Politecnico di Milano. He teaches Production Management and Production and logistics systems management. He is President of Fondazione Politecnico di Milano (the University foundation) and of PoliHub (the University incubator and accelerator of startups). Former Dean and President of the Board of MIP Politecnico di Milano from 2015 to 2019. His research interests are related to production planning, supply chain strategy, and supply chain management.

Ugljesa Marjanovic, University of Novi Sad, Republic of Serbia

Ugljesa Marjanovic earned his PhD in Industrial Engineering and Management at the University of Novi Sad, Serbia. Currently, Dr. Marjanovic is an Associate Professor of Industrial Engineering and Management at the University of Novi Sad. Ugljesa held visiting posts at Bloomsburg University and Penn State University. His research, teaching, and advisory activities are at the intersection of innovation, industrial engineering, strategy, and management. His preferred research methods are field surveys, interviews, and observations, as well as multivariate statistical analysis. Ugljesa is an Editor-in-Chief for the International Journal of Industrial Engineering and Management and a full member of IFIP WG5.7.