Sustainable servitisation in the automotive sector: An exploratory study

Abstract

The rising attention to service business has prompted many manufacturing companies to think, design, and implement new business models and value propositions based upon the paradigm of servitisation. As services are characterised by distinctive features, such as intangibility, inseparability, heterogeneity and perishability, that positively affect the triple bottom line dimensions, that is, environmental, economic, and social, it has become particularly interesting to investigate the role of servitisation in sustainable development. This chapter aims to explore the function of servitisation in favouring the transition of firms towards sustainable development. More specifically, it focuses on sustainable mobility, presenting and discussing three cases of automotive companies implementing a sustainable servitisation strategy. The findings reveal that servitisation directly affects economic and social sustainability, and both directly and indirectly impacts environmental sustainability. However many issues still remain open, thus requiring further analyses on the relationship between servitisation and sustainability issues.