Toward Joint Product–Service Business Models: The Case of Your Energy Solution

Abstract

The revolution generated by the emergence and spread of information and communication technology (ICT) has spawned a series of new technologies, novel applications, and ultimately innovative business models. This chapter presents a case study of a new technology business venture focusing on energy management systems and its evolution over the period of a decade. Transforming technology into functional products, which unite science and the marketplace, is the first challenge to any new technology-intensive business venture. The firm that is the subject of this study has a trajectory that passes through different stages, from pure product orientation to pure service orientation, to developing product–service joint modes of operating and finally to continuously evolving product-related services. Rec-ommendations for practitioners refer to aspects related to business model analysis and reconsideration of value generation in the form of holistic solutions, including technology-based products complemented with complex, value-added services that emerge in response to ever-changing sophisticated customer demands. The case is also rich in the different types of innovation discussed: ecology, product, service, and business model innovations being the key types.