Determinants of value creation and customer value in the IPSsup2/sup operations phase

摘要

The advent of B2B industrial product-service systems (IPS2) requires a rethinking of business strategy on both the part of the provider and the customer. In particular, IPS2 depends on a close and collaborative relationship between them over an extended period of time. This relationship necessitates a certain distinctiveness of the B2B operations infrastructure; and it affords the customer a distinctive set of value propositions intended to result in superior performance and business success. We present two sets of characteristics comprising the makeup of the IPS2: (1) a set of value-creating activities and resources — value proposition, ownership, involvement in customer business, customer-provider communication and interaction, contracts and guarantees, information and knowledge channels, life cycle management, product life extension management, sustainability and regulation management, and customer value management; and (2) a set of value propositions realizable by the customer — product (the tangible component of IPS2), service (the intangible component of IPS2), process (operational or customer usage or functional process), relationship (association between provider and customer), outcome (objective served through IPS2 process operation), robustness and evolution of the IPS2 life cycle (continual creation of value throughout the IPS2 lifecycle), and costs (expenses incurred through IPS2 acquisition and implementation).