3rd International Business Servitization Conference 13-14 November 2014 Bilbao

1. Enabler or inhibitor -
understanding the role of KPIs
within the servitization process
Sofi W. Elfving & Nina Washington (Ericsson Research)
Antje Lienert (Ruhr-University Bochum - Institute of Work Science)
Parallel Session II: Coopetition in Servitized Value Chains
3rd International Business Servitization Conference,
13th - 14th November 2014, University of Deusto, Bilbao, Spain

2. This is
Ericsson
› Ericsson provides:
> Communication networks
> Services to network operators
> Enablers to service providers
› Customers in more than 180 countries
› 40% of the world’s mobile calls pass
through our networks
› ~117 000 employees
› 138 years in the telecoms market

3. 138 years OF
INNOVATIONS
› 1878 Telegraph to telephone
› 1923 Manual switching to automatic switching
› 1968 Electro mechanics to computer control
› 1981 Fixed communications to mobile communication
› 1991 Analog (1G) to digital (2G) mobile technology
› 1998 Integration of voice and data in mobile networks
› 2001 Launch of WCDMA/3G networks in Western Europe
› 2006 Launch of HSPA mobile broadband globally
› 2009 First commercial LTE network launched
› 2011 Sales of mobile broadband took off
Early automatic switch
Multi-standard radio base station RBS 6000

4. Current trend
(total sales)

5. barriers
Offering
Organizational
Maturity
Products Products
and
Services
Services
and
Products
Product
Service
System
Services
Mutual
Dependent
Independent
Dependent
1st services
portfolio
Separate service
organization
Integration
Solutions

6. THEORETICAL
BACKGROUND
The Positioning of KPIs within the Cultural Web
(based on Johnson, 1988)

7. Assumptions
Assumption 3: KPIs can serve managers as a tool
to overcome a locked-in mind-set.
Assumption 2: KPIs as organizational routines
foster the lock-in of a predominant
organizational identity.
Assumption 1: Performance Management and
control systems are used by
managers to alter and to maintain
patterns within the organization.

8. METHOD
- predominantly qualitative design
- 18 months during 2011-2013
- cross disciplinary approach
- started off with 20 semi-structured interviews with
Managers, 3 emergent themes were extracted:
relationships, trust and perceived value.
- convenience sample from across the world of 478, 429
participants, focused on a) the perceived control or
impact on existing KPIs, b) meaningfulness of said KPIs
and c) degree of consequence in relation to
performance.

9. FINDINGS

10. Questions Welcome!
NINA WASHINGTON MSc.
Experienced Researcher
Service Systems Research
Ericsson Research
Phone +46 10 716 3750
nina.washington@ericsson.com
SOFI W. ELFVING Ph.D.
Research Manager
Service Systems Research
Ericsson Research
Phone +46 10 7157 616
sofi.w.elfving@ericsson.com
ANTJE LIENERT M.A.
Researcher
Institute for Work Science
Ruhr-University Bochum
Phone +49 234 32 27903
antje.lienert@rub.de