A Mid‐Range Theory of Control and Coordination in Service Triads
研究了制造商、客户与服务供应商构成的服务三元组如何实现控制与协调，发现这是多方共同参与的过程，并受客户风险、可替代性、合同保障和关系亲密度四个因素影响。
The increased frequency of the adoption of service‐based business models by manufacturers, such as solution provision, has given rise to service triads. While there is consensus that actors in service triads are relationally and performatively interdependent, less is understood about how service triads are controlled and coordinated. In this study, we use an inductive case‐based approach to build an understanding about the roles, approaches, and contextual factors that influence how service triads are controlled and coordinated. We collected and analyzed data from nine companies forming three service triads, each comprising a customer, a manufacturer of an asset, and a service supplier. We synthesized our findings in a theoretical framework, where we show that first, both, control and coordination, are present in service triads rather than just control as previously posited. Second, controlling and coordinating service triads is not a single actor's responsibility but rather a collective effort shared by two or three actors. Third, we uncovered four contingent factors that influence the dynamics of how service triads are controlled and coordinated: the customer's risk exposure due to the offering's failure, the substitutability of the offering, the contractual safeguards, and the relationship closeness.