Servitization and firm productivity premium across the product value chain: Evidence from Russian manufacturing firms

Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing. 2024. Vol. 39. No. 7. P. 1481–1496.

Fedyunina A., Ruzhanskaya L., Gorodnyi N., Yuri Simachev

Purpose – This paper aims to discuss firm productivity premium for servitized firms. It discusses servitization across the product value chain and estimates the effects of servitization, its intensity and the range of services on productivity premium in manufacturing firms.

Design/methodology/approach – This paper develops a conceptual framework and tests the hypotheses on the effects of servitization on productivity premium using linear regression models with a sample of 20,837 Russian manufacturing firms gathered from the Ruslana Bureau Van Dijk database and the Russian customs service.

Findings – Servitized firms exhibit higher total factor productivity and labor productivity. The labor productivity premium increases with the number of services offered. However, the impact of services on productivity varies along the product value chain: post-manufacturing and post-sales services enhance productivity premium, while manufacturing and back-office services diminish them. The effect of establishment services remains ambiguous.

Practical implications – This paper offers an analytical framework for firms to assess their servitization strategies. These strategies should be gradual, focused on enhancing firm efficiency rather than being an end goal. Firms should initiate the process by introducing services at the post-production and post-sales stages of the product creation chain to achieve productivity premium.

Originality/value – The paper extends the evidence on firm-level productivity drivers and contributes to the servitization theory. A servitization strategy should be portfolio-based, considering both the potential gains and losses in productivity resulting from the implementation of specific services.

Keywords: производительность труда, промышленные предприятия, сервисизация, совокупная факторная производительность, servitization, manufacturing firms, labor productivity, Total Factor Productivity (TFP)

Publication based on the results of: Strategies and factors of adaptation of companies during economic shocks and disruptions in value chains in post-communist economies (2023)