The customer-supplier contract as a boundary-object within the servitization process
Abstract
In this paper we focus on how a manufacturer can modify hi s organization in order to be able to offer services in the specific context of SMEs. We suggest considering the customer - supplier contract as a boundary object (Star & Griesemer, 1989) which really becomes a significant artifact within the servitization process. In particular, it allows the connection between different communities: suppliers, customers, management, and the employees. It serves as a mean of translation about the needs of the customer and the services which could be offered. It’s also used as a mean of coordination when the pace and the terms of interventions are defined. To understand in depth the role of the contract, we will be using a single case study (Yin, 1994) a French SME to show the difficulties faced by a company/organization when entering a servitization process. As noticed by literature, moving from a pure goods manufacturer to a PSS supplier is really challenging, and the challenges are centered on the contract settlement.