Towards an integration of lifecycle thinking into PSS business models
Abstract
Industry is facing a deep transformation in production and consumption modes, moving towards sustainable and customer-oriented practices. In this context, Product-Service Systems (PSS) provide innovative business models that can create a higher value compared to traditional product-centric approaches. Fostering the transformation of the manufacturing industry towards PSS requires a holistic approach spanning over business model definition and transformation. During the last two decades, the research about business models has been generally focused on the economic and governance issues of the internal value chain. Only little literature has explained the business model as a dynamic system, which encompasses the value creation throughout the entire lifecycle of the offer. In this paper, we investigate and discuss the contribution of lifecycle thinking to the business model approach for PSS. This paper presents a systematic literature review of peer-reviewed journals and indexed conference papers in order to get a large scope of analysis. 33 papers between 2010 and 2017 were analysed. As a result, we propose a conceptual framework for designing business models for PSS offers with a lifecycle perspective illustrated by an example inspired by a real case company.