Development of technology and service thinking for technical personnel: Action research at a Japanese monitor maker

Abstract The importance of services within technology-based business in terms of customer value is increasingly well-understood by manufacturing companies. Manufacturing companies are trying to restructure their business models by adding the concept of service that is required to make a process of value co-creation with customers. Human resources are a core factor in the implementation of this notion in the practical field. In a technology-based business, technical personnel must have not only technology-oriented thinking but also service-oriented thinking in order to generate new value propositions. In this work, we propose an approach to transform the way of thinking and support knowledge co-creation with others with a focus on new corporate value propositions. We combined a service innovation chart with a business model thinking methodology to create a new approach intended for the development of technology and service thinking within technical personnel. Our objective is to help manufacturing companies create a service climate and clarify the knowledge co-creation process. We conducted action research by introducing our approach to 25 technical personnel employed by a Japanese monitor maker and obtained data including feedback on its usability and the impact on corporate business models. The findings of this study will help personnel to generate technology and service-based innovation concepts, thereby promoting servitization in technology-based companies.