STRATEGY, BUSINESS MODELS OR TACTICS - WHAT IS PRODUCT-SERVICE SYSTEMS (PSS) LITERATURE TALKING ABOUT?

Product- Service Systems (PSS) and business model share the emphasis on value creation. Still PSS literature uses the term business models vaguely without being clearly understood. Therefore, the purpose of the study is to develop a framework that structures and integrates the various ways the term business model is used in PSS literature by pointing out the connection to strategy and tactics. This is done by conducting a systematic literature review. The findings are aggregated in a framework that proposes that a business model is chosen based on the strategy and that tactics are the residual choice after the business model is chosen. Four tactical sets, contract, marketing, network and product design, have been identified from the literature to be most relevant for PSS business models. The analysis of the tactics relates them to the PSS categories.