Service orientation in business networking: a demand-supply chain perspective

Competition in globalized markets is nowadays between business networks (BNs) rather than between single organizations. BNs need to co-create highly customized integrated solutions for customers through dynamic collaborations within value networks to achieve competitive advantages in globalized markets. Although different theories in marketing and operations management have been developed to address the necessity for service orientation through co-creating mass-customized integrated solutions, a comprehensive and coherent view on the characteristics of a service-oriented business network (SBN) has not yet received sufficient attention. In this article, we intend to present and discuss an integrated framework that brings together different service orientation related theories and describes them in a structured way. The applicability and usefulness of the developed framework for directing service orientation in real-life BNs is evaluated on the basis of a multiple-case study research. The article bridges the gap between descriptive knowledge on service orientation and prescriptive engineering models for designing and implementing SBNs.