Internetworked after-sales service

Finns, even ones in relatively heavy industries, seem to be moving in a direction in which information technology (IT) is becoming more and more integrated into their organizations. This paper describes a good, perhaps model, firm that appears to be getting better by recognizing IT per se as an actor in its after-sales organization. Both a smarter product and IT produced evolutionary changes in its after-sales operations. As the product becomes self-diagnostic, it is increasingly evident that the technology is an actual participant in the organization. These developments are interpreted in terms of internetworking concepts. Perhaps one outcome of this study will be to encourage leaders/managers to utilize some of the precepts of actor network theory (ANT) in their thinking. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.