Servitization in International Markets: Capabilities, Ecosystems and the Orchestration of Value Across International Borders
Servitization, the shift from product-centric offerings to integrated product–service systems, has evolved into a mature and well-established field of research (Kowalkowski et al., 2022). Since its early conceptualisation, the domain has expanded significantly across operations, marketing, strategy, and innovation, with bibliometric and systematic reviews identifying several thousand publications and a structured body of knowledge spanning capabilities, business models, and organisational transformation. Despite this substantial progress, the international dimension of servitization remains comparatively underdeveloped. Much of the literature has focused on firm-level transformation within relatively bounded contexts, offering limited insight into how capabilities, ecosystems, and value orchestration unfold across diverse institutional, cultural, and geographic settings. Addressing this gap, this special issue focuses explicitly on servitization in international markets, with particular emphasis on the capabilities, ecosystems, and mechanisms required to orchestrate value across borders.
Across a range of sectors, manufacturers are looking for opportunities to grow revenue through the introduction of novel services that are focused on customer outcomes and value-in-use, rather than product-centric approaches focused on value-in-exchange. Given the research momentum that has built over the last 20 years, there is now a wealth of research exploring the servitization topic, whereby manufacturers look to transform their offering portfolio from more product-centric offerings towards services aimed at increasing revenue, customer value, and competitive advantage (Baines et al., 2017; Raddats et al., 2019).
Feedback opportunities prior to submission
Special session at the 2027 Spring Servitization Conference, May 2027:
Authors will be able to indicate that they are developing a paper for the Special Issue as part of the submission process, and these authors will have both a presentation slot, as normal, and an opportunity to join a workshop during the conference to receive feedback from the guest editors. Submission deadline for the conference is January 2027. Further details will be available on the conference website once it is launched.
Presenting or attending this special session does not guarantee publication in the special issue, nor is it a prerequisite for publication in the special issue. This special session simply offers an opportunity for authors to refine their manuscripts with input from key Servitization authors prior to the formal double blind review process.
List of topic areas
- Servitization and international market positioning: implications for B2B and B2C customer relationships.
- Designing, pricing, and governing outcome-based offerings across diverse legal, regulatory, and cultural contexts.
- Scaling advanced services and outcome-based business models in international markets.
- Capabilities for international servitization: organisational, relational, and digital foundations.
- Orchestration and governance of cross-border service ecosystems and global partnerships.
- Buying, selling and the deployment of new services in a global context.
- The role of digital platforms, data governance, and AI in enabling globally integrated service offerings.
- Value capture and protection in international servitization, particularly under outcome- and performance-based contracts.
- Servitization and global trade: implications for tariffs, localisation, and the shift from products to services.
- The reconfiguration of global value chains through servitization and its implications for value distribution across economies.
- Sustainability and environmental performance in international servitization contexts.
- The role of servitization in supporting firms’ net zero and broader sustainability transitions globally.
- Institutional and cultural influences on the adoption and diffusion of servitization across countries.
Submissions Information
Submissions are made using ScholarOne Manuscripts. Registration and access are available at: https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/imrev
Author guidelines must be strictly followed. Please see: www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/journal/imr
Authors should select (from the drop-down menu) the special issue title at the appropriate step in the submission process, i.e. in response to ““Please select the issue you are submitting to”.
Submitted articles must not have been previously published, nor should they be under consideration for publication anywhere else, while under review for this journal.
Journal Information: Scopus Journal Q1,H-Index 117
Key deadlines
Opening date for manuscripts submissions: 01/09/2027
Closing date for manuscripts submission: 01/12/2027
For more details refer here
