The Excessive Servitization: A close look on Ericsson's case, and its implications on servitization theory

Sammanfattning: Servitization is often described as a linear process, in which a company journeys from product centric to service centric. The choice is strongly advised both in theory and practice. We offer an inherently different view in this thesis, that we believe to be a deeper understanding of the phenomenon of servitization. We reached our insights through the studying of a company case, Ericsson. Contrary to what servitization would seem to entail, at the current moment in time of Ericsson's journey, the focus was put back on the product. In this work we will describe the journey of Ericsson through the decision to servitize to this day, and closely observe and try to explain the hurdles and challenges encountered. In particular, we explain how excessive servitization led to unprofitability, and how Ericsson readjusted itself to be a solution provider combining products and services, keeping in mind the general meaning of what an organization and servitization are about.