Företagsledarens roll vid riskhantering i en tjänstefierad organisation.

Sammanfattning: Background and problem More and more companies are now developing from only delivering a single product to now also deliver services. These transformations into servitization bring both risks and benefits to companies making the transition. The benefits of servitization is a well-defined area in the academic literature. A few identified authors describe a gap in the literature around risk management of servitization, with special emphasis on how the role of leaders is important for servitization risk management. The study is based on the problematization of how leaders handle and act when incurring the risk that may arise in the implementation of service logic. Aim The purpose of this study is to investigate how business leaders within finance, strategy, and organizational development manage the risks associated with servitization in manufacturing companies. Method and Theory The theoretical framework is based on the current academic literature on risk management and leadership. The theory is based on two essential areas, risk management strategies and leadership styles. Where it provides a basic understanding of the subject and focuses on six main strategies and three essential leadership styles to manage the risks that may arise with servitization. Our conclusions have been reached by performing a qualitative study. The data collection was conducted through nine semi-structured interviews from seven different manufacturing companies. The data has been analyzed through thematic analysis which forms the basis for the study's conclusions. Findings The findings show that the risks that are identified in the study are categorized into five types, business risk, quality and competence, short-term customer relationship, brand, and culture. The result also shows that the most commonly used leadership style is participatory and relationship-based leadership style. The main risk management strategy was focused on the risks facing the sales team at the company and managing the customer relationship. The conclusion, therefore, justifies that participation- and relationship-oriented leadership is the most prevalent leadership, where all types of risk management strategies are represented. Educational- and integrative risk management strategies are most prevalent in all three leadership styles and are used to manage the greatest risk.