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The role of servitization in international entrepreneurship: An analysis for Spanish manufacturing firms

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Abstract

In the context of international entrepreneurship, the aim of this study is to explore the relationship between servitization and export behavior in manufacturing firms. This relationship would be an example of international entrepreneurship where firms produce and sell both manufactures and services as a way of increase differentiation and create value in order to penetrate and stay in foreign markets. Our findings show that servitized firms are more likely to internationalization in terms of starting and staying in exporting markets than pure manufacturing firms, mainly when the firms are small, which suggests an enhancing effect of servitization on international entrepreneurship, particularly for smaller firms. These results support the idea that servitization upgrades manufacturing firms’ ability to attract foreign clients and to maintain them by further differentiation of their products through the offering of services that meet customers’ needs. Moreover, since they are often highly customized services, consumers’ loyalty increases and so does the ability of servitized firms to resist replacement by competitors.

Resumen

Bajo el contexto del emprendimiento internacional, el objetivo de este estudio es explorar la relación entre servitización y comportamiento exportador en las empresas manufactureras. Esta relación puede constituir un ejemplo de emprendimientos internacional en el que las empresas producen y venden tanto manufacturas como servicios como estrategia de diferenciación y creación de valor para penetrar en mercados foráneos. Nuestros resultados muestran que las empresas servitizadas son más propensas a la internacionalización en términos de inicio y mantenimiento de sus exportaciones que las empresas puramente manufactureras, sobre todo cuando se trata de empresas pequeñas, lo que también sugiere un efecto de estímulo de la servitización sobre el nivel de emprendimiento internacional particularmente intenso en las empresas de menor tamaño. Los resultados apoyan la idea de que la servitización mejora las habilidades de las empresas para atraer a clientes extranjeros a través de la oferta de servicios que conectan mejor con sus necesidades. Además, dado que suele tratarse de servicios altamente personalizados, la lealtad de los consumidores aumentará y las empresas conseguirán una mayor capacidad para mantener al cliente frente a la competencia.

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Notes

  1. Detailed information about the ESEE is available at https://www.fundacionsepi.es/investigacion/esee/spresentacion.asp. The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to privacy restrictions.

  2. Bandick and Görg (2010) and Bandick (2020) use an instrumental variable and a propensity score matching approach in their models to investigate factors that affect plant survival and export survival, respectively. Crozet and Millet (2017) choose to estimate a lagged dependent variable (LDV) model (as a robustness check, they also estimate a fixed effects regression) as well as an instrumental variable model. Aquilante and Vendrell-Herrero (2021) opt for estimating a panel data model with firm fixed effects and, as a robustness check, implementing several (double robust) propensity score matching techniques.

  3. As a robustness check, we also estimate alternative specifications of Eq. (5), including additional firm characteristics. The results (available upon request) are quite similar; that is, the results are robust to changes in the variables that are included in the probit.

  4. To estimate it, we use the Stata command “probitfe,” developed by Cruz-González et al. (2017).

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Funding

This research was conducted as part of the Project PID2021-122133NB-I00 financed by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033/FEDER, EU. The authors also gratefully acknowledge the financial support of Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha for the ISPEc research group (2023-GRIN-34135), co-financed with FEDER funds.

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  1. David Córcoles

    Present address: Facultad de Ciencias Sociales, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Cuenca, Spain

  2. Rosario Gandoy

    Present address: Facultad de Ciencias Jurídicas Y Sociales, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Toledo, Spain

  3. Ángela Triguero

    Present address: Facultad de Ciencias Económicas Y Empresariales, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Albacete, Spain

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  1. Facultad de Ciencias Jurídicas Y Sociales, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Toledo, Spain

    Carmen Díaz-Mora

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Appendix

Appendix

Tables 6 and 7

Table 6 Variable definitions
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Table 7 Estimated servitization probability: random effects probit to estimate Probservit* from Eq. (6). Average marginal effects
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Córcoles, D., Díaz-Mora, C., Gandoy, R. et al. The role of servitization in international entrepreneurship: An analysis for Spanish manufacturing firms. J Int Entrep 21, 214–244 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10843-023-00335-4

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