Creating isolating mechanisms through digital servitization: The case of Covirán

• Author: Marco Opazo Basáez,Daniel Arias Aranda,Francisco Sánchez‐Montesinos,Oscar F. Bustinza
• Published date: 01 March 2018
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/jsc.2187
• Date: 01 March 2018

RESEARCH ARTICLE

DOI: 10.1002/jsc.2187

Strategic Change. 2018;27(2):121–128. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/jsc © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. 121

Abstract

Digital servizaon allows companies to establish specic entry barriers and create isolang

mechanisms to maintain their products’ compeve advantage. Rapid linking of technologies

with products has introduced new mechanisms to deliver services that complement product of-

ferings. This business environment has signicantly aected food companies in the retail sector,

where companies have begun to implement and rely on digital soluons to support business op-

eraons to fulll changing market condions. The study demonstrates how the Covirán coopera-

ve is improving service provision through digital capabilies to generate isolang mechanisms

that enable the company to achieve a superior compeve posion.

1 

|

 INTRODUCTION

Digitalizaon has proven to be much more than mere accumulaon

and transfer of data throughout the rm. The eects of digitalizaon

go beyond use of digital plaorms and exploitaon of the specic ben-

ets they aord. These eects reect the way that digital media and

plaorms inuence the restructuring of the many and diverse domains

of the economy, society, and culture (El Sawy, Kræmmergaard,

Amsinck, & Vinter, 2016). Digitalizaon is having a parcularly strong

impact on food retail sector, where new digital technologies have

increased the mechanisms for buyers to consume, and consequently

the retailer’s boom line (Willems, Smolders, Brengman, Luyten, &

Schöning, 2017). All these changes have highlighted the benets of

adopng digitalizaon as an enabler of product‐service innovaon, or

servizaon (Busnza, Gomes, Vendrell‐Herrero, & Baines, 2017), a

useful tool for boosting the potential of product offerings by add-

ing digitally enabled services (Vendrell‐Herrero, Busnza, Parry, &

Georgantzis, 2017).

Digitalizaon strategy is potenally important for compa-

nies in the food retail sector that are congured as cooperaves

(Carter, 2013), the case studied in this arcle. In general terms, a

cooperave conguraon allows members to pool larger amounts of

resources to achieve greater volume and economies of scale, which in

turn permit members to sasfy the needs of a wide and diverse range

of buyers (Tregear & Cooper, 2016). In essence, cooperaves meet the

needs of two dierent customers: end consumers and retail partners.

In these contexts, digital servizaon (Vendrell‐Herrero et al., 2017)

provides a beer understanding of customer needs while enhancing

the enre delivery process.

By embracing digital technologies, rms are more easily able to

deliver products, and also to provide services to add value to their busi-

ness operaons (Busnza, Vendrell‐Herrero, & Baines, 2017; Cusumano,

Kahl, & Suarez, 2015). Through a servizaon strategy, rms can oer

products, while including more and more services in their total oer-

ings as they gain experience in service business (Oliva & Kallenberg,

2003). Accordingly, digital technologies strengthen the development,

design, and redesign of services (Opazo‐Basaez, Aranda, Djundubaev, &

Montesinos, 2017), increasing dierenaon and generang compe-

ve advantage (Busnza, Bigdeli, Baines, & Elliot, 2015). Although the

Creang isolang mechanisms through digital servizaon:

The case of Covirán*

Francisco Sánchez‐Montesinos1 | Marco Opazo Basáez2 | Daniel Arias Aranda3 | 

Oscar F. Busnza3

1 Department of Management, Complutense

University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain

2 Department of Markeng, Deusto

University, Bizkaia, Spain

3 Department of Management, University of

Granada, Granada, Spain

Correspondence

Francisco Sanchez‐Montesinos, Faculty

of Economics, Complutense University of

Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain.

Email: francs05@ucm.es

Funding informaon

European Commission (Horizon 2020 MSCA

project “MAKERS: Smart Manufacturing for

EU Growth and Prosperity”), Grant Number:

691192; Spanish Government, Grant

Number: ECO2014‐58472‐R

* JEL classicaon codes: L8, M15, O14.