Management Science and Engineering Department 's Lecture

Theme：Manufacturing practices and servitization: the role of mass customization and product innovation capabilities

Speaker：Yinan Qi (Professor, the Department of Management at the UIBE Business School)

Time：2019-04-19 10:00

Address：Room 0602, Mingde Business Building

Language：Chinese/English

Abstract：
Servitization has been viewed as an important method for manufacturers to gain competitive advantages. However, the current understanding of the impacts of manufacturing practices and operational capabilities on the implementation of servitization is still limited. This study develops a model to examine the effects of lean and agile practices as well as mass customization and product innovation capabilities on servitization from a resource-based view. The hypotheses are empirically examined using structural equation modeling with data collected from 562 manufacturers. The findings show that lean practices are positively associated with product innovation capability and agile practices are positively associated with both mass customization and product innovation capabilities. Although the direct effects of lean and agile practices on servitization are not significant, agile practices improve servitization indirectly through product innovation capability. In addition, the results reveal that mass customization capability is positively associated with product innovation capability and affects servitization indirectly through product innovation capability. This study contributes to the literature by clarifying the complex interrelationships among manufacturing practices, operational capabilities and servitization. The findings can help manufacturers design a manufacturing system and develop operational capabilities that facilitate the implementation of servitization.

Short biography：
Yinan Qi is a Professor at the Department of Management at the UIBE Business School. He received a master's degree in Management Science and Engineering from Tianjin University, and a Ph.D. in Decision Sciences and Managerial Economics from The Chinese University of Hong Kong. His research interests focus on Operations Management, Supply Chain Management, and Strategic Management. He has published in major academic journals such as Journal of Operations Management and Decision Sciences.