Table 6 Contributions made by KIBS firms... | Emerald Publishing

Table 6

Contributions made by KIBS firms to the DS journey of SMEs (perspective of the problems of SMEs)

Problem	Discussion and generalization of case study findings
Financial paradoxes	SMEs become aware of the financial risks associated with DS, thank to the role played by their KIBS partners in the early stage of the DS journey; however, despite they trust their partners, they do neither delegate the crucial financial decisions nor ask for support in evaluating the pay back of the new digital offering. As a result, the contribution of KIBS appears rather negligible due to the reluctance of the SMEs to share sensitive data Setting up a clear roadmap can facilitate the balance between servitization (e.g. Stages 1 and 4 in our case) and digitalization (e.g. Stages 2 and 3 in our case)
Culture and organization	A long-term roadmap facilitates cultural and organizational changes. KIBS firms contribute to this process by providing digital competences and collaborating to put in place the organizational interventions
Limited resources and knowledge gaps	A KIBS partner that integrates professional and technological services is of great help in overcoming the limitation of resources of SMEs and fulfilling the numerous knowledge gaps of the DS challenges
Access to customer’s data	In the preliminary stages, KIBS contribute to exploring customer needs and market opportunities for DS. The use of a ready-to-go/easy-to-use digital platform can increase the reputation of smaller manufacturers as provider of digital services. With a branded platform, customers can be more easily convinced to connect their equipment and share their data
Operational complexity	The provision of a digital platform that incorporates standard packages and pre-arranged workflows can reduce the operational complexity stemming from the move to digital services
Business ecosystems	KIBS can contribute to orchestrating third parties, setting the ground for the creation of new digital service ecosystems

Problem	Discussion and generalization of case study findings
Financial paradoxes	SMEs become aware of the financial risks associated with DS, thank to the role played by their KIBS partners in the early stage of the DS journey; however, despite they trust their partners, they do neither delegate the crucial financial decisions nor ask for support in evaluating the pay back of the new digital offering. As a result, the contribution of KIBS appears rather negligible due to the reluctance of the SMEs to share sensitive dataSetting up a clear roadmap can facilitate the balance between servitization (e.g. Stages 1 and 4 in our case) and digitalization (e.g. Stages 2 and 3 in our case)
Culture and organization	A long-term roadmap facilitates cultural and organizational changes. KIBS firms contribute to this process by providing digital competences and collaborating to put in place the organizational interventions
Limited resources and knowledge gaps	A KIBS partner that integrates professional and technological services is of great help in overcoming the limitation of resources of SMEs and fulfilling the numerous knowledge gaps of the DS challenges
Access to customer’s data	In the preliminary stages, KIBS contribute to exploring customer needs and market opportunities for DS. The use of a ready-to-go/easy-to-use digital platform can increase the reputation of smaller manufacturers as provider of digital services. With a branded platform, customers can be more easily convinced to connect their equipment and share their data
Operational complexity	The provision of a digital platform that incorporates standard packages and pre-arranged workflows can reduce the operational complexity stemming from the move to digital services
Business ecosystems	KIBS can contribute to orchestrating third parties, setting the ground for the creation of new digital service ecosystems