A taxonomy of product-service system perturbations through a systematic literature review

Perturbations have a negative influence on the operation of the business system, which may weaken business performance. However, in the field of the product-service system (PSS), perturbation is still a rarely discussed concept. Researchers and managers have a limited understanding of perturbations in the context of PSS. This hinders PSS designers and managers to prepare for mitigation due to a lack of knowledge and information. Thus, this paper aims to build a taxonomy of PSS perturbation through a systematic literature review. To achieve this target, the authors have reviewed 171 papers and found 18 effective papers. Twenty-five items are considered effective ones that are directly related to PSS perturbation. The result of the review shows that PSS perturbations could be classified into six categories, namely, behavioral, social, environmental, competence, resource, and organizational perturbations. The proposed terminology and taxonomy appear to be effective, which could enable researchers to understand the scope of PSS perturbations on a conceptual level. This finding is also expected to provide useful knowledge and information for researchers who are interested in vulnerability analysis and the robust design of PSS.