Customer‐focused and service‐focused orientation in organizational structures

Purpose – The paper aims to provide a better understanding of the interrelatedness of customer and service orientations in the organizational structures of capital goods manufacturing companies. Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative, multi‐case research design was employed using 36 European capital goods manufacturing companies. Findings – This article explored four different patterns of how companies move from being product‐focused to service‐focused, and from having an organizational structure that is geographically focused to one that is customer‐focused. The four patterns are termed as follows: emphasizing service orientation, service‐focused organizational structure, emphasizing customer orientation, and customer‐focused organizational structure. Research limitations/implications – Although the study is based on 36 case studies, the external validity (generalizability) of the findings could not be assessed accurately. Practical implications – The description of the four organizational approaches offers guidance for managers to restructure their companies towards service and customer orientations. Originality/value – The article links the relatively independent discussions of service and customer orientations in the context of organizational structures. The four patterns provide a better understanding of how capital goods manufacturers integrate increased customer and service focuses in their organizational structures.