The implementation of performance-oriented systems

The study at hand examines the strategic perspective of the emerging phenomenon of performance-oriented systems, e.g. car-sharing or cloud computing, in the mobility, IT, energy and chemical industries. In all four industries, firms have likewise implemented a novel system-based offering recently, which is providing the performance of their products for shared use. The existing literature that has already acknowledged the phenomenon is fragmented across different areas of expertise. The emphasis of the contributions resides on the operational level and a consistent strategic innovation management perspective is absent. Thus, the study strives to synthesize the literature into a larger perspective and provide a strategic rationale to explain the phenomenon. The study follows an iterative, interpretative approach based on the methodological foundations of Grounded Theory. The findings are based on semi-structured, qualitative interviews with executives from twenty-seven system examples from four industries, clarifying the motivation for and differences in system development. Items from the substantive concept of dynamic capabilities and the juvenile strategy of superior architectural knowledge are used in a novel approach for interpretation. Based on the compiled data, the study derives ten founding propositions that delineate the strategic characteristics of the case examples, composes a coherent framework and identifies nine initial enabling factors that illustrate the context. The research reveals that novel user preferences towards a higher elasticity of resource deployment have facilitated the system development. The examined firms have integrated downward into the use phase and explicitly met the identified demand in offering the performance of several joint resources to the user instead of selling single complements. The created value is protected through the implementation of a central platform. The governance of the platform secures three types of hidden information; the capacity, the user demand and the efficiency information. The information base in the platform determines the firm's competitive advantage, as the incentive regime of a performance-oriented system is inherently oriented towards resource efficiency. Thus, the implementing firms need to continuously develop process innovations and systematically reduce slack of the system components. The study provides managerial guidance for future system developments, contributes a novel perspective on the phenomenon and qualifies recent conceptual work on superior architectural knowledge.