Purpose Implementing circular business models (CBMs) in industry is promising yet difficult. Prior research has largely focused on identifying barriers to CBM adoption and the enablers needed to overcome them. However, addressing barriers alone is insufficient, as circularity must ultimately be embedded in companies’ routine-based practices to become operational and scalable. Existing practice-oriented studies remain limited and tend to examine isolated aspects of CBMs, such as value creation, value delivery or value capture, rather than how these dimensions are pursued together. This study aims to address this gap by synthesizing how industrial companies implement CBMs through phase-based practices that span business model dimensions. Design/methodology/approach The authors conducted a three-stage review (identification–screening–eligibility) of academic and gray literature, ending with 87 studies included. Using qualitative content analysis, the authors coded circular practices and their underlying activities and applied the Gioia methodology to visualize them. The study grounds in the Swedish industrial context, given its early and coordinated adoption of circular economy policies and strategies. Findings The findings reveal a three-phased CBM implementation process: designing, developing, and scaling. In the design phase, companies explore circular value logics, build internal capabilities, and renew ecosystem partnerships. The development phase involves testing circular concepts, transforming organizational processes, and launching new revenue models. Finally, the scaling phase focuses on market expansion and digital integration to enhance circular operations. Originality/value This study advances CBM literature by identifying business practices and underlying activities that outline how industrial companies implement CBMs in practice. It structures these practices into a phased framework along with specific actions and key considerations for each phase. Finally, it shows how value creation, delivery and capture are activated differentially across implementation phases.
Purpose In B2B data transactions, the organizational purchasing behavior of enterprise users involves complex decision-making factors such as multidepartmental collaboration. The perceived value of data products’ additional services by these users is highly uncertain, which poses a severe challenge to the bundling pricing strategies of the platforms. This paper aims to address how this uncertainty affects the effectiveness of bundling pricing strategies in data trading platforms, as well as market demand and profits. Design/methodology/approach Based on B2B marketing research, this paper combines the theory of organizational purchasing behavior with the Hotelling duopoly competition model to construct a game model of bundled sales and separate sales for data trading platforms, revealing the influence mechanism of the uncertainty of the perceived value of additional services by corporate users on pricing strategies. Findings When the perceived value coefficient of corporate users exceeds a critical value, the market demand for bundled products and the platform profit increase nonlinearly, verifying the threshold effect of service value co-creation in the B2B scenario. In a competitive environment, the market share of bundled products is significantly positively correlated with the pricing of competing products but negatively correlated with the internal pricing of the platform, indicating that B2B pricing needs to take into account both competitive relationships and the value perception of corporate users. The existence of perceived value boundary values distinguishes the bidirectional regulatory effect of search costs on demand volume, providing a decision-making basis for differentiated pricing. Originality/value This study expands the application of the traditional bundled pricing theory in interorganizational transactions by introducing the B2B unique concept of “value-cost dual constraints,” providing suggestions for B2B data platforms to optimize service portfolios, design pricing mechanisms and enhance the efficiency of cross-organizational data element allocation.
Purpose This study aims to develop a framework to enhance the understanding of customer engagement in business-to-business markets. Design/methodology/approach This study uses an integrative approach, combining theory and qualitative data to develop a framework for customer engagement in business-to-business markets. Findings This study provides three major insights into customer engagement in business-to-business marketing. First, this study develops a customer engagement framework in business-to-business markets and addresses existing research gaps. Second, this study integrates relationship marketing and customer engagement literature to enhance the understanding of customer engagement. Third, this study highlights contexts in which satisfaction with the relationship is not correlated with customer engagement. Originality/value This study offers emergent perspectives on customer engagement, presents nine propositions and provides a framework. It finds that the availability of quality alternatives, customer investments, the criticality of offerings, the supplier’s distinctive expertise and disruptions moderate the relationship between customer satisfaction with relationship and customer engagement. It demonstrates that high customer engagement yields positive financial, process and strategic outcomes. Finally, this study discusses low and high customer engagement outcomes. In ongoing relationships, low engagement leads to transactional relationships, while high engagement enhances existing relationships and fosters future customer engagement, creating a virtuous or reinforcing cycle.
Purpose This paper departs from how the literature is filled with partly contradictory notions on disruption, while lacking a perspective that interlinks disruption causes of technology, business model and mindset with disruption effects beyond focal firms and industries. The purpose of this paper is to approach the notion of disruption from the perspective of interdependencies to discuss its different meanings, time-limitations and magnitude of effects. Design/methodology/approach The paper is based on an integrative literature review to develop a typology. Empirical examples illustrate interdependency effects of disruption as a missing perspective in past research. Findings A typology is developed, indicating a gap related to magnitude as spread and transformative disruption. The interdependency lens helps to capture this configuration. It thereby addresses the lacking perspective that interlinks disruption causes of technology, business model and mindset with disruption effects beyond focal firms and industries. The examples indicate how the parties being disrupted are determined by imbalances in interdependencies as disruption spreads, and how safeguarding and internalisation reshape these interdependencies. Originality/value The paper contributes to past research through critically discussing the past partly contradictory notions of disruption in the literature, while creating an understanding for disruption effects as spread of disruption. It helps to structure past disruption research through developing a typology while extending such research through discussing it from an interdependency perspective.
Purpose This paper addresses a problem within the existing body of knowledge pertinent to business-to-business (B2B) settings, concerning the contrasting prior findings in respect of the relationship between coopetition (collaboration with competitors) and firm performance. Specifically, the purpose is to address a research gap regarding the current limited understanding of mediating factors that are likely to explain contrasting earlier findings in the coopetition-firm performance relationship. Design/methodology/approach A conceptual approach synthesises mixed prior empirical findings primarily from the B2B marketing literature but also draws on wider strategy research. A testable framework is proposed in which coopetition exhibits an inverted-U shape relationship with firm performance. Furthermore, this relationship is mediated by three salient firm-level capabilities, namely, organisational ambidexterity, organisational learning and organisational tensions management. Findings While the relationship between coopetition and firm performance has been widely examined in the B2B marketing and strategy domains, prior research has produced inconsistent results, ranging from positive to negative effects, alongside a non-linear association. In this paper, a non-linear (inverted U-shaped) relationship is conceptualised, whereby firms may experience reduced performance from engaging in either “too little” and “too much” coopetition. In addition, the framework proposes three mediators, namely, organisational ambidexterity, organisational learning and organisational tensions management, that offer novel insights concerning how coopetition is likely to be translated into different performance outcomes. Originality/value Underpinned by the resource-based view and relational view, unique insights arise that address a problem concerning the contrasting prior findings regarding the relationship between coopetition and firm performance. The paper extends current literature beyond contextual moderators that have been previously investigated, by conceptualising organisational ambidexterity, organisational learning and organisational tensions management as mediating capabilities. In doing so, the paper provides a clearer explanation of how coopetition is likely to shape firm performance through internal capability mechanisms.
Purpose This study aims to broaden knowledge on behavioural and attitudinal loyalty in business-to-business (B2B) markets. Design/methodology/approach Following a literature review and a qualitative study to identify key constructs, a conceptual framework was developed and tested, encompassing functional, social and emotional relationship value; customer satisfaction; and the moderator variable of relationship duration, found to influence the level of customer loyalty in the manufacturing industry. Partial least squares structural equation modelling was used to examine data on supplier–customer relationships in a manufacturing context, derived from 251 questionnaires. Findings The results show that behavioural loyalty is shaped by customer satisfaction and the functional and emotional dimensions of relationship value, whereas attitudinal loyalty is driven by satisfaction together with functional and social value. Customer satisfaction partially mediates these effects and is itself influenced by functional, social and emotional relationship value dimensions. The findings further show that relationship duration does not strengthen the link between satisfaction and both behavioural and attitudinal loyalty. Practical implications The research provides clear strategic guidance and actionable strategies for suppliers to enhance customer loyalty by leveraging distinct relationship value dimensions in price-sensitive markets. By aligning loyalty-building efforts with relationship value components, suppliers can maximise both short-term retention and long-term strategic partnerships in B2B manufacturing. Originality/value The study refines the Theory of Consumption Values by showing that dimensions of functional, social and emotional value contribute differently to behavioural and attitudinal loyalty in B2B contexts. The study provides new insights into the concept of emotional value consisting of interpersonal relationships, frustration and human touch. The research delivers a methodological contribution through the use of a rigorous mixed-methods design.
Purpose Artificial intelligence (AI) is changing entire business models and markets, and we are arguably witnessing only the beginning of its impact on business-to-business (B2B) firms and markets. While new technologies and transformations have been core areas in the B2B marketing literature and, thus, theories, models and frameworks for managing digital innovation already exist, the managerial realities AI imposes on organizations are manyfold and potential impacts have arguably been listed in an unstructured, random and eclectic way. The purpose of this paper is to offer a framework structuring advantages and disadvantages of AI. Design/methodology/approach Against this backdrop, the authors conceptualize a framework entailing 10 specific features creating a consolidated overview and reflecting the potentially paradoxical tensions between the advantages and disadvantages inherent in AI projects. The framework makes these tensions explicit and managerially addressable. The authors field tested the framework with 145 executives to judge its relevance and viability. Findings The paper presents a field-tested framework which enables managerial practice and guides further research. Originality/value The paper presents an inclusive framework that summarizes a wide area of arguments into a unique framework.
Purpose This study aims to synthesize fragmented literature from the marketing, management, operations and supply chain domains to provide the first multidisciplinary and longitudinal review of relationship disruptions in business-to-business exchanges. Design/methodology/approach This study reviews 1,351 peer-reviewed articles published between 1984 and 2025 using bibliometric analysis. Co-citation and co-occurrence analyses are performed to uncover the intellectual landscape, thematic clusters and evolution of these concepts over time. Based on the bibliometric findings, stage-based, cyclical and trajectory-based theories of relationship progression are integrated to create a composite conceptual framework that captures the dynamic, multidirectional nature of business-to-business relationships and serves as a guide for future research. Findings Four main themes emerge from the analysis: relationship (re)structuring, opportunism, relationship management and supply chain and risk. While interest in digital complexity and the service ecosystem is growing, citation trends show that foundational governance mechanisms remain important. Findings further support the notion that disruptions are rarely isolated events and are embedded within evolving governance and relational dynamics. Based on the data, a framework is proposed that introduces “relational guardrails,” “relationship accelerators” and “relationship disruptors” as vital components that influence the trajectory of business-to-business exchanges. Research limitations/implications This study shifts the lens of business-to-business relationship research from static, stage-based progression to a trajectory-based reasoning. This reorientation opens new conceptual space across marketing, management and supply chain disciplines. By demonstrating that governance and relational mechanisms are functionally interdependent rather than parallel constructs, the framework invites scholars from disparate fields to reexamine foundational assumptions through a more integrative lens. The identification of a governance lag further signals that disciplinary boundaries have allowed technological and relational theory to become disconnected, underscoring the need for cross-domain theoretical dialogue to keep pace with the complexity of modern business-to-business environments. Practical implications Insights can be used to enhance business-to-business relationships by tailoring governance strategies, monitoring for early indications of disruption and investing in initiatives that foster trust and serve as relational connectors. Managers can use the framework to help diagnose relational vulnerabilities, strengthen governance guardrails and strategically deploy digital tools to enhance resilience. Originality/value This study uses a cross-disciplinary approach to bridge disparate business-to-business disruptions literature. By incorporating bibliometric mapping with theoretical insights, this paper moves beyond a descriptive synthesis to develop a unified, process-oriented framework of relational evolution and disruption. The framework serves as a foundation for future empirical and conceptual investigations in complex, technology-driven business-to-business environments.
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to resolve conceptual ambiguities in the field of network coopetition concerning the core concept of simultaneity (simultaneous cooperation and competition) and the scope of analysis (actors in the network or the network itself). This study aims to solve the ambiguities by developing a framework that allows for a classification of types of network coopetition. Design/methodology/approach The authors employ a conceptual differentiation approach to construct a typology for network coopetition. On the basis of prior theoretical and empirical research, they identify the sources of conceptual ambiguity in the context of network coopetition and suggest a framework that distinguishes between two dimensions: the extent of simultaneity and the analytical focus. Findings The authors’ framework identifies three distinct types of network coopetition: (1) partial coopetition network, (2) coopetition in a network, and (3) pure coopetition network. A pure coopetition network is a rare, rather ideal type characterized by complete network awareness and the absence of myopia, whereas the other types appear to be much more common in practice. Originality/value This paper directly responds to recent calls for more precise typologies to overcome conceptual vagueness in coopetition research. It contributes to the literature by introducing a more precise vocabulary that disentangles the complex dynamics of network coopetition. The typology that the authors introduce aims at resolving ambiguities in the literature and thus at enhancing the comparability of future empirical studies. Researchers and practitioners are enabled to better understand the relative network situation.
Purpose This study aims to present a systematic literature review (SLR) that consolidates fragmented scholarly knowledge on digital transformation (DT) in business to business (B2B) marketing by synthesizing existing literature into a cohesive narrative. It seeks to interpret how B2B firms navigate technological disruption while advancing an integrated understanding of the domain’s theoretical, contextual and methodological development. Design/methodology/approach A domain-based systematic literature review (SLR) was conducted on 106 peer-reviewed papers published between 2016 and 2025, sourced from Scopus and Web of Science databases. This review was further enriched through a bibliometric analysis performed using R Studio and Biblioshiny. To enhance analytical rigor, the study used the theory, contexts, characteristics and methods (TCCM) framework, enabling a structured examination of prevailing theoretical foundations, sectoral and geographical contexts, empirical constructs including antecedents, mediators, moderators and outcomes and methodological orientations. Findings This study formulates 12 research propositions that together offer a detailed and coherent overview of the digitalization landscape in B2B marketing. It presents an integrated framework that underscores the essential role of digitalization strategies and decision-making tools in shaping effective B2B marketing practices. In addition, the research identifies a range of strategic and tactical digitalization approaches that can help narrow the existing digitalization gap within B2B organizations. Finally, the study outlines a future research agenda, structured around the TCCM framework, to further advance scholarly inquiry and deepen understanding in the field of B2B marketing digitalization. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this review represents the first effort to combine bibliometric techniques with the TCCM framework in examining digital transformation in B2B context. By offering a comprehensive and up-to-date overview of the field’s intellectual development, it provides valuable, actionable insights for both scholars and practitioners striving to advance more inclusive and effective transformation strategies. In doing so, the study strengthens theoretical understanding, advances methodological rigor and supports the evolution of strategic practice within B2B marketing.
Purpose This paper aims to theorise digitally enabled resilience in business networks as a multi-level phenomenon. While digital technologies are widely assumed to enhance resilience, existing research has largely focused on firm-level outcomes and has overlooked how digital enablement privileges different resilience logics across firms, relationships and networks. Design/methodology/approach The paper is conceptual. Drawing on business network theory, the authors develop a multi-level framework that distinguishes firm-, relationship- and network-level approaches to digitally enabled resilience and examines how digital tools operate differently at each level. Findings The authors show that digital technologies enable resilience through distinct mechanisms: orchestration and control at the firm level, synchronisation and mutual adaptation at the relationship level, and self-organisation and repurposing at the network level. However, digital solutions that enhance resilience at one level may undermine it at others. These cross-level tensions are most clearly evident in underlying data architectures, which embed competing assumptions about governance, access and adaptive capacity. Originality/value The paper advances research on digital resilience by reconceptualising it as a multi-level, network-embedded phenomenon. It introduces data architecture as a critical yet underexplored structural dimension that shapes how digitally enabled resilience is realised and contested across business networks.
Purpose This paper aims to investigate how mutual knowledge emerges in heterogeneous triadic interactions in the Rwandan handicraft sector, where indigenous and business knowledge intersect. The concept of mutual knowledge is introduced to capture transformation rather than transfer in interorganizational settings. Design/methodology/approach An abductive, qualitative case-study approach is applied to three handicraft triads, pottery, basketry and woodcraft. Data was collected through interviews, observations and documents. Analysis was guided by a framework identifying four mechanisms, mediation, governance, hybridity and enactment, operating across artisanship, business practices and sociocultural contexts. Findings The study shows that mutual knowledge develops through mechanisms that mediate, govern, hybridize and enact knowledge in triadic constellations. These processes illustrate how tacit and explicit, indigenous and business knowledge forms are not merely exchanged but transformed. The findings underscore the crucial role of intermediaries in facilitating mutual knowledge. Research limitations/implications The analysis is limited to three Rwandan cases, constraining generalizability. Future research could apply comparative or longitudinal designs. Conceptually, the study enriches industrial marketing and purchasing (IMP) theory by integrating knowledge, interaction and triadic perspectives, while also engaging with practice-based, institutional and postcolonial literatures. Practical implications For artisans, the study identifies strategies to balance cultural legitimacy with market requirements. For NGOs and intermediaries, it highlights the importance of governance and mediation. For policymakers, it demonstrates the value of treating indigenous knowledge as a resource for sustainable development. Originality/value This paper advances IMP research by conceptualizing mutual knowledge as transformation enacted in triadic settings. It extends international debates by connecting knowledge and practice literature with postcolonial and development perspectives.
Purpose This paper aims to systematically examine credibility, trust and trustworthiness, as interrelated yet distinct constructs, in corporate social media communication on the basis of existing literature. It aims to identify antecedents, decisions and outcomes while mapping theoretical, contextual and methodological trends in the field. Design/methodology/approach Using data consisting of 71 studies (2015–2024) from Web of Science, this study conducts a systematic literature review, using integrated framework of Theory, Context, Method (TCM) and Antecedents, Decisions, Outcomes (ADO). Findings The TCM analysis revealed dominance of communication theories (e.g. commitment-trust theory), quantitative methods and contextual focus on platforms like Facebook in markets such as the USA and China. The ADO framework identified seven antecedent categories (e.g. content-related), three decision variables (credibility, trust, trustworthiness) and three outcome types (consumer, brand and business related outcomes). Gaps persist in cross-cultural studies, artificial intelligence (AI) ethics and linguistic analyses of trust dynamics. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this review is the first to integrate TCM and ADO frameworks for a multilayered synthesis of trust-related constructs in corporate social media communication. It rigorously disentangles credibility, trustworthiness and trust as distinct yet interrelated concepts, providing actionable insights for content strategy and crisis management. The study advances future research agendas by highlighting underexplored areas, including AI-driven content ethics and cross-platform trust mechanisms.
Purpose Selecting an appropriate level of distribution intensity is an important strategic decision for brand manufacturers. However, the literature primarily focuses on the consequences of distribution intensity, with relatively little attention paid to its determinants. In the absence of sufficient academic research, distribution channel managers often rely on rules of thumb and industry norms when determining the number of distributors to market their products. This study aims to examine the impact of two market-level distributor factors on distribution intensity. Design/methodology/approach Hypotheses are developed in light of insights from micro-economic theories of the firm and tested with observational data from the Chinese automotive industry with a Copula method. Findings The empirical results show that greater similarity among distributors in sales capability increases distribution intensity, whereas greater similarity in service expertise decreases distribution intensity, consistent with our hypotheses. It also provides empirical evidence that other market-level factors such as population, GDP per capita, brand competition and brand experience are positively related to distribution intensity. In addition, global brands tend to use fewer distributors than local brands, reflecting a preference for greater control and brand consistency. Research limitations/implications In contrast to related research that primarily looks at individual firms’ characteristics, the present research examines how market-level distributor factors impact distribution intensity. Our perspective leads to a few new insights that enrich the literature. Specifically, when distributors’ sales capabilities are similar to each other, manufacturers adopt a more intensive distribution strategy. On the other hand, when distributors are highly substitutable to each other in terms of positioning (service expertise) in a market, a more selective distribution strategy is preferable. Originality/value This study contributes to the limited literature on the determinants of distribution intensity. Unlike prior research that focuses primarily on manufacturer-level factors, the authors emphasize market-level distributor (dis)similarities, recognizing that distribution intensity is inherently a market-level decision. They demonstrate the significant effects of two distributor similarity factors with data from the automotive industry, which is a major engine of economic growth in the world. The perspectives and empirical findings in this study are new to the literature and inform distribution intensity decisions under different distributor contingencies in a focal geographic market.
Purpose The paper aims to examine how algorithmic opacity in digital platforms reshapes signalling processes within client-agency relationships. While signalling theory assumes that agencies can convey qualities such as expertise, performance outcomes and accountability through costly, observable and reliable signals, digital marketing services are increasingly enacted within platform-mediated environments that distort what information can be produced, accessed and evaluated by the client. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected through 32 interviews with clients, agency representatives, digital marketing bodies, procurers, trainers and legal professionals. Interviews were thematically analysed in NVivo using Braun and Clarke’s (2006) method. Findings The study identifies three interrelated signalling distortions: Influence, Gatekeeper and Proof, that explain how platform dynamics alter the conditions under which signals are produced, observed and interpreted. Platforms limit pertinent algorithm update information, restrict access to performance data and complicate attribution of outcomes, thereby destabilising the core signalling conditions of costliness, observability and reliability. Signals traditionally used to convey competence and accountability, such as performance reports or case evidence, lose their differentiating power when evaluation is mediated by opaque algorithmic systems. Originality/value The paper addresses the call of scholars who argue for the use of signalling theory in contemporary contexts, to show how the client-agency signalling environment is now platform-mediated and distorts the informational conditions of signalling. A new algorithmic risk disclosure signal is introduced, outlining a proactive mechanism for agencies to disclose algorithmic risks to clients.
Purpose The platform economy has enabled extensive information sharing among manufacturers, retailers, and e-commerce platforms. While existing studies primarily examine bilateral exchanges of demand or supply data, the rise of platform-provided customer analytics allows manufacturers to better understand consumers’ reference quality and refine their product quality decisions. Therefore, this study aims to investigate whether such analytics truly enhance customer satisfaction without prompting excessive or misdirected investments in product quality. Design/methodology/approach This study investigates a manufacturer’s optimal choice of information sources for product quality decisions by integrating game-theoretical modeling with numerical analysis. The model captures a multi-echelon supply chain consisting of a manufacturer, a retailer, a platform and end consumers. Findings The analysis shows that the manufacturer’s strategic choice of information source is jointly determined by its perception of the consumer's reference quality, the platform’s commission rate, and the retailer’s information service fee. Moreover, the manufacturer exhibits a stronger incentive to acquire customer analytics when it opens a direct distribution channel – selling directly on the platform rather than exclusively through the retailer. When platform commission rates are relatively low, the manufacturer is more inclined to align with the platform by adopting direct sales and procuring analytics services from the platform. Originality/value First, this research extends the information-sharing literature by shifting the focus from demand information to reference-quality information. Second, it fills an important gap by examining scenarios in which both an e-commerce platform and an online retailer offer customer analytics services to the manufacturer. Finally, it provides insights into best practices for leveraging big data analytics-enabled customer analytics in product quality design, thereby enriching supply chain research under vertical information asymmetry.
Purpose This study aims to examine how top management team (TMT) digital orientation and firm digital capabilities influence innovation in dynamic markets. Design/methodology/approach This research used computer-aided text analysis to examine TMTs’ digital backgrounds and firm digital capabilities based on annual reports. The author analyzed a sample of 264 publicly listed Taiwanese electronics firms over the period from 2018 to 2023. Findings The finding indicates a positive relationship between market dynamism and innovation. In addition, both a higher level of TMT digital orientation and stronger firm digital capabilities are positively associated with innovation. Furthermore, firm digital capabilities amplify the positive effect of market dynamism on innovation. Originality/value This research contributes to existing upper echelon theory literature, which has insufficiently examined TMT digital orientation as a key TMT attribute influencing innovation. The author also addresses the role of digital capabilities as dynamic capabilities, which remains empirically underdeveloped. This research incorporates digital perspectives to address gaps in understanding how both TMT digital orientation and firm digital capabilities moderate the relationship between market dynamism and innovation.
Purpose This study aims to examine how proxy-based managerial digital literacy is associated with firms’ citation-based innovation pathway orientations and how this relationship is conditioned by managers’ structural social network embeddedness. Design/methodology/approach Informed by a dynamic capabilities perspective and the structural perspective of social network embeddedness, this study develops an analytical framework linking proxy-based managerial digital literacy to firms’ citation-based knowledge-source orientations in innovation. Using panel data from A-share listed manufacturing firms in Shanghai and Shenzhen from 2012 to 2023, the authors employ panel regressions with industry and year fixed effects, and propensity score matching to examine the proposed relationships. Findings The results indicate that higher levels of proxy-based managerial digital literacy are positively associated with firms’ engagement in citation-based imitative and independent innovation orientations, as well as their complementary use. Moreover, structural social network embeddedness, proxied by executives’ interlocking board ties, most robustly strengthens the association with citation-based imitative innovation orientation, while the moderating evidence for independent and complementary innovation orientations is positive but marginal. Additional analyses show that the relationships vary across ownership types, firm size and industry technological intensity. Originality/value This study contributes to the literature by providing large-sample empirical evidence on how managers’ proxy-based digital cognitive orientation relates to firms’ citation-based innovation pathway choices under different structural conditions. By focusing on the joint role of proxy-based managerial digital literacy and structural network embeddedness, the findings offer insights for manufacturing firms operating in B2B and industrial market contexts as they coordinate external knowledge sourcing and internal knowledge recombination in the digital economy.
PurposeThis study aims to investigate how manufacturing firms operating under resource constraints leverage frugal innovation capabilities to transition toward servitization and strengthen their competitive positions in industrial markets. Design/methodology/approachA multiple-case study design was used to analyze nine Vietnamese industrial firms. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, internal documents and site observations and analyzed using thematic cross-case coding. FindingsThe study identifies three analytically distinct yet interrelated pathways through which frugal innovation supports servitization: (1) efficiency-driven service expansion, (2) customer-proximity service augmentation and (3) modular frugal service systemization. Firms were found to creatively redeploy internal capabilities to develop integrated service offerings despite financial and institutional constraints. Practical implicationsIndustrial managers in emerging markets can harness frugal internal capabilities to deliver tailored service solutions, deepen customer relationships and achieve competitive resilience without relying on external investment. Originality/valueThis study extends the literature by conceptualizing frugal innovation as a microfoundation of the dynamic capabilities that enable servitization. It contributes a new understanding of how industrial firms can pursue service-based growth strategies under resource constraints and presents clear implications for B2B marketers and strategists.
