Managing Transformation within Service Systems Networks: A System Viability Approach

Information technologies and massively increased connectivity drive service‐based organizations towards collaboration‐driven innovation activities. From a systems theory viewpoint, a formal structure for observing these developments is service system networks; that is, networks of resource‐integrating systems that co‐create value through service exchange. Given their dynamic nature, service systems networks may need to reconfigure themselves, as systems join, leave or change their role in the network, thus potentially jeopardizing the network's viability. By following a design science research methodology, our research aims to address this challenge through a novel two‐dimensional model that maps a service system's options (‘roles’) for positioning itself within a service systems network. Roles are defined as viability‐inducing states, described in terms of three sets of attributes (role elements) that correspond to critical success factors of network viability: service innovation, collaboration and resilience. Hence, a move to a new role is acceptable if and only if network viability is satisfied. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.