IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/eneeco/v139y2024ics0140988324005838.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Decoding the influence of servitization on green transformation in manufacturing firms: The moderating effect of artificial intelligence

Author

Listed:
  • Song, Yanwu
  • Niu, Niu
  • Song, Xinyi
  • Zhang, Bin

Abstract

This research addresses three crucial dimensions in operations management: the servitization of manufacturing, the utilization of artificial intelligence (AI) platforms, and green transformation. Employing the by-production method, we construct a metric for green transformation applicable to listed firms. Our comprehensive analytical framework integrates the resource-based view and information asymmetry theories, enabling systematic investigation into the influence of manufacturing servitization on firms' green transformation. In addition, we examine the moderating effect of AI platforms on the execution of servitization strategies. The empirical foundation of our study is an annually updated dataset of 554 manufacturing firms listed on China's A-share market. Our findings reveal a strong positive correlation between the deployment of servitization strategies and the green transformation of firms. This association withstands multiple robustness tests, including core variable substitution, outlier removal, and adjustments in clustering standard errors. Our research uncovers notable nuances. The effect of servitization on green total factor productivity is more visible for eastern and central China firms. Also, state-owned enterprises demonstrate a more conspicuous influence from servitization strategies. However, we observe a slight diminishing of this effect in firms audited by the Big Four. An essential contribution of our study is the illumination of the role AI platforms play in enhancing the efficacy of servitization. These AI platforms facilitate the creation of tailored solutions that curtail resource wastage, thus amplifying the positive effect of servitization strategies on green transformation.

Suggested Citation

  • Song, Yanwu & Niu, Niu & Song, Xinyi & Zhang, Bin, 2024. "Decoding the influence of servitization on green transformation in manufacturing firms: The moderating effect of artificial intelligence," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:eneeco:v:139:y:2024:i:c:s0140988324005838
    DOI: 10.1016/j.eneco.2024.107875
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140988324005838
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.eneco.2024.107875?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Vandermerwe, Sandra & Rada, Juan, 1988. "Servitization of business: Adding value by adding services," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 6(4), pages 314-324, December.
    2. Antonios Karatzas & Georgios Papadopoulos & Janet Godsell, 2020. "Servitization and the Effect of Training on Service Delivery System Performance," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 29(5), pages 1101-1121, May.
    3. Fosso Wamba, Samuel & Queiroz, Maciel M. & Trinchera, Laura, 2020. "Dynamics between blockchain adoption determinants and supply chain performance: An empirical investigation," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 229(C).
    4. Wang, Weilong & Wang, Jianlong & Wu, Haitao, 2024. "The impact of energy-consuming rights trading on green total factor productivity in the context of digital economy: Evidence from listed firms in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    5. Kyle Handley & Nuno Limão, 2018. "Policy Uncertainty, Trade, and Welfare: Theory and Evidence for China and the United States," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Policy Externalities and International Trade Agreements, chapter 5, pages 123-175, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    6. Wei, Zelong & Huang, Wengao & Wang, Yanping & Sun, Lulu, 2022. "When does servitization promote product innovation? The moderating roles of product modularization and organization formalization," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    7. Arabi, Behrouz & Munisamy, Susila & Emrouznejad, Ali, 2015. "A new slacks-based measure of Malmquist–Luenberger index in the presence of undesirable outputs," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 29-37.
    8. Yan, Kaining & Li, Gang & Cheng, T.C.E., 2020. "The impact of service-oriented organizational design factors on firm performance: The moderating role of service-oriented corporate culture," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 228(C).
    9. Tava Lennon Olsen & Brian Tomlin, 2020. "Industry 4.0: Opportunities and Challenges for Operations Management," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 22(1), pages 113-122, January.
    10. Chen, Guo & Liu, Yishuang & Gao, Qizheng & Zhang, Jianqing, 2023. "Does regional services development enhance manufacturing firm productivity? A manufacturing servitization perspective," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 451-466.
    11. Melissa A. Schilling, 2015. "Technology Shocks, Technological Collaboration, and Innovation Outcomes," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 26(3), pages 668-686, June.
    12. Guo Li & Na Li & Suresh P. Sethi, 2021. "Does CSR Reduce Idiosyncratic Risk? Roles of Operational Efficiency and AI Innovation," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 30(7), pages 2027-2045, July.
    13. Julian Senoner & Torbjørn Netland & Stefan Feuerriegel, 2022. "Using Explainable Artificial Intelligence to Improve Process Quality: Evidence from Semiconductor Manufacturing," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(8), pages 5704-5723, August.
    14. Marco Paiola & Tatiana Khvatova & Francesco Schiavone & Fauzia Jabeen, 2022. "Paths toward advanced service-oriented business models : A configurational analysis of small- and medium-sized incumbent manufacturers," Post-Print hal-04325566, HAL.
    15. Akter, Shahriar & Hossain, Md Afnan & Sajib, Shahriar & Sultana, Saida & Rahman, Mahfuzur & Vrontis, Demetris & McCarthy, Grace, 2023. "A framework for AI-powered service innovation capability: Review and agenda for future research," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    16. Tang, Yiding & Zhu, Shujin & Luo, Yan & Duan, Wenjing, 2022. "Input servitization, global value chain, and carbon mitigation: An input-output perspective of global manufacturing industry," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    17. Magnus Lodefalk, 2014. "The role of services for manufacturing firm exports," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 150(1), pages 59-82, February.
    18. Fare, Rolf, 1989. "Multilateral Productivity Comparisons When Some Outputs Are Undesirable: A Nonparametric Approach," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 71(1), pages 90-98, February.
    19. Song, Malin & Du, Juntao & Tan, Kim Hua, 2018. "Impact of fiscal decentralization on green total factor productivity," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 205(C), pages 359-367.
    20. Wang, Xiaoyu & Long, Zhineng & Zhao, Xiangfang, 2024. "Merchant guild culture and cash holdings: Evidence from China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    21. Wang, H. & Pan, Chen & Wang, Qunwei & Zhou, P., 2020. "Assessing sustainability performance of global supply chains: An input-output modeling approach," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 285(1), pages 393-404.
    22. Kohtamäki, Marko & Parida, Vinit & Patel, Pankaj C. & Gebauer, Heiko, 2020. "The relationship between digitalization and servitization: The role of servitization in capturing the financial potential of digitalization," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    23. Tang, Yingzhe & Hu, Shuhong, 2024. "Merchant gang culture and financial slack: Empirical evidence from listed companies," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    24. Kinkel, Steffen & Capestro, Mauro & Di Maria, Eleonora & Bettiol, Marco, 2023. "Artificial intelligence and relocation of production activities: An empirical cross-national study," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 261(C).
    25. Ruomeng Cui & Meng Li & Qiang Li, 2020. "Value of High-Quality Logistics: Evidence from a Clash Between SF Express and Alibaba," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 66(9), pages 3879-3902, September.
    26. Yang, Qin & Du, Qiang & Razzaq, Asif & Shang, Yunfeng, 2022. "How volatility in green financing, clean energy, and green economic practices derive sustainable performance through ESG indicators? A sectoral study of G7 countries," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    27. Zhou, Dan & Yan, Tingting & Zhao, Lilong & Guo, Jingjing, 2020. "Performance implications of servitization: Does a Manufacturer's service supply network matter?," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 219(C), pages 31-42.
    28. Sunil Mithas & Zhi‐Long Chen & Terence J.V. Saldanha & Alysson De Oliveira Silveira, 2022. "How will artificial intelligence and Industry 4.0 emerging technologies transform operations management?," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 31(12), pages 4475-4487, December.
    29. Martinez, Veronica & Neely, Andy & Velu, Chander & Leinster-Evans, Stewart & Bisessar, Dav, 2017. "Exploring the journey to services," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 192(C), pages 66-80.
    30. Paul, Sanjoy Kumar & Chowdhury, Priyabrata & Moktadir, Md. Abdul & Lau, Kwok Hung, 2021. "Supply chain recovery challenges in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 316-329.
    31. Murty, Sushama & Robert Russell, R. & Levkoff, Steven B., 2012. "On modeling pollution-generating technologies," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 64(1), pages 117-135.
    32. Kumar, Mukesh & Raut, Rakesh D. & Mangla, Sachin Kumar & Chowdhury, Soumyadeb & Choubey, Vikas Kumar, 2024. "Moderating ESG compliance between industry 4.0 and green practices with green servitization: Examining its impact on green supply chain performance," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    33. Qian Chen & Yumeng Wang & Yeming Gong & Shan Liu, 2023. "Ripping off regular consumers? The antecedents and consequences of consumers’ perceptions of e-commerce platforms’ digital power abuse," Post-Print hal-04339460, HAL.
    34. Shah, Syed Aamir Ali & Jajja, Muhammad Shakeel Sadiq & Chatha, Kamran Ali & Farooq, Sami, 2020. "Servitization and supply chain integration: An empirical analysis," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 229(C).
    35. Färe, Rolf & Grosskopf, Shawna & Pasurka, Carl A., 2007. "Environmental production functions and environmental directional distance functions," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 32(7), pages 1055-1066.
    36. Omrani, Nessrine & Rivieccio, Giorgia & Fiore, Ugo & Schiavone, Francesco & Agreda, Sergio Garcia, 2022. "To trust or not to trust? An assessment of trust in AI-based systems: Concerns, ethics and contexts," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 181(C).
    37. Zhang, Bingbing & Yu, Lan & Sun, Chuanwang, 2022. "How does urban environmental legislation guide the green transition of enterprises? Based on the perspective of enterprises' green total factor productivity," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).
    38. Silva, Elvira & Lansink, Alfons Oude & Stefanou, Spiro E., 2015. "The adjustment-cost model of the firm: Duality and productive efficiency," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 245-256.
    39. (Daniel) Kao, Ta-Wei & Su, Hung-Chung & Chen, Yi-Su, 2019. "The curvilinear relationships between structural embeddedness and productive efficiency: An exploratory study," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 212(C), pages 176-185.
    40. Zhang, Dongyang, 2021. "Green credit regulation, induced R&D and green productivity: Revisiting the Porter Hypothesis," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    41. Loske, Dominic & Klumpp, Matthias, 2021. "Human-AI collaboration in route planning: An empirical efficiency-based analysis in retail logistics," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 241(C).
    42. Li, Zhenghui & Huang, Zimei & Su, Yaya, 2023. "New media environment, environmental regulation and corporate green technology innovation:Evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    43. Yang, Lisha & Ni, Mengying, 2022. "Is financial development beneficial to improve the efficiency of green development? Evidence from the “Belt and Road” countries," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Shucheng Nie & Guixia Wang, 2025. "The Impact of Government-Led Green Certification on Enterprise Green Transformation—Evidence from Green Factory Recognition," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(5), pages 1-20, March.
    2. Yuefeng Xie & Luman Zhao & Yabin Zhang & Zhenguo Wang, 2025. "How Do Robot Applications Affect Corporate Sustainability?—An Analysis Based on Environmental, Social, and Governance Performance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(5), pages 1-29, February.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Behrouz Arabi & Susila Munisamy Doraisamy & Ali Emrouznejad & Alireza Khoshroo, 2017. "Eco-efficiency measurement and material balance principle: an application in power plants Malmquist Luenberger Index," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 255(1), pages 221-239, August.
    2. Zhang, Junnan & Sun, Xiaohua & Yuan, Fang & Liu, Xiaoling, 2023. "Which type of servitization promotes firm performance: Embedded or hybrid?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    3. Atkinson, Scott E. & Tsionas, Mike G., 2021. "Generalized estimation of productivity with multiple bad outputs: The importance of materials balance constraints," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 292(3), pages 1165-1186.
    4. Jeanneaux, Philippe & Latruffe, Laure, 2016. "Modelling pollution-generating technologies in performance benchmarking: Recent developments, limits and future prospects in the nonparametric frameworkAuthor-Name: Dakpo, K. Hervé," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 250(2), pages 347-359.
    5. Alberto de la Calle & Inmaculada Freije & Aitor Oyarbide, 2021. "Digital Product–Service Innovation and Sustainability: A Multiple-Case Study in the Capital Goods Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-29, June.
    6. Silva, Elvira & Magalhães, Manuela, 2023. "Environmental efficiency, irreversibility and the shadow price of emissions," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 306(2), pages 955-967.
    7. Dai, Zhifeng & Zhu, Haoyang, 2024. "Climate policy uncertainty and urban green total factor productivity: Evidence from China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 96(PA).
    8. Jean-Philippe Boussemart & Hervé Leleu & Zhiyang Shen & Vivian Valdmanis, 2020. "Performance analysis for three pillars of sustainability," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 53(3), pages 305-320, June.
    9. Sehrish Atif, 2023. "Mapping circular economy principles and servitisation approach in business model canvas: an integrated literature review," Future Business Journal, Springer, vol. 9(1), pages 1-21, December.
    10. Hampf, Benjamin, 2015. "Estimating the materials balance condition: A stochastic frontier approach," Darmstadt Discussion Papers in Economics 226, Darmstadt University of Technology, Department of Law and Economics.
    11. Zhou, Dan & Yan, Tingting & Dai, Weiqi & Feng, Junzheng, 2021. "Disentangling the interactions within and between servitization and digitalization strategies: A service-dominant logic," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 238(C).
    12. Arnaud Abad & Paola Ravelojaona, 2021. "Pollution‐adjusted productivity analysis: The use of Malmquist and Luenberger productivity measures," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 42(3), pages 635-648, April.
    13. Ke Wang & Yujiao Xian & Chia-Yen Lee & Yi-Ming Wei & Zhimin Huang, 2019. "On selecting directions for directional distance functions in a non-parametric framework: a review," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 278(1), pages 43-76, July.
    14. Long, Xingle & Wu, Chao & Zhang, Jijian & Zhang, Jing, 2018. "Environmental efficiency for 192 thermal power plants in the Yangtze River Delta considering heterogeneity: A metafrontier directional slacks-based measure approach," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 82(P3), pages 3962-3971.
    15. Wang, Ke & Wei, Yi-Ming & Huang, Zhimin, 2018. "Environmental efficiency and abatement efficiency measurements of China's thermal power industry: A data envelopment analysis based materials balance approach," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 269(1), pages 35-50.
    16. Niu, Yiran & Boussemart, Jean-Philippe & Shen, Zhiyang & Vardanyan, Michael, 2024. "Performance evaluation using multi-stage production frameworks: Assessing the tradeoffs among the economic, environmental, and social well-being," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 318(3), pages 1000-1013.
    17. Lee, Chia-Yen, 2018. "Mixed-strategy Nash equilibrium in data envelopment analysis," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 266(3), pages 1013-1024.
    18. Dakpo, Hervé K & Jeanneaux, Philippe & Latruffe, Laure, 2014. "Inclusion of undesirable outputs in production technology modeling: The case of greenhouse gas emissions in French meat sheep farming," Working Papers 207806, Institut National de la recherche Agronomique (INRA), Departement Sciences Sociales, Agriculture et Alimentation, Espace et Environnement (SAE2).
    19. Ying Wang & Martin Agyemang & Fu Jia, 2021. "Resource Orchestration in Supply Chain Service-Based Business Model: The Case of a Cross-Border E-Commerce Company," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-24, October.
    20. Zhang, Zeyi & Luo, Xuehua & Du, Jiating & Xu, Baoliang, 2025. "Does green credit accelerate green transformation of heavily polluting enterprises?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:eneeco:v:139:y:2024:i:c:s0140988324005838. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/eneco .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.