A Study on the Determinants of the Service-Oriented Transformation of Manufacturing Enterprises

As global manufacturing pursues green and low-carbon transitions, servitization offers a critical pathway for firms to advance sustainability goals. Yet the “servitization paradox” persists, dampening firms’ willingness and capacity to adopt service-oriented strategies, while existing research offers limited explanations for why some transformations succeed and others fail. Drawing on embeddedness theory, this study applies fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to a sample of 110 A-share listed servitization demonstration manufacturers in China (2015–2022). It systematically investigates how configurations of cognitive, relational, and environmental embeddedness jointly drive servitization outcomes. The findings reveal the following. (1) The service-oriented transformation of manufacturing enterprises is the result of the synergistic interaction of multiple antecedent conditions, with relational embeddedness playing a core driving role in SSP and strategic flexibility playing a core driving role in SSC. (2) There are multiple equivalent pathways for the service-oriented transformation of manufacturing enterprises; the three configuration pathways for high SSP are innovation-driven gap filling–flexible supply chain collaboration, competition-led–product–customer coupling, and institutional backstop–relationship embedded compensation. The three pathways for high SSC are: low supply dependency–autonomous flexibility, institutional guidance–flexible compensation, and innovative customer lock-in–loose market empowerment. This study enhances the understanding of service transformation in manufacturing enterprises and provides theoretical guidance and decision-making references for enterprises to select service transformation pathways tailored to their specific circumstances.