Servitization in the Danish maritime business ecosystem

The purpose of this study was to research the servitization process in the Danish maritime business ecosystem. The study had an abductive approach and applied a qualitative method. Interviews were used as the main data collection method, and 130 respondents were interviewed. Analysis was based on three units of analysis; the business ecosystem, the Safety Equipment niche and a case firm within the niche. The study shows that servitization of the business ecosystem was a decade long process, and that the process was related to changes of business ecosystem leaders, value/cost logics, structures and networks. The study also illustrates that the Safety Equipment niche became characterized by fierce competition and that servitization of the ecosystem was realized by necessity rather than based on an interest on satisfying end customer needs. This paper therefore coin the term “Servitization by necessity”.