我国制造企业“服务增强”的实证研究及政策建议

An Empirical Study on Service-enhancement in China's Manufacturing Sectors and Policy Implications

通过"服务"增强制造企业竞争力已成为全球化竞争和知识经济背景下我国制造企业的重要战略选择。本文研究我国制造企业服务增强的背景、概念、特征、机理和对策。在界定"制造企业服务增强"概念的基础上,本文提出并阐述了国内制造企业服务增强的"质量弥补"特征;随后基于调查问卷数据,对基于要素替代的质量弥补以及服务差异化竞争对绩效的影响展开实证研究;最后,指出国内制造业服务增强存在的不足和问题,提出对策建议。本文对企业管理实践者和政策制定者都有较强的启发意义。

Manufacturing firms have been carrying out service competition to add values to products and increase product competitiveness.An increasing number of scholars in developed countries are proposing concepts,such as ＂service-enhanced product＂,＂service-enhanced manufacturing＂,and ＂new manufacturing.＂ In the face of global competition and knowledge economy,Chinese manufacturers begin considering adopting service-related strategies to improve their competence. This paper investigates the impact of services on a firm＇s competence from the perspectives of strategy and innovation management.Firstly,we define ＂service enhancement of manufacturing＂ concepts and discuss different forms of services.Secondly,we discuss ＂quality compensation＂ traits based on the factor substitution.Thirdly,we conduct two empirical studies to test our proposed hypotheses on ＇factor substitution＇ and the impact of service competition on firm performance.Finally,the study gives implications and suggestions on policy making. Firstly,the definition of service-enhancement of manufacturing emphasizes on the firm level,and the combination of marketing and strategy planning,which includes the methods,procedures and the results of reaching the final goal.The service-enhancement of manufacturing is a process,in which manufacturing firms employ technologies and marketing methods based on strategic planning to meet customer demands,to provide product-related services and strengthen a firm＇s competitiveness.Next,this article proposes that the essence of service-enhancement competition is to compensate the lacking of product quality for service quality,which can be seen as a low-end service-enhancement activity,especially in short term.We sent out 1089 surveys and 209 of them were returned,with a return rate of 19.2%.The study shows that the service-based differentiation competition will have positive effect on a firm＇s competence.Another finding is that large enterprises are more oriented to adopting service competition.Most small-and medium-sized enterprises face the challenge of service competition because they lack resource and capability.Moreover,product types can affect service competition for manufacturers.Compared to customer-facing enterprises,industrial enterprises are more likely to adopt the service-based differentiation strategy. To sum up,firms should try to adopt the service-based differentiation strategy to meet diverse and personalized needs of customers in order to improve a firm＇s performance and competence.In addition,firms should continuously improve their understanding of customer demand,and analyze niche markets in order to become a leader in the service-based differentiation competition.Finally,firms should adjust their current resources in order to minimize coordination costs and improve the operational efficiency of engaging in the service-based differentiation competition.