Toward integration of products and services: Taxonomy and typology

Abstract

Integration of products and services has been receiving increased attention from both practice and academia, but there is no common systematic framework that can accommodate various concepts. In response, this paper first defines an umbrella term, "integrated product-service" (IPS), that encompasses all related concepts. An extensive literature review is conducted, allowing the production of a taxonomy of IPS, called the IPS dichotomy. As a typology of IPS, the IPS cube, comprising eight cells, is also proposed along with practical examples. This paper is expected to lay a foundation for further advances in the field of integration of products and services. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.