IS Research Challenges and Needs for Service Networks: A Brazilian-German Perspective

Matzner Martin, Stein Armin, Stolze Carl, Voigt Matthias, Alexandrini Fábio

Abstract
We witness a transition from physical-goods-dominated toservice-dominated economies in these days. In industrialized economies,well-established manufacturers approach erce competition by extendingtheir o erings with purposeful services in the form of custom- t solutions.In emerging market economies, enterprises try to elevate their serviceo erings by integrating cutting-edge physical goods and third-partyservices. In both situations alike forging inter-organizational alliances inservice networks allows companies taping into complementary competencesand resources while remaining a focusing on the individual corecompetencies. This paper reports on the results of a workshop that washeld with the intention to identify particular research needs of servicenetworks in industrialized and emerging market economies towards theIS disciple taking Brazil and Germany as an example. Based on the resultsfrom our intensive discussions we were able to describe cornerstonesof a research agenda being suited to address the identi ed research needs.

Keywords
Service networks; Research agenda; BRIC