Stakeholders in product-service systems: a preliminary analysis of the literature

Purpose – The main challenges for adopting product-service systems (PSS) include defining the needs, engagement, collaboration, and the satisfaction of different stakeholders involved in the PSS life cycle. In this context, the following questions were raised in the study: what are the roles of stakeholders? what barriers exist that prevent stakeholders from collaborating and how can they be overcome? The aim of this study is then to answer these questions through a literature review. Design/methodology/approach – A systematic literature review was carried out focusing on the role of the different stakeholders through the lifecycle of product-service systems, the barriers preventing them from collaborating, and the practices used to overcome them, based on methods which combine bibliometric analyses as well as a content analysis. Findings – The results show that this subject continues to be relatively unexplored in the product-service system literature which contributes to the formation of a fragmented view of the role of the stakeholders and how the success of the systems is linked to this. Originality/value – This work identifies the main stakeholders and their roles, the main barriers to collaboration, and suggests some practices to avoid or mitigate them. Keywords - Product-Service System; Stakeholders; Literature Review.