Evaluating Product Complexity of Value Added Services in Network Industries

This paper examines a metric for complexity measurement originating from the manufacturing industry based on (Schuh et al. 2008) and adopts it for Network Industries (e.g. Utility or Telecommunication) under consideration of their characteristics. The metric consists of four dimensions: multiplicity, variety, interaction and dynamics. Each dimension has been further objectified by identifying industry specific indicators. The preliminary results have been validated through discussion rounds with experts from an international telecommunication Consultancy. Based on the validated definition of the complexity metric 41 CSPs have been examined worldwide. The cases have been selected in order to cover the whole spectrum of CSPs in terms of size, region, product range and degree of state regulation. Based on the results of a cluster analysis, specific ranges in each complexity dimension could be linked to a complexity group. As a final outcome of this paper the authors present three complexity groups for Communication Service Providers. These results form the basis for transferring the results to the Utility Sector in order to evaluate Product Complexity of Value-Added Services.