Carrefour -Which Way to Go

Consider that any manufacturer could incorporate (bring inside) any service endeavor and add that service to it's portfolio, either for internal use or for sale. Alternatively, another manufacturing model is to outsource all work efforts to design and build product where ultimately the holding company merely owns the rights and the profits of the venture. The manufacturing model must provide a horizontal spectrum of work efforts in support of the product-life-cycle within the company community. 

Conversely, service organizations focus on specific resources and / or talent (human resource and capital resources). This is true whether you are considering packaging and shipment, consulting professionals, the medical industry, or financial services. All these service industries have people and resources to provide the service. In this sense, the model is more vertical generally providing more diverse services to a broader community.

So how do you compare strategy? I would suggest that the prime objective of the manufacture is to provide a cost effective quality product that exceeds the expectations of the consumer. 

For the service provider, the prime objective is to provide a cost effective quality service that (again) exceeds the expectations of the consumer. 

So what is the difference? As they say the Devil is in the details. The manufacturer must make numerous choices that ultimately define a version of the product. The Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are product centric. As such, they must consider the whole which ultimately leads to the profits versus quality dilemma. Note that it is common to base bonuses on company (product) performance. 

The service provider with the vertical strategy can focus KPIs on service specific performance. This would imply greater flexibilities, opportunities, and more lucrative compensation for individual performance. 

In the end, both strategies are more similar than different. But the differences lie within the...