Customer Need Assessment for Differentiation in Building Information Modeling

Building Information Modeling – BIM is widely spreading in the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industries. Manufacturers of building elements are also starting to provide more and more objects of their products. The ideal availability and distribution for these models is not yet stabilized. Usual goal of a manufacturer is to get their model into design as early as possible. Finding the ways to satisfy customer needs with a superior service would help to achieve this goal. This study aims to seek what case company’s customers want out of the model and what they think is the ideal way to obtain these models and what are the desired functionalities for this service. This master’s thesis uses a modified version of lead user method to gain understanding of what the needs are in a longer term. In this framework also benchmarking of current solutions and their common model functions is done. Empirical data is collected with survey and interviews. As a result this thesis provides understanding that what is the information customer uses when obtaining a model, what kind of model is expected to be achieved and how is should the process optimally function. Based on these results ideal service is pointed out.

Value creation in project business relationships: Supplier and customer's perspectives

The purpose of this study is to analyze supplier’s value creation ability in project business in order to enhance customer’s business. In addition, the aim is to identify the role of business relationships in value creation and analyze the applicability of key account management in project business. The study considers value from the customer’s point of view. The concepts of value and value creation are widely discussed in marketing literature. Theory emphasizes the importance of value creation and business relationships in business markets. The empirical part of the study is conducted as a case study research. The empirical evidence is collected by interviewing one supplier organization and their three customer organizations. These companies operate in Finnish and global industrial markets. Data is collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed by using qualitative content analysis. The study identifies several customer value drivers influencing on the value creation, which can be divided into product, service and relationship elements. One of the recognized value drivers is customer-supplier relationship. The findings show that a closer relationship enhances value creation possibilities and the key account management program allows effective managing of business relationships. As managerial implications, suppliers should seek to create continuous and conversational relationships with the key account customers.

Visual Customer Segmentation and Data Exploration with the Self-Organizing Map

Advancements in information technology have made it possible for organizations to gather and store vast amounts of data of their customers. Information stored in databases can be highly valuable for organizations. However, analyzing large databases has proven to be difficult in practice. For companies in the retail industry, customer intelligence can be used to identify profitable customers, their characteristics, and behavior. By clustering customers into homogeneous groups, companies can more effectively manage their customer base and target profitable customer segments. This thesis will study the use of the self-organizing map (SOM) as a method for analyzing large customer datasets, clustering customers, and discovering information about customer behavior. Aim of the thesis is to find out whether the SOM could be a practical tool for retail companies to analyze their customer data.

Myyjien tietämyksen jakaminen organisaatiolle osana myyntiprosessia

Diplomityön tavoitteena on tutkia myyjien tietämyksen jakamista ja sen yhteyttä myyntiprosessiin. Tutkimus on toteutettu systemaattisena kirjallisuuskatsauksena. Työssä pyritään löytämään kirjallisuuden pohjalta yhteydet myyntiprosessin vaiheiden ja vaatimusten sekä myyjien tietämyksen jakamisen väliltä. Teoreettisena taustana esitellään myyntiprosessin kuvauksia, vaiheita ja haasteita yleisellä tasolla, jotta löydetään tehokkaan prosessin edellyttämät tekijät. Lisäksi tutkitaan tietämyksen vaikutusta myyntitehokkuuteen ja etsitään tietämyksen jakamiseen ja hyödyntämiseen vaikuttavia tekijöitä yleisesti ja myyntityöhön liittyen. Työn soveltavassa osuudessa tarkasteltiin tietämyksen kannalta tärkeitä myyntiprosessin vaiheita: asiakasvalinta, esivalmistelu, presentaatio ja neuvottelu sekä kaupan päättäminen. Jokaisessa vaiheessa todettiin olevan hyötyä myyjien tietämyksen jakamisesta. Läpikäydyn aineiston pohjalta tehtiin kaksi keskeistä huomiota. Ensinnäkin myyjien tietämyksen jakaminen on johdettavissa suoraan osaksi myyntiprosessia ja tietämyksellä on merkittävä rooli myyntityössä. Toiseksi myyntiprosessi ja myyjien tietämyksen jakaminen edellyttävät monia samoja asioita. Asiakas ja asiakkaan tarpeet ovat molemmissa keskiössä ja molempiin linkittyy henkilökuntaa yli osastorajojen. Tietoa on olemassa paljon joten on tärkeää suunnata resurssit oleelliseen. Tietotekniikan kehitys auttaa myyntitoiminnan jäsentämisessä ja tietämyksen jakamisessa, mutta on syytä pitää mielessä, että tietotekniikan rooli on tukitoiminto. Molemmat ovat turhia jos sovittuja pelisääntöjä ei noudateta. Lisäksi onnistunut implementointi edellyttää johdon sitoutumista ja riittävän laajaa henkilökunnan osallistamista.

Customer Knowledge Transfer in MNCs

The purpose of this Master’s thesis was to study customer knowledge transfer processes in multinational corporations (MNCs). The main objective was to examine how customer knowledge is transferred in MNCs and what kind of factors enhance or inhibit the knowledge transfer process, and to create a framework on the basis of the existing literature and the empirical findings. In this thesis the factors were organized according to whether they are properties of the unit involved in knowledge management, properties of relationships between the units or properties of the knowledge itself. There are various properties that influence knowledge transfer but in this thesis the focus was on examining the relevant findings from the customer knowledge viewpoint. Empirical results show that internal fragmentation in the MNC seems to be inherent in this type of organization, and may cause many problems in customer knowledge transfer and utilization. These knowledge transfer inhibitors rise from the organization’s properties: it’s absorptive capacity, motivation, organizational culture, and the two dimensions of knowledge. However, in spite of the inherent forces causing internal fragmentation and inhibiting knowledge transfer, moderate customer knowledge and expertise codification, cooperative working practices among the experts, and socialization mechanisms posed by the headquarters seem to help maintain customer knowledge transfer, and value creation in the long-term relationship. This value creation can be seen to be based on accessing and integrating a wide variety of knowledge resources in order to create a coherent product and service offering.

Power Electronic Converters in Low-Voltage Direct Current Distribution – Analysis and Implementation

Over the recent years, smart grids have received great public attention. Many proposed functionalities rely on power electronics, which play a key role in the smart grid, together with the communication network. However, “smartness” is not the driver that alone motivates the research towards distribution networks based on power electronics; the network vulnerability to natural hazards has resulted in tightening requirements for the supply security, set both by electricity end-users and authorities. Because of the favorable price development and advancements in the field, direct current (DC) distribution has become an attractive alternative for distribution networks. In this doctoral dissertation, power electronic converters for a low-voltage DC (LVDC) distribution system are investigated. These include the rectifier located at the beginning of the LVDC network and the customer-end inverter (CEI) on the customer premises. Rectifier topologies are introduced, and according to the LVDC system requirements, topologies are chosen for the analysis. Similarly, suitable CEI topologies are addressed and selected for study. Application of power electronics into electricity distribution poses some new challenges. Because the electricity end-user is supplied with the CEI, it is responsible for the end-user voltage quality, but it also has to be able to supply adequate current in all operating conditions, including a short-circuit, to ensure the electrical safety. Supplying short-circuit current with power electronics requires additional measures, and therefore, the short-circuit behavior is described and methods to overcome the high-current supply to the fault are proposed. Power electronic converters also produce common-mode (CM) and radio-frequency (RF) electromagnetic interferences (EMI), which are not present in AC distribution. Hence, their magnitudes are investigated. To enable comprehensive research on the LVDC distribution field, a research site was built into a public low-voltage distribution network. The implementation was a joint task by the LVDC research team of Lappeenranta University of Technology and a power company Suur-Savon S¨ahk¨o Oy. Now, the measurements could be conducted in an actual environment. This is important especially for the EMI studies. The main results of the work concern the short-circuit operation of the CEI and the EMI issues. The applicability of the power electronic converters to electricity distribution is demonstrated, and suggestions for future research are proposed.

CRM system implementation supporting the management of customer relationships

The purpose of this thesis is to examine customer relationship management in a large, global organization. The aim is to deepen the understanding on how CRM-system implementation can support customer relationship management in strategic, operational and analytical levels.

ETO-Tuotekehitysprojektin suorituskyvyn mittaaminen

Tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli selvittää, mitä suorituskyvyn osa-alueita ETO (Engineer To Order) – tyyppinen tuotekehitysprojekti pitää sisällään, ja mitkä niistä ovat projektin onnistumisen kannalta tärkeimpiä, eli niin sanottuja menestystekijöitä. Edelleen näiden tunnistettujen menestystekijöiden pohjalta oli tavoitteena kehittää suorituskyvyn mittausmalli, jonka avulla voisi arvioida ja ohjata projektin ja projektinhallinnan suorituskykyä. Tärkeimmät suorituskyvyn näkökulmat tässä mallissa olivat projektin kannattavuuden -, asiakastyytyväisyyden - ja projektinhallinnan näkökulmat. Malli tehtiin rautatieliikenne toimialalla toimivalle yritykselle, joka asetti omat vaatimuksensa mallille. Tutkimus tehtiin kolmivaiheisesti. Ensimmäisessä vaiheessa tutustuttiin aiempiin tutkimuksiin, joiden pohjalta pyrittiin löytämään projektin menestystekijät, sekä näiden suorituskyvyn analysointiin toimiviksi todetut mittausmenetelmät. Ensimmäisessä vaiheessa tutustuttiin myös alaa ohjaaviin standardeihin, ja niiden asettamiin erityisvaatimuksiin projektien suorituskyvyn mittaukselle. Tutkimuksen toinen vaihe oli tapaustutkimus kohdeyrityksen sisäiselle projektiorganisaatiolle, joka toteutettiin survey-kyselynä. Kyselyn avulla pyrittiin löytämään ne menestystekijät, jotka projektiorganisaation itsensä mielestä olivat kaikkein tärkeimpiä projektin onnistumisen kannalta. Kyselyllä pyrittiin myös selvittämään sidosryhmien välisiä näkemyseroja projektin menestystekijöistä. Kysymykset muodostettiin synteesinä tutkimuksen ensimmäisessä vaiheessa löydetyistä menestystekijöistä ja standardien vaatimista pakollisista mitattavista tekijöistä. Tärkeimmäksi menestystekijäksi kyselyssä nousi projektipäällikön kompetenssi. Kyselyssä vastaajilta kysyttiin myös sitä, minkä menestystekijöiden suorituskykyä heidän mielestään tulisi mitata. Tärkeimmäksi mitattavaksi osa-alueeksi nousi aikataulun tarkka seuranta. Kolmannessa vaiheessa näiden kohdeyrityksen menestystekijöiden pohjalta luotiin mittausmalli, joka pyrkii mittaamaan projektin ja projektinhallinnan suorituskykyä tasapainoisesti valituista näkökulmista. Malli ottaa huomioon erityisesti projektinhallinnan suorituskyvyn vaikutuksen projektin lopputuotteena syntyvien hyödykkeiden laatuun. Kohdeyrityksen kokonaissuorituskyvyn kannalta on erittäin tärkeää parantaa projektien suorituskykyä, johon projektien suorituskyvyn mittaaminen on ratkaisu. Standardien asettamat vaatimukset antavat hyvät lähtökohdat kokonaisvaltaisen mittausjärjestelmän luomiselle.

Model to Build a Service Quality Centric Customer Reference Portfolio in a Software as a Service Company

The goal of the master’s thesis was to develop a model to build a service quality centric customer reference portfolio for a software as a service company. The case company is Meltwater Finland Oy that leverages customer references externally but there is no systematic model to produce good quality customer references that are in line with the company strategy. The project was carried out as a case study, where the primary source of information were seventeen internal interviews with the employees of the case company. The theory part focuses on customer references as assets and service quality in software as a service industry. In the empirical part the research problem is solved. As a result of the case study, the model to build a service quality centric customer reference portfolio was created and further research areas were suggested.

Customer Value Creation in Born Global Companies

The purpose of this master's thesis is to study customer value creation in born global companies. The main objective is to identify the types of value enabling customer value creation in born global companies, and to establish their relative importance. After an introduction to the born global academic literature and the customer value creation literature, the empirical part consists of a multiple case study, examining the state of customer value creation in the case companies, along with the subsequent analysis. The results of this research indicate that high-tech born global companies perceive customer value creation as a crucial function of their operations, but their value creation thinking is often one-dimensional. Technology based born globals often place high value on the product and the technology behind it, mainly striving to incorporate performance- and relationship value in their value offerings, but they're unable to utilize their opportunity creation to the fullest, and they lag behind their more established competitors that are able to diversify their value offerings.

Finding Methods for Recognizing and Classifying Spare Part Criticality – Case Full Deposit Stripping Machines

The aim of this Master’s thesis is to find a method for classifying spare part criticality in the case company. Several approaches exist for criticality classification of spare parts. The practical problem in this thesis is the lack of a generic analysis method for classifying spare parts of proprietary equipment of the case company. In order to find a classification method, a literature review of various analysis methods is required. The requirements of the case company also have to be recognized. This is achieved by consulting professionals in the company. The literature review states that the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) combined with decision tree models is a common method for classifying spare parts in academic literature. Most of the literature discusses spare part criticality in stock holding perspective. This is relevant perspective also for a customer orientated original equipment manufacturer (OEM), as the case company. A decision tree model is developed for classifying spare parts. The decision tree classifies spare parts into five criticality classes according to five criteria. The criteria are: safety risk, availability risk, functional criticality, predictability of failure and probability of failure. The criticality classes describe the level of criticality from non-critical to highly critical. The method is verified for classifying spare parts of a full deposit stripping machine. The classification can be utilized as a generic model for recognizing critical spare parts of other similar equipment, according to which spare part recommendations can be created. Purchase price of an item and equipment criticality were found to have no effect on spare part criticality in this context. Decision tree is recognized as the most suitable method for classifying spare part criticality in the company.

Customer Discovery and Customer Validation in Lean Software Startups

The traditional business models and the traditionally successful development methods that have been distinctive to the industrial era, do not satisfy the needs of modern IT companies. Due to the rapid nature of IT markets, the uncertainty of new innovations‟ success and the overwhelming competition with established companies, startups need to make quick decisions and eliminate wasted resources more effectively than ever before. There is a need for an empirical basis on which to build business models, as well as evaluate the presumptions regarding value and profit. Less than ten years ago, the Lean software development principles and practices became widely well-known in the academic circles. Those practices help startup entrepreneurs to validate their learning, test their assumptions and be more and more dynamical and flexible. What is special about today‟s software startups is that they are increasingly individual. There are quantitative research studies available regarding the details of Lean startups. Broad research with hundreds of companies presented in a few charts is informative, but a detailed study of fewer examples gives an insight to the way software entrepreneurs see Lean startup philosophy and how they describe it in their own words. This thesis focuses on Lean software startups‟ early phases, namely Customer Discovery (discovering a valuable solution to a real problem) and Customer Validation (being in a good market with a product which satisfies that market). The thesis first offers a sufficiently compact insight into the Lean software startup concept to a reader who is not previously familiar with the term. The Lean startup philosophy is then put into a real-life test, based on interviews with four Finnish Lean software startup entrepreneurs. The interviews reveal 1) whether the Lean startup philosophy is actually valuable for them, 2) how can the theory be practically implemented in real life and 3) does theoretical Lean startup knowledge compensate a lack of entrepreneurship experience. A reader gets familiar with the key elements and tools of Lean startups, as well as their mutual connections. The thesis explains why Lean startups waste less time and money than many other startups. The thesis, especially its research sections, aims at providing data and analysis simultaneously.