Acquisition target selection of a serial acquirer : case KONE Oyj

Acquisitions are a way for a company to grow, enter new geographical areas, buy out competition or diversify. Acquisitions have recently grown in both size and value. Despite of this, only approximately 25 percent of acquisitions reach their targets and goals. Companies making serial acquisitions seem to be exceptionally successful and succeed in the majority of their acquisitions. The main research question this study aims to answer is: “What issues impact the selection of acquired companies from the point of view of a serial acquirer? The main research question is answered through three sub questions: “What is a buying process for a serial acquirer like?”, “What are the motives for a serial acquirer to buy companies?” and “What is the connection between company strategy and serial acquisitions?”. The case company KONE is a globally operating company which mainly produces and maintains elevators and escalators. Its headquarter is located in Helsinki, Finland. The company has a long history of making acquisitions and does 20- 30 acquisitions a year. By a key person interview, the acquisition process of the case company is compared with the literature about successful serial acquirers. The acquisition motives in this case are reflected upon three of the acquisition motive theories by Trautwein: efficiency theory, monopoly theory and valuation theory. The linkage between serial acquisitions and company strategy is studied through the key person interview. The main research findings are that the acquisition process of KONE is compatible with a successful acquisition process recognized in literature (RAID). This study confirms the efficiency theory as an acquisition motive and more closely the operational synergies. The monopoly theory can only vaguely be supported by this study, but cannot be totally rejected because of the structure of the industry. The valuation theory does not get any support in this study and can therefore be rejected. The linkage between company strategy and serial acquisitions is obvious and making acquisitions can be seen as growth strategy and a part of other company strategies.

Local Embeddedness and Knowledge Acquisition and How They Affect Finnish Business Operations in Russia

This pilot project aims examine the factors of the Finnish subsidiaries local embeddedness, their knowledge creation capabilities and the transfer mechanisms of new practices in the context of the Russian market. The research is designed as a multiple case study conducted with a qualitative approach. The empirical data consists of the interviews of the four Finnish case companies operating in the Kaluga region and three local partner companies. The deductive and inductive approaches were employed to conduct the analysis of the data. The propositions for the future study were developed in the conclusive chapters of the research, where we propose that the factor of the economy growth and industrialization matters in terms of subsidiaries’ role dedication, their knowledge creation capabilities, and direction of the knowledge flow within the local environment.

Viilunkuivaajan tuotantotehokkuuden kehittäminen

Mekaanisen metsäteollisuuden tuotteiden kiristyvä globaali kilpailu ja jatkuva kustannusten kasvaminen kiristyvillä markkinoilla aiheuttavat jatkuvaa tuotannon tehostamisen tarvetta. Käyntiaikojen maksimoinnilla ja tuotantokoneiden käyttöasteen nostamisella haetaan hintaetua sekä toimituskapasiteetin maksimointia kilpailussa asiakkaista myös tulevaisuutta silmälläpitäen. Vanerin tuotantoprosessiin osaprosessina kuuluva viilun kuivaus on tehtaan tuotannon pullonkaula. Kuivauskoneen tuotannollisten häiriöiden syiden selvittämisillä ja käyntiajan lisäämisellä on suora tuotannollinen vaikutus. Tutkimuksessa löydettiin mahdollisia parannuskohteita tuotantolaitteisiin. Käsiteltävän aiheen ollessa aiemmin kirjallisuudessa käsittelemätön, jouduttiin kehitys- ja parannustoimenpiteissä tekemään suoraviivaisia syy- ja seuraussuhteisiin perustuvia ratkaisuja. Vaihtoehdoista etsittiin toiminnaltaan mahdollisimman yksinkertaisia sekä hankinta- ja käyttökustannuksiltaan kustannustehokkaita ratkaisuja.

Tietojohtaminen projektissa: hankevastaavan ja projektipäällikön näkökulmia

Tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli selvittää miten tietojohtamisen eri osatekijät näkyvät projektin läpiviemisen aikana. Teoreettinen viitekehys kokoaa projektijohtamisen osatekijät ja tietojohtamisen kolme pääelementtiä (tiedon hankinta, tiedon säilyttäminen ja tiedon siirto) yhteen projektin elinkaaren ympärille. Tutkimus toteutettiin laadullisena tutkimuksena, jonka empiirinen osuus suoritettiin haastattelemalla projektin asiakkaan vastuuhenkilöitä sekä toimittajan vastuuhenkilöitä yksi kerrallaan. Näiden lisäksi suoritettiin ryhmähaastattelu kohderyhmän portfoliohallitsijoiden kesken. Empiriasta saadut tulokset mallinnettiin viitekehyksen mukaisesti tietojohtamisen pääelementeille. Tiedon hankinnassa projektijohtamisen kentästä korostui sidosryhmät ja riskit, tiedon säilyttämisessä korostui integrointi ja viestintä sekä tiedon siirtämisessä korostui aika ja HR. Projektin aikana luodun ja hankitun osaamisen ja oppien säilyttäminen koettiin haastateltavien mukaan tietojohtamisen osatekijöistä haastavimmaksi. Alatutkimuskysymyksenä selvitetyt esteet ja hidasteet tietojohtamisen menetelmille kulminoituivat haastatteluissa prosesseihin, vastuisiin ja systemaattisuuden puuttumiseen. Haastatteluiden ja kirjallisuustutkimuksen tuloksena tehtiin kohdeyritykseen suosituksia tietojohtamisen elementtien hyödyntämisessä projekteissa.

Integrating the export distribution channels after an acquisition

This thesis is based on studying integration synergies in a merger or acquisition situation with the interest in distribution channel integration. M&As seem to be forever popular and nowadays companies often use them as a certain kind of strategy to develop their business. M&As have attracted research for decades and also distribution in M&As has been found interesting. Moreover, research often concentrates to the horizontal M&A´s potential synergies that emerge in the integration process and so is the case also in this study as the core issue is to study the integration of the distribution channels and its potential synergies. This study concentrates on a single case, an acquisition which took place in 2011. The case consists of two Finnish companies operating in the same business field. Both of the companies are very export orientated, which gives this study its export view. As the companies operate in the same field this acquisition falls into the categorization of horizontal acquisition. The objective of the thesis is to study how the export channels could be integrated after an acquisition? This research question is divided again to three sub-questions asking how the distribution channels of the acquirer and acquired company are organized, what is pursued by the post-acquisition distribution channel integration and what are the integration challenges especially from the logistics point-of-view. The framework was built from the basis of the literature used in this thesis. The framework combines M&A process and distribution channels to a one united model which presents the progress of this thesis. The study was carried out as a qualitative research and as a holistic single case study. The data used in the research includes two interviews, other material from the case companies and also material of the companies collected by the author independently from different sources. There were many motives for the acquisition as usual. From the research results one can find that the integration process is still very ongoing and the synergies have not yet been fully discovered but also they are there to be found. The concentration of the research was in the export distribution which proved to be meaningful since the exports markets of the case companies were found to be quite complementary. The research results brought up also other issues concerning the post-acquisition integration process rather than the distribution channels and export. M&As are always a risky business. The final result can never be predicted. No matter how good the merging companies look on paper the practice is not the same. The acquisition process of this case has not ended yet and there lies potential synergy benefits to be discovered if enough effort is used to go through the process right.

Benefits of sales force automation to salespeople and to their customers in business-to-business markets

This study applied qualitative case study method for solving what kind of benefits salespeople and their customers perceived to gain when sales reps used a specific sales force automation tool, that defined the values and identified segment that best fit to each customer. The data consisting of four interviews was collected using semi-structured individual method and analyzed with thematic analysis technique. The analysis revealed five salespeople perceived benefits and four customer perceived benefits. Salespeople perceived benefits were improvements in customer knowledge, guidance of sales operations, salesperson-customer relationship building, time management and growing performance. Customer perceived benefits were information transmission, improved customer service, customer-salesperson relationship building and development of operations, which of the last was found as a new previously unrecognized customer benefit.

Two point deterministic model for acquisition of in vitro pollen grain androgenetic capacity based on wheat studies

This article discusses, from the standpoint of cellular biology, the deterministic and indeterministic androgenesis theories. The role of the vacuole and of various types of stresses on deviation of the microspore from normal development and the point where androgenetic competence is acquired are examined. Based on extensive literature review and data on wheat studies from our laboratory, a model for androgenetic capacity of pollen grain is proposed. A two point deterministic model for in vitro androgenesis is our proposal for acquisition of androgenetic potential of the pollen grain: the first switch point would be early meiosis and the second switch point the uninucleate pollen stage, because the elimination of cytoplasmatic sporophytic determinants takes place at those two strategic moments. Any abnormality in this process allowing the maintenance of sporophytic informational molecules results in the absence of establishment of a gametophytic program, allowing the reactivation of the embryogenic process

Co-creating value with customers as a new approach of entering new market

Global trends associated with development of information technology, globalization, industrial and economic changes are influencing on company and customer domains and thus transforming company-customer relationship. The company centric paradigm with a strong product focus shifts to a customer oriented one with a strong emphasis on customer collaboration. As a result, the customer role changes from a passive observer to an active player. Moreover, global trends contribute to transformation of competitive environment making it tougher and simplifying an access to resources previously considered as unique. All that factors push the companies towards cooperation with customers in order to identify unarticulated needs and finding the best possible solution to existing customer problems. The Master’s Thesis is done for Outotec (Lappeenranta) which considers extension of dewatering business in Russian coal market. Research aims to identify key features of coal preparation and dewatering of fine coal and tailings in Russian preparation plants; analyze the state of Russian coal market and evaluate market potential for Outotec dewatering solutions. The study has a qualitative nature and implements an action research methodology that involves both creation of knowledge and introduction of changes into the system. The base for taking actions is formed by theoretical framework that targets on describing company - customer interaction and has selected co-creation as the most appropriate method of customer involvement. The integration of co-creation approach into an action research cycle allows not only fulfilling the research objectives but also facilitates organizational learning and intraorganizational collaboration, assists in establishing customer contacts and making the first steps into the market, bringing new joint projects to the company and opening real business opportunities.

Customer´s perceptions of value during the lifecycle of concentrate filtration

The objective of this study was to examine how customers purchase complex industrial solutions in mining industry, and what kind of value they perceive during different phases of the solution life cycle. In addition, a systematic method for understanding customer value was developed, which can be applied for other company’s offerings as well. The method includes step-by-step instructions for 1) the collection of customer value data and 2) implementation of the findings. The theoretical part of the study focuses on solution and customer value literature in business-to-business markets. In this study qualitative embedded multiple-case study was used as a research method. The primary data was collected through in-depth interviews in two market areas and by participating in customer meetings as an external observer. The results show that there are two ways of buying solutions that needs to be treated individually. Customers prefer to buy solutions from engineering companies as they think that suppliers still need to work on their solution capabilities. Therefore, Outotec should focus more on marketing itself as a solution provider. Customers buy solutions that create the most value with the lowest risk and they need to be supported throughout the solution lifecycle. References that demonstrate previous experience are the most effective way to reduce customers’ risk. However, the customer-perceived values and challenges differ between the market areas, and thus, suppliers should have divergent strategies for specific market areas.

Value perceptions of measurement and monitoring system customers

The value that the customer perceives from a supplier’s offering, impacts customer’s decision making and willingness to pay at the time of the purchase, and the overall satisfaction. Thus, for a business supplier, it is critical to understand their customers’ value perceptions. The objective of this thesis is to understand what measurement and monitoring system customers value, by examining their key purchasing criteria and perceived benefits. Theoretical part of this study consists on reviewing relevant literature on organizational buying behavior and customer perceived value. This study employs a qualitative interview research method. The empirical part of this research consisted of conducting 20 in-depth interviews with life science customers in USA and in Europe. Quality and technical features are the most important purchasing criteria, while product-related benefits seem to be the most important perceived benefits. At the marketing of the system, the emphasis should be at which regulations the system complies with, references of supplier’s prior experience, the reliability and usability of the system, and total costs. The benefits that should be emphasized are the better control of customer’s process, and the proof of customer’s product quality

Purchasing Process of Industrial Solutions – Added Value, Difficulties and Good Practices

Purpose of this study is to clarify the industrial solutions purchasing process from purchaser companies’ point of view. Also customer’s view on value generating aspects and difficulties in purchases will be discussed as well as different purchas-ing entities where customers have ended up in their solution purchases. Current solution literature is mainly concentrated in supplier views and customer perspec-tive has been left without adequate attention. However, knowledge of the customer and the identification of customer need are at the core of a successful solution business. The focus of this thesis is on Finnish companies’ solution purchases that have been realized during last five years. Industrial solutions in this case are facto-ries or other large industrial plants. Industrial solutions’ purchasing process will be opened all the way from discovering the need until the start-up of the plant. Of in-terest is the customer experience of the success of the acquisition and the pur-chaser’s view on good practices allowing a successful procurement project.