Adoption and Usability of Online Pharmacies for Purchasing Prescription Medicines

The study examines customers’ perceptions of purchasing prescription medicine from online pharmacies. The main purpose is to find determinants affecting the adoption of online pharmacies, and to consider the role of usability in the adoption process. The theoretical part of the paper provides the overlook on adoption constructs and their relations. In addition, usability factors used in prior studies are presented, as well as how they have been connected to IS adoption research. The specialties of Finnish pharmacy business and the requirements set to online pharmacies are also discussed. The empirical part of the study is conducted with the qualitative approach. Four respondents were interviewed and observed while they tried online pharmacies. The data gathered indicates respondents’ initial beliefs toward the service, perceptions of the usability, and the changes in the perceptions and beliefs after using online pharmacies. The results indicate that usability factors and adoption determinants are interrelated. Usability influences perceived ease of use, which affects both perceived usefulness and behavioral intention. Regulations restrict the design of online pharmacies, which has affect on the both the perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness, and thus the whole adoption process.

Organisational purchasing of service design – Agency and client perspectives

There has been an increase in the interest in service design, as companies have become more customer-centric and their focus has shifted to customer experiences. The actual organisational purchasing of service design has been given little attention, until recent years. The purpose of this study is to explore the purchasing of service design from the perspectives of sellers (service design agencies) and buying clients (business organisations). In order to understand the phenomenon, also agencies and clients’ approaches to service design discipline, purchasing processes, challenges related to purchasing and ways of facilitating the purchasing are explored. The research follows qualitative research method and utilises abductive reasoning. A proposition framework was formed by combining services marketing, design and organisational buying behaviour literatures, and was tested against real-life business cases. Empirical data was gathered by interviewing eight service design agency representatives and five client representatives in Finland. The results of semi-structural interviews were analysed by finding repetitive themes. The proposition framework was updated according to interview findings. There were both similarities and differences in service design agencies and clients’ approaches to service design. Service design represents a strategic activity to both parties, and it helps in clients’ business development and in discovering opportunities. It is an ideology; a way of thinking and working. The driving force for purchasing service design seemed to be something else than service design itself. Projects have been bought for 1) change and innovation related development, 2) channel related development or for 3) customer experience related development. Seven purchasing challenge themes were recognised: 1) poor or differing service design understanding, 2) selling of service design, 3) varying expectations, 4) difficulty of pre-evaluation, 5) buyers and buying companies, 6) project process and nature and 7) unclear project results. These all can be considered to cause challenges in organisational service design purchasing. Challenges can be caused by either participant, the agency or the client, and take place at any point of the purchasing process. Some of the challenges could be considered as barriers to purchasing or they play a role in an unsuccessful service project – and therefore, result in an unsuccessful organisational purchase. Purchasing could be facilitated in various ways by either participant; some ways are more attitude based, others actionable improvements. Thesis’s theoretical and managerial findings can be utilised to both improve the selling and purchasing of service design services.

Social media in the purchasing of knowledge-intensive business services

The purpose of this thesis was to understand how industrial buyers utilize social media in the purchasing of knowledge-intensive business services. By combining theories from past research a theoretical framework was formed to visualize the role of the social media at the different stages of the purchasing process. The subject was approached from the industrial buyers’ perspective instead of the knowledge-intensive business firm. The research was conducted using two qualitative research methods: interviews and netnography. The selected interviewees have been involved in the decision-making unit for purchasing knowledge-intensive business services. Additionally all of them are using various social media. Based on the interviews social media is used merely to support decision-making. Some of the interviewees had also shared their own experiences about the service and collaboration with the service provider with other social media users. Based on the interviews two social media were chosen for closer examination. The findings from netnography support the results from the interviews. The outcome of knowledgeintensive business services is dependable of the professionals. Therefore the information is used during decision-making process to confirm the formed image of the service, and the professionals of the service provider. Information obtained from social media complements information provided by the supplier. Even though the interviewees had not themselves used social media to find information about the service during search process, finding from netnography suggest it to exist. Industrial buyers ask other users’ opinions and experience about the services, and receive recommendations to them. Some recommendations are given publicly, but more discreet information is shared in private conversations. Observations in social media show that industrial buyers might be exposed to triggers to promote problem recognition as well. Companies share news and successful customer cases through their social media profiles, which might affect the industrial buyers, but to confirm this requires further research. The industrial buyers’ use of social media during different purchasing processes of knowledgeintensive business services can be conceptualize based on the findings. This helps companies to create right content to their social media pages, and encourage professionals to develop their networks in social media.

Improving purchasing process for small purchases at a manufacturing company in chemical industry

This thesis was conducted on assignment by a multinational chemical corporation as a case study. The purpose of this study is to find ways to improve the purchasing process for small purchases at the case company. The improvements looked after are mainly cost and time savings. Purchasing process is the process that starts from the requisition of goods or services and ends when the invoice is paid. In this thesis the purchases with value less than 1000€ are considered to be small. The theoretical framework of the thesis consists of general theoretical view of costs and performance of the purchasing process, different types of purchasing processes and a model for improving purchasing processes. The categorization to small and large purchases is the most important followed by the division between direct and indirect purchases. Also models that provide more strategic perspective for categorization were found to be useful. Auditing and managerial control are important parts of the purchasing process. When considering the transaction costs of purchasing from the costs–benefits perspective large and small purchases should not have the same processes. Purchasing cards, e-procurement and vendor managed inventory are seen as an alternative to the traditional purchasing process. The empirical data collection was done by interviewing the company employees that take part of the purchasing process in their daily work. The interviews had open-ended questions and the answers were coded and analyzed. The results consist of process description and assessment as well as suggestions for potential improvements. At the case company the basic purchasing process was similar to the traditional purchasing process that is entirely done with computers and online. For some categories there was already more sophisticated e-procurement solutions in use. To improve the current e-procurement based solutions elimination of authorization workflow and better information exchange can be seen as potential improvements for most of the case purchases. Purchasing cards and a lightweight form of vendor managed inventory can be seen as potential improvements for some categories. Implementing the changes incurs at least some cost and the benefits might be hard to measure. This thesis has revealed that the small purchases have potential for significant cost and time savings at the case company.

Unveiling the Influence of Consumer Wine Appreciation Dimension on Purchasing Behavior

Consumption values and different usage situations have received extensive interest from scholars; however, there is a lack of understanding regarding how these two constructs interact when it comes to the purchase decisions of consumers. This study examines the relationship between consumption values, consumption situations, and consumers’ purchasing decisions in terms of their willingness to pay and the purchase quantity. First of all, my model proposes that all four consumption values and different situations have a positive effect on consumers’ willingness to pay as well as the quantity they purchase. It also proposes that varying usage situations moderate the effect of consumption values on consumers’ purchasing decisions. In my conceptual model, I have also integrated the epistemic and conditional values where there is a gap in the existing literature. Prior literature has isolated the consumption values when studying how they affect consumer behavior and has not examined how consumption situations moderate the relationship between consumption values and purchasing decisions. Also, the existing literature has mostly focused on how consumption values affect purchase intentions, brand loyalty, or satisfaction, whereas my study focuses on purchasing decisions. For my study, the participants were randomly chosen from the general wine consumer population and the age range was between 20 and 75, which included 83 male respondents and 119 female respondents. The data received from my respondents support my hypotheses for the model. In my final chapter, I discuss the theoretical and managerial implications as well as suggestions for future research.

Significance Of Product Type And Brand In The Purchasing Behaviour Of Cattle Feeds: An Empirical Study In Kerala

Cattle feed industry is a major segment of animal feed industry. This industry is gradually evolving into an organized sector and the feed manufactures are increasingly using modern and sophisticated methods that seek to incorporate best global practices. This industry has got high potential for growth in India, given the fact that the country is the world’s leading producer of milk and its production is expected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 4 per cent. Besides, the concept of branded cattle feed as a packaged commodity is fast gaining popularity in rural India. There can be a positive change in the demand for cattle feed because of factors like (i) shrinkage of open land for cattle grazing, urbanization and resultant shortage of conventionally used cattle feeds, and (ii) introduction of high yield cattle requires specialized feeds. Earlier research studies done by the present authors have revealed the significant growth prospects of the branded cattle feed industry, the feed consumption pattern and the relatively high share of branded feeds, feed consumption pattern based on product types (like, pellet and mash), composition of cattle feed market and the relatively large shares of Kerala Feeds Ltd. (KFL) and Kerala Solvent Extractions Ltd. (KSE) brands, the major factors influencing the purchasing decisions etc. As a continuation of the earlier studies, this study makes a closer look into the significance of product types in the buyer behavior, level of awareness about the brand and its implications on purchasing decisions, and the brandshifting behavior and its determinants

A model for comparative analysis of inventory costs of JIT and EOQ purchasing in the ready mixed concrete industry

A model for comparing the inventory costs of purchasing under the economic order quantity (EOQ) system and the just-in-time (JIT) order purchasing system in existing literature concluded that JIT purchasing was virtually always the preferable inventory ordering system especially at high level of annual demand. By expanding the classical EOQ model, this paper shows that it is possible for the EOQ system to be more cost effective than the JIT system once the inventory demand approaches the EOQ-JIT cost indifference point. The case study conducted in the ready-mixed concrete industry in Singapore supported this proposition.