Exploring the value creation in service ecosystem context: the case of the information technology sector

This thesis examines customer value creation in a service ecosystem context. The objective of this thesis is to develop a comprehensive view of value creation processes in a service ecosystem context and an understanding on the roles of the stakeholders involved in these processes, focusing on the information technology industry. The novelty of the two central concepts of this thesis, systemic customer value and service ecosystem, as well as the gap in the literature of empirical research on value creation in an ecosystem-level, opened an interesting research topic. The empirical study is conducted as a single case analysis, utilizing Group Decision Support System (GDSS) and also Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). The findings suggest that customer value is created by a complex combination of interactions among different actors of the ecosystem. Thus, value is not created by a single offering directed to the customer, but by an integration of services from different parts of the ecosystem as well as the active participation of customer in this process.

The Use of Systematic Value Strategies in Separating the Winners from the Losers: Evidence from the Finnish Markets

This study examines the Magic Formula and ERP5 value strategies in the Finnish stocks markets. Magic Formula ranks stocks based on EV/EBIT and ROA and ERP5 based on EV/EBIT, ROA, P/B and five-year trailing ROA. The purpose of the study is to examine whether the value strategies can be used to generate excess returns over the market index. The data has been collected from the Datastream database for the sample period from May 1997 to May 2010 and consists of the companies listed on the main list of Helsinki Stock Exchange. This study confirms the findings of previous research that value premium exists in the Finnish stock markets and that systematic value strategies can be used to form portfolios that outperform the market index with lower volatility.

Knowledge, processes and relationships in organizational change: Understanding how to facilitate management of intellectual capital in diverse organization structures and cultures.

This study examined relationships of organizational dependencies, change management and developed intellectual knowledge resources, in different intellectual capital based development programs on ICT-sector. Study was carried out in a research context, where high degree of external organizational contingencies existed and lots of changes in several development programs had taken place in the last years. From a scientific perspective the main contribution was that evidence between relationships of organizational dependencies, change model portfolio and developed knowledge resources could be suggested. From managerial perspective the primary implication was that in situations where sustainable competitive advantage is pursued by means of increasing knowledge based productivity of labor, firms should seek to pursue organizational settings where external dependencies have minimal amount of effect.

Finnish buyers’ perceptions of Indian textile and clothing suppliers: Country of origin in focus

Choosing the right supplier is crucial for long-term business prospects and profitability. Thus organizational buyers are naturally very interested in how they can select the right supplier for their needs. Likewise, suppliers are interested in knowing how their customers make purchasing decisions in order to effectively sell and market to them. From the point of view of the textile and clothing (T&C) industry, regulatory changes and increasing low-cost and globalization pressures have led to the rise of low-cost production locations India and China as the world’s largest T&C producers. This thesis will examine T&C trade between Finland and India specifically in the context of non-industrial T&C products. Its main research problem asks: what perceptions do Finnish T&C industry buyers hold of India and Indian suppliers? B2B buyers use various supplier selection models and criteria in making their purchase decisions. A significant amount of research has been done into supplier selection practices, and in the context of international trade, country of origin (COO) perceptions specifically have garnered much attention. This thesis uses a mixed methods approach (online questionnaire and in-depth interviews) to evaluate Finnish T&C buyers’ supplier selection criteria, COO perceptions of India and experiences of Indian suppliers. It was found that the most important supplier selection criteria used by Finnish T&C buyers are quality, reliability and cost. COO perceptions were not found to be influential in purchasing process. Indian T&C suppliers’ strengths were found to be low cost, flexibility and a history of traditional T&C expertise. Their weaknesses include product quality and unreliable delivery times. Overall, the main challenges that need to be overcome by Indian T&C companies are logistical difficulties and the cost vs. quality trade-off. Despite positive perceptions of India for cost, the overall value offered by Indian T&C products was perceived to be low due to poor quality. Unreliable delivery time experiences also affected buyer’s reliability perceptions of Indian suppliers. The main limiting factors of this thesis relate to the small sample size used in the research. This limits the generalizability of results and the ability to evaluate the reliability and validity of some of the research instruments.

Value added logistics in supply and demand chain : COSTFIX : New operation model for maintenance material logistics in paper industry

This research report illustrates and examines new operation models for decreasing fixed costs and transforming them into variable costs in the field of paper industry. The report illustrates two cases – a new operation model for material logistics in maintenance and an examination of forklift truck fleet outsourcing solutions. Conventional material logistics in maintenance operation is illustrated and some problems related to conventional operation are identified. A new operation model that solves some of these problems is presented including descriptions of procurement and service contracts and sources of added value. Forklift truck fleet outsourcing solutions are examined by illustrating the responsibilities of a host company and a service provider both before and after outsourcing. The customer buys outsourcing services in order to improve its investment productivity. The mechanism of how these services affect the customer company’s investment productivity is illustrated.

Actively crafting customer value or merely representing a solution? Linking value-based selling to salesperson performance

Value-based selling is a salesperson behavioral mode which concentrates on generating superior customer value. Although service dominant logic emphasizes customer value as a central tenet for achieving strategic objectives, sales management literature has predominantly circumvented the subject matter of customer value. The purpose of this thesis is to demonstrate the distinctiveness and positive sales performance outcomes of value-based selling. Additionally, performance outcomes of value-based selling are contrasted with other key sales behaviors, selling skills and motivational orientations. As a part of this thesis, large-scale survey of 730 respondents was collected. The survey was tailored for the needs of a value-based selling research group led by Ph.D. Harri Terho. The research group used convenience sampling to select the salespeople of 25 medium- and large-scale companies in Finland which currently either practice value-based selling or consider developing these activities. This thesis contains three key findings: value-based selling is established as a distinct sales behavior, it relates directly and positively to salesperson performance and it explains the link between customer-oriented selling and salesperson performance. Value-based selling relates to salesperson performance especially in the following GICS-sectors: energy, industrials and materials. However, relationship selling relates to performance strongest in the energy sector and adaptive selling in industrials sector. In sum, it is evident that actively crafting customer value is a successful sales behavior in many business-to-business marketing environments while other sales behaviors, excluding customer-oriented selling, still uphold their significance.

Nordic banks’ entry into the Russian market: motives, processes and challenges

The importance of services in the global economy has grown steadily in the past decades and the growth of services sector’s direct investments has been increasing. Nowadays, all companies are influenced by the much changing global environment and the financial services companies are no exception. The internationalization of financial services companies is an expanding and accelerating phenomenon which has various motivations. The overall aim of this thesis is to shed light on the market entry processes of the Nordic financial services companies when they have entered the Russian market. In this study, the factors affecting Nordic banks’ market entry to Russia are presented in order to better understand what have been the main motives for market entry, what kind of processes the banks have used and what kind of challenges they have faced along the way. A case study approach was used in conducting the empirical research and it aims at investigating a specific case: Nordic banks’ entry into the Russian market. The empirical research was carried out by conducting qualitative interviews for employees involved in entry processes of the case banks. These interviews aimed at examining the Nordic banks’ motives for entering the Russian financial market. This includes reflections on the reasons why the studied banks have decided to enter Russia and what have been the motives behind these decisions. Also, the market entry processes the banks have used when they have entered the Russian market were investigated. The findings allowed comparing the related theories and different market entry modes the case banks have used. Furthermore, the market-related challenges faced by the case banks were mapped and described. In addition, the main factors related to the entry processes of the studied banks were identified and key elements of successful market entry were mapped. The findings suggest that the main motivator for banks have been to follow their customers and hence, increase the revenues and add the value to the shareholders; consequently, being a win-win-win situation to all the related parties. It was also discovered that the banks market entry processes have had resemblances but the banks have taken different paths to get where they are nowadays. As the Russian market environment differs from the one in Nordic countries, also challenges were faced by the case banks. However, the internal challenges were considered more troublesome than the external ones. As the foreign market entry process is complex as well as time and resources consuming, it is vital to understand the specifics of the target market, organizational capabilities and individuals enabling a successful entry process.

Profiling the Value of Industrial Maintenance Services

Industrial maintenance can be executed internally, acquired from the original equipment manufacturer or outsourced to a service provider, and this concludes in many different kind of business relationships. To maximize the total value in a maintenance business relationship it is important to know what the partner values. The value of maintenance services can be considered to consist of value elements and the perceived total value for the customer and the service provider is the sum of these value elements. The specific objectives of this thesis are to identify the most important value elements for the maintenance service customer and provider and also to recognize where the value elements differ. The study was executed as a statistical analysis using the survey method. The data has been collected by an online survey sent to 345 maintenance service professionals in Finland. In the survey, four different types of value elements were considered: the customer’s high critical and low critical items and the service provider’s core and support service. The most valued elements by the respondents were reliability, safety at work, environmental safety, and operator knowledge. The least valued elements were asset management factors and access to markets. Statistically significant differences in value elements between service types were also found. As a managerial implication a value gap profile is presented. This Master’s Thesis is part of the MaiSeMa (Industrial Maintenance Services in a Renewing Business Network: Identify, Model and Manage Value) research project where network decision models are created to identify, model and manage the value of maintenance services.

Value Co-Creation Through Virtual Community environment, Case: Oma Olivia

The purpose of this thesis is to examine what elements of value co-creation create value for participants of Oma Olivia magazine through Olivia magazine’s virtual community environment. Furthermore the aim is to discover why readers take part in creating Oma Olivia in order to discover is Oma Olivia worth publishing in the future. The data is collected from secondary and primary sources by scanning the existing academic literature and by conducting interviews and surveys. The empirical results state that the hypothesis model created from the academic literature is statistically significant and the elements of value co- creation process create value for readers. Magazine publishing organization may want to consider publishing Oma Olivia also in the future due to its nature of creating value for customers.

Value Proposition Enhancement in Retailers of the HVAC Industry

This case study explored value proposition and relationship marketing de-terminants in the HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning) indus-try. Concretely, the case involved Purmo, a prominent brand and market leader radiator manufacturer, its relationship marketing practices with the retailers of their product (radiator installers) and the value proposition which is being used to reach the end-user. In the field work, five heating experts/entrepreneurs in the installation business were interviewed and asked about their opinion on Purmo and the end-user’s needs. The findings suggest that while installers appreciate Purmo as a supplier and respect it as a company, the loyalty that they have towards it has no repercussions on their product advocacy to ultimate consumers. Installers proved to be attracted to standard model radiators and to be apathetic to the benefits that more advanced models can provide. The reasons for this behavior were found to be their preference for products with better availa-bility and their reluctance to interfere with the customers’ decision making processes.

Ecosystem architecture design: endogenous and exogenous structural properties

The aim of this dissertation is to bridge and synthesize the different streams of literature addressing ecosystem architecture through a multiple‐lens perspective. In addition, the structural properties of and processes to design and manage the architecture will be examined. With this approach, the oft‐neglected actor‐structure duality is addressed and both the position and structure, and action and process are under scrutiny. Further, the developed framework and empirical evidence offer valuable insights on how firms collectively create value and individually appropriate value. The dissertation is divided into two parts. The first part comprises a literature review, as well as the conclusions of the whole study, and the second part includes six research publications. The dissertation is based on three different reasoning logics: abduction, induction and deduction; related qualitative and quantitative methodologies are utilized in the empirical examination of the phenomenon in the information and communication technology industry. The results suggest firstly that there are endogenous and exogenous structural properties of the ecosystem architecture. Out of these, the former ones can be more easily influenced by a particular actor whereas the latter ones are taken more or less for granted. Secondly, the exogenous ecosystem design properties influence the value creation potential of the ecosystem whereas the endogenous ecosystem design properties influence the value appropriation potential of a particular actor in the ecosystem. Thirdly, the study suggests that there is a relationship between endogenous and exogenous structural properties in that the endogenous properties can be leveraged to create and reconfigure the exogenous properties whereas the exogenous properties prose opportunities and restrictions on the use of endogenous properties. In addition, the study suggests that there are different emergent and engineered processes to design and manage ecosystem architecture and to influence both the endogenous and exogenous structural properties of ecosystem architecture. This study makes three main contributions. First, on the conceptual level, it brings coherence and direction to the fast growing body of literature on novel inter‐organizational arrangements, such as ecosystems. It does this by bridging and synthetizing three different streams of literature, namely the boundary, design and orchestration conception. Secondly, it sets out a framework that enhances our understanding of the structural properties of ecosystem architecture; of the processes to design and manage ecosystem architecture; and of their influence on the value creation potential of the ecosystem and the value capture potential of a particular firm. Thirdly, it offers empirical evidence of the structural properties and processes.

Libyan breast cancer: Health services and biology. Diagnosis delay and prognostic value of DNA pploidy, S-phase fraction, and Ki-67 and Bcl-2 immunohistochemistry

The aim of this study was to investigate the diagnosis delay and its impact on the stage of disease. The study also evaluated a nuclear DNA content, immunohistochemical expression of Ki-67 and bcl-2, and the correlation of these biological features with the clinicopathological features and patient outcome. 200 Libyan women, diagnosed during 2008–2009 were interviewed about the period from the first symptoms to the final histological diagnosis of breast cancer. Also retrospective preclinical and clinical data were collected from medical records on a form (questionnaire) in association with the interview. Tumor material of the patients was collected and nuclear DNA content analysed using DNA image cytometry. The expression of Ki-67 and bcl-2 were assessed using immunohistochemistry (IHC). The studies described in this thesis show that the median of diagnosis time for women with breast cancer was 7.5 months and 56% of patients were diagnosed within a period longer than 6 months. Inappropriate reassurance that the lump was benign was an important reason for prolongation of the diagnosis time. Diagnosis delay was also associated with initial breast symptom(s) that did not include a lump, old age, illiteracy, and history of benign fibrocystic disease. The patients who showed diagnosis delay had bigger tumour size (p<0.0001), positive lymph nodes (p<0.0001), and high incidence of late clinical stages (p<0.0001). Biologically, 82.7% of tumors were aneuploid and 17.3% were diploid. The median SPF of tumors was 11% while the median positivity of Ki-67 was 27.5%. High Ki-67 expression was found in 76% of patients, and high SPF values in 56% of patients. Positive bcl-2 expression was found in 62.4% of tumors. 72.2% of the bcl-2 positive samples were ER-positive. Patients who had tumor with DNA aneuploidy, high proliferative activity and negative bcl-2 expression were associated with a high grade of malignancy and short survival. The SPF value is useful cell proliferation marker in assessing prognosis, and the decision cut point of 11% for SPF in the Libyan material was clearly significant (p<0.0001). Bcl-2 is a powerful prognosticator and an independent predictor of breast cancer outcome in the Libyan material (p<0.0001). Libyan breast cancer was investigated in these studies from two different aspects: health services and biology. The results show that diagnosis delay is a very serious problem in Libya and is associated with complex interactions between many factors leading to advanced stages, and potentially to high mortality. Cytometric DNA variables, proliferative markers (Ki-67 and SPF), and oncoprotein bcl-2 negativity reflect the aggressive behavior of Libyan breast cancer and could be used with traditional factors to predict the outcome of individual patients, and to select appropriate therapy.

Assessment of purchasing maturity in spare parts supply chain

To describe the change of purchasing moving from administrative to strategic function academics have put forward maturity models which help practitioners to compare their purchasing activities to industry top performers and best practices. However, none of the models aim to distinguish the purchasing maturity from the after-sales point of view, even though after-sales activities are acknowledged as a relevant source of revenue, profit and competitive advantage in most manufacturing firms. The maturity of purchasing and supply management practices have a large impact to the overall performance of the spare parts supply chain and ultimately to the value creation and relationship building for the end customer. The research was done as a case study for a European after-sales organization which is part of a globally operating industrial firm specialized in heavy machinery. The study mapped the current state of the purchasing practices in the case organization and also distinguished the relevant areas for future development. The study was based on the purchasing maturity model developed by Schiele (2007) and investigated also how applicable is the maturity model in the spare parts supply chain context. Data for the assessment was gathered using five expert interviews inside the case organization and other parties involved in the company’s spare parts supply chain. Inventory management dimension was added to the original maturity model in order to better capture the important areas in a spare parts supply chain. The added five questions were deduced from the spare parts management literature and verified as relevant areas by the case organization’s personnel. Results indicate that largest need for development in the case organization are: better collaboration between sourcing and operative procurement functions, use of installed base information in the spare parts management, training plan development for new buyers, assessment of aligned KPI’s between the supply chain parties and better defining the role of after-sales sourcing. The purchasing maturity model used in this research worked well in H&R Leading, Controlling and Inventory Management dimensions. The assessment was more difficult to conduct in the Supplier related processes, Process integration and Organizational structure –dimensions, mainly because the assessment in these sections would for some parts require more company-wide assessment. Results indicate also that the purchasing maturity model developed by Schiele (2007) captures the relevant areas in the spare parts supply as well.

Using Moodle to provide added value in the teaching of a software development course

The rate of adoption and use of learning management systems to support teaching and learning processes in academic institutions is growing rapidly. Universities are acquiring systems with functionalities that can match with their specific needs and requirements. Moodle is one of the most popular and widely deployed learning management systems in academic institutions today. However, apart from the system, universities tend to maintain other applications for the purpose of supplementing their teaching and learning processes. This situation is similar to Lappeenranta University of Technology (LUT), which is our case study in this project. Apart from Moodle, the university also maintains other systems such as Oodi, Noppa and Uni portal for the purpose of supporting its educational activities. This thesis has two main goals. The first goal is to understand the specific role of Moodle at LUT. This information is fundamental in assessing whether Moodle is needed in the university’s current teaching and learning environment. The second aim is to provide insights to teachers and other departmental stakeholders on how Moodle can provide added value in the teaching of a software development course. In response to this, a Moodle module for a software development course is created and the underlying features are tested. Results of the constructive work proposed some improvements through (i) the use of Moodle for in-class surveys, (ii) transfer of grades from Moodle to Oodi, (iii) use of Moodle in self-study courses and MOOCs, (iv) online examinations, and (v) Moodle integrations with third party applications. The proposed items were then evaluated for their utility through interviews of five expert interviews. The final results of this work are considered useful to LUT administration and management specifically on ways that Moodle can bring changes to the university at managerial, economical and technical level. It also poses some challenges on platform innovations and research.