Industrial solution business – transition from product to solution offering

The business logic in the manufacturing industry has changed in the 21st century. In the current industrial market, manufacturers are driven to provide more comprehensive offerings that go beyond the traditional product-orientation by providing capacity and availability for their customers. From incidental merchandise, services have become the core of manufacturers’ offerings with long-lasting service agreements over the life-cycles of their products. This change is driven both by the need of providers to grow and gain competitive advantage and by increased customer demand caused by customers’ outsourcing trends. The three key drivers for manufacturers’ service strategies are outsourcing trends, saturation of the installed base, and commoditization in product markets. Thus, manufacturers focus on providing industrial solutions which are delivered through relational processes with customers by using solution-driven business models. In the management of marketing activities, this can be regarded as closer customer relationships, service-dominant business logic, and collaboration in solving customers’ problems. However, there are few studies on comprehensive conceptualizations of a solution offering that include different elements and their roles, especially in the context of capital goods industry. Also the transition process needs further studies in a real life context. This study explores the transition process of an industrial company from product to solution business and, as an aid to managing the solution business, explicates the structure and management of an industrial solution offering. There are two themes, the industrial transition process and industrial solution offering. Regarding the industrial transition process, the aim is to understand the supplier view on the process and its execution and to determine the challenges related to the transition process. The industrial solution offering is discussed by its elements and characteristics, as well as management. Furthermore, a special type of build-own-operate-transfer business model is presented and its suitability in the industrial context analyzed. The study includes findings achieved by qualitative methods and from four case companies. Based on the results, it is tentatively suggested that in the industrial solution business, the transition from product to solution business is not a linear project but an evolving process that varies according to customer needs, which suggests that companies need to possess an ability to develop new business models for different customer needs. The industrial solution offering is dynamic as it evolves in collaboration according to the prevailing and latent customer needs, which suggest restructuring of the organization from a product-centric to a customer-centric one. Furthermore, based on the findings, the concept of industrial solutions is defined as an ongoing relational process to satisfy a customer’s particular business or operational requirements, and the concept of industrial solution offering as an entity comprising the customized goods, services, collaboration, and finance needed to fulfill the industrial solution. Finally, the study offers several managerial implications for industrial managers involved in the transition and management of the solution business and its offering.

Tulta tekemiseen – Mikä liike-elämän seminaarissa motivoi? Case: Nordic Business Forum 2012

Muuttuvassa työelämässä suoriutuminen vaatii yksilöltä jatkuvaa itsensä kehittämistä ja ammatillista pätevöitymistä. Erinäisten koulutusten ja seminaarien rooli niihin osallistuvien yksilöiden työmotivaation lisäämisessä ja energian uudelleensuuntaamisessa voi olla merkittävä. Aidolla tunne- ja motivaatiotäyttymyksen tilalla onkin keskeinen rooli niin yksilön itsensä kuin organisaatioiden menestyksessä. Tämän tutkimuksen lähtökohtana on kysymys siitä, mikä liike-elämän seminaarin työmotivaatioon sidottu lisäarvo on. Tutkimuksen tavoitteena on lisätä ymmärrystä liike-elämän seminaarista kokonaisuutena ja siitä, mikä siellä mahdollisesti motivoi ja innostaa. Tutkimuksessa kuvataan liike-elämän seminaarin motivoivaa vaikutusta tarkastelemalla case-organisaation järjestämän seminaarin aikana koettuja työmotivaatiota lisääviä tekijöitä. Tämä tutkimus on toimeksianto Nordic Business Forum Oy:ltä. Päätutkimusongelma on asetettu kysymyksen muotoon seuraavasti: ”Mikä vuoden 2012 Nordic Business Forum -seminaarissa motivoi?” Tämä tutkimus on luonteeltaan laadullinen case-tutkimus, jossa pyritään kuvailevaan tutkimusotteeseen. Tutkimuksessa keskitytään yksittäiseen tapaukseen ja sitä kuvataan laadullisen tutkimusaineiston pohjalta. Tutkimuksen aineisto koostuu kuudesta, case-organisaation, vuoden 2012 seminaariosallistujan teemahaastattelusta. Aineistoa pyritään jäsentelemään teemoittelua käyttäen ja analysoimaan teoriasidonnaisesti. Tämän tutkimuksen perusteella voidaan tapauksena olevan liike-elämän seminaarin tyypilliseksi osallistujaksi määritellä jatkuvasta itsensä- ja ammattitaitonsa kehittämisestä motivoituvaksi, kokeneeksi ja korkeasti koulutetuksi asiantuntijaksi. Liike-elämän seminaarin motivoiva vaikutus nähdään rakentuvan verkostoitumisen, uuden oppimisen ja kehittymisen, innostavan ja inspiroivan ilmapiirin sekä seminaaripuheenvuorojen kokonaisuuksista. Tapahtumana liike-elämän seminaari motivoi tarjotessaan osallistujille mahdollisuuden muodostaa uusia verkostoja, saavuttaa uutta tietoa ja päivittää osaamista oivaltavan oppimisen kautta. Aktiivinen ajatusten vaihto ja mahdollisuus yhteisölliseen innovointiin sekä uusien ajatus- ja käyttäytymismallien jäsentäminen omaan toimintaan luovat osallistujissa uutta innostusta omaa työssä suoriutumista kohtaan. Yleisenä johtopäätöksenä voidaan lisäksi todeta seminaariosallistujan proaktiivisen luonteen ja vastuun olevan tärkein edellytys seminaarin aikana saadun, uuden innostuksen ja työmotivaation omaan toimintaan juurruttamisessa.

Business intelligence viewpoint on managerial decision-making : Ill-structured problems and decision support systems

Vaikka liiketoimintatiedon hallintaa sekä johdon päätöksentekoa on tutkittu laajasti, näiden kahden käsitteen yhteisvaikutuksesta on olemassa hyvin rajallinen määrä tutkimustietoa. Tulevaisuudessa aiheen tärkeys korostuu, sillä olemassa olevan datan määrä kasvaa jatkuvasti. Yritykset tarvitsevat jatkossa yhä enemmän kyvykkyyksiä sekä resursseja, jotta sekä strukturoitua että strukturoimatonta tietoa voidaan hyödyntää lähteestä riippumatta. Nykyiset Business Intelligence -ratkaisut mahdollistavat tehokkaan liiketoimintatiedon hallinnan osana johdon päätöksentekoa. Aiemman kirjallisuuden pohjalta, tutkimuksen empiirinen osuus tunnistaa liiketoimintatiedon hyödyntämiseen liittyviä tekijöitä, jotka joko tukevat tai rajoittavat johdon päätöksentekoprosessia. Tutkimuksen teoreettinen osuus johdattaa lukijan tutkimusaiheeseen kirjallisuuskatsauksen avulla. Keskeisimmät tutkimukseen liittyvät käsitteet, kuten Business Intelligence ja johdon päätöksenteko, esitetään relevantin kirjallisuuden avulla – tämän lisäksi myös dataan liittyvät käsitteet analysoidaan tarkasti. Tutkimuksen empiirinen osuus rakentuu tutkimusteorian pohjalta. Tutkimuksen empiirisessä osuudessa paneudutaan tutkimusteemoihin käytännön esimerkein: kolmen tapaustutkimuksen avulla tutkitaan sekä kuvataan toisistaan irrallisia tapauksia. Jokainen tapaus kuvataan sekä analysoidaan teoriaan perustuvien väitteiden avulla – nämä väitteet ovat perusedellytyksiä menestyksekkäälle liiketoimintatiedon hyödyntämiseen perustuvalle päätöksenteolle. Tapaustutkimusten avulla alkuperäistä tutkimusongelmaa voidaan analysoida tarkasti huomioiden jo olemassa oleva tutkimustieto. Analyysin tulosten avulla myös yksittäisiä rajoitteita sekä mahdollistavia tekijöitä voidaan analysoida. Tulokset osoittavat, että rajoitteilla on vahvasti negatiivinen vaikutus päätöksentekoprosessin onnistumiseen. Toisaalta yritysjohto on tietoinen liiketoimintatiedon hallintaan liittyvistä positiivisista seurauksista, vaikka kaikkia mahdollisuuksia ei olisikaan hyödynnetty. Tutkimuksen merkittävin tulos esittelee viitekehyksen, jonka puitteissa johdon päätöksentekoprosesseja voidaan arvioida sekä analysoida. Despite the fact that the literature on Business Intelligence and managerial decision-making is extensive, relatively little effort has been made to research the relationship between them. This particular field of study has become important since the amount of data in the world is growing every second. Companies require capabilities and resources in order to utilize structured data and unstructured data from internal and external data sources. However, the present Business Intelligence technologies enable managers to utilize data effectively in decision-making. Based on the prior literature, the empirical part of the thesis identifies the enablers and constraints in computer-aided managerial decision-making process. In this thesis, the theoretical part provides a preliminary understanding about the research area through a literature review. The key concepts such as Business Intelligence and managerial decision-making are explored by reviewing the relevant literature. Additionally, different data sources as well as data forms are analyzed in further detail. All key concepts are taken into account when the empirical part is carried out. The empirical part obtains an understanding of the real world situation when it comes to the themes that were covered in the theoretical part. Three selected case companies are analyzed through those statements, which are considered as critical prerequisites for successful computer-aided managerial decision-making. The case study analysis, which is a part of the empirical part, enables the researcher to examine the relationship between Business Intelligence and managerial decision-making. Based on the findings of the case study analysis, the researcher identifies the enablers and constraints through the case study interviews. The findings indicate that the constraints have a highly negative influence on the decision-making process. In addition, the managers are aware of the positive implications that Business Intelligence has for decision-making, but all possibilities are not yet utilized. As a main result of this study, a data-driven framework for managerial decision-making is introduced. This framework can be used when the managerial decision-making processes are evaluated and analyzed.

Customer knowledge processing in maintenance business: case study

The purpose of the study is to examine and increase knowledge on customer knowledge processing in B2B context from sales perspective. Further objectives include identifying possible inhibiting and enabling factors in each phase of the process. The theoretical framework is based on customer knowledge management literature. The study is a qualitative study, in which the research method utilized is a case study. The empirical part was implemented in a case company by conducting in-depth interviews with the company’s value-selling champions located internationally. Context was maintenance business. Altogether 17 interviews were conducted. The empirical findings indicate that customer knowledge processing has not been clearly defined within the maintenance business line. Main inhibiting factors in acquiring customer knowledge are lack of time and vast amount of customer knowledge received. Enabling factors recognized are good customer relationships and sales representatives’ communication skills. Internal dissemination of knowledge is mainly inhibited by lack of time and restrictions in customer relationship management systems. Enabling factors are composition of the sales team and updated customer knowledge. Inhibiting utilization is lack of goals to utilize the customer knowledge and a low quality of the knowledge. Moreover, customer knowledge is not systematically updated nor analysed. Management of customer knowledge is based on the CRM system. As implications of the study, it is suggested for the case company to define customer knowledge processing in order to support maintenance business process.

Culture in business interaction: an individual perspective : empirical studies in Finnish-Russian business relationships

The main objective of this doctoral dissertation is to reach a holistic and indepth understanding of the intercultural interaction within dyadic business relationships through the perspective of individual managers. The empirical setting is dyadic business relationships between Russian and Finnish firms in construction and engineering industries. The motivation for the study mainly arose from: 1) the lack of business marketing literature considering cultural and individual perspectives; 2) the need to find ways to study intercultural issues in business relationships, other than through the application of models derived from the work of Hofstede (1980). The study consists of two parts, an introductory essay containing the research objectives, theoretical foundations, methodological choices, limitations and contributions, and original research articles. The four articles each address a sub-objective: 1) to develop an understanding of intercultural business relationships development, cultural adaptation, and its role in the development of trust (Article 1); 2) to develop an appropriate methodological framework for studying business interaction from a cultural and individual perspective (Article 2); 3) to develop an understanding of the role of culture in individual manager’s sensemaking of interaction events in business relationships (Article 3); and 4) to develop an appropriate theoretical framework for studying interactive intercultural business relationships in international industrial markets (Article 4). The ontological and epistemological foundations are built on the interpretivist/ social constructivist view of reality. Interaction, in this study, is seen as being conducted between individuals, who are the key representative actors of their firms. In turn, culture is regarded both as an independent context existing prior to the individuals’ participation in it, and as knowledge incorporated by the individuals, who use it in sensemaking and interaction across cultures. The methods applied in the articles are: an interpretive qualitative study (Article 1), a literature review and conceptual analysis (Article 2), a structural analysis of the narratives and a metaphor analysis (Article 3), and a literature review and conceptual analysis (Article 4). The main contributions are the following. First, it contributes to business marketing literature by developing the theoretical, conceptual, and methodological underpinning of IMP theories in relation to culture. Second, the thesis contributes to the growing literature on managerial sensemaking in industrial markets by looking at it from a cultural perspective, as well as emphasizing the importance of figurative language in cultural sensemaking.

Supply network risks and costs in Finnish project business

This report summarizes the results of the survey HAVERI – Supply network risks in business. The survey was conducted in Finland during the spring and summer of year 2013. The survey is part of a large two-year research project started in June 2012 in Finland (on-going 06/2012–07/2014). The project is launched and financed by TEKES, the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation, and executed together with the researchers from Lappeenranta University of Technology and Tampere University of Technology. The overall goal of this on-going research project is to find out the decision-making practices in the project-oriented companies in their purchasing decisions especially in the mechanical engineering and construction industries in Finland. The objective of the survey was to gain cross-sectional data concerning the challenges, risks and cost factors in Finnish project business companies. The results show that Finnish companies rely on their experience and supplier references in their risk management. In general, the understanding of the total cost structure varies among the industries and companies. The main cost factor in risk management was costs before the actual purchase decision. Overall, it seems that the monetary value of the whole project and capability of purchasing personnel are the main influencing factors on risk management activity in project purchasing.

Ensuring the efficient utilization of Business Intelligence

In recent years, chief information officers (CIOs) around the world have identified Business Intelligence (BI) as their top priority and as the best way to enhance their enterprises competitiveness. Yet, many enterprises are struggling to realize the business value that BI promises. This discrepancy causes important questions, for example: what are the critical success factors of Business Intelligence and, more importantly, how it can be ensured that a Business Intelligence program enhances enterprises competitiveness. The main objective of the study is to find out how it can be ensured that a BI program meets its goals in providing competitive advantage to an enterprise. The objective is approached with a literature review and a qualitative case study. For the literature review the main objective populates three research questions (RQs); RQ1: What is Business Intelligence and why is it important for modern enterprises? RQ2: What are the critical success factors of Business Intelligence programs? RQ3: How it can be ensured that CSFs are met? The qualitative case study covers the BI program of a Finnish global manufacturer company. The research questions for the case study are as follows; RQ4: What is the current state of the case company’s BI program and what are the key areas for improvement? RQ5: In what ways the case company’s Business Intelligence program could be improved? The case company’s BI program is researched using the following methods; action research, semi-structured interviews, maturity assessment and benchmarking. The literature review shows that Business Intelligence is a technology-based information process that contains a series of systematic activities, which are driven by the specific information needs of decision-makers. The objective of BI is to provide accurate, timely, fact-based information, which enables taking actions that lead to achieving competitive advantage. There are many reasons for the importance of Business Intelligence, two of the most important being; 1) It helps to bridge the gap between an enterprise’s current and its desired performance, and 2) It helps enterprises to be in alignment with key performance indicators meaning it helps an enterprise to align towards its key objectives. The literature review also shows that there are known critical success factors (CSFs) for Business Intelligence programs which have to be met if the above mentioned value is wanted to be achieved, for example; committed management support and sponsorship, business-driven development approach and sustainable data quality. The literature review shows that the most common challenges are related to these CSFs and, more importantly, that overcoming these challenges requires a more comprehensive form of BI, called Enterprise Performance Management (EPM). EPM links measurement to strategy by focusing on what is measured and why. The case study shows that many of the challenges faced in the case company’s BI program are related to the above-mentioned CSFs. The main challenges are; lack of support and sponsorship from business, lack of visibility to overall business performance, lack of rigid BI development process, lack of clear purpose for the BI program and poor data quality. To overcome these challenges the case company should define and design an enterprise metrics framework, make sure that BI development requirements are gathered and prioritized by business, focus on data quality and ownership, and finally define clear goals for the BI program and then support and sponsor these goals.

Supplier Delivery Quality Evaluation in Maintenance Supporting Spare Part Business

The focus of this thesis is the issues related to the operational purchasing level supply chain process. Due to this limitation, the physical product quality issues do not belong to the primary concerns of this thesis, whereas the bilateral processes between the supplier and the purchasing organizations are of interest. Also, the issues related to the delivery timing are excluded from the study. Because the perspective is on the issues involved in the supply chain operations, the bilateral communication issues between supplier representative and purchaser are also considered.

Process modeling method for electric accessories manufacturing enterprise

The theoretical research of the study focused to business process management and business process modeling, the goal was to found a new business process modeling method for electrical accessories manufacturing enterprise. The focus was to find few options for business process modeling methods where company could have chosen the best one for its needs The study was carried out as a qualitative research with an action study and a case study as the most important ways collect data. In the empirical part of the study examples of company’s processes modeled with the new modeling method and process modeling process are presented. The new way of modeling processes improves especially visual presentation of the processes and improves the understanding how employees should work in the organizational interfaces of the process and in the interfaces between different processes. The results of the study is a new unified way to model company’s processes, which makes it easier to understand and create the process models. This improved readability makes it possible to reduce the costs that were created from the unclear old process models.

Finnish SMEs and Russian Business Environment: Challenges and Support Activities

The purpose of this study is based on the need of finding what kind of problems Finnish SMEs face in Russian market and how they could be supported. Used support activities in certain levels of internationalization and internationalization patterns are evaluated, international experience of entrepreneur is compared to used support activities and the most challenging pillars in Russia from the Institutional Theory are defined. The empirical part of the study is a semi structured qualitative analysis of ten case companies that represent different industry fields. All of them are SMEs and they represent different levels of internationalization and internationalization patterns. The results of this study indicated that usefulness of support activities have to be evaluated case by case. All the companies are individual organizations and usefulness of support activities have to be evaluated according to the actual situation of the company. International experience of manager has effect on the use of support activities. SMEs identified many problems related to pillars of Institutional theory and regulative environment seems to be the most challenging one.

The role of network coordination in business incubation - Comparative evidence from Finland and Russia

Business incubators (BIs) have an important role in promoting entrepreneurship and innovation. Networks have been identified as one of the main factors influencing business incubation success; however, their management has not been widely covered in previous business incubation research. Therefore, the main objective of this research is to investigate the role of network coordination in business incubation. Thus, the research aims to understand how the BI as a hub firm coordinates, i.e. manages and orchestrates, the business incubation process. As business incubation is also claimed to be affected by country specific factors, a cross-country comparison of Finland and Russia is conducted. Based on previous scientific literature on networks, network management, network orchestration and business incubation, a theoretical model combining business incubation and network coordination is developed. Through a qualitative multiple-case study evidence from a cross-country sample of BI managers and their residents was collected via semi-structured interviews. Based on the empirical data the network coordination mechanisms used by BIs are identified, yet only minor differences in network coordination in different countries are found. The results suggest that network coordination enables value creation in business incubation.