Service paradox in a product oriented company: A service business development case

The master´s thesis had three aims; to develop a service portfolio, to support the management of services through the developed portfolio, and evaluate effects of service differentiation strategy on the future selection of services. The product oriented case company in service paradox is Hilti (Suomi) Oy, which is entering systematic service management era, supported by the late strategic change. Low return on service business investments is referred as service paradox. The project was carried out as a case study, where the primary information source was twenty-one conducted interviews. The theory part focuses on marketing logics, service strategies, and categorization of services. The empirical part contributes in solving the aim related research questions. As a result of the case study a service portfolio was created, next further steps in service management were suggested, and the effect on selection of services by service differentiation strategy was evaluated. The main goal of creating service portfolio contributes to systematic management of services, which required revising at the case company.

Business development service centres in Italy. An empirical analysis of three regional experiences: Emilia Romagna, Lombardia y Veneto

Includes bibliography

Value added logistics in supply and demand chain. Smile. Part 2. eBusiness in a service business. Case: A maintenance and operations network in forest industry

VVALOSADE is a research project of professor Anita Lukka's VALORE research team in the Lappeenranta University of Technology. The VALOSADE includes the ELO technology program of Tekes. SMILE is one of four subprojects of the VALOSADE. The SMILE study focuses on the case of the company network that is composed of small and micro-sized mechanical maintenance service providers and forest industry as large-scale customers. The basic principle of the SMILE study is the communication and ebusiness in supply and demand networks. The aim of the study is to develop ebusiness strategy, ebusiness model and e-processes among the SME local service providers, and onthe other hand, between the local service provider network and the forest industry customers in a maintenance and operations service business. A literature review, interviews and benchmarking are used as research methods in this qualitative case study. The first SMILE report, 'Ebusiness between Global Company and Its Local SME Supplier Network', concentrated on creating background for the SMILE study by studying general trends of ebusiness in supply chains and networks of different industries. This second phase of the study concentrates on case network background, such as business relationships, information systems and business objectives; core processes in maintenance and operations service network; development needs in communication among the network participants; and ICT solutions to respond needs in changing environment. In the theory part of the report, different ebusiness models and frameworks are introduced. Those models and frameworks are compared to empirical case data. From that analysis of the empirical data, therecommendations for the development of the network information system are derived. In process industry such as the forest industry, it is crucial to achieve a high level of operational efficiency and reliability, which sets up great requirements for maintenance and operations. Therefore, partnerships or strategic alliances are needed between the network participants. In partnerships and alliances, deep communication is important, and therefore the information systems in the network also are critical. Communication, coordination and collaboration will increase in the case network in the future, because network resources must be optimised to improve competitive capability of the forest industry customers and theefficiency of their service providers. At present, ebusiness systems are not usual in this maintenance network. A network information system among the forest industry customers and their local service providers actually is the only genuinenetwork information system in this total network. However, the utilisation of that system has been quite insignificant. The current system does not add value enough either to the customers or to the local service providers. At present, thenetwork information system is the infomediary that share static information forthe network partners. The network information system should be the transaction intermediary, which integrates internal processes of the network companies; the network information system, which provides common standardised processes for thelocal service providers; and the infomediary, which share static and dynamic information on right time, on right partner, on right costs, on right format and on right quality. This study provides recommendations how to develop this system in the future to add value to the network companies. Ebusiness scenarios, vision, objectives, strategies, application architecture, ebusiness model, core processes and development strategy must be considered when the network information system will be developed in the next development step. The core processes in the case network are demand/capacity management, customer/supplier relationship management, service delivery management, knowledge management and cash flow management. Most benefits from ebusiness solutions come from the electrifying of operational level processes, such as service delivery management and cash flow management.

Service Concept Development - An Appoach for Professional Service Firm

Specific demand for service concept creation has come about from industrial organizations’ desire to find new and innovative ways to differentiate their offering by increasing the level of customer services. Providers of professional services have also demanded new concepts and approaches for their businesses as these industries have become increasingly competitive. Firms are now seeking better ways to understand and segment their customers, to ensure the delivery of quality services and strengthen their position in aggressively competitive markets. This thesis is intended to provide management consulting companies with a new work method that enables service concept creation in a business-to-business environment. The model defines the service concept as a combination of delivered value and the target customers; the third-dimension operating model is brought to the new system in testing of the service concept creation guidelines in the target organization. For testing, service concepts for a management consulting company are created. Service concepts are designed to serve as a solid foundation for further service improvements. Recommendations and proposals for further action related to service development in the target organization are presented, and recommendations to further improve the model created are given.

Efficient installed base information management and utilization in global after sales service business

This Master´s thesis explores how the a global industrial corporation’s after sales service department should arrange its installed base management practices in order to maintain and utilize the installed base information effectively. Case company has product-related records, such as product’s lifecycle information, service history information and information about product’s performance. Information is collected and organized often case by case, therefore the systematic and effective use of installed base information is difficult also the overview of installed base is missing. The goal of the thesis study was to find out how the case company can improve the installed base maintenance and management practices and improve the installed base information availability and reliability. Installed base information management practices were first examined through the literature. The empirical research was conducted by the interviews and questionnaire survey, targeted to the case company’s service department. The research purpose was to find out the challenges related to case company´s service department’s information management practices. The study also identified the installed base information needs and improvement potential in the availability of information. Based on the empirical research findings, recommendations for improve installed base management practices and information availability were created. Grounding of the recommendations, the case company is suggested the following proposals for action: Service report development, improving the change management process, ensuring the quality of the product documentation in early stages of product life cycle and decision to improve installed base management practices.

Roadmap for Service Charging Development

Corporate support functions are increasingly being concentrated into service centers. Service Management principles guide companies in the transition. Service Financial Management is an integral part in supporting the strategic positioning of the service center. The main goal of this thesis is to create a step-by-step plan to improve and automate the service charging processes for the finance service function of the case company. Automating the service transaction data collection for reporting is expected to improve efficiency, reliability and transparency. Interviews with finance service managers are held to define current processes and areas for improvement. These create the basis for the creation of a development roadmap that takes place in two phases. The first phase is to create an environment where automation is possible, and the second phase is the automation of each finance service. Benchmarking interviews are held with the service centers in three other companies to discover best practices. The service charging processes between the studied companies are found incompatible, and suggestions for process automation cannot be inferred. Some implications of Service Financial Management decisions to the strategy of the service center are identified. The bundling of services and charging them inside or outside of the goal-setting frame of the business unit can be used to support the strategic choice and customer acceptance of the service center.

Business development in Siemens global shared services delivery center Portugal

A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Masters Degree in Management from the NOVA – School of Business and Economics

Business Development Efforts and Performance Improvements in SMEs Case Study of Business Development Projects Implemented in SME

Under the circumstances of the increasing market pressure, enterprises try to improve their competitive position by development efforts, and a business development project is one tool for that. There are not many answers to the question of how the development projects launched to improve the business performance in SMEs have succeeded. Theacademic interest in the business development project success has mainly focused on projects implemented in larger organisations rather than in SMEs. The previous studies on the business success of SMEs have mainly focused on new business ventures rather than on existing SMEs. However, nowadays a large number of business development projects are undertaken in existing SMEs, where they can pose a great challenge. This study focuses on business development success in SMEs thathave already established their business. The objective of the present study is to gain a deep understanding on business development project success in the SME-context and to identify the dimensions and factors affecting the project success. Further, the aim is to clarify how the business development projects implemented in SMEs have affected their performance. The empirical evidence is based on multiple case study. This study builds a framework for a generic theory of business development success in the SME-context, based on literature from the areas ofproject and change management, entrepreneurship and small business management, as well as performance measurement, and on empirical evidence from SMES. The framework consists of five success dimensions: entrepreneurial, project preparation, change management, project management and project success. The framework provides a systematic way for analysing the business development project and its impact on the performance and on the performing company. This case evidence indicates that successful business development projects have a balanced, high performance concerning all the dimensions. Good performance in one dimension is not enoughfor the project success, but it gives a good ground for the other dimensions. The other way round, poor performance in one success dimension affects the others, leading to poor performance of the project. In the SME-context the business development project success seems to be dependent on several interrelated dimensions and factors. Success in one area leads to success in other areas, and so creates an upward success spiral. Failure in one area seems to lead to failure in other areas, creating a downward failure spiral. The study indicates that the internal business development projects have affected the SMEs' performance widely also on areas and functions not initially targeted. The implications cover all thesuccess categories: the project efficiency, the impact on the customer, the business success and the future potentiality. With successful cases, the success tends to spread out to areas and functions not mentioned as the project goals, andwith unsuccessful cases the failure seems to spread out widely to the SMEs' other functions. This study also indicates that the most important key factors for successful business development project implementation are the strength of intention, business ability, knowledge, motivation and participation of the employees, as well as adequate and well-timed training provided to the employees.

Creating customer relationship management concept for engineering and service business

Customer relationship management has been one essential part of marketing for over 20 years. Today’s business environment is fast changing, international and highly competitive, and that is why the most important factor for long-term profitability is one-to-one customer relationships. However, managing relationships and serving customers that are profitable has been always challenging. In this thesis the objective was to define the main obstacles that the case company must overcome to succeed in CRM. Possible solutions have also been defined. The main elements of the implementation i.e. people, processes and technologies, can clearly be found behind these matters and solutions. This thesis also presents theoretical information about CRM and it is meant to act as a guide book inside the organisation to spread information about CRM for those who are not so familiar with the topic.

Developing a new service business model for an industrial supplier

Project business companies are moving towards solution offering in order to avoid discontinuity of project business and to gain other advantages. An option to implement solution business could be BOOT (Build-Own-Operate-Transfer) business model where a company is given the responsibilities to design, finance, build, own, operate and maintain for example production facilities of a client. The contract is made for 10-30 years, the client pays the solution during this period of time and after contract termination the facilities are transferred to the ownership of the client. The purpose of this study was to provide knowledge about BOOT business model for the company in question and its employees and to create a settlement of the advantages, disadvantages and risks of it. Furthermore, one of the main objectives was to create a description of the network needed to run a BOOT project. The objectives were met through a literature study and an explorative case study with appropriate interviews. Based on this study, the company should be able to evaluate the applicability of BOOT business model to their business environment better.

External knowledge transfer mechanisms in service business acquisition

In knowledge-intensive economy an effective knowledge transfer is a part of the firm’s strategy to achieve a competitive advantage in the market. Knowledge transfer related to a variety of mechanisms depends on the nature of knowledge and context. The topic is, however, very little empirical studied and there is a research gap in scientific literature. This study examined and analyzed external knowledge transfer mechanisms in service business and especially in the context of acquisitions. The aim was to find out what kind of mechanisms was used when the buyer began to transfer data e.g. their own agendas and practices to the purchased units. Another major research goal was to identify the critical factors which contributed to knowledge transfer through different mechanisms. The study was conducted as a multiple-case study in a consultative service business company, in its four business units acquired by acquisition, in various parts of the country. The empirical part of the study was carried out as focus group interviews in each unit, and the data were analyzed using qualitative methods. The main findings of this study were firstly the nine different knowledge transfer mechanisms in service business acquisition: acquisition management team as an initiator, unit manager as a translator, formal training, self-directed learning, rooming-in, IT systems implementation, customer relationship management, codified database and ecommunication. The used mechanisms brought up several aspects as giving the face to changing, security of receiving right knowledge and correctly interpreted we-ness atmosphere, and orientation to use more consultative touch with customers. The study pointed out seven critical factors contributed to different mechanisms: absorption, motivation, organizational learning, social interaction, trust, interpretation and time resource. The two last mentioned were new findings compared to previous studies. Each of the mechanisms and the related critical factors contributed in different ways to the activity in different units after the acquisition. The role of knowledge management strategy was the most significant managerial contribution of the study. Phenomenon is not recognized enough although it is strongly linked in knowledge based companies. The recognition would help to develop a better understanding of the business through acquisitions, especially in situations such as where two different knowledge strategies combines in new common company.

Service innovation development and knowledge integration practices - a comparative case study on KIBS sector

Academic research on services and innovations on services has significantly grown during recent years. So far research concerning management of knowledge intensive work on service development activities is very limited. The objective of this study was to examine knowledge integration practices that support service innovation development and to the best of knowledge such studies have not been previously published in academic literature. In the theoretical part of the study a review of state‐of‐the‐art literature was conducted, research gap was indicated and a framework for analysis was built. In the empirical part an explorative comparative multi‐case study was carried out in KIBS sector. Four companies were selected and four service development projects were inspected. The service development activities and knowledge integration practices were identified. The cases were carefully compared and results formed. The empirical results indicated that service innovation development is partly linear and partly incremental flow of activities where knowledge integration practices have important role supporting the planning and execution of tasks. Knowledge integration practices supporting planning and workshops are close interaction, interpretation, project planning and sequencing of work tasks. The identified knowledge integration practices supporting building service solution were careful role and competence management, routines and common knowledge. The main implication is that to manage knowledge intensive service innovation development a firm should carefully develop and choose relevant knowledge integration practices to support the service development activities.

Barriers of ESCO Service Business in Finland

The purpose of this study is to determine what are the key barriers hampering ESCO service business success in Finland. Research approach for this study is qualitative. Data was collected using Delphi method with two questionnaire rounds. Internet based tool was applied in carrying out questionnaires. Respondents of the questionnaires were ESCO service experts and researchers, and people working for ESCO service providers. Characteristics of ESCO service and ESCO project implementation are analyzed by using transaction costs theory of service business. In terms of ESCO service in Finland, uncertainty and asset specificity are relevant dimensions of TCE. General uncertainty in world’s economy hinders demand for ESCO service, and asset specificity of ESCO contracts induces slight problems for project financiers. Also bounded rationalism and opportunism are present in Finnish ESCO business. The most significant barriers of success of ESCO service in Finland are problems in legislative and political frameworks, and in customers’ investment processes. ESCO service providers should move more strongly towards service dominant business logic and improve understanding of customer needs. Political barriers are unsuitable procurement processes, unclear and unpredictable laws, and lack of compelling factors in subsidy system. Investment process hurdles are caused by customers’ lack of interest to change course of action. These are things in which ESCOs can have influence in.

Customer-driven service product development

This thesis studies customer-driven service product development and how to manage customer involvement in the service product development process. The theory part of this thesis is a literature review of the prior studies and the thesis also includes empirical evidence in the form of a case study about ABB.

POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT AND BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT IN THE ARCTIC Strategic opportunities and threats for Finnish companies

The Arctic environment is changing constantly. There are several factors that constitute to the rate and immensity of the development. The region differs from the surrounding markets that most of the countries in the region have been used to. Therefore the purpose of the study was to understand how the political environment affects Finnish companies’ strategies and business operations. The issues analyzed were the political environment in the region, the business environment and economic development, and the opportunities and threats that the Finnish companies have in Arctic. The main theories were found from strategic management and market analysis tools. The different theories and definitions were gone through in order to understand the context of the study. This is a qualitative study that uses content analysis as its main method of analyzing the data. Therefore the data analyzed was gathered from already existing material and it was analyzed until the saturation point was found. This was done in order to minimize the risks related to using secondary data. The data collected was then categorized into themes accordingly. First the general political environment in the Arctic was studied, especially the Arctic Council and its work as the main political entity. From there the focus shifted to the business environment and the general opportunities and threats that are found from Arctic economic development. China offered another point of view to this as it represented a non-Arctic state with a keen interest on the region. Lastly the two previous objectives were combined and looked through from a Finnish perspective. Finnish companies have a great starting point to Arctic business and the operational business environment gives them the framework with which they have to operate in. As a conclusion it can be said that there are three main factors leading the Arctic economic development; the climate change, the development of technology, and the political environment. These set the framework with which the companies operating in the region must comply with. The industry that is likely to lead the development is the marine industry. Furthermore it became evident that the Finnish companies operating in the Arctic face many opportunities as well as threats which can be utilized, taken advantage of or controlled through effective strategic management. The key characteristics needed in the region are openness and understanding of the challenging environment and the ability to face and manage the arising challenges.