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Although the launch phase in New Product Development (NPD) has been recognised as a vital stage affecting the success of new products, it is often poorly managed for various reasons. The purpose of this paper is to understand launch... more
Although the launch phase in New Product Development (NPD) has been recognised as a vital stage affecting the success of new products, it is often poorly managed for various reasons. The purpose of this paper is to understand launch management in its context better by looking at the drivers and bottlenecks of launches inside a young and growing global industrial equipment supplier with the use of a case study method. The findings of the study show that the enforcement of internal marketing, market knowledge use, marketing ...
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Abstract The challenge of connecting an innovation with a market has been addressed in two, separate discussions on business models and commercialization. Business models and commercialization processes can be seen as dynamic practices... more
Abstract The challenge of connecting an innovation with a market has been addressed in two, separate discussions on business models and commercialization. Business models and commercialization processes can be seen as dynamic practices that coexist and transform, when a firm is bringing an innovation to a market. However, their relationship has received little attention and particularly, mechanisms behind such transformation are not thoroughly understood, and therefore this study addresses that gap. What kind of evidence (if any) the extant research holds about the existence of their interplay, and how that interplay occurs? The study draws on the current understanding of how business models change or are changed and how evolvement or evolution of the commercialization process occurs. The overlapping and the differing conceptualizations of the concepts help to conclude, how the transformation of the business model is linked to the transformation of the commercialization process. The study suggests that by understanding the interplay in question, a business model can better serve as a dynamic managerial device for commercialization. Business model can be put to work by using it as a frame for action when commercializing
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Research Interests: Business, Marketing, Knowledge Management, Technology transfer, Knowledge Transfer, and 10 moreCustomer Commitment, Business and Management, Case Study, Industrial Production, Core Knowledge, Process Technology, Project Charter, Buyer-seller relationship, Industrial Marketing Management, and Project Management Triangle
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Despite the importance of commercialisation in innovation processes, there remains a lack of empirical studies that focus on comparing commercialisation of products and commercialisation of technology. The purpose of this paper is to... more
Despite the importance of commercialisation in innovation processes, there remains a lack of empirical studies that focus on comparing commercialisation of products and commercialisation of technology. The purpose of this paper is to examine how commercialisation is conducted in these two different domains in the context of business–to–business firms. The objective is to introduce an improved comparison matrix with which to analyse the similarities and differences between these two entities. The first part of the paper is a selective literature review that provides the basis for our comparison. The second part illustrates two case studies and provides a cross–case analysis. The empirical findings of this study reveal novel insight compared to previous findings, and put forward a comprehensive matrix for product and technology commercialisation.
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This study focuseso n managemenot f the effectso f firm's existing knowledge base on the front end of innovation. A qualitative case study presents empirical evidence from an innovative industrial customer project. Results indicate... more
This study focuseso n managemenot f the effectso f firm's existing knowledge base on the front end of innovation. A qualitative case study presents empirical evidence from an innovative industrial customer project. Results indicate that broad or strong knowledge base areas enhance but can also disturb the front end. Dominating knowledge areas can lead to an unfeasible concept and cost-ineffrciencies. Broad knowledge areas complicate intemal coordinating for optimal concept generation. Innovation originates from the knowledge base: more attention to balanced composition and use of knowledge base is proposed, so that innovation is boosted, not hampered, in the front end.
Integrated marketing communications (IMC) in industrial firms, particularly as linked to corporate branding, have started to attract research interest. However, there is still a lack of empirical research on the implementation of IMC in... more
Integrated marketing communications (IMC) in industrial firms, particularly as linked to corporate branding, have started to attract research interest. However, there is still a lack of empirical research on the implementation of IMC in industrial firms. The purpose of this study is to examine how the IMC concept suits an industrial context by looking at the challenges of IMC implementation in industrial firms. The findings from six case studies show that the marketing communications (MC) integration challenges relate to organizational barriers, balancing use of MC channels, the unclear role of product level MC, too general customer information, and specifically to a dependency on individuals within industrial marketing. The study concludes with an empirically based adapted IMC construct and an IMC implementation plan.
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Co-innovation between suppliers and their customers provides important benefits but is not without challenges. Especially in technologically complex industrial context co-innovation projects need careful planning and preparing. Through... more
Co-innovation between suppliers and their customers provides important benefits but is not without challenges. Especially in technologically complex industrial context co-innovation projects need careful planning and preparing. Through eight cases, this qualitative study takes the perspective of the supplier and empirically identifies three types of supplier-customer co-innovation projects and for each project type, the supplier’s co-innovation goal, potential matching customer relationships, and related managerial benefits and challenges are described. The results contribute to the co-innovation research by presenting a framework for matching supplier’s co-innovation goals to customer relationship types, which brings out the variety of co-innovation projects that even a single supplier can face and must manage.
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The purpose of this report is to round up current literature and other published sources on harnessing web 2.0 for business-to-business marketing and add an empirical perspective on the subject from Finland. Web 2.0 means technologies... more
The purpose of this report is to round up current literature and other published sources on harnessing web 2.0 for business-to-business marketing and add an empirical perspective on the subject from Finland. Web 2.0 means technologies that enable users to easily communicate, and organize, create and share content. By web 2.0 tools, we mean blogs and podcasts, social networks, communities, content aggregators and virtual worlds. Based on the literature review we present pros and cons of every tool for marketing purposes. Among the examined Finnish industrial firms the utilization of web 2.0 is still low, but blogs, wikis and video sharing raised some interest. Overall, web 2.0 provides firms with benefits still largely unexplored, and we believe that the importance of internet marketing will continue to grow.
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The purpose of this report is to round up current literature and other published sources on harnessing web 2.0 for business-to-business marketing and add an empirical perspective on the subject from Finland. Web 2.0 means technologies... more
The purpose of this report is to round up current literature and other published sources on harnessing web 2.0 for business-to-business marketing and add an empirical perspective on the subject from Finland. Web 2.0 means technologies that enable users to easily communicate, and organize, create and share content. By web 2.0 tools, we mean blogs and podcasts, social networks, communities, content aggregators and virtual worlds. Based on the literature review we present pros and cons of every tool for marketing purposes. Among the examined Finnish industrial firms the utilization of web 2.0 is still low, but blogs, wikis and video sharing raised some interest. Overall, web 2.0 provides firms with benefits still largely unexplored, and we believe that the importance of internet marketing will continue to grow.
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The purpose of this study is to understand the contextual nature of launching industrial new products. Therefore, the launch drivers, challenges, and launch processes are examined here in two remarkably different industrial contexts. The... more
The purpose of this study is to understand the contextual nature of launching industrial new products. Therefore, the launch drivers, challenges, and launch processes are examined here in two remarkably different industrial contexts. The importance of the launch for new product success has been acknowledged and the formulation of a successful launch strategy is broadly addressed in the previous launch research. However, the launch activities and the variety of industrial launch contexts have been less frequently studied. The theoretical foundation of this study builds on new product marketing, new product management, new product development, and industrial marketing research. The empirical part of the study is conducted in the form of a qualitative two-case study. The first case represents a less innovative singular design industrial product launch by a product-based firm to a competitive market, and the second case is an innovative customised industrial solution launch through a cu...
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Co-innovation has been found to be difficult to control, but especially in industrial context, where the potential partners for co-innovation are often important long-term customers, the co-innovation process needs careful management.... more
Co-innovation has been found to be difficult to control, but especially in industrial context, where the potential partners for co-innovation are often important long-term customers, the co-innovation process needs careful management. Previous literature provides insights into the innovation process and customer integration in it, but combined understanding of these in order to understand the co-innovation process within long-term industrial customer relationships is still developing. Through a qualitative six-case study, this study identifies three types of co-innovation processes with industrial customers and presents related managerial implications.
This paper explores co-innovation, a phenomenon, in which supplier and customer actively work on a new solution. Previous studies have highlighted the benefits of co-innovation but less emphasis has been directed towards the shifting... more
This paper explores co-innovation, a phenomenon, in which supplier and customer actively work on a new solution. Previous studies have highlighted the benefits of co-innovation but less emphasis has been directed towards the shifting roles of the supplier and the customer in different stages of co-innovation. This paper focuses on revealing these roles, which are discussed through the goals and the involvement of the actors in different stages of the coinnovation process. The findings from a qualitative multiple-case study present six overlapping roles for the supplier and seven roles for the customer across the co-innovation process stages. Some of the customer roles are identified only in some of the three identified co-innovation process types. Match or mismatch between the supplier and customer roles can either contribute or harm the co-innovation regarding to e.g. the effects on the innovativeness of the outcome or the supplier-customer relationship. For example, the supplier-c...
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The purpose of the study is to develop understanding of commercialization situations in an industrial context and to develop commercialization as an independent concept. The research question is how do the commercialization activities of... more
The purpose of the study is to develop understanding of commercialization situations in an industrial context and to develop commercialization as an independent concept. The research question is how do the commercialization activities of a technology provider and an equipment supplier depict the situational elements? The managerial aim is to increase industrial firms' ability to develop and analyze their commercialization
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Manufacturing industry is going through a radical change. Due to volatile economic situation and global competition, industrial companies around the world are under constant pressure. Having the required technical skills and equipment is... more
Manufacturing industry is going through a radical change. Due to volatile economic situation and global competition, industrial companies around the world are under constant pressure. Having the required technical skills and equipment is no longer sufficient as potential customers ask for more complex products, better quality and faster deliveries. In order to succeed in this challenging situation, Finnish manufacturing companies need to re-build the way they run their business. They need to re-evaluate their business logic, build innovative business networks and adopt supportive ICT tools. By joining their forces in a collaborative network, companies can offer larger tailored solutions than any of the companies could offer by itself, or even develop completely new products and services. The ability to co-operate and form flexible, collaborative networks is particularly essential for a small enterprise, as it enables participation in megaprojects. Operating as a collaborative networ...
Integrated marketing communications (IMC) have gained a remarkable research effort, but still the benefits of IMC implementation have been difficult to prove, especially in financial terms. There are scattered efforts to build a link... more
Integrated marketing communications (IMC) have gained a remarkable research effort, but still the benefits of IMC implementation have been difficult to prove, especially in financial terms. There are scattered efforts to build a link between IMC and firm performance. The study aims to build a more comprehensive propositional conceptual model to evaluate IMC implementation effects and their links to financial performance based on a focused literature review. IMC implementation, based on content, channel, and stakeholder elements, has effect on brand equity and customer behavior, and thus effect on sales. The study concludes with insights for further studies.
Starting from two fundamental propositions that (a) customer focus is the core of a marketing concept and (b) small business marketing practices are different from larger firms, this paper explores the role of customer orientation (CO) in... more
Starting from two fundamental propositions that (a) customer focus is the core of a marketing concept and (b) small business marketing practices are different from larger firms, this paper explores the role of customer orientation (CO) in small business marketing. Five in-depth interviews were conducted with managers/owners of small businesses to find out, how customer orientation is put info practice. The empirical findings suggest that CO in SMEs can be seen as a continuum from transactional to relationship perspectives, and can be practised on a strategic and operational level. Customer orientation in small businesses is seen as firm’s orientation based on long term customer relationships aiming at satisfying customer needs by utilising customer understanding in order to secure the continuance of the business. The study confirms that CO concept can be seen as fundamental marketing concept regardless of a size of a firm. On the other hand, the findings also show that in order to u...
Limited attention is paid in the academic literature to how business markets and marketers have harnessed social media. The purpose of this study is to depict how companies in business markets have been using social media and what kinds... more
Limited attention is paid in the academic literature to how business markets and marketers have harnessed social media. The purpose of this study is to depict how companies in business markets have been using social media and what kinds of future strategic actions they have planned for it. The research is based on a literature review, six case studies and eight interviews with industry experts. The research shows that managers are hesitant to adopt and use social media mainly due to the challenges of creating compelling content and because open interaction within social media is perceived as a threat, although companies have run trial campaigns with limited success. For academics, this study illustrates areas for further research and theory development.
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Although the launch phase in New Product Development (NPD) has been recognised as a vital stage affecting the success of new products, it is often poorly managed for various reasons. The purpose of this paper is to understand launch... more
Although the launch phase in New Product Development (NPD) has been recognised as a vital stage affecting the success of new products, it is often poorly managed for various reasons. The purpose of this paper is to understand launch management in its context better by looking at the drivers and bottlenecks of launches inside a young and growing global industrial equipment supplier with the use of a case study method. The findings of the study show that the enforcement of internal marketing, market knowledge use, marketing ...
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... Department of Marketing, Oulu Business School, PO Box 4600, 90014 University of Oulu, Finland, Phone: +358 8 553 2893, [email protected] ... differentiated subunits of MNC are greatly shaping the global operations of the whole MNC... more
... Department of Marketing, Oulu Business School, PO Box 4600, 90014 University of Oulu, Finland, Phone: +358 8 553 2893, [email protected] ... differentiated subunits of MNC are greatly shaping the global operations of the whole MNC (Birkinshaw and Hood, 1998; Luo, 2005 ...
This paper explores co-innovation, a phenomenon, in which supplier and customer actively work on a new solution. Previous studies have highlighted the benefits of co-innovation but less emphasis has been directed towards the shifting... more
This paper explores co-innovation, a phenomenon, in which supplier and customer actively work on a new solution. Previous studies have highlighted the benefits of co-innovation but less emphasis has been directed towards the shifting roles of the supplier and the customer in different stages of co-innovation. This paper focuses on revealing these roles, which are discussed through the goals and the involvement of the actors in different stages of the coinnovation process. The findings from a qualitative multiple-case study ...
Abstract: Co-innovation has been found to be difficult to control, but especially in industrial context, where the potential partners for co-innovation are often important long-term customers, the co-innovation process needs careful... more
Abstract: Co-innovation has been found to be difficult to control, but especially in industrial context, where the potential partners for co-innovation are often important long-term customers, the co-innovation process needs careful management. Previous literature provides insights into the innovation process and customer integration in it, but combined understanding of these in order to understand the co-innovation process within long-term industrial customer relationships is still developing. Through a qualitative six-case study, ...