Kandidatuppsats, Civilekonomprogrammet, Ekonomihögskolan vid Linnéuniversitetet i Växjö, 2FE24E   Titel: Belöningssystem ur olika perspektiv Författare: Mattias Brandt, Oliver Carlsson och Rasmus Lennartsson Examinator: Elin Funck Handledare: Anders Jerreling   Bakgrund och problemdiskussion: Den privata tjänstesektorn står för över halva Sveriges BNP och med en nedåtgående rörelsemarginal för denna bransch utgör ekonomistyrning en viktig funktion. Inom ekonomistyrning ingår flertalet olika styrmedel där belöningssystem utgör en del av företagens styrmix. Belöningssystem finns till för att styra och påverka anställda mot företagets övergripande mål och strategi. För att företag ska kunna styra i rätt riktning krävs det att de vet hur deras anställda motiveras vilket i sin tur leder till att de måste förstå hur deras medarbetare påverkas av olika slags incitament.   Syfte: Uppsatsens syfte är att beskriva och förklara hur säljare inom den privata tjänstesektorn styrs genom belöningssystem och hur detta uppfattas av de operativa säljarna. Detta för att utreda om det finns en överensstämmelse med vad som motiverar säljarna och vad dem belönas för. Vidare skall detta bidra med hur säljare motiveras genom sammansättning av monetära och icke-monetära belöningar.   Metod: Uppsatsen är strukturerad kring en kvalitativ metod. En komparativ studie med fallstudieinslag har genomförts där insamling av data skett genom semi-strukturerade intervjuer. Intervjuerna genomfördes på två försäljningsföretag inom den privata tjänstesektor som tillhandahåller finansiella tjänster.   Slutsats: Försäljningsföretagen har syften som baseras i att styra säljare till ökat värde av organisationen genom försäljning. Grunderna utgår ifrån finansiella mål och mätningar sker i form av antal försäljningar och volym på premien eller lånet. Det existerar i vissa fall även icke-finansiella mål till viss grad hos företagen. Formen av belöningar kommer främst i monetär form men är även till viss del kombinerat med icke-monetära belöningar. Det visar sig att de icke-monetära belöningarna såsom tävlingar, erkännande och beröm anses mer värdefulla av de anställda vid förändring av företagets storlek och miljö. Det visar sig att den personliga styrningen försvinner samtidigt med den icke-monetära delen av det formella belöningssystemet. Mottagarna upplever belöningarna på olika sätt beroende på om de drivs av yttre eller inre motivation. Det existerar många risker inom belöningssystem varav ett stort är att kombinationen av finansiella mål och icke-monetära belöningar inte alltid motsvarar den prestation som krävs för belöning. Nyckelord: Belöningssystem, contingency theory, tjänstesektor, motivation, belöningar / Bachelor thesis, Program of Master of Science in Business and Economics, School of Business and Economics at Linnaeus University in Växjö, 2FE24E   Title: Reward system from different perspectives Authors: Mattias Brandt, Oliver Carlsson och Rasmus Lennartsson Examiner: Elin Funck Advisor: Anders Jerreling   Background and problem discussion: The private sales area are accountable for more than half of Sweden's GDP, and with a downward operating margin this industry constitutes financial control an important function. Within financial management, a number of different instruments are included in which reward systems form part of the corporate governance mix. Reward systems exist to control and influence employees towards the company's overall goals and strategy. In order for companies to manage in the right direction, they need to know how their employees are motivated, which in turn leads them to understand how their employees are influenced by different incentives.   Purpose: The purpose of this study is to describe and explain how salesmen in the private sales area are controlled by reward systems and how these are perceived by the operating salesmen. The study is made to see if there is conformity between what motivates salesmen and what they are rewarded for. This shall further on contribute to how salesmen are motivated through financial and non-financial rewards.     Method: This bachelor thesis is structured around a qualitative method. A comparative case study where data has been collected through semi structured interviews. These interviews were made on two sales companies in the private service area who offer financial services.   Conclusion: The sales companies have objectives based on directing salesmen to increased value of the organization through sales. Fundamentals are based on financial targets and measurements are made on number of sales and volume of the premium or loan. In some cases, non-financial targets also exist to a certain extent among the companies. The form of rewards comes primarily in financial terms but is also partly combined with non-financial rewards. It turns out that the non-financial rewards such as competitions, recognition and praise are considered more valuable by the employees when changing the size and the environment of the company. It turns out that personal governance disappears simultaneously with the non-financial part of the formal reward system. The recipients experience the rewards in different ways depending on whether they are driven by external or internal motivation. There are many risks in reward systems, one of which is that the combination of financial goals and non-financial rewards doesn’t always correspond to the performance required for reward. Keywords: Reward system, contingency theory, private service sector, motivation, rewards

Enligt teorin kan ett väl implementerat styrsystem anses vara en självklarhet för företag som verkar på dagens allt mer konkurrensutsatta marknad. Vidare har det samtidigt visat sig att styrsystem i många mindre företag sällan är till större nytta och att dessa företag således inte har ett formellt implementerat styrsystem. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur mindre företag på grund av deras förutsättningar, använder mekanistisk och organisk styrning. Vidare syftar även studien att klargöra i vilken utsträckning som styrsystemet stämmer överens med deras förutsättningar. Den teoretiska referensramen består av två huvudsakliga teorier, contingency theory samt mekanistisk och organisk styrning. Genom att göra en fallstudie på ett mindre plåtföretag i tillverkningsindustrin, syftar denna studie att få en djupare förståelse för ett företags styrning och hur styrningen påverkas av företagets förutsättningar. De slutsatser som kan dras utifrån studien är att ett mindre företags förhållanden kan anses påverka företages styrning samt att situationsvariablerna speglar vilket styrsystem de använder. Fortsättningsvis kan däremot andra faktorer än de som undersökts i denna studie haft en påverkan på styrningen. Tilläggningsvis kan även de situationsvariabler som undersökts haft olika stor påverkan på styrningen. Ytterligare slutsatser är att mindre företag sällan är medvetna om att de format deras styrning efter deras förhållanden och att deras styrsystem snarare vuxit fram i takt med att deras förutsättningar har förändrats. / According to the theory, a well-implemented control system can be regarded as mandatory for companies that operate in today's increasingly competitive market. At the same time, it has also been found that smaller companies rarely benefit from management control systems (MCS), thus these companies do not have a formally implemented MCS. The purpose of this study is to investigate how smaller companies, due to their prerequisites, use mechanistic and organic MCS. Furthermore, the study aims to clarify the extent to which the MCS is in line with the contingencies. The theoretical framework consists of two main theories, contingency theory and mechanistic and organic MCS. By doing a case study on a small industrial company with support of interviews, this study aims at gaining a deeper understanding of a company's MCS and how it is affected by the contingencies of the company. The conclusions that can be drawn from the study are that the circumstances of a smaller company can be regarded as influencing companies' MCS. Additionally, the contingencies are also considered to reflect the MCS they use, although these contingencies might not be exhaustive and there might be other factors that can affect the MCS. Further conclusions are that smaller companies rarely consciously form their MCS according to their circumstances and it is more likely that they grow in line with the changes of the conditions.

Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka de anpassningar som småföretag inom detaljhandeln i Visby innerstad gjort för att överleva de ekonomiska kriserna som pågått sedan 2019. Studien har för avsikt att undersöka vilka marknadsanpassningar småföretagen genomfört. För att komma närmare studiens frågeställning har vi använt oss av contingency theory, en teori som förespråkar anpassning för företag när det sker förändringar i omvärlden. Tidigare studier har visat att anpassning är en viktig strategi för ett företags framgång. Modellen vi har använt oss av för att undersöka småföretagens anpassningar är marknadsföringsmixen, produkt, påverkan, pris, plats och personal. Det empiriska materialet har samlats in genom semistrukturerade intervjuer med åtta småföretag i Visby innerstad. Vi har under studiens gång sett att det skett anpassningar i alla fem element. Under pandemin gjorde man anpassningar i elementen produkt, personal, påverkan och plats. Under pågående lågkonjunktur har anpassningarna skett framförallt i pris och produkt. Butikerna har fått högre omkostnader eftersom el, hyra och leveranser har blivit dyrare men många har ändå valt att inte höja sina priser även om det finns behov för det, detta val beror främst på att de känner en risk att förlora kunder. Vi ser också att marknadsföringen har blivit än viktigare för samtliga butiker. Tidigare studier har visat att företag som lägger pengar på reklam och marknadsföring under ekonomiska kriser är de företag som det gått bäst för. / The purpose of the study is to gain an understanding of how small businesses in Visby inner city have adapted in the economic crisis that has been going on since 2019 to preserve their profitability. The study intends to investigate which adaptations the owners of companies have been considered important for their survival. To get closer to the study´s question, we have used contingency theory, a theory that advocates adaptations for companies when there are changes in the outside world. The study consists of a qualitative study where the empirical material was collected through semi-structured interviews with eight owners of small businesses, which we then analyzed using the marketing mix.   In the result, we have seen that there have been adjustments in all five elements, mainly during the pandemic where adaptations were in the elements product, people, promotion and place. During the ongoing recession, adjustments have taken place primarily in price and place. The results show that small businesses in Visby's inner city have a customer base that is loyal and cyclical strong, which contributes to the profitability of small companies during times of crisis.

Bakgrund: Corporate rebranding är ett relativt nytt fenomen som innebär att ett företag väljer att omdefiniera sitt varumärke på grund av förändringar inom företaget eller omgivningen. Men det är fortfarande relativt ostuderat och ingen studie behandlar den eventuella kopplingen med en dynamisk marknad. Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att skapa en förståelse för hur fenomenet corporate rebranding fungerar inom en dynamisk marknad, där vi valt att utgå från telekombranschen som exempelmarknad. Metod: Studien har en hermeneutisk ansats med ett deduktivt angreppssätt för kopplingen mellan teori och empiri. Studien har vidare använt sig av en komparativ design med fallstudieinslag utifrån en kvalitativ strategi. Referensram: Referensramen består av teorier om dynamiska marknader som leder in till globalisering, lokalisering samt glokalisering. Därefter definieras varumärke med respektive underliggande teorier och avslutningsvis corporate rebranding. Slutsats: Den dynamiska marknaden har gett upphov till ett stort antal rebranding-processer inom branschen, där tre strategier för att hantera ett nytt globalt varumärke har identifierats. Slutligen har varumärkets roll inom branschen blivit av en mer dynamisk karaktär där syftet är att ha ett varumärke som är mest lämpat för de förändringar som skett inom såväl den interna som externa miljön. / Background: Corporate Rebranding is relatively new phenomenon where a firm decides to redefine their brand due to changes within the company or the environment. But the amount of literature on the subject is lacking, and so far no one has studied the potential connection to a high-velocity environment. Purpose: The purpose of the study is to create an understanding of how Corporate Rebranding interacts with a high-velocity market by using the telecommunications industry. Methodology: The study was a hermeneutic endeavour with a deductive approach in linking theory and empirical evidence. In addition, a comparative case study using qualitative methods was performed. Theory: This chapter consists of theories on dynamic markets as well as glocalization, localization and globalization. This is followed by a definition of branding and finally Corporate Rebranding. Conclusion: The high-velocity market has been the root of numerous cases of rebranding and we have identified three different strategies for handling the adaptation to a new global brand. Finally, the role of the brand within the market has taken on a more dynamic role, where the purpose is to create a brand better suited for the changes in the internal as well as the external environment.

Purpose: The population of Sweden is steadily increasing, which raises the need for new infrastructure and new buildings. To meet these demands the construction industry must become more efficient. According to several researchers, better leadership can be a part of accomplishing this. Discussions regarding leadership are mostly from the leaders’ perspective and usually the decisions about what kind of leadership is needed is made by the leaders themselves. Not very often do the followers get a chance to share their thoughts on what they need to become more efficient. Earlier research shows a correlation between motivation and efficiency. Therefore, this study attempt to find out what motivates construction workers. This study intended to examine what type of leadership construction workers think they need to become more efficient. The study’s aim was to contribute knowledge about how leadership can increase the efficiency on the construction site. Method: Two methods for data collection were used. A literary review based on effective leadership and interviews with construction workers about their thoughts on what type of leadership would increase their motivation and efficiency. Findings: This study has, by answering the research questions, contributed knowledge about how leadership can increase the efficiency on the construction site. The construction workers are of the opinion that their leaders have a big impact on their efficiency. The leaders’ knowledge and experience of the production phase as well as their ability to communicate and plan ahead were all seen as factor that affect their efficiency. The literary review for this study found 23 effective leadership traits. According to the construction workers the leadership skills that contribute the most to their motivation and efficiency are humility, relationship-management, and self-awareness. Connecting the construction workers responses to the efficient leadership theories showed that the most relevant theories for increasing the workers motivation and efficiency are Transformational and Servant Theory. The theory of Servant is the most relevant since it focuses on the followers. Implications: To increase the efficiency one must focus on the people in the industry. By changing the leadership based on the construction workers' opinions their efficiency can be increased. Therefore, it is recommended that leaders on the construction site work with the leadership theories Transformational and Servant and that they develop the effective leadership traits, especially the traits the construction workers find most important. Limitations: This study was limited to the leadership from the site supervisor to the construction workers. The focus was on what type of leadership the construction workers wanted to become more motivated and efficient. Furthermore, the study was limited to four leadership theories and effective leadership traits. Keywords: Efficiency, motivation, effective leadership traits, Contingency Theory, Transformational Theory, Transactional Theory, and Servant Theory. / Syfte: Sveriges befolkning växer stadigt vilket medför en ökad efterfrågan på nya bostäder och ny infrastruktur. För att tillgodose denna ökade efterfrågan behöver byggbranschen bli effektivare. Enligt flera forskare kan effektiviteten delvis ökas genom bättre ledarskap. Diskussioner om ledarskap utgår nästan enbart från ledarnas perspektiv och det är vanligt att ledarna bestämmer vilken typ av ledare som behövs. Det är sällan följarna får chansen att framföra åsikter sina om vad de behöver för att bli mer effektiva. Tidigare forskning har också visat att det finns ett samband mellan motivation och effektivitet. Därför undersöktes även vad som motiverar yrkesarbetarna. Denna undersökning avsåg att ta reda på vad yrkesarbetarna anser sig behöva för ledarskap för att bli mer motiverade och effektivare. Målet med undersökningen var att bidra med kunskap kring hur ledarskap kan öka effektiviteten i byggproduktionen. Metod: I undersökningen användes två metoder för datainsamling. En litteraturstudie med utgångspunkt i effektivt ledarskap samt intervjuer med yrkesarbetare om deras syn på vilket ledarskap som skulle öka deras motivation och effektivitet. Resultat: Genom att svara på frågeställningarna har undersökningen bidragit med kunskap kring hur ledarskap kan öka effektiviteten i byggproduktionen. Yrkesarbetarna anser att produktionsledaren har stor inverkan på deras effektiviteten. Det som påverkar är produktionsledarens kunskap och erfarenhet om produktionen samt deras förmåga att kommunicera och planera arbetet. Under litteraturstudien påträffades 23 effektiva ledaregenskaper. Enligt yrkesarbetarna är det egenskaperna ödmjukhet, relationshantering och självkännedom som bidrar mest till att öka deras motivation och effektivitet. Genom att koppla yrkesarbetarnas svar till de effektiva ledarskapsteorierna har det visat sig att Transformational och Servant Theory är de mest relevanta teorierna för att öka yrkesarbetarnas motivation och effektivitet. Eftersom Servant Theory fokuserar på följarna anses den mest relevant. Konsekvenser: För ökad effektivitet ska fokus läggas på de människor som branschen består av. Genom att anpassa ledarskapet efter yrkesarbetarnas åsikter kan deras effektivitet öka. Med anledning av detta rekommenderas det att ledare i byggproduktion arbetar med ledarskapsteorierna Transformational och Servant, samt att ledaren utvecklar de effektiva ledaregenskaperna, framförallt de egenskaperna som yrkesarbetarna efterfrågade. Begränsningar: Undersökningen behandlade endast ledarskapet mellan produktionsledaren och yrkesarbetarna. Fokus låg på vilket ledarskap yrkesarbetarna ville ha för att bli motiverade och effektiva. Vidare begränsningar var att enbart undersöka fyra ledarskapsteorier samt de effektiva ledaregenskaperna. Nyckelord: Effektivitet, motivation, effektiva ledaregenskaper, Contingency Theory, Transformational Theory, Transactional Theory, och Servant Theory.

In recent decades, the traditional budget has come under heavy criticism with researchers and practitioners calling it a "relic of the past" as it hinders the ability of organizations to respond to and keep up with changing market conditions. As a result, alternative approaches to budgeting have been developed:beyond budgeting, activity-based budgeting and rolling forecasting. However, at the same time, traditional budgeting continues to be widely used. Therefore, the aim of the study is to understand and assess the reasons for the persistence of traditional budgeting, as well as to explore the ways traditional budgeting can be improved in repsonse to the criticism leveled at it. To achieve the aim, the study was carried out in the form of a case study. The case chosen was Värmlandstrafik, an organization responsible for organizing public transport in Värmland, Sweden. Research data was collected through interviews with the case study`s employees. A total of 10 interviews were conducted from different departments including Finance, Bus, Trail, Service, and IT. The results indicated that traditinoal budgeting is far from dead and remains valuable tool mainly for its planning, control, and performance management functions. Another finding was that traditional budgeting criticism can be addressed by incorporating already existing management tools (e.g. forecasting) rather than taking an "either-or" approach to the alternatives and budgeting. However, the study´s findings also suggest that budgeting approaches are context-specific, making it difficult to draw generalizable conclusions about their strengths and weaknesses.

This study had two main objectives. First, to identify and operationalize the key variables required to assess the strategic alignment of Inter-Organizational Information Systems (IOISs) in the context of dyadic relationships between manufacturers and suppliers. Second, to use a subset of these variables to test two alignment perspectives: fit as moderation and fit as gestalt. More precisely, four key dimensions tied to the study of IOISs alignment in the context of interorganizational relationship (relationship structure, antecedents, outcomes and IOISs usage) and the twenty-five variables that characterize them were identified. Results, from the gestalt and moderation alignment perspective's test show that when aligned together, joint actions (relationship structure), idiosyncratic investments (antecedents), diversity (IOISs usage) and internal integration (IOISs usage) become adequate predictors of the manufacturers' operational performance (outcomes). Thus, demonstrating the primordial role of IOISs alignment in manufacturer-supplier relationship and supporting the contingency theory and its underlying concept of fit.

Lean system has drawn the attention of researchers and practitioners since its emergence in 1950s. This has been reflected by the increasing number of companies attempting to implement its practices and the large number of researchers investigating its effectiveness and identifying important contextual factors which affect its implementation. The rising level of interest in lean system has led to the emergence of three distinctive streams of literature. The first stream of literature has focused on the effectiveness of lean system. However, this literature was limited as it mainly examined the additive impact of lean practices on operational performance in the manufacturing context. The second stream of literature has focused on the role the accounting system in the lean context. In this body of literature, there was an agreement among researchers on the superiority of activity-based costing system (ABC) over the traditional accounting system in supporting the implementation of lean practices. However, most studies in this strand of literature were either conceptual or case-based studies. The third stream of literature has focused on the fit between business strategy and lean system. However, inconclusive results were reported in relation to the suitability of lean system to firms adopting the differentiation strategy and others adopting the cost leadership strategy. The aim of this study is to develop and empirically test a conceptual model which integrates the three distinctive streams of literature to extend their focus and overcome their limitations. More specifically, the model developed in the current study highlights not only the additive impact of lean practices but also the possible synergy among those practices in improving both operational and financial performance of service firms. In addition, the model brings to light the potential intervening role of ABC in the strategy-lean association. After identifying and reviewing the relevant literature, the socio-technical system theory and contingency theory were used to develop the conceptual model and associated hypotheses. A questionnaire instrument was designed to collect empirical data which was supplemented by objective data from the Financial Analysis Made Easy database in order to empirically test the conceptual model using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). The findings of this study indicated that while the technical practices of lean service improved only the operational performance of service firms, the social practices enhanced both operational and financial performance. In addition, the two sets of practices positively interacted to improve firm performance over and above the improvement achieved from each set separately. Moreover, ABC was found to have a positive association with lean practice, and consequently an indirect positive relation with firm operational performance. Finally, both the differentiation and cost leadership strategy had a direct positive relationship with lean practices. However, while ABC was found to partially mediate the differentiation-lean association, it suppressed the cost leadership-lean association leading to a case of inconsistent mediation. The current study contributes to the current literature at different levels. First, at the theoretical level, this study develops a conceptual framework which crosses different streams of literatures mainly, lean system literature, management accounting literature (with focus on ABC), and business strategy literature. Unlike previous studies, by integrating the perspective of socio-technical system theory and contingency theory, the model (i) highlights not only the additive but also the synergistic effect of lean service practices on firm performance, (ii) brings to light the direct impact of ABC and business strategy on lean service practices and the intervening role of ABC due to which the business strategy is assumed to have also an indirect influence on lean practices, and (iii) offers an alternative view on how ABC can improve firm performance by enhancing other organisational capabilities (lean practices) which are expected to improve performance . Second, at the methodological level, unlike previous studies, this study includes a large number of lean service practices and contextual variables to report more precisely on the lean-performance association. In addition, the inclusion of the financial performance dimension-measured by secondary data- in the model besides the operational performance is critical to understand the full capability of lean service in improving firm performance. Further, employing a powerful statistical technique (PLS-SEM) provides more credibility to the results reported in this study. Third, at the empirical level, this study is conducted in the UK service sector. As such, this study is one of the very few studies that have reported on lean service and examined how the adoption of ABC and a specific type of business strategy can affect its implementation using empirical survey data from this context.

The aim of this study is to investigate how companies within different industries that use budgets perceive the critique that has been raised against it. As such, this study explores whether the companies find the critique valid and if so, whether and how they have managed to cope with the problems that the budget has been argued to entail. Additionally, this study explores the potential impact that the external and internal context of the budget may have on these perceptions. Utilizing on a qualitative case study research design, our findings indicate that the relevance of the critique is contextually contingent with regards to both the external and the internal environment of a company. Consequently, the likelihood for the alleged problems of the budget to appear is greater when the alignment between a company’s external and internal environment and the employed budget purpose is poor, and/or when the budget’s cohesiveness with other management control systems within a certain management control system-package is deficient. Thus, in contrast to the critics, we argue that budgets should not be seen as a static and stand-alone practice as it evidently constitute a multifaceted and contingent practice.

The purpose of this thesis is to contribute to understanding of the effect of organizational context on supply chain integration. One result is a context- based model that can provide support for practitioners regarding what level of integration to establish with suppliers and customers. Given the notion that most organizations are dependent on other organizations, it leads to a need for not only cross-functional integration but also for integration across organizational boundaries. However, in many organizations the level of integration with suppliers and customers is often inappropriate, inefficient and limited mainly to dyadic integration of order processing and operational scheduling. The existing literature provides only a limited insight concerning the essential circumstances for the integration and the slow growth of the implementation of inter-organizational integration has been attributed primarily to lack of guidelines for creating business relationships with supply chain partners. In the literature, “the more integration the better performance” solutions have often been presented without consideration of very complex internal and external organizational environments of involved companies. During recent years, questions have been raised regarding the nature of integration with suppliers and customers and the extent to which it can be accomplished. Instead of all-encompassing integration, selectivity has been suggested in terms of what level of integration should be applied to each link of the supply chain. The problem for an organization is not to find “one best way”; rather it is to search for solutions that advance integration and differentiation simultaneously. Preferable level of integration depends on many contextual factors associated with e.g. focal company, industry, competitive environment, and nature and type of products. However, in the previous research the focus has primarily been on studying single or limited sets of contextual factors and their impact on integration. These results are often fragmented, leading to multiple frameworks and models. A unifying model providing recommendations in terms of what level of integration to establish with suppliers and customers considering organization’s specific circumstances is desirable. In this study, a large number of contextual factors of integration with suppliers and customers were identified and structured. Additionally, the relationship between these factors and level of the integration was clarified. The study is based on the Grounded Theory methodology. To understand the effect of context on level of integration, two supply chains (triads) from two different industries - medical devices and fast moving consumer goods - have been selected as core samples. Findings are based on in-depth analysis of qualitative data obtained from fourteen interviews with practitioners such as CEOs, SC managers, sales managers, purchasing managers, and logisticians. Following the Grounded Theory methodology, the analysis of the collected data was conducted in three major rounds divided into six steps. The results were compared with a theoretical frame of reference. The main result of this study is a model that describes the relationship between contextual factors and integration activities with suppliers and customers. The findings suggest that the assumption of a fit between context and integration of the Structural Contingency Theory is applicable also from an inter-organizational perspective. The model can be applied to contextual factors both external and internal to an organization. It is supplemented by structured lists of identified contextual factors and integration activities. Recalling the notion of fit between value of contextual factors and level of integration with suppliers and customers, it can be stated that even low levels of integration can be appropriate as long as they are consistent with the values of certain factors representing organizational context. Furthermore, the model adds to existing models and frameworks as it can be used as a diagnostic tool. Applying this model, an organization can evaluate if current levels of integration fit with the corresponding values of contextual factors. Furthermore, the model support identification of misfits between values of contextual factors and present level of integration and it provides an opportunity to adjust or reevaluate the current levels of integration. The model, in combination with the lists of contextual factors and integration activities, can then be used to develop corrective actions in order to regain the desired fit. Intention of this study was to identify and analyze integration of triads in the studied supply chains, commonly known as Supply chain integration. However, this scope of integration has not been found, which is in line with previous research indicating that triadic integration is rare. To reflect the actual situation in more accurate way it is suggested to use the term Inter-organizational integration, implying dyadic scope of integration, rather than Supply chain integration.