<p>The international environment today has been undergoing unprecedented change and many companies are seeking new ways to stand out from the competition by sustaining their competitive advantage. Internationalization and firms’ consolidation increase competition in the dynamic marketplace .Companies are no longer staying competitive simply through focusing on product quality and pricing as customers are becoming more high-demanding related to customer service offer. This issue directs the companies’ main focus today to address the customer needs in the ever-changing environment.In order to be the winners in the marketplace, timing and superior customer service are becoming the keys to attain competitive advantage for a company. Time-based competition is an important issue that many companies are facing currently as customers are becoming more time-sensitive and time-oriented in terms of better services, reliability and delivery. To keep up with the changes in demand from customers, it is important to satisfy customers’ objectives and needs in order to provide superior customer service, thus, establish good relationship with them. In the ever-changing and dynamic business environment company needs to adapt and exploit the changes in order to meet the new challenges in the marketplace. It is crucial for the company to respond to changing needs of existing customers and seeking to serve new customers externally. The ways to renew the customers’ services and how they are delivered are critical capabilities for many companies to acquire nowadays. This leads to increasing interaction between marketing and logistics where logistics is considered a platform for supporting new strategic moves on the market.This master thesis originates from a need to research the links between customer service improvement and Just-in-time distribution in order to sustain competitive advantage. We propose to extend the Just-In-Time concept to incorporate a customer perspective, which results in changes the warehousing, ordering and delivering routines. Subsequently, this creates timing ability as well as coordination of information and material flows through timely decisions, which are difficult for competitors to emulate. Based on our analysis and conclusion, companies are recommended to shift from the traditional production-oriented to market-oriented focuses through incorporation of customers' perspective into the value chain. To deploy this, companies should start from the customer end and understand customers' needs and establish mutual beneficial relationships with customers. Long-lasting business relationships ultimately determine the success of the company. Furthermore, we conclude that successful learning to change the routines requires time for the transformation of traditional delivery practice to perform direct deliveries activities. They are based on the common understanding of the tasks and rules as well as common codes of internal coordination processes.</p>

The international environment today has been undergoing unprecedented change and many companies are seeking new ways to stand out from the competition by sustaining their competitive advantage. Internationalization and firms’ consolidation increase competition in the dynamic marketplace .Companies are no longer staying competitive simply through focusing on product quality and pricing as customers are becoming more high-demanding related to customer service offer. This issue directs the companies’ main focus today to address the customer needs in the ever-changing environment.In order to be the winners in the marketplace, timing and superior customer service are becoming the keys to attain competitive advantage for a company. Time-based competition is an important issue that many companies are facing currently as customers are becoming more time-sensitive and time-oriented in terms of better services, reliability and delivery. To keep up with the changes in demand from customers, it is important to satisfy customers’ objectives and needs in order to provide superior customer service, thus, establish good relationship with them. In the ever-changing and dynamic business environment company needs to adapt and exploit the changes in order to meet the new challenges in the marketplace. It is crucial for the company to respond to changing needs of existing customers and seeking to serve new customers externally. The ways to renew the customers’ services and how they are delivered are critical capabilities for many companies to acquire nowadays. This leads to increasing interaction between marketing and logistics where logistics is considered a platform for supporting new strategic moves on the market.This master thesis originates from a need to research the links between customer service improvement and Just-in-time distribution in order to sustain competitive advantage. We propose to extend the Just-In-Time concept to incorporate a customer perspective, which results in changes the warehousing, ordering and delivering routines. Subsequently, this creates timing ability as well as coordination of information and material flows through timely decisions, which are difficult for competitors to emulate. Based on our analysis and conclusion, companies are recommended to shift from the traditional production-oriented to market-oriented focuses through incorporation of customers' perspective into the value chain. To deploy this, companies should start from the customer end and understand customers' needs and establish mutual beneficial relationships with customers. Long-lasting business relationships ultimately determine the success of the company. Furthermore, we conclude that successful learning to change the routines requires time for the transformation of traditional delivery practice to perform direct deliveries activities. They are based on the common understanding of the tasks and rules as well as common codes of internal coordination processes.

In this thesis we examine the issue of growth in emerging markets and in specific how MNCs can achieve growth by understanding the customer and building a solid distributor network on the example of EPLSG in the Russian market. In this context we investigate the correlation of the growth potential with institutional environment, customer behaviour, distributorship and brand equity. But let us briefly examine the structure of the thesis chapter by chapter. Chapter one explains the five main themes that structure our thesis from a theoretical and an empirical point of view. Chapter two is an account of the methodology used for the conducting of the empirical research as well as of the whole thesis. Chapter three outlines the theoretical background of the thesis while chapter four is a description of the empirical data found on the field. Chapter five is the analysis of the empirical findings and in chapter six the reader can see the conclusions and recommendations for the case company. Finally, chapter seven gives directions for further research. Overall, the authors of this thesis purport that in emerging markets an MNC can grow if it can effectively gather and analyze customer and market data as well as build appropriately a distributor network that can deliver the product to the customer and fully capture the market potential. What differentiates this thesis from other studies is the holistic appreciation of the problems that an MNC faces in an emerging market. The building of theory was based on this perspective as well as the recommendations for the case company. That is why, in chapter seven the recommendations for the case company should be read not as individual ones but as set of interconnected tactics that can allow an MNC to grow.

<p>In this thesis we examine the issue of growth in emerging markets and in specific how MNCs can achieve growth by understanding the customer and building a solid distributor network on the example of EPLSG in the Russian market. In this context we investigate the correlation of the growth potential with institutional environment, customer behaviour, distributorship and brand equity. But let us briefly examine the structure of the thesis chapter by chapter.</p><p>Chapter one explains the five main themes that structure our thesis from a theoretical and an empirical point of view. Chapter two is an account of the methodology used for the conducting of the empirical research as well as of the whole thesis. Chapter three outlines the theoretical background of the thesis while chapter four is a description of the empirical data found on the field. Chapter five is the analysis of the empirical findings and in chapter six the reader can see the conclusions and recommendations for the case company. Finally, chapter seven gives directions for further research.</p><p>Overall, the authors of this thesis purport that in emerging markets an MNC can grow if it can effectively gather and analyze customer and market data as well as build appropriately a distributor network that can deliver the product to the customer and fully capture the market potential. What differentiates this thesis from other studies is the holistic appreciation of the problems that an MNC faces in an emerging market. The building of theory was based on this perspective as well as the recommendations for the case company. That is why, in chapter seven the recommendations for the case company should be read not as individual ones but as set of interconnected tactics that can allow an MNC to grow.</p>

<p>This thesis investigates the way to implement a valuable e-commerce solution. With the growing importance of information technologies in business practices, more and more companies are adopting e-commerce as a selling and ordering process. However, depending on the market environment, the level of success of the implementation may differ. The purpose of this study is therefore to examine what are the conditions required for a successful B2B e-commerce implementation in different market contexts.</p><p>Theories related to the impact of markets' contexts on e-commerce, the business process, and the drivers and enablers of e-commerce have been considered. Thereafter the current situation of Star Laundry Solutions (SLS) has been studied. The context of different markets – France, United Kingdom, Turkey - where they have dealers, the business process drivers of implementations and success factors of a valuable e-commerce solution have been investigated. The result of the empirical studied are analyzed in comparison with the theoretical findings. Through this method, the main research question of the thesis, namely “What are the necessary conditions to implement a value-adding e-commerce solution in different market contexts?” can be answered.</p><p>Several conditions have been identified in order to succeed the implementation and bring value to the different players along the supply chain, from the manufacturer to the end-customer. The market should first answer different criteria. Further, future users of the web solution must support the implementation, trust between parties must also emerge from the implementation, and additional information must be provided on the website such as product numbers (PNCs), products' availability and delivery times.</p><p>The provided recommendations of this thesis regarding the features of the web solution, the range of products that dealers and importers should be able to order online and the range of companies that should be allowed to use the web solution in Turkey.</p>

This thesis investigates the way to implement a valuable e-commerce solution. With the growing importance of information technologies in business practices, more and more companies are adopting e-commerce as a selling and ordering process. However, depending on the market environment, the level of success of the implementation may differ. The purpose of this study is therefore to examine what are the conditions required for a successful B2B e-commerce implementation in different market contexts. Theories related to the impact of markets' contexts on e-commerce, the business process, and the drivers and enablers of e-commerce have been considered. Thereafter the current situation of Star Laundry Solutions (SLS) has been studied. The context of different markets – France, United Kingdom, Turkey - where they have dealers, the business process drivers of implementations and success factors of a valuable e-commerce solution have been investigated. The result of the empirical studied are analyzed in comparison with the theoretical findings. Through this method, the main research question of the thesis, namely “What are the necessary conditions to implement a value-adding e-commerce solution in different market contexts?” can be answered. Several conditions have been identified in order to succeed the implementation and bring value to the different players along the supply chain, from the manufacturer to the end-customer. The market should first answer different criteria. Further, future users of the web solution must support the implementation, trust between parties must also emerge from the implementation, and additional information must be provided on the website such as product numbers (PNCs), products' availability and delivery times. The provided recommendations of this thesis regarding the features of the web solution, the range of products that dealers and importers should be able to order online and the range of companies that should be allowed to use the web solution in Turkey.