<p>Background: The recent years in the Swedish Fast Moving Consumer Goods industry have been characterized by a palpable shift in power balance, favouring the retailers. Since the shift in power balance has strengthened the negotiation position of the retailers, the suppliers now have to, to a greater extent than before, accommodate to the retailers’ goals, whether they be financial or strategic. </p><p>Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate how this recent power shift has affected the relationships of suppliers and retailers. This development has resulted in the rather new and unexplored area of retailer value, which this study further aimed to explore. </p><p>Research method: Interviews were conducted with representatives fromthe leading retailer chains and market leading suppliers. </p><p>Results: The increased use of information and control on behalf of the retailers has led to the suppliers, to a greater extent than before, having to adjust to the retailers'different store concepts. However, in order to create retailer value, the suppliers also need to focus on the consumers’ needs and preferences, since the way to the retailer’s shelves is through creating consumer demand. They also have to stay innovative and make use of the experience and in-depth knowledge they possess within their product segments, as that is where they still have the upper hand.</p>

<p>Making the work in the public sector more efficient is something that has been seen as necessary during the later years. One way to do this on municipal level has been to apply solutions former used mostly by private companies. The organisational parts have also been adjusted to existing conditions in this work of change. For example more and more municipalities have come to use the purchaser-supplier model since the beginning of the 1990's. Norrköping, Linköping and Motala have been chosen in this essay for a closer study of the effects of the changes of the 90's, from an efficiency point of view. Even the process whereby the changes have been performed has been studied. The result that is being presented is that the purchaser-supplier model in many ways has contributed to an increased consciousness about the existing problems in the work and organisation in the municipalities. At the same time there is critics about the way the model is being used, and about the fact that the application isn't always adjusted to the existing reality.</p>

Making the work in the public sector more efficient is something that has been seen as necessary during the later years. One way to do this on municipal level has been to apply solutions former used mostly by private companies. The organisational parts have also been adjusted to existing conditions in this work of change. For example more and more municipalities have come to use the purchaser-supplier model since the beginning of the 1990's. Norrköping, Linköping and Motala have been chosen in this essay for a closer study of the effects of the changes of the 90's, from an efficiency point of view. Even the process whereby the changes have been performed has been studied. The result that is being presented is that the purchaser-supplier model in many ways has contributed to an increased consciousness about the existing problems in the work and organisation in the municipalities. At the same time there is critics about the way the model is being used, and about the fact that the application isn't always adjusted to the existing reality.

Background: Forecasting is an instrument that the managers rely upon for their anticipations of the future. Subcontractors control their operations according to the forecast volumes provided by the telecom mobile network equipment suppliers. The information in the forecasts is however not sufficient. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to identify and test relevant and available market indicators for prediction of future demand fluctuations on the telecom mobile network equipment market. Realisation: During a number of interviews, factors that are driving the network equipment market were clarified. The aim of this part was to identify possible market indicators. Hypotheses were set up to test the chosen indicators. In the second part, the indicators were tested statistically. Finally, the theoretical and logical support of the results was discussed. Result: To predict future movements in network equipment demand, the market indicators should focus on the telecom mobile operators, and their ability, need, and willingness to make new investments. The market indicators proven to be of most importance after the regression analyses were long-term market interest rates and telecom corporate bond indices.

Background: Performance measurement as a management control tool has received considerable academic attention. As the number of inter-organisational relationships, such as customer-supplier relationships, increases, there is a new scope for performance measurement as a management control tool. In order for a company to assess the effectiveness of its supplier relationships it has to define, measure and evaluate variables that are critical for the success of the relationship. The role of management control, and thereby of performance measurement, has increasingly been discussed in theory. However, empirical research in this area is still somewhat limited. Purpose: The purpose of the thesis is to analyse how performance measurement in inter-organisational relationships should be designed in order to be effective. Results: Theory which is applicable on performance measurement as a control tool in general also appears to be applicable on performance measurement as a control tool in inter-organisational relationships. Exactly which requirements performance measurement should meet, in order to be effective, is difficult to establish since they often imply a trade-off between different factors. In order to be effective, performance measurement partly needs to be adjusted to the situation, which adds yet a dimension to, and difficulty of, performance measurement in inter-organisational relationships.

Background: The recent years in the Swedish Fast Moving Consumer Goods industry have been characterized by a palpable shift in power balance, favouring the retailers. Since the shift in power balance has strengthened the negotiation position of the retailers, the suppliers now have to, to a greater extent than before, accommodate to the retailers’ goals, whether they be financial or strategic. Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate how this recent power shift has affected the relationships of suppliers and retailers. This development has resulted in the rather new and unexplored area of retailer value, which this study further aimed to explore. Research method: Interviews were conducted with representatives fromthe leading retailer chains and market leading suppliers. Results: The increased use of information and control on behalf of the retailers has led to the suppliers, to a greater extent than before, having to adjust to the retailers'different store concepts. However, in order to create retailer value, the suppliers also need to focus on the consumers’ needs and preferences, since the way to the retailer’s shelves is through creating consumer demand. They also have to stay innovative and make use of the experience and in-depth knowledge they possess within their product segments, as that is where they still have the upper hand.

La tesi circoscrive il tema del valore nell'ambito delle diverse discipline dell'economia e gestione di impresa, ponendo un 'attenzione particolare agli studi di marketing dove, a fronte del grande interesse manifestato negli anni passati, si riscontra ora un certo calo di interesse verso lo studio del costrutto. Date queste premesse si è cercato di individuare una nicchia teorica ancora parzialmente inesplorata, ma che fosse espressione di un problema economicamente rilevante, sia a livello concettuale che in termini di implicazioni manageriali: si è deciso pertanto di studiare il valore delle relazioni nei mercati business to business. Nello specifico le domande di ricerca possono essere così sintetizzate: 1. Cos'è e come si rappresenta il valore di una relazione nei mercati business to business? 2. Esiste un legame tra complessità percepita e valore attribuito alla relazione? E se questo legame esiste, quali sono le ragioni che lo inducono? 3. Sono presenti in azienda strumenti o metodologie finalizzati a misurare il valore delle relazioni? L'indagine è stata applicata ad un mercato high-tech, quello dell' ICT Security, all'interno del quale sono state analizzate otto diadi e tre triadi relazionali. Rispetto alle domande di ricerca inizialmente formulate si ritiene che la conclusione di questo percorso abbia portato ad ottenere una definizione di valore delle relazioni, ad individuare una modalità di rappresentazione del valore per livelli di analisi e per aree di valore relazionale, ad esplorare il legame tra complessità percepita e valore e a verificare l'effettivo utilizzo di strumenti di misurazione del valore nella pratica aziendale. / Understanding value is a crucial task in business markets. Relationships are not all identical, some of them are more important and profitable than others and this consciousness can guide managers in addressing resources in their customer/supplier relationship portfolio (Gadde, Snehota, 2000). In past studies, value has often been associated with the concept of exchange, of product and service, leaving out relationship components, and thus leading to an incomplete representation of this concept. It was possible to go only partly beyond this limit through the introduction of the concept of relationship value, which represents a relatively new research area in the studies on business markets. This thesis aims at understanding what Relationship Value represents both for customers and suppliers and how it can be represented through the analysis of 8 dyads and 3 triads (25 in-depth interviews) in the ICT Security Industry. This verification enabled to show that the concept of relationship value is part of a logic which can be applied both to the customer and to the supplier, whose point of view has often been neglected in the literature or associated with financial indicators. This study identifies a model of the areas of relationship value, within which it is possible to include the relationships on the basis of the concepts of desired, perceived and generated value.

The discipline of marketing is evolving from a product centric paradigm where all value is invested in the product by the supplier and it is exchanged for a market determined price by means of an arm’s length transaction, to a service centric paradigm where value is co-created by customer and supplier through complex relationships in which the rewards are determined through negotiation. This study recognizes that in practice a supplier will and ought to continue to have some customer relationships that are transactional and others that involve higher levels of value co-creation. A five point continuum of relationships from transactional to strategic alliance is defined. Dyadic data in which customer and supplier are asked to evaluate the same relationship from their respective points of view are analyzed resulting in a portfolio of a supplier’s relationships that include each of the five levels. Three structured equation models are validated: first, the customer’s assessment of the level of relationship as a function of new, behaviorally anchored measures; second, the supplier’s assessment as a function of new, behaviorally anchored measures of investment; third, the differences between customer and supplier assessments as a function of differences in ratings of new, behaviorally anchored measures. Additionally, segmentation of the customer base is identified based on the level of assessment of the current and desired future level of relationship. Servicing processes are defined to enable the supplier to match the right offerings to each level of customer thereby optimizing their investment in their customer portfolio.

Executive Summary In the complex world of today with customers as well as suppliers scattered around the world the inevitable outcome is complexity. Going back to the early days of industrialism companies to a large extent owned the whole chain from supplies to sales of the final products. An example is Ford, the company controlled almost the entire chain, they even established their own rubber plantation. During the last decades companies have switched to a more intense focus on their core competences leaving supporting services, raw material and components to others. Again, the manufacturing industry, using Ford as an example, uses sub-suppliers for components and material. Partly this is because today there is a far broader variety in what is produced according to customer’s different demands. Earlier people simply bought a car but today people have varying needs as well as a desire to express themselves by choosing model, color, rims et cetera. Today these companies are to a larger extent characterized as devel-opers-designers-assemblers. The choice was to investigate FläktWoods Jönköping, a Swedish company, part of FläktWoods Group. The company has been producing climate control equipment since 1918 as is considered as one of the world leaders in its line of business. Some of this company’s customer and product categories have been investigated together with relevant competition and relationships. An investigation regarding some of FläktWoods supplier categories and the related issues competition and relationships has also been performed. This has been done in order to understand how these matters are connected and affect each other as well as develop guidelines to handle these matters. In-terviews with different managers in the company have been conducted and the results were compared to related scientific literature. By studying FläktWoods certain patterns of internal as well as external relationships were found. It became clear that with an increased customer perceived complexity of products sold as well as complexity of components purchased by FläktWoods the importance and complexity of internal as well as external relationships increased. Also, with less competi-tion relationships also increased in importance. The outcome of these patterns is a framework structured in a number of steps that helps in forming these relationships by considering the nature of the products, components and competition. This can be seen as a tool for FläktWoods and potentially for other manufac-turing companies when forming different relationships.

Problem: What are the most critical activities for process industry? Whether general view of impact of these value chain activities on product performance (quality, cost and innovation) applied to process industry? How do those activities impact to product performances? If they cannot affect product performance, what could be the reason behind it?   Purpose: This paper aims to conclude general view of impact of value chain activities on product performances (quality, cost and innovation). Accordingly we would create a conceptual model. And then test whether this model applies for process industry and further more figure out the reason behind through case study.   Methodology: In this paper, qualitative research is our approach. We choose single case study as research strategy and conduct three interviews. Documentation and interview data are collected and analyzed to provide theoretical framework and empirical evidence for the whole paper.     Result: Based on case study, and previous work, the model concerning impact of major activities for process industry (Marketing sales, Human Resource and Supplier management) on product performances (Quality, Cost and Innovation) is derived. This model contains answers to nine hypotheses assumed in theoretical part, giving reader a new and easy way to understand process industry.        Conclusions: Distinguished from other industry, process industry with its own unique characteristics does not lend support to all nine hypotheses. Fundamental analysis proved that some assumptions do not establish for process industry while the others may have more significant relationships. To be specific, there exists strong impact of human resource on product quality and cost, supplier management on product cost and also marketing and sales on product quality. But, to our surprise, the other assumed relationships are not that significant while product innovation has adverse affect on marketing and sales.