<p>This work is performed as a pre-study to investigate new business opportunities for companies who are product-centric oriented but want to move in the direction of being a customer-centric organization by using technologies based on networked products.</p><p>The study describes IntelliCom, which is a company selling network enabling products. IntelliCom has also developed a customized server solution making it possible to network remote installed products and collect data from these products over Internet. This technology that IntelliCom have knowledge in could be a platform for providing data and different kind of services by connecting customer’s devices, which aim to generate a value for the customer and be a new business opportunity for product-centric companies.</p><p>The research is mainly based on observations and dialogs with management and sales people of IntelliCom to investigate how the marketing strategies and marketing mix is used when selling products. To be able to collect data and information about the customer’s value and opportunities, I have made an Interview with a potential customer of IntelliCom who is an OEM company already proving products and services in line with a customer-centric business strategy. This customer is Woodward and manufacturer of GenSet controllers within the energy/electrical segment. The observations and information collected from customer were analysed to understand and to be able to describe how customer’s value chain and smart services opportunities relate to each other.</p><p>The study shows that the opportunity for IntelliCom to start using the new technology to increasing the sales of data and services, not only products, is good. The study points out that IntelliCom should chose a business model that targeting OEM companies. IntelliCom should limit the offer to provide unprocessed data and let the OEM customer process data to provide smart services to their customers worldwide.</p>

This research project analyzes the beef grading system in Australia. Firstly, the Meat Standards Australia (MSA) grading system as a potential value-creating and value chain-coordinating mechanism is investigated. In-depth interviews with value chain stakeholders and industry experts suggest that the implementation of the MSA grading system has had a catalytic effect of moving value chains toward a greater level of coordination. The concept of best value supply chains is also used as a benchmark in determining MSAs effect on value chain performance. Secondly, using a survey of Australian consumers, findings suggest that the MSA certification is perceived as a trustworthy signal for tenderness and quality, reducing information asymmetry at the consumer level. This thesis then addresses the questions of whether or not it is necessary to use a grading system in consumer marketing (e.g. quality label) in order to be successful in terms of adding value to the industry. / Agricultural and Resource Economics

The understanding of value is often described in terms of an industrial view in which value creation is linear, additive process. The emerging view takes a different approach to value creation: it’s interactive, relationships-based and synchronic. But either of these views capture fully the value creating importance of elements present especially in converging industries: coopetition, networks and external relationships. This thesis has been conducted by gathering primary data from telecommunication industry companies in forms of interviews. The studied companies are engaged in numerous different kinds of external relationships and they are viewed as strategically important. Additionally, respondents believed that their companieswere part of a network but no clear illustration of it could be given. For the purpose of describing some of the complexity present, the value network -framework has been developed.

This work is performed as a pre-study to investigate new business opportunities for companies who are product-centric oriented but want to move in the direction of being a customer-centric organization by using technologies based on networked products. The study describes IntelliCom, which is a company selling network enabling products. IntelliCom has also developed a customized server solution making it possible to network remote installed products and collect data from these products over Internet. This technology that IntelliCom have knowledge in could be a platform for providing data and different kind of services by connecting customer’s devices, which aim to generate a value for the customer and be a new business opportunity for product-centric companies. The research is mainly based on observations and dialogs with management and sales people of IntelliCom to investigate how the marketing strategies and marketing mix is used when selling products. To be able to collect data and information about the customer’s value and opportunities, I have made an Interview with a potential customer of IntelliCom who is an OEM company already proving products and services in line with a customer-centric business strategy. This customer is Woodward and manufacturer of GenSet controllers within the energy/electrical segment. The observations and information collected from customer were analysed to understand and to be able to describe how customer’s value chain and smart services opportunities relate to each other. The study shows that the opportunity for IntelliCom to start using the new technology to increasing the sales of data and services, not only products, is good. The study points out that IntelliCom should chose a business model that targeting OEM companies. IntelliCom should limit the offer to provide unprocessed data and let the OEM customer process data to provide smart services to their customers worldwide.

Avvalendosi di una prospettiva di network, il presente lavoro di ricerca pone al centro della propria analisi gli accordi inter-organizzativi sottostanti un'innovazione dall'evidente connotazione radicale: la fuel cell technology. Lo studio proposto consta di tre fasi esplorative interdipendenti. In primo luogo, attraverso interviste a manager di aziende coinvolte, è definito un modello interpretativo che consenta di distinguere i diversi attori del network in classi di organizzazioni similari. In conformità a tale modello, il primo obiettivo della ricerca è rilevare la presenza di pattern relazionali ricorrenti nel contesto di interesse; in modo specifico, si vuole verificare se i vari accordi si configurino in modo conforme alla logica di value chain, costituendo così il prodromo di un futuro comparto industriale. Successivamente, si vuole determinare quali tipologie di organizzazioni assumano una posizione strategica all'interno del network collaborativo, prefigurandosi come i catalizzatori dell'innovazione tecnologica. risultati emersi producono implicazioni a livello teorico e pratico. Da un lato, è approfondito il dibattito circa i fattori antecedenti al posizionamento di un'organizzazione all'interno di un network collaborativo; dall'altro, è offerto un contributo ai principali studi relativi alla fuel cell technology, attraverso un'indagine delle dinamiche inter-organizzative presenti. / The aim of the study is to analyze interorganizational relationships related to a radical innovation through a network perspective. The research model is the result of three interrelated steps: the definition of an interpretive model through exeperts interviews, the recurrent relational patterns analysis through relational contingency tables, and the network actors centrality antecedent through statistic regression. The results suggest some theoretical and practical implications.

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.

Recently years, TFT-LCD industry has become the major development policy in Taiwan, and the scale of investment of the TFT-LCD¡¦s industry has become more and more in Taiwan, Japan and Korea. The Profit of the TFT-LCD monitor and television industry has been compressed very seriously to injure the chance and cost advantage of the second-string companies to run above business. Hence, this research is focused on a case of a TFT-LCD company termed ¡§A company¡¨ owns two old generation factories, and uses the strategy theories of scenario analysis, competition advantage, five forces analysis, resource-based view, value chain and so on and strategy tools of strategy map and balanced scorecard to analyze and find out the transformation strategy of the case of the ¡§A company¡¨ to build up the best competition advantage. To realize the competition status of outside and internal environment of TFT-LCD industry, and the resources base of the case of ¡§A company¡¨ in Taiwan, and the development situation using scenario analysis in order to define the direction of the operation strategy of the case of ¡§A company¡¨ that owns two third generation factories. The result is using strategy development tools of strategy map, balanced scorecard, key performance indicator management to develop the execution plan and performance measure indicators of the transformation strategy.

This thesis is an exploration on the growth and profitability models of Internet enterprises. Via literature review and interview with experts ,we try to answer the following questions: 1.What's the vision of Internet? 2.How Internet enterprises expand and grow? 3.How to earn profits? And how to generate the synergy by connecting them with each other? 4.Are there any ways to maintain continuous growth and profitability? From the general influence diagram of Heijden, we could believe that knowledge management is the basis of growth, value chain is the gravity center of development, and continuous innovation is the driver of growth. However, the main actions to make external growth are strategic alliance and M&A, and they are also the fastest ways to expand the scale of business. Furthermore, our research also finds that there are ten profit models with respect to dot com companies. They are (1)Customer Solutions Profit, (2)Value Chain Position Profit , (3)Time Profit , (4)Specialization Profit, (5)Brand Profit , (6)New Product Profit , (7)Switchboard Profit , (8)Blockbuster Profit, (9)Patronize Profit ,and (10)Returns Sharing Model¡C Every dot com company could select 2 or 3 models to manage her business and make profits. For network ecology being continuously changeable, every company could develop suitable profit models according to her management character. Finally, by analyzing that how SOFTBANK CO., a venture capital, expands her Netbatsu kingdom, we conclude that cooperation between dot com companies is the best way to survive and grow stronger.

<p>På bara ett par år har elektronisk handel potential att radikalt förändra de ekonomiska och sociala förhållanden i samhället. Internets snabba tillväxt kopplar samman individer och organisationer till ett stort globalt nätverk som representerar enorma möjligheter. Det talas om ett nätverkssamhälle och en nätverksekonomi.</p><p>Elektronisk handel driver företag mot att bedriva affärer på ett fundamentalt nytt sätt. Behovet av att dela information i realtid ökar tillsammans med förändringarna i värdekedjan.</p><p>Syftet med studien är att kartlägga elektronisk handel i allmänhet. Studien fokuseras på hur elektronisk handel används för att länka samman företag, stora som små, från råmaterial till konsumenten. Arbetet belyser hinder och krav i samband med elektronisk handel och det sätt de hanteras på.</p><p>Företagen i undersökningen visar ingen tydlig strävan mot att uppnå en totalt integrerad värdekedja. Grundliga affärsprocesser flyttas mot Internet för att utnyttja nätverkets fördelar. Främst används EDI och online-tjänster som Internetbutiker för elektronisk handel.</p>

Research Questions: How can firms implement the phenomena of collaborative consumption in their value chain and promote sustainability as a core value to gain international competitive advantage? Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to identify how a firm can successfully implement the concept of collaborative consumption into their value chain and how to promote sustainability to gain international competitive advantage. To gain deeper understanding of collaborative consumption, sustainability branding, value chain and international competitive advantage, the different terms will be examined. Method: This thesis uses a qualitative method with a deductive approach. In order to gather empirical data, semi structured interviews has been conducted. Conclusions: By implementing collaborative consumption as a value adding service or in cooperation with other companies, firms can promote sustainability as core value and gain international competitive advantage. Thus, by implementing collaborative consumption and promote sustainability firms will be cool in the big pool.