Ann Højbjerg Clarke

An intra‐ and inter‐organisational perspective on industrial segmentation: A segmentation classification framework

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to introduce and discuss a contextual framework, which is based on different purposes of segmentation. A matrix is proposed for segmentation that distinguishes between strategic and operational levels and the degree to which new value is created.Design/methodology/approach – The conceptual discussion aims at contributing to development of the discussion of segmentation purpose.Findings – Several models have emerged in the segmentation literature, but the purposes of many segmentation models are not explicitly addressed. However, the purpose of a model affects the segmentation process and has ramifications to the subsequent implementation. This paper links segmentation to the purpose of segmenting and discusses the degree to which previous choices have impact on a firms possibility to select and implement new segments.Research limitations/implications – This paper contributes to a more extensive discussion on segmentation. It adds to the discussion on segmentation pu...

Bridging Industrial Segmentation Theory and Practice

Purpose: Segmentation is seen today as a core concept within mainstream marketing. While industrial segmentation has received considerable attention within academic literature, there have been many reports on companies having problems using, applying, and implementing the principles of segmentation. Authors criticize the literature on segmentation for giving too little attention to implementation, providing marketers little help and guidance on how to make segmentation work in a practical environment. This article addresses some of these problems. Methodology/Approach: The objective of this article is to design a process with methods and activities for segmentation by building on action research case study data from a large Danish industrial company. Findings: Along with important considerations, this article presents the process of segmentation using a build-up approach based on qualitative market data. The process is practical and easily approachable for companies. The purpose behind segmentation is strategic—identify target segments and facilitate the planning of future product offers. It is argued that segmentation should be dedicated to the purpose and context of the company. This case illustrates how the company adapted segmentation theory to their particular needs.

How to create a space for stakeholders’ involvement in construction

The aim is to investigate how stakeholders can participate in the early phases of construction projects and how relevant insights can be gathered from stakeholders with very different backgrounds and interests. To gain these insights, it is important to understand how a space can be created to facilitate communication between professionals and stakeholders. The research draws on the literature of design and user-driven innovation in order to get a richer understanding of stakeholders’ involvement in construction. The method applied is research based on three stakeholder workshops, interviews and observations from a single case study. The findings provide valuable information on six aspects of who the stakeholders are in construction, what these stakeholders can do in construction when involved, how to involve these stakeholders in a construction project, how a space can be staged and facilitated for the meeting of stakeholders, and what kind of information can be collected from the stakeholders to influence the development process. The findings show how creating and facilitating a workshop as a socio-technical space across boundaries can overcome barriers and improve stakeholders’ involvement and thus provide better insights into their needs, values and concerns.

What is in it for me?: Firms strategizing for public-private innovation innovation

Purpose Public-private innovation (PPI) is often claimed to contribute to societal welfare, to bring positive effects to the public sector and to open new markets to private firms. Engaging in public-private relationships for innovation is, however, also recognised as challenging and problematic. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the managerial and strategic challenges faced by private firms when engaging in public-private relationships for innovation. Design/methodology/approach This qualitative study presents ten firms’ engagement in public-private relationships. Half of them are experienced in innovation in public-private relationship, the other half are engaging in public-private relationships for the first time. Cross-case analysis brings insight into how these different types of firms strategize for handling relationships with public partners. Findings Contrary to non-experienced firms, experienced firms deliberately build a long-term strategy for engaging in PPI in expectation of outcome from more than a single project. They not only engage in building an understanding of the public using setting, but also seek to bridge with the public developing and producing setting to a greater extent than less experienced firms. The experienced firms utilise relationships with actors in the wider public network as a device and an asset for overcoming challenges and for reaping benefits from their engagement. Originality/value The study outlines the characteristics of strategizing among the most experienced firms and their special ability to embrace the complexity of the public sector network while working simultaneously on developing innovation for specific public counterparts.

Customer portfolios – challenges of internal and external alignment

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to extend the discussion about customer portfolios beyond simple identification of models and how they can be used for balanced resource allocation to a discussion about how portfolios should take into account views from relationship partners and how they should be aligned in internal as well as a relational context. Design/methodology/approach The portfolio literature is reviewed (most recent, seminal, IMP related) and considered in the context of both the sales organization and the customers involved in the portfolio. A conceptual framework is introduced that helps improve the understanding of how customer portfolio models can actually be applied from a relational perspective. Findings The key aspects of the conceptual framework relate to how alignment of the relationships in the portfolio is achieved. Critical to this are the interaction spaces that facilitate communication relating to alignment and provide the context for the legitimacy of these actions to be discussed. Research limitations/implications This framework needs to be empirically explored. Practical implications Understanding of alignment and misalignment processes in customer portfolios gives managers a tool to help to cope with the dynamic aspects of the customer portfolio. Recognition of the importance of communication to the process, the development of trust and the role of legitimacy also provides areas that managers can focus upon in their relationship management processes. Originality/value This conceptualization moves the consideration of relationship/customer portfolios beyond simply that of a resource allocation tool into a process that facilitates the use of the portfolio in relational processes and thus aids their understanding of how portfolios can be usefully applied.

Using Workshops in Business Research: A Framework to Diagnose, Plan, Facilitate and Analyze Workshops

Workshops are increasingly being used in various fields of research as a qualitative research method where researchers can work with participant to gather a rich collection of data about participants and their co-creation on an innovation or a shared topic for investigation. Workshops are based on a creative setting for the interaction that allows the participants both to discuss current situations as well as create concepts for how this could change through generative design tools. During the workshop, the researcher will get the opportunity to observe (chapter) the participants as they interact and negotiate. The data collected through the workshop can contain both field notes based upon the researcher’s observations, video and audio recordings of the interacting group’s dialog and discussions, pictures of the group interacting, and last but not least the products of their workshop process in the form of models, sketches and prototypes. This gives the researcher an opportunity to collect a rich variation of data. As a research method workshops can validate data already collected through interviews (Chap. 6) or enhance focus group interviews by making the participants co- create new solutions. In this chapter we will explain how the researcher can organize a workshop through the phases diagnose, plan, facilitate and analyze. We will also discuss the interaction between the roles as participants, researcher and facilitator as they are played out in the workshop. The chapter will further discuss the process and some of the challenges in order to create and facilitate a workshop.

Building relationships between a market logic and multiple logics in complex institutional settings

Research in institutional logics tends to neglect to emphasize how logics relate to one another when enacted by interacting actors. We explore how variants of a market logic enacted by private firms relate to an array of public sector logics when the firms aim to commercialize innovative welfare solutions in healthcare. Two findings are obtained: First, conflicting or convergent logics relationships are continuously built between a market logic and different public sector logics. Second, the logics relationships influence the firms’ space for actions: Where some firms focus on commercializing in their home market other firms shift focus to international markets depending on whether their market logic has a convergent or conflicting relationship with public sector logics in their home market. The findings contribute to institutional logics theory by refining our understanding of how different relationships between logics develop continuously and enable actors to take different forms of actions.

Chapter 4 Monitoring Segmented Markets: Relational and Transactional Perspectives

Segmentation is an important marketing concept that identifies and analyzes different needs and wants of buyers as well as their buying behavior. Two different perspectives on how buyers and potential customers should be approached have emerged over the last two decades: the transactional perspective and the relational perspective. The two approaches differ in their overall understanding of the customer and how to address the customer. The two approaches therefore hold different implications for how segmentation should take place and how markets should be monitored.