Sami Berghäll

Non-industrial Private Forestry Service Markets in a Flux: Results from a Qualitative Analysis on Finland

Previous research on European forestry service markets is scarce and mainly focused on analysing external market environment and modelling of timber selling behaviour of non-industrial forest owners (NIPFs). In this study, we aim to create a broader understanding about business perspectives of forestry service markets covering the whole array of market and institutional based services offered to the NIPFs in case of Finland. The more specific empirical objective of the paper is to describe market drivers and underlying challenges in existing and potential service business models based on the concepts of service-dominant logic and dynamic capabilities. Using a qualitative approach and 22 thematic expert interviews in service organisations, we strive to analyse the drivers and opportunities for creating new services within the NIPF market and also build insight in possible barriers for new service value creation. According to our results, the ongoing structural changes offer new opportunities to change traditional mindsets and search for new types of offerings that support the renewal of this traditional forestry sector. As one of the major barriers for new innovations we identified the dominant role of established organisations securing their current positions, mainly driven by the forest industry timber procurement needs. From a managerial perspective, the changing institutional base of the current service organisations may facilitate new innovative business start-ups in addition to enhancing the strategic capabilities and competitiveness of the established firms in Finnish forestry sector.

Exploring the future use of forests: perceptions from non-industrial private forest owners in Finland

ABSTRACT The transformation of the forest sector toward a bioeconomy calls for finding new sources of competitive advantage for the whole sector to retain its future viability. Non-industrial private forest owners are an important group of actors in the Finnish forest-based sector, as they supply 80% of industrial roundwood and control numerous other tangible and intangible forest-based ecosystem services. Our study analyzes forest owner views on the future use of forests in Finland, their perceptions on the evolving sectorial interlinkages and the position of the forest sector now and in the future bioeconomy. The data were collected in two phases: through telephone interviews of forest owners (n = 278) and four focus group (FG) discussions (n = 17), and were analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively. The interviews showed that forest owners consider the highest potential for strengthening the sector toward bioeconomy to come from collaboration with energy and construction businesses. During the FG phase, we identified new possibilities founded on forest-based recreational services, cooperation with nature-based tourism and in increasing value-added wood products. In total, forest owners as a high-involvement group emphasized future value creation to be based upon forest ecosystem services and in diversifying the utilization of forests beyond the dominant raw material-driven mindset.

Sustainability-Driven New Business Models in Wood Construction Towards 2030

In the transition towards a renewable material -based bioeconomy in Europe, growing interest is being directed towards wooden multistorey construction (WMC) as a sustainable housing solution. We analyse the changing WMC business, and the involved value networks towards 2030 based on service business model literature, with a focus also on consumer-driven models. Methodologically our study uses a three-round Delphi process focusing on Finland as a country where national bioeconomy strategy specifically acknowledges wood-based construction. Based on our results, the primary reasons for wood utilization are supporting the bioeconomy strategy with the use of renewable materials and addressing indoor air quality concerns. This happens instead of enhancing intrinsic motivation towards sustainable bioeconomy as such. Therefore, transforming business models towards sustainability calls for strengthening the positive image of the wood construction industry, especially among a largely neglected stakeholder group, i.e. residents. To achieve business model development, the industry needs to strengthen its orchestration of partner networks and capabilities, by including not only new co-creators as a part of the actor-to-actor network, but also residents as end-users.

Service Marketing Phenomena in the Context of Private Forest Owners—a Service Dominant Logic Perspective on Scholarly Literature

Purpose of ReviewThis paper seeks to make an inquiry into the state-of-the art scholarly research of service marketing phenomena in the context of non-industrial private forest owners (NIPF). Its aim is to find out how service marketing issues have been approached in scholarly papers and what kinds of separate research approaches exist towards service marketing challenges. The core purpose of this paper is to use the most recent literature from (service) marketing to evaluate the scholarly research existing in forestry that discusses service marketing and related phenomena.Recent FindingsIn forestry, lot of scholarly research has centered on constructing different types of NIPF typologies. While the aim in some papers has been to either serve as tools for policy making or forest management planning, others have delved deeper into trying to understand NIPF communication, values, objectives, etc. Simultaneously, there has been a radical new development in (service-) marketing theory on how to rethink economic exchange. The core of this service dominant logic (SDL) is that we should move from seeing economic exchange as an exchange of products or product-like services. Instead, we should ask what core “service” this exchange provides for the different exchange parties—i.e., what (strategic) benefits the engagement provides to the actors involved in the exchange relationship. While the two might at first seem disconnected, this paper aims to show that the SDL view could be very useful in explaining the future of the services aimed at NIPF. The new view could be used to explain why some NIPF groups are not reached by traditional service marketing tools. Further, it can also provide light into what type of new service businesses might be needed for the future NIPF service sector.SummaryThis paper constructs a theoretical continuum from a product-centric view of services to the abstract service dominant logic (SDL) view of services. This continuum provides light into the value creation potential of the sector but also possible value creators—i.e., new businesses and economic activities. Results suggest that while new services can be gauged by the developed theoretical view, and while NIPF value creation is a part of some disciplinary explanations of NIPF behavior, the literature is still quite product dominant in its ways to view NIPF behavior.