Satu Nätti

Brand building in software SMEs: an empirical study

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to increase the knowledge of brand building in software SMEs.Design/methodology/approach – The empirical method used is a multi‐case study. Data were collected from 20 companies in the software industry through in‐depth interviews. The data were analyzed using systematic coding and categorization of qualitative evidence.Findings – The study identified five special characteristics of brand building in software SMEs, relating to goals and perceived benefits of brand building; resources in brand building; external and internal cooperation in brand building; means and communication in brand building; and the process of product brand building and its connection to software product development.Research limitations/implications – The scientific contribution of this empirical study relates to two aspects of brand management: branding in software business and branding in SMEs. A vast amount of literature exists on “brands”, “software business” and “SMEs”, but there is very li...

Customer knowledge transfer and key account management in professional service organizations

Purpose – Effective customer‐specific knowledge transfer is the cornerstone of customer value creation in professional service organizations. In order to formulate a coherent service offering across different expertise areas, it is crucial to share customer‐specific knowledge between professionals, business functions and units. The purpose of this study is to offer insights into the role of key account management (KAM) systems in facilitating this process.Design/methodology/approach – The work is based on an explorative case study in which the implementation of the KAM system in two consulting and training companies was investigated. Comparison of the two cases in terms of KAM design and success in knowledge transfer enabled conclusions to be drawn about the role of KAM as a knowledge carrier and a “linking pin” in a loosely coupled organization.Findings – Organizational fragmentation and insufficient communication channels among experts and subgroups of professional organizations cause problems in relati...

Loose coupling as an inhibitor of internal customer knowledge transfer: findings from an empirical study in B‐to‐B professional services

Purpose – The knowledge of inhibitors of internal customer knowledge transfer in b‐to‐b professional service organizations is still in its infancy. Previous literature on professional service organizations has focused on knowledge processes on a general level without paying closer attention to inhibitors of internal knowledge transfer. This study aims to contribute by increasing the knowledge of various inhibitors of customer‐related knowledge transfer and their influence on customer‐related knowledge utilization in collaborative customer relationships.Design/methodology/approach – The present empirical article is based on a case study of two professional service organizations in the field of business‐to‐business education and consultancy services. An in‐depth analysis of organizations developing collaborative relationships was conducted.Findings – This paper shows that internal fragmentation seems to be inherent in this type of organization, and may cause many problems in customer‐related knowledge trans...

Coordination in innovation‐generating business networks – the case of Finnish Mobile TV development

Purpose – In this study the authors seek to discuss and empirically analyze coordination mechanisms in innovation‐generating business networks. Their aim is to explore how these coordination mechanisms, as well as the roles of actors, evolve during the development of such networks.Design/methodology/approach – The paper analyses an in‐depth single case study on the development of Finnish Mobile TV in an innovation‐generating business network comprising a heterogeneous range of actors.Findings – The findings suggest that coordination of innovation‐generating business networks combines “management” and “orchestration”, both of which have their distinct roles throughout the development of the network. The latter is used throughout the case in question to communicate vision and build social capital, and the former to coordinate phases closer to commercialization.Research limitations/implications – The study provides novel evidence in explicating how network coordination mechanisms of management and orchestrat...

Absorptive capacity and network orchestration in innovation communities – promoting service innovation

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to increase understanding of service innovation in networks. Especially the most loosely coupled forms of innovation networks, innovation communities, can be valuable in service innovation, but may not be manageable in the traditional sense. Rather, they may require orchestration characterized by discreet guidance that also accommodates the specific nature of services. Through informed orchestration, it is possible to deal with several contingencies, and influence the absorptive capacity at the network level to generate new service innovations. Design/methodology/approach – These issues are examined through literature review and a case study. Findings – The findings suggest that individual orchestration mechanisms may be more closely connected to certain contingencies than others, and that both orchestration mechanisms and contingency factors have a role in absorptive capacity development within service innovation networks. Research limitations/implications – While t...

The Influence of Internal Communities of Practice on Customer Perceived Value in Professional Service Relationships

Effective customer-related knowledge transfer can be seen as the cornerstone of customer value creation in collaborative relationships between professional service organisations and their customers. Our intention in this paper is to describe how different work groups within organisations (communities of practice) influence the perceived customer value. We approach this phenomenon from a relationship management perspective and use literature from relationship marketing, organisation research and knowledge management as a theoretical basis. Empirically the paper is based on an information-rich explorative case study of a professional service organisation, operating in the consultancy and training business, and its relationship with one of its customers.

What prevents effective utilisation of customer knowledge in professional B-to-B services? An empirical study

This article is based on a case study of a professional service organisation in the field of business-to-business education and consultancy services. This study contributes by increasing the knowledge of organisational inhibitors of customer knowledge utilisation in collaborative customer relationships by describing four organisational aspects inhibiting internal customer knowledge utilisation. The first is a professional service organisations dominant logic, which refers to a barrier between organisation and customer. The second relates to cultural characteristics, referring to barriers between individuals and groups. The third barrier is the organisational structure of the professional service firm and the fourth barrier relates to systems and administrative routines.

Obstacles to upgrading customer value‐in‐use in retail banking

Purpose – Improving capability to generate value for customers is seen as a way to create a new competitive edge, but developing the related organisational capabilities involves facing several obstacles that stem from the producer‐orientation of the retail‐banking business. This paper aims to focus on defining and describing those obstacles.Design/methodology/approach – An in‐depth, qualitative single case study of a European retail bank was conducted.Findings – A retail bank can find it challenging, first, to understand the deepest meaning and character of customer value and, second, to harness the organisational attributes to deliver that value. The main barriers lie in the strong producer‐oriented way of doing business, a lack of employee commitment, a strong product and sales orientation, a restrictive network, difficulties in seeing the profitability aspect of a new mindset, lack of conceptualisation and proper segmentation, and finally, silo‐style bank organisations.Research limitations/implications...

Key account management in business-to-business expert organisations: an exploratory study on the implementation process

Building long-term and close customer relationships is an ever-salient function in business-to-business organisations and, especially, in expert organisations where high levels of trust and close customer interaction are needed in the production of the services. A key account management (KAM) system, an organised way for managing key customers, can be a useful tool for this purpose. However, there are many factors to consider when implementing such a system in this context. The aim of this article is to describe the specific and challenging characteristics of KAM implementation in expert organisations. In particular, this article aims to describe the kinds of organisational capabilities required for KAM system implementation and what kind of KAM organisation is appropriate to dovetail with particular organisational characteristics. This study is based on a qualitative single-case study in an expert organisation constructing its KAM practices for the first time.

Branding activities of a micro industrial services company

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the internal and external corporate branding activities of micro-sized industrial business services companies. Design/methodology/approach – An abductive research approach and a case study method were used. Data were gathered with thematic interviews from three sources, a case company, its distributors, and its end customers. Findings – A model for building a corporate brand identity and image in a micro-sized industrial business services company was devised. Key activities, including defining company values and the business idea, designing, managing and stabilizing the service process, utilizing holistic corporate communications, networking as well as activating and retaining stakeholders and utilizing feedback, to build a corporate brand were identified. Research limitations/implications – As the importance of the internal branding can be presumed to rise with headcount, the repeatability of this study is weakened by the case organization being a micro c...