Companies can select from different purchasing orientations in relation to how they manage their ... more Companies can select from different purchasing orientations in relation to how they manage their supplier relationships, what supplier selection criteria they use, and how many suppliers they employs for a specific product. One of the most commonly used categorizations divides the purchasing orientations into buying orientation, procurement orientation, and supply management orientation. This research concerns purchasing orientation. More precisely, the study focuses on the effects and implications of purchasing orientation on purchasing manager profile, company characteristics, and the criteria that companies employ in selecting their suppliers. The study analyzed the responses of 85 Finnish purchasing managers working in a businessto-business environment. The overall results show that reliability is ranked as the most critical supplier selection criterion among purchasing managers. Managers who emphasized low purchasing prices were significantly less interested in the reliability ...
Summary This study explains how networking changes the environment in which investment decisions ... more Summary This study explains how networking changes the environment in which investment decisions are made. Other parties in the network affect each other’s decisions. In buyer-dominant supplier networks the suppliers are getting greater responsibility for an end product’s production. Dependence on the buyer creates pressure to make certain investments and buyers’ own interests can influence the information that they give to suppliers. The study proposes that suppliers should manage the risks of investments by estimating the possible impact and strategic importance before the final investment decision.
In industrial companies the buyers and sellers are in a critical role. The roles are evolving and... more In industrial companies the buyers and sellers are in a critical role. The roles are evolving and some changes are often mentioned. Davies et al. 2010 state that business-to-business sales role is changing into relationship management. The concept of relationship selling is also used (Geiger & Finch 2009). This role is seen as very different from traditional selling. Moncrief and Marshall (2005) enlighten selling’s changes from the perspective of seven steps of selling and changes in this traditional selling model. They also conclude that selling is nowadays more of managing customer relationship at many levels. This is well in line of the development of the IMP literature, which discovers the relationships and interaction towards both suppliers’ and customers’ direction. Also the interplay between sales and other areas such as finance or accounting is in more focus (Geiger and Guenzi, 2009).
International Journal of Production Economics, 2006
... Network structures are developing in the direction of more tiered structures where main contr... more ... Network structures are developing in the direction of more tiered structures where main contractors outsource ... refer to the company's capacity to renew, augment, and adapt its core competencies over time. ... The study by Dyer (1997) on the car industry found that the length of the ...
Proceedings of the 52nd Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences
Electronic marketing is becoming an integral part of the sales process in business-to-business (B... more Electronic marketing is becoming an integral part of the sales process in business-to-business (B2B) markets. In line with that, sales configurators are emerging as novel applications that help companies engage customer and drive sales. This research investigates the feature related benefits of sales configurator. Our goal is to categorize the benefits and to identify the important ones. In order to reach the goal, personal interviews were conducted and data was gathered through an online questionnaire. Responses from 152 business-to-business customers were analyzed and a factorial model of the feature related benefits of sales configurators was developed. The results show a model with five factors: versatility, configurability, user experience, security, and customizability. Of these, user experience and security were found to be the most important. In light of the this, we suggest that companies emphasize the aspects of user experience in addition to core functionalities when developing sales force automation systems.
Public sector faces challenges in developing operat ions that are more efficient. Public-private ... more Public sector faces challenges in developing operat ions that are more efficient. Public-private relati onships have certain special characteristics that have to b e understood in order to be successful in inter- organizational relationships. This paper provides a case study of public-private relationships in the Finnish Defence Forces (FDF). This public service is impor tant for the whole country and financial efficiency is only a secondary issue in managing the service. A partne rship programme has studied possibilities of using private companies in supporting activities of the FDF. Cult ural differences between industrial companies and t he FDF create challenges in the relationships. In gene ral, the decision-making environment in the FDF, compared with companies, is much more complex inclu ding politicians, officials and military officers at different levels. Concepts of the interaction appr oach provide a helpful tool for analyzing the rela tionship environment and challenges.
Enterprise resource planning (ERP) projects are considered to be expensive, time-consuming, diffi... more Enterprise resource planning (ERP) projects are considered to be expensive, time-consuming, difficult to manage and risky. This paper presents how companies should consider and manage the risks in their ERP project. The focus in a qualitative case study is on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and it illustrates how the risks i n the case firms are identified, analyzed and managed.
In recent years, OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) firms have tended to add more service prod... more In recent years, OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) firms have tended to add more service products to their core products. The background seems to be a technology push. At the same time, customers rarely know what exactly could add value to their own processes. Many supplier networks have been developed and they have become more cost effective. However, the most developed
The current trend of increasing networks among companies is greatly enabled by the ICT solutions.... more The current trend of increasing networks among companies is greatly enabled by the ICT solutions. This increased use of computerizes systems even interorganizationally creates new risks for companies. Firms should be able to plan and understand their ICT risks in the networked context. There should be a means how to assess and evaluate the firm's risks and dependencies of different
Public sector faces challenges in developing operat ions that are more efficient. Public-private ... more Public sector faces challenges in developing operat ions that are more efficient. Public-private relati onships have certain special characteristics that have to b e understood in order to be successful in inter- organizational relationships. This paper provides a case study of public-private relationships in the Finnish Defence Forces (FDF). This public service is impor tant for the whole country and financial efficiency is only a secondary issue in managing the service. A partne rship programme has studied possibilities of using private companies in supporting activities of the FDF. Cult ural differences between industrial companies and t he FDF create challenges in the relationships. In gene ral, the decision-making environment in the FDF, compared with companies, is much more complex inclu ding politicians, officials and military officers at different levels. Concepts of the interaction appr oach provide a helpful tool for analyzing the rela tionship environment and challenges.
Companies can select from different purchasing orientations in relation to how they manage their ... more Companies can select from different purchasing orientations in relation to how they manage their supplier relationships, what supplier selection criteria they use, and how many suppliers they employs for a specific product. One of the most commonly used categorizations divides the purchasing orientations into buying orientation, procurement orientation, and supply management orientation. This research concerns purchasing orientation. More precisely, the study focuses on the effects and implications of purchasing orientation on purchasing manager profile, company characteristics, and the criteria that companies employ in selecting their suppliers. The study analyzed the responses of 85 Finnish purchasing managers working in a businessto-business environment. The overall results show that reliability is ranked as the most critical supplier selection criterion among purchasing managers. Managers who emphasized low purchasing prices were significantly less interested in the reliability ...
Summary This study explains how networking changes the environment in which investment decisions ... more Summary This study explains how networking changes the environment in which investment decisions are made. Other parties in the network affect each other’s decisions. In buyer-dominant supplier networks the suppliers are getting greater responsibility for an end product’s production. Dependence on the buyer creates pressure to make certain investments and buyers’ own interests can influence the information that they give to suppliers. The study proposes that suppliers should manage the risks of investments by estimating the possible impact and strategic importance before the final investment decision.
In industrial companies the buyers and sellers are in a critical role. The roles are evolving and... more In industrial companies the buyers and sellers are in a critical role. The roles are evolving and some changes are often mentioned. Davies et al. 2010 state that business-to-business sales role is changing into relationship management. The concept of relationship selling is also used (Geiger & Finch 2009). This role is seen as very different from traditional selling. Moncrief and Marshall (2005) enlighten selling’s changes from the perspective of seven steps of selling and changes in this traditional selling model. They also conclude that selling is nowadays more of managing customer relationship at many levels. This is well in line of the development of the IMP literature, which discovers the relationships and interaction towards both suppliers’ and customers’ direction. Also the interplay between sales and other areas such as finance or accounting is in more focus (Geiger and Guenzi, 2009).
International Journal of Production Economics, 2006
... Network structures are developing in the direction of more tiered structures where main contr... more ... Network structures are developing in the direction of more tiered structures where main contractors outsource ... refer to the company's capacity to renew, augment, and adapt its core competencies over time. ... The study by Dyer (1997) on the car industry found that the length of the ...
Proceedings of the 52nd Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences
Electronic marketing is becoming an integral part of the sales process in business-to-business (B... more Electronic marketing is becoming an integral part of the sales process in business-to-business (B2B) markets. In line with that, sales configurators are emerging as novel applications that help companies engage customer and drive sales. This research investigates the feature related benefits of sales configurator. Our goal is to categorize the benefits and to identify the important ones. In order to reach the goal, personal interviews were conducted and data was gathered through an online questionnaire. Responses from 152 business-to-business customers were analyzed and a factorial model of the feature related benefits of sales configurators was developed. The results show a model with five factors: versatility, configurability, user experience, security, and customizability. Of these, user experience and security were found to be the most important. In light of the this, we suggest that companies emphasize the aspects of user experience in addition to core functionalities when developing sales force automation systems.
Public sector faces challenges in developing operat ions that are more efficient. Public-private ... more Public sector faces challenges in developing operat ions that are more efficient. Public-private relati onships have certain special characteristics that have to b e understood in order to be successful in inter- organizational relationships. This paper provides a case study of public-private relationships in the Finnish Defence Forces (FDF). This public service is impor tant for the whole country and financial efficiency is only a secondary issue in managing the service. A partne rship programme has studied possibilities of using private companies in supporting activities of the FDF. Cult ural differences between industrial companies and t he FDF create challenges in the relationships. In gene ral, the decision-making environment in the FDF, compared with companies, is much more complex inclu ding politicians, officials and military officers at different levels. Concepts of the interaction appr oach provide a helpful tool for analyzing the rela tionship environment and challenges.
Enterprise resource planning (ERP) projects are considered to be expensive, time-consuming, diffi... more Enterprise resource planning (ERP) projects are considered to be expensive, time-consuming, difficult to manage and risky. This paper presents how companies should consider and manage the risks in their ERP project. The focus in a qualitative case study is on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and it illustrates how the risks i n the case firms are identified, analyzed and managed.
In recent years, OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) firms have tended to add more service prod... more In recent years, OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) firms have tended to add more service products to their core products. The background seems to be a technology push. At the same time, customers rarely know what exactly could add value to their own processes. Many supplier networks have been developed and they have become more cost effective. However, the most developed
The current trend of increasing networks among companies is greatly enabled by the ICT solutions.... more The current trend of increasing networks among companies is greatly enabled by the ICT solutions. This increased use of computerizes systems even interorganizationally creates new risks for companies. Firms should be able to plan and understand their ICT risks in the networked context. There should be a means how to assess and evaluate the firm's risks and dependencies of different
Public sector faces challenges in developing operat ions that are more efficient. Public-private ... more Public sector faces challenges in developing operat ions that are more efficient. Public-private relati onships have certain special characteristics that have to b e understood in order to be successful in inter- organizational relationships. This paper provides a case study of public-private relationships in the Finnish Defence Forces (FDF). This public service is impor tant for the whole country and financial efficiency is only a secondary issue in managing the service. A partne rship programme has studied possibilities of using private companies in supporting activities of the FDF. Cult ural differences between industrial companies and t he FDF create challenges in the relationships. In gene ral, the decision-making environment in the FDF, compared with companies, is much more complex inclu ding politicians, officials and military officers at different levels. Concepts of the interaction appr oach provide a helpful tool for analyzing the rela tionship environment and challenges.
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Papers by Mika Ojala