Depicting sales and distribution channels from the network perspective - A case study from the Finnish wood product industry

Abstract

The academic literature regarding value creation in business networks and strategic alliances have traditionally been focusing on dynamic industries, like software and pharmaceutical industries for example. Consequently the more static and traditional domains, such as construction industry, have been neglected to some extent.

This study is applying the business network thinking on a fairly straightforward surface material delivery process in the Finnish construction industry. The purpose of this study is to find out how business network thinking can be used in conceptualizing new and prospective market segments from the sales and distribution perspective and how the application of theories on strategic alliances and net management can be utilized in creating more value adding business models.

The research methodology of this study is a combination of literature review and descriptive single-case study. The literature review was synthesized into a theoretical framework, which was then used to analyze 6 stakeholders in the surface material market. The empirical data was collected through 20 interviews and multiple discussions with the case company.

The main findings of this study are the theoretical framework and the managerial recommendations for the case company. The theoretical framework enables conceptualizing novel business environments from sales and distribution perspective, and moreover, analyzing their feasibility for strategic alliance arrangements. The study contributes theoretically to the existing business network literature by applying theories originally derived from global dynamic networks & strategic alliances to a rather static delivery process in the Finnish construction industry. Moreover, the framework itself is rather general, and thus, it would be interesting have it tested in another industry setting in the future. Lastly, the study concluded that more research is needed on the net management mechanisms in order to find out how well the empirical reality correlates with the current literature.