ABSTRACT. Connecting the Dots: Uncovering the Power of Customer Journey Mapping in Boosting Marketing and Sales Alignment

Abstract. The collaboration between the Marketing and Sales departments is crucial for any organization's success. However, these departments often operate independently, leading to a fragmented approach to customer engagement. This study explores the concept of customer journey mapping to enhance the synergy between these two departments. This research uses qualitative interviews to delve into how customer journey mapping can align Marketing and Sales efforts, thereby creating a more unified and efficient approach to managing customer experiences. The goal is to provide new insights into customer journey mapping as a strategic tool for improving collaboration between Marketing and Sales, ultimately enhancing the overall customer experience and contributing to the organization's success.

Keywords: Marketing and sales alignment, customer journey, strategic business integration, value co-creation

Introduction In an increasingly competitive marketplace, the alignment of Marketing and Sales is essential for organizations to attract and retain customers effectively. This study explores the role of customer journey mapping in fostering this alignment, addressing a critical need in the industrial marketing and purchasing domain. As customer interactions become more complex, particularly in the post-COVID-19 era, organizations face the challenge of creating a consistent and seamless customer experience across various touchpoints. This research builds upon the works of Kumar and Reinartz (2016), Lemon and Verhoef (2016), and others to provide a novel perspective on the strategic use of customer journey mapping in enhancing Marketing and Sales collaboration.

Literature Review Customer journey mapping is an invaluable tool for visualizing the end-to-end customer experience, enabling organizations to identify critical touchpoints and optimize them for a better customer journey (Lemon & Verhoef, 2016). Micheaux and Bosio (2020) and Venermo et al. (2020) highlight its role in improving the alignment between Marketing and Sales by fostering a shared understanding of the customer journey. Furthermore, research by Zoltners et al. (2018) and Peterson et al. (2015) indicates that such alignment significantly enhances firm performance. The study also examines the challenges of achieving Marketing and Sales alignment, as Le Meunier-FitzHugh et al. (2011) and Juska (2021) outlined. These challenges include the need for effective communication, shared goals, and common metrics to measure success.

Methodology The study adopts a qualitative research approach, conducting semi-structured interviews with marketing and sales representatives from six Danish firms. The analysis of these interviews leads to developing a detailed customer journey map, providing insights into key touchpoints and the role of Marketing and Sales at each stage.

Findings The findings suggest that customer journey mapping significantly improves the alignment between Marketing and Sales. This alignment results in a more cohesive customer experience, as both departments work synergistically across various stages of the customer journey, from awareness to advocacy. The study highlights specific actions that can be taken to refine the customer experience at each touchpoint based on the insights gathered from the interviews.

Conclusion This research contributes to the existing literature by providing a comprehensive framework for customer journey mapping to align Marketing and Sales. The study's findings underscore the importance of this strategic tool in enhancing the overall customer experience, thereby contributing to organizational success in the competitive industrial marketing landscape.

References 1. Juska, J.M. (2021). Integrated marketing communications. Taylor & Francis. ISBN: 9781000485684 2. Kumar, V., & Reinartz, W. (2016). Creating enduring customer value. Journal of Marketing, 80(6), 36-68. 3. Lemon, K. N., & Verhoef, P. C. (2016). Understanding Customer Experience Throughout the Customer Journey. Journal of Marketing, 80(6). 4. Le Meunier-FitzHugh, K., Massey, G. R., & Piercy, N. F. (2011). The Impact of Aligned Rewards and Senior Manager Attitudes on Conflict and Collaboration Between Sales and Marketing. Industrial Marketing Management, 40(7), 1161-1171. 5. Micheaux, A., & Bosio, B. (2020). Customer Journey Mapping as a New Way to Teach Data-Driven Marketing as a Service. Journal of Marketing Education, 41(2). 6. Peterson, R.M., Gordon, G., Krishnan Palghat, V. (2015). When Sales and Marketing align: Impact on performance. Journal of Selling, 15(1), 29-43 7. Venermo, A., Rantala, J., & Holopainen, T. (2020). From Sales Funnel to Customer Journey. In book: Advances in Human Factors, Business Management and Leadership (pp.200-206) 8. Zoltners, A. A., Sinha, P., & Lorimer, S. E. (2018). Aligning sales and to enhance customer value and drive company results. In book: Kellogg on Marketing, Second Edition (pp.373-392)

ABSTRACT. Developing network relationships with different network actors in foreign markets and therefore establishing a position in foreign networks is a fundamental aspect of firms’ internationalisation (Johanson and Vahlne, 2009). Therefore, as networks unfold beyond national borders, it is important to analyse the problem of a firm’s network position in the international context. Based on a systematic literature review of 96 papers the paper aims to conceptualise the understanding of network position in a firm’s internationalisation. The analysis shows that although the importance of international network position and especially of network insidership is acknowledged in the international business literature the concept of international network position itself is not straightforward at all. The existing literature does not offer a common understanding of the definition and measurement of international network position. It also lacks the inclusion of time and process perspective. Based on the literature review, we have identified three main research approaches towards the definition and conceptualisation of the firm’s network position in internationalisation. These are mostly based on the Uppsala model and the concept of insidership, based on the social network theory and analysis or linked with IMP research. The network position is analysed rather in general terms and is considered a universal phenomenon, not as being determined by specific characteristics of the international environment. Based on the literature review we point to some advantages of a strong network position. The most important were named: opportunity identification, access to resources (mainly knowledge), and industrial cooperation. As antecedents of network position in the internationalisation process a set of mechanisms and tools were proposed.

ABSTRACT. Research projects related to B-to-B distributors’ sales organisation and salespeople are scarce. Channel literature has mainly focused on power issues between manufacturers and distributors from the manufacturers’ point of view. In contrast, IMP research has called for more research including the point of view of B-to-B distributors (Gadde and Snehota, 2001). In this line, IMP researchers have emphasised the evolution of the roles of B-to-B distributors from wholesalers to service providers (Gadde, 2004; Gadde, 2014; Olsson et al., 2013). In the meanwhile, B-to-B marketing research has evidenced a basic trend of industries towards the provision of advanced services (Ulaga and Reinartz, 2011; Worm et al., 2017, Storbacka, 2011; McDonald et al., 2016; Raddats et al., 2019). Bettencourt and Brown (2013) claimed that ‘meaningful service innovation in product companies must begin with a deep appreciation and understanding of customer value’ (Bettencourt and Brown, 2013, in Raddats et al., 2019). Sheth and Sharma (2008) underlined the shift towards customer-oriented or ‘consultative selling’. Ulaga and Loveland (2014) concluded that these new sales models reshape the role and the skills of salespeople and require new sales organisation. Before that, Ulaga and Reinartz (2011) stressed the importance of relational ties and customer knowledge in these new sales models. Yet, to date, main research on servitization has dealt with manufacturing firms and very little research has interrogated the evolution towards servitization in industrial distribution, either in the IMP stream or in the overall B-to-B sales literature. In this context, we believe that interrogating the kinds of sales force organisation and skills can help B-to-B distributors co-create value-in-use with their clients is essential to academics and practitioners. To this end, during six years, we observed and met 22 French industrial distributors of electrical equipment (EE), visited 8 sales agencies, and attended 2 trade shows organised by industrial distributors of EE. Our findings show that EE distributors organise their firms around their clients’ activities and that they manage sales to diffuse customer centricity throughout the entire company. Third, we show that industrial distributors’ salespeople translate the value-in-use of their clients thanks to a specific resource, that is customer intimacy. Thus, in this article, we propose a new approach of selling that we call Value-in-Use Selling based on the translation skills and customer intimacy of EE distributors’ salespeople. To this end, we use a multiple lens combining the B-to-B selling skills literature with the B-to-B value-in-use literature. Keywords: B-to-B salespeople, distributors, value-in-use selling, selling skills

ABSTRACT. Projects are embedded in and shaped by social structures and their dynamics (Engwall, 2003). Project business firms (PBF) are being initiated, reproduced, and destroyed through continuous processes of social evaluations such as status and reputation (Biesenthal et al., 2018). These evaluations enable stakeholders to develop knowledge, beliefs and emotions about potential counterparts and thereby facilitate economic exchanges (Devers et al., 2009). The competitive position a PBF occupies within social structures affects business opportunities and constraints it faces in the market (Artto and Kujala, 2008). Insight how firms are evaluated and how they can improve or defend their position within these social structures and competitions is therefore an important strategic issue for PBFs.

In project business, some firms are awarded more attention or deference based on their standing than the others (so called preferred partners). Since customers are not perfectly rational and fully informed in complex industrial projects, the value of the offerings is at least partly evaluated by using suppliers as a proxy indicator (Lundin and Söderholm, 1995). To simplify the decision-making process, individuals and organizations make decisions based on clues or shortcuts like legitimacy, status and reputation. In other words, when it is difficult to assess the value of the offering like complex industrial systems, attention tends to shift at least partly from the offering to the potential exchange partner.

While projects and project business are at the centre of B2B marketing and the Industrial Marketing and Purchasing (IMP) Group thinking, social evaluations have attracted surprisingly little attention (Hadida et al., 2019; Macdonald et al., 2016). Therefore, this paper focuses on the role of social evaluations in project business. We are particularly interested in the effects of positive and negative evaluations on long-term competitive positions in project industries. Only a few studies (see e.g., Conn, 1972) have explicitly discussed the importance of social evaluations in this context, but even they have neglected questions such as when (under what conditions) and why (drivers and rationales) it is relevant or not. To bridge this knowledge gap, we ask in this paper:

When, why and what social evaluation constructs are strategic elements and an integrated part of competition in project business?

When categorising the outcomes and processes of social evaluations, we use the classical constructs of legitimacy, status, reputation, and stigma (Devers et al., 2009; Haack et al., 2021). Social evaluations are social judgments by customers and other stakeholders related to the history of the PBFs behavior in the specific context (Grabher, 2002). Without in-depth understanding of the nature, conditions and implications of social evaluation processes, managers cannot develop organizational interventions or managerial strategies aimed at either maximizing their use (e.g., high status and excellent reputation) or minimizing negative effects and spillovers (e.g., low status, bad reputation or stigma).

Various evaluations are familiar issues to 21st century practicing managers in project business, where acquiring quality labels, short-lists, accreditations and ranking positions have emerged as important strategic goals (Lyon and Maxwell, 2011). PBFs aim at evoking and endorsing positive evaluations and higher status associations in the eyes of stakeholders such as current and prospective customers and suppliers, financiers and employees. A key task of management is to ensure that stakeholders perceive a PBF as credible and support its key strategic choices. The paper is structured as follows: First, in the section called “Prestige or discredibility” we introduce these concepts by using classical social evaluation constructs. These constructs help us to operationalize when a PBF is considered as prestigious or discreditable. Second, we move on to develop our propositions on the role of social evaluations in project business. We draw from the literature on when, why and what social evaluation constructs are relevant to PBFs. We develop a set of generic propositions. Fourth, we present our framework, which combines our findings from earlier sections and the propositions. Fifth, we discuss our rationale for selecting Valmet Paper Machinery as our case company and its industry as a historical context, which illustrate how and to what extent the propositions play out. Sixth, we present our case, which exemplifies the role of social evaluations in industry competition. Finally, we discuss our findings and the study’s contributions and present suggestions for future research.

References

Artto, K. and Kujala, J. (2008). 'Project business as a research field'. International Journal of Managing Projects in Business, 1, 469–497. Biesenthal, C., Clegg, S., Mahalingam, A., and Sankaran, S. (2018). 'Applying institutional theories to managing megaprojects'. International Journal of Project Management, 36, 43–54. Conn, D. (1972). 'The evaluation of social costs and benefits'. Industrial Marketing Management, 2, 35–44. Devers, C. E., Dewet, T., Mishina, Y., and Belsito, C. A. (2009). 'A general theory of organizational stigma'. Organization Science, 20, 154–171. Engwall, M. (2003). 'No project is an island: Linking projects to history and context'. Research Policy, 32, 789–808. Grabher, G. (2002). 'Cool projects, boring institutions: Temporary collaboration in social context'. Regional Studies, 36, 205–214. Haack, P., Schilke, O., and Zucker, L. (2021). 'Legitimacy Revisited: Disentangling Propriety, Validity, and Consensus'. Journal of Management Studies, 58, 749–781. Hadida, A. L., Heide, J. B., and Bell, S. J. (2019). 'The temporary marketing organization'. Journal of Marketing, 83, 1–18. Lundin, R. A. and Söderholm, A. (1995). 'A theory of the temporary organization'. Scandinavian Journal of Management, 11, 437–455. Lyon, T. P. and Maxwell, J. W. (2011). 'Greenwash: Corporate Environmental Disclosure under Threat of Audit'. Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, 20, 3–41. Macdonald, E. K., Kleinaltenkamp, M., and Wilson, H. N. (2016). 'How business customers judge solutions: Solution quality and value in use'. Journal of Marketing, 80, 96–120.

ABSTRACT. This article proposes ontological incommensurability as an invaluable intellectual resource that fosters richer academic dialogue and collaboration. The paper introduces a taxonomy of ten inter-ontological dialogue paths in academic settings, highlighting the worth and significance of ‘ontological reverence’ and ‘reverent dialogues’ among researchers and graduate students. By ontological reverence, we are referring to scholarly respect, appreciation, and intellectual curiosity toward the ontological (reality) understandings of others, including ontological positions we may disagree with. A ‘reverent dialogue’ emphasizes the importance of scholars’ (reality) experience, whereby ontological incommensurability is not reduced to mere theoretical differences. This article encourages scholars to approach conflicting theories with curiosity and humility. Embracing and leveraging theoretical diversity via ‘reverent dialogue’ can, we argue, enrich intellectual progress in business marketing. Further, the disjuncture between ontological positions - to use an old word, incommensurability – becomes, in this perspective, a resource for theoretical renewal.

ABSTRACT. For technological entrepreneurs, collaboration capabilities and access to networks which lead to the building of resources and sharing of tacit knowledge are crucial success factors, keeping them a step ahead of competition by bringing together diverse perspectives, skills and experiences to create innovative solutions to complex problems. Informal innovation communities and social relationships outside the workplace are considered crucial for technological innovation to emerge, with some of the more complex challenges within high-tech industries requiring innovative ideas from efficacious collaborative efforts that extend beyond formal contractual exchanges to ‘a sea of informal’ interactions, emerging from ongoing informal and non-premeditated relationships. This paper takes a novel approach by considering the preliminary phase of informal, dyadic business relationship formation amongst a group of technological entrepreneurs in an Irish micro city, from pre-interaction to early relationship initiation, where initial social interactions lay the groundwork for future collaboration and engagement. In the IMP tradition, the study considers a dyad as a natural starting-point for network research, as it represents a concrete and important level of business exchange. Using local, in-person technology or ‘tech’ meetups as a point of entry to the local tech community, the paper adopts a qualitative methodology, with semi-structured interviews used to inductively explore the phenomena and grounded theory to analyse the data. The findings conceptualise ‘social comfort’ as a key construct of relationship initiation in a social context, which respondents pursued by seeking out a socio-physical environment in which they felt comfortable. This builds on our understanding of the processual and contextual dimensions of dyadic business relationship initiation and the conditions that impact initiation, offering new empirical evidence on how optimal conditions at informal, social events in urban environments are directly relevant and integral to the shaping of interactions and associated outcomes. It proposes a new way of thinking about how nascent social bonds are shaped by environmental stimuli, societal circumstances, norms, cultural influences and affective factors. This has managerial implications for organisations and cities interested in developing technologically-focused entrepreneurial communities by exploring new ways to enhance the capacity of actors to experience social relationship initiation with business contacts through the fostering of inclusive and supportive environments.

ABSTRACT. It is generally accepted that achieving sustainable development (SD) goals necessitates the involvement of companies, which are largely responsible for the negative social and environmental impact. Companies develop corporate social responsibility activities and related to that, increasingly collaborate with other organizations across sectors. A special role in the literature on the subject is attributed to the collaboration between companies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Current research in this area focuses mainly on the factors motivating organizations to build such relationships, the benefits of such collaboration for both parties, as well as its impact on the beneficiaries. However, there is still a lack of research on the dark, i.e. negative, side of such collaboration, both in the theoretical and empirical layers. Research conducted in this area usually points to such problems as conflict, opportunism, change of intentions, relational myopia, suspicion or complacency. However, these studies are carried out primarily concerning business-to-business relationships; they are less often conducted in the area of cross-sectoral collaboration, and even if they are, they are not related to SD. Therefore, in the present study, we pose the following research questions: What are the dark sides of company-NGO relationships for SD, and how do they influence these relationships? To capture the dark sides of company-NGO relationships for SD, we applied the interaction approach that allows the analysis of various contextual, organizational and individual-level aspects. The present study takes the company perspective and first examines the existing literature on business-NGOs relationships and the dark sides of inter-organizational relationships. Then we present data derived from the research project focused on the dark sides of business-NGOs collaboration for SD. The paper contributes to the theory in the field of inter-organizational relationships by adding to the existing debate on the nature of company-NGO collaboration and sheds light on the manifestations and consequences arising from the dark sides of such collaboration.

ABSTRACT. Purpose: Additive Manufacturing (AM), or 3D printing, is a computer-controlled manufacturing process to create three dimensional objects by depositing materials in layers through extruding, photocuring, fusing, jetting, depositing, or laminating materials. Despite the potential benefits of on-demand and on-location production of customised or complex shape parts, widespread implementation of this disruptive production technology is not yet visible. The purpose of this paper is to explore barriers and drivers for AM adoption.

Design/methodology/approach: This study adopts an abductive approach to single case study methodology. The Industrial Network Approach/the 4R resource interaction model is adopted to investigate how the innovation by a start-up is embedded in a network. The innovation itself is considered as a focal resource in this case. The study is exploratory in nature and based on qualitative data collected through a combination of primary and secondary sources.

Findings: Realizing the focal resource’s benefits of on-demand and on-location production was found to eventually result in significant resource reconfiguration. Deficiency of compatible resources of a particular type was a key driver to acquiring ownership of a particular resource instead of accessing one through a supplier. However, a more important driver for this was access to this type of resource at the correct time, as delays undermined the benefits of the focal resource. Further, resources were reconfigured for other logistical reasons, to better realize the benefit.

Originality/value: The findings both validate and complement the recent conceptual framework of the three Resource Deficiencies proposed by (Tunisini, Harrison, and Bocconcelli 2023). In particular, the situation of nothing else being a barrier to the access of a resource, except for the particular point in time when it is accessible, does not seem to be covered by the proposed four resource deficiency scenarios of the framework. We refer to this as temporal misalignment of the deficient resource.

References

Tunisini, Annalisa, Debbie Harrison, and Roberta Bocconcelli. 2023. “Handling Resource Deficiencies through Resource Interaction in Business Networks.” Industrial Marketing Management 109 (February): 154–63. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2022.12.016.

ABSTRACT. Navigating Business Transitions towards a Bioeconomy of Colours in the Textile and Packaging Industries

Ruippo, L., Kylkilahti, E. and Autio, M.

Current colourant production relies on the use of non-renewable resources (e.g. Pereira and Alves 2011). For example, in textile dyeing, synthetic dyes and colourants became widespread in the beginning of the 20th century. Before that, natural dyes were the norm (Do et al. 2022). Currently, only one percent of textiles produced globally are dyed with biocolourants (Niinimäki and Uribe 2023). Using natural dyes was a very costly process, particularly when the goal was to obtain a brighter shade of colour (Vettese Foster and Christie 2013). Synthetic colourants also made dyed clothing much more stable, therefore making fabric colours consistent across the whole industry.

Synthetic dyes harm aquatic life, as they are released into nature as wastewater from the textile industry (Räisänen et al. 2020); in addition, textile workers are exposed to these wastewater streams. Synthetic colours do not biodegrade either (Niinimäki and Uribe 2023). Similarly, inks used in printing processes of packaging may be hazardous to both humans and the environment (Wang et al. 2013). The packaging industry is currently exploring alternative raw materials for ink production, reflecting a growing tendency to use natural products (e.g. Ozcan and Arman Kandirmaz 2020). The use of plant-based natural colorants is considered eco-friendly and free from toxins, and for example Nathan and Rani (2021) are investigating a natural plant-derived dye suitability for paper-based packaging materials. Although natural dyes are renewable and biodegradable, they pose environmental challenges and cause harm for example during dyeing processes (Haji and Naebe2020).

The colourant market is valued at 33 billion euros, with forecasted growth of 5% by 2027 (Räisänen 2023). Both textile and packaging industry are significant business sectors utilizing colourants. Our study seeks to examine the utilization opportunities of biobased colourants in the textile and packaging industries in Europe, in the wider context of a transition towards a bioeconomy. The study contributes to the emerging discussions on a bioeconomy transition through the rarely examined topic of a bioeconomy of colours.

The bioeconomy is characterized by the replacement of non-renewable resources in favor of renewable biological resources. The concept has been presented as a component of solving the global environmental crisis (Korhonen et al. 2021). For example, biobased colourants can be made from various plant-based materials as well as by utilizing bacteria. These could also be derived from forest industry side streams or vegetable skins from food production (Räisänen 2023). Moreover, some applications allow for the use of waste streams from food production, such as pomegranates (Guzman-Puyol et al. 2021). Replacement of petroleum-derived colourants with biocolourants could therefore be an avenue for the strengthening of a bioeconomy. Therefore, moving towards a colour system and a colour culture that aligns with the aims of the bioeconomy presents an opportunity for industrial actors. These opportunities, and potential obstacles have not yet been studied systematically.

Previous studies have suggested that transition to bioeconomy is intertwined with newly emerging business ecosystems (e.g. construction industry, see Viholainen et al. 2021; Waßenhoven 2020). However, there is very limited understanding of the shaping of business networks of biocolours. For this study, we interviewed 13 stakeholders within the textile and packaging industries. The thematic interviews covered topics from value chain collaboration to biocolourant sustainability. The interviews were between 25 and 45 minutes long. Therefore, our study focuses on analyzing the opportunities and challenges related to the business relationships and identifying market shaping actors among companies that produce and use colour.

Preliminary findings suggest that smaller, innovative biocolourant producers act as keystone players in building networks with brands and dyehouses. Brands in particular are seen as important players in the adoption of biocolourants, as they have an ability to affect the processes of their suppliers. However, a lack of knowhow of suppliers regarding biocolourant use, and the rigid production processes of the textile and packaging industries are seen as issues with adopting biocolours. Stakeholders in both industries operate in relatively co-dependent and complex value chains, in which investments in heavy machinery as well as extremely fast-paced production paces and low profit margins slow down the adoption of new bioeconomy innovations.

References

Guzman-Puyol, S., Benítez, J.J. and Heredia-Guerrero, J.A., 2021. Sustainable Bio-Based Polymers: Towards a Circular Bioeconomy. Polymers, 14(1), p.22.

Haji, A., & Naebe, M. 2020. Cleaner dyeing of textiles using plasma treatment and natural dyes: A review. Journal of Cleaner Production, 265, 121866.

Korhonen, J., Miettinen, J., Kylkilahti, E., Tuppura, A., Autio, M., Lähtinen, K., Pätäri, S., Pekkanen, T.L., Luhas, J., Mikkilä, M. and Linnanen, L., 2021. Development of a forest-based bioeconomy in Finland: Insights on three value networks through expert views. Journal of Cleaner Production, 299, p.126867.

Nathan, V. K., & Rani, M. E. 2021. Natural dye from Caesalpinia sappan L. heartwood for eco-friendly coloring of recycled paper based packing material and its in silico toxicity analysis. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 28, 28713-28719.

Niinimäki, K & Hidalgo Uribe, L 2023, Sustainable Colour Aesthetics. in K Niinimäki & J Lohmann (toim), Biocolours: Sustainable stories from nature, lab and industry. Aalto ARTS Books, Espoo, pp. 217-233.

Räisänen, R 2023, Introduction to the BioColour project – research on biobased colourants. in K Niinimäki & J Lohmann (eds.) Biocolours: Sustainable stories from nature, lab and industry. Aalto ARTS Books, Espoo, Sivut 217-233.

Ozcan, A., & Arman Kandirmaz, E. 2020. Natural ink production and printability studies for smart food packaging. Color Research & Application, 45(3), 495-502.

Pereira, L. and Alves, M., 2012. Dyes—environmental impact and remediation. Environmental protection strategies for sustainable development, In: Environmental protection strategies for sustainable development A. Malik, E. Grohmann (Eds.), Springer, Heidelberg, pp. 111-162. pp.111-162.

Vettese Forster, S. and Christie, R.M. 2013. “The Significance of the Introduction of Synthetic Dyes in the Mid 19th Century on the Democratisation of Western Fashion,” JAIC-Journal of the International Colour Association, 11: 1–17.

Viholainen, N., Kylkilahti, E., Autio, M., Pöyhönen, J. and Toppinen, A., 2021. Bringing ecosystem thinking to sustainability-driven wooden construction business. Journal of cleaner production, 292, p.126029.

Wang, J., Hou, C.C. and Lin, P.C., 2013. Two-phase assessment for the environmental impacts from offset lithographic printing on color-box packaging. Journal of cleaner production, 53, pp.129-137.

Waßenhoven, A., Block, C., Wustmans, M. and Bröring, S., 2021. Analyzing an emerging business ecosystem through M&A activities: The case of the Bioeconomy. Business Strategy & Development, 4(3), pp.258-278.

ABSTRACT. Sustainability advancement requires systemic changes in business networks. Given the complexity of instigating such transformation, power emerges as a central concept. This conceptual study aims to characterise systemic change towards sustainability within business networks by examining power relations among business actors. First, we identify which actors within various networks are seen to have power to drive sustainability change. Second, we analyse how this power may affect the advancement of systemic sustainability changes in business networks. Selected exemplifying cases from refurbished electronics, textiles, shipbuilding, and construction industries illustrate these power relations. The following bases of power are discerned: knowledge, materials, resources, data, technology, and leadership. As a result of their powers, actors (i) may or may not engage in new developmental interaction; (ii) enable or prevent (in coercive or non-coercive sense) the actions of other actors in the business network; and/or (iii) engage new actors into the network or exclude others from the network. Our study contributes to prior literature on systemic change for sustainability in business networks by bridging change management and IMP research and offers avenues for further research.

ABSTRACT. Knowledge integration, involving the application of novel knowledge combinations, holds increasing significance in industrial settings marked by specialization (Berggren et al., 2011). This is particularly evident in industries like construction, where diverse business actors must collaborate to plan, design, and execute final products such as buildings and infrastructures (Winch, 2003). Given the dispersion of specialized knowledge across these actors (e.g., developers, architects, contractors, installation companies, etc.), the merger of diverse knowledge across organizational boundaries becomes imperative for project completion. Throughout the construction process, operations occur at distinct times and under different contractual arrangements. As the short-term economic gains for these project actors are predominantly governed by the formal contracts in each project, in this paper we examine the prerequisites for knowledge integration among different project actors based on contract –here referred to as deals - that specify the terms of their involvement in the project. More specifically, we wish to explore how the deals impact the actors’ willingness and capacity to engage in knowledge integration.

In an IMP perspective, knowledge integration is an integral part of mutual adaptation processes involving physical and social resources through interaction (Håkansson & Snehota, 2017). A body of IMP research has explored the correlation between socio-material interactions and economic deals in business relationships (e.g., Håkansson & Olsen, 2017; Havenvid et al., 2016; Baraldi & Lind, 2017). Deals represent formal monetary agreements between actors and result from specific interaction processes with distinct characteristics and contexts, thereby introducing unique challenges. Consequently, the features of these deals influence socio-material interaction processes, and vice versa (Havenvid et al., 2016). Mutual adaptation presupposes long-term relationships, where adaptations between firms evolve over time, driven by the pursuit of mutual economic benefits (Håkansson & Snehota, 2017). However, in temporary organizations like construction projects, where transiently interconnected actors collaborate to accomplish a shared task, interaction cannot evolve organically (Cova & Salle, 2005). This dynamic creates specific conditions for how deals impact the socio-material interaction of relationships and, consequently, knowledge integration, which requires further investigation.

While deals serve as tools to incentivize actors to invest resources and engage in activities beneficial for the relationship (Ahlgren & Lind, 2023), research has shown that deals do not necessarily align with actors' actual contributions to the relationship (Perna et al., 2015; Perna & Waluszewski, 2018). From an IMP perspective, different actors have distinct incentives, possibilities, and constraints in activating and combining resources and knowledge to achieve economic benefits (Håkansson & Waluszewski, 2007). Given that the success of a specific project hinges on the willingness and capacity of participating actors to cooperate temporarily (Bresnen, 1990), we find it intriguing to explore the relationship between deals and possibilities for knowledge integration among project actors.

Prior literature on knowledge integration has examined how to combine specialized knowledge from various actors in more efficient ways (Grant, 1996), but with little emphasis on the incentives for cooperation among different economic actors (Tell, 2011). Also within IMP, more in-depth studies of knowledge, how it is used and combined from an economic standpoint is needed. Drawing upon a resource interaction approach, this paper aims to explore the conditions for knowledge integration in temporary networks by investigating the interplay between specific deals and socio-material interaction. This exploration is conducted through a case study of a major hospital construction project in Sweden representing a nexus of contracts, and which heavily relied on knowledge integration among key project actors.

References Ahlgren, P.C. & Lind, J. (2023) Deals and value measuring in interactive health-care services, Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 38(6), pp.1266–1278.

Baraldi, E. & Lind, J. (2017) Value measuring and value appropriation in business networks, in Håkansson, H. and Snehota, I. (Eds), No Business is an Island – Making Sense of the Interactive Business World, Emerald publishing, Bingly, pp. 47-66.

Berggren, C., Bergek, A., Bengtsson, L., Söderlund, J. (2011) Exploring knowledge integration and innovation, In eds. Berggren, C., Bergek, A., Bengtsson, L., Hobday, M., Söderlund, J. Knowledge Integration and Innovation, pp. 3-19, OUP, Oxford.

Bresnen, M. (1990). Organising Construction. London, Routledge.

Cova, B., & Salle, R. (2005). Six key points to merge project marketing into project management, International Journal of project management, 23(5), 354-359

Grant, R. M. (1996) Prospering in dynamically-competitive environments: Organizational capability as knowledge integration. Organization science, 7(4), 375-387.

Havenvid, M.I., Håkansson, H., Linné, Å. (2016) Economic deals in the construction industry – implications for socio-material interaction and monetary processes, IMP Journal, 10:3, pp. 364-389.

Håkansson, H., & Snehota, I. (eds.). (2017) No business is an island: Making sense of the interactive business world. Emerald Group Publishing

Håkansson, H. & Waluszewski, A. (eds.) (2007) Knowledge and Innovation in Business and Industry. London: Routledge.

Olsen, P.-I. & Håkansson,H. (2017) The roles of deals and business networks in innovation processes, IMP Journal, 11(1), pp. 25-50.

Perna, A., Baraldi, E. & Waluszewski, A. (2015) Is the value created necessarily associated with money? On the connections between an innovation process and its monetary dimension: the case of solibro’s thin-film solar cells, Industrial Marketing Management, 46, pp. 108-121.

Perna, A. & Waluszewski, A. (2018) The interplay between innovation and accounting: the bourder-crossing q-linea project and its within-border accounting, in Carlsson-Wall, M., Håkansson, H., Kraus, K., Lind, J. and Strömsten, T. (Eds), Accounting, Innovation and Inter-Organisational Relationships, Routledge, London, pp. 12-28.

Tell, F. (2011) Knowledge integration and innovation: a survey of the field. Knowledge integration and innovation: Critical challenges facing international technology-based firms, 25, 69.

Winch, G.M. (2003) Models of manufacturing and the construction process: The genesis of re-engineering construction. Building Research and Information, 31(2), 107–18.

ABSTRACT. Networks constantly evolve, but is it always for the better? And what are the sources of the underlying force(s) for change? Ford et al. (2002) for example highlight technological developments across the network as one such source. From a network perspective, business evolution typically involves an analysis of activity patterns, resources constellations and webs of actors (Hảkansson et al., 2009). Sometimes, however, the source of the change can be an ‘outsider’ to the network forcing their way into being an important actor (Havenvid and La Rocca, 2017). When this happens in a relatively stable network, change is inevitable as readjustments are made to existing practices, which may or may not end up being an improvement to the original network performance. One such change is currently underway in the world of professional golf. The international tournaments, which combine activity patterns and webs of actors, that characterise this network has traditionally been a stable network, orchestrated through the joint efforts of the PGA tour in America and DP World Tour in Europe. In 2021 this stability was challenged by the LIV actors from Saudi Arabia, who were backed by the considerable resource base of the Saudi Public Investment Fund. They were able to attract some of the world’s top golfers (Norman, Rahm, de Chambeau, Garcia, Mickelson et al.) away from the PGA/DP tours. A few years of chaos ensued, with the LIV players being banned from playing on the other tour, and hence also not receiving any world ranking points (excluding them from entry to major tournaments). And then, early in 2024, came a breakthrough, with a merger between the different actors being touted (The Economic Times, 2024). We trace the way in which this story unfolded, from the initial forming of the breakaway group through to their probable reunification, concluding as to the important role played by both some of the important actors, and also the role that one particular resource – money – played.

References Ford, D., S. Brown, L-E Gadde, H. Hảkansson, P. Naudé, T, Ritter & I. Snehota (2002) The business Marketing Course, John Wiley & Sons, Chichester Hảkansson,H., D. Ford, L-E Gadde, I. Snehota & A. Waluszewski (2009) Business in Networks, John Wiley & Sons, Chichester, Havenvid, M. & A. La Rocca (2017) New business Development in Business Networks, in H. Hảkansson & I. Snehota (Eds.) No Business is an Island, Emerald Publishing, Bingley The Economic Times (2024) LIV Players returning to the PGA Tour should not be punished: Rory McIlroy, https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/topic/golf, Accessed 1/2/24

ABSTRACT. Traditionally, markets have been considered as given (‘market-as-nouns’), in contrast market shaping approach the formation of future markets as an ongoing process (‘market-as-verb’) (Hawa, Baker, & Plewa, 2020; Kjellberg, Azimont, & Reid, 2015; Sprong, Driessen, Hillebrand, & Molner, 2021). However, how B2B markets can be shaped as joint efforts by multiple actors is still an area in need of future research (Storbacka, Nenonen, Peters, & Brodie, 2022), although some important exceptions exist (see e.g. Maciel and Fischer, 2020; Kleinaltenkamp, Conduit, Plewa, Karpen, & Jaakkola, 2021). Particularly lacking are insights into more overarching, even societal, transformational shaping processes focusing on entire industries, often with radical visions in terms of scope, novelty, and technological shifts. In this research we introduce the notion of large scale market shaping defined as a process of long-term and pervasive collective actions between multiple actors on different levels (i.e. firm/industry/ecosystem) to shape the future direction of an industry. We delineate and investigate this phenomenon through three formative key periods of the Swedish steel industry (1960-1990, 1990-2010, 2010-2024). Insights and learnings from this study is of high relevance for understanding large scale re-formation of industries in a desired direction. This is among other things propelled into focus due to the increased need for overarching sustainability transformations of multiple mature industries. Theoretical framing In this paper we consider large scale market shaping as a process unfolding over time on three analytical levels (see Figure 1) - 1) The firm level consisting of single firms performing ‘shaping strategies’ to build competitive advantage (Helfat, 2021), 2.) The industry level consisting of co-opetive business relationships across a network of firms (Håkansson and Snehota, 1989; Håkansson and Waluszewski, 2002) 3.) The market system level involving social systems, and institutions (Giesler and Fischer 2017) that set ‘the rules of the game’ (Lounsbury and Boxenbaum 2013). The longitudinal case from the Swedish steel industry illustrates the interactions between all the three levels and open up this aspect as an important part of large scale market shaping.

Analysis and Implications

Figure 1 Three eras of large scale market shaping in Swedish steel industry

Although market shaping is increasingly seen as an intergral part of firm strategy (Flaig, Kindström, Ottosson, 2021; Möller, Nenonen, & Storbacka, 2020) we need to expand the scope to also include the wider industry and market system levels to capture large scale shaping strategies aimed at mobilizing actors collectively and to transform entire industries over time (Kleinaltenkamp et al., 2021). Large scale market shaping is thus an effort by several actors on different levels similar to Kleinaltenkamp et al., (2021, p. 72) discussion on collective engagement as “…a combination of collective dispositions and behaviors that is more than the sum of its parts and thus more than the various engagement states of the individual actors that belong to the respective collective”. Although the importance of viewing market shaping processes as collective efforts – shaped through the interaction between multiple actors –has been highlighted by the seminal work of Maciel and Fischer (2020) our investigation expands on this, demonstrating the importance of large scale market shaping as collective shaping efforts and discussing the fit between levels. Interestingly, the scope of large scale collective market shaping tends to affect the scale as it enables overarching stimuli with far reaching impacts of market structures over longer time – affecting both firm, industry as well as whole societies. While phase 1960-1990 and phase 2010-2024 shows the intricate shaping efforts involving non-market national as well as international actors in multiple forms and Swedish steel firms, the phase 1990-2010 rather show the impact of co-opetive shaping efforts of single firms orchestrated by an industry association. Given that the institutional logic (Lounsbury and Boxenbaum 2013) has changed dramatically during the 1960-2024 period finding the interplay and fit between the firm level and the industry level is key for the large scale market shaping of the Swedish steel sector.

References Azimont, F., & Reid, E. (2015). Market innovation processes: Balancing stability and change. Industrial marketing management, 44, 4-12. Giesler, M., & Fischer, E. (2017). Market system dynamics. Marketing Theory, 17(1), 3-8. Hawa, J., Baker, J., & Plewa, C. (2020). Composing markets: A framework of intentionality in market-shaping. Journal of Business Research, 121, 47-57. Helfat, C. E. (2021). What does firm shaping of markets really mean?. Strategy science, 6(4), 360-370. Håkansson, H., & Snehota, I. (1989). No business is an island: The network concept of business strategy. Scandinavian journal of management, 5(3), 187-200. Håkansson, H., & Waluszewski, A. (2002). Path dependence: restricting or facilitating technical development?. Journal of Business Research, 55(7), 561-570. Flaig, A., Kindström, D., & Ottosson, M. (2021). Market-shaping strategies: A conceptual framework for generating market outcomes. Industrial Marketing Management, 96, 254-266.Kjellberg, H., Kleinaltenkamp, M., Conduit, J., Plewa, C., Karpen, I. O., & Jaakkola, E. (2021). Engagement-driven institutionalization in market shaping: Synchronizing and stabilizing collective engagement. Industrial Marketing Management, 99, 69-78 Lounsbury, M., & Boxenbaum, E. (2013). Institutional logics in action. In Institutional logics in action, part A (Vol. 39, pp. 3-22). Emerald Group Publishing Limited.. Maciel, A. F., & Fischer, E. (2020). Collaborative market driving: How peer firms can develop markets through collective action. Journal of Marketing, 84(5), 41-59. Möller, K., Nenonen, S., & Storbacka, K. (2020). Networks, ecosystems, fields, market systems? Making sense of the business environment. Industrial Marketing Management, 90, 380-399. Sprong, N., Driessen, P. H., Hillebrand, B., & Molner, S. (2021). Market innovation: A literature review and new research directions. Journal of Business Research, 123, 450-462. Storbacka, K., Nenonen, S., Peters, L. D., & Brodie, R. J. (2022). Taking stock of shaping strategies: From firms driving markets for business performance to diverse actors shaping systems for sustainability. Industrial Marketing Management.

ABSTRACT. This decade will be marked not by how firms work to make themselves more sustainable, but in how they contribute to shaping regenerative market systems. To address grand challenges, we must move away from a short-term perspective to longer term vision in order collectively imagine desirable market futures (Waddock et al 2015). The exploration of market futures has been gaining traction in Market Studies (Kjellberg et al., 2012), focusing on the how market imaginaries, which encompass speculations and representations of the future, shape current processes of market formation. Building on data from participatory workshops in “futures labs” this paper will explore acts of disciplined imagination work as participants materialise visions/visuals of the future that bring to reality what cannot be immediately sensed or that has not been previously perceived: the irreal, unreal, and surreal (after Gümüsay and Reinecke, 2022). Building on Gümüsay and Reinecke (2022) the focus of analysis in this paper will be the fictional stories, scenarios, and maps for action that are constructed conversationally and visually in these miro.com based workshops, while bearing in mind that “imagination is contingent on the dynamics of interaction and experiment with settings that encourage acts of imagination” (ibid p239). We contend that the future is limited by our ability to imagine it, and importantly who gets to imagine it and how. In this paper we explore spaces for collective and interactive market imagination work (where) and the roles that different actors (human and non-human) play in this work (who).

ABSTRACT. Managers’ perceptions of the future have recently created traction among business and management scholars. Due to recent socio-economic crises, future has been rediscovered as a problematic and open-ended category in organizational life (Wenzel et al., 2020), especially in the emerging study fields of future making (Thompson & Byrne, 2022), market making (Bajde et al., 2022) and visioning in business networks (Abrahamsen et al., 2023). The way managers make sense of the future is in the core of business strategy and market shaping. To take account of temporality, sensemaking has been examined in uncertain contexts where events disrupt the prevailing business conditions, providing opportunities for learning and revealing unrealized potential for action (Christianson et al., 2009). The future perspective of sensemaking has, however, remained an under-developed topic, due to the strong inclination of the sensemaking view to the past and the present (Halinen et al., 2023; Sandberg & Tsoukas, 2015).

This paper investigates how the Covid-19 pandemia as a market-disrupting event influenced top executives’ sensemaking of the future in the Swedish aviation market. Multiple market actors (e.g. representatives of airlines, airports, industry organizations, authorities and regulative bodies), were interviewed at two points in time related to their strategizing in the aviation market during 2020-2022. The study shows, that sensemaking of the future is time- and context-dependent, and consequently, future is a moving target. Hence, executives’ perceptions of uncertainty and the nature of future markets vary during the crisis. First everything was fuzzy and uncertain, but after a while, we found a strong need to make sense of the changed business landscape and to build visions of future markets. Thus, disruptive events can serve as a wake-up call for top executives, forcing them reassess their assumptions, envision for potential futures, and adopt a more dynamic approach to navigating uncertainty and market change.

ABSTRACT. The various theoretical models developed in the literature have considered the life cycle of networks and strategic nets. This work aims to deepen the various evolutions that can occur in the network. By applying the ARA model, we will uncover elements that may lead to a decline of the network and which can instead constitute reasons for further enhancement. The analysis will focus on a hybrid networks: an ethnography approach will be used to explore the issue; secondary data and inteviews with open ended questions to actual members, formers ones and external actors will help to delevop a longitudinal analysis.

ABSTRACT. Purchasing category management teams (PCMTs) fulfil an important boundary function, integrating internal and external actors in business networks. In order to be successful, category management teams in purchasing must cope with dilemmas stemming from internal stakeholders’ different and sometimes contradictory sourcing priorities. PCMTs are used for defining chief areas of sourced goods and services and involving different functions and stakeholders throughout the organization. They provide an increasingly used organizational design response to the call for both integration and adaptiveness to local operational conditions. However, implementing PCMT practices also entails dilemmas - situations where purchasing managers must choose between equally desirable alternatives with no clear-cut procedure for making that choice. How managerial dilemmas impact on sensemaking efforts of PCMTs is under-researched. We explore how managerial dilemmas impact on PCMT practices by focusing on two issues. What dilemmas do PCMTs face in executing category management strategies and how do category teams make sense of and cope with these dilemmas?

ABSTRACT. The goal of this paper is to discuss and analyze the potential effects of the Public Procurement Law changes introduced by Norwegian Authorities to re-enforce mandatory sustainability and environmental considerations, including amongst others circularity, in supplier selection processes. Three alternative suggestions for law change were proposed for public hearing, and several responses from public authorities, suppliers and other stakeholders have been received. One of these alternatives have been selected and will be effective from January 1st 2024 for all public purchases with a value above 100 000 NOK. In this paper we discuss and analyze the law changes from various perspectives. Firstly, we analyze the proposals and responses from governance and institutional policy perspectives. Secondly, we discuss how the changes may effect the market response and the procurement process in terms decision-making for supplier selection.

ABSTRACT. Business networks are a key focus for researchers due to their complexity and the dynamic ways in which they evolve over time. The aim of this research is to explore how firms create value and influence market structures from a business network perspective, necessitating adjustments in strategies to foster specialization and collaborative development. Recent studies in market shaping from the standpoint of business relationships have enriched our understanding significantly. These studies highlight the dynamic, interactive nature of market shaping, showing that businesses actively shape their markets through construction and evolution, rather than merely responding to them. The research focuses on the actors, resources, and activities involved, revealing the critical role these relationships play in market formation and transformation. This emerging perspective underscores the shift from traditional market mechanisms to a more interconnected, relationship-centric approach, where collective actions and events within the network influence market structure and behaviour, leading to new business opportunities. This study includes a retrospective longitudinal case study in the pharmaceutical retail sector, examining significant events that have influenced network dynamics over the past 15 years. Firms have adapted to various regulatory and business changes, with data collected primarily through in-depth interviews with network participants. The findings highlight the importance of network interdependencies and the search for collective strategies in shaping markets. Managerial implications focus on the roles firms can adopt in collective market-shaping strategies and their behaviour in response to market changes, potentially informing sustainable political decisions in healthcare.

ABSTRACT. Traditionally, discussions on sustainability have primarily centered around environmental and economic dimensions. However, our focus in this study is on the often overlooked yet highly relevant aspect of social sustainability. Consequently, we pose the following questions: How can multinational companies integrate social sustainability into their operations? And what are the key factors that influence the success or failure of social sustainability initiatives? To address these research questions, we draw on research from international business/marketing and sustainability literature, coupled with an examination of two cases of social sustainability integration and key factors concerning its implementation. This study's findings not only contribute to a theoretical understanding of social sustainability but also hold practical implications for multinational companies aiming to strengthen the social pillar within their sustainability practices. Furthermore, we advocate for a more holistic approach to sustainability that acknowledges the complex alignment of the environmental, economic, and social considerations in the global business landscape.