Managerial contribution

The managerial contribution of the thesis can be seen as twofold. The thesis offered a bunch of analysis frameworks which are considered useful for firms and practical managers. In addition, the results have raised some thoughts related especially to the studied field of bioenergy.

6.3.1 Analysis frameworks

Networking is undoubtedly more and more a prerequisite for firms to succeed in business. The trend towards networking is by no means descending, as the business environments become more and more turbulent. The studied cases proved well that especially for SMEs, networking creates opportunities they would not be able to seize by themselves (e.g. Fuller-Love and Thomas, 2004). However, SMEs in particular must be confident that the results of cooperation will be allocated fairly between the partners involved, because they have rarely excessive resources to be utilized inefficiently (e.g. De Wit and Meyer, 2010; Mukherjee et al., 2013). In order to be able to allocate the resources soundly, it is of utmost importance to understand the mechanisms behind the formation and management of networks. For this, the thesis offered a profound analysis.

The thesis provided several valuable implications for actors aiming at the bioenergy business and firms already operating in the bioenergy field. It offered several analysis frameworks which are expected to help the managers in the different phases of their projects to picture and divide in parts the multifaceted phenomenon they are engaged in.

First, enablers and barriers for cooperation around an entrepreneurial opportunity were discovered through a three-level examination of actor-related, regional and institutional factors (Table 6). This examination was then refined into a detailed analysis of preconditions for an emerging project (Figure 9). This two-step approach offers a profound approach for examining the hospitability of the business environment. The same kind of analysis could be applicable in any industrial field and in this way offer a practical tool for managers launching new businesses.

The next analysis framework focused on the assets and objectives of firms (Figure 10). The framework combined theoretical discussion on the actors’ embeddedness and independency and their associability, and reflected these themes with the empirical results. By data transformation, the firms could be clustered in groups with different networking tendencies. The framework would be applicable in other industry fields as well, although it should be kept in mind that the resource palettes of the actors in different fields are different, and all the actors cannot and should not have the same objectives for independency and associability. The framework works thus more as a suggestive tool for relationship analysis.

After the examination of the basis for the formation of networks, the thesis concentrated on the prevailing structures and mechanisms of networks. A construction for relationship and network analysis was created on the basis of two theoretical frameworks: analysis of relationships and multi-level analysis of networks (see Publication 5). Via the analysis, valuable information on the different types of relationships and sub-networks could be gathered (Figure 11). Moreover, by identifying the different types of relationships, some guidelines for firms to managing their relationships properly could be formed – for example, investing in the most strategic

relationships and identifying the parts of the networks which may need to get updated. Once again, the analysis tool could be applicable in other business fields as well.

The final framework, “the big picture” (Figure 13) gathered together the separate analysis tools and gave an overview of the study findings.

6.3.2 Practical implications

The role of rural areas in Finnish biomass development is central – the biomass reserves of rural actors are invaluable. However, the strongest driver for bioenergy utilization seems to be the need for new sources of income, because for many farmers, traditional farming or cattle breeding solely may not make the living anymore. In addition, as in every group of actors, there exist those who actively seek for ways to develop – these network developers or lead firms of rural actors may take bioenergy opportunities just because of willingness for growth. On the other hand, not all rural actors are ready for large changes and investments, even though the responsibility were shared, and the results proved that cooperation in bioenergy can be conducted in projects rather different in scale and scope. Whatever the scale and scope of the project, it is still worthwhile to have an idea on the essential factors of a successful project. The aim of this thesis was to facilitate the actors in noting these essential factors.

The role of forest biomass is even more central. Biomass heating is established business in Finland, but it still has a lot of growth potential. The challenge of these existing networks is their effectiveness – are the resources allocated so that they give the most advantage in the network?

Do the partners in the network have aligning objectives for cooperation? It is obvious that that the majority of the actors are not certain about these aspects. Moreover, as stated, the business environment may change rapidly, and in order to be able to adjust to these changes, the firms increasingly need to weigh out which activities and partnerships are the most valuable, and which ones need to be updated. For this, the thesis offers a practical framework to be utilized.

Even though there are growth and development demands for firms, the basic tasks should not be ignored either. As the results of the study indicated, the networks need actors with different roles, and moreover, the firms need networks with different roles. A network operating around a basic task can be highly efficient as such, and development should never be a prerequisite for networks. However, as the future is always unpredictable, all networks need a certain level of capability to react to changes. Roughly, it can be deduced that the more growth-oriented the network, the more dynamic capability it should have, because the increasing number and complexity of actors, activities and resources bring about needs for changes as well.