Results of the pilot case study

The findings of the pilot case study are presented in Table 3, and they are discussed in detail following it. The contents analysis of the data resulted in themes and sub-themes, of which themes represent dimensions of network position, which are in turn composed from components. A dimension is a synonym of a theme and a component is a synonym of a sub-theme in the present study.

Table 3. Summary on pilot case study findings, themes identified in interviews.

Main themes, dimensions of

network position Sub-themes, components of

dimensions Explanation

Supplier’s experience Industry specific experience Problem specific experience Solution excellence Solution to problem

Solution implementation Technically, economically Risk of failure to implement Trust in supplier’s people Professional skills

Cooperation skills Refers to implementation Supplier’s identity Reputation

Financial stability

Experience Generally known

Events Events shaping supplier’s position

The findings of the pilot case study concerned themes representing dimensions of informants’ perception of suppliers’ position in the project marketing network. Themes or dimensions, which are the outcome of the axial coding, comprise components representing the outcome of open coding. The dimensions of the supplier’s position in project marketing networks represented different forms of experience required from the suppliers, for example, elements of relationships between the suppliers and the buyer, aspects concerning the solution to the buyer’s problem proposed by the suppliers, and a multi-faceted perspective to trust in suppliers by customers. One theme found in all of the interviews was related to incidents capable of shifting the supplier’s position in the project network. Below, the results of the analysis of the interviews are discussed.

Dimension: Supplier’s experience

When buyers start looking for sources of solutions to their problems they first of all look for those with experience on multiple levels. All of the informants were expecting the suppliers to be experienced. That is the ultimate pre-requisite for project suppliers to be taken seriously. A potential supplier must have industry specific knowledge and background in order to be even considered as a potential supplier of a project.

Even though there was some indication of a degree of openness to look for new innovations, even from other industries or applications, the attitude towards being a pioneer was somewhat hollow. Some of the informants were interested in new ideas, and this kind of open-minded solution finding was an option for them, mainly during the early phases of the process, when the objectives of the possible project were not necessarily clear. This openness seemed, however, to divide the informants into two groups. Steel industry informants leaned more towards new ideas than the paper industry informants. Experience alone, however, in the industry or in similar applications, is not enough for a supplier to become a potential supplier of a project. The informants require success, and this success can be proven through references, especially through reference visits, whereby the suppliers can demonstrate their capabilities, experience and earlier success. And as soon as there is a list of suppliers’

references, they are compared, and the suppliers are positioned based on them.

The underlying theme experience reflects the uncertainty related to the suppliers, and can be argued to have two sub-themes or components: firstly, an industry specific component and secondly, a solution specific component.

Dimension: Relationship

Theme relationship turned out to be rather complicated and diversified, resulting in not only perspectives concerning the buyer’s expectations, but also historical aspects. A project buyer lives in the moment, but would like to receive support from the past. Therefore, it seemed logical to split the relationship dimension into two components: relationship history and investment in relationship. They, respectively, represent the support seeking and current moment aspects.

Component: Relationship history

An already existing relationship between the supplier and the buyer has two perspectives. The two may be familiar with each other even though there is no transactional relationship in the past, but the most remarkable influences are seen, when the two parties have worked together in a project. The influences can be twofold, either positive or negative, depending on success in earlier projects. The buyer looks for stronger and longer relationships with suppliers as they view it as being important that a supplier knows the sites and the buyer’s procedures and ways of working in projects. The buyer has a certain confidence in the supplier’s capabilities, and can to some extent rely on there being a positive outcome of the project. In contrast, with regards to an opposite case, which has resulted in unsolvable problems, or possibly left the buyer alone with the problems, reflects on the relationship between the parties. This kind of episode makes it hard for a supplier to be considered a potential supplier.

Component: Investment in relationship

The customers expect to see and feel that they are important to suppliers, which seems understandable, as they are considering an investment, which may be critical in their activity chain. Signals, which demonstrate customer orientation and commitment and the importance of the customer to suppliers, can be as simple as reacting quickly to requests. Customers start assessing suppliers from the very first time they meet. The buyers evaluate what might be expected if a supplier were to deliver a project. The relationship aspect is also looked at from the personal level to see if and how cooperation between the individuals could work.

The uncertainties related to the project and supplier do not actually illustrate the whole truth, as it is people who make the project a success or a failure. The informants referred to

the quality of work during the proposal phase of the project. The commitment and customer orientation, and investment in the relationship, are shown to the buyers through not only the quality of presentation materials and proposals, but also by providing information and reacting to requests quickly. From the supplier’s perspective investment in a relationship can mean giving priority to it at the cost of others.

Dimension: Solution excellence

Even though from the earlier part of this subchapter it is possible to get the impression that there is no room for innovations in projects, and that only ideas already used successfully are good enough, there still exists some interest in finding new solutions. The buyers expect to receive proposals that are at once both creative and yet proven solutions, which will allow the buyers to remain in their comfort zones.

All proposals regarding solutions will sooner or later address the issue of costs. It would be an illusion to think that a superb solution automatically positions a supplier as the preferred one. The cost of a project is of great importance, and is one of the ways that buyers judge the excellence of a solution.

Dimension: Trust in people

During interactions at the time of the marketing of a project there exists the personification phenomenon. The project proposed by a supplier, and the supplier himself, are in the buyer’s eyes one and the same.

The question of whether one can rely on the skills and other elements of the supplier’s personnel is reflected heavily in the interviews by the informants. They look for confirmation that they are dealing with a counterpart, who is able to manage the project and can cooperate fruitfully with the buyer’s organisation in the project network. It is surprising how early the buyer’s perception may be actually formed, and there were several indications made by the informants that their first impressions tend to remain. Those moments or interactions when a supplier’s marketer can create a positive impression for the building of a relationship may come both a short or long time before the final decision is actually made. One feature of the personalisation process is the role of the sales manager versus that of the project manager, who will be responsible for the project after the contract is won. The buyers expect that the future project manager will participate in the negotiations, and that the buyer will have the opportunity to evaluate the skills and the person in advance.

Dimension: Supplier’s identity

Another theme, which became obvious in the interviews, is the financial stability of the suppliers. The informants spoke about a calculated risk, when the financial status of a supplier is not reliable enough in their eyes. The basic problem with the financial state of the supplier can be understood, when the time perspective of a project is taken into account. Any major investment projects may extend over a number of decades, and the buyers try to avoid the risk that they will be solely responsible for the project in the future. A capital investment ties the customer to the chosen solution, technology and sometimes also to rather tight guidelines, which may influence the customer’s business activities for years.

Suppliers have an identity, which according to the pilot case informants has a lot to do with not only their economical trustworthiness or financial stability but also reputation.

Identity is not easy to interpret from the interviews, as experience or reputation as an experienced and successful supplier with industry specific references could also be interpreted as elements of identity. In this study, however, experience and references had such a central position in the informants’ cognition that experience constitutes a component of identity.

Financial stability or trustworthiness was regarded as an opposite to risk.

This study is not supposed to be based on a statistical analysis of the data, but Table 4 presents the number of codes for each theme. The sub-themes are included in themes, as the purpose of the table is to indicate the focus between different themes. A complete coding list is presented in Appendix 4.

Table 4. Code distribution between themes in the pilot case study

Dimension Number of coded

passages in data

Solution excellence 28

Trust in people 26

Relationship 21 Experience 30 Identity 10

Theme: Incidents influencing supplier perception

The informants indicated that in addition to the themed factors influencing how the suppliers are perceived, there are also incidents taking place during the marketing process, which may have either a negative or positive impact on the perception of the buyers. The incidents or events can be such that a supplier or its marketer may not even realise that

something critical has happened.

The interactions between the suppliers and the buyer provide a lot of opportunities for the parties to shape their opinions of the other party. The buyer is continuously evaluating the cooperation capability of the supplier’s personnel and they pay attention to both negative and positive signals. In the worst case scenario, the buyer may consider the whole supplier network, based on a single member in it. Being able to work in a team, as part of the project network, is essential.

Supplier networks provide the marketers a challenge, as disagreement between the parties aiming at winning a project is a serious negative signal. A single event may give the buyer the impression that the relationship between the networking parties is not working correctly. The role of a person representing a marginal part may be emphasised, especially in the case of negative signals.

Events capable of changing buyers’ perception seem mostly to take place during interactions between suppliers and buyers. There are, however, other opportunities to shape the positions rapidly, but interactions provide such situations easily. Table 5 illustrates how events capable of changing supplier perception by customers are situated in the pilot case data.

Table 5. Incidents able to change supplier’s perceived position.

Theme: Type of incident Number of coded

passages in data Examples Positive Negative Incidents inside supplier network 5 -Trust between

partners

supplier and buyer 33 -Commitment to cooperation

-Behaviour of individual marketer -Supplier’s strategic choices Incidents related to supplier’s way

of working 6 -Commitment to work for a common goal

-Attitude to work

Most of the incidents took place during interactions between the buyer and the supplier.

The interaction based incidents can be categorised into three main themes, which all can be either negative or positive. The first interaction related incident theme is commitment to cooperation composed of sub-themes like adapting to buyer’s situation and problem, cooperating innovatively and in a customer oriented way, and being able to work as a part of a team. The second interaction related sub-theme involved behaviour of a single marketer, and specifically, how convincingly the individual is marketing and communicating with the buyer.

This sub-theme comprises also the marketer’s capability to build bonds with individuals of the buyer’s company, and how the buyer’s staff perceives the marketer as a person and his/her efforts to work for the good of the project. The third interaction related sub-theme regards the strategic choices of the supplier, namely the priority of the relationship. The supplier has to choose how resources and efforts are allocated between relationships and projects. Hence, the response time to interaction requests and manning on the supplier’s side depend on how strategically important the buyer or the business, and the buyer’s business is to the supplier.

One group of incidents capable of shaping the supplier’s position involved the partnerships. A supply network can have either negative or positive influence on the buyer’s perception of the supplier, and incidents indicating disagreements or disputes between the partners were serious negative signals. On the other hand, trust shown between the partners can improve the position of the supplier network in the eyes of the buyer.

The third group of incidents capable of changing the position of the supplier was related to the supplier’s ways of working. Incidents, which either confirm or disconfirm a true commitment to work toward a common goal, can be important regarding the forming of the supplier’s position. A commitment to work toward a common goal can also be derived from the supplier’s strategy, but it is separated into a sub-theme of its own. In the same way, the supplier’s attitude to work could be shown through either a personal approach by individuals of the supplier’s staff, a strategic decision by the supplier, or through a company culture approach.