The ability to operate global distribution channels of products is commonly considered a critical determinant of a manufacturer’s competitiveness. Nowadays, many products are…
Abstract
Purpose
The ability to operate global distribution channels of products is commonly considered a critical determinant of a manufacturer’s competitiveness. Nowadays, many products are often complemented with value-added services challenging the efficacy of the status quo of distribution channels. Investigating this rather new phenomenon, the purpose of this paper is to provide an initial understanding of the implications of servitization for manufacturers’ global business-to-business (B2B) distribution.
Design/methodology/approach
The aim is to elaborate service-dominant logic (SDL) in the context of global B2B distribution. The study builds on case study data collected from a medium-sized European manufacturing company offering production equipment and solutions, and three of its global distributors.
Findings
The results indicate that the co-producing customer value, the increasing role of operant resources of both a distributor and a manufacturer, and triadic co-creation between a manufacturer, a distributor and an end customer have increasing importance in the indirect distribution network.
Research limitations/implications
Data are limited to data collected from a single in-depth case study. The results of this study should be investigated by collecting more data in a broader context in the form of surveys.
Practical implications
Several guidelines related to global distribution are developed for managers, and current distributor selection criteria are completed to meet the needs of this servitization approach.
Originality/value
Empirical research on servitizing manufacturers with global B2B distribution is scarce. This paper employs SDL to provide an in-depth understanding of the implications of servitization for distribution.
Details
Keywords
Taru Hakanen and Elina Jaakkola
Increased competition and more extensive customer needs have motivated companies to develop integrated solutions. In practice, companies struggle to co‐create effective solutions…
Abstract
Purpose
Increased competition and more extensive customer needs have motivated companies to develop integrated solutions. In practice, companies struggle to co‐create effective solutions that meet customer needs. The purpose of this paper is to identify critical factors affecting the effective co‐creation of customer‐focused solutions within business networks.
Design/methodology/approach
The study investigates the co‐creation of two different types of solution. Data were collected from two business networks comprising 13 companies, including suppliers and their customers. The empirical data comprise 51 interviews and observations made at 21 company workshops.
Findings
Effective co‐creation of solutions requires a fit between the perceptions of multiple suppliers and their customers with regard to core content, operations and processes, customer experience and value of the solution. Co‐creation is affected by, e.g. customer's preferences for participation and value, and the degree of competition, clarity of role division and rapport among the suppliers.
Research limitations/implications
Further empirical research is needed to examine how companies could overcome the problems identified, and reap the opportunities arising from the factors affecting the co‐creation of solutions.
Practical implications
The paper presents a framework that outlines practical activities that help firms to reconcile the perspectives of different actors, and to facilitate the integration of resources when co‐creating solutions within business networks.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to the solutions literature by studying solutions as a network‐level process of resource integration between multiple suppliers and their mutual customers, and by applying a service concept framework to the study of integrated solutions.
Details
Keywords
Kaisa Perko, Ulla Kinnunen and Taru Feldt
The purpose of this paper is to examine whether the link between transformational leadership and depressive symptoms among employees is mediated by such personal resources as…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine whether the link between transformational leadership and depressive symptoms among employees is mediated by such personal resources as occupational self-efficacy, perceived meaningfulness of the work, and work-related rumination.
Design/methodology/approach
The study was conducted using questionnaires among 557 Finnish municipal employees in various occupations. The statistical analysis was based on structural equation modeling. A multiple mediation model enabled us to investigate the specific indirect effects of each mediator. Model comparison was applied to ascertain whether the mediation should be considered as full or partial.
Findings
Results based on model comparison showed that the proposed factors fully mediated the negative relationship between transformational leadership and depressive symptoms. Thus high level of transformational leadership was associated with high levels of occupational self-efficacy and perceived meaningfulness of the work, and low level of work-related rumination during off-job time, which, in turn, were associated with low level of depressive symptoms. The fully mediated model explained 36 percent of the variance in depressive symptoms. All of the three mediators made a unique contribution to this relationship.
Research limitations/implications
The results imply that transformational leadership behaviors may decrease depressiveness among employees through strengthening the personal resources of employees. However, as the study is cross-sectional, causal relationships can only be hypothesized.
Originality/value
The study sheds new light on the possible processes through which transformational leaders may exert their health-promoting effects on employees even in terms of depressive symptoms.
Details
Keywords
Saija Mauno, Taru Feldt, Mari Herttalampi and Jaana Minkkinen
Intensified job demands (IJDs; work intensification, intensified job- and career-related planning and decision-making demands, and intensified learning demands) illustrate the…
Abstract
Purpose
Intensified job demands (IJDs; work intensification, intensified job- and career-related planning and decision-making demands, and intensified learning demands) illustrate the intensification of working life. This study examined relationships between IJDs and work engagement.
Design/methodology/approach
Nine diverse samples (n = 7,786) were analyzed separately via regression analysis by estimating linear and curvilinear relationships between IJDs and engagement.
Findings
The results showed that certain subdimensions of IJDs, i.e. intensified learning demands, related positively to engagement across several subsamples. Moreover, learning demands showed a curvilinear relationship with engagement in several subsamples; engagement was highest in a moderate level of learning demands whereas low and high levels of learning demands were associated with lower engagement. We also found that other subdimensions of IJDs did not show consistent positive relationships with engagement, and some of them were negatively associated with engagement.
Research limitations/implications
Cross-sectional design.
Practical implications
Organizations should consider what would be the optimal level of learning demands as excessive learning demands can be detrimental to employees’ engagement.
Originality/value
This is a first study focusing on different manifestations of the intensification of working life, operationalized via IJDs, and their curvilinear relationships with engagement by applying a multi-sample design.
Details
Keywords
Anne Mäkikangas, Taru Feldt, Ulla Kinnunen and Saija Mauno
In the context of occupational health psychology, personality has usually been depicted from the perspective of single traits, dispositions, or their combinations. However, there…
Abstract
In the context of occupational health psychology, personality has usually been depicted from the perspective of single traits, dispositions, or their combinations. However, there is a clear need to better understand personality as a whole. For this reason, an integrative framework of personality is presented in order to give a more comprehensive and cohesive picture of how the different personality constructs relate to each other. In recent years, several holistic models of human personality have been presented. For example, such models have been formulated by Dan McAdams (1995), Brian Little (2007), Robert McCrae and Paul Costa Jr. (1999), and Brent Roberts and Dustin Wood (2006). In this chapter, we briefly introduce one of these models, that is, the three-tiered conceptual framework of personality by McAdams and his colleagues (McAdams, 1995; McAdams & Adler, 2006; McAdams & Olson, 2010; McAdams & Pals, 2006). This comprehensive and multifaceted model conceptualizes human personality via a developing pattern of (1) dispositional traits, (2) characteristic adaptations, and (3) constructive life narratives (see Fig. 1). Each of these three levels possesses its own characteristics for describing and understanding personality.
Katriina Hyvönen, Johanna Rantanen, Mari Huhtala, Bettina S. Wiese, Asko Tolvanen and Taru Feldt
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the moderating role of goal conflict in the relationship between the contents of managers’ personal work goals and occupational…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the moderating role of goal conflict in the relationship between the contents of managers’ personal work goals and occupational well-being (burnout and work engagement). Eight goal categories (organization, competence, well-being, career-ending, progression, prestige, job change, and employment contract) described the contents of goals. Goal conflict reflected the degree to which a personal work goal was perceived to interfere with other life domains.
Design/methodology/approach
The data were drawn from a study directed to Finnish managers in 2009 (n=806). General linear models were conducted to investigate the associations between goal content categories and occupational well-being and to test whether goal conflict moderates the relationship between goal content categories and occupational well-being.
Findings
Career-ending goals related to significantly higher burnout than progression goals. Participants with organization, competence, or progression goals reported the highest goal conflict, whereas participants with well-being, career-ending, or job change goals reported lower goal conflict. Goal conflict was found to have a moderating role: in a high-goal conflict situation, participants with organizational, competence, and progression goals reported lower occupational well-being, whereas participants with job change goals reported higher occupational well-being.
Originality/value
The research highlights that both the contents and appraisals (e.g. goal conflict) of personal work goals should be taken into account when investigating the relationship between personal goals and well-being at work.