Hassan Sherwani ROLE OF SALES AND MARKETING IN ... - Oulu

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68 agreed that knowledge is one of the resource for any organization. The knowledge based view advocates the significance of knowledge management within a firm that it should not be taken like all other resources. Knowledge should have a special role in the organization because; it helps companies to make record of their earlier and future strategies. Many electricity firms acknowledge that to act with efficiency in today’s vibrant economy, it is wiser to become knowledge based organization. Unfortunately, few understand the depth of this decision and how to make the plausible actions to make it work in practice. Coming to case company, the main issue with knowledge based view is that it is at its early stage for the business implications. It is gradually becoming integral business function as described by Metaxiotis et al. (2005). Knowledge is something which is intangible i.e it cannot be measured therefore; it is still embedded with resource based view. This is certainly seen in Oulun Sähkömyynti Oy where resources are given more significance. This can be justified because company is after all an electricity trading firm and resources are considered as the most essential part of it. Mostly these resources are physical and somewhat tangible. The changing trend of business is slower comparing to retail business. One reason may be that knowledge management needs a systemic observation and one must be able to these underlying aspects. There has been change in industry from material based production to information based production in energy sector (Jansen et al., 2007) which has opened new doors for firm workers even in electricity market. This trend has been seen in the case company as noted by interviewees (Tuomi and Lehto, 2013) that company has a good system to store knowledge through information systems. The dilemma is that company executives are made to believe that higher the content knowledge of products and services they have, the closer they are to be knowledge based organization. Actually, products and services have a visible outcome for the customers and intangible assets of the firm are hidden. These intangible assets have the real packet of information of what the firm does, how it is done and why it is done at first place like that way (Zack, 2003). There must be a consensus to distinguish the role of explicit and tacit knowledge. Moreover, innovation is a key for Oulun Sähkömyynti Oy being the trading unit of Oulun energia Group. Hence, knowledge management may play a key role in the transfer of best practices and
69 to enhance innovation (Pomeda & Camacho, 2003). Efforts towards a suitable electricity sector framework should be accompanied by managerial efforts to compete in right condition. Company and its management should consider enhancing their value through the right intangibles management. One way for case company to transform distinctively from being resource based to knowledge based firm is to abandon formal structures and achieve coordination through social rewards and internal normative systems, instead of hierarchical control. The core of the argument is that there is no problem if a firm is resource based however; there exists certain deficiency of not acknowledging and utilizing best out of knowledge in this strategy. Considering knowledge management within the company, there is more dependency on explicit knowledge and there is a system to store it as well. The tacit knowledge has its own significance and it comes as the most distinctive competitive advantage. The reason is that it is hard to imitate tacit knowledge. On the other hand, tacit knowledge cannot be codified. There cannot be a software system to store this type of knowledge as it represents culture and daily norms of the company. Oulun Sähkömyynti Oy should use a system where knowledge is harnessed. This would also help in conflict management. The company is small and have same language and culture therefore, there are less conflict. If any conflict occurs it can be resolved through normal discussion. This is the reason that company does not find a real need to implement extensive system to resolve conflicts. Considering the future growth ventures of Oulun Energia, once the company is doing business in different territories, there could be severe problems in controlling these conflicts. On customer side, there should be more knowledge management. The reason is that knowledge management process is well connected to co-creation of value. If there is enough knowledge regarding customer need, it will be easier to develop a product accordingly. Moreover, customers can become part of product development through a balanced system of knowledge storage. With these new business trends, customers are not outsiders. In Finnish culture, business is friendly and customers are part of family. There is an ample need to make it professional and establish a system which could enable Oulun Sähkömyynti Oy to operate internationally with the same strategy. Another significant advantage is that through knowledge based view, company may have a unified vision towards their goal. This problem is seen within Oulun
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OULU BUSINESS SCHOOL Hassan Sherwan
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3 CONTENTS Abstract Contents Figure
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5 Figures Figure 1: The scope of th
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7 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Introduction a
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9 Electricity industry used to be c
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11 Monopoly: A market with a single
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13 2 RESEARCH CONTEXT This chapter
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15 produced but, resources to gener
Page 17 and 18: 17 through bioenergy largely in the
Page 19 and 20: 19 framework. There is a need to re
Page 21 and 22: 21 the companies make themselves en
Page 23 and 24: 23 Monopoly Traditional Model Value
Page 25 and 26: 25 once a company at local market a
Page 27 and 28: 27 It is vital to notice that these
Page 29 and 30: 29 In the global arena, companies m
Page 31 and 32: 31 known as Uppsala Model and is wi
Page 33 and 34: 33 vital part so the parties must a
Page 35 and 36: 35 provides to the company, in the
Page 37 and 38: 37 way of achieving this goal is to
Page 39 and 40: 39 Figure 7: The Emerging Concept o
Page 41 and 42: 41 who actually creates values and
Page 43 and 44: 43 value of the organization in its
Page 45 and 46: 45 being an extension to resource b
Page 47 and 48: 47 knowledge management process is
Page 49 and 50: 49 widely agreed on the negative ef
Page 51 and 52: 51 need to be coordinated and consi
Page 53 and 54: 53 responsibilities, and of the int
Page 55 and 56: 55 is equally important to manage i
Page 57 and 58: 57 All these four stages are follow
Page 59 and 60: 59 5 ANALYSIS As there was a brief
Page 61 and 62: 61 company’s individual needs irr
Page 63 and 64: 63 In other words, the market is fr
Page 65 and 66: 65 to seek more control in their en
Page 67: 67 themselves, who may be capable o
Page 71 and 72: 71 Marketing is responsible for dev
Page 73 and 74: 73 Customer satisfaction is conside
Page 75 and 76: 75 clear picture of the role and co
Page 77 and 78: 77 more and more companies operatin
Page 79 and 80: 79 What level of integration betwee
Page 81 and 82: 81 There is a good opportunity to i
Page 83 and 84: 83 internationalization in Finnish
Page 85 and 86: 85 chaos within the company and man
Page 87 and 88: 87 In this thesis work, though the
Page 89 and 90: 89 described by Valocchi et al. (20
Page 91 and 92: 91 Cavusgil, S. T. (1980). On the I
Page 93 and 94: 93 Henry, A. (2008). Understanding
Page 95 and 96: 95 Metaxiotis K, Ergazakis K and Ps
Page 97 and 98: 97 Tykesson, D. and Alserud, M(2011
Page 99 and 100: 99 APPENDICES Interview Questions:
Page 101: 101 Are you familiar with va
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Hassan Sherwani ROLE OF SALES AND MARKETING IN ... - Oulu

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