The Role of Documentation during the Bidding-process for Industrial Solutions, Case Fastems
Kääriäinen, Juuso (2020)
Kääriäinen, Juuso
2020
Master's Degree Programme in Leadership for Change
Johtamisen ja talouden tiedekunta - Faculty of Management and Business
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Hyväksymispäivämäärä
2020-05-06
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202004284296
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202004284296
Tiivistelmä
Industrial solutions have become a norm in B2B markets, offering tailored combinations of products and services designed to effectively respond to customer’s specific business problems. In order to determine the most suitable solution, a bidding process is initiated. Through this process, proposal documentation is used as a tool for delivering value to potential customers, and its role is to invoke curiosity about the solution and the company. The purpose of this study was to explore the various roles of documentation during the bidding process for industrial solutions in the B2B environment, and to establish a framework for a client-adjusted proposal document. This thesis was commissioned by a manufacturing company called Fastems. To address the lack of established models for understanding the role of documentation in bidding for industrial solutions in B2B environment, a qualitative single-case study was applied to explore this research gap.
A qualitative single-case study approach was chosen to achieve the research aims. This study involved 8 managers with backgrounds in intelligent factory automation solutions from the USA, Finland and Germany. The research is complemented with literature from industrial solutions, sales-management, solution-based value selling, bidding and documentation. Through conducting this research, three main categories were identified; 1) the bidding process of industrial solutions, 2) the various roles of documentation, and 3) client-adjusted proposal document, which were further divided into ten different subcategories. The findings indicate that performing in the bidding process of industrial solutions requires the selling organization to recognize the customer needs and to develop a solution which creates value for them. The findings further suggest that organizations need to understand the various roles of documentation in different business processes before they initiate the renewal process of their documentation templates. In addition, the findings indicate that the development process should be conducted to increase the effectiveness of the bidding process, as it has many positive effects including; capability to deliver value to customers, cost-effectiveness in order to meet the needs of the customer, flexibility towards changes during the process and effectively meeting deadlines.
This study makes theoretical contribution by supporting ideas that have been explored in the existing literature, such as the importance of understanding the strengths of the company and their offering to enable a successful bidding process for industrial solutions. In addition, this research contributes by gaining managerial insights which suggest that the implementation of a new client-adjusted proposal document requires an understanding of the various roles of documents. Based on this study four roles for documentation were identified. Understanding the strengths of the offering through reviewing documentation provides the selling organization the capability to manage, develop and deliver superior customer value proposition for their customers. This study also highlights the important role of the bid / no-bid decision in deciding whether to enter the bidding process. The aim of this decision is in screening the background of the customer and the capabilities of the seller to deliver the solution. Finally, this study also makes practical contributions regarding the role of documentation in the bidding process. The necessity for understanding the role of documentation in the bidding process of industrial solutions can be supported by the argument that proposal document is an opportunity to win the business-case, as it is the executive summary of the value that the sellers solution brings to a customer’s problem. My research provides opportunities for further research in understanding the role of documentation in the bidding processes for industrial solutions from a broader perspective.
A qualitative single-case study approach was chosen to achieve the research aims. This study involved 8 managers with backgrounds in intelligent factory automation solutions from the USA, Finland and Germany. The research is complemented with literature from industrial solutions, sales-management, solution-based value selling, bidding and documentation. Through conducting this research, three main categories were identified; 1) the bidding process of industrial solutions, 2) the various roles of documentation, and 3) client-adjusted proposal document, which were further divided into ten different subcategories. The findings indicate that performing in the bidding process of industrial solutions requires the selling organization to recognize the customer needs and to develop a solution which creates value for them. The findings further suggest that organizations need to understand the various roles of documentation in different business processes before they initiate the renewal process of their documentation templates. In addition, the findings indicate that the development process should be conducted to increase the effectiveness of the bidding process, as it has many positive effects including; capability to deliver value to customers, cost-effectiveness in order to meet the needs of the customer, flexibility towards changes during the process and effectively meeting deadlines.
This study makes theoretical contribution by supporting ideas that have been explored in the existing literature, such as the importance of understanding the strengths of the company and their offering to enable a successful bidding process for industrial solutions. In addition, this research contributes by gaining managerial insights which suggest that the implementation of a new client-adjusted proposal document requires an understanding of the various roles of documents. Based on this study four roles for documentation were identified. Understanding the strengths of the offering through reviewing documentation provides the selling organization the capability to manage, develop and deliver superior customer value proposition for their customers. This study also highlights the important role of the bid / no-bid decision in deciding whether to enter the bidding process. The aim of this decision is in screening the background of the customer and the capabilities of the seller to deliver the solution. Finally, this study also makes practical contributions regarding the role of documentation in the bidding process. The necessity for understanding the role of documentation in the bidding process of industrial solutions can be supported by the argument that proposal document is an opportunity to win the business-case, as it is the executive summary of the value that the sellers solution brings to a customer’s problem. My research provides opportunities for further research in understanding the role of documentation in the bidding processes for industrial solutions from a broader perspective.