A Business Model for Small and Medium-Sized Manufacturers (Smes) in Sparsely Populated Areas in Northern Norway
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Faculty of Engineering Science and Technology Institute of Industrial Engineering A Business Model for Small and Medium-sized Manufacturers (SMEs) in Sparsely Populated Areas in Northern Norway Jiawen Liu Master’s thesis in Industrial Engineering … May 2017 Page 2 of 89 Title: A Business Model for Small and Medium-sized Date: Manufacturers (SMEs) in Sparsely Populated Areas in 01.06.2017 Northern Norway Classification: Open Author: Jiawen Liu Number of Pages:90 Student no: 140697 Number of Attachments:5 Subject Name: Master’s Thesis Subject Code: SHO6266 Department: Faculty of Engineering Science and Technology Master Program: Industrial Engineering Supervisor: Professor, Wei Deng Solvang Co-supervisor: Phd Hao Yu External Organization/Company: External Organization’s/Company’s Liaison: Keywords (max 10): SEMs; Northern Norway; Manufacturers; Business model; Abstract (max 150 words): As Northern Norway is considered as a low population density area with small and dispersed settlement structures, dispersed economic foundation with simplification, and focus on primary production. Manufacturing firms in Northern Norway are predominantly Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise (SMEs). With the development of globalization and the industry 4.0 trends, manufacturing industry focus more on lower the cost and developing economies with rapid advances in new technologies, SMEs especially manufacturers in Northern Norway are facing great challenges such as geographical seclusion from the major market and a low capital turnover ratio. In this paper, I focus on the current situation of small and medium-sized manufacturers and come up with a new business model for enhancing the competitive of small and medium-sized manufacturers in sparsely populated areas in northern Norway. Page 3 of 89 Page 4 of 89 A Business Model for Small and Medium-sized Manufacturers (SMEs) in Sparsely Populated Areas in Northern Norway Abstract As Northern Norway is considered as a low population density area with small and dispersed settlement structures, dispersed economic foundation with simplification, and focus on primary production. Manufacturing firms in Northern Norway are predominantly Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise (SMEs). With the development of globalization and the industry 4.0 trends, manufacturing industry focus more on lower the cost and developing economies with rapid advances in new technologies, SMEs especially manufacturers in Northern Norway are facing great challenges such as geographical seclusion from the major market and a low capital turnover ratio. In this paper, I focus on the current situation of small and medium-sized manufacturers and come up with a new business model for enhancing the competitive of small and medium-sized manufacturers in sparsely populated areas in northern Norway. Keywords—SEMs; Northern Norway; Manufacturers; Business model; Page 5 of 89 Page 6 of 89 Table of Contents Abstract ................................................................................................................................................... 5 List of Figures ......................................................................................................................................... 9 List of Tables ......................................................................................................................................... 10 1 Introduction and Production Statement ........................................................................................ 11 1.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 11 1.2 Problem Statement ................................................................................................................ 11 1.3 Research Strategies ................................................................................................................ 12 1.3.1 Research Process ........................................................................................................... 12 1.3.2 Information Collection .................................................................................................. 12 2 Business Model Literature Review ............................................................................................... 14 2.1 Alexander Osterwalder’s Business Model ............................................................................ 14 2.1.1 Definition....................................................................................................................... 14 2.1.2 Components ................................................................................................................... 14 2.2 Scott M. Shafer’s Business Model ........................................................................................ 19 2.2.1 Definition....................................................................................................................... 19 2.2.2 Components ................................................................................................................... 19 2.3 Jane Linder’s Business Model ............................................................................................... 24 2.3.1 Definition....................................................................................................................... 24 2.3.2 Components ................................................................................................................... 24 2.4 Jonas Hedman’s Business Model .......................................................................................... 28 2.4.1 Definition....................................................................................................................... 28 2.4.2 Components ................................................................................................................... 28 2.5 Joan Magretta’s Business Model ........................................................................................... 30 2.5.1 Definition....................................................................................................................... 30 2.5.2 Components ................................................................................................................... 31 2.6 Raphael Amit & Christoph Zott’s Business Model ............................................................... 32 2.6.1 Definition....................................................................................................................... 32 2.6.2 Component .................................................................................................................... 32 2.7 Literature Review Summary ................................................................................................. 33 3 Business Model Proposal .............................................................................................................. 35 3.1 Study on the First Level of Business Model ......................................................................... 35 3.2 Study on the Second Level of Business Model ..................................................................... 36 Page 7 of 89 3.2.1 Customer Segment Model ............................................................................................. 36 3.2.2 Value Proposition Model ............................................................................................... 38 3.2.3 Value Capture Model ..................................................................................................... 40 3.2.4 Value Delivery Model ................................................................................................... 49 4 A Case Study of Stella Polaris ...................................................................................................... 72 5 Conclusion & Future Study .......................................................................................................... 79 5.1 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................. 79 5.2 Future Study .......................................................................................................................... 80 References ............................................................................................................................................. 81 Appendix ............................................................................................................................................... 85 Appendix 1. Interview Guide ............................................................................................................ 85 Appendix 2. Stella Polaris Website ................................................................................................... 89 Appendix 3. Statistics Norway Website ............................................................................................ 90 Page 8 of 89 List of Figures Figure 1 process of Study ...................................................................................................................... 12 Figure 2 Structure of Osterwalder’s business model canvas ................................................................. 14 Figure 3 Structure of Shafer’s Business Model ..................................................................................... 20 Figure 4 Structure of Linder’s Business Model ...................................................................................