practicing the resource based view: learning to play the ... · practicing the resource based view:...

Supervisor: Johan Brink Master Degree Project No. 2016:52 Graduate School

Master Degree Project in Innovation and Industrial Management

Practicing the Resource Based View: Learning to Play the

Song of “Theory in Practice”

A reflective case study on the challenges of formulating an expansion strategy through the lens of the resource based view

Albin Gustavsson and Jonathan Johansson

Abstract

Background and Problem: The resource based view (RBV) has been a central paradigm withinmanagement research for more than two decades and it is an accepted theory used to analyzedifferences infirmperformanceaswellasstrategyformulation.However,theRBVhasbeenaccusedofbeingtootheoreticalwithpractitionersfindingitdifficulttofullyoperationalizeitsconcepts,makingtheRBVdifficulttouseinpractice.CompanyXisaproviderofdigitalvisualizationtoolsforonlinemarketingintherealestateindustryandthusneedstoformulateanexpansionstrategythatmatchesthecompany’sresourcesandcapabilitieswiththeopportunitiesintheUSmarket.

Purpose:ThepurposeofthisthesisisatitscoretoreflectonthepracticalapplicationoftheRBVinareallife strategic setting to highlight what potential challenges practitioners face when attempting tooperationalize the theory. Since this thesis has a strong emphasis on theory in practice the situationCompanyX finds it self inpresents a good setting to apply theRBVona real strategic issue,namely aproposedexpansionintheUSmarket.ThepurposeofthisthesishasaclearpracticalcomponentintheactualstrategyforCompanyXaswellasatheoreticalcomponentintheformofthereflectiveapproachontheoryaspractice.

Method:Theresearchdesignofthisthesishastwolayers,thefirstofwhichisacasestudyofCompanyXandtheapplicationoftheRBVinformulatingaanexpansionstrategy.ThesecondlayerbeingareflectiveapproachthatallowstheauthorstoidentifychallengesofapplyingRBVtheoryinpractice.Firsthanddatacollectionhasbeenconductedthroughanumberof interviewswithmanagersatCompanyXaswellasrepresentatives from different stakeholders in the US real estate market. Secondary data has beencollected through a comprehensive narrative literature review as well as secondary sources providingadditionaldataontheUSmarket.

Findings:ThecombinedinternalandexternalfindingsshowthatCompanyXhascapabilitiesthatcanbeleveragedwithintwodifferentsubmarketstoapproachdifferenttypesofcustomers.Furthermore, theanalysisrevealssomegapsinthecompaniesresourcesstockwhererecommendationsaregivenforhowto close those resource gaps. Additionally the reflection on the RBV in practice allows the authors toidentifyanumberofchallengesthatemergewhenoperationalizingthetheoryinarealbusinesssetting.ThethesisconcludeswithrecommendationsforfutureresearchdirectionswithintheRBVwiththeaimtoincreaseitspracticalapplicability.

Acknowledgements

Thismasterthesishasbeenwrittenduringthespringsemesterof2016attheUniversityofGothenburg,School of Business Economics and Law by Albin Gustavsson and Jonathan Johansson attending theInnovationand IndustrialManagementMasterProgram. Wewould like to thankoursupervisor, JohanBrink,forprovidingguidanceandsupportthroughoutthisprocess.

Furthermorewewouldliketothankthecompany,whichinthisthesisgoesunderthenameofCompanyX, for giving us unique access to all key personnel within the firm as well as for hosting us at theirheadquarterinBangkok.TheemployeesatCompanyXprovideduswithgreatinformationregardingtheinternalprocessesandresources.AspecialthankyoutoCharlieEngelandMatthewCampbellforbeingsogenerouswiththeirtimeandeffortspentonguidingusinthestrategydevelopmentprocess.

We are also thankful towards all the external interview participants who contributed with great theirknowledgeontherealestatemarketintheUS.

Tableofcontent

1. Introduction......................................................................................................................................11.1 Background...........................................................................................................................................21.2 ResearchProblem.................................................................................................................................31.3 ResearchPurpose..................................................................................................................................41.4 ResearchQuestions...............................................................................................................................4

2. Methodology......................................................................................................................................52.1 ResearchStrategy..................................................................................................................................52.2 LiteratureReview..................................................................................................................................62.3 ResearchDesign....................................................................................................................................72.4 Datacollectionandanalysis..................................................................................................................8

2.4.1 InternalData...................................................................................................................................92.4.2 Customers.....................................................................................................................................102.4.3 Competitors..................................................................................................................................11

2.5 Sampling..............................................................................................................................................112.6 Credibilityoftheresearch...................................................................................................................12

3. TheoreticalFramework.............................................................................................................143.1 InternalPerspective............................................................................................................................14

3.1.1 TheResourceBasedView.............................................................................................................143.1.2 RBV–APracticalFramework.......................................................................................................16

3.2 Externalperspective............................................................................................................................173.2.1 Customers.....................................................................................................................................173.2.2 Competitors..................................................................................................................................213.2.3 ResourceGaps..............................................................................................................................21

4. AnalyticalModel...........................................................................................................................26

5. EmpiricalFindings.......................................................................................................................285.1 InternalPerspective............................................................................................................................28

5.1.1 Products&Services.......................................................................................................................285.1.2 Salesprocess.................................................................................................................................285.1.3 Production....................................................................................................................................305.1.4 CustomerServiceandExternalRelations......................................................................................315.1.5 Experienceandleadership............................................................................................................325.1.6 ResearchandDevelopment..........................................................................................................32

5.2 ExternalPerspective............................................................................................................................335.2.1 TheResaleVertical.......................................................................................................................335.2.2 TheRentalVertical........................................................................................................................39

6. Analysis............................................................................................................................................466.1 IdentificationandEvaluationofSCA:s................................................................................................46

6.1.1 Resources......................................................................................................................................46

6.1.2 Capabilities...................................................................................................................................496.2 ResourceLeveraging...........................................................................................................................53

6.2.1 TheResaleVertical.......................................................................................................................536.2.2 TheRentalVertical........................................................................................................................55

6.3 ResourceGaps.....................................................................................................................................56

7. Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................587.1 ProposedstrategyforCompanyX.......................................................................................................58

7.1.1 TheResidentialResaleVertical.....................................................................................................587.1.2 TheRentalVertical........................................................................................................................597.1.3 ResourceGaps..............................................................................................................................59

7.2 Reflections...........................................................................................................................................607.2.1 FutureResearch............................................................................................................................60

8. References......................................................................................................................................63

9. Appendix1:Listofinterviews.................................................................................................69

Tableoffigures

Figure 1: The relationship between Core Assumptions - VRIO Framework - Sustainable CompetitiveAdvantage.Source:Barney&Delwyn(2007)......................................................................................15

Figure2:TheRBVapproachtostrategyformulation.AdaptedfromGrant(1991).....................................16

Figure3:TheNestedApproachSegmentationModel.RecreatedbytheauthorsfromShapiro&Bonoma(1984)...................................................................................................................................................20

Figure4:IllustrationofMarketEntryModes(Klug,2006)...........................................................................23

Figure5:AnalyticalModel............................................................................................................................27

Figure6:OverviewofCompanyX’ssalesprocesswithintheResaleVertical(Authorsownelaboration)...29

Figure8:OverviewofCompanyX’ssalesprocesswithintheRentalVertical(Authorsownelaboration)...30

Figure9NumberoftransactionsofRealtors(NAR,2015)............................................................................34

Figure10Percentwebsiteusebyagentstodisplaylistings(NAR,2014).....................................................36

Figure11Web-trafficmajorportalsandbrokersites,basedondatafromcompete.com..........................36

Figure12Product-portfolioofCompanyXand9othercompetitors...........................................................38

Figure13:SimplifiedoverviewofthePropertyManagementsegment(authorsownelaboration)............40

Figure14:SummaryofinformationreceivedfrominterviewswithPropertyManagers.............................41

PracticingtheResourceBasedView:Learningtoplaytheballadof“TheoryinPractice”

A.GustavssonJ.Johansson 1

1. IntroductionThe introduction startswithahigh levelapproach to strategyand thennarrowsdown tohighlights themainaspectsof the resourcebasedview.Furthermoreashortdescriptionof thecasecompany ismadewhichisfollowedbydefinitionoftheresearchproblemandthepurposeoftheresearch.Thesectionendswiththeresearchquestions.

Strategy is somewhatof a buzzwordwithin the field of business today.Managers often talk about theimportanceofhavingaclearbusinessstrategyinordertosucceed,butwhenaskedtospecifywhattheirstrategyis,manymanagerscannotevenprovideastraightanswer(Collis&Rukstad,2008).Inthe1950s-and-60s, strategy was about thorough planning and then execution in a step-by-step process (Grant,2013). In those days companies suppliedmass markets with products and services, making long-termplanseasier to implementdue to the supply sidepowerbalance (Denning,2015).However, thepowerbalancehasshiftedtowardsthedemandsideduetoglobalization,deregulationandtheincreasingpaceoftechnologydevelopment(Ibid).Intoday’sbusinessclimatethedynamismoftheexternalenvironmentmakes strategic planning increasingly difficult for firms adopting amarket based approach, where theindustry structure guides strategic choices (Sirmon et al., 2007). The market based approach is alsoreferred toas the industryperspective,oroutside-inmodel and itsmost famousproponent isMichaelPorterandhisFiveForcesframework(Spanos&Lioukas,2001).

Thelackoffocusontheinternalassetsofthefirmleadtoanewapproachtostrategicanalysisthatbuilton the work of Edit Penrose in the 1950s and later Paul Rubin in the 1970s (Newbert, 2007) whichestablished a new paradigm within management research called the Resource Based View (RBV)(Wernerfelt, 1984; Barney, 1991;Grant, 1991; Peteraf, 1993).Amajor problemwith themarket basedapproachwastheimplicitassumptionofastableenvironment,whichdoesnotcorrespondwellwiththeviewthatmany industriesarebecoming increasinglydynamic, thusmaking industryanalysis impractical(Barney, 2001). The major difference between the two perspectives lies in how a firm’s competitivestrategy shouldbe formulated. In themarketbasedapproach, strategy shouldbebasedonpositioningthe firmwith regards to industry forces, and thus themost attractivemarketpositiondetermineshowandwhere the firmshouldcompete (Porter,2008). In the resourcebasedviewon theotherhand, theresourcesthefirmpossessisthesourceofcompetitiveadvantageandthustheyshoulddeterminewhereandhowtocompete(Barney,2001).

Many researchers are of the opinion that today’s business environment is more turbulent than ever,which lends support to the idea that the RBV is amore suitable theoretical starting point in strategicanalysis (Guo, 2007; Sołoducho-Pelc, 2014; Švárová & Vrchota, 2014).When growing a firm, strategicmanagement is an essential component, and in order to do this successfully there needs to be analignmentofthefirm’scorporatestrategyanditscompetitiveadvantages(Švárová&Vrchota,2014).TheRBVcanbeseenasanantecedentofstrategicchoicessince itprovidesmanagersguidance inchoosingappropriatecorporateandbusinessstrategies(Bresser&Powalla,2012).Themainstrategicobjectiveof



RBVistoidentifywhichinternalresourcesandcapabilitiesthatmakeupthefirmscompetitiveadvantageinrelationtoitscompetitors,asabasisforstrategicanalysis(Prithwirajetal.,2010;Acostaetal.,2011;Barney,1991).Thisisan“inside-out”perspectivewheretheactivitiesthefirmcanperformareafunctionoftheopportunitiesitconfrontsand(moreimportantly)onwhatresourcestheorganizationcanmuster(Teece, 2007). As Grant (1991) argues; the resources and capabilities of the firm should be central tostrategyformulationsincetheyaresimultaneouslythesourceofthefirm’sidentityanditsprimarysourceofprofitability.ThislinkbetweenRBVandcompetitivestrategyissomethingthatseveralacademicshaveresearched and found empirical support for, suggesting that RBV can explain differences in firmperformancesandstrategies(Henderson&Venkatraman,1993;Mathews,2003;Jolly,2000)

However, the RBV has come under fire from academics as well as practitioners. One of the mainobjectionsfromacademialeveledatRBVisthatapplyingtheframeworkisapurelyexpostexercisethatdoesnot contribute toexplanationofhowa firmsSCA:sdevelop (Priem&Butler,2001).Asa resultofthis,thecriticsoftheRBVmakethepointthattheentireconceptistoostatictodeliverthecompetitiveadvantagethatitpurport(Kraaijenbrinketal.,2010).TherearealsoquestionsraisedaroundthelackofRBVframeworksthatcanbeappliedinaprescriptivemanner,mostlyduetoalowlevelofgeneralizabilitysincetheRBVisconcernedwithfindingtheuniqueassetsofthefirm(Priem&Butler,2001;Hinterhuber,2013; Eisenhardt & Martin, 2000). Despite the critique brought against the RBV, its contribution tomanagementresearchisundeniableasevidentfromitswidespreaddissemination(Acedoetal.,2006).IntheirreviewofthemainacademiccritiquebroughtagainsttheRBV,Kraaijenbrinketal (2010)concludethat the concepts stands up well to most of its attackers. Furthermore they state that RBV has thepotential to develop further by incorporating new conceptswith the aim to become amore completetheory.

Additionallythereisagapbetweenmanagementresearchandpractice,whichhasbeengrowingdespiteofmoreadvancedresearchmethodsbeingavailabletoday(Guo,2007).Thisisduetotheresearchresultsbeingdifficulttounderstandforpractitionersandthelackofactionablepracticalguidanceprovided(Ibid).Thiscritiqueisconsistentfrombothacademics(Hinterhuber,2013)andpractitioners(Guo,2007),whichleavesRBV ina situationwhere it isdifficult tooperationalize. Ina simulatedmodel testing ifRBV is apractical theory it is concluded that it has significant room for improvement and that future researchshould focus on how the practical applicability should be improved (Arend & Lévesque, 2010). Morespecifically RBV in practice has been shown to have difficulties in incorporating the competitiveenvironmentintheformofcompetitorsandcustomers(Knott,2009;Knott,2015),somethingwhichisanecessity within RBV (Barney, 2001; Grant, 1991). In order to bridge this divide between theory andpractice,researchersshouldfocusonoperationalizingRBVtoalargerextent(Hansenetal.,2004).

1.1 BackgroundBasedonthediscussionabovethereisaneedformorepracticalapplicationoftheRBVinreallifecontextinordertomakeitmoreusefulformanagersconsideringstrategicissues.Onesuchstrategicissuecouldbe a firm’s competitive strategy when expanding their presence in an attractive market. This is the



situationthatCompanyXisfacingastheyarecurrentlyintheveryearlystageofplanninghowtoexpandtheirfootprintontheUSmarket.

CompanyXprovidesvisualizationproductsfortherealestateindustrythatisusedtomarketpropertiesforsaleorforrentonline.Theyareworkingwithmanyofthe latesttechnologiessuchas3DanimationandVirtualReality (VR) andare todayactiveon several internationalmarkets.Due to their technologyintense product offering, new innovations occur constantly, both within the company and from othercompetitors within the industry. This makes strategic planning complicated as the competitiveenvironmentisunderconstantchangeandthetechnologydevelopmentisfast.CompanyXisafirmwithlongexperienceintherelativityyoungfieldofonlinevisualizationsolutionswithinrealestatemarketing.

The real estate industry can be divided into several sub-markets or segments according to differentcustomermarkets,productmarketsetc.Oneusefuldistinctionwhichcanbemadeinordertodividetheindustryintobroadsub-markets,isbydefiningitbyitsendcustomers.Forexampleonesub-marketcanservethe“renter”endcustomer,whileanothercouldservethe“buyer”endcustomer.Thesub-marketscan then be viewed as a vertical value chain that services different end customers and Company X´sinternal organization is set up in accordance to this distinction. Rather than referring to the differentsegmentsasverticalsub-marketsCompanyXsimplystatethattheyservicedistinct“verticals”withintherealestateindustryandthisterminologywillalsobeusedinthisthesis.Thisresearchprojectwillbesetwithin the context of the two verticalsRental andResale. The rental vertical consists of all propertiesrentedwiththeintentionofbeingtheprimaryresidenceoftherenter(whichexcludesalltypesofshortterm and vacation rentals). The resale vertical consists of existing single-family homes, townhouses,condosoranyothertypeofpropertythatisboughtandsoldwiththeintentionofbecomingaresidence.CompanyXcurrentlyhasasmallpresencewithintheRentalverticalwheretheyservicealownumberofcustomersthatgenerateslargesalesvolumes.ThecompanyisnotactivewithintheResaleverticalintheUSmarketbutthisisconsideredthecoreverticalintheScandinavianmarketswherethecompanyiswellestablished. These conditions result in Company X having accumulated a lot of knowledge as well asresources across different international markets. Now that the company is planning to expand theirpresenceintheUSmarket,theyneedtounderstandhowtheirexistingassetscanbeleveragedaswellasidentifyingwhatassetsthecompanyismissinginordertocompeteintheUSmarket.Thesefactorsallowforagoodopportunity topracticallyapply theconceptswithinRBV inorder tocomeupwithconcretestrategic recommendations for Company X, as well as contribute insight into the applicability of RBVconcepts.

1.2 ResearchProblemIn a dynamic environment the firm's internal assets becomes an obvious starting point when devisingcompetitivestrategies.Eventhoughthestartingpointisfocusedontheinternalenvironmentofthefirm,theexternalenvironmenthastobetakenintoaccount.TheRBVisatheoreticalapproachthataimstodojustthat.However,thepracticalapplicationoftheacademicconceptshasbeenproblematicformanagers



inareallifebusinesssettingduetothegapthatexistsbetweenmanagementresearchandpractice(Gou,2007).

CompanyXiscurrentlyinapositionwheretheyareevaluatingtheircompetitivestrategyinrelationtoaproposed, substantial expansion on the US market. The external environment of Company X can becharacterizedasdynamicwithnewcompetitorsaswellasproductsconstantlyemerging.Thus,CompanyXwants to investigate how their internal assets can be leveraged to expand their presence in the USmarket.

This setting provides a good research opportunity since it allows for the formulation of a competitivestrategythatisinfluencedbypreviousacademicresearchaswellasareallifestrategydevelopment.ThesituationallowsfortheexplorationofthepracticaloutcomeofoperationalizingtheRBVbypresentingthestrategicrecommendationsthetheorygenerateswhenappliedtothecaseofCompanyX.Italsoenablesreflection on the challenges of converting the theoretical concepts into a real life setting. ThesereflectionscancontributetowardsdevelopingtheRBVintoamoreusefultoolforpractitioners.

1.3 ResearchPurposeThe purpose of this thesis is at its core to reflect on the practical application of the RBV in a real lifestrategic setting to highlight what potential challenges practitioners face when attempting tooperationalizethetheory.Ashaspreviouslybeenestablishedbyseveralauthors,thereisagapbetweenresearchandpractice.ThusbyreflectingonthestrategyformulationprocessthroughthelensoftheRBVthisapproachwillprovidevaluableexanteawarenessforpractitionersaswellaspracticalguidelinesforthe application of RBV-frameworks. Since this thesis has a strong emphasis on theory in practice thesituationCompanyXfindsthemselvesinpresentsagoodsettingtoapplytheRBVonarealstrategicissue,namelyaproposedexpansionintheUSmarket.ThepurposeofthisthesisthusencapsulatestheactualformulationofaproposedexpansionstrategyforCompanyX,theprocessofwhichwillbetheobjectofpracticalreflection.PutadifferentwaythepurposeofthisthesishasaclearpracticalcomponentintheactualstrategyforCompanyXaswellasatheoreticalcomponentintheformofthereflectiveapproachontheoryaspractice.

1.4 ResearchQuestionsRQ1:WhatarethechallengesofapplyingtheResourceBasedViewinpracticewhenformulatingafirm’sexpansionstrategy?

The first researchquestion is reflectiveon thepracticalapplicationof theResourceBasedView,and inCompany X an exciting opportunity to study the contemporary application of the theory has beenpresented.Inordertoanswerthefirstresearchquestionthefollowing,secondquestionisformulated:

RQ2:WhatcouldbeasuitableexpansionstrategyforCompanyXwithintheRentalverticalandtheResaleverticalontheUSmarketwhenapplyingtheResourceBasedView?



2. MethodologyIn thissection followsadescriptionaswellasamotivationof themethodologychosen,whichhasbeenusedtotackletheresearchproblemandanswertheresearchquestions.

Inorder toanswerthe first researchquestion,whichrefers tothepracticaluseof theRBV,areflectiveapproachhasbeenchosenwhereaspecificcasewillbetheunitofobservation.Thisisasimilarapproachto theoneusedby Suomala et al (2014)where theydescribe their research ashaving two layers, oneunderlying case study previously performed by one of the authors and a second reflective layer. Theresearchers theoretical knowledgeallowed themto reflectupon thepracticalapplicationof theoreticalconcepts,which enabled them to identify challenges in turning theory intopractice. This is also in linewith another studywith a similar approachwhere the authors present their thoughts basedon logicalargumentationderivedfromacademic literature (Fogarty&Rigsby,2005).Sincethisapproach is relianton experience and insight into applying theoretical concepts in a real context the authors choose toperformanactualcasestudywheretheRBVwasappliedtothecontextofCompanyX.TheapplicationoftheRBVinthissettingisasubstantialundertakingandisthusreflectedinthesecondresearchquestion,which ismorerelatedtotheactualcase.Asaresult this thesishasasimilarapproachtoSuomalaetal(2014)withtwolayersbutwiththeaddedfeatureofthecasestudybeingperformedconcurrently.

WhenapplyingtheRBVtosuchapracticalsetting,theauthorsdeemeditnecessarytoinvolvesomeotherconcepts referring to the external environment. This resulted in an analytical model that guided theempirical data collection as well as the analysis of case company and its environment. Based on theempirical findings and the subsequent analysis the second research question is answered by providingconcretestrategicrecommendationonhowCompanyXcanapproachtheirproposedmarketexpansion.Theentireprocessofconductingtheliteraturereview,datacollectionandanalysisprovidestheauthorswiththenecessarytheoreticalknowledgeandpracticalexperiencetoanswerthefirstresearchquestion.

2.1 ResearchStrategyWhenconductingresearch,itisimportanttohaveaclearstrategyforhowtheresearchshouldbecarriedout andwhat approach to use. According to Bryman and Bell (2011) there are twomain strategies toconsider,namelyquantitativeversusqualitativestrategy,andthedistinctionbetweenthetwofallsmainlyin three areas: the role of theory in relation to research, epistemological orientation, and ontologicalorientation.Aquantitativestudycanbrieflybedescribedasastudyprimarilybasedonquantificationofthe research objectwhere the role of theory is primarily deductive (testing of theory), andwhere theepistemological orientation is based on positivism (a model closely related to natural science).Furthermore theontological orientationof a quantitative study is in general objectivism,which canbeexplainedassocialphenomenathatareindependentfromsocialactors.Aqualitativestudyontheotherhand often hasmore of an inductive approach, where the objective is to generate a theory from theresearch rather than testing an existing theory. Furthermore, the epistemological orientation of aqualitative study is often interpretivism, and thus this favor a distinction between natural science andsocial science as there is supposed to be a subjective meaning of social subjects. The ontological



orientation of a qualitative study is described as constructionism,where there is an awareness of theresearcher’sownagendaandthattheresearcherinterpretstherealityinawaythatcannotbedefinedasdefinitive.(Bryman&Bell,2011)

Theresearchstrategyforthisthesisisbasedonaqualitativeapproach,firstofallbecausetheintentionistogenerate strategic recommendations,basedonexisting theory, forhowCompanyX could formulatetheirexpansionstrategyon theUSmarket; the thesiswill thus followan inductiveapproach to theory.Furthermore,theauthorsareawareofthesubjectivecontextofthisresearchareawhereitisdifficulttoobtain reliablequantitativedata that canbeeasilyanalyzed; insteada largeamountof secondarydatahavebeencollectedandhadtobeinterpretedintoasocialcontext.EvenifthegoalistogainadefinitiveassessmentofCompany’sXresourcesandcapabilitiesthatcanbethebasefortheproposedstrategy,thecapabilitiesareofsuchnaturethattheyneedtobeinterpretedandvaluatedintoacontextofthemarketandcompetitors.Thereforetheresultofthestudyisdependentupontheauthor’sinterpretationofthoseresources and capabilities, and this assessment cannot be completely objective, instead it was moreconstructive.

Asthepurposeofthisresearchistoexploreandevaluatetheapplicationoftheoryinapracticalsetting,aqualitativestrategywasmostappropriateasitallowsforafocusonwordsratherthanquantificationofdata.Furthermore,theaimistocontributetothegenerationofatheoryregardingtheapplicabilityoftheresource based view and also to generate a theory for howCompanyX can formulate their expansionstrategy.Forthisreason,there isnosuitablehypothesisthatcanbetestedandthisfavorsaqualitativeapproach. Even if thegoal is to gainadefinitiveassessmentofCompanyX’s resources and capabilitiesthatcanbethebasefortheproposedstrategy,thecapabilitiesareofsuchnaturethattheyneedtobeinterpretedandevaluatedintoacontextofthemarketandcompetitors.ToassesstheapplicabilityoftheRBV in a practical setting, the authors reflect upon the benefits and challenges of the concept. Thisfollows an epistemological approach of interpretivism, as the authors interpret the human action ofapplyingtheRBV.Thereflectionishighlydependentupontheauthor'sownunderstandingofthetheoryaswell as theempirical findingsand the subsequentanalysis. The reflection is thus constructive ratherthanobjective

2.2 LiteratureReviewTheliteraturereviewisoftenthestartingpointforaresearchprojectandso ithasbeenforthisthesis.Whendecidingonwhat typeof literature review to conduct, relevance shouldbe given to the specificresearchproblem.Therearemainlytwobroadoptionstoconsiderwhendoingthe literaturereview,tohaveasystematicrevieworusethenarrativeapproach.Thesystematicreviewissupposedtogenerateareplicable, scientific and transparent process which should generate an unbiased and comprehensivereviewofexisting researchwithin the chosen field.However, thisprocess isoften time-consumingandcouldbe toobureaucraticwhere the focus tends tobe toomuchon the technicalaspectsof thestudyratherthanontheanalyticalinterpretationoftheresult.Anarrativeapproachtotheliteraturereviewisoftenmoresuitablewhentheresearchstrategyisofqualitativenatureandthedominantepistemological



orientation is interpretivism,where theobjectivewith the literaturereview is togainanunderstandingfor the topic, rather than finding exactly everything written about the topic. Furthermore, when theresearchisconductedwithaninductiveapproachfortherelationshipbetweenresearchandtheory,thenarrativeapproachismoresuitable,asinthiscasetheoryisseenastheoutcomeratherthanthestartingpoint. A narrative approach allows for studies of a broader subject where the rules for inclusion andexclusionofrelevantliteraturearelessexplicit.(Bryman&Bell,2011)

TheliteraturereviewforthisthesiswasaimedatenrichingtheauthorsunderstandingoftheRBVandthetheory’sroleintheareaofbusinessstrategy.Whenanunderstandingfortheconceptwasreached,theauthorsstartedtoexploreitspracticalapplicationsaswellasrelatedframeworksfortheanalysisoftheexternalenvironment.Forthisreason,theliteraturereviewisbasedonanarrativeapproachwheretheauthorsstartedtoexploretheRBVbutthenallowedtheempiricaldatatoguidefurtherexpansionofthetheoreticalbasisofthethesis.Thus,thetheoreticalbaseofthetheorywasallowedtoguidetheempiricaldatacollectionwhichinturnwasusedtoexpandthetheoreticalbasefurther.Therelationshipbetweentheory and research in this thesis is based on an inductive approach where the researcher strive toformulateatheory,ratherthantotestanexistingone,andthusthenarrativeapproachismoresuitable.Thenarrative approach is also in linewith thedesiredqualitative research strategywith interpretativeorientation.

TheRBVistodayahighlyexploredconceptthathasbeenstudiedforatleast25yearsandhasgeneratedalargenumberofarticlesandresearchpapers.Furthermore,someareasneededtobestudiedinmoredetailwhere the literature contributedwith practical guidance, and thus, topics not directly related toRBV are included in the theoretical framework. This broad scope of researchwas an additional factormakingasystematicapproachunsuitable.Themaincritiquetowardsthenarrativeapproachreferstothelackofreplicability,asthesearchforliteraturecanbedescribedasexplorativeratherthansystematicandit is thus not suitable to generate generalizable results (Bryman& Bell, 2011). However, this researchprojectdoesnotaimtoaccumulateknowledgebyaddingnewconceptstothetheory;rathertheresearchaimstogenerateabetterunderstandingofanestablishedtheorywhenusedinpractice.

2.3 ResearchDesignTheobjectivewiththisthesisistoincreasetheunderstandingfortheuseoftheRBVinpracticewhenafirm formulatesa strategy formarketexpansion.Thisentails consideringboth internal resourcesat thefirmaswellasthemarketcontext.Forthisreasonacasestudyisamostsuitableresearchdesignasitcanbeusedtounderstandtheparticularitiesofasituation(Bryman&Bell,2011).

Whendetermining if a case study is a suitable researchdesign three criteria shouldbe fulfilled; 1) theresearchquestionsshouldbeconcernedwithhoworwhyaphenomenonoccurs,2)thestudyshouldnotrequire the researcher to have control of behavioral events, 3) the research should focus oncontemporaryevents(Yin,2009).Inthisthesis,areflectionismadeonthepracticaluseoftheRBVwhenappliedonacasethataimstoansweraresearchquestionthat isconcernedwithhowastrategycouldlook like when using existing theories. Furthermore, the research is not conducted in a controlled



environment but in a real world context and it covers a contemporary event that is unfolding as theresearch takesplace.CompanyX,which is the selectedcase in this thesis,provided theauthorswithafitting context in which to investigate the research question. The company is currently considering anaggressiveexpansionofitsservicesonaglobalscaleandarethusactivelyconsideringthefundamentalsofcompetitivestrategy,namelywhereandhowtocompete.Bothofthesekeyquestionsarestillanopentopic of consideration and the top management within Company X is looking for strategicrecommendationsbasedonsolidacademictheoriesandmarketdata.

Thenature of the researchproblem is to understand a particular applicationof a theory in relation topractice and thus a case study is suitable as it helps to offer concrete context dependent knowledge,ratherthangeneralizabletheoriesonahigherlevelofabstraction(Flyvbjerg,2006).Furthermore,acasestudy is suitablewhen the predominate research strategy is qualitativewith an inductive approach totheory(Bryman&Bell,2011),suchasthisthesis.Inordertostudysociallycomplexissuescasestudiesareappropriatesince this is theirmainobjective (Yin,2009). Inaddition to thisacasestudycanbeagoodapproachtoexploringexisting theoryandallowtheresearcher tochallenge itaswellassuggest futureresearchdirections(Saundersetal.,2007).ThecasewillfocusonasingleorganizationandisselectedinaccordancetoBryman&Bell (2011)assertionthattheselectedcaseshouldbechosenbasedonwheretheresearcherexpectthelearningwillbethegreatest.

Oneofthemostcommoncritiquestowardstheuseofcasestudiesisthelackofgeneralizabilitythatthedesignoffers.Thatasinglecasecouldnotbegeneralizabletoalargeamountoffirmsisdifficulttoargueagainst,butthisdoesnotmeanthattheuseofcasestudiesshouldberejected.AsBrymanandBell(2011)argues,casestudiesofferauniqueopportunitytostudyaphenomenon indetailandthushelpwithanunderstandingof the complexityof the reality.Case studiesarealsousable for researchers toproducestudiesofrelevanceforpractitionersandtoavoidresearchthatisunclearanduntested(Flyvbjerg,2006).ThisisparticularlyrelevantinthisthesisasseveralauthorshavehighlightedthedifficultiesinpracticallyapplyingconceptswithinRBV.Withthehelpofcasestudies,researchcanvisualizethetheoryandshowwhy certain concepts are of importance and how ideas can be implemented (Siggelkow, 2007). Theseassertionsare in linewith theobjective for this thesis, toshowhowthe ideasof theRBVandadjacenttheoriescanbeputintopracticeandserveasguidanceforstrategyformulation.

2.4 DatacollectionandanalysisThe broad scope of this thesis requires several methods for data collection. The primary data wascollected through interviews and secondary data was gathered from academic literature, statisticaldatabases, industryreportsaswellas internaldocumentsatCompanyX.AsthisthesiswasproducedincollaborationwithCompanyX,theauthorshadgoodaccesstokeypersonnelwithinthecompanyandforthis reason interviewswere used formapping out the different resources and capabilities of the firm.Whenlookingatthemarketthatexistsoutsidethefirm,firsthanddatacollectionprovedmoredifficulttoobtainmainlyduetotworeasons: lackofcontacts in themarketsandthegeographicaldistancetothemarket(themajorityoftheresearchwasconductedfromSweden,whilethemarketofinterestisinNorth



America). For this reason, the primary information regarding the market was largely obtained fromsecondarysourcessuchasgovernmentproducedstatistics, industryreportsfromcommercialconsultingfirms and member surveys from industry organizations. However, several interviews in a variety offormatswereeventuallyconductedwithdifferentactorsintheUSmarket.

Qualitative data is very content rich and it is thus less straightforward to analyze compared toquantitative data, but it is recommended to have some kind of structure when dealing with the data(Bryman & Bell, 2011). A common approach when dealing with qualitative data is the concept ofgroundedtheory,which isacomprehensiveframeworkforbothcollectingandanalyzingdata(Glaser&Strauss,2008).Thisstudyisnotextensiveenoughtoincludeallstepsoftheframework,forexamplethereis no ability to test the developed theories and hypothesiswithin the given time frame. However, themajor tools of grounded theory have been used which includes theoretical sampling, coding andtheoreticalsaturation.

Theoreticalsamplingreferstothecollection,coding,andanalyzingofthedatawhichcanbedescribedasan iterative process where the phases occur in tandem (Glaser & Strauss, 2008). From this a theoryemerges,whichcontrolsthefurthercollectionofdata.Coding isoneofthekeyprocessesandreferstothe breakdown of data into component parts. Coding provides the analyst with a formal system toorganizethedatawhichhelpstouncoverlinkswithinandbetweenconcepts(Bradleyetal.,2007).Asthecollectionofdataandthecodingofthedataisaniterativeprocess,theoreticalsaturationreferstoastatewhere there is no point in collection of more data to illuminate further concepts and no point inadditionalcodingtofitwiththeconceptsorcategories(Glaser&Strauss,2008).

2.4.1 InternalDataThisresearchprojectstartedwiththeauthorsgettinganoverviewoftheconceptsoftheRBVbeforethedatacollectionprocessbegun.ThedatacollectionstartedwhenrepresentativesfromCompanyXwhereinterviewed about internal resources and capabilities. The authors possessed little knowledge of thecompanybeforehandandthusunstructuredinterviewswerechosentolettheintervieweesfreelyexplaintheirwork and their departments.Unstructured interviewsdonot followany interviewguides, insteadoneorafewquestionsareaskedwheretheresearchermakessurecertaintopicsarecoveredduringtheconversation(Bryman&Bell,2011).Basedontheinterviews,therespondents’answerswherecodedindifferentcategoriessuchaswhatwasconsideredasfactandwhatwasconsideredassubjectiveopinionsoftherespondent.Thecompany’sassetswherecodedintocategoriesofresourcesandcapabilities.ThishelpedtheauthorstogainfurtherunderstandingforhowtheRBVcouldbeusedtodeveloptheoreticallysound recommendations forhowCompanyXcouldexpand in theUSmarket,which in turnguided thecollection ofmore data about themarket. During the data collection process it became apparent thatadditionalresources,currentlynotpartofCompanyX’sassetsstock,mightbeneededtocompeteonthemarket, why collection of data and theories regarding acquisition and accumulation of additionalresourceswhere added. In termsof saturation, the interviews conductedwithinCompanyX reached asaturationpointfairlyearlyintheresearchprocess.Theauthorschosetoperformtheinterviewsduring



the time spent on site at the company’s headquarters. The numerous interviews with differentdepartmentswithintheorganizationweresupplementedafterwardsbyfollowupinterviewswiththetwomain supervisors at the company, working at the top management and senior management levelrespectively. This was done in order to ensure that the authors had not misunderstood how thecompany’s resourcesandcapabilitiesweresetup,somethingwhichboththesupervisorshadextensiveknowledgeabout.Aftertheinitialmeetingwithindividualdepartmentmanagers,withtheadditionofthefollowupmeetingstheauthorsfeelconfidentthatthesaturationpointhasbeenreached.

2.4.2 CustomersSecondarydataaboutcustomerswasretrievedfromdifferentindustryorganizationsuchasNAR(NationalAssociation of Realtors), the National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC), National ApartmentAssociation(NAA),andNationalAssociationofResidentialPropertyManagers(NARPM).Thishelpedwithanunderstandingfordifferenttypesofcustomersfromahighlevelapproach.RespondentsfromNMHCand NAA were also interviewed through e-mail. Industry reports from IBISWorld contributed withinformation as a secondary data source. Information regarding portals and Software as a Serviceproviderswasretrievedthroughbrowsingthewebsiteofeachportal/firm.

In order to get a more granular breakdown of customers, with the ambition to find personalcharacteristics of different segment of customers, first hand data was needed. When interviewingindustry participants in the US, both the geographical distance and time-zone differences madeconventional interviews problematic and thus alternative interview approaches were used in order tocollect necessary data. Interviewing by e-mail is an approach that can be used when there is a longdistancebetweentheinterviewerandtheinterviewee,anditallowstherespondentstoansweratatimeand space that suits them, ultimately resulting in richer stories (James&Busher, 2006). Even if e-mailinterviewslacksthesocialgesturesthatisanessentialpartoffacetofaceinterviews,theinterviewsdonethrough e-mail have other benefits such as the ability to review andmodify the questions during theinterviewprocess(Reidetal.,2008).Anotherapproachistouseself-completingquestionerswhichcanbecheaperandquickertoadministratecomparedtoconventionalinterviews.Thisisalsoanapproachthatcan be more convenient for respondents as they can answer when it suits them and the risk forinterviewervariabilityisnon-existing(Bryman&Bell,2011).Thedatacollectionfromindustryparticipantswasconductedbyamixbetweene-mailinterviewsandself-completingquestionnaires.Onedisadvantagewithself-completingquestionnairesisthatthenumberofopenquestionusuallyneedstobeverylimitedsincerespondentsgenerallydon’tliketowritetoolonganswers(Bryman&Bell,2011).Becauseofthis,questionnairesthat includedapproximatelythreetofivequestionstorelevant industryparticipantswassent via email as a way to open a dialogue. Then follow-up questions were sent to those industryparticipants that indicated a willingness to participate, turning the initial questionnaire into e-mailinterviews.Oneofthedisadvantageswiththesekindsofmethodsistheuncertaintytoknowwhoactuallyanswersthequestions (Bryman&Bell,2011;Reidetal.,2008). Ina few instancesCompanyXprovidedthe authors with appropriate contacts but the majority of the interviewees where obtained by theauthors.



Fortheinterviewsthatwereconductedoutsideofthecompanywithrepresentativesfromthecustomermarket, the authors cannot claim to have reached a fully satisfactory saturation point. Given the verylargepopulationthecustomermarketsrepresentsthisisnotsurprising.Inordertoincreasethecredibilityof the first handdata collected from themarket itwas continuously compared to secondary statisticalinformationfoundinindustryreports,industrysurveysandgovernmentstatisticaldatabases.Theauthorsarguethatthecombinationoffirsthandandsecondhanddatawhichpointtosimilarconclusionheightenthevalueofthecustomermarketdata.

2.4.3 CompetitorsInformation regarding competitorswas collectedmainly through secondary data sources. According toBrymanandBell(2011)someoftheadvantagesofusingsecondarydataarethatitsavestimeandcosts,theabilitytogethighqualitydatathatspansacrosslargegeographicalareasandlargesamplesize,andthattheresearchersgetmoretimefordataanalysis.However,therearenotonlyadvantageswiththeuseof secondary data, and the researcher must be aware of some of the disadvantages when doing so.According toBrymanandBell (2011) somedisadvantageswith theuseof secondarydata is the lackoffamiliaritywith thedata (takes time to get sufficient familiarity tomake a correct analysis), difficult tocontrolthequalityofdata,andsometimesthesecondarydatamight lacksomeofthekeyvariables.Asdescribed earlier, the difficulties in obtaining first handdata and the limited time frame for this thesisforcestheauthorstorelyonsecondarydataforsomepartsofthisresearch,particularlypertainingtotheexternalenvironmentanalysis.Asthesecondarydatawasgatheredfromavarietyofsourcesthere isaneed for interpretationof thedata so that it couldhelp toanswer the researchquestion.However, toensurerightinterpretationweremadetheauthorsalways,totheextentitwaspossible,soughttoverifythesecondarydatabycomparingitwiththeinsightsgatheredfromthefirsthandinterviews.

The data collection regarding competitors began with a list being retrieved from Company X with allcompetitorsthefirmwasawareof,althoughtheyhadatthatpointnotbeenproperlyanalyzed.ThiswascomplimentedbyaGooglesearchbasedonkey-wordssuchas“floorplans”“floorplancreation”,“onlinerealestatemarketing”,“realestatephotography”and“visualcontentrealestate”.Informationregardingproductofferings,coverageandmarketpricewasretrievedbybrowsingeachcompetitorswebsite.Thisinformationwascodedandcategorized intosuitablecategories.Competitorswere labeledaccordingtoproductofferings,priceandwhethertheypossessedfirst-handinputgatheringcapabilities.Asthisthesisfollowsagroundedtheoryapproach,wherethecollectionofdataandanalysiswasaniterativeprocess,theanalysisrevealedwhatadditionaldatatocollect.Forexampletheanalysisrevealedtheimportanceofaccesstoaphoto-networkandthusinformationregardingcompetitorsthatcontrolledaphoto-networkwhereidentifiedandcodedaccordingly.

2.5 SamplingThere are twomain types of sampling techniques available for researchers; probability/representativesample or non-probability/judgment sample. For research with a quantitative research strategy arepresentativesampleisrequiredinordertobeabletomakestatisticalinferencesaboutthepopulation.



Inqualitativeresearchandinparticularwithacasestudydesignajudgmentsampleismostoftenutilizedsince the objective and research question is seldom meant to be generalizable across a population(Saundersetal.,2007).Samplinginqualitativestudiesismostoftenconcernedwithhowtheintervieweeswereselected(Bryman&Bell,2011)Howeveritisanoftencitedcritiqueagainstqualitativestudiesthatthey are not transparent enough when it comes to the selection criteria and even the number ofinterviewsthatwereconducted(Ibid).

InthisthesisanumberofinterviewswereconductedbothinsidetheCompanyX(internal)aswellaswithdifferent respondents within each vertical (external) in the USmarket. For the internal interviews theselectionofintervieweeswasguidedbyourtheoreticalfoundationwithintheRBV.TheobjectivewastoidentifyCompanyX’sinternalresourcesandcapabilities.Inordertodoso,accesstobothtopandmiddlemanagersacrossallofthemajorpartsoftheorganizationwasdeemednecessary.Talkingtolowerlevelemployees was ruled out based on two reasons; firstly there was a considerable language barrierbetweentheresearchersandthelocalworkerswhichwouldhaverequiredatranslatortobepresent(Theauthors do not speak Thai), secondly the researchers judged the identification of resources andcapabilitiesassomethingrequiringalevelofoverviewoverinternalprocesses,whichismorelikelyfoundatamanagement level.This resulted in three interviewsconductedwithtopmanagers, four interviewswithseniormanagersaswellaseleveninterviewswithmiddlemanagers.Thislargesampleofmanagersat different vertical and horizontal levels of the organization provided the researchers with a goodunderstandingofthecompaniesresourcesandcapabilities.

Theexternalinterviewswereconductedwithineachofthetwoverticalsrentalandresale.Secondarydatacollection acted as a guide to identify potential customer segments within each vertical, which wassubsequently followed by the authors contacting a number of actors within each segment. For thesesegments of customers a purposive sample was chosen, which means that the interviewees whereselectedinastrategicwaysincetheyweredeemedtoberelevantinprovidingtheresearcherswithdatathatcouldhelprealizetheresearchobjective (Bryman&Bell,2011). Inordertogetrelevantdata fromthesesegmentstheintervieweewouldneedtobeapersonthatdecideswhethertopurchaseand/orpaysforproducts liketheonesCompanyXprovidesorhaverelevant insight intothemarketingstrategiesofthecompanytheyrepresent. Intotalfourdistinctcustomersegmentswereidentifiedwitheachverticalcontaining two each. In the rental vertical the potential customers are property managers and onlinerental portals. In the resale vertical the potential customers are real estate agents and online resaleportals.AcompletelistoftheinterviewsconductedcanbefoundinAppendix1.

2.6 CredibilityoftheresearchInordertojustifythecredibilityofanyacademicresearchendeavorthestudyneedstobeofgoodquality.The quality of academic research methodology is commonly measured by the criteria of validity andreliability. These concepts are lifted from qualitative research and as a consequence they are notstraightforwardtoapplyinaqualitativestudy.Thereforemanywritersarguethattheseconceptsshould



notbeappliedtoqualitativestudiesatallwhileothermaintainthattheyneedtobemodifiedinordertobemoreapplicable(Bryman&Bell,2011).

Validity is a concept used to argue for if a research project has actually investigated the intendedphenomenon as specified by the research question (Bryman & Bell, 2011). It is argued that internalvalidity is a particular strength of quantitative studies since it can allow the researcher to have aprolonged presence within the social context of the phenomenon being studied (Ibid). Thus theresearcher will be better equipped to interpret how the context can and cannot be examined bytheoretical concepts. In this research the authors spent two weeks at Company X’s headquarters inBangkok with direct access to members of all levels within the organization. This allowed for a deepunderstandingofhowCompanyXbusinessmodelissetupandhowtheorganizationisbuilttorealizethismodel. This knowledge allowed the researchers to apply the concepts within the RBV, especially theidentificationofresourcesandcapabilities,withmorecredibility. Inadditiontothis,therepresentativesfromwithinCompanyXweregiventheopportunitytoprovidefeedbackregardingthe interpretationoftheir internal organization throughout this research project. Thus ensuring the researchers did notmisrepresent any factual elements of the organization. For all interviews that were conducted withsubjects outside of Company X a briefmemowas sent out beforehand, detailing the objective of theresearchaswellasdefinitionsofkeyconceptstobecoveredduringtheinterview.Thiswasdoneinorderto let the interviewee get a better understanding of the direction of the research to ensure that bothparties were on the same pages throughout the interview.When it comes to the concept of externalreliability,whichistheextenttheresearchcanbegeneralizedacrossothersettings,thecasestudydesignis considered week because of the highly context specific nature of the research. However since thisconceptisliftedfromschoolofquantitativeresearchitismeanttoprovidestatisticalgeneralizability(Yin,2009).This isnottheintentionofqualitativeresearch,whichisfocusedonanalyticalgeneralization, i.e.wherepreviouslydevelopedtheoriesarethetemplateofwhichtheresultscanbepotentiallygeneralized(Ibid).

The other main criteria, reliability, is concerned with if the case study is replicable, i.e. if the sameresearchapproachwasusedagain,wouldthefindingsbeconsistentwiththefirststudy.Thisissomethingthatisoftenaprobleminthecasestudydesignsinceitisbyitsverynatureverycontextspecific(Bryman& Bell, 2011). This problem can be confronted by making the steps taken during the research astransparent as possible (Yin, 2009). As a result the authors was very conscious to take down detailednotes during all conducted unstructured interviews within Company X and write summaries of theconversationassoonaspossibleafterthe interviewconcluded.Fortheemail interviewsthatwereheldwith stakeholders in the external environment an interview guidewas developed andutilized for eachtype of stakeholder. The stakeholders were differentiated depending on which type of company theywereaffiliatedwith.



3. TheoreticalFrameworkThissectionwillpresentthebasictenantsoftheResourceBasedViewstartingwithabriefoverviewofitsrisetoprominenceduringthe1990s.FurthermorethereviewwillcoverareasadjacenttotheRBV,namelyin theexplorationof competitorsandcustomerswhich the internal resourcesandcapabilitieshas tobeput in relation to. The sectionendswithhighlighting the importanceof evaluateexisting resourcesandfillingresourcegaps.

3.1 InternalPerspectiveTheinternalperspectivesectionofthischapterprimarilycoversthetheoreticalfoundationofthisthesisbypresentingtheResourceBasedViewanditsapplicabilityinstrategicanalysis.TheRBVhasaninternalperspectiveinthatthefirmsstockofresourcesandcapabilitiesshouldguidestrategicchoicesbutaswillbecomeevidentinthenextsectiontheexternalperspectiveisalsoanintegralpartofRBV.

3.1.1 TheResourceBasedViewThemodernversionofRBVwasinitiatedin1984whenBirgerWernerfeltpublished“TheResourceBasedViewof the Firm”wherehe sought tohighlight the importanceof the firm’s internal resources, ratherthanprevailingmarketconditions,whenfirmsformulatetheirstrategy.JayBarney(1991)madethefirstattempttoformalizethetheorybydefiningitskeyassumptions;firmsareheterogeneousintermsoftheirresourcesandcapabilitiesandthatthesecannotbeeasilytransferredbetweenfirms.Barney(1991)alsoprovidedthedefinitionoftheresourcesandcapabilitiesthatmakeupthefirmssustainablecompetitiveadvantage (SCA) and thus should be the basis for the competitive strategy. These resources andcapabilitieswouldhavetoberare,valuable,imperfectlyimitableandnon-substitutable.ThediffusionoftheRBVwithinstrategicmanagementhasbeenverybroadsinceitsinceptionduetomanyfactorssuchasitscompatibilitywithexistingtheoriesanditsintuitivelysoundpremise(Peng,2001).ThisallowstheRBVtoactasacomplimenttoothereconomictheoriesratherthantryingtoreplacethem(Peteraf&Barney,2003).

Thebasicideaofthisconceptistoidentifyafirm’sresourcesandcapabilitiesthatbythemselves,ormorecommonly,bundledtogethermakeupthefirm’ssustainablecompetitiveadvantageandbasedonthesedecidewhereandhowtocompete(Teeceetal.,1997;Bloodgood,2014).However, it isnotpossibletodetermineasetofresourcewhichprovidesuniversalSCA:sforeveryfirmasresourcesarecontextspecific(Barney,2001;Wernerfelt,2014).Firmsmustfirstdeterminethevalueofaresourceinaspecificmarketcontextandthenapplyresourcebasedlogictodetermineiftheresourcecanbeasourceofsustainablecompetitiveadvantageinthatspecificcontext(Barney,2001).

InordertoqualifyasanSCAtheseresourcesandcapabilitiesneedtomeetfourwell-establishedcriteria.They need to be valuable, rare, imperfectly imitable and non-substitutable; these criteria are oftenreferred to as the VRIN framework (Barney, 1991). Barney was clearly influenced by Dierickx & Cool(1989) when he specified these conditions based on the pairs assertion that the firm’s assets stock isstrategic to the extent that they are non-tradable, imperfectly imitable and non-substitutable. The



objectivethenbecomestoidentifytheinternalassetsthatactuallyfulfillalloftheseSCAcriteria.Barney(1991) defined them as follows: a resource is valuable if it can be utilized to improve efficiency andeffectiveness, or put another way; it must exploit an opportunity or neutralize a threat in the firm’senvironment(ThisshowsthateventheearlyresearchofRBVrecognizedtheimportanceofincorporatingtheexternalenvironment).Aresource is rarewhen it isnotpossessedbyanycompeting firmorat thevery least, only a few of competing firms. A resource is imperfectly imitablewhen it is impossible, orsubstantiallydifficultforcompetitorstoreplicate.Andfinally,aresourceisnon-substitutablewhentherearenootherassetsthatcanfulfillthesame,orsimilarstrategicvalue.

EventhoughthesecriteriawereestablishedintheearlydaysoftheRBVtheystillmakeuptheessenceofhowresearchersidentifySCA:swhenanalyzingthedifferencesinperformanceofcompetingfirms(Acostaetal.,2011;Lockettetal.,2009;Newbert,2007).OneofthemaincritiquesoftheRBVraisedearlywasthat it is a static setof criteria that resulted ina static setof SCA:s thatdonot sufficientlyexplain thedifferences in firmperformance (Newbert, 2007;Kraaijenbrinket al., 2010). Inotherwords, theRBV isstatic in that it doesnotpresent any conceptualmodelof how (Mohamad&Norezam,2012)orwhen(Kraaijenbrink et al., 2010) resources and capabilities are developed or how they can be utilized. ThisaccusationhassparkedareactionwithinRBVthatleadtoJayBarneytoadjusthisVRINframeworkslightlytobecomeVRIO(Kozlenkovaetal.,2014).The“O”standsforOrganizationanditisanecessaryconditionin order to realize the value of identified resources and capabilities, thus turning them into SCA:s. If aresourceorcapabilityisdeemedtobevaluable,rareandimperfectlyimitablethecompanyneedstobeset up to take advantage of them. These organizational capabilities can include things like reportingstructure and management control systems that act as support vehicles for successful exploitation ofinternalresourcesandcapabilities(Barney&Delwyn,2007).

Figure1:TherelationshipbetweenCoreAssumptions-VRIOFramework-SustainableCompetitiveAdvantage.Source:Barney&Delwyn(2007)

It isworthwhile to look a bit closer on the imperfect imitability criterion. If a resource or capability isconsideredtobevaluableandrare,RBVclassifiesitasacompetitiveadvantage(Barney&Delwyn,2007;Knott,2009;Hua-Lingetal.,2012).Thesustainabilityaspectofthecompetitiveadvantageisdeterminedby the third criterion, imperfect imitability, which Barney (2007) defines as “resources that firms notpossessingthemcanobtainthroughdirectduplicationorsubstitution.”Aresourcecanbeconsideredtobeimperfectly imitableifoneormoreofthefollowingthreeconditionsapplytoit;1)theresourcewas



developed due to unique historical conditions, 2) there is a degree of causal ambiguity in the firmscompetitive advantage i.e. the link between the firms resources and its superior performance is notunderstoodoronlypartiallyunderstood,3)whenthecompetitiveadvantageofafirmissociallycomplexitbecomeshardtoimitatewithcustomerrelationships,companycultureandinterpersonalrelationshipsbetweenmanagersbeinggoodexamples(Barney&Delwyn,2007).

ThisreworkedframeworkstillleavestheRBVopentoothercriticisms.OneofthemainobjectionsleveledisthatapplyingtheframeworkisapurelyexpostexercisethatdoesnotcontributetoneitherexplanationorpredictionofhowSCA:sdevelop(Priem&Butler,2001;Hinterhuber,2013;Eisenhardt&Martin,2000).However,thereisotherresearchthatdisagreeswiththistypeofcriticismandconsidersRBVandtheVRIOframeworkagoodstrategicdecisionmakingtool.OnesuchstudyconductedbyBresser&Powalla(2012)predictsthestockmarketperformanceofdifferentcompaniesusingVRIOandcomparestheframeworkwithtwoalternativedecisionmakingheuristics.TheyconcludethattheVRIOframeworkwassuperiorinpredicting performance of the companies in the study, which infers that the VRIO framework is apowerfultoolwhenconceivingstrategicactions.

3.1.2 RBV–APracticalFrameworkOneofthefirstscholarstodeveloptheRBVconcept intoapracticalstrategyframeworkwasRobertM.Grant(1991).EvenifsomenewdimensionshavebeenaddedtotheRBVconcept,theframeworkcanstillcontributetoapracticalunderstandingforhowtousetheconcept.Hereafterfollowsabriefintroductiontothemodel:

Figure2:TheRBVapproachtostrategyformulation.AdaptedfromGrant(1991)



Grant(1991)arguesthatasafirm’sresourcesandcapabilitiesshouldbethebasisforafirm’slongtermstrategy,identifyingitsresourcesistheappropriatestartingpoint.Whentheresourcesareidentified,thenext step is to identify the firm’s capabilities which are based on the resources. Capabilities can beexplainedas abundleof resourceswhichhelps to create value, it isoften the capabilities that are thebasisfortheSCA.Duetothebundledstructureofcapabilitiestheycanbedifficulttoidentifyandmanyexamplesexistwherefirmsandmanagersoverestimatestheirowncapabilitiesresultinginmarketfailure.Toavoidsuchfailuresitisimportanttoassessthecapabilitiesrelativetothoseofcompetitors.WhenthecapabilitiesofthefirmareidentifiedtheirSCApotentialneedstobeevaluated,inadditiontothistherentgeneratingpotentialofthosecapabilitiesneedstobeidentified.Capabilitiescanbeerodedovertimeduetodepreciationoftheirvalueorimitationfromcompetitors,andthuslowerthefirm’sabilitytogeneraterentsfromsuchcapabilities.Evenifthecapabilitiesaresustainableovertime,thefirmmustidentifytheappropriabilitypotentialofthevaluethatthesecapabilitiescangenerate.

Grant(1991)arguesthatafterthefirstthreesteps,thestrategydevelopmentisquitestraightforwardasitshouldbecomeclearforthefirmwheretheirmostvaluableresourcesandcapabilitiesareandhowtheygenerateeconomic rents for the firm. The firm should choosea strategywhere theymakebestuseoftheirstrengthsinresponsetotheopportunitiesonthemarketandwheretheylimittheirweaknessandprotectthemselvesfromthreatsonthemarket.

ThefinalstepinGrant’s(1991)frameworkistheidentificationofresourcegaps.Afirmmustcontinuouslydevelop its resources and capabilities to meet future demand and changes in the competitiveenvironment. This requires strategic direction to give the organization guidance for what kind ofresources needed to be developed. This could also constitute a capability of a firm; to be able tocontinuouslydevelopnewresourcetomaintainandupdateitscompetitiveadvantage.

3.2 ExternalperspectiveTheprevioussectionhashighlightedthe importanceof internalevaluationofresourcesandcapabilitieswhen developing strategy in the resource based view. However, it stands to reason that an isolatedanalysisof the firm’s internalmakeupwillbe insufficientwhen formulatinga competitive strategy.TheexternalenvironmentisthusnotignoredinRBVandthefollowingsectionwillpresentsomekeyconceptswhenanalyzingafirm’senvironment.

3.2.1 CustomersThefirstcriterionintheVRIN/VRIOframeworkisvaluable.Aspreviouslystatedaresourceorcapabilityisonly valuable if it can be utilized to improve efficiency and effectiveness, or put anotherway, itmustexploit an opportunity or neutralize a threat in the firm’s environment (Barney, 1991). This infers thatvalue has to be evaluated in relation to the external market rather than the firm-centric internalperspective associated with the RBV. Barney (1991) pointed this out in his seminal article where hehighlighted the complementarity of environmental models and the RBV by stating, “…environmentalmodelshelp isolate those firmattributes thatexploitsopportunitiesand/orneutralizes threatsand thusspecifywhichfirmattributescanbeconsideredasresources”.Despitethistherehasbeena lackofRBV



research that incorporates contextual factors in empirical testing. This is particularly true in the valuedimension,wheremostofthestudiesthathavebeenattempted,hasfocusedpurelyonfinancialaspectsof value (Rashidirad et al., 2015). The lack of external focus has been felt in the demand side of themarket,namelythecustomer,whichisoftenaneglectedcomponentinRBV(Zander&Zander,2005).ThishasbeenthecaseeventhoughPeteraf&Barney(2003)attemptstoclarifytheirdefinitionofthevaluethattheRBVissupposedtomeasure,“…firmswithsuperiorresourcescandelivergreaterbenefitstotheircustomers for a given cost (or can deliver the same benefit levels for a lower cost). Note that this is abroadviewof'efficiency'inthatitisconcernednotjustwithloweringcosts,butalsowithcreatinggreatervalueornetbenefits”.

One of the few studies that have incorporated the demand-based perspective is Anders Hinterhuber’sCan competitive advantage be predicted? (2013). In his article, Hinterhuber aims to add to the RBV intermsof increasedmanagerial guidanceaswell as itspredictive capabilitybyborrowingconcepts fromresearchonbreakthrough innovationsaswellasmarketing theory.Frommarketing theoryHinterhuber(2013)pointsout that the fixed costsof enteringanewproductmarket is silently assumed tobe zerowithin theRBV. If allowing this assumption to stand, a firmcan identify resourcesandcapabilities thatfulfill the VRIO requirements, device a strategy that leverages them, but still fail in themarket due tomisjudging the market size from a demand perspective. Based on this an extension of the VRIOframework is proposed that includes a size factor of the addressablemarket segmentwhichhas to besufficiently large tocover the fixedcostsof the intendedstrategy.From innovationresearchthearticleincorporates the ideas that customer research should focus on twomain premises; firstly identify theactual job that the customer is trying to performby using your product/service. Secondly,what is thedesiredoutcomeforthecustomerwhendoingtheaforementionedjob(Ulwick&Bettercourt,2008).Thisresultsinknowledgeaboutwhatcustomerneedsthatarecurrentlynotbeingsatisfiedinthemarketare,andHinterhuber(2013)extendstheVRIOframeworkbyaddingthisdimensionthathecallsUnmetneeds.

ThisextensionoftheVRIOframeworktobecomeVRIOLUisinlinewiththeoriginalassertionthatBarneymadeinhis1991articlethattheRBVworksasacomplementto,whathecalledenvironmentalmodels.ThismodifiedframeworkalsoattemptstoappeaseoneofthemaincriticismsoftheRBV,whichisthatitdoesnotincludeademand-orientedperspective.(Srivastavaaetal.,2001;Priem&Butler,2001;Zander&Zander,2005)

3.2.1.1 AnalyzingthecustomersIn order to incorporate the demand perspective, or the “L” dimension of the framework suggested byHinterhuber (2013), the concept of market segmentation is a good entry point. In a simplified waysegmentationcanbedescribedasthequesttofindoutwhothepotentialcustomersare,howmanyofthemthereareandhowdifferentgroupsofcustomersdifferfromeachother(Kotler&Keller,2012).Putanother way segmentation is concerned with where a firm competes in terms of customer groups,geographicfocusandproductmarkets(Grant,2013).



Customer segmentation is a very commonmanagement tool, particularlywithinmarketingwhere it isconsidered to be a very important, if not themost important, concept in the field (Weinstein, 2011).Segmentationcontributestostrategicmanagementthroughanalysisofmarketdatathatwillbeusedtoguide strategic marketing decisions as well as tactical execution plans. One practical application ofsegmentationdataisasaninternaldecisionsupportsystemonhowtoallocateresourceswheretheywilldothemostgood(Leeetal.,2007).

Segmentationisanextensivelyexploredfieldbothinpracticeandacademia.Despitethisthereisnorealconsensusofwhatthedefinitionofsegmentationactuallyis,howitshouldbeconducted,whenitshouldbeutilizedandwhatthestrategicandoperationalimplicationstheresultsshouldhave(Mitchell&Wilson,1998).Whatvariablestoinclude,appeartobethetopicthathasgeneratedthemostdebates.Mitchell&Wilson (1998) suggest thatwhatevervariables the researcherorpractitioner is considering theyshouldassess the variables appropriateness by asking “is this useful to understanding customer needs?” Thestrong focusonunderstanding theneedsandwantsof customers canbe seenasoneof the twomainperspectivesonsegmentation.Theothermainperspectiveissegmentationthroughdemographics(Dibb& Simkin, 1997; Mitchell & Wilson, 1998). While some researchers focus solely on the demographicaspect (Griffith & Pol, 1994) many researchers recommends that some sort of combination of bothperspectives is preferable (Shapiro & Bonoma, 1984;Mitchell &Wilson, 1998;Weinstein, 2011). Thedivisionbetweenthefocusoncustomerneedsanddemographicsisalsoreferredtoasthemicro-macromodel.

Developing conceptual models that outlines the process of segmentation has been a challenge foracademics formany years and there is no real consensus on any best practice approach. One famousmodelthatincludesbothmacroandmicrolevelanalysisistheNestedApproachdevelopedbyShapiro&Bonoma(1984),whichoutlinesfivelevelsofanalysiswhenitcomestosegmentation.Theystatethatitisdesirabletostartatthemacrolevelandmethodicallyworkyourselfinwardstowardsthemicrolevel.Thismodelgivesaclearconceptualoverviewofmanyoftheaspectsinmarketsegmentation.



Figure3:TheNestedApproachSegmentationModel.RecreatedbytheauthorsfromShapiro&Bonoma(1984)

Themodelalsocomeswithsuggestedvariablestoinvestigateateachlevel:

1. Demographics–industry,companysizeandcustomerlocation

2. Operatingvariables–technology,userstatusandcustomercapabilities

3. Purchasing approaches – purchasing function organization, power structures, buyer-sellerrelationshipsandpurchasepolicies/criteria

4. Situationalfactors–urgencyoforderfulfillment,productapplicationandsizeoforder

5. Buyers’ personal characteristics– buyer-seller similarity, attitudes toward risk and buyermotivation/perceptions

(Shapiro&Bonoma,1984)

The first steps in themodeldonotnecessarily require first-hand information frompotential customers(Shapiro & Bonoma, 1984). In a review of international market segmentation by Steenkamp & TerHofstede(2002)theyconcludethatamajorityoftheresearchthatincludedmultiplecountriesreliedonsecondary data in the initial screening process. The authors cite the substantially higher time andresources commitments necessary for deeper penetration as the primary reason for this. Thisconsiderationisnolesstruewhentryingtosegmentasinglecountrymarket.

Demographics

OperatingVariables

PurchasingApproach

SituationalFactors

PersonalCharacteristics

TheNestedApproach



3.2.2 CompetitorsThesecondcriterion intheVRIN/VRIOframework is rareandthis touchesuponan importantaspectofRBV, namely that the internal resources and capabilities needs to be put in relation to its competitors(Barney, 1991).When firms gather information about their competitive environment it is important tohaveagoodunderstandingfortheircompetitors,asthisimpactswhatresourcesandcapabilitiesthefirmneedstoexploitormaybedevelop(Fahey,1999). Inordertohaveasustainablecompetitiveadvantagetheresourcesofthefirmneedtobestrongerwhencomparedtosimilarassetsheldbythecompetition(Peteraf,1993;Hinterhuber,2013;Barney,1991).AfundamentalassumptionwithintheRBVisthatfirmsare heterogeneous in terms of the resources they control, and that some of those resources are notperfectly mobile and thus the heterogeneity among firms can be long lasting (Barney, 1991). Thishighlightstheimportanceofanalyzingthecompetitiveenvironmentwhenevaluatewhichresourcesthatarerare.Anincompleteorinaccurateviewofthemarketcanleadtopoorstrategicdecisionmakingandinworstcasemarketfailure(Bloodgood,2014).

Theimportanceofgettingagoodunderstandingofthesurroundingenvironmentandcontextualfactorswhenconductingstrategicanalysiscannotbeoverstated(Pickton&Wright,1998)asitalsoinfluencesthefirst criteriaof valuable in theVRIN/VRIO framework. If firms fail to assess their capabilities relative tocompetitors, the riskof overestimating the valueof existing capabilities increases (Grant, 1991). In thesamewaythatthepotentialvaluethattheseresourceshastobemeasuredfromacustomerperspective,strengthsofthefirmmustbemeasuredinrelationtoitscompetition(Hinterhuber,2013;Mathews,2003;Barney,1991).

Whenusing the resourcebasedview in strategic implementation theobjective for the firm is togainasustained competitive advantage. It should thus implement a strategy thatmakes best use of internalresourcesthroughrespondingtoexternalopportunitiesand/orneutralizingexternalthreatsandavoidinginternalweaknesses (Barney, 1991). A basic idea of the RBV is that firms should aim to leverage theirrelative strengths, and thus pursuing segments of buyerswhere no competitor are better equipped atmeetingaparticularcombinationofcustomerneeds(Wernerfelt,2014).

3.2.3 ResourceGapsAccording to the RBV, resources are the basis for value creation. However, it is not enough withidentifyingtheresourcesandcapabilitiesfollowedbythedevelopmentofastrategy.Animportantaspectof theRBV is continuous evaluationof existing resources followedby investments tomaintain existingand create new resources (Grant, 1991). Authors such as Teece (2007) andWu (2010) argues for theconceptofdynamiccapabilitiesasessentialformaintainingcompetitiveadvantagewhenafirmoperatesin a nonlinear and unpredictable competitive landscape. Dynamic capabilities can be defined asmanagers’ abilities to integrate, build and reconfigure internal and external competences to addressrapidly changing environments (Wu, 2010). Dynamic capabilities do fall within the boundaries of RBVsince Barney (1991) included the firm’s ability to envision potential strategies aswell as implementingthem,thusessentiallymakingthisprocessdynamic(Knott,2009).



By developing dynamic capabilities, a firm can increase the chance to reach sustainable competitiveadvantageasthedynamiccapabilitiescanhelpthefirmnotonlytoadapttotheenvironment,butalsoshapetheenvironmentthroughinnovationandthroughcollaborationwithotherenterprises,entitiesandinstitutions(Teece,2007).Ifthefirmonlyreliesonpreviouslyaccumulatedresources,theyarenotabletogenerate profits under volatile circumstances (Wu, 2010); instead they need to master the ability toorchestrate the resources depending on how the environment develops (Teece, 2007). With dynamiccapabilitiesafirmisbetterpreparedtobeprofitableinhighlyvolatilemarkets,suchashightechnologicalmarkets.Gooddynamiccapabilitieshelpsthefirm(1)senseandshapeopportunitiesandthreats(2)seizeopportunities, (3) maintain competitiveness through enhancing, combining, and when necessaryreconfigurethebusinessenterprise’sintangibleandtangibleassets(ibid).

Asameantofillresourcegaps,acquiringnewresourcescanbeanattractiveoptionforafirmtryingtoreachcompetitiveadvantage,withouthavingtodeveloptheresource fromscratch.However,acquiringresourcesmightnotbethateasybecause(1)resourcestakestimetodevelopin-house,(2)someassetsare not tradable, and (3) in an efficient market, a firm have to pay a price for the asset which fullycapitalizetherentsfromtheasset(Teeceetal.,1997).Simplyspeaking,resourcesneedtobefirmspecificin order to be the base for sustainable competitive advantage, and if resourceswere available on themarketeveryonewouldbeabletopurchasethemandthussuchresourcescannotbethebasisforSCA.However,Wernerfelt (2011) challenges this notion as he argues that a firm’s cost of acquiring a newresourceand/orthevalueitcangeneratewiththisresourcedependsontheresourcesalreadypossessedbythefirm.Followingthisargument,resourcespurchasedonanopenmarketcanbethebaseofSCAforfirmsthatpossessotherresourcesthatcanincreasethevaluefromthepurchasedresource,orlowerthecostforacquiringthenewresource.Forexample,afirmthatpossessesastrongbrandnamecanacquirealargecustomerbasecheapercomparedtofirmsthatlacksstrongbrandnames(Wernerfelt,2011).EvenifapotentialmissingresourceorcapabilityisnotconsideredapotentialSCAforthefirmitmaystillbeaprerequisitetoreachcompetitiveparityinamarket(Barney&Delwyn,2007).Resourcessuchasthisarevaluable in themarket since they allow the firm to exploit an opportunity, however they are not raresinceseveralcompetitorsareinpossessionofsimilarresources(Ibid).Theimplicationofthisisthatfirmsneed to consider acquiring missing resources when competing on a given market, regardless if thisresourcecanbecomeandSCAornot.

3.2.3.1 EntryModeThepurposeofthisthesisistodevelopastrategyformarketexpansionforwhichtheapplicationoftheRBVhasbeenchosen. Inordertoexpandintonewcustomerormarketsegments,therecouldbeagapbetweenexistingresourcesandthoseneededtocompeteonthemarket.Someofthoseresourcesthatareneededmightbeof suchcharacter that the firmmoves intoanewkindofmarket, and thus someaspectsofentrymodearehighlighted.

Theleveragingofexistingadvantages,i.e.resourcesandcapabilitieshaslongbeencentraltoentrymoderesearch,whichmakestheRBVagoodfittoaddtheoreticaldepthandexplanationtothechoiceofentry



mode(Sharma&Erramilli,2004).AccordingtoTeeceetal.(1997)whenfirmstakeanentrydecisionintoamarket based on the resource view, they should start to look inside the firm and identify the uniqueresourcesofthefirmandthendecideinwhichmarkettheseresourcescanearnthehighestrent.Whenthismarketisidentified,thefirmneedstodecidehowtherentsgeneratedfromthoseassetscanbemosteffectively appropriated. This idea was backed by Peng (2001) who agreed that the RBV providesexplanatorypowertomarketentrybyleveragingexistingresources.InadditiontothishepointsoutthattheRBValsohas thepotential toexploreentrymode fromtheperspectiveofacquiringnewresourcesandcapabilities.FurthermoretheRBVhasthepotentialtonotonlyexplainthechoiceofentrymodebutalsoclarifieswhynotall firms inan industrychoosethesamestrategywhenenteringthesamemarketbasedontheircurrentsetofresourcesaswellasthosethatthefirmare lacking(Ekeledo&Sivakumar,2004).

The key consideration when entering a new market is, should the firm establish themselves throughexternal market measures or is an extension of the firm’s internal structure a better solution, this iscommonly referred to as the entry mode choice (Peng, 2001). Entry mode research differentiatesbetweenfourmaintypesofentrythatdifferinrelationtotheresourcecommitment,levelofcontrolandinfluence in themarket desired by the firm. The four categories are divided into twomain categories,non-equityandequitybasedentrymodes(Klug,2006).

Figure4:IllustrationofMarketEntryModes(Klug,2006)



Thechoiceofentrymodeistoa largeextentacost-benefitconsideration.Mostresearchersagreewiththeassertion thatnon-equitymodes require substantially less resources thanequitymodes (Sharma&Erramilli, 2004; Ekeledo & Sivakumar, 2004; Ekeledo & Sivakumar, 2004). The benefit that can beexpected ismore contesteddependingonwhicheconomic theory is beingused to analyze themarketentry. FromaRBVperspective the intendedbenefit tobe achieved is the transfer of resources and/orcapabilitiestoanewmarketwithouterodingtheirvalue(Madhok,1997).Herefollowsabriefclarificationofthedifferententrymodesshowninfigure4.

Non-Equitymodes

• Export:This entrymode is the least resource-and-risk intense and essentially consists ofdirectexportsdirectlytothecustomeroranindirectexporttoapartnerthatthenresellstheproduct.

• Contractualagreements:Contractualagreementscantaketheformof licensingwherethefirmallowsapartnertousetheirproprietaryassetlikeapatentortrademarkinexchangeforalicensefee.Anothertypeofagreementisfranchisingwhichcanbeseenasamorecomprehensivevariantof licensing where an entire business system or brand is licensed to the franchise-taker withMcDonaldsbeingagoodexample.Whenreferringtoalliancesinthecontextofentrymodes,itisusually a horizontal alliance between firms that could be characterized as competitors. Themotivationforthealliancecanbeaquestforotherwiseunattainableresourcesofoneorseveralpartiesinthealliance.OtherwisethemotiveistoreachasufficientsizebypoolingcapacitymuchliketheStarAlliancewithinpassengerairfare.

Equitymodes

• Joint Venture:When the firm enters the market by setting up a separate economic entity incollaborationwithoneormorelocalfirmswhereeveryparticipatingpartyholdanequitystakeintheventure.

• Whollyownedsubsidiary:Thisentrymode is themost resource intensivewhilstalsoprovidingthefirmwiththehighestdegreeofcontrol.Thecompanyassumesfullownershipofasubsidiaryinthenewmarket.Onewaytosetupthisentrymodeisthroughagreenfield investmentwhichmeansbuildingupproductionfacilitiesand/orsalesandmarketingofficesfromscratch.Anotheroption istoacquireanestablishedfirm,whichcomeswithanalreadyestablished infrastructureandcustomerbase.(Klug,2006)

Thechoiceofentrymodecomeswithseveraldifferentcharacteristicsdependingonhowthefirmdecidesto proceed. Klung (2006) summarizes the main differences between the entry modes and these arepresentedinthetablebelow:



Table1:ComparisonofMarketEntryModes(Klug,2006)

Criteria/EntryMode

Export ContractualAgreement

JointVenture WhollyOwnedSubsidiary

Capital&resourcesrequirement

Low Medium High VeryHigh

Riskofmarketentry Low Medium Medium HighTransactionCosts High Medium Low VeryLowPotentialearnings Low Medium High VeryHighTimehorizon Short Medium Long VeryLongDurationuntilmarketreadiness

VeryShort Short Medium Long

Requiredcontrolling Low Medium Medium HighUnwantedknow-howtransfer

Low High Medium Low

Lookingmore closely at theequitybasedentrymodes, the choice canbedirectly related to the firm’sintangible asset portfolio. If the firm’s SCA:s are based on intangible assets they aremore likely to godowntherouteofawhollyownedsubsidiaryinordertoprotecttheirassets.Inadditiontothistheentrymodealsooffers the chance togainaccess to location-specific resources suchasdistributionchannels,suppliers,andlocalmarketexpertiseintheformoflabor.Anacquisitionontheotherhandisanattractiveoptionwhenthefirmenteringanewmarketis lookingtogainaccesstolocation-specificresourcesthattheydeemcostly,timeconsumingordifficulttodevelopin-house.Suchresourcescouldbeforexampletechnical skills, marketing capabilities, relationships with distributers and suppliers, and perhaps mostimportant,anexistingmarketshare(Furreretal.,2004).

BasedonthesectiononentrymodesitiscleartoseeitspotentialapplicationwithinRBVwhenitcomestoformulatingcompetitivestrategies.Theacquisitionordevelopmentofresourcesand/orcapabilitiesisparamountifacompanyexpectstobecompetitiveovertime.Thisisparticularlytruewhenthecompanyis expanding its activities in new markets where they may not possess all the resources required tocompetesuccessfully.Thequestionthenbecomes; if thecompanycanobtaintheseresources,howcanthisbeachieved?



4. AnalyticalModelInthissectionfollowsaconceptualframeworkforhowthedifferenttheoriesandaspectsofRBVareusedinthecollectionandanalysisofdatainthethesis.ThebasisfortheframeworkisthepracticalframeworkdevelopedbyGrant(1991),whichiscomplementedbyexternalperspectivesofcustomersandcompetitorsaswellasfillingpotentialresourcegaps.

Ithasbeenmadeclear in themethodology chapter that this thesishasbeenwrittenwithan inductiveapproachtotheorysincetheexactscopeoftheresearchwasunknownbeforehand.Bryman&Bell(2011)statesthatwhileintheprocessofresearchingatopic,theresearchersmayencounterunanticipatedholesintheoriginaltheoreticalframework,especiallywhentheresearchisoftheinterpretivekind.Theygoontosay that in sucha researchcontext it isnotunusual for the researchers tochange theirviewon thetheoreticalfoundationbasedonthecollecteddata.Thisissomethingthattheauthorsofthisthesishaveencounteredsincenocomprehensive frameworkexists thataimsto tackle the issueofhowapotentialmarket expansion strategy can look like. As a result an iterative approach has been adopted whenbuilding the theoretical framework in this thesis. Data collection and the theoretical framework havebeenallowedtoinfluenceoneanother,resultinginseveraladditionstothetheoreticalframeworkacrossthedurationof the researchproject.The frameworkpresentedbelow ismeantasguidance forhowtopractically integrate different aspects of the external environment with the internal analysis whenformulatinganexpansionstrategy.Themodelwillbeusedinthisthesisforthetwoverticalsresidentialresaleandrentals,butcouldpotentiallybeusedbyfirmsinsimilarsituations.

The base of the analytical model is Grant’s (1991) RBV Strategy Analysis Framework, which has beenadaptedtointoafour-stepprocess.Thefirsttwostepsareaboutidentifyingandevaluatingtheinternalresourceswithrelevancetothemarket;customersandcompetitors.Asdetailedinthepreviouschapter,RBVstartingpointistheinternalassetsofthefirm.However, inordertoappraiseresourcesaccuratelytheyneedtobeputinrelationtobothcustomersandcompetitors.ThefirsttwocriteriaintheVRIN/VRIOframework,valuableandrare,areevaluatedwithregardstobothcustomerandcompetitors.Thesecondstep concerns theappropriabilityof thepotential value the firmcangenerate in themarket. From theinternalperspectivetheimportantthingistoidentifythefirmsSCA:swhichisdonebyapplyingtheVRIOframeworkdevelopedbyJayBarney.

WhentheresourcesandcapabilitiesthatcanbethebasisofSCAforthefirmareidentified,thenexttwostepsrefertostrategyformulation.ItisimportanttofindamatchbetweentheinternalresourcesinthefirmandtheexternalenvironmenttofindwheretheSCA:scanbeleveraged.Inordertofullyleveragetheinternalresourcesandcapabilities inthemarketcontext,someadditionalresourcesmightbenecessaryforthefirm.Anevaluationofpotentialresourcesgapsismadeifsuchgapsareidentifiedtheframeworkallowsthecompanytoconsiderhowtheycouldgoaboutgatheringthesemissingresources.



Figure5:AnalyticalModel



5. EmpiricalFindingsThischaptercompilestheempiricaldatathathasbeengatheredthroughoutthisresearch.Startingwiththe internal perspective followed by a description of the two verticals, complete with a review ofcustomersandcompetitorswithineachvertical.

5.1 InternalPerspectiveThe majority of the interviews with Company X were performed face to face in at the company´sheadquartersinBangkok.InadditiontothisseveralfollowupinterviewswereheldviaSkypewithCharlie,Business Development and Key Account Manager for the US market as well as Matthew, the VicePresidentofInternationalSales.

5.1.1 Products&ServicesIntermsofproductportfolioCompanyXisverydiversifiedwithmanyproductsdeliveredwithhighqualityandfastturnaroundtime.Thecompanyhasthreecoreproductthatarethemainvolumedriversinbothproduction and revenue, namely professional photography, 2D floor plans and 3D floor plans (Charlie,2016). In theScandinavianmarkets,where thecompany iswellestablished today, thecompanyhasanextensive network of freelance photographers that are sent out on location. The final product is thendelivered to the customer from Company X. The company also has many add-on products that canenhance the visual impact of the core products. Some examples of these products are an interactivefurnishingtoolthatenablesaprospecttofurnishafloorplanaccordingtotheirtaste,aninteriordesigntoolwherecolorsandmaterialonfloors,walls,cabinetsetc.canbechanged,a360-Panoramawheretheprospect can click on a room on the floor plan and be placedwithin a virtual 3D environment of theapartment.

In addition to this Company X also have a number of other products that is currently not used in theverticalscoveredbythisthesisaswellasseveralproductsindevelopment.Manyoftheadd-onproductsarepatentprotectedandfortheproductsthatarenot,includingallthreecoreproducts,thecompanyhasinsteaddevelopedproprietaryproductiontechniques(Jim,2016).Inadditiontoproducts,CompanyXhasalsobeenattentive todevelopingmarketneedsontheserviceside.By listening to theircustomers thecompany identified that their agent and broker clients, in their establishedmarkets, was experiencingtimemanagementdifficultieswhenitcametofollowingupprospectsfromopenhouses.CompanyX,whoalready had an in house call center, chose to start offering their key clients the service ofmaking theinitialfollowupcalls.ThisservicehasreceivedgreatfeedbackfromtheclientsanditalsocreatesadeeperrelationshipandlockineffectbetweenCompanyXandtheclients(Emma,2016).

5.1.2 SalesprocessThesalesprocessdiffersbetweenthetwoverticalsinonekeyaspect.ThegatheringofinputmaterialfortherentalverticalistodayprovidedbythecustomersthemselveswhileintheresaleverticalCompanyXisrequiredtocollectthematerialthemselves.Fortheresaleverticaltheinputmaterialconsistsofuneditedphotographsandasketchofthehome’sfloorplan.CompanyXisnotactivewithinthisverticalasoftoday



intheUSmarketbuttheyhaveextensiveexperiencefromresalefromtheScandinavianmarket.Fortherental vertical,which today is theonly active segmenton theUSmarket the inputmaterial consistsofexisting,lowquality2Dfloorplansthatarethenupgraded.

Figure6:OverviewofCompanyX’ssalesprocesswithintheResaleVertical(Authorsownelaboration)

The customer orders the photo shoot through Company Xwho then sends out a photographer at thedesired time and location. The photographer then sends digital copies of the shoot alongwith a basicsketchofthefloorplantoCompanyX’sproductionunit inBangkok.Thephotosarethenprofessionallyedited,floorplansaredrawnandaddonproductsareproduced(Jonas,2016).Alloutputmaterialisthensent to a quality screening unit within the production departmentwhere the products are thoroughlychecked. If the quality is not up to standard, or if errors such as faulty room labeling is detected theproducts are sent back for correction. If the products pass the quality check they are deliveredelectronicallytothecustomer(Jonas,2016).Currentlytheinternalcorrectionrateresultingfromqualitychecksareat40%while the faultyproducts thatactually reach thecustomerareonly0.5%(Weerasak,2016).Itisworthtohighlighttheimportanceofthesecondstepintheprocess,whichisthecollectionofinput material handled by the onsite photographer. Figure 7gives an overview of the process in theScandinavian market where Company X has an established photo network and thus input gatheringcapabilities.ThisissomethingthatiscurrentlylackingintheUSmarket.

“Todaywedo not have themeans to enter the resale vertical in theUS sincewedo not have a photonetwork.Withinthissegmentweneedtohaveaphysicalpersononsitesincehomeownersgenerallydonot have an existing floor plan in their possession. Additionally themain product demandedwithin theresaleverticalisprofessionalphotography”(Charlie,2016).

Aspreviouslymentioned theproductionprocess for the rental segmentonlydiffers in the second stepwhereitistheclientsthemselvesthatprovidetheinputmaterial.IntheUSmostpropertymanagers(fordefinition see 5.2.2.1 Customers - PropertyManagers, p.38) already have basic 2D floor plans, whichmean they can simply send in a copy of their existing plans that is then used as input material inproduction(Jonas,2016).

CompanyXpresenceontheUSmarketistodayexclusivelyconcentratedtotherentalverticalwheretheyprovide visualization tools to large online resale portals where potential renters can search forapartments,theportalthenactsasaresellerofCompanyX’sproductsundertheirownbrand.



“Thepropertymanagersordertheirvisualizationtoolsfromtheresaleportalandsends intheir2Dfloorplanstothem.Theportalthenaggregatesallofthematerialtheyreceiveandsendsuslargebatchorders.Inotherwordsweneverdealdirectlywiththepropertymanagers,onlywiththeportals”(Matthew,2016)

Figure8:OverviewofCompanyX’ssalesprocesswithintheRentalVertical(Authorsownelaboration)

Althoughthesebigportalclientsbringinunbeatablevolumesthemarginsarelowerthandesiredandtherevenuestreamisveryconcentrated(Matthew,2016).

CompanyXhasbeenabletofindawayintotheUSmarketduetothepresenceofacustomersegmentthatdoesnot requireany inputmaterial tobegathered firsthand.Thequestionofwhether tohaveaphotonetworkintheUS,whichwouldallowCompanyXtogatherinputmaterial,hasbeendebatedinsidethecompanyandisconsideredakeystrategicissueforapotentialexpansion(Charlie,2016).

5.1.3 ProductionThe production department is divided into twomain units, the photo editing team and the floor plancreation team.Bothof these teamshave grown substantially during the past two years and today theproductioncapacityintermsofvolumesisamongthebestintheindustryinphotoeditingandthebestinfloorplancreation,accordingtoproductionmanager Jonas (2016).Thephotoediting isbothpersonneland time intensive since each imageneeds to bemanually edited and themargins on the stand alonephotoservicearequite low.ThereforeCompanyXusesthephotoserviceasanentrypointtopotentialclientsandbundlestheproductwiththeirothercoreproducts,2Dand3Dfloorplans(Matthew,2016).The company captures much better margins from the other core products due to their proprietaryproduction technology. The 2D floor plan production is similar to the photo editing since it requires amember of the production team to manually produce each product based on the input material.However,oncethisiscompletedthe3Dfloorplanandanumberoftheadd-onproductscanbegeneratedthroughthecompany´sAutomatedProductionProcess(APP).AccordingtotheChiefOperationsOfficer,Håkan(2016)theAPPsolutions,whichweredevelopedinhouse,haveallowedthecompanytoscaleupproduction ina rapidpace in thepastand itwill allow thecompany tocontinuallydoso in the future.Todaythecompanyhasa largeproductioncapacityand is ready forhighersalesvolumes.TheAPPhasalso lowered the production cost for these products substantially. He goes on the explain that thecompanyisworkingtodeveloptheirAPPtoincludemoreoftheircurrentproductsaswellasdevelopingnew products that can be integrated with the APP. The production volumes for 2015 ended atapproximately1.5millioneditedphotographsandmorethan500,000visualizationsmostlyconsistingof2Dand3Dfloorplans(CompanyXinternaldocument,2016).



IntermsofqualityCompanyXhasactivelychosentoproducehighqualityproducts(Matthew,2016).Thecompany’sinhouseproductionallowsforahighdegreeofqualitycontrolandincombinationwithalargefulltimeproductionstaffandtheAPPsolutionstheycanaffordtoproducehighqualityproductsatalowcost(Weerasak,2016).Thesameassetsalsoallowthecompanytohaveaveryfastturnaroundtime.Thetimewindowthecompanycommitstobetweenreceivingtheinputmaterial,tofinaldeliveryis24hours.Ifthecustomerhasanycomplaintsthatneedstobecorrectedthisisdonewithin6-8hoursofreceivingthefeedback(Jonas,2016).CompanyXhasalsodedicatedalotoftimeandefforttotheironboardingandtrainingofnewrecruitsintheproductionunits.In2014ittookapproximatelythreemonthsbeforeanewproductionrecruitcouldbeconsideredfullyindependent,butthistrainingperiodhasnowbeenreducedtoonemonth(Jonas,2016).Thismakesthecompanymoreflexibleintermsofpersonnelwhereitisnowpossibletoscaleupfasterincaseofvolumefluctuationsbutitalsomakesthecompanylessvulnerabletostaffturnoverduetoemployeeschoosingtoleavethecompany(Weerasak,2016).

5.1.4 CustomerServiceandExternalRelationsCompany X has a strong focus on customer service and the entire help desk unit is located at thecompany’sheadquarterinBangkok.ThehelpdeskisavailableinEnglishaswellasthenativelanguageofallthecoveredmarketsinScandinaviaandtheyoperateduringthebusinesshoursoftherespectivesalesmarkets.ThereasonforlocatingthehelpdeskunitinBangkokratherthanintheservicedmarketswastoenablecustomerfeedbacktobeeasilycommunicatedthroughouttheorganization.Thiswouldallowthecustomer feedback to trickle down to the Sales and Marketing, Production, and R&D departments(Marcus,2016).Onedirectresultofthiscustomercentricsetupisthepreviouslymentionedfollow-upcallservice to prospective homebuyers that Company X offers to their key clients. The help desk got amonthlycustomersatisfactionratingof98.3%in2015(Marcus,2016).Inadditiontothehelpdesk,theinhousecallcenterplacesoutgoingcallstocurrentcustomerstoactivelyfollowuponproductdeliveriesinordertoincreasethecustomersatisfaction(Emma,2016).

In Scandinavia, Company X has established several strong customer contacts, the largestmarket shareandaverywellestablishedbrand(Archie,2016).ThisissomethingthatthecompanyismissingintheUSmarketwhere they are a largely unknown entity. As previouslymentioned the company´s presence iswithin the rental segment and more specifically the rental portals. The strategic importance of theestablished relationships with the big portal clients is repeatedly emphasized during several of theinterviews.According to internal production statistics,more than200,000 floor planswere sold to thissegment in 2015. The continuous volumes as well as past and potentially future upsell opportunitiesmeans that considerable time is dedicated to keep these clients happy and R&D resources are spentdevelopingnewproductsaimedattheseclients(Charlie,2016)

InadditiontotherelationshipsCompanyXhasbuiltwithitscustomerstheyhaverecentlygainedanothersignificantstrategicrelationshipintheirnewmajorityowner.Thecompanywasofficiallyacquiredbyoneof the world’s largest mass- and digital media corporations. The potential benefits this corporaterelationship has is hard to quantify but Company X has been able to successfully enter the Australian



market as a direct consequence of the connections set up by their new owner (Eric, 2016). In the USmarket there are several potential opportunities that open up. Several of the most well-known newsoutlets in the country, some of which have real estate advertising, is now available within the samecorporatefamily.Anotherbigopportunitygeneratedbythisnewrelationshipisthatthenewowneralsooperatesoneofthebiggestonlineresaleportals intheUS.An initialmeetinghasbeensetupbetweenCompany X and the portal, something that the company has not been able to do in the past (Charlie,2016).InadditiontoprovidingbusinesscontactsthenewowneralsobringsastrongfinancialfoundationthatwillhelpCompanyXintheirplannedglobalexpansion.TheacquisitionalsohastheaddedbenefitofCompany X being able to be associated with a very well-known global corporate brand, which willundoubtedly boost the company’s credibility and visibility in the North American market (Matthew,2016).

5.1.5 ExperienceandleadershipCompanyXwasfoundedin2001inSwedenandquicklyestablisheditselfonthemarket.Sincethenthecompany has grown substantially, both organically and throughmergers and acquisitions (Company Xinternal document, 2016).When the company first started in Sweden, theymanaged to build up theirownphoto-network;inDenmarkandNorwaytheyboughtandpartneredwithestablishednetworksandthus experience from various buy, build or partner approaches exists within the firm today (Charlie,2016). Compared to most of the companies in the industry they are practically ancient having beenaroundsincetheearlydaysoftheonline3Dvisualizationsintherealestateindustry(Charlie,2016).Thethreefoundersstillretainleadingpositionswithinthecompany,andthehighvalueandexperiencetheybringtothecompanycanbeillustratedbythefactthatthenewmajorityownerinsistedthatnoneofthefounderscouldleavethecompanywithinthenexttwoyears(Matthew,2016).

5.1.6 ResearchandDevelopmentThefirmhasitsownR&Ddepartmentwheretheyhavedevelopedmanyproductsthatareimportantintoday’scompetitivelandscape.Thefirmstartedwithonlytwoproducts,2Dand3Dfloorplans,andnowhas a product portfoliowith 12 different successfully commercialized products, all ofwhich have beendevelopedin-house(Jim,2016).TheR&Ddepartmenthaveastrongfocusondevelopingnewproductstomeet new and changing customer demands, where some collaboration with outside parties exist(Mathew, 2016). The focus of the current collaboration is on developing a VR-compatible fly throughsolutionofthe3D-floorplans,somethingthattherentalportalshaveshownaninterestin(Charlie,2016).TheinterestforVRsolutionsasanewexcitingtoolthatcanbeusedinthemarketingofhomesforsaleaswell as vacant rental units was also discussed during the interviews with both real estate agents andpropertymanagers.Thecompanyhas involved their customer in theirR&Defforts in thepastwith therentalportalsbeingespeciallyactiveinprocesstoensurebothtechnicalcompatibilitybutalsoagreaterunderstandingof theenduserexperiencebeingdeliveredbytheportals totherentseekers (Matthew,2016).



5.2 ExternalPerspective

5.2.1 TheResaleVerticalAccording to NAR (2016), the number of homes sold in the US 2015 was 5,250,000 which is a slightincreasefrom2014.Thevastmajority(88%)ofthehomessoldaresinglefamilyhouses.Whenahomeissold,generallymanydifferentplayersareinvolved.Usuallyasellerofahomecontactsarealestateagent(listingagent)tosellthehome.Arealestateagentisarealestateprofessionalwhohaspassedtherealestate licenseexaminthestate inwhichheorshe intendstowork. It isthemostencompassingofthetitles,since it is thestartingpoint formostrealestateprofessionals.Agentsarealsoreferredtoasrealestateassociates.Arealestatebrokerhascontinuedhisorhereducationpasttherealestateagentlevelandpassedtherealestatebrokerlicense.Realestatebrokerscanworkasindependentrealestateagentsorhaveotheragentsworkingforthem.(Forthepurposeofthisthesisbothrealestateagentsandbrokerswillbereferredtoas“agents”).Thebiggestdistinctionbetweenthetwoisthatabrokercanworkonhisorherown,whileanagentorassociatehastoworkunderalicensedbroker(Lerner,2014).

Whenarealestateagentgetsalisting,theinformationaboutthepropertyisputintoaMultipleListingService (MLS) database and from there the information is syndicated to different online real estateportals. Oneof the leadingportals,Realtor.com,hasadirectrelationshipwithnearly800MLSserviceswhichresultsinmorethan3millionhomeslistedforsaleontheportal(Move,2016).

Basedonthisoverview,therearemainlytwotypesofcustomersthatemergeifCompanyXistogeneratesignificantvolumesfromtheresidentialresalevertical,namelyRealEstateAgentsandRealEstatePortals.

5.2.1.1 Customers–RealEstateAgentsAgentsare involved inthemajorityofHome-Purchases (NAR,2016)andareoftentheonesresponsibleforbothdecidingandpayingformarketingeffortsforindividuallistings(NAR,2014).Thattheagentsaretheoneswhopaysforanddecidesonthemarketingcampaignwasalsoconfirmedduringtheinterviewswith real estate agents, thus making them an attractive segment for Company X. The clients hire aprofessionalinordertolistentotheexpertisetheyhavetoofferandthisofcoursecoversthemarketingeffortsaswell.

“Clients tend to take the advice I give them regarding how andwhere tomarket the home” (Agent 1,2016).

ItisdifficulttoestimatehowmanyagentsthereareintotalintheUS,butZillow,theoperatorofoneofthe leading real estateportals, estimates in their annual report2014 that thereare in total 1.9millionlicensed real estate agents in the US based on numbers from Association of Real Estate License LawOfficials. However, far fromallof themareactiveagentsworkingwithrealestatesales.NARclaimstohave1.1millionmembersinvolvedinallaspectsofrealestatewere58%ofthememberswerelicensedassalesagents,meaningthereis638,000licensedsalesagentsmembersofNAR(NAR,2015).



Figure9NumberoftransactionsofRealtors(NAR,2015)

Themediannumberoftransactionsforarealestateagent is11transactionsperyear(NAR,2015).Theabove breakdown of the number of transactionsmade by the NARmembers shows that 50 % of theagents handle 10 or less transaction per year. As can be seen from the above graph, the number oftransactionsvariessignificantlybetweendifferentagents.TheinterviewsconductedwithagentsintheUSmarket confirmed that there is a large variety in thenumberof transactions they are involved in on ayearly basis. Out of the nine interviewees, the agent with the fewest transactions was involved 15transactionsinthepastyear,whilethehighestperformerwasinvolvedin130.

A breakdownof the sales volume in termsofmoneymadeby theNARmember survey show that theyearlysalesvolumesarequitelowwith28%ofagentshavingsalesvolumebelow$550,000.56%oftheagentshaveayearlysalesvolumethatisbelow$2million(NAR,2015).Asrevealedduringtheinterviewswithrealestateagents, thedemandforCompanyX’sproducts is relatedtothesalesvolume, themostattractivetargetsare thus theagentswithin thehigher levelofsalesvolume.Other factors thateffectstheagentsdecisiontobuydigitalvisualizationcontentincludesthepricelevelofthevisualizationtoolsaswellastheintendedtargetaudienceofthehome.Whenaskedhowmuchmoneytheagentsarewillingtopayfordigitalvisualizationtools,theanswersvariedalot,butalloftherespondentsanswerwhereabovetheminimumpricethatCompanyXhastochargetoreceivesoundmargins.

Thenumberonegoalofanagentistosellthepropertyasfastaspossibleatthehighestpriceandthisissomethingthatbetteronlinecontentcandefiantlyhelpwith(Agent3,2016).WhenaskedtospecifywhatotheroutcomesAgent3wantedwhenpurchasingvisualizationtoolshehadthistosay:

“My secondary goal is to get as many prospected buyers into the house as possible, followed bymaximizingtheonlineviews.However,IwillnevergetthatopportunityifIdon’tgetthesellertoagreetolistthepropertywithme.So,IgreatlyimprovemychancesofwinningthelistingifIcanpresentagreat

7%

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15%

9%

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0 1-5trans. 6-10trans.11-15trans.16-20trans.21-50trans. 51+

NumberofTransachonsofRealtors



marketing plan to the seller, which would include comprehensive visualization and profiling of theproperty.”

Theimportanceoftheopenhousewassomethingthatseveralagentsbroughtupduringtheinterviews.This is considered as one of themost important opportunities the agents have tomarket themselves.Whenapotentialhomebuyercomestoanopenhousethereisagoodchancethattheyarealsoabouttoselltheirownhomeinthenearfuture.Havingagoodmarketingstrategywithgoodvisualcontentislikelytoimpressthesepotentialhomesellers(Agent2,2016).

Interviewswithagentsaswellaswithsalesrepresentativesrevealedthatmanybrokeragefirmshavesocalled preferred partnership programs or approved vendors, programs which could be used as amarketing channel for Company X’s products.However, the interviewswith agents indicate that thoseprograms are not really valued by the agents and it is still up to the individual agent to decidewhichmarketingproducts touse. The sales representativeatCompanyX toldus that theyhavebeenpartofsuchprogramsbeforeandthattheywereexpensivewithoutgeneratinganysales(Charlie,2015)

5.2.1.2 Customer–RealEstatePortalsWhenahomeownerispreparingtosellahome,themostcommonmethodistocontacta listingagentwhogathersinformationaboutthehomeandcreatesalisting(NAR,2016).ThelistingisthendistributedthroughanMLS-databasetoseveralotherwebsites.Itisintheinterestofboththesellerandthelistingagenttogetthehomeouttoasmanyportalsandwebsitesaspossibleinordertogainattentionforthelisted home (Broker 2, 2016). Thus the information of one home can be found on several differentwebsites, including major portals, local portals, brokerage websites and the agents own website. Theportalsinturn,arestrivingtohaveasmanyqualitylistingsontheirsiteaspossibleinordertodrivetraffictothesite(ResalePortal1,2016;ResalePortal2,2016).Thismakesitdifficultforaportaltoearnmoneyon the listing per se; instead the general businessmodel for portals is to sell upgrades to agents. Theagentspayportalsforenhancedandfeaturedlistingsaswellasadvertisingofthemselves,withthegoalofgenerating leads for the agents (Resale Portal 1, 2016; Resale Portal 2, 2016). The below graph showswhereagentsdisplaytheirlistingsonline(thedataisfromasurveyconductedbyNARinJanuary2014).



Figure10Percentwebsiteusebyagentstodisplaylistings(NAR,2014)

The top three places to show the listings are also the top three portals in terms of web-traffic. BothZillow.comandTrulia.comareportalsforhomesforsaleaswellasforrent,whileRealtor.comismainlyaportal for homes for resale. This is one explanation for the lower number of unique visitors forRealtor.comincomparisonwithTruliaandZillow.

Figure11Web-trafficmajorportalsandbrokersites,basedondatafromcompete.com

8%16%

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FranchiseNaxonalSiteCraigslist

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Realtor.com

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Web-trafficmajorportalsandbrokersites(Feb-15toFeb-16)

Zillow.com

Trulia.com

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Redfin.com

Homes.com

Remax.com



None of themajor portal sites for resale offer digital visualization tools today. Their offerings towardsagents instead includes the opportunity to include more photos for the listing, featured listing, leadgeneration (an agent pays for receiving information about potential buyers that have indicated theirinteresttotheportal),appearingonlistingsintheagentsowndistrictorzip-codeareaetc.(ResalePortal1,2016).Oneof thePortalshas just started toofferado-it-yourself solution for videocontent (ResalePortal 2, 2016). Even if this is somethingmuch simpler andof lowerquality compared toCompanyX’sproducts,itcouldbeanindicationthattheportalswantstooffervisualizationtoolsinthefuture.

Inadditionto the largeportals, smallerportalsexist thatspecializeonspecificstates,areasorcities. Ingeneral, there arenotmanyof theseportals thatofferdigital visualization tools even if somedo. Twoportalswhere identifiedthatoffersprofessionalphotography.Anotherportal isoperatedbyafirmthatalsoservesrealestateagentsandpropertymanagerswithsoftwareservices,andthushasfloorplansandotherproductsintheirofferings.

5.2.1.3 CompetitorsTherearequiteafewcompetitorsthatcompeteonanationallevel.However,manyofthesecompaniesarecompletelyreliantontheinputmaterialtocreatefloorplans,virtualtoursetc.beingprovidedbytheirclients. Only a select few can actually collect inputmaterial on site themselves and this ability arrivesdirectlyfromhavingaphotonetworkinplace.

For 2D-floorplans (including collection of input material) the price varies a lot between the differentcompetitorsandeachcompetitorhasawidepricerange,wherethepriceusuallydependsonthesizeoftheproperty.Onecompetitorbasedtheirpriceonthevalueoftheproperty, insteadofthesize. Whenlookingattheprice levelof2Dfloorplanswherethevendordoesnotcollectthe inputmaterialonsitebutinsteadrelyonthecustomertoprovidethis,thepriceleveldropssignificantly.Inthiscase,thereareingeneral flatprices (sameprice forallpropertysizes/values).Theaggregateprice levelon themarkettodayfor2DfloorplansleavesroomforCompanyXtooffercompetitivepriceswithsoundmargins.

Companiesthatcompeteonnationallevelandoffer3Dfloorplansaswellascollectstheinputmaterialfirst hand is very uncommon, only one competitor where identified that had both input gatheringcapabilities aswell as 3D floor plans.When it comes to competitors producing 3D floor planswithoutinput collection, there are large price differences between the different competitors. However, theaggregate price level on the market today for 3D floor plans leaves room for Company X to offercompetitivepriceswithsoundmargins.

Another product category of interest for Company X is professional photography as the company isinterestedinofferingprofessionalphotographyintheUSmarket.Withinthiscategory,thecompetitors’pricesvaryalot.Thepricesvariesaccordingtosizeorvalueofthepropertyandalsowhat’sincludedinthephotopackage,suchasnumberofphotosandqualityofthephotos.Fivecompetitorswithclosetonational coverage where identified and based on the research conducted, a competitive price for



approximately20highqualitypicturesispricedatalevelthatisdifficultforCompanyXtomatchwhilstmaintainadesirablemargin.

Regarding production capacity for the different competitors, it is hard to get any reliable data fromsecondary sources.However,Charlie claims inan interview that theportal clients choseCompanyXastheyhadanadvantage inproduction capacityover the competitors.Noneof the identified competitorarguesforanysuperiorproductioncapacity.However,onelargeproviderofphotographyservicesclaimsontheirwebsitethattheyarecurrentlydevelopinganautomatedprocessforproducingfloorplans,butthestatusofthisdevelopmentisunknown.

Whatbecomesclearaftercollectionmarketpricesforprofessionalphotography,2D-and3D-floorplansisthat the prices do fluctuate a lot and thus it can be difficult to get a firm grasp of where to positionCompanyX in termsofpriceandpackageoptions.ThereforebundledpackagesofferedbycompetitorsthatarecomparabletoproductbundlesthatCompanyXcouldpotentiallyofferhavealsobeenidentified.The price level of these packages more accurately reflects the customer and product market thatCompanyXisconsideringtoenterandisthusmoreaccuratetoconsiderwhencomparingpotentialpricepointsandbundlingoptionstothemarket.

Lookingatwhattheselectionofcompetitorswithinputgatheringcapabilitiesoffer,wecanseethatonceagain Company X´s breadth of products would allow the company to create very interesting productbundlesthatcannotbematchedbyanyofthecurrentcompetitors.

Figure12Product-portfolioofCompanyXand9othercompetitors

BasedonthebroadproductofferingthatCompanyXpotentiallycanoffer,competitorsthatofferpackageincluding several visualization products where highlighted. The implication of the price retrieved from

ProPhoto ProVideo 2DFloorplan 3DFloorplan 360-panorama

Ma{erport Airealphoto 3DRendering 3DAnimaxon Photoreel

D-Furnsih D-Navigator Other



competitorsisthatthemarketpricesonpackageswithbundledproductsarestillverycompetitivewherebundles that include photography services makes it difficult for Company X to compete with soundmargins.

Toconcludetheempiricalfindingsregardingcompetitorsintheresalevertical,itisclearthattherearealargenumberofcompetitorsbutonlyafewthatcanofferthebroadrangeofproductsthatCompanyXcouldofferiftheydecidetoentertheUSmarket.Thepricefor2Dand3Dfloorplanarecomparable,oreven higher, compared to what Company X must charge in order to achieve acceptable margins.However, when it comes to professional photography, the prices on themarket are low compared towhatCompanyXmustchargeinordertoreachadequatemargins.

5.2.2 TheRentalVerticalThehomeownershiprateintheUSis63.8%(CBRE,2015),meaningtherestofthepopulationrentstheirhomes.AccordingtodatafromNMHC(2015),theapartmentstockintheUSconsistsofapproximately21millionapartmentsdividedonalmost2millionproperties.Accordingtothesamedata,13.7millionoftheapartments are located in apartment communities with at least 25 apartments per community.Approximately 140,000 such communities exist in the US (NMHC, 2015b) and those are in generaloperatedbyapropertymanager.

TherearetwomaintargetsthatemergeifCompanyXistogeneratesignificantvolumesfromtherentalvertical. The first customer target is the rental portals. This iswhere themajority of the Company X´srevenuewithin the rental vertical is generated today. The other big potential is selling directly to thepropertymanagers, essentially targeting similar customers as portals today.When residents search fortheir apartments, 73 % uses at least one rental portal, while 80 % visit a specific community website(NMHC and Kingsley Associates, 2015). The data indicates the importance in the industry of havingaccurate information about the apartment on both the portal and community website. Even if anapartmentisadvertisedwithhighqualitycontentonaportal,thisdoesnoteliminatetheimportanceofhavinghighqualitycontentonthecommunitywebsiteaswell.

5.2.2.1 Customers–PropertyManagersPropertymanagement is abroad term that includesmanydifferent services and it is difficult to give ahomogenouspictureoffirmswithinpropertymanagement.Somefirmsinthisindustrymentionpropertymanagement as its core business while other are vertically integrated real estate firms with offeringsacross many segments such as investment, development, construction, commercial propertymanagement,andresidentialpropertymanagement.Themostcommonoverlapisbetweenowningandmanagingproperties,26ofthetop50propertymanagementfirmsintheUSarealsoamongthetop50propertyowners(NMHC,2016).

Theterm“PropertyManagement”isalsoabroadtermcoveringmanytypesofservices.Accordingtoanindustryreportof thePropertyManagement Industry fromIBISWorld (2015), theresponsibilitiesof thefirmsinthisindustryrelatetotheoveralloperationofaproperty,includingmaintenance,rentcollection,



trashremoval,securityandsomerenovationactivities.ManypropertymanagersarealsoresponsibleforthemarketingofvacantunitsandthisiswhatmakesthempotentialcustomersforCompanyX.AccordingtothesameIBISWorldreportthenumberoffirmsinthisindustryis217,387.Thatnumberincludesfirmsinvolved in both commercial and residential property management and thus tells us little about thenumberoffirmswhoarepotentialcustomersofCompanyX(sincethecompanydoesnotsellproductstothe commercial vertical), but it does indicate the level of fragmentation in this industry. To furtherhighlightthisfragmentation,numbersfromNationalMultifamilyHousingCouncil(NMHC,2016)indicatethatthereisaverysmallmarketshareconcentrationandthefivebiggestpropertymanagersdonotevencapture5%ofthemarketputtogether.Thenumberoffirmsinvolvedintheindustryisnottheonlyfactorwhich makes this segment difficult to frame, according to the interviews conducted with propertymanagers there are several different players that could potentially be involved in the decision ofpurchasingmarketingmaterial.Belowfollowsasimplifiedoverview:

Figure13:SimplifiedoverviewofthePropertyManagementsegment(authorsownelaboration)

Dependingonthespecificpropertymanagementcompany,anyoftheseplottedplayerscanrepresentapotentialsellingpointforCompanyX.Thekeyquestioniftargetingpropertymanagersiswhoactuallyhasthedecisionmakingauthoritywhenitcomestospendingmoneyonmarketingvacantunits.Basedontheinterviewsconductedwithpropertymanagers,itisdifficulttopresentageneralviewforallcustomersinthissegmentregardingwhereadvertisingdecisionsaremadeasthisvariesbyorganization.Belowfollowsa short summary of the information provided by the interviewed property managers regarding theindustrystructure:



Figure14:SummaryofinformationreceivedfrominterviewswithPropertyManagers

Number of units under management varries significantly across the industry. Greystar Real EstatePartnersLLC, the largestcompany in theunits in the industry,manage393,097unitswhile theaveragenumberofunitsmanagedamongthetop50propertymanagementfirmsare58,839units(NMHC,2016).Many smaller firmsdealingwithpropertymanagementaregatheredunder theNationalAssociationofResidential Property Management (NARPM). The average number of units within multifamily for amemberfirmofthisorganization is103(NARPM,2015).A largeshareoftheNARPMmembersmanageseverallsinglefamilyunitsforrentaswell.

From this overview of firms dealingwith propertymanagementwe can conclude that there aremanydifferenttypesoffirmsofdifferentsizeanddifferentareasoffocus.Throughinterviewswiththetwobigindustryassociations,NMHCandNAA, itwas indicatedthatthemarketingspendandstrategydoesnotdiffer significantlybetween the very largestpropertymanagers and themid-sizedones. They indicatedthatthebigdifferenceoccurswhenlookingatthesmallpropertymanagementfirmswith1-10employeesasthistypeoffirmshaslessresoucestospendonmarketing.

To understandwhat content propertymanagers are usingwhenmarketing apartment units today, thevisualizationsolutionsonseveralcommunitywebsitesamongmembersoftheNMHCwhereexamined.Intotal20firmsarerepresentedinthesample,wherefivecommunitywebsitesperpropertymanagerwasreviewed.Intotal100communitywebsiteshavebeenstudied.Theresultisshownbelow:



Table2:MarketingMaterialonCommunityWebsites

Marketingmaterialusedoncommunitywebsites(NMHCmembers)Photos 14%ProPhotos 78%ProVideo 15%2DFloorplan 77%3DFloorplan 25%360-panorama 0%Matterport 0%Aerialphoto 1%Photoreel 0%FurnishingTool 33% N=100

Thepropertymanagersthatwhereinterviewedstatedthatfloorplansandprofessionalphotographyisanimportantpartof themarketingofvacant rentalunits.Muchof themarketing today takeplaceonline,wheredigitalvisulatizationtoolscanhelpimprovetheimpressionofthevacantunitfortheprospectiverenter.Themainobjectivewhenpropertymanagerspurchasemarketingmaterialistokeepvacancyratesaslowaspossibleinordertomaximizethereturnonthepropertyownersinvestment(PropertyManager3,2016).Lookingbeneththesurfaceleveltheinterviewedpropertymanagersallagreedthatprospectiverenterhavebecomeincreasinglydemandingintermsoftheinformationavalibletothemonline.Thiscanincludeadetailedlistofamennities,neighberhoodinformationandalotofvisualcontent.Asoneofthepropertymanagersinterviewedexpressedit:

Themarketingofmulti-familyrentalsisbecomingmuchmoredigital.Itisnolongerthe"driveby"methodwhereaprospectdrivesbyyourcommunityandstopsintotour.Theyhavedonetheirresearchonlineandknowallofthefactsbeforecomingintotour(PropertyManager1,2016).

Whendecidingonwhatmarketingmaterial touse, thepropertymanagers interviewedall said that therent-level of the apartment is the most influential factor (higher rent means more marketing spend).Other factors that influences themarketing spendare the targetaudienceand theavailablemarketingbudget.

5.2.2.2 SoftwareasaServiceprovidersMany firms dealing with property management utilize large vendors that supply them with theiroperationalsoftwareasserviceplatforms(SaaS).ThesevendorsareaninterstingtargetforCompanyXasasimplierwaytoreachthemanyactorsinthefragmentedindustryofpropertymanagement.CompanyXhasdonebusinesswithtwoofthebiggestSaaScompanies intheUS,andthereareotheropportunitieswithinthissegment.However,thesecompanieshavea largeproductportfoliowherevisualizationtoolsare only a complementary product in their marketing solutions. When the sales department in these



companiesarepitchingtheirproducttopotentailclientsCompanyX’sproductswouldnotnecessairlybeapriority(Charlie,2016).Therelativitlysmallvolumescominginfromthecurrentclientinthissegmentcanbeseenasanindicationofthis,evenifCharliementionsthatmorecouldpossiblybedonefromhisside togeneratesome largervolumes.Whatmustbehighlighted is that ifCompanyXdecides toenterthis customermarket in the rental vertical by going directly to propertymanagers this will also entailcompetition with these software companies since they also offers visualization tools in their largeportfolios.

5.2.2.3 Customers–RentalPortalsBesidesmarketingrentalunitsatthecommunitywebsites,amajorityofpropertymanagersalsomarketvacant rental units on rental portals (NMHC and Kingsley Associates, 2015). Therefore, these portalsrepresentanotherpotentialcustomersegmentforCompanyXtotarget.Thissegmentcanbedividedintotwo broad groups, large nationwide portals and smaller-to-mid size portals that target specificmetropolitan areas, regions or states. Themain advantagewith pursuing portals is that they generatemanysaleswithfewsales-points,butwithlikelylowermarginsforCompanyX.

Thevaluetherentalportalsgetfromofferingvisualizationtoolstotheircustomers(propertymanagers)issignificantandfulfillsanumberofobjectivesfortheportal.Thecompetitionbetweentherentalportalsisintense and being able to offer the latest visualization tools helps the portal attract new customers(RentalPortal1,2016).Lookingbeyondtheobviousobjectiveofattractingnewcustomers,visualizationtools alsohelps createmoreappealing listingson theportal sitewhich in turnhelpsdriveupwebandmobiletrafficfromprospectiverenters(RentalPortal2,2016).Bothoftheintervieweesfromtherentalportalsalsostressestheimportanceofincreasingthe“stickiness”ofthewebsitei.e.gettingprospectiverenters to spendmore time on one listing. Theywent on to specify thatmore advanced visualizationtools, especially interactive solutions, contribute significantly to keeping the renterson the listings andbeingmore engagedwhen they are there. As a consequence of this the rental portals are often earlyadoptersofnewtechnologyaimedatonlinemarketingandthereiscurrentlyabigfocusonVR-enabledvisual solutionswhichhas thepotential to have a significant impact onhow rental units aremarketedonline(RentalPortal1,2016).

Withintherentalportalindustry,fourcorporationscontrolthelargestportalsandCompanyXiscurrentlydoingbusinesswithtwoofthem.Allfourfirmsoffersomekindofvisualizationtools,evenifthequalityofthesevaries.



Table3:OverviewofMajorRentalPortals

RentPath ForRent ZillowGroup CoStarRentpath.com Forrent.com Zillow.com Apartments.comApartmentGuide.com Homes.com Trulia.com Apartmentfinder.comRent.com Streeteasy.com Apartmenthomeliving.comRentals.com Hotpads.com Lovely.com Nakedapartments.com Rentalhouses.com NewHomeGuide.com

Inadditiontothelargeportalsandthesitestheycontrol,therearealsoanumberofsmallerindependentportals that couldbeprospective clients toCompanyX.Compared to the largeportals theseprospectsofferconsiderablysmallervolumessincetheydonothavenearlyasmanylistingsasthebignationwideportals.However,giventhelackofbigtargetsinthemarket,portalsliketheseareaviabletarget.Besidesthevolumes,thereisalsoabigdifferenceinthelackofvisualizationcontentthesmallerportalsoffer.

5.2.2.4 CompetitorsAfterlookingatthecompetitivelandscapeforboththeResaleandRentalverticals,itbecomesclearthatitishardtodifferentiatebetweenfirmstargetingoneverticalandnottheother.However,basedontheinterviews conducted with property managers we have identified three types of sources whereparticipants in this industry can retrieve visualization tools such as floor plans and professionalphotographyandthoseare:(1)Firmsthatspecializeindigitalvisualizationtools(similartoCompanyX),(2) Software as a Service companies, and (3) firms offering full range of marketing services such aswebsitecreation,searchengineoptimization,andweb-analyticreports.Evenifonlythefirstcategoryoffirmsconsidersfloorplancreationandprofessionalphotographyastheircorebusiness,alltypesoffirmsthatoffersimilarserviceshouldberegardedascompetitors.

As identified in the resale vertical, competition among firms specializing on floor plan creation andprofessionalphotographyisextensive.However,onlyafewofthesecompaniescanofferthefullpackagewith all three products (2D Floorplans, 3D Floorplans, and Professional Photography). Provided thatCompanyXmanagestoestablishphotocapabilitiesintheUS,thecompanyisinagoodpositiontocreatepackagesofbundledproductsthatcanmatchorrivalanycompetitorinthemarket.Withinthissegmentof competitors Company Xmeasures up well both in terms of product portfolio and potential pricinglevels.

Many firms dealing with property management utilize large vendors that supply them with theiroperational software as service platforms (SaaS). Many of these companies offer some kinds ofvisualizationtools,butexceptfromthestandardproductssuchas2D-floorplans,theirproductsareoftenoflowerqualitycomparedtoCompanyX’sproducts.Furthermore,thesecompanieshavealargeproductportfoliowherevisualizationtoolsareonlyacomplementaryproductintheirmarketingsolutions.When



the sales department in these companies are pitching their product to potentail clients Company X’sproducts would not necessairly be a priority (Charlie, 2016). If Company X decides to target propertymanagersdirectlythesecompanieswouldalsobeviewedascompetitors.

In addition to this there are yet another segment of companies that target propertymanagerswith amorecomprehensivemarketingsolution.Onesuchcompanyoffersbothvideoandphotographyservicesto propertymanagers but they also build their websites, generateweb analytics reports, provide SEOexpertise,andad-wordcampaigns.Anothercompetitorthatofferswebsitecreationalsoincludesafree,yearly photo shoot in their premiumpackage. In addition to the above services, these firms also offerrange of visualization solutions for online real estate marketing. This type of competitor would fallsomewherebetweenCompanyXandtheSaaScompetitorsintermsofthecommitmentrequiredfromapropertymanagerinbuyingmarketingservices.

If deciding to approachpropertymanagersdirectly, CompanyXneeds tobe aware that these typesofcompetitors are also out there targeting the same customer base. Even though these companies offersolutions that Company X currently does not, it is important to remember that these products arebundled as a holistic solution which requires a property manager to undertake a comprehensivemarketinginitiative.



6. AnalysisIn the analysis section, the VRIO framework is used to evaluate Company X’s internal resources andcapabilities. An external analysis of customers and competitors follows to find where the internalresourcesandcapabilities canbe leverage.Furthermore,ananalysisofpotential resourcegaps ismadewherealternativesforhowtoclosethegapsareevaluated.

6.1 IdentificationandEvaluationofSCA:sWhen identifying the internal resources and capabilities of Company X the initial point of explorationconsisted of the numerous interviews conducted with representatives from many parts of theorganization. Subsequently the authors identified an initial list of resources and capabilities that hadbecomeapparentduringtheinterviews.TheinitiallistwasthenextensivelydiscussedwithMatthewandCharlie, representing top management and business development in North America respectively. Thereasonforthiswastwofold;firstlytheauthorswantedtomakesuretherewerenomisunderstandingorfactualerrorsregardingtheresourcesandcapabilitiesthefirmpossessed,secondlythefeedbacksessiongaveinsight intowhichassetsthecompanyconsidervaluable inrelationtopotentiallyexpanding intheUSmarket.Thisbackand forthdiscussion resulted ina streamlinedselectionof relevant resourcesandcapabilities.ThefollowingsectionwillprovideadefinitionoftheresourcesandcapabilitiesfollowedbyanapplicationoftheVRIOframeworkandrelatedtheoreticalconcepts.

6.1.1 ResourcesProductportfolio:

WorkingundertheassumptionthatCompanyXhasaccesstoaphoto-network(discussedmoreindetaillaterintheanalysis),theCompanyhasanextensiveproductportfoliowithabreadththatisunmatchedbyanyoftheidentifiedcompetitors.Thelargeproductportfoliogivesthecompanytheoptiontobundletheirproductsinanumberofwaysthatcanmatchorexceedthebundlesofferedbycompetitorswhilstalsoallowingthecustomergreatervarietyfromonepointofpurchase.Valuable: The product portfolio in that Company X has can be considered valuable. In terms ofcompetitionthecompanycanmatchallidentifiedcompetitorsontheindividualproductlevelwithintheproduct markets the company operates in. On a portfolio level the company can chose to create anumberofbundlingoptionsforprospectivecustomerstochoosefromorpotentiallyallowthecustomerstocreatetheirownproductmix.Theproductscanbeconsideredvaluablefromthedemandsideaswell,considering the large volumes that was sold in 2015 to the rental portals as well as the interest allinterviewedrealestateagentsshowedfortheseproducts.Rare:Theproductscannotbeconsideredtoberareonanindividuallevelwithseveralcompetitorshavingsimilar products. However the portfolio of products cannot be found at any competitor in themarkettoday.Theproductportfoliocanthusbeconsideredtoberare.ImperfectlyImitable:Itishighlydebatableiftheproductportfolioorindeedanyoftheproductsinitareperfectlyimitable.However,competitorscanmostlikelyimitatethemcloselyiftheychoosetodoso.The



three core products, professional photography and 2D and 3D floor plans are essentially imitable forseveralcompetitors.SomeoftheCompanyXmosttechnicallyadvancedproductswouldrequirealotofknow-howto imitatesuccessfullybutovertimethiswouldnotstopcompetitorsdeterminedtoachievethis goal. In addition Company X does have rival productswithin every category (although not offeredfrom one single competitor). This means that there are substitutes available in the market that to avaryingdegreeresemblestheproductsofferedbyCompanyX.Organization:CompanyXpartly fulfills thecriteriaofbeingorganizedtoexploit theirproductportfolio.Theyhavetheestablishedprocessesinplacetobeabletoproducelargequantitiesoftheirproductsandon the Scandinavianmarkets they are able todeliver them to customers in anefficientway. The largecustomer base in Scandinavia that continuously makes repeat purchases is an indicator of theorganizationalcapability.OntheUSmarket, theorganizationcanmanage largebulkorders fromportalclients,buttheylacktheabilitytodelivertheseproductsinanefficientwaytoothertypesofcustomers.AutomatedProductionProcess: TheAPPisaproprietaryproductiontechnologythatallowsforsignificantcutsinbothproductioncostandproductiontime.Valuable: The APP solution the company has in place brings a lot of value to the company since itincreases theefficiencyof theproductionprocess substantially. TheAPPallowsCompanyX toproducelarge quantities at a lower cost and higher speed than the vastmajority of the competition. From thedemandside,theAPPsolutionbringsthemostvaluetothebigRentalportalssinceitallowsthecompanytosatisfytheirneedforlargebulkordersthatcanbeproducedwithshortleadtimesandwithconsistentquality.Rare: The rareness of theAPP appears to be substantial in themarket.Only one competitor has beenidentifiedascurrentlyworkingonanautomatedproductionsolution.NocompetitorhasbeenidentifiedasbeingabletohandlethelargevolumescurrentlybeingproducedbyCompanyXandthereisastronglikelihoodthattheAPPsolutionisakeycontributingfactortothis.Imperfectly-Imitable: The APP is a proprietary technology that requires a great deal of insight intointernalproductiontechniquestocopy.Itisjudgedtobehighlyunlikelythatanycompetitorwillbeabletoreplicatetheexactprocessandextendittoincludeseveralproductsintheshortterm.HoweverbasedontheinterviewwitharepresentativefromtheITandR&DdepartmentatCompanyXwherehepointedoutthatthistypeoftechnologytendstodiffusethroughouttheindustrywithinafewyears(Jim,2016).He went on to say that other firms could create different versions of the APP solution employed byCompanyX,aslongastheyhaveskilledITengineersontheirstaff.IntermsofsubstitutesfortheAPPtheonlyotheralternativeistoemployasubstantiallylargerproductionstaff.Whilethisispossibleintheoryitwouldbeassociatedwithsubstantialcostdisadvantages.Organization:CompanyXhastheorganizationalstructureinplacetocapitalizeontheadvantagesbeinggeneratedthroughtheirAPP.Thetechnicalinfrastructurestohandlelargebulkorders,asplacedbytheirportalclients,areinplacebothontheinboundandoutboundsidesoftheproduction.Theadministrative



support in order handling and delivery for smaller orders, as placed by individual agents, also goesthroughtheAPP.

Strategiccustomerrelationshipwithrentalportals:

Theselong-runninganddeeprelationshipsiswhathasallowedCompanyXtogetsignificantvolumesfromtheUSmarketdespiteonlyhavingaverysmallpresencethere.Valuable:TherelationshipthatCompanyXhaswiththeirbigrentalportalclientsintheUSisalong-termrelationshipwithcontinuouspurchasesbeingmade.TherelationshipcanbeconsideredtoworksimilartoapartnershipinthatCompanyXhasprovidedseveralnewproductstotherentalportalclientsthatweredeveloped specifically for them, although there is no explicit partnership agreement in place. TheproductsCompanyXsupplies to theportal clientsaids them inattractingmorecustomers i.e.propertymanagersaswellasconsumersi.e.renterstotheirsite.Rare: In the product markets Company X competes in, very few competitors has been uncovered ashavinganymajorportalsasclients.Outofall thecompetitors researched in themarket,nonehadanydiscernableproductofferingsdirectedtowardstheportalsegment.WhatisalsoknownisthatCompanyXisthesolesupplierofvisualizationsolutionstotwooutofthefourlargestportalnetworks(Charlie,2016).ImperfectlyImitable:ThespecificrelationshipsthatCompanyXhaswiththeirrentalportalclientscanbeargued to be imperfectly-imitable since they take a long time to develop and are thus historicallydependent and additionally these relationships are socially complex. Based on competition it is not aprerequisitetohaveportalclientstobeasupplierofvisualizationtoolsfortherealestateindustry.Itcanbearguedthatthegettingalargeenoughcustomerbaseconsistingofothertypesofcustomerssuchasagentsorpropertymanagerswouldbeagoodsubstitutetohavingportalsasclients.Organization: The nature of selling visualization tools to a rental portal can be characterized by largeinitial volumeswhen the portal is on-boarded followed by lower continuous volumes. Company X hasbeen shown to have the production capacity to handle the continuous volumes butmore importantlythey also have the ability to handle the large bulk orders that occurs at the beginning of the businessrelationship.AdditionallyCompanyXiswellawareoftheimportanceofmaintainingthegoodrelationshipwiththeportalclientsandhasthreekeyaccountmanagersassignedtothem;oneforoperationalissues,oneforbusinessdevelopmentaswellasaccesstotheVPofInternationalSalesforstrategicissues.Thisattentiveness and open line of communication has been instrumental in Company X’s previouslysuccessfulattemptstodevelopandsellnewproductsspecificallytotheportalclients(Charlie,2016).

Thenewmajorityownerrelationship:

Thisrelationshipisinitsearlystagesofdevelopmentbutthereareseveralpotentialbenefitsthatcanbegeneratedthroughthisresource.Valuable: The value the newmajority owner brings to Company X is hard to quantify due to the newnatureof the relationship. In thebriefperiodsince theacquisitionwent through,CompanyXhasbeenabletolaunchtheirservicesintheAustralianmarket,whichwasgreatlyfacilitatedbyintroductionsandcorporateconnectionsprovidedbythenewowner.Itisexpectedthatthenewownerwillbeabletomake



similarcontributionsifCompanyXexpandsintheUSmarket.TherehavealreadybeensomeinitialstepstakentothisaimwithaninitialmeetingsetupbetweenCompanyXandoneofthebiggestresaleportalsintheUS,alsoownedbythesamecorporation(Matthew,2016).InadditiontobusinessnetworkingthecorporatebrandofthenewownerwilllikelyaddtoCompanyX’svisibilityandcredibility.Rare:Withinthemajorityowner’sportfolioofcompanies,CompanyX istheonlyfirmwithinthedigitalvisualization industry. The industry is still quite young and the fact that a big corporation enters theindustry by acquiring Company X, is a confirmation that the products the company provides has beenproven to generate value within the industry and that this value has potential to grow in the future(Matthew, 2016). To date no other big players in the digital real estate industry has acquired a digitalvisualizationproviderbutitisnotunthinkablethatthiswillhappeninthefuture(Charlie,2016).Imperfectlyimitable:CompanyXwasacquiredbasedontheirexperience,provensuccessinthemarketand trust in the topmanagement team (Matthew, 2016). From a competitive standpoint the reasonsbehindtheacquisitionswilllikelybehardtoimitatesincethereisagreatdealofcausalambiguitybehindthe factors that has led to this. The acquisition process is also socially complex since interpersonalrelationshipsandtrustwasanimportantcontributiontothecompletionofthisdeal(Matthew,2016).Organization: Since the specific opportunities this resource will present are partly unknown, it isexceedinglydifficulttoidentifywhetherCompanyXhastheorganizationalcapabilitiesinplacetoactonallpotentialopportunities. ItcanbearguedthatthenewownerwouldnothaveacquiredCompanyX iftheywerenotconvincedthatthenewrelationshiphasthemeanstorealizepotentialvalue.TheprimaryconcreteopportunityisthatoftheresaleportalthatisnowwithinthesamecorporatefamilyasCompanyX.Ifadealweretobemadeforthecompanytostartdeliveringvisualizationproductstoaresaleportal(rather than the current portal clients who are active within rentals) there are several importantadministrativeassetsthatneedtobeaddedtoCompanyX(Charlie,2016).“Ithinktheadministrativesupportandorderhandlingwoulddiffersubstantiallybetweenarentalportalandaresaleportal,and ifwewereto landamajorresaleportalasaclientwewouldneedtoadapttothat.IntermsofproductionIthinkwearefinebuteverythingelsewouldlikelyneedtoberevised(Charlie,2016).

6.1.2 CapabilitiesProductioncapability:

TheproductioncapabilityofCompanyXconsistsofseveralresourcesthatarebundledtogetherinawaythattheycomplementandenhanceeachother.Oneofthemostimportantresources,theAPP,hasbeencoveredseparatelyabove.InadditiontothisCompanyXproductioncapabilitiesconsistsoftheirhumanresourcesintermsofaskilledandexperiencedproductionstaffandproductionmanagers.Thecompanyalsohasdeveloped their production recruit trainingwhichmakes it possible for anewproductionunitstaffertobeconsideredautomatousafteronemonth,whichisdownfromthreemonthsjusttwoyearsearlier(Jonas,2016).Thereisalsoahighdegreeofflexibilityintermsofproductionvolume.Duringpeak



seasonsthecompanyhasaccesstoapoolofparttimeproductionstaffersthatcanbebroughtinonshortnotice (Weerasak, 2016). In addition to this the company has recently set up its first outsourcingproduction agreement, which allows Company X to utilize their outsourcing partner for photo editingserviceswhenthevolumesarehigh.Thisallowsthecompanytoallocatetheir internalproductionstaffmoreefficiently(Håkan,2016).Thedifferentresourcesresultinaproductioncapabilitythatcanclaimtobe:

- Lowcostandfast,mainlyduetotheAPPenhancedbytheexperiencedstaff.- Ofhighqualityduetotheprocess itselfwhichonly lets through0.5%defectiveproducts tothe

customers.Theskilledproductionstaffisalsoastronginfluenceonthequality.- Flexible in terms of production volume where the company can gain access to extra capacity

throughtheirpoolofparttimeworkersandtheirnewoutsourcingoption.Valuable: The production capability can be considered very valuable since it allows the company tocapitalizeonthesalesopportunitiesinessentiallyanymarket,theUSincluded,inacostefficient,timelymanner. Theproduction capabilities allow the company todeliver value to their customers in termsofofferingarangeofdemandedproductsatacompetitiveprice,withahighqualityandturnaroundtime.Rare:TherearesomedifficultiesinassessingtherarenessofCompanyX’sproductioncapabilitieswithouthavingasimilarlevelofinsightintothecompetitors’organizations.Fromthecompetitiveanalysisnoneofthe identifiedcompetitorson theUSmarketare judged topossess theproductioncapabilities thatcanmatchthecombinationofthevolume,speedandqualitythatCompanyXprovides.ThisisinlinewiththeassertionsofCompanyXthemselves,thatconsidertheirproductionsuperiortoanyknowncompetitor,asrevealedinanumberofinterviews.Imperfectlyimitable:ReplicationofCompanyX’sproductioncapabilitieswouldpresentgreatchallengestoanycompetitorswillingtotryit.Withoutsubstantialinsightintotheproductprocessesthereisagreatdealof causalambiguityas tohowthis capabilityactually functions,whichcanevenbesaid tobe truewithinthecompany.“EventhoughIhavebeenwiththecompanyforelevenyearsIamprettysureIwouldnotbeabletofullyexplainorbuildupasimilarprocesssomewhereelse”(Matthew,2016).Thetechnicalandprocessknowledgeashowtoconstructaproductionprocessthatbalancesthetradeoffbetweenvolume,costandqualityasefficientlyasCompanyXcurrentlydoeshaveevolvedduringseveralyears.Thereisagreatdealofpathdependencythroughsmallincrementalimprovementssuchasthein-housenewrecruittrainingbutalsoradicalimprovementsliketheintroductionoftheAPPsolutioninthecurrentproductioncapability.Organization: It can be argued that the company is currently organized to fully exploit its productioncapabilities.IntheinterviewwiththeCOO,Håkan(2016)itwashighlightedthatthecompanyhadfocusedalotofattentiononqualityandscalabilityoftheproductionprocessinthepastyearandthatthishasled



to significant improvements. He went on to explain that there is a great deal of confidence in theirproductioncapabilitiesandthatnowthecompanyneedstofocusonbringinginsalesvolumes.

CustomerRelationshipManagementcapabilities

Company X’s CRM capabilities have a solid foundation in the help desk unit thatmanaged to reach acustomersatisfactionratingofmorethan98%in2015.Thecompanyalsoplacesgreatstrategicvalueinthe feedback from its customers,whichwas one of themain reasons for placing the help desk at thecompany’s headquarters in Bangkok. This has resulted in a direct expansion of the company’s serviceswiththeinhousecallcenternowbeingavailablefortheirkeyclientswithinresale.Thisgeneratesaddedvalue for thecustomerbutalsocreatesa lock ineffect sinceCompanyX isnow integrated in thesalesprocessof the customers thatutilize this service. The customer centric attitudeof the company is alsovisibleatahigherlevelofthecompanywiththesetupofprovidingclearpointofcommunicationforthekey customers. This is illustrated by the allocation of three separate key account resources divided byoperations,businessdevelopmentandtopmanagement.Thissetuphasbeenparticularlyfruitfulwiththerentalportalclientswhereseveralsuccessfulup-sellshavebeenmade inthepast.Someoftheup-sellshavebeenproducts specificallydeveloped towards these clients,whichunderlines theattentivenessofCompanyXwhenitcomestofindingnewsolutionsfortheirclients.Thecompany’sCRMcapabilitiescanthusbe characterized as a combinationof tangible resources such as their helpdesk and in house callcenterunitsbutalsoasacompanymindsetofplacingthecustomerinthecenterwhendevelopingnewsolutions.Valuable:Thiscapabilityhasbeenincrediblyvaluableintermsofcustomerretentionaswellasbeingthebasis of the capitalization of products. It has also provided valuable insight to the R&D efforts of thecompany,whichhasenabledthemtocreatenewproductsandservices.Itisevidentthatthecompany´sCRMcapabilitieshavebeenreceivedwellinthemarketduetotheirlong-standingrelationshipswithkeycustomersbothintheScandinavianmarketaswellastherentalportalsintheUS.Rare:Thetangibleresourcesthatarebuildingcomponentsofthiscapabilityarenotinofthemselvesrare.However, the recognitionof the importanceof customer relationsand its impactnotonlyon salesbutalso product and service development is a stand out fact at Company X. Much like the Productioncapabilitythedegreeofrareness isproblematictoproperlyevaluatewithoutahigh levelof insight intotheinternalstructureofthecompetitors.Imperfectly imitable:Allocating resources into building a help desk or a call centerwill likely result inbetterCRMcapabilities.However thisdoesnotmean that itwill beeasy tomatch theperformanceofCompanyXwiththeveryhighcustomersatisfactionratingordevelopingtheskillsnecessarytoactuallycollect, interpret and then operationalize feedback from the customers. It can be argued that thecustomercentricapproachofCompanyXisapartofthecompanycultureanditisthuspathdependentsince culture takes time todevelop. It is also causally ambiguous from theoutside since it is unknownwhataffect, ifany,customer inputhasonanewproduct launchedbyCompanyX.There isalsoagreatdealofsocialcomplexityinvolvedinthiscapabilitysinceitrequiresseveraldifferentdepartmentswithinthecompany to identifyandsharecustomer feedback inameaningfulway. Thesocial complexityalso



extends to the relationshipsoutsideof thecompanyboundaries,particularlywith the largeclients thathaveassignedkeyaccountmanagers.Besides keeping the customers satisfied froma customer serviceperspective the key accountmanagers are instrumental in soliciting actionable customer feedback andinvolvingthecustomersinproductandservicedevelopment.Organization: Company X is set up well in order to exploit the advantages that the CRM capabilitiesprovide them with. This has been clearly demonstrated by their customer retention as well as thesuccessfuldevelopmentofnewproductsandservicesthathaslargelybeenguidedbycustomerfeedbackand/orinvolvement.

Expansioncapabilities

Valuable:CompanyXhasbeen ledby its three co-founders since its inception in 2001. Since then thecompanyhasdevelopedintoamarketleaderindigitalvisualizationsolutionsforrealestate.Thegrowththecompanyhasgonethroughspeakstothevaluethatthetopmanagershavebeenabletobringtothecompany.UndertheirguidanceCompanyXhasgonethroughasubstantialmergerwithitsbiggestrivalin2008aswellastwolargeacquisitionsofsmallercompetitorsintheirexpansionfromSwedentotheotherScandinavianmarketsNorwayandDenmark(CompanyXinternaldocument,2016).Eventhoughmergersandacquisitionshavebeenimportantmostofthecompany’sgrowthhasbeenorganic.Upuntilrecentlyalloftheproductsandserviceshavebeendevelopedinhouse,salesandmarketingsiteshavebeensetupineachservicedmarket,productionhasmovedfromSwedentoThailandandavastphotonetworkhasbeen built from scratch in Scandinavia (later supplemented by the acquisitions). The accumulatedexperienceandsolidtrackrecordwithinCompanyXisundoubtedlyvaluable.Rare:AspreviouslybeenmentioninthisthesistheindustrythatCompanyXisactiveinisstillveryyoungandthecompanyisconsideredasoneofthefirstentrants(Matthew,2016).Whenitcomestoknowledgeandexperiencewithintheindustryfew,ifanycompetitor,cancomparetotheCompanyX.Imperfectly imitable:Gathering both experience and knowledge obviously requires time and it has astrongdegreeofpathdependence.Itiscertainlypossibletorecruitskilledpeoplethatcanprovidebothofthesequalitiestosomeextent.However,thelikelihoodthatanyoftheco-founderswouldswitchtoacompetitor is judged to be very low. In addition Company X also has non-compete agreements thatpreventemployeestoworkforcompetingfirmswithintwoyearsofleavingthecompany(Birgitta,2016).Thereisalsoadegreeofcausalambiguityfromtheoutside(andtosomeextentfromtheinside)howtheexperience and knowledge in the company aids their expansion capability. A strong element of socialcomplexity ispresent,bothinsidethecompanyandintheexternalrelationshipsthemanagementteamhasbuilt over the years. Thismakes it difficult topredicthow this capabilitywouldwork in adifferentorganizationalcontext.Organization: The company is well organized to exploit their considerable expansion capabilities. Allthree co-founders are stillwith the company in the leading positions and as previouslymentioned therecent acquisition of Company X was conditioned on all three founders staying with the company.Additionallythecompanyhasputinplaceasolidproductionplatformthatcanbescaledinrelationtothecompany’s expansion intonewmarkets. Past acquisitionprocesseshasbeenwell documentedand the



company has learned a lot from both positive and negative experiences in these deals and theincorporationofotherorganizationsintoCompanyX(Matthew,2016).Theadministrativeknowledgeandtoolsarealsopresenttobuildaphotonetworkfromscratchinanewmarket(Charlie,2016).

Table4:SummaryofVRIOanalysis

Based on the application of the VRIO framework a number of resources and capabilities that can becharacterizedas competitiveadvantagesaswell as SCA:shavebeen identified. Following theanalyticalmodelpresented inchapter4 thenext step is thestrategy formulationwhichwill leverage the internalresourcesandcapabilitiesofCompanyXtorespondtoopportunitiesinthemarket.

6.2 ResourceLeveragingInthetheorysectionofthisthesis ithasbeenemphasizedthatafirmneedtochooseastrategywheretheymakethebestuseofinternalresourcesinresponsetotheopportunitiesitconfrontsandwheretheylimit theweaknesses andprotect themselves from threatson themarket (Grant, 1991). The firmmustalso choose a strategywhere they can leverage their internal resources andbe competitive relative toother firms (Bloodgood, 2014;Wernerfelt, 2014). The VRIO framework developed by Barney has beenusedtoidentifytheinternalresourcesandcapabilitiesatthefirm.However,onlylookinginsidethefirmisnotenoughwhendecidinguponthestrategicdirectionforthefirm(Grant,1991;Bloodgood,2014)andtherefore amarket analysis has been conducted to find an external fit with the internal resources. Inordertofindoutwhothecustomerare,segmentationisagoodtooltouseasitcouldbeusedtoidentifyneeds andwants as well as different demographics of potential customers (Shapiro & Bonoma, 1984;Mitchell&Wilson,1998;Weinstein,2011).Fromahigh level,differentgroupsof customershavebeenidentified, such as agents and portals within the resale vertical. For the rental vertical portals andpropertymanagerswhereidentified

6.2.1 TheResaleVerticalWithinthisverticalagentshavebeenidentifiedasapotentialcustomersegmentthatisengagedinonlinerealestatemarketing.Thesizeofthispotentialcustomersegmentissubstantialwithmorethan600.000realestatesalesagentsbeingregisteredmembersoftheNationalAssociationofRealtorsandmorethan1.1millionrealestatelicensesgrantedasof2014.Withapproximately5millionhomesbeingsoldevery

Resource Valuable Rare ImperfectlyImitable Organization RBVperspectiveProductPortfolio ✓ ✓ ✗ ✓ Competetiveadvantage

APP ✓ ✓ ✗ ✓ CompetetiveadvantageCustomerrelationships(Portals) ✓ ✓ ✗ ✓ Competetiveadvantage

MajorityOwner ✓ ✓ ✓ ✗ CompetetiveadvantageCapabilities Valuable Rare ImperfectlyImitable Organization RBVperspective

Productioncapabilties ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ SCACRMcapabilities ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ SCA

Expansioncapaiblities ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ SCA



yearintheUSmarket,89%ofwhicharesoldbyanagenttheopportunitytoselldigitalvisualizationtoolstothissegmentappearsveryattractive.

When looking at the internal resources of Company X we can see that they have the resources andcapabilitiesneededtoproduce2Dand3Dfloorplansatalowcostwithhighqualityandfastturnaroundtime,somethingwhichisattractivefortherealestateagentsasrevealedthroughseveralinterviewswiththiscustomersegment. Inadditiontothis,all intervieweesexpressedan interest in tryingCompanyX’smoreadvancedproductsinthefuture.WhatisalsoofimportanceistheabilityofCompanyXtoofferavalue proposition that meets the less obvious needs of agents. These needs where primarily toucheduponintheinterviewwithAgent3whoindicatedthatmaximizingonlineviews,attractingpeopletoopenhouses as a networking opportunity, and marketing the agent himself are important considerations,besides selling theproperty at thehighestprice. Theproducts thatCompanyXoffer canhelp to servethoseneeds,andforthecoreproducts,2Dand3Dfloorplans,thecompetitiveanalysishasrevealedthatCompanyXwillhavenoproblempricingtheirproductsatacompetitivelevel.

These conditions present an opportunity for Company X to leverage their comprehensive productportfolio (although not an SCA, the business is built around selling the products) as well as theirproductioncapabilities.Theproductportfoliohasbeenshowntobevaluableintheeyesofthecustomersanditsbreadthiscurrentlyunmatchedbyanylonecompetitor.Theproductioncapabilitiesthecompanypossess allows for high quality products being deliveredwith a fast turnaround time,with competitivepricesinrelationtothemarket.

Besidesagents,theresaleverticalalsohasanotherpotentialcustomersegmentworthyofconsideration,namelyresaleportals.Theseportalscanbeseenasanaggregationpointofagentsonlinemarketingsoselling digital visualization tools through a resale portal would provide an extremely efficient saleschannel. Much like the already established relationships with portals within the rental vertical, thepotentialvolumesgeneratedthroughasinglesalespointcouldbesubstantial.Forreference,realtor.comwhich is thethirdbiggestresaleportal intermsofwebtrafficclaimstohave3millionactive listingsontheirsite(Move,2016).Intermsofpotentialsizeoftheportalsegmentitislimitedtoahandfuloflargeportals with national coverage which means significantly few sales opportunities when compared toselling directly to agents.What is alsoworth pointing out is that none of the larger portalswithin theresale vertical offers any sort of digital visualization tools at the timeofwriting,which is a substantialdifferencecomparedtoportals intherentalvertical.Successfullytargetingoneorseveralresaleportalswouldmeanthatthesecustomerswouldneedtomakesignificantadjustmentsintheirbusinessmodel.

Giventhattheportalsintheresaleverticalisunfamiliarwithsellingdigitalvisualizationtools,theprocessofacquiringacustomerwithinthissegmentislikelyquitelongandwillrequirealotofcollaborationandtrustbetweenbothparties.Eventhoughtherearesignificantobstaclesintheway,theopportunitytoselllarge quantities through a single point of sale is one that cannot be dismissed. Company X has animportantresourcethatcanbe leveragedthatshouldgivethecompanyanadvantage incapitalizingonthis opportunity. This resource is the newmajority owner relationshipwhich gives Company X unique



accesstooneofthebiggestresaleportalsintheUS.Thisresourceshouldgosomewaytowardsmitigatingsomeof the expected obstacles such as the need for a long-term relationship, close collaboration andtrust,whenwinningaresaleportalclient.Inadditiontothis,theCRMcapabilitiesofCompanyXwillbeofgreatimportanceandwillneedtobeleveragedtotheirfullextentwhengoingafterakeytargetsuchasaresaleportal.Finally,theproductioncapabilityofCompanyXmakesthemagoodfit forclients,suchasportals,thatgeneratelargesalesvolumesthatstillneedstobedeliveredwithafastturnaroundtimeandahighquality.

6.2.2 TheRentalVerticalThis istheverticalwhereCompanyXhasapresenceintheUSmarketbyvirtueoftheirestablishedkeyclients in the form of two of the top-four rental portals in the market. The established customerrelationshipswiththesetwokeyclientshavebeenidentifiedasacompetitiveadvantageforCompanyXandit isalreadybeingleveragedsuccessfully inthemarket.Eventhoughtheseportalsarealreadylong-termclientsofCompanyX,therearestillpotentialopportunitiestofurtherexploitthisresource. ItwasrevealedininterviewsthatbothoftheseclientshaveinthepastpurchasednewproductsdevelopedbyCompanyX,specificallyforthem.ThishasleadCompanyXtostartworkingonnewproducts,whichtheyhopewillattractnewpurchasesfromthecurrentportalclients.Asanexampleofthisdevelopment,theR&Defforts that focuson thenewVR-technologycanbementioned. In thiseffort thecompaniesCRMcapabilitywillbeavaluableassetsinceithasaproventrackrecordinassistingnotonlyagoodcustomerrelationshipbutalsoakeycomponentindevelopingnewproductsandservices.Thiscanbeillustratedbyforexamplethein-housecallcenterserviceofferedtokeyclients intheScandinavianmarketaswellasthesuccessfullycommercializednewproductsthathavebeendevelopedforandsoldtotherentalportalsin the past. Successfully leveraging the CRM capability in combination with the customer relationshipresource provides a good opportunity for Company X to deepen their involvement in this customersegment.

TheproductportfoliothatCompanyXcurrentlypossessescanalsogeneratesignificantvolumesfromtherental vertical in other customer segments. This would entail bypassing the portals and sell productsfurther downstream, to the property managers themselves. As outlined in the empirical findings, theproperty managers have marketing content on their own websites, where Company X’s products canprovidevalueintermsofenhancedmarketingmaterialofvacantunits.Fromtheinterviewswithpropertymanagers it has been gathered that the primary goal when buyingmarketing material is to keep thevacancyrateaslowaspossible.Buttheproductportfoliocanalsobeleveragedtosatisfythedemandformoreinformationfromtheprospectiverentersthatthepropertymanagerscaterto.TheexactnumberofpropertymanagementcompaniesthatoperatesintheUSmarketisunknown.Whatisknownhoweveristhat there are more than 20 million apartment units in the US distributed across almost 2 millionproperties (NMHC, 2015a), which makes it a very sizeable market. In terms of direct competition,Company X has an advantage with the large product portfolio in combination with the productioncapability,whichmakesitpossibletoofferlowcost,highqualityproducts,withshortdeliverytime.Muchlike in the resaleverticalCompanyXwouldhaveno troublematching theprice levelsofferedbydirect



competitors.However,ifCompanyXchoosestotargetthiscustomersegmenttheyneedtobeawareofothertypesofcompaniesalsocompetingtoselldigitalvisualizationtoolstopropertymanagers.TheSaaScompaniesactiveinthiscustomersegmentisonesuchcompetitortypethatprovidesaturnkeysolutionfor property managers with service offerings that covers the entirety of property managementoperations,which includesmarketingof vacantunits. Inaddition to theSaaS companies therearealsospecializedmarketingfirms,targetingpropertymanagerswithamorecomprehensivemarketingsolutionthatCompanyX currentlyoffers. Even though theseother typesof competitorsofferamorecompleteservicethanCompanyXthereisstillanopportunitytoleveragetheproductportfolioandtheproductioncapabilitiestocreateamoreflexibleandlesscostlysolutionforpropertymanagers.

6.3 ResourceGapsAs Grant (1991) points out; a firm needs to continuously evaluate and develop new resources to fillresourcegaps.Themarket thatCompanyXoperates inandwhere theyareplanning toexpandcanbeexpected toencounternew innovationsandnew typesof competitiondue to the technology intensiveenvironment.AsanexampleofthistheexpectationthatVR-technologywillentertherealestateindustryonlargescalecanbementioned.Furthermore,someofthemajorresaleportalshavestartedtoofferdo-it-yourselfsolutionsforvideocreation,whileacompetitor isexploringnewtechnologies forautomatedfloorplancreation.Tooperateundersuchvolatilecircumstancesrequiresthefirmtofocusondevelopingdynamic capabilities (Teece et al., 1997). Wu (2010) emphasized the managers’ abilities to integrate,build, and reconfigure internal and external competences to address rapidly changing environments.Dynamiccapabilitiesalso includetheability to innovateandcollaboratewithotherenterprises,entitiesandinstitutions(Teeceetal.,1997).TodayCompanyXhasanactivecollaborationwithacompetitortodevelop the product “Live 3D”, a tool that can automatically convert the 3D-floorplans to becomeVR-enabled.Thereisalsoanactivecollaborationbetweenthecompanyanditscustomers.ForexampletheR&D-departmentworksintensivelytodevelopotherVR-enabledproductsthatcanbemarketedtowardstherentalportalswithanongoingdialoguebetweenCompanyXandtheircurrent rentalportalclients.These examples illustrate that Company X are currently operating with a dynamic mindset which isadvocatedbyauthorswithinthefieldofdynamiccapabilities.Beingresponsivetothedynamicnatureofthe environment by developing dynamic capabilities is aimed at preparing the company for futureunknownchallenges.However,sometimesaresourcegapcanbemoreobviousandbeaconcreteissueinthepresent.

Today, Company X does not have any ability to offer photography services in theUS as they currentlylacks access to a photo-network. The lack of photo-network also affects the ability to sell floor planswithintheresalevertical.AsexplainedbyCharlie,KeyAccountManagerfortheUS,ingeneralthehomeowners does not possess any 2D-floorplan that can be used as input material and instead the inputmaterialforfloorplancreationneedstobecollectedonsite,whichisbestperformedbyaphotographer.Furthermore, aphoto-networkwould contribute to theability forCompanyX tooffer the full rangeoftheir product portfolio and also offer competitive product bundles which can be expected to be indemandfromthemarket,consideringthecommonuseofprofessionalphotography.Basedonthisitisof



highstrategicimportanceforCompanyXtogetaccesstoaphotonetworkiftheywishtoentertheresalevertical.Aphotonetworkissomethingthatwouldbringvaluetotherentalverticalaswellsincethereisacleardemandforprofessionalphotographywhenmarketingvacantrentalunitsonline.Aphotonetworkcannot be considered to be of equal strategic importancewithin the rental vertical since the researchconductedinthemarkethasshownthatpropertymanagerscanprovidetheinputmaterialrequiredforproductionthemselves.

Itisevidentthataclearresourcegapintheformofaphotonetworkexistsintheresalevertical.Sincethisresourcewouldalsoaddvaluetotherentalvertical,itisworthconsideringhowtheCompanyXcouldgoaboutacquiringthisresource.AsexplainedbyKlug(2006)therearefourmodesofentrystrategiesforafirmtoconsiderwhenenteringamarket;exports,contractualagreements,jointventure,andfullyownedsubsidiaries.Photographyservicesarenotpossibletoexport,asaphysicalpersonneedstobesenttothelocation,andthusthethreeothermodesareleftforCompanyXtoconsider.ContractualagreementsandJoint Ventures both require collaboration with another party, with the latter being more resourceintensiveandtakeslongertimetoestablish(Klug,2006).Basedonthemarketscreeningconductedduringthis research process, potential candidates for both options operates on themarket today. InterviewswithCharliealsorevealedthatsomeinitialdiscussionhavebeentakenwithpotentialpartnerstoexplorepossibilitiesforpotentialcontractualagreementwhereCompanyXwouldutilizethephotonetworkofanestablishedplayerforafixedfeeperphotoshoot.Anotheroptionisafullyownedsubsidiarywhichcouldbe achieved through acquisition of an established firm or through building a photo network as agreenfield investment.Again,playerswith thenecessary resourceswhichcouldbepotentialacquisitiontargetsexistonthemarketand it is thusaquestionofavailableresourceatCompanyXwhendecidingwhether to partner, buy, or build to achieve access to a photo-network. The expansion capability thatCompany X possess has great potential to be leveraged at this stage since they have experiences ofbuilding photo networks from scratch (Sweden), partner with existing photo network (Denmark) andacquirephoto-networks(Norway)andthepeoplethat ledthose initiativesarestillwithinthecompany.Theexperienceandknowledgeofallthreeoptionsstillexistwithinthefirm.

AsWernerfelt (2011)argues,a firm’scostofacquiringanewresourceand/orthevalue itcangeneratewith this resource depends on the resources already possessed by the firm. Clearly, the productionresources thatCompanyXpossessesareagoodcomplementtoaphoto-networkas thiscontributes tothe ability of offering competitive product bundles. Furthermore, Company X possess the internalinfrastructure tooperateaphotographynetworkonothermarketsandbasedon interviewswithin thefirm, this resource can be transferred to the USmarket aswell. In addition to above, Company X hasaccess tocapital through itsmajorityowner if the firmcanmotivatethe investment.Basedonthis it isclear that Company X possesses both the resources needed to acquire and manage a fully ownedsubsidiary in theUSandthus thisshouldbe the long termgoal. Ifnosuitableacquisition targetcanbefound, a fully owned subsidiary is still a viable option as the company could build their own network.However, a fully owned subsidiary could potentially take long time to set up before it’s ready for themarket(Klug,2006).



7. ConclusionTheconclusionconstitutesoftwoparts,whereeachpartisdevotedtooneresearchquestion.ThefirstpartoftheconclusionleavesrecommendationsfortheexpansionstrategyforCompanyX,andthusanswersthesecondquestion.Thisisfollowedbythesecondpart,whichreflectsuponthecaseofCompanyXandbythisaimstoanswerthefirstresearchquestionofthechallengesinusingRBVinpractice.ThisisalsofollowedbysuggestionsforfutureresearchthatcanimprovethepracticaluseofRBV.

7.1 ProposedstrategyforCompanyXThe resource based view has been used to answer the research question, “what would be a suitableexpansionstrategyforCompanyXwithinthetwosegmentsofrentalsandresaleontheNorthAmericanmarket?”.Theresourcebasedviewhasbeenusedtoanalyzethefirm’sinternalresourcesandcapabilitiesfollowedbyananalysisofcustomersandcompetitorswithinthetwoverticals,withtheobjectivetofindwhereandhowtheresourcesandcapabilitiescanbeleveraged.Fourinternalresourceswhereidentifiedwith noneof themending up fulfilling all aspects of theVRIO-framework.However, combining severalresources into capabilities allowed us to identify three types of capabilities that fulfill the VRIOrequirements;andthesecanthusbethebaseforsustainablecompetitiveadvantage.ThecapabilitiesthatfulfilltheVRIOcriteriaaretheproductioncapability,theCRMcapabilityandtheexpansioncapability.

Abasic ideaof theRBV is that firms shouldaim to leverage their relative strengths, and thuspursuingsegments of buyers where no competitor are better equipped atmeeting a particular combination ofcustomer needs (Wernerfelt, 2014). As a consequence, customers and competitors has been analyzed,leading to the following recommendations that can serve as a direction for how Company X shouldmanagetheirmarketexpansionontheNorthAmericanmarket.

7.1.1 TheResidentialResaleVerticalSeveral of Company X’s resources and capabilities can be leveraged to generate revenues from theresidential resale vertical. Looking at the first type of customer, the agents, the resource of a broadproductportfolioisofsignificantvalueforthissegmentandnocompetitorseemstobeabletomatchacompetitiveprice.Furthermore,theproductioncapabilitythatCompanyXpossessescanhelptoproducethe products in a short period of time, with high quality and at low cost, which makes it evenmoreattractive for theagentsas theystrive to increase thevalueofhomessold.Thevisualization tools thatCompanyXoffersarealsoawaytohelpserveotherneedsofthiscustomersegment,suchasmaximizingonline views, attracting people to open houses as a networking opportunity, andmarketing the agenthimself.

However, thesegmentof realestateagents isavery fragmentedvertical thatcanbedifficult to targetdirectly. Instead Company X needs to leverage other resources and capabilities in order to reach salesvolumes. The relationshipwith one of themajor real estate portals through itsmajority owner is oneresourcethatcanbeleveragedinordertoreachalargenumberofagentseffectively.Toselltheproductsthrougharealestateportalislikelytorequireaclosecollaborationwiththeportal,andhereCompanyX



can make use of their CRM capability, which has proven to be of significant value in other strategicrelationships.

ThestrategyforCompanyXwithinthisverticalisthustotargetrealestateagents,butinordertoreachtheminanefficientway,thecompanyshouldaimforacollaborationwithoneofthemajorportalsthatsharethesameownerasCompanyX.

7.1.2 TheRentalVerticalCompanyX’sresourcesandcapabilitiescanalsobeusedtogeneraterevenuesfromtherentalvertical.Ofmajor importancewithin this vertical is the production capability, where the ability of fast productionwith high quality and low cost has led to established relationships with two out of four major rentalportals in the US. The resource of established relationships can be leveraged to generate even morerevenues from the existing portal clients and the production capability should be leveraged whenCompanyXstrivestosignadditionalrentalportalsasclients.

Asanalternativetotherentalportals,astrategyistotargetthepropertymanagersdirectly.InthiscaseCompanyX can leverage its resourceof a largeproductportfolio aspropertymanagers strives tohaveupdatedmarketingmaterialontheirwebsitetorentoutvacantunitsfaster.Furthermore,theproductioncapabilitycanbe leveragedinthissegmentaswell.Themid-sizedandlargerPropertyManagershavealargenumberofunitsundermanagementanditisthusexpectedthattheywouldorderlargevolumesifdecidingtopurchasevisualizationtools.

7.1.3 ResourceGapsSome resourcegapswere foundduring theanalysis. The importanceof access toaphoto-networkhasbeenmentionedseveraltimesthroughthisreport,especiallyasitisnecessarywithaccesstoanetworkinorder to collect inputmaterial for the residential resale vertical. Furthermore, a photo-networkwouldallow Company X to offer its full range of products, which is of competitive advantage. With theproduction resource and CRM capability the company is well prepared for both photo-editing andmanagingofaphoto-network.Inordertogetaccesstoaphoto-network,CompanyXshouldleverageitsexpansioncapability thatcanbeused forbuild,buyorpartnerwithanexistingnetwork.Asexperiencefromallthreeoptionsexistswithinthefirm,itisaquestionoftimeframeforwhatalternativetochoose.Due to the importanceof a photo-networkwithin the residential resale, it is suggested to startwith acontractualagreementwithoneestablishedplayer in theshort term. In the longer term,a fullyownedsubsidiaryisrecommendedasthisallowsforhigherdegreeofcontrolfromCompanyX’sside.

With a photo-network in place, Company X is able to compete efficiently within the two verticals.However, the technology development within this industry is fast and the existing portal clients haveshown an interest for more advanced and VR-enabled products. The long-term volumes from rentalportalscanbeexpectedtobelowerthanwhentheywerefirstsigned,astheportalsnowhavealibraryofvisualizationtoolsfortheirestablishedclients.Instead,thefuturegrowthofsalesfromtheexistingrentalportalclientsisexpectedtosteamfromnewmoreadvancedproducts,somethingtheportalsalreadyare



showingan interest for.Therefore, thecompanyneedstocontinuouslyworkwithdevelopmentofnewproductsandmakeuseofdynamiccapabilities.TheCRMcapabilityandtheresourceofestablishedclientcontactscanbeleveragedtodevelopnewproductsincollaborationwithoutsidepartiesandcustomers,somethingwhichisofimportancetoremaincompetitive.

7.2 ReflectionsInthecoursedoingthisresearchprojectwehavegainedsomeinsightsintothechallengesofapplyingthetheoreticalconceptswithintheResourceBasedView,whichwebelieve isvaluabletoshare inthis finalsectionofourthesis.Whenitcomestotheidentificationandevaluationofresourcesandcapabilitiestherearechallengesthatstemsfromtheall-encompassingdefinitionsofresourcesandcapabilitieswithintheRBV.Resourceswereeasier to isolate on the one hand but they could not be shown to be SCA:s. On the other hand thecapabilitiescouldpasstheVRIOcriteriawithgreaterease,butthe isolationofacapabilityprovedmoreproblematic. Drawing the boundaries of what a capability is proved complicated sincemany differentassetscontributetoitsoutputandtheinterconnectednessbetweentheseassetsarenotalwaysobvious.Wehave also encountered theproblem that other researchers such as Kraaijenbrink et al (2010) havehighlightedwith the difficulty in incorporating external factors into the RBV strategic analysis. LookingspecificallyattheVRIOframeworkwehavefoundtheevaluationoftherarenessandimperfectimitabilitycriteriathemostdifficulttoevaluate.AnassetssuchastheProductionCapabilityidentifiedinthisthesisreliesalmostexclusivelyoninternalassetsandthesamelevelofinsightintoacompetitor'sorganizationisnotfeasible,thusmakingrarenessambiguousinsomecases.Thereisagreatdealofsubjectivitythatgoesinto applying the VRIO framework and practitioners should be aware of this. The lack of sufficientinformationontheexternalenvironmentwasalwaysabigobstaclewhenapplyingtheVRIOframework.ThiswasaparticularprobleminthecaseofCompanyXwherethecompetitivelandscapeismadeupofSmallandMediumsizedEnterprises(SME:s)ontheUSmarket.SME:sinmarketssuchastheUSarenotrequired to share much information such as annual reports or financial statements, thus making thecollectionofconsistentinformationmoredifficult.Oneaspectthatisnotasdependentonexternalfactorsisevaluatingwhetherthecompanyisorganizedina way that allows it to exploit their competitive advantage. Barney & Delwyn (2007) describe this aspossessingtherightcomplementaryresourcesandcapabilities.AlthoughitcanbesimpletopointtothefactthatthecompanyiscurrentlysetuptotakeadvantageoftheirresourceswehaveencounteredtwochallengeswhenapplyingthisSCAcriteriainpractice.Similarlytoidentifyingcapabilities,itisdifficulttodrawclearboundaries forwhat constitutes a complementary resourceor capability andwhich internalassetstheyexplicitlysupport.Secondly it issometimesdifficult toevaluatethiscriteria inaprescriptivemannerduetothe,attimeshazyboundaries.Thismeansthatthiscriteriaeasilyfallintotheexposttrapwhereitisbecomeseasiertoanalyzegoodandbadcasesoforganizationwithhindsightbutverydifficultwhenformulatingafuturestrategy.

7.2.1 FutureResearchLookingmoretothefuture intermsofthedividebetweenresearchandpracticethatexistswithinRBVwe believe that the VRIO framework needs to evolve further to produce more practical guidelines.ResearcherssuchasHinterhuber(2013)haveexpandedtheframeworktocovermoredimensionsinthe



formofsizeofthemarketopportunityandcustomerneeds.However,suchinstancesoftheevolutionoftheframeworkarefocusedonkeepingituniversallyapplicable.Fromapractitionerstandpointitmaybemore useful tomake the framework narrower in the sense that different version are generated to fitwithincertaincontexts.Forexample,howdoestheframeworkadapttoacontextwherethecompetitivelandscape is comprised of SME:s contra large corporations. Or how does its application change acrossindustriessuchasretail,manufacturingorservices?Additionally the scope of the framework in terms of the amount of information required to performstrategicanalysiscouldbenefit fromsomeclarificationaswellas flexibility.RBVresearchremainssilentonwhentheinformationgatheringcanbejudgedtoreachasufficientsaturationlevel,makingexcessivedata collection, or conversely, deficient collection a risk. More flexibility on the other hand refers toguidelinesonhowtogetagoodalignmentwith theobjectivesof theresearchorbusinessproject.Thescopeoftheframeworkshouldhaveadegreeofflexibility,whichisguidedbywhattheresearchershopetogetoutoftheproject.Onepossiblewaytoachievethisflexibilitymaybetoincorporateotherrelatedresearch fields in RBVwith the aim to produce clearer practical guidelines. In this thesis flexibility hasbeen added by the inclusion of the Nested Approach model of customer segmentation by Shapiro &Bonoma(1984),whichcouldeasilybeflexibleinrelationtotheprojectathandbyallowingtheresearcherto push as far into the “nest” as he or she feels necessary. Incorporating other such establishedframeworksthatprovidesmorepracticalguidancecanbeagoodwayforward.Beingattentiveoftheexternalenvironmentiscertainlyveryimportantforanycompanyandindoingsotheywilllikelyfindgapsintheirstockofresourcesandcapabilities.Thisisespeciallyimportantindynamicenvironments, like the one Company X is involved in. The concept of dynamic capabilities has beenincorporatedintothisthesiswiththeconclusionthatCompanyXdoesworkinawaythatindicatesthatthey do indeed possess some dynamic capabilities. Even though concept of dynamic capabilities isconsideredtobeabranchofRBV,thedisconnectionbetweenthetwomaynotbeapositivething.Thisthesishasattemptedtounitethetwostrandsinapracticalsettingbutmoreresearchisrequiredtobetterunderstandinwhatdegreetheconceptsarecompatibleandwheretheyarenot.OnespecificareawherewebelievethatdynamiccapabilitieshaspotentialtoaddvaluableinsightintotheRBViswhenevaluatingtheorganizationcriteriaintheVRIOframework.Aspreviouslymentionedwefindtheframeworklackinginguidanceofhowtoevaluatethefutureapplicabilityofthecurrentstockofcomplementaryresourcesand capabilities.What can almost be seen as a certainty is that the demands on the organizationwillchange in the future and the company's ability to reshape their internal assets tomeet thesedynamicdemandscouldbebetterexploredby incorporatingdynamiccapabilitiesbetter in theVRIOframework.Resourcegapsdonothavetobeanunknownentitythatispredictedtoemergeinthefuture.Theycanexist in the present and be very concrete and when entering new geographic, product or customermarketstheycanbecomeveryvisible.TheinductiveapproachofthisthesiswasespeciallyusefulwhenitbecameapparentthatCompanyXwouldneedtohaveaccesstoaphotonetworktocompetewithintheresale vertical. This allowed us to deepen our practical application into the latter stages of RBV basedstrategy formulation by exploring how Company X could go about filling the resource gaps. This wasexploredbyincorporatingconceptsfromentrymoderesearchwhichprovidedpracticalguidanceforhowanalyze different alternatives resource acquisition. This extension of the Grant’s original frameworkserveduswell in this researchproject since the settingof the case is amarketexpansion.Whether itsapplicationisusefulindifferentresearchcontextsneedstobefurtherexplored.



WeagreewithresearcherssuchasGou(2007),Arend&Lévesque,(2010)andKnott(2015)thattheRBVneedstobemorepracticallyapplicableinrealworldbusinesscontexts.Inouropinionfurtherdevelopingthe key frameworks within RBV, such as Grant´s strategy analysis and the VRIN/VRIO framework, byincorporatingrelatedfieldsofresearchinacreativewayistheywayforwardiftheRBVistobecomemoreapplicableinpractice.ThisthesishasbeenanattempttodojustthatandourhopeisthatRBVinpracticecontinuestobeimaginativelyexploredintheyearstocome.



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9. Appendix1:Listofinterviews

InternalInterviews

Interviewee Role TypeofinterviewNumberofinterviews Date

Anders ProjectManager

Unstructuredinterview,facetoface 1 2016-02-08

Zahar MarketingassistantUnstructuredinterview,facetoface 1 2016-02-08

ArchieSeniorMarketingmanager


Birgitta HRVicePresidentUnstructuredinterview,facetoface 1 2016-02-09

Erik BusinessDevelopmentUnstructuredinterview,facetoface 1 2016-02-09

Fredrik

SeniorSales&BusinessIntelligenceManager


Jonas ProductionManagerUnstructuredinterview,facetoface 1 2016-02-10

WeerasakSeniorProductionManager


SherryDigitalImagingManager


JohanDigitalImagingManager


AnnaInternationalProductManager


MarcusSeniorCustomerServiceManager


Fredric InsideSalesManagerUnstructuredinterview,facetoface 1 2016-02-17

Emma CallCenterManagerUnstructuredinterview,facetoface 1 2016-02-17

Håkan COO&VicePresidentUnstructuredinterview,facetoface 1 2016-02-18

JimIT&ResearchandDevelopment


CharlieBusinessDevelopment&KeyAccount

Unstructuredinterview,facetoface 6 Several

MatthewVicePresidentofSales&Marketing

Unstructuredinterview,facetoface 4 Several



ExternalInterviewsAgent1 Sellingagent Emailinterview 1 2016-03-02Agent2 Sellingagent Emailinterview 1 2016-03-04Agent3 Selling&BuyingAgent Emailinterview 1 2016-03-07Agent4 Selling&Leasing Emailinterview 1 2016-03-07Agent5 Sellingagent Emailinterview 1 2016-03-09Agent6 Sellingagent Emailinterview 1 2016-03-10Agent7 Sellingagent Self-fillingquestionnaire 1 2016-03-11Broker1 SellingBroker Emailinterview 1 2016-03-16Broker2 SellingBroker Self-fillingquestionnaire 1 2016-03-16PropertyManager1 MarketingManager Emailinterview 1 2016-03-24PropertyManager2 MarketingManager Phoneinterview 1 2016-03-25PropertyManager3 MarketingManager Emailinterview 1 2016-03-25

David,NAA

VicePresidentMembership&AffiliateServices Emailinterview 1 2016-04-04

Caitlin,NMHCDirector,ResearchNMHC Emailinterview 1 2016-04-05

ResalePortal1VicePresidentofMarketing Emailinterview 1 2016-03-14

ResalePortal2SeniorDirectorBusinessDevelopment Emailinterview 1 2016-03-15

RentalPortal1DirectorofWebProductDevelopment Emailinterview 1 2016-04-04

practicing the resource based view: learning to play the ... · practicing the resource based view:...

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