Services in the forest-based sector – unexplored futures

Abstract

2015),"Designing for public sector innovation in the UK: design strategies for paradigm shifts", foresight, Vol. 17 Iss 4 pp. 332-348 http://dx.If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. Abstract Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to analyze and provide a synthesis of how services are understood, how they are likely to develop and how future development can be studied more closely in the forest-based sector (FBS). Services are likely to have an increasing role in the FBS in the future. Design/methodology/approach -The findings are based on a literature review of FBS outlook studies, strategies and programs and services-related studies in FBS and general services literature. Three case examples of services businesses in FBS companies are presented, and possible foresight approaches related to them are discussed. Foresight methods used in parallel sectors are also discussed. Findings -The study provides the first systematic introduction, classification and review of FBS services to include both industry-and non-industry-related services. The paper also points out the need for foresight studies and suggests various approaches for an analysis of the potential of FBS services in the future bioeconomy.Practical implications -The study shows that the role of services in FBS research has been understood too narrowly. As a result, services research has been rather lacking and the future potential of services in the FBS has not been fully acknowledged. The study argues for and points toward the need to use foresight approaches to update FBS strategies, business models and policies to fully benefit from the future potential of services. Originality/value -The study is a novel introduction, review and discussion of the role of services in the FBS and their future outlook.The authors would like to thank two anonymous reviewers for a number of thoughtful suggestions and comments.

Renewing the sawmill industry: studies on innovation, customer value and digitalization

“…As the society in general, the sawmill industry's business environment is becoming increasingly complex. Globalization, fierce competition, technological advancements, climate change, increasing competition for raw materials and fluctuating and diversified customer demands (Näyhä et al, 2015;Han & Hansen, 2016) affect the role of the industry's traditional sources of competitiveness. These changes have often been considered a threat to the industry, but the impacts can also be positive.…”

“…Contemporary literature seems to focus more on operational effectiveness , while research on organizational aspects, such as business strategy or business model transformation, is scarce. Those studies focusing on strategic issues have only recently emphasized customer-focus and a firm's resources in strategy implementation (see Hansen et al, , 2017Mattila & Roos, 2014;Näyhä et al, 2015;Mattila et al, 2016;Han & Hansen, 2017). Research focusing on the technological development in the forest sector is largely neglected as technology "is often taken as given" (Hetemäki, 2010).…”

“…A strong emphasis exists towards customer-oriented business approaches, which call for progressively-minded entrepreneurs with customer-oriented management skills (Spetic et al, 2016). Several forestry researchers have voiced that customer-oriented business approaches should be applied to examine the forest industry's strategic issues (e.g., Hurmekoski & Hetemäki, 2013;Stendahl et al, 2013;Mattila & Roos, 2014;Näyhä et al, 2015;. Identified development needs relate to the firms' ability to develop new types of products, services and customer interfaces (Hansen & Juslin, 2005), as well as on their ability to utilize intangible resources (i.e., knowledge) in business (Cohen & Kozak, 2001).…”

Assessing Impacts of Wood Utilisation Scenarios for a Lithuanian Bioeconomy: Impacts on Carbon in Forests and Harvested Wood Products and on the Socio-Economic Performance of the Forest-Based Sector

“…The bioeconomy itself is a broad concept, and according to the European Union (EU) bioeconomy strategy the concept includes the sectors of agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and industries such as food, pulp, chemical, biotechnological, and energy industries. In this study, we focus on the forest-based sector only, which we understand to include the management of forests and the production and consumption of forest products and services [2][3][4].…”

Long-term outlook for wood construction in Europe

“…For example, considering the changing global competitive advantages in primary production and the increasing role of high value-added services in the industrialised countries, the discussion on value added would deserve a novel line of research on its own right (see Näyhä et al 2015). For example, for many products, the manufacturing process itself generates typically less than 20 % of the total value added, while the services related to the product cover the remainder (see Ali-Yrkkö et al 2011).…”