Overview of most significant data collection
| Company | Data | Comment (purpose, objectives, etc.) | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alpha | Interactions with all employees working at the company, which included a trip to China, participation in annual social events with customers, participation in internal education events, strategy discussions with board members, visiting furniture fairs and accompanying the company on a field visit to a newly established retail chain in Sweden | Served to build familiarity with the company. Findings were continuously analyzed and discussed with the company. Important findings and models were verified and adjusted. Dialogue and observations came to replace formal interviews | 2009–2015 |
| Unstructured and semi-structured interviews with the CEO, the purchasing manager, the quality manager and the manager of new product development | Formal interviews that lasted between 30 and 60 min. Notes were taken during the interviews and the respondents verified the answers | 2009–2023 | |
| One year of forecasted sales | A simulation was built to test different future scenarios, including fluctuating exchange rates, different shipping costs, adjusted contribution margins for alpha and its retailers, overhead costs, etc | 2011 | |
| Protocols from internal meetings | This provided insight into the management of the company, without disturbing the meetings through observation | 2010–2012 | |
| Inventory and sales data | Full access to the inventory data system, which has been used to analyze and construct company-specific performance indicators | 2010–2015 | |
| Data and results from five new product development projects | Used to understand the implementation and development of the implemented strategy. These were also discussed with the manager of new product development | 2009–2010 | |
| 16 retailers (in the same region) | Forecasts produced with alpha were used to identify products to display in retail stores. This was compared with actual sales for one year | Helped to develop important performance measures for alpha | 2010 |
| 12 out of 16 retailers from the same region | Two full days were spent with the CEO visiting retailers. Visits were not scheduled with the retailer in advance, and unstructured information was gathered through note taking. One retailer did not have time for the discussions. In the remaining 11 stores, at least one manager was interviewed, which was in most instances the owner/store manager but also included one manager of quality claims. The interviews lasted between 30 and 90 min | The notes from each interview were discussed with the CEO immediately after leaving each retailer. Comments from the CEO were added | 2010 |
| 2 suppliers in China | Notes, photos and videos were taken when visiting manufacturing suppliers. The purpose of the trip was to negotiate price, volumes and quality | These suppliers had been discussed earlier and pictures of the facilities were available. The visit was primarily to get a first-hand experience of sourcing | 2010 |
| 9 competitors (+Alpha) | Annual financial statements were investigated and trends/patterns of important economic measures were compared, e.g. sales, earnings before/after tax, inventory, assets and equity | The main investigation period was 1999–2009. At the end of this timespan, companies faced financial difficulties and reconstruction and takeovers made comparisons impossible. Data was continuously collected until 2014 | 2011–2015 |
| 7 out of 9 competitors | Unstructured interviews with six CEOs/founders and one site manager, with each interview lasting about 45 min | Interviews were used to better understand the companies’ strategies, their problems, and how they dealt with the financial crisis of 2008 | 2011 |
| Serving team | Travelled with four people from the team during five days in China. Discussed manufacturing in China and consequences of Alpha’s changed business model | Discussions were primarily aimed toward gaining a broader understanding of working with China from Sweden | 2011 |
| Designers | Two furniture designers were visited at their respective design studios. Semi-structured interviews were conducted that lasted between 50 and 60 min | Gave insights into the designer’s experiences on working in this specific process | 2016 |
| Company | Data | Comment (purpose, objectives, etc.) | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alpha | Interactions with all employees working at the company, which included a trip to China, participation in annual social events with customers, participation in internal education events, strategy discussions with board members, visiting furniture fairs and accompanying the company on a field visit to a newly established retail chain in Sweden | Served to build familiarity with the company. Findings were continuously analyzed and discussed with the company. Important findings and models were verified and adjusted. Dialogue and observations came to replace formal interviews | 2009–2015 |
| Unstructured and semi-structured interviews with the CEO, the purchasing manager, the quality manager and the manager of new product development | Formal interviews that lasted between 30 and 60 min. Notes were taken during the interviews and the respondents verified the answers | 2009–2023 | |
| One year of forecasted sales | A simulation was built to test different future scenarios, including fluctuating exchange rates, different shipping costs, adjusted contribution margins for alpha and its retailers, overhead costs, etc | 2011 | |
| Protocols from internal meetings | This provided insight into the management of the company, without disturbing the meetings through observation | 2010–2012 | |
| Inventory and sales data | Full access to the inventory data system, which has been used to analyze and construct company-specific performance indicators | 2010–2015 | |
| Data and results from five new product development projects | Used to understand the implementation and development of the implemented strategy. These were also discussed with the manager of new product development | 2009–2010 | |
| 16 retailers (in the same region) | Forecasts produced with alpha were used to identify products to display in retail stores. This was compared with actual sales for one year | Helped to develop important performance measures for alpha | 2010 |
| 12 out of 16 retailers from the same region | Two full days were spent with the CEO visiting retailers. Visits were not scheduled with the retailer in advance, and unstructured information was gathered through note taking. One retailer did not have time for the discussions. In the remaining 11 stores, at least one manager was interviewed, which was in most instances the owner/store manager but also included one manager of quality claims. The interviews lasted between 30 and 90 min | The notes from each interview were discussed with the CEO immediately after leaving each retailer. Comments from the CEO were added | 2010 |
| 2 suppliers in China | Notes, photos and videos were taken when visiting manufacturing suppliers. The purpose of the trip was to negotiate price, volumes and quality | These suppliers had been discussed earlier and pictures of the facilities were available. The visit was primarily to get a first-hand experience of sourcing | 2010 |
| 9 competitors (+Alpha) | Annual financial statements were investigated and trends/patterns of important economic measures were compared, e.g. sales, earnings before/after tax, inventory, assets and equity | The main investigation period was 1999–2009. At the end of this timespan, companies faced financial difficulties and reconstruction and takeovers made comparisons impossible. Data was continuously collected until 2014 | 2011–2015 |
| 7 out of 9 competitors | Unstructured interviews with six CEOs/founders and one site manager, with each interview lasting about 45 min | Interviews were used to better understand the companies’ strategies, their problems, and how they dealt with the financial crisis of 2008 | 2011 |
| Serving team | Travelled with four people from the team during five days in China. Discussed manufacturing in China and consequences of Alpha’s changed business model | Discussions were primarily aimed toward gaining a broader understanding of working with China from Sweden | 2011 |
| Designers | Two furniture designers were visited at their respective design studios. Semi-structured interviews were conducted that lasted between 50 and 60 min | Gave insights into the designer’s experiences on working in this specific process | 2016 |
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