Identification of order-winner and qualifier characteristics: case studies on the home-appliance market

University essay from Luleå/Industriell ekonomi och samhällsvetenskap

Author: Angelina Jaller; Patrik Ullström; [2008]

Keywords: Order-winners; Qualifiers; Marketing; Industrial marketing; Market study; Market research; Market oriented; Materials; suppliers; Home appliances; Segmentation; Characteristics; Criteria; Customer needs; Industrial and management; engineering; Sandvik; Electrolux; OBH Nordica;

Abstract: Many companies strive to develop innovative products and create new solutions for their customers. However, in the rush for new products and innovations many companies forget to analyze the market to make sure that they understand it and can satisfy the needs. In order for a company to be effective, it is necessary that they focus on operations that create value for their customers. Many companies try to be market oriented, however some of them still fail to satisfy the market needs.
Order-winner and qualifier theory is one way to analyze market needs and connect it to a company’s internal processes, so that resources can be allocated to those value-added processes and operations. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis is to identify qualifier and order-winner characteristics within a market in order to match a new product with the markets needs. Two research questions were posed: (1) Which characteristics make a new product qualify within a market segment? (2) Which characteristics make a new product to an order-winner within a market segment?

The thesis followed a procedure to analyze market needs and requirements of material and supplier characteristics. The thesis was conducted in the home-appliance market through two case studies: one of OBH Nordica, representing the low-mid-end zone: and the second of Electrolux, representing the mid-high-end zone.
The findings of the study indicated that certain qualifier characteristics are common for the entire market, while others are specific for their zone. So for a company to be considered as a supplier in a specific zone or segment, they have to be able to fulfill both the market’s common characteristics as well as the characteristics that are specific for the zone they belong to. The study also showed that a company should constantly compare their order-losing sensitive qualifiers with their competitors, since a slight change in the environment can cause them to start losing orders.

Confidential until 2011-01-01

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