Markkinamuotoilu

Markkinamuotoilu – johdatko markkinoita vai johtavatko markkinat sinua?
Suvi Nenonen & Kaj Storbacka (WSOYpro 2010)

Successful companies design markets

The book Markkinamuotoilu – johdatko markkinoita vai johtavatko markkinat sinua? [‘Market design – are you managing your markets or are your markets managing you?] leads management onto a new path: markets are not external precursors to strategy but companies can actually influence the markets. Hence there is no point to seek blue oceans free from competition as a certain amount of competition actually can be beneficial for business.

According to the book’s authors, Dr. Suvi Nenonen and Prof. Kaj Storbacka, each company can free itself from the shackles of shrinking markets by redefining its markets. The first step in designing markets is to shift the focus from the product and rather review value production from the customer’s point of view: what does the product enable and how can the company support the customer’s actions? Markets can be designed by introducing new ideas into the market and by changing the company’s business model, and thus encourage other actors to do the same.

Market design calls for new management practices and abilities. It also has implications on Finland’s national economy. In Finland the prevailing conception is that we are good at inventing new technologies and products, but poor at commercializing them. The authors, however, find this type of thinking as somewhat absurd. The launch of new products should be transformed from the costly and slow “develop first, then commercialize” approach to an ongoing process that systematically looks for market and customer driven innovations.

The book Markkinamuotoilu offers business managers the latest research results and tools in a reader-friendly form. The book’s appearance differs from contemporary business literature and its structure enables a flexible reading experience. The book contains many case examples of companies where market design has led to considerable business success. Furthermore, to support the reader, the book also portrays a fictitious company, FinnCon, which illustrates how the book’s ideas can be put into practice.

FinnCon:s activities can be followed at the company web site, www.finncoltd.com, or by signing up as a friend through Facebook or LinkedIn.

Get your own copy of the book from the WSOYpro bookshop: http://www.wsoypro.fi/wsoypro.aspx?navi=Kirjat.Kirjat-ja-verkkokirjat&bookid=8571&sub=-1&special=allbooks&subtype=8