Browsing by Author "Honkanen, Venla"

The aim of this thesis was to discover the similarities and differences between the Finnish and northwest Russian timber industry. The second goal was to find characteristics from the operational environment of the closely situated countries, in order to, increase cultural understanding when comparing the timber industry of these countries. Data collection was conducted via theme interviews by using two separate frameworks, which were Pestel and Core Competence. The Pestel framework focuses on the macro level of the operational environment, and the Core Competence framework on the micro level of the particular company. Research was also conducted on how the companies differentiate from each other, when the raw material is the same for the whole industry. How to produce added value and at the same time develop long-term and lasting customer relationships? The theme interviews were supplemented by using secondary sources and the Pestel framework. This approach was adopted to bring depth to the results, in order to increase the reliability of the data. According to the results, the main differences had to do with the culture, and what action is taken in specific situations. Furthermore, the conditions of the forest and timber industry in the two countries are completely different. For example, in Finland private forest owners own most of the forests, whereas, in Russia the government owns all the forests. This affects in multiple ways in how the forests are renewed, and the future quality of the timber. Differences regarding, for example, technology and corruption were discovered in the interviews and the secondary sources of data.