Marketing Competencies of Swedish Sawmill Firms

Qualitative interview-based research was used to investigate Swedish sawmilling firms’ marketing competencies to sustain cooperative relationships and deliver offerings according to customers’ perceptions of value. The views of both sawmill firms and innovative customers were used in this assessment. The firms studied were found to have established cooperative relationships with innovative customers in all market segments, including wood products segments, do-it-yourself (DIY) segments, and builders’ merchants segments. These relationships, which generate approximately 70 percent of sawmill firms’ business volumes, involve mutual exchange of sensitive business information in daily business operations and joint business development initiatives. The customers’ perceptions of value are also favorable, particularly due to service aspects such as logistics management and long-term business commitments. In the final analysis, cooperative relationships are shown to be an important basis for strategic sawmill business development