The Adoption of Sales Innovations in Swedish B2B Companies

99 Pages·2016·1.87 MB·English

The Adoption of Sales Innovations in Swedish B2B
Companies

Authors: Adriele Pradi
Marc Noël de Wild

Supervisor: Christopher Nicol

Umeå School of Business and Economics
Spring Semester, 2016
Master Thesis, 15 hp

ABSTRACT

Sales is an essential department for organizations, it connects the products and services
with the customers. The literature highlights that sales has faced a number of changes in
the past years, especially with the introduction of new technologies that aim to contribute
in the sales process, making it more precise and efficient. However, the previous studies
have not yet explored how the companies are innovating in their sales process to adopt
the new technologies that have been developed. In this research, we are studying how
these elements are connected in real life, bringing a perspective of how Swedish B2B
companies are adopting technology to innovate in their sales process.

As the theme of this research is relatively new to the literature, we adopted an inductive
approach, conducting qualitative research. To collect the data we used semi-structured
interviews, which allowed our interviewees to speak freely about the research topics. Our
aim was to capture new insights and avoid preconceptions based on sales studies executed
in another context, such as the USA market. To analyze the data we used thematic
analysis, which is based on generating codes and connecting them according to their
relationship. The analysis also connected concepts of the Theoretical Framework with the
empirical data. Thereby, we identified the connection between sales process innovation
and technology adoption in the context of the participants.

The results of our research showed that sales process innovation is, most of the time, not
a priority for the companies. The participants were using technologies in different ways,
according to the particularities of their sales process. The innovation in the sales process
is very incremental in the adoption of CRM and Sales Automation Technologies. The
companies have not had significant innovations in the way they sell to adopt new
technologies. Thus, they are satisfied with the current structure of their sales process and
the outcome of it.

Our findings contribute to the literature by casting light over sales innovation and
technology adoption in a context outside the USA. We also contribute academically by
connecting the process innovation and technology adoption models and performing an
empirical research on the subject. In the managerial contribution, we presented a variety
of insights about the reasons that lead to technology adoption. With our constructionist
approach, we also expect to have a contribution to the development of the sales
departments in the participant by promoting the reflection and debate around sales
process.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We would like to express gratitude to our supervisor, Chris Nicol, for contributing to
the development of this research and offering guidance throughout all the stages of the
thesis process. In the way we received feedback, it was very clear how involved Chris
was with our work and interested in guiding us as researchers. His advices were
essential for the advances in this work.

We are also grateful for Umeå University and its resources, plus various professors that
have been helpful in connecting us with a network of companies.

We also would like to thank all the companies that accepted to be interviewed for this
research. The participants dedicated their valuable time and experience to contribute in
the development of the present work. We are very grateful for their openness and
willingness.

Umeå, 25th May 2016
Adriele Pradi & Marc Noël de Wild

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Table of Contents
1. Introduction ............................................................................................................. 1
1.1. Choice of Subject ............................................................................................... 1
1.2. Problem Background ......................................................................................... 1
1.3. Theoretical background and Knowledge Gaps .................................................. 3
1.3.1. Sales ............................................................................................................ 3
1.3.2. Sales Process .............................................................................................. 5
1.3.3. Sales Technology ........................................................................................ 6
1.3.3.1. Customer Relationship Management .................................................. 7
1.3.3.2. Sales Force Automation ...................................................................... 8
1.3.3.3. Adoption of Sales Technology ............................................................ 8
1.3.4. Innovation ................................................................................................... 9
1.4. Research Question and Objectives ................................................................... 10
2. Theoretical Framework ........................................................................................ 12
2.1. Process Innovation Theory .............................................................................. 12
2.1.1. Process Innovation .................................................................................... 12
2.1.2. Knowledge and Capability Based Perspectives on Process Innovation ... 13
2.1.3. Basic model of process innovation ........................................................... 14
2.1.4. Action Research: from a Linear to a Circular Theory Perspective ........... 15
2.1.5. Process Innovation Cycle by Papazoglou and van den Heuvel ................ 16
2.1.6. Process Innovation Theories Applied to Sales ......................................... 18
2.2. Technology Adoption Theory .......................................................................... 18
2.2.1. Rogers's Innovation Diffusion Theory ..................................................... 19
2.2.2. Technology Acceptance Model ................................................................ 20
2.2.3. Universal Technology Adoption and Use Theory .................................... 22
2.2.4. Technology Adoption Theories Applied to Sales .................................... 23
2.3. Synthesis of Reviewed Literature .................................................................... 24
3. Scientific Methodology .......................................................................................... 28
3.1. Pre-understandings ........................................................................................... 28
3.2. Research Philosophy ........................................................................................ 29
3.2.1. Epistemology ............................................................................................ 29
3.2.2. Ontology ................................................................................................... 30
3.3. Research Approach .......................................................................................... 30
3.4. Research Design............................................................................................... 31
3.4.1. Research Purpose ...................................................................................... 31
3.4.2. Research Strategy ..................................................................................... 32
3.5. Literature Search .............................................................................................. 32
4. Practical Method ................................................................................................... 34
4.1. Qualitative Research View .............................................................................. 34
4.2. Qualitative Data Collection Method ................................................................ 34
4.3. Interview Structure........................................................................................... 35
4.4. Sampling Method ............................................................................................. 36
4.5. Qualitative Analysis ......................................................................................... 38
IV
4.5.1. Preparing the Data .................................................................................... 38
4.5.2. Analytical Procedure ................................................................................ 38
4.6. Truth Criteria ................................................................................................... 39
4.7. Ethical Considerations ..................................................................................... 41
5. Empirical Findings ................................................................................................ 43
5.1. Context of Participants ..................................................................................... 43
5.2. Sales Process Innovation.................................................................................. 43
5.2.1. Customer Market ...................................................................................... 43
5.2.2. Sales Process Development ...................................................................... 45
5.3. Sales Technology Adoption ............................................................................. 53
5.3.1. Adoption and Use of CRM ....................................................................... 53
5.3.2. Adoption and Use of Sales Automation ................................................... 56
5.3.3. Adoption and Use of Other Technologies ................................................ 57
5.3.4. Adoption of Technology in General ......................................................... 59
6. Analysis ................................................................................................................... 62
6.1. Reality Of The Sales Process ........................................................................... 62
6.2. Usefulness of Process Innovation .................................................................... 62
6.2.1. Effective Implementation of Sales Process Innovation ............................... 63
6.3. Technology Adoption ...................................................................................... 64
6.3.1. External Context ....................................................................................... 65
6.3.2. Usefulness of the Technology .................................................................. 66
6.3.3. Internal Context ........................................................................................ 67
6.3.4. Uncertainty ............................................................................................... 69
6.3.5. Particularities in the Adoption and Use of Sales Technologies ............... 69
6.4. Synthesis of Analysis and Theoretical Framework ...................................... 70
7. Conclusions and Discussion .................................................................................. 72
7.1. General Conclusions ........................................................................................ 72
7.2. Theoretical Implications .................................................................................. 73
7.3. Managerial Implications .................................................................................. 74
7.4. Limitations and Future Research ..................................................................... 75
References ...................................................................................................................... 77
Appendices ..................................................................................................................... 86
Appendix 1 ..................................................................................................................... 86
TECHNOLOGY AND CHANGES IN THE SALES PROCESS .............................. 86
Appendix 2 ..................................................................................................................... 87
SEMI-STRUCTURED INTERVIEW GUIDE .......................................................... 87
Appendix 3 ..................................................................................................................... 88
GUIDELINES PRE AND POST INTERVIEW ........................................................ 88
Appendix 4 ..................................................................................................................... 89
THEORETICAL IMPLICATIONS TO ROGERS’ DIFFUSION OF
INNOVATIONS ............................................................................................................ 89

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LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: A display of the “Eight Big-Tent” criteria for excellent qualitative research
(Tracy, 2010, p. 840) and the way each criterion was achieved in this research. .......... 40
Table 2: (Continued) A display of the “Eight Big-Tent” criteria for excellent qualitative
research (Tracy, 2010, p. 840) and the way each criterion was achieved in this research.
........................................................................................................................................ 41
Table 3: Overview of Interviews .................................................................................... 43

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: Papinniemi’s Basic Model of Process Innovation (Papinniemi, 1999, p. 98) 15
Figure 2: Action Research Spiral, graphically visualized by the Valencia College of
Colorado (n.d.) ................................................................................................................ 16
Figure 3: The Six Phase Model of Papazoglou and van den Heuvel (2007, p. 80) ........ 17
Figure 4: Innovation Decision of the Innovation Diffusion process by Rogers (1995, p.
163) ................................................................................................................................. 20
Figure 5: Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) of Davis et al. (1989, p. 985) ........... 21
Figure 6: The extended TAM Model by Venkatesh and Davis (2000, p. 198) .............. 22
Figure 7: Model for universal technology adoption and use theory by Venkatesh et al.
(2003, p. 447) ................................................................................................................. 23
Figure 8: Model of Process Innovation Based on Technology Adoption in Sales ......... 26
Figure 9: How Snowball Sampling led to interviews with eight organizations ............. 37
Figure 10: Participants Divided by Type of Customer and Market ............................... 45
Figure 11: Sales Process Softwwize ............................................................................... 46
Figure 12: Sales Process of Malproksimo ...................................................................... 47
Figure 13: Sales Process of Voeler ................................................................................. 48
Figure 14: Sales Process of Bluetecc .............................................................................. 49
Figure 15: Parabola’s sales process for product development projects of their customers
........................................................................................................................................ 50
Figure 16: Parabola's Sales Process towards Dealers ..................................................... 50
Figure 17: Sales Process of Selkeä ................................................................................. 52
Figure 18: Sales Process of Consultando towards Big and Mature Companies ............. 53
Figure 19: Sales Process of Consultando towards Smaller Projects and Start-ups ........ 53

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