Value creation and strategy in the hyperconnected world: The current wave of digitalization explained through the study of Finnish forerunner companies

摘要

The topic of this study is the key characteristics of value creation among Finnish forerunner companies looking to gain competitive advantage from the use of smart, connected processes, products and services i.e. smart solutions. Smart solutions are technological tools of value creation that are allowed through the rise of Hyperconnectivity (i.e. Hyperconnected World, Internet of Things, Industrial Internet, Internet of Everything). For companies, technological development allows new ways to create value, make strategic choices and innovate in their business models. To understand these choices and the development at large, macro-level systemic approach is taken to look at complex field of technological development and related possibilities that it offers.Six value creation models and underlying technology stack required for successful integration of Hyperconnectivity were identified through the study with distinctive characteristics. The value creation models are the parts that companies adopt in their business models to deliver value to their stakeholders - from strategic perspective value creation represents the strategic choices that companies use to develop their business.Besides the extensive literature review of existing knowledge, the study uses quantitative research methods by collecting and analysing primary data (online-survey) and secondary data (existing data on a sample). The analysis was done through descriptive statistics, the usage of distributions, frequencies and means.In addition to practical and theoretical contributions related to the definitions of the field, value creation models and strategy, the thesis delivers a framework to understand the development at large. This is useful especially in understanding the relations between megatrends, the new environment of digitalization and Hyperconnectivity, strategy, value creation, and business models to create a new perspective to approach the whole development - not from just companies' perspective, but for anyone trying to understand the technological development shaping our world.