Title: Value creation based on IT marketing: an exploratory study for developing strategic partnerships in the Greek wood and furniture sectors

Authors: Ioannis Papadopoulos; Marios Trigkas; Anthony Karageorgos; Elli Rapti; Adamantios Sideras

Addresses: Department of Wood and Furniture Design and Technology, TEI of Thessaly, Karditsa, Greece ' Department of Forestry and Natural Environment, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki; Centre for Research and Technology Hellas, Institute of Research and Technology Thessaly, Greece ' Department of Wood and Furniture Design and Technology, TEI of Thessaly, Karditsa, Greece ' Centre for Research and Technology Hellas, Institute of Research and Technology Thessaly, Greece ' Department of Wood and Furniture Design and Technology, TEI of Thessaly, Karditsa, Greece; Centre for Research and Technology Hellas, Institute of Research and Technology Thessaly, Greece

Abstract: The present research reflects opinions concerning consumers' views to the development of IT supported business strategic partnerships in the Greek wood and furniture sectors. In the partnerships considered, participating enterprises aim to develop cross-firm cooperation related to procurement of materials and intermediate products, as well as outsourcing of manufacturing tasks. Research results have shown that the potentiality of developing IT-supported buyer-supplier partnerships could constitute an innovative proposition which is quite applicable to the consumers of wood and furniture products, particularly when considering real time purchases. The results obtained from a pilot implementation indicate that Greek wood and furniture enterprises have not yet managed to sufficiently develop trustworthy relationships among them. Furthermore, it is indicated that the endorsement of IT in business marketing strategies could act as a catalyst for developing trust relationships among stakeholders and provide them with the capability to develop an easy to use, cost effective marketing tool, focusing on individual consumer needs.

Keywords: value creation; firm partnerships; wood furniture; information technology marketing; e-furniture; innovation; Greece; strategic partnerships; cooperation; materials procurement; intermediate products; manufacturing outsourcing; buyer-supplier relationships; wood products; furniture products; trust relationships; marketing strategy.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTMKT.2015.072179

International Journal of Technology Marketing, 2015 Vol.10 No.4, pp.345 - 361

Received: 26 Mar 2015
Accepted: 27 Mar 2015
Published online: 02 Oct 2015 *

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