| Summary: | The aim of this thesis is to describe the customer’s attitudes toward the contracting for availability, i.e., which factors are from the customer’s perspective necessary for the fulfilment of a supplier-customer agreement? Furthermore, the objective is to describe and analyse a supplier-customer relation in the Defence Industrial sphere. The present study has been carried out as a case study using an abductive approach. The thesis is based on a practical problem, i.e. which factors will be important to the customer when a contractor in the Defence Industry wants to increase its commitment of service, and how will their relationship change? The thesis is above all focused on generating knowledge that can lead to rapid and concrete measures and that can be used in the analysis of an increased industrial commitment but also as a case study of a problem of a more general nature in the Defence Industry. The paper studies a dyad, the relation between a buyer and a seller, where the buyer is the Swedish Armed Forces and the seller is the defence division of Ericsson. It should however be noted that on September 1st 2006, while the final work on this thesis was under way, this specific division of Ericsson, was acquired by Saab AB. The thesis is based on several different sources of information of which the main empirical data has been gathered from individual interviews with representatives from both seller and buyer organisations. The theoretical framework is based on two main currents, the first being service management within service marketing, including the customer focused business, and the second, the interaction approach by the Industrial Marketing and Purchasing Group within industrial marketing. The central idea in this framework is to create an added value for the customer, in which the customer takes an active part in the process of a long-term relation. The following factors have been identified as crucial for the conclusion of an agreement and essential for Ericsson to consider in their continued customer-focused business development: Availability, a clearly defined framework and one interface for business communication, a holistic approach, the cost efficiency factor, configuration management, a supplier supervision of spare parts from sub-contractors, agile chain of command and shorter lead times, transfer of knowledge from the industry and to the supplier. In connection with a potential increased commitment of service in the defence industrial sector, and in conjunction with the restructuring of the Swedish Armed Forces, it is possible to discern a closer and more extensive collaboration between supplier and customer. We can also see a shift of responsibility between the different defence authorities and Ericsson but also towards the industry in general. The responsibility of the Swedish Defence Material Administration to support and maintain the armaments and equipments of the Swedish Armed Forces is likely to disappear as well as its predominance in the area of technical know-how. The future role of the Swedish Defence Material Administration will probably be in the area of negotiating business agreements, as well as being responsible for the follow-up of the agreements with the industry. Instead it will be the Swedish Armed Forces Management Offices Ground Equipment, and also to a certain degree the Swedish Armed Forces Logistics Unit, who will shoulder the responsibility of being the link to Ericsson in regards to matters concerning technical support and maintenance. Should the Swedish Armed Forces decide on Ericsson’s contracting for availability, the role and responsibility of Ericsson will be considerably larger at the lower system levels. This will also mean a closer dialogue with the Swedish Armed Forces Management Offices Ground Equipment, the Swedish Armed Forces Logistics Unit and the military units, which has not been the case before.
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