Informations et ressources scientifiques
sur le développement des zones arides et semi-arides

Titre : Customer Value Creation in a Natural Resource-Scarce Environment : The Role of Market Knowledge in Adaptation and Sustainability (Pastoralists arid and semi-arid climatic)

Auteur : Gugissa, Desalegn Amlaku

Université de soutenance : Wageningen University

Grade : Doctor 2020

Résumé partiel
With the ongoing concern about the depletion of natural resources, companies and their marketers are increasingly interested in finding ways to adapt their business processes to the scarcity of natural resources. How companies can do so is, however, still not clear, indicating the lack of understanding of how to incorporate insights from the natural environment into the companies’ primary business function which is essential to create customer value. This thesis argues that lessons on how to adapt business processes to resource scarcity can be drawn from pastoralists who for centuries have been able to maintain their livestock breeding and fattening business despite the persistent scarcity of natural resources. Pastoralists use primarily natural pasture and water resources for breeding and fattening their livestock in ways that meet the needs of their buyers. Pastoralists however see themselves faced with persistent scarcity of natural resources due to the arid and semi-arid climatic condition of their region. The aim of this thesis is therefore to draw lessons from pastoralists on how they manage to adapt their customer value creation process to the scarcity of natural resources. To achieve its aim, the thesis answers the following four research questions : (1) How do pastoralists adapt the customer value creation to the scarcity of natural resources ? (2) How do natural resource adaptation capabilities of pastoralists influence customer value creation in a resource-scarce time ? (3) How does the level of natural resource scarcity that pastoralists experience influences the business performance contributions of adaptation capabilities and market knowledge ? (4) Does market knowledge impact the sustainable use of natural resources, and if so, how ? The questions are empirically addressed in a qualitative study that develops the conceptual framework (Chapter 2) as a basis for a set of quantitative studies (Chapters 3-5) to test (parts of) the framework and challenge its underlying assumptions. A qualitative study identifying and conceptualizing natural resource adaptation (Chapter 2) provided the answer to the question how the process of creating customer value can be adapted to the scarcity of natural resources. When pastoralists are confronted with an actual or predicted scarcity of natural resources, they can adapt their customer value-creating processes by leveraging three types of adaptation capabilities : matching value propositions (adjusting the value proposition to customers), natural resource deployment (making efficient and effective use of available natural resources), and managing customer expectations (interacting and communicating customers to create an appropriate level of value expectations in their mind).

Présentation

ProQuest