University of Twente Student Theses

Login

Serving Turkish wind energy investors : customer needs and partner selection

Hendriks, A. (2012) Serving Turkish wind energy investors : customer needs and partner selection.

[img] PDF
1MB
Abstract:The goal of this research is to assess the customer needs of investors in wind energy power plants in Turkey and to understand how they select their business partners. Mecal Wind Farm Services commissioned this research in order to increase knowledge of the Turkish market, which is currently growing at a high rate. Past studies are used to develop a method to assess customer needs in the setting of Turkey and focuses on the origin and importance of needs. The method used for understanding business partner selection is derived from previous studies and involves determining the relevant selection criteria, in order to subsequently measure their importance. Personal relationships are expected to be important in Turkey and receive special attention. A multiple case study design was used to allow for thorough analysis. Three Turkish independent power producers were selected by purposive sampling, with a highly placed employee within each organization as the main data source. Data for both customer needs and business partner selection was collected by in-depth interviews, as well as a survey for the measurement of selection criteria importance. Relating to customer needs, challenging activities and their origin were identified throughout the several stages of wind energy power plants. Especially the development stage seems to be challenging in Turkey. During development, all three cases perceived micrositing, and permitting and licensing as challenging activities. Furthermore, some relevant market related findings were made, which can impact customer needs. Concerning partner selection, results suggest that particularly acknowledgement by other parties, quality, interpretation and advice of results, and references play an important role. Acknowledgement is especially important, because many services need to be accepted by outside parties, such as banks or wind turbine generator suppliers. Furthermore, references are important, because they are the main basis on which consultancy companies are compared. Personal relationships were found to play a smaller role than expected.
Item Type:Essay (Master)
Faculty:BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences
Subject:85 business administration, organizational science
Programme:Business Administration MSc (60644)
Link to this item:https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/61513
Export this item as:BibTeX
EndNote
HTML Citation
Reference Manager

 

Repository Staff Only: item control page