Project Management: A business proposal for Strandmöllen AB

Erika Egonsson

Kim Hansen

Mikael Tran

Theresa Thomasson

Ting Ting Ly

Executive summary

The marketing channels of the company Strandmöllen AB include for example fairs such as

Elmia and the company website (www.strandmollen.se). Because of the few marketing

channels it is essential to use these resourcefully. Strandmöllen AB has a lot of beneficial

values for their customers, these are however not conveyed and promoted clearly enough

through the company website. The consequences of this might be that there is a gap between

Strandmöllen AB‟s true identity and how the company image is perceived. The solution is to

connect the company identity and image through an improved, internationally oriented and

user-friendly website. This will be done in cooperation with the consulting web designing

company, Pixelant, using their Content Management System, TYPO3, an open source

solution, which provides a well performing website with preserved independence.

Index of Business Proposal

Background ................................................................................................................................ 1

Method of investigation ............................................................................................................. 1

The problem ............................................................................................................................... 2

What increases the appeal of a website?................................................................................. 2

The gap between Strandmöllen AB and their website ........................................................... 3

The solution ................................................................................................................................ 4

Pixelant ....................................................................................................................................... 5

TYPO3 .................................................................................................................................... 5

Why Pixelant? ......................................................................................................................... 5

Risk analysis ............................................................................................................................... 8

The value proposal ................................................................................................................... 10

Costs during the project development stages ....................................................................... 10

Benefits in the future ................................................................................................................ 12

How will this solution affect/improve the competitiveness of Strandmöllen AB? .............. 12

If dismissal of the solution; what future consequences might this have? ............................. 13

Implementation Plan ................................................................................................................ 14

Reference .................................................................................................................................. 15

Appendix 1 - The Kano Model ................................................................................................ 16

1

Background

The gas providing Danish company with more than 90 years of experience, Strandmöllen AB,

has recently entered the Swedish market. The production facility in Ljungby, Småland, was

founded and finished in 2011. So far the company has about 20 employees in the Middle- and

South of Sweden. Strandmöllen AB has established themselves internationally with

worldwide partners, customers and market share. The vision is to be flexible, highly

trustworthy and responsible. In addition to the gas products, the company offers service,

support and education for their customers. Current marketing strategies are conducted through

fairs such as Elmia and the website supported by direct sales. In addition to these

Strandmöllen AB has expressed the wish for a future online ordering tool. Another important

aspect is that Strandmöllen AB is aware of the importance of positive word of mouth.

Method of investigation

A number of information channels were considered for the analysis; interviewing and

pursuing e-mail contact with sales- and marketing director Niclas Sjöstedt, and searching for

information on the internet, including the company website. Different options were

considered in order to find the most suitable solution, and the thorough investigation yielded

results in form of a tailored offer for Strandmöllen AB.

2

The problem

What increases the appeal of a website?

There are several dimensions which influence the attitude and online appeal of a website.

Some of the more influential are listed as follows (Kim and Stoel, 2004);

how interesting the website is;

how informative the website is;

the web appearance;

the security of transaction on the website

the trustworthiness that the website emits.

Also, key words such as clarity, consistency and simplicity are listed as being essential for a

superior website (Cappel and Huang, 2007).

Strandmöllen AB has high-quality information on their website. However, the information is

incoherent, the website lacks a good structure and an explicit organization of the information.

Furthermore, retrieving information is truly complicated, possibly resulting in confusion for

the customer and other potential visitors. Additionally, the web appearance is not eye

catching, and customers may perceive it as uninteresting. The security is well developed

through having online support. The news is not up-to-date, and this function could be

connected to the management of information. The website ought to reflect the performance

and the identity of the company. If the features are not up-to-date this reflects negatively on

the perception of the visitor. A well developed and professional website will increase the

trustworthiness of the company; - an important piece and positive contribution to the activities

in the company of building a strong brand – Strandmöllen AB.

Key words important for Strandmöllen AB

Well-designed and informative

Web appearance; layout and design

Security of transaction

Trust of website

Clarity

Consistency

Simplicity

Table 1: Key words important for Strandmöllen AB

3

If the company‟s website lacks characteristics such as the ones mentioned in table 1, users of

the website might get confused and/or frustrated and will possibly chose to use a competing

company‟s website instead (Cappel, Huang, 2007.).

The problem is further enlarged through the fact that Sweden is a country that puts the web

and internet to use the most (CNN, 2012), and the time spent on internet is continuously

increasing in Sweden. An unexciting website is likely to fade away as noise among all the

other messages on the web. Hence, improving the website of Strandmöllen AB is likely to

improve their chances of differentiating their message through a superior website.

The gap between Strandmöllen AB and their website

Strandmöllen AB does have a very well developed organization with many competitive

advantages and value adding features for the customers. In a research by Wells, Valacich and

Hess, it was concluded that website quality impacts on consumers‟ perceptions on product

quality (Wells, Valacich and Hess, 2011), hence the website can be seen as representing the

company itself. Strandmöllen AB use their website as a marketing tool, and due to that, the

website lacks essential aspects. The danger is that it might fail to communicate the benefits of

the company properly. The GAP model is a model used in businesses to illustrate a

company‟s identity (from the company view) versus the perceived company image (from the

customers‟ and surrounding interested parties‟ view) (Fog, et al., 2010). Strandmöllen AB

may be argued to have the identity of offering quality products and providing high flexibility,

true responsibility and trustworthiness. However, if the website does not live up to these

standards, there may be a gap between the company identity and the perceived company

image. If the website does not portray the beneficial features in an accurate way, how shall the

customer learn about those?

4

The solution

We have identified several aspects which should be considered to be improved/included on

Strandmöllen AB‟s website. These aspects are explained and elaborated according to the

KANO-model, see appendix 1.

The solution would be further developed through consulting a web designing company.

The proposed web designing company for this project is Pixelant.

An improved, internationally oriented and user friendly website

5

Pixelant

Pixelant has its head office in Malmö and a support office in Karlskrona. Their customer base

of approximately 400 clients varies in types of businesses; whether they operate locally or

globally as well as in company size. The website of Pixelant provides examples of customers

they are working with in the present, and just to mention some: bigtravel.se (a travel agency),

tepekids.com (a dentist organization), natverketgoran.com (a large network organization),

fridfreud.se (educates in rhetoric) and notified.se (a social media specialised company).

TYPO3

Pixelant is specialized in web-publishing and digital information management. The company

uses a program called TYPO3. This is the coding base of the Content Management System

(CMS) used for the web design and web-publishing. Pixelant is providing an open source

code solution.

Why Pixelant?

Pixelant emphasizes their ambition of helping their customers with marketing and business

advantages on the internet. Their offer includes value adding services and features listed as

follows:

1. Highly flexible:

The system is very scalable, making it suitable for any type of business regardless of

size. Pixelant provides solutions differing in size and complexity. They have

confirmed that they are capable of developing a tool for online ordering and have done

similar projects for other customers.

2. User friendly:

When using this system the user can easily log in through any browser to make

changes on the website directly on the internet server.

TYPO3 is built with an open source code (i.e. without license fees). It is very flexible

and therefore also very user-friendly.

3. Superior product and service:

A complete installation of TYPO3 is performed.

Programming of the template is completed.

6

4. Education of staff:

The employees of Strandmöllen AB will receive the required education in order to be able

to use the system themselves. The structure of how the education will be carried through,

is designed based on customer preferences.

5. An all-inclusive solution:

Pixelant provides consult support in all phases in the process of developing the website.

According to which extent Strandmöllen AB wishes to exploit the professional consult

services, experiences and knowledge of Pixelant. Pixelant offers support for:

- Online strategy

- Pre-study

- Evaluation

- Migration and updating

- Workflow and (business) process analysis

- Technical consulting for:

System optimization

Security

Integration in intra- or extranet

Integration to other systems

Compatibility with different web browsers

Search engine optimization

Pixelant provides guidance for a tailored solution of which hosting partner to choose for

the website.

Additionally the hosting of the website is free of cost for a year when choosing Pixelant‟s

start package.

6. After-sales support:

Pixelant is very customer focused and highly flexible, therefore after-sales support is

tailored for each particular customer based on their specific needs and demands. When

signing a support contract, after-sales support is provided by Pixelant in the form of

phone- and internet support whenever needed. Furthermore, Pixelant provides these

support packages, as shown in table 2:

7

Availability Response time Time for action*

Silver 8-17 weekdays 8 hours 46 hours

Gold 8-17 weekdays 6 hours 36 hours

Platinum 8-22 all days 4 hours 26 hours

Table 2: Adopted from Pixelant, 2012

7. Pixelant has received good feedback from previous completed projects:

The WOM and feedback for the services of Pixelant are very positive, as displayed on

their website:

- Marcus Norrving, Co-founder at Notified: “We are able to easily update our website

thanks to TYPO3”.

- Kajsa Hindberg, web director at TePe: “We had a constructive and well established

cooperation with Pixelant throughout the entire process, from idea to launch, and we

are looking forward towards a continuous development.”

- Jessica Östergren, marketing director at BIG Travel: “With the help of Pixelant, we

have now taken a huge step in the right direction”.

8

Low

infl

uen

ce H

igh in

fluen

ce

Risk analysis

Figure 1: Risk analysis for Strandmöllen AB of adopting the solution, (as adopted from

Kristoffersson, 2012)

R1: Dissatisfying website

R2: Negative feedback from customers

R3: Pixelant seize to operate

R4: Customers not up-to-date with online ordering

R5: Cost loss

R6: Time consuming

Overall the majority of relevant risks are either low probability or little affect, these might not

even appear as a problem if Strandmöllen AB and Pixelant can create a positive relationship

and cooperate well; the website will be satisfying since it can combine the expertise of

Pixelant with the preferences and know-how of Strandmöllen AB.

R1, R5, R6 are low influence and low probability if the willingness to cooperate exists. In

order to avoid the risk of creating a website that is not satisfying for Strandmöllen AB (R1), it

requires that Strandmöllen AB and Pixelant work closely together when creating the website;

use Pixelant‟s expertise in designing websites and put forward requirements and desires for

how the website should be structured satisfyingly. The cost of a new website is not avoidable

and it takes time to design and produce it. On the other hand, the website is the face outwards

and therefore a very important part to invest in. Depending on what kind of applications and

R4 R6

R3

R1, R5

R2

High probability

Low probability

9

features Strandmöllen AB wants, the cost might increase, but the company will gain these

applications as a competitive advantage.

R2: Feedback from customers means possibility to adjust and require the possibility to satisfy

customers. If the customers give feedback, it is important for Strandmöllen AB to handle it

well and improve accordingly. This will indicate the willingness of Strandmöllen AB to

increase their customer focus. In addition, the TYPO3 is composed in a way that changes

could easily be made. Word of mouth can be a negative effect when customers have bad

experience using the website, therefore, feedback regarding opinions on the website should be

taken seriously and put into modification accordingly.

R3: The probability that Pixelant would seize to operate is low. If this scenario would appear,

the complications for Strandmöllen AB would not be severe since they have received

education of how to operate the system combined with the simplicity of using the system. It is

important for Strandmöllen AB, which currently does not have a webmaster of their own, to

hire a web-designer that is safe on the market. The company (Pixelant) is well established on

the market with a long and broad customer list. Furthermore, the fact that the production of

the website is based on TYPO3, as mentioned above an open source solution, Strandmöllen

AB will be free to choose another partner whenever the situation eventually would differ in

any way in the future. Strandmöllen AB is in that way not depending of any specific provider

of web services, including Pixelant. In this aspect the TYPO3 solution is a flexible, safe and

secure choice – e.g. Strandmöllen AB is now in the position to make a confident and

independent strategic business decision.

R4: Adding a tool for online ordering is something that Strandmöllen AB is considering as a

future project and would therefore not be implemented along with the changes proposed

earlier. The fact that some customers are not up-to-date with online ordering could rather be

ignored. Even if customers are not yet ready to order online this is a feature adopted by

competitors and therefore, should also be adopted by Strandmöllen AB to at least stay on the

same level as their competitors - or naturally and preferably, to outpace them. In addition to

this, gradually an increasing number of users will be very comfortable with online ordering –

they will even, in a not that remote future, expect the online services provided as a natural

ingredient in the interaction between themselves and their suppliers.

10

The value proposal

The website layout is essential to communicate the superior product offer of Strandmöllen AB

to their customers. Pixelant will in the new web design improve the layout and accessibility,

and also facilitate the usage of the website for national, international, current as well as

potential, customers. The design is fully installed and programmed, and due to the open

source code and the education of the employees of Strandmöllen AB, it will be highly user

friendly. TYPO3 further facilitates the usage of the website for the employees of

Strandmöllen AB. Based on requirements and demands of the company Pixelant is able to

provide tailored after sales support. Strandmöllen AB will receive one year of free hosting,

and Pixelant will offer additional support for which hosting partner to use, according to

Strandmöllen AB‟s preferences. During all phases of the project, Pixelant is competent of

providing professional consulting, all in tune with how Strandmöllen AB wishes to proceed

with the project.

Costs during the project development stages

The cost for the solution is set between 25.000-35.000 SEK depending on the complexity and

content of the task. The graph illustrating the time frame (see figure 2) is an example of how

the cost and time differs based on the requirements from Strandmöllen AB during the course

of the project. Usually one payment is made during the process of constructing the website

and then a final payment is made at the finalizing stage of the project. Note that the second

arrow suggests a further payment in the case of added features and changes of the website.

Figure 2: The cost- and time-frame for the project

11

The value equation

The cost of the project has been estimated to 25.000-35.000 SEK. The values and benefits of

the project weighting against the cost have been discussed earlier in the proposal, and are

illustrated in the value equation, see figure 3.

Figure 3: The value equation of the business proposal

Value of solution Cost of solution

25 000 – 35 000 SEK

High flexibility and independence

Communication base of company values

User friendly

Complete installation and programming

Education for staff

Expertise and consulting in all phases

Guidance of hosting + 1 year free hosting

Well developed after sales support

Good reputation of Pixelant

12

Benefits in the future

How will this solution affect/improve the competitiveness of Strandmöllen AB?

The representative from Strandmöllen AB, Niclas, during an interview at Elmia, informed that

the only marketing of the company is in fact fairs such as the Elmia fair and their website. An

appealing website which is available at all times is a greater opportunity of attracting the

customers‟ attention. There will be greater chances to promote the company. The improved

website will better present the potential benefits for the company‟s customers. It is clearly a

competitive advantage for Strandmöllen AB to have a well designed website where their

values are properly presented. A website that is up-to-date and interesting will catch the eye

of a current customer as well as a potential customer. The improvements will be beneficial for

Strandmöllen AB at many levels.

Potential benefits for Strandmöllen AB of an improved website.

Some of the benefits of having an improved website;

The benefit of this change is that the company will reach a broader audience, including

the opportunity and possibility to get the attention of defined target groups in new

markets. Nevertheless, when communicating with new potential customers on new

potential markets in Europe, or even in more distant potential markets and countries in

the world, step number one, and the most crucial challenge is to present Strandmöllen

AB – the company and its business proposition – in a well established, professional

and representative way. Basically - no matter what marketing channel, sales activity,

opportunity or situation the company might find itself in – the main goal is to gain

confidence with its existing and potential business partners.

As it is today, the website is only available in Swedish and Danish. The new website

will be available in an additional language (English) which will make it more user-

friendly for international visitors.

The website will be easier to navigate for customers and other interested parties.

If the website is updated with news the trustworthiness and credibility of the company

will increase.

13

If dismissal of the solution; what future consequences might this have?

The current website, representing the company, widens the gap between what the website

presents Strandmöllen AB as (the company image) and what Strandmöllen AB actually is (the

company identity) or what the company wants it to be (the company profile) e.g. the

company‟s work of positioning on the market / markets, and establishing an attractive profile

to match the customers‟ expectations.

Focusing on the website, impressions based on the company‟s websites will be made, and

customers can make comparisons of the competitors‟ websites in the market. The risk is that

Strandmöllen AB could fall behind and give competitors an advantage in attracting customers.

The desire of expanding and becoming bigger with a good image requires time, effort and

financing the investment. The probability of losing a potential customer is high, since the

ordering online application is missing today. An online ordering application would facilitate

the ordering for customers, since this could be done whenever it suits them. The possibility of

losing these customers is therefore high since they do not have that application today. The

new website will be trilingual, many international businesses are today establishing or have

established themselves in Sweden. If Strandmöllen AB chooses to dismiss the proposal they

can potentially loose these important customers. The new website that is offered in the

business proposal will also be easier to navigate. Time is essential for all companies, so if you

can reduce time on any aspect, it should be considered. The dismissal of the navigation offer

will lead to customers not knowing where to look to find important information, and will

therefore email or call instead. This will take precious time from both Strandmöllen AB and

the customers.

14

Implementation Plan

If you decide to implement the solution for Strandmöllen AB the first step of realizing the

plan is to initiate contact with Pixelant. We have been in contact with Robert Lindh, who

naturally is familiar with the project at hand. The detailed course of action is to be discussed

with Pixelant, and they have emphasized their ability to design solutions based on the

customer‟s needs and wants (see page 6-8). When we were consulting Robert, he said that the

time required to develop and implement the solution depends on the complexity of the task;

however he indicated that a relevant time frame for the project would be around one month.

As estimated, the budget plan would be calculated to approximately 25.000-35.000 SEK also

of course, depending on the complexity and content of the task.

You may choose to use the suggested improvements developed in this solution (see appendix

1), and/or incorporate your own suggestions, and with these in cooperation with Pixelant and

utilization of their expertise and knowledge, develop a modified proposal to fit the exact

needs and demands of your company.

15

Reference

- Cappel, J., Huang, Z., 2007. A usability analysis of company websites. Journal of Computer

Information Systems, Fall 2007, pp.119-123

- CNN, 2012. Web-Index. [online] Available at:

<http://edition.cnn.com/2012/09/05/tech/web/web-index/index.html> [Accessed 25 October

2012]

- Dran, G., Zhang, P., Small, R., 1999. Quality Websites: An Application of the Kano

Model to Website Design. AMCIS 1999 Proceedings. Paper 314.

-Figure 1: Kristoffersson, B. 2012, 04-Risk analys- time schedule-BK, 2FE120 Advanced

Technical Sales. Linnaeus University, unpublished.

-Figure 2: The cost- and time-frame for the project.

-Figure 3: Alsén, J. 2012, Introduction to sales, 2FE120 Advanced Technical Sales. Linnaeus

University, unpublished.

- Fog, K., Budtz, C., Munch, P. and Blanchette, S., 2010. Storytelling- branding in practice.

Fredriksberg: Samfundslitteratur.

-Kim, S., Stoel, L., 2004. Apparel retailers: website quality dimensions and satisfaction.

Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 11, pp.109–117

-Table 1: Key words important for Strandmöllen AB

-Table 2: Pixelant, 2012 [online] Avaliable at: <http://www.pixelant.se/> [Accessed 21

November 2012]

- Wells, J., Valacich, J., Hess, T., 2011. What signal are you sending? How website quality

influences perceptions of product quality and purchase intentions1. MIS Quarterly, Vol. 35,

No. 2, pp. 373-396

16

Appendix 1 - The Kano Model

(Dran et. Al. 1999)

Category Expected Quality:

Normal quality:

Exciting quality:

Navigation • Consistent use of link

colours

•„Verksamhetsområden‟

in two places on the

website.

• Not use the links in

doublets in several

places.

• Cleaner look in order

to increase effective

navigation.

• Links or guide to the

depots and sales offices.

• Direct links to the

PDF from the pages

with product

descriptions.

• A tab of job

application, which

includes contact

information to whom to

send the application to.

Appearance • Make use of the

colours in the logo.

• There should be a

consistency in the

website. Blue, black

and light grey seem to

be the right colours

reflecting the logo.

Yellow contradicts the

logo and since it is

considered a warm

colour, whereas blue

and grey are

considered cool

colours.

• Make available in

Swedish, Danish and

English.

• Table of content is

fairly good, but a tab for

sustainability could be

an advantage for

Strandmöllen AB. With

this additional tab it

stresses Strandmöllen

AB‟s goal to work

towards flexibility,

credibility and

responsibility. The table

of content should be

moved to the side,

vertically due to many

subtitles that covers the

rest of the website when

navigating there.

• Become more eye

catching.

• Instead of one

slideshow replace it

with a bigger picture in

the middle of the

website that runs from

one side of the screen

to the other side.

Professional pictures in

the layout.

Credibility • Layout the certificates • Place out logos and

17

that Strandmöllen AB

possesses: ISO

Certificate, one of the

cleanest gases in the

market, quality policy

and meets all the

required qualities. Show

the credibility using

references.

increase brand

awareness using the

website.

Organisation and

presentation of

information content

• Visitors should not

have to scroll on the

start page of a website.

• When clicking on one

of the table of content

tabs you should be able

to enter a page of the

tabs and not be forced

to choose one of the

subtitles to be taken to

another page.

• Inform and publish the

people involved in the

organisation with their

contact details. Avoid

that emails are sent to

one e-mail address

which then has to be

forwarded to someone

else.

• Regarding the search

box, it should be

visible at all times so

that the visitor does not

have to click it for the

actual search field to

appear.

• Use more exciting

pictures.

Characteristics of

information content

• News have to be

updated more

frequently.

• A tab with R&D and

one with sustainability

should be included.

• To promote the

company better these

aspects should be

included:

environmentally

friendly, recycle

policy, quality policy,

most modern

production facility in

northern Europe within

health care, 7 bullet

system, new scanning

system, education of

their staff. Two

possibilities of

packaging, certificates

and vision.

• The content of the

website should be

dated.

• Mention

Strandmöllen AB‟s

partners.