Close Cookie Notice

Welcome to the MIT CISR website!

This site uses cookies. Review our Privacy Statement.

Working Paper hero
Working Paper: Case Study

Customer Centricity at Ponsse: Redesigning the Company to Serve a Broader Set of Customers

Ponsse Plc, a manufacturer of forest machines, reframed customer centricity to generate meaningful digital solutions that addressed the needs of a broader set of customers.
CASE STUDY

An in-depth description of a firm’s approach to an IT management issue (intended for MBA and executive education)

Abstract

By the end of 2021, Ponsse Plc, traditionally a manufacturer of forest machines, had earned its place as Finland’s most reputable company across all industry sectors for the fourth consecutive year. Ponsse’s top management team, which included the chairman and seven other directors, credited the company’s success to its customer centricity. For most of the company’s history, this had meant focusing on the interests of one type of Ponsse customer: forest machine operators. In 2014, Ponsse diversified its innovation efforts to generate digital solutions for additional types of customers—although initially these solutions did not resonate with the customers they were designed for. This case study describes how the top management team at Ponsse redirected the company’s innovation efforts to generate meaningful digital solutions that addressed the needs of a broader set of customers. It explains how the team reinforced the company’s cross-functional culture, defined new customer segments, and identified which customers’ needs to address, then redesigned and built out the company’s digital capabilities accordingly.

Access More Research!

Any registered, logged-in user of the website can read many MIT CISR Working Papers in the webpage from 90 days after publication, plus download a PDF of the publication. Members of MIT CISR Patron and Sponsor organizations get access to additional content.

About the Authors

Profile picture for user jukkamssalonen@gmail.com

Jukka Salonen, MIT CISR Industry Research Fellow, MIT Center for Information Systems Research (CISR)

MIT CENTER FOR INFORMATION SYSTEMS RESEARCH (CISR)

Founded in 1974 and grounded in the MIT tradition of rigorous field-based research, MIT CISR helps executives meet the challenge of leading dynamic, global, and information-intensive organizations. Through research, teaching, and events, the center stimulates interaction among scholars, students, and practitioners. More than seventy-five firms sponsor our work and participate in our consortium. 

MIT CISR Patrons
AlixPartners
Avanade
Axway, Inc.
Collibra
Pegasystems Inc.
PricewaterhouseCoopers
Standard Bank Group (South Africa)
The Ogilvy Group
MIT CISR Sponsors
Allstate Insurance Company
Amcor
AmerisourceBergen
ANZ Banking Group (Australia)
AustralianSuper
Banco Bradesco S.A. (Brazil)
Banco do Brasil S.A.
Bank of Queensland (Australia)
BlueScope Steel (Australia)
BNP Paribas (France)
Bristol-Myers Squibb
Bupa (Australia)
Cabot Corporation
CarMax
Caterpillar, Inc.
CEMEX (Mexico)
Charles River Laboratories, Inc.
CIBC (Canada)
Cochlear Limited (Australia)
Commonwealth Superannuation Corp. (Australia)
Cuscal Limited (Australia)
CVS Health
DBS Bank Ltd. (Singapore)
Doosan Corporation (Korea)
Fidelity Investments
Fomento Economico Mexicano, S.A.B., de C.V.
Fortum (Finland)
General Mills, Inc.
Gilbane Building Co.
Henkel AG & Co. (Germany)
Johnson & Johnson (J&J)
Kaiser Permanente
King & Wood Mallesons (Australia)
Koç Holding (Turkey)
Mercer
Nasdaq, Inc.
National Australia Bank Ltd.
Nomura Holdings, Inc. (Japan)
Nomura Research Institute, Ltd. Systems Consulting Division (Japan)
Pacific Life Insurance Company
Pioneer Natural Resources USA Inc.
Posten Norge AS (Norway)
Principal Financial Group
Procter & Gamble
QBE
Ramsay Health Care (Australia)
Raytheon Technologies
Reserve Bank of Australia
SC Global Tubular Solutions
Scentre Group Limited (Australia)
Schneider Electric Industries SAS (France)
State Street Corp.
Stockland (Australia)
Suncorp Group (Australia)
Tetra Pak (Sweden)
Trinity Health
Truist Financial Corporation
UniSuper Management Pty Ltd (Australia)
Uniting
USAA
Webster Bank, N.A.
Westpac Banking Corporation (Australia)
WestRock Company
Wolters Kluwer
Zoetis Services LLC
Find Us
Center for Information Systems Research
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Sloan School of Management
245 First Street, E94-15th Floor
Cambridge, MA 02142
617-253-2348