Steering the global value chain of an SME under uncertainty: the case of GlobeNet
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By Taina Eriksson, Research Director, and Niina Nummela, Professor of International Business, University of Turku.
This case explores how GlobeNet, a small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) operating globally in the education technology sector, manages its dispersed value chain and extensive partner network amid a rapidly changing and uncertain business environment. It focuses on the managerial challenges faced by the new managing director, Kim Lindholm, as he navigates the complexities of balancing technological innovation, diverse customer needs, and evolving sales partnerships. The case highlights the importance of dynamic capabilities and innovative leadership in steering a small global factory to sustain competitive advantage despite limited hierarchical control over its independent partners.
About the Article
The article is based on Chapter 25, titled “Steering the Global Value Chain of an SME Under Uncertainty: The Case of GlobeNet,” from the book Reframing the Case Method in Entrepreneurship Education, edited by Karin Wigger, Lise Aaboen, Dag Haneberg, Siri Jakobsen, and Thomas Lauvås.
This chapter presents a real-world case of GlobeNet, a Finland-based SME operating globally in the education technology sector. The case focuses on the managerial and strategic challenges faced by the company’s new managing director, highlighting themes such as global partner network management, dynamic capabilities, and adaptation in uncertain markets. At the heart of the narrative is Kim Lindholm, a newly appointed managing director stepping into a leadership role in a company with a long history, strong technological capabilities, and an extensive international sales partner network. Through his eyes, students gain insight into the complexity of running a global value chain within an SME context, where resources are limited and influence over external partners is constrained.
If you are an educator, you can use this article as a teaching tool for entrepreneurship and management education as an illustration of encourages critical thinking and active learning through discussion and role-play.
The Case Story
This case follows GlobeNet, a small but globally operating Finnish SME in the education technology sector, as it undergoes a leadership transition. Mr. Kim Lindholm, the newly appointed managing director, steps into the role with extensive experience from large corporations, but now faces the unique challenges of leading a smaller, agile firm with a broad international reach.
GlobeNet serves customers in over 100 countries through a diverse partner network, and while its roots are in hardware, the company is shifting toward more complex software-based products. This transition introduces difficulties, as many long-standing partners may lack the expertise required for the new offerings. At the same time, Lindholm must navigate the slow pace of technological adoption in educational institutions and manage internal dynamics with an experienced leadership team.
Set in a volatile and uncertain business environment, the case highlights strategic issues related to partner management, organizational capabilities, and the need for dynamic leadership in sustaining competitiveness and driving transformation.
This case begins with the arrival of Kim Lindholm, the newly appointed managing director of GlobeNet Corporation, a Finnish SME with a strong global presence in education technology. With years of experience in large tech companies, Mr. Lindholm brings a fresh perspective to a smaller, fast-evolving firm.
Despite his background in IT, marketing, and sales, GlobeNet presents him with a new challenge: leading a global value chain in a lean organization with limited resources. As he steps into his role, he must quickly learn how to adapt big-company strategies to a small but ambitious international company, all while navigating market change, legacy systems, and a complex partner network.
This engaging real-life scenario sets the stage for deeper discussions about leadership, strategic transformation, and the realities of managing globally dispersed operations in a small business context.
GlobeNet Corporation is a Finland-based SME specializing in technology solutions for the education sector. With fewer than 100 employees, the company serves customers in over 100 countries. Its roots trace back to the 1960s, initially as part of a larger organization, and it became an independent company through a management buy-out in the early 2000s. The GlobeNet brand reflects a legacy of strong brands formed through mergers and acquisitions.
GlobeNet offers a blend of hardware and software products, although all hardware manufacturing is outsourced to a trusted partner. Over its long history, the company has embraced several technological shifts, and its current portfolio integrates various technologies. A notable milestone is the launch of a virtual product that runs on standard computers without the need for specialized hardware—a first in its field.
Reflecting Finnish strengths in innovation, GlobeNet prides itself on its highly skilled in-house technology team and maintains active collaboration with external partners for ongoing product development.
Upon joining GlobeNet, Mr. Lindholm quickly gained insight into the company’s operations, market dynamics, and internal structure. While rapid technological change is typical in many sectors, he observed that the education market adopts new technologies slowly—primarily due to cautious educators who fear classroom disruptions. Students, by contrast, are eager to adopt new tools, but teachers ultimately control what is used, often limited by outdated infrastructure.
GlobeNet operates through a diverse network of around 200 global sales partners, ranging from small hardware installers to large multinational solution providers. While this partner network has enabled impressive international reach, Mr. Lindholm learned that many long-standing partners may struggle to sell increasingly complex software-based products. These newer offerings require more technical knowledge and the ability to advise on hardware and software integration. Although hardware still drives a significant portion of GlobeNet’s revenue, software is becoming increasingly central, posing a challenge for some partners.
The company also sells through large-scale government contracts and via a few direct international offices, such as in the UK. As large project sales gradually increase, managing partner collaboration for these initiatives becomes more critical.
Internally, Mr. Lindholm found GlobeNet’s top management team to be experienced and highly competent. Each executive brought a distinct perspective on the partner network and innovation challenges. While there was agreement on the strength of current operations, several leaders noted that some partners are not future-ready, particularly when it comes to selling and supporting advanced solutions.
Though Mr. Lindholm appreciated the organizational structure and competence of both the sales and tech teams, he recognized a potential need to strengthen the company’s sales and marketing capabilities. Running such a large partner network requires continuous engagement, and he knows from prior experience that partner motivation is crucial. Yet, as an SME, GlobeNet lacks the leverage of larger firms. Motivating partners and aligning them with strategic goals will require creativity, close relationships, and ongoing investment in sales leadership.
Despite its small size, GlobeNet operates globally with a value chain spread across multiple countries. Offering both hardware and software products, the company is involved in physical production as well as knowledge-intensive activities like coding. Its global reach is supported by a network of sales partners that enables access to markets on every continent except Antarctica. This organizational model aligns with the concept of a “global factory,” first introduced by Buckley and Ghauri (2004) to describe the structure of large multinational corporations. While originally applied to big firms, recent research has shown that SMEs like GlobeNet can also adopt similar globally dispersed structures—though key differences remain in how they operate and manage these networks (Eriksson et al., 2014).
First, for globally operating SMEs like GlobeNet, the role of a partner network is essential for growth and international reach. However, managing this type of network presents significant challenges, as it consists of independent organizations over which GlobeNet has no direct hierarchical control. Unlike large corporations, SMEs cannot impose demands on their partners, making trust and cooperation critical. As a result, companies operating within a global factory structure must develop innovative managerial and organizational capabilities to effectively coordinate and guide their networks.
Secondly, small global factories like GlobeNet operate in a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) business environment. To succeed, the company must continuously adapt to rapid market and environmental changes, especially given its presence across multiple continents and its involvement in a technology-driven industry. Relying on ad hoc problem-solving is no longer sufficient; instead, GlobeNet must balance various sales models while developing its channel and partner portfolio for long-term growth. Therefore, the company requires strong dynamic capabilities to maintain and strengthen its competitive position.
Dynamic capabilities theory explains how companies build and maintain competitive advantages in rapidly changing environments (Teece et al., 1997). According to Teece (2007), dynamic capabilities involve three essential processes: sensing opportunities, seizing them by preparing to act, and transforming the organization by reconfiguring resources and structures. Firms with strong dynamic capabilities are better equipped not only to adapt to change but also to proactively drive it.
Case Activities
As a case activity, you will work in groups with four to five other students to develop a role play of the resource mobilization process of a community entrepreneur. To conduct the role play, follow these steps:
- Each group member rereads the case and writes notes while they describe the critical resources, resource stakeholders, goals, drivers, and barriers involved in the resource mobilization process of the entrepreneur developing the community enterprise, TGV.
- The group discusses the case to develop a common understanding of it. Thereafter, the group clarifies the roles and goals of resource stakeholders that are involved in the resource mobilization process of an entrepreneur developing a community enterprise.
- The group develops a role play where they highlight the different roles and goals of resource stakeholders in the resource mobilization process of an entrepreneur developing a community enterprise. The group can use the case as inspiration or they can develop a role play for their own real or invented community enterprise. Each student should take different roles in the process and have different goals for the enterprise. For instance, one student can act as the entrepreneur who tries to convince the resource stakeholders to engage, one student can be an artist with creative requirements, another can be a municipal employee with rural community development goals, one student can be a volunteer who wants to take part in the decisions about the concerts and other activities, and one student can be a commercial actor who wants to earn money from the festival. The group can either try to find a solution that balances all goals or facilitate the diversity and illustrate the challenges and conflicts that can be a part of this type of collective process.
- The group prepares a presentation of the role play for the rest of the class. Some of the groups or all groups in the class will be asked to present the role play.
- Finally, the class discusses the different solutions in plenum.
REFERENCES
Buckley, P. J., & Ghauri, P. N. (2004). Globalisation, economic geography and the strategy of multinational enterprises. Journal of International Business Studies, 35(2), 81–98.
Eriksson, T., Nummela, N., & Saarenketo, S. (2014). Dynamic capability in a small global factory. International Business Review, 23(1), 169–180.
Teece, D. J. (2007). Explicating dynamic capabilities: The nature and microfoundations of (sustainable) enterprise performance. Strategic Management Journal, 28(13), 1319–1350.
Teece, D. J., Pisano, G., & Shuen, A. (1997). Dynamic capabilities and strategic management. Strategic Management Journal, 18(7), 509–533.
Based on
REFRAMING THE CASE METHOD IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION
Karin Wigger, Lise Aaboen, Dag Haneberg, Siri Jakobsen, and Thomas Lauvås – 9781800881150
Downloaded from https://www.elgaronline.com/ via Open Access
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives 4.0 License
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Chapter 25: Steering the global value chain of an SME under uncertainty: the case of GlobeNet