Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • August 2008 (Revised March 2010)
  • Case
  • HBS Case Collection

Finland's S Group: Competing with a Cooperative Approach to Retail

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Tarun Khanna, Samuli Skurnik and Jordan Mitchell
  • Format:Print
  • | Pages:39
ShareBar

Abstract

The case looks at the two dominant Finnish retailers: S Group and Kesko. S Group is a customer-owned cooperative, which has a unique holding structure whereby 1.7 million residents (or 70 percent of Finnish households) own 22 regional cooperatives. In turn, the regional cooperatives own SOK, a centralized company that provides services to the regional cooperatives. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, S Group lagged far behind the market leader, Kesko. However, since 2005, S Group has held the leadership position; in 2007, it had captured 41 percent market while Kesko's was 33.9 percent. Kesko Plc is publicly traded and pursues a model whereby retailer entrepreneurs use their personal funds to invest in stores and operate them completely. The case requires that students consider sources of competitive advantage that arise from the companies' markedly different business models.

Keywords

Business Model; Cooperative Ownership; Public Ownership; Competitive Advantage; Retail Industry; Finland

Citation

Casadesus-Masanell, Ramon, Tarun Khanna, Samuli Skurnik, and Jordan Mitchell. "Finland's S Group: Competing with a Cooperative Approach to Retail." Harvard Business School Case 709-409, August 2008. (Revised March 2010.)
  • Educators
  • Purchase

About The Authors

Ramon Casadesus-Masanell

Strategy
→More Publications

Tarun Khanna

Strategy
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • 2022
    • Faculty Research

    Is Hybrid Work the Best of Both Worlds? Evidence from a Field Experiment

    By: Prithwiraj Choudhury, Tarun Khanna, Christos A. Makridis and Kyle Schirmann
    • March 2022
    • Faculty Research

    Washio (D): Shutdown

    By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Karen Elterman
    • March 2022
    • Faculty Research

    Washio (C): From Growth to Margin

    By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Karen Elterman
More from the Authors
  • Is Hybrid Work the Best of Both Worlds? Evidence from a Field Experiment By: Prithwiraj Choudhury, Tarun Khanna, Christos A. Makridis and Kyle Schirmann
  • Washio (D): Shutdown By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Karen Elterman
  • Washio (C): From Growth to Margin By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Karen Elterman
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College