@misc{9235054,
  abstract     = {{Abstract
Global industrial providers increasingly recognize the aftermarket as a significant source of untapped value, yet many remain challenged in the pursuit of capturing it. This research examines a global medical simulation provider where the absence of strategic segmentation between primary product flows and the distribution of spare parts has produced persistent operational misalignment. Left unaddressed, such misalignment can seriously undermine service performance and aftermarket value realization, ultimately constraining a firm’s capacity to leverage the aftermarket as a source of competitive edge.
This study adopts a Design Science Research (DSR) approach, utilizing the CIMO logic to structure the development of a managerial artifact aimed at strategically aligning the aftermarket distribution network with its operational reality. To address the underlying causes of this misalignment, a Current Reality Tree (CRT) is employed to deconstruct the ill-structured nature of aftermarket friction, surfacing the causal links between fragmented governance, misaligned performance metrics and KPIs, undifferentiated network design, and a fundamental mismatch between supply and demand. The diagnostic phase provides a rigorous empirical foundation for the following design of an intervention, ensuring that the artifact is grounded in the organizational realities of the case company, rather than generalized assumptions. Guided by the CRT findings and structured through the CIMO logic, the resulting artifact introduces a structural separation between aftermarket and primary distribution flows.}},
  author       = {{Raugstad, Karoline and Isander, Alma}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{"Annie, Are You OK? Strategic Alignment of Aftermarket Distribution Network" A Case Study in the Medical Simulation Sector}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}