Naslov
Identification of business opportunities related to refurbishment and distribution of refurbished IT equipment in Croatia

Autori
Kukić, Josip ; Gregov, Zrinka

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Sažeci sa skupova, sažetak, ostalo

Izvornik
Book of abstracts of the International Conference on the Economics of the Decoupling (ICED) Zagreb, 30 November - 1 December 2020 / Družić, Gordan ; Sekur, Tomislav - Zagreb : Ekonomski fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, 2020, 67-68

Skup
2. međunarodna znanstvena konferencija Ekonomija razdvajanja = 2nd International Conference on the Economics of the Decoupling (ICED)

Mjesto i datum
Zagreb, Hrvatska, 30.11.2020. - 01.12.2020

Vrsta sudjelovanja
Predavanje

Vrsta recenzije
Recenziran

Ključne riječi
business opportunity, refurbished IT equipment, product life cycle, reverse logistics, Croatia.

Sažetak
In recent years, the speed and capacity of professional IT equipment components has reached the level that allows 3-4-year-old equipment to cope quite successfully with most of the demands of the average user. Namely, new equipment is often over capacitated and used significantly below its capabilities during the day-to-day usage. Also, equipment is often replaced due to changes in standards, expiration of leas period, spending of institution’s annual budgets and even due to the trend itself. Treating such functional equipment as electronic waste is completely wrong, both for economic and environmental reasons. Moreover, it is important to distinguish the process of refurbishment from the collection and recycling of electronic waste. In this case, it is not waste, but functional equipment that will not, as a rule, be degraded into secondary raw materials, but renewed and returned to its primary function. However, there is a challenge in determining profitability with regard to the quantities of purchased and sold equipment, purchase and sale prices and calculations of real costs in the renovation process. The aim of this paper is to identify the market niche and emerging business opportunities in the area of refurbishment and distribution of refurbished IT equipment in Croatia. To achieve this goal five research questions were defined: RQ1) How is the refurbished IT equipment defined and what are the characteristics of the refurbishment process? RQ2) How high is demand for refurbished IT equipment in Croatia in different market segments and product groups? RQ3) What are the characteristics of supply and the quality of the refurbished IT equipment and spare parts in different market segments and product groups on the Croatian market? RQ4) What is the impression of the customer regarding the purchase of refurbished equipment? RQ5) How cost-effective is the refurbishment and distribution of refurbished equipment? Theoretical - practical research framework defines the refurbished product, context and circumstances creating the need for refurbishment, processes of reverse logistics and the activities of refurbishment as parts of those logistic processes, using mostly foreign literature and other secondary sources. Empirical research was conducted by online survey of 36 computer hardware professionals, from 33 Croatian hardware companies, collecting their experiences, perceptions and views. Collected data were analysed using descriptive statistics and Hisrich, Peters and Shepherd model for business opportunity recognition and evaluation. Two directions of business opportunities have been identified from the research results. The first one relates exclusively to distribution of refurbished IT equipment and it is appropriate for small or micro-enterprise or expansion of existing IT service, maintenance or sale services. It does not require large investments and risks or large scope of competencies, but offers limited growth and relatively modest but steady income. The second direction includes refurbishment of IT equipment and related reverse logistics activities, along with distribution. Refurbishment and related activities make separate industry branch, which is profitable in case of high volumes, high process efficiency, high utilization and resource integration and high investment. This entrepreneurial venture is appropriate for larger entrepreneurs with the required experience, predetermined by prior contracts with large partners, such as retail chains and global IT distributors or integrators. New business opportunities in the global market that may come up during the business cooperation in domain of renewal with such partners may be the subject of further research.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Računarstvo, Ekonomija

POVEZANOST RADA