Inter-organizational interaction as a marketing strategy for the development of the handicrafts sector

Abstract

A revival of handicraft culture may be observed in Lithuania. In a modern society handicrafts are thought to be a part of leisure time, a hobby instead of a necessity as earlier. However, the craftsmen are beginning to combine the results of creative inspiration with economical benefit – the possibility to sell their creations. Assuming that the primary motive of handicraft lovers is the materialization of creativity, masters mostly concentrate to creative-productive process and do not give significant attention to the development of activity. The craftsmen often do not know how marketing decisions and collaboration with other organizations functioning in the same sector could change the business possibilities. Masters obtain materials and spread their creations rather primitively. Due to this reason the organizational interaction – benefit trades between material providers, creators and creation sellers is becoming especially relevant. The article presents an empirical research made. The results of this research show that without taking care of the efficiency of organizational interaction and joint marketing decisions, organizations reach lesser economical benefit. According to the results of theoretical analysis and empirical research, a model of inter-organizational collaboration enabling the motivating the balanced development of handicraft sector is proposed.