A economia mundial tem passado por sucessivas transformações em direção à internacionalização da produção e mercados, em um movimento caracterizado pelo aumento da interdependência entre os países. Além da globalização, outra questão que tem tido atenção crescente ao longo das últimas décadas é a matriz energética mundial, fortemente baseada em combustíveis fósseis. Considerando-se a necessidade de repensar as fontes atuais de energia, tem-se discutido o desenvolvimento do mercado internacional de etanol, com a participação das exportações brasileiras e perspectivas de crescimento positivas. O mercado internacional de etanol, no entanto, tem apresentado instabilidades, tanto na oferta, quanto na demanda, estando altamente suscetível a crises econômicas. Assim, se definiu como problema de pesquisa da dissertação o caso de empresas que tiveram de estruturar suas estratégias de internacionalização como resposta às mudanças desse ambiente. Para estudar o fenômeno, optou-se por realizar uma pesquisa qualitativa, descritiva e exploratória, utilizando o método de estudos de casos múltiplos no setor durante a década de 2000 a 2010. Foram selecionados os casos das empresas Açúcar Guarani e Cosan, tendo em vista sua relevância para o setor em termos de faturamento de sua divisão de etanol e presença de atividade internacional. Pôde-se constatar que a internacionalização dos casos ainda é pouco evoluída, uma vez que as empresas baseiam sua entrada em mercados de destino principalmente em exportações, forma que não envolve o comprometimento significativo de recursos em países estrangeiros. Isso se deve ao fato de o Brasil possuir um mercado doméstico que absorve a maior parte da produção, bem como a falta de maturidade do mercado internacional atualmente. Embora o segmento ainda apresente perfil mais oportunístico, os principais grupos do setor têm direcionado esforços para fortalecer parcerias com outros competidores, que os permitiriam ampliar sua participação internacional no longo prazo. / The world economy has gone through successive transformations toward the internationalization of production and markets, in a movement characterized by the increase in the interdependence among countries. Besides globalization, another issue that has received attention nowadays is the world\'s energy matrix, based heavily on fossil fuels. Considering the need to rethink the current energy sources, has discussed the development of the international ethanol market, with the participation of Brazilian exports and positive growth prospects. The international market for ethanol, however, has showed great turbulences, regarding both the demand and the supply levels. Considering this context, the problem defined for this research is the way in which ethanol producers in Brazil had restructured their internationalization strategies in order to adapt to their organizational environment. To study this phenomenon, the author chose to conduct a qualitative, descriptive and exploratory research, using the method of multiple case studies in the sector during the decade from 2000 to 2010. The cases selected were the companies Cosan and Açúcar Guarani, in view of their relevance to the industry in terms of sales of its division of ethanol and the presence of international activity. It was found that the internationalization of cases is still not considered mature since firms base their entry modes in other countries on exports, so that does not involve the commitment of significant resources in foreign countries. This is due to the fact that Brazil has a domestic market that absorbs most of the production as well as the lack of maturity in the international market today. Although the segment still presents an opportunistic profile, the major industry groups have directed efforts to strengthen partnerships with other competitors, which make it possible for them to expand its international participation in the long term.

Os Bancos, com o objetivo de atender (e reter) seus clientes ao redor do mundo, se internacionalizam, implantando subsidiárias em diferentes países que possuem regulamentações, culturas e hábitos muitas vezes distintos da matriz, aumentando assim a complexidade da gestão e dos papéis que devem ser assumidos pelas subsidiárias e pela matriz. Os clientes (bancários) exigem o mesmo padrão de atendimento e qualidade, com sistemas e interface padronizados que centralizem as informações, ao mesmo tempo requerem um conhecimento do mercado local e suas regulamentações. Alguns elementos são mais fáceis de serem centralizados, outros dependem de capacidades locais tendo resultados melhores de forma descentralizada. Neste contexto, é importante compreender como o Banco Citibank, uma das instituições mais internacionalizadas do mundo, equaciona a questão da adaptação de sua estratégia global às condições locais. Para entender como o Banco lida com este trade-off, foi realizado um estudo de caso exploratório, com uma abordagem qualitativa. A análise permitiu explicitar qual estratégia a empresa adotou para os diferentes elementos estratégicos, identificando quais foram adaptados ou padronizados e os motivadores para esta decisão. Na análise realizada com base na Matriz de Day (1990), constatou-se que o banco adotou diferentes estratégias para cada elemento, padronizando principalmente os elementos de orientação estratégica e o de recursos humanos, adaptando localmente os elementos de marketing e assumindo uma estratégia mista em operações e tecnologia. Adicionalmente, verificou-se que o papel estratégico assumido pela subsidiária brasileira pode ser considerado principalmente na América Latina como um líder estratégico. / With the aim of attending (and retaining) clients around the world, Banks are becoming international, by establishing subsidiaries in different countries that have regulations, cultures, and habits, which many times are different from the headquarter. Thus, increasing the management and roles\' complexity that must be assumed by subsidiaries and headquarter. Clients (bankers) require the same service and quality standard, with standardized systems and interface that centralize information, while requiring domestic market knowledge and its regulations. Some elements are easier to be centralized, others depend on domestic capacities with better results in a decentralized manner. Hence, it is important to comprehend how Bank Citibank, which is one of the most universal institutions in the world, equates the global strategy issue to the domestic conditions. An exploratory case study was carried out to understand how the Bank deals with this trade-off, with a qualitative approach. This analysis clarified which strategy the company adopted for different strategic elements, identifying the ones that were adapted or standardized and the motivators for this decision. In the analysis carried out in Day\'s matrix (1990), it was seen that the bank adopted different strategies for each element, by standardizing mainly the strategic guidance and human resources elements, domestically adapting the marketing elements, and assumed a mixed strategy in operations and technology. In sum, the strategic role assumed by the Brazilian subsidiary was verified for being mainly considered in Latin America as a strategic leader.

O consumo, em sua visão mais simplista, representa a busca pelo conforto, prazer e segurança. As marcas são atores fundamentais neste processo, pois assumem o papel de identificação e diferenciação de produtos, auxiliando o consumidor no momento da decisão de compra, ajudando-o a escolher e reduzindo-se a insegurança gerada no momento de se optar por uma marca em detrimento de outra. Portanto, a gestão de marcas, ou branding, possui importância inquestionável no marketing das organizações, desde a concepção e o desenvolvimento de um produto até as estratégias de comunicação deste. Após a globalização, o mundo passou a sofrer um processo de perda de fronteiras geográficas e, em certo sentido, culturais, o que implicou em novos rumos para praticamente todos os negócios. Como resultado, um dos principais desafios da globalização para as empresas envolve a decisão sobre o posicionamento de suas marcas em mercados externos, atendendo, ao mesmo tempo, as diferenças culturais inerentes a cada região, sem, no entanto, descaracterizar a identidade essencial da marca. Portanto, o presente trabalho objetiva analisar o posicionamento internacional de marcas de serviços sob o enfoque das divergências culturais locais. Para o alcance do objetivo proposto realizou-se a revisão da literatura relativa ao tema de gestão de marcas, posicionamento internacional e cultura. Como esta revisão não foi suficiente para responder ao problema da tese, fez-se necessária a realização de uma pesquisa de campo, de natureza exploratória e qualitativa, com utilização do método do estudo de caso. O setor bancário foi escolhido para a pesquisa de campo, feita por meio da realização de dois estudos de caso relativos aos bancos Itaú e Santander. Objetivou-se conhecer como um banco brasileiro (Itaú) procedeu em seu processo de internacionalização da marca em países estrangeiros, e, por outro lado, compreender também como um banco estrangeiro (Santander) implementou suas operações no Brasil, com enfoque na gestão de sua marca à luz dos aspectos culturais brasileiros. A análise dos resultados foi feita primeiramente de forma individual para cada caso e, posteriormente, de forma comparativa, à luz do embasamento teórico previamente realizado. Os resultados da tese indicam que é possível, para as organizações, internacionalizarem suas marcas de maneira adaptativa ao ambiente cultural distinto sem, no entanto, descaracterizarem suas essências e identidades nucleares. / Consumption, concisely, represents the pursuit of comfort, pleasure and security. Brands act as essential clues in this process, through the identification and differentiation of products, helping the consumer choose throughout the buying decision process, and making it more comfortable for them, decreasing the insecurity sensation that results from the option for a brand to the detriment of others. Therefore, the brand management, or branding, has unquestionable importance in the context of marketing in organizations, from the conception and development of a product to its communication strategies. After globalization, the world has faced a process of losing its geographic and, to a certain extent, cultural boundaries, implying new ways of making business in almost every market segment. As a result, one of the main globalization challenges for the companies involve all the decisions about positioning of brands in foreign markets, simultaneously corresponding to cultural differences intrinsic to each country, without losing the essential identity of the brand. Therefore, the present thesis aimed to analyze the international positioning of service brands within the context of local cultural divergences. For such a purpose, a theoretical review was carried out, referred to the subject of brand management, international positioning and culture. Once this review was not sufficient to answer the problem of the thesis, a field work was necessary, through an exploratory and qualitative research, using the method of case study. The banking segment was chosen for the investigation, through studying the cases of Itaú Bank and Santander Bank. This phase of the work aimed to understand how a Brazilian bank (Itaú) developed its process of brand internationalization in foreign countries and, on the other side, how a foreign bank (Santander) developed its operations in Brazil, managing its brand in the Brazilian cultural context. The results of the field research were first analyzed individually for each case and, subsequently, in a comparative way, in the light of the theoretical reference. The results of this study indicate that it is possible, for companies, to internationalize their brands, suiting them to the new cultural context without losing their essences and core brand identities.

As principais empresas do setor de moda, que têm atuação global, têm procurado expandir para os chamados mercados emergentes desde o fim dos anos 90, haja vista que, os seus mercados habituais estavam saturados e o Brasil com isso tem sido invadido por essas grandes empresas através de investimentos diretos, franquias e licenciamentos. No país encontram um ambiente bastante favorável para iniciar suas operações com um mercado consumidor em crescimento. As empresas brasileiras de moda, que primam pelo design, originalidade e diferenciação, sentindo que o mercado nacional está extremamente concorrido com a chegada destas empresas, iniciaram um processo de internacionalização de suas marcas, ofertando seus produtos em busca de novos mercados e adotando diferentes estratégias de entrada nos mercados internacionais. O objetivo principal deste trabalho foi investigar como se processa o desenvolvimento de produtos em empresas brasileiras de moda que estão se internacionalizando. Para o desenvolvimento deste trabalho, foi realizado um estudo multicasos com três importantes empresas brasileiras atuantes no setor de moda. Os resultados mostraram que as empresas são influenciadas pelas tendências internacionais de moda, mas estão lançando suas coleções nos mercados internacionais, no mesmo momento que as grandes marcas de moda internacionais. Mostraram também que as empresas estão produzindo produtos do mesmo nível de qualidade que estas marcas, graças à qualidade dos fornecedores brasileiros e o acesso a fornecedores internacionais. / The main companies of the fashion sector, that have global performance, have been looking for extending their markets towards the ones named emergent markets, since the end of the 90s, and as their usual markets were saturated, Brazil has been invaded by those important companies through direct investment, franchises and licenses. They meet here a very favorable environment to start their productions with a growing consumer market. The Brazilian fashion firms, which excel at their design, originality and differentiation, feeling the national market as extremely competitive with the arrival of those companies, started a process of internationalization of their brands, offering their products in the search for new markets and adopting different strategies to get into them. The main objective of this work was to investigate how is processed the development of products in the Brazilian fashion firms that are being internationalized. As a way of developing the work, it was done a multicases study with three important Brazilian firms of the fashion scene. The results showed that these firms are influenced by the international fashion trends, but they are introducing their collections on the international market at the same time of the famous international brands. They also showed that they are manufacturing products of the same quality level of these brands, thanks to the quality of Brazilian suppliers and to the access to international suppliers as well.

Title: The influence of culture on the selection process of international market and entry mode. Level: Master Thesis in Business Management Authors: Samed Zaatra & Nabil Al-Taji Supervisor: Professor Ehsanul Huda Chowdhry, Ph.D. Examiner: Professor Maria Fregidou-Malama, Ph.D. Date: June 2017 Aim: The study aims to investigate the influence of cultural similarities when business entities decide to expand their business and enter a new market and it also focuses on the selecting process of the entry modes in regard to the cultural similarity. Methodology: Qualitative case study conducting semi-structured interviews as a main source for the primary data and support it with the pervious and current theoretical framework as the secondary data collection.  Findings: Many factors have an influence on the selection process of entry mode, and they are all connected to each other in some way. The main important factors are the level of risk and level of commitment. The cultural differences and similarities have an influence on the selection process of entry mode, which the more similarities, the lower risk, and vice versa. Contribution: This Study provides better understanding of the effect of culture similarity & entry modes. This study also contributes to the general business environment by which, all companies despite the fact of the size or the product line they have, they all should be aware of many opportunities and threats surrounding them when deciding to enter a new market. The study generates a viewpoint of using the similarity as a motivation for starting a business in a similar market.    Result & Conclusions:  We figured out in this research that the culture similarity has no influence on the motive behind expanding and entering new markets since the motive for companies to expand is the growth of market share, sales, and profit. On the other hand, cultural similarities and low physical distance along with an opportunity in the market is a significant motive that pushes companies toward expanding, and it will increase the companies’ experiences and the possibility of success in the culturally different market and a market with a high physical distance. Limitations: This study approach is qualitative, i.e. a limited number of companies are investigated. On the other hand, the small amount of the secondary data that was available in regards the topic was rear. Also, regarding the geographical distance between the country that we conducted the study at ‘Sweden’ and ‘Egypt’ where the headquarter of Dawlia21 is, also we only Skype interviews, it would be more reliable if it were face to face interviews. Suggestions for future research: Cultural similarity would be the main topic to consider in the field of investigation as long as there are not too many academic articles about it, so we suggest for more focus on the area of cultural similarities. The second part that would be an interesting to study would be the African market as a general and each country as accurate because we believe as researchers that the time will come, and this market will improve and get better on the economic and business levels.

This study explored the motivations, desired outcomes, and strategies used when developing and implementing international joint/dual degree programs in the US. Twenty-three administrators involved with the development international joint/dual degree programs, primarily at public doctoral-granting institutions of higher education in the US, were interviewed to learn more about current practices. Findings indicated that the primary motivations for developing international joint/dual degree programs include: recruitment, extending an existing partnership, and that it was part of an institutional strategic plan. The desired outcomes include: growth in both student participation and number of programs. To achieve these desired outcomes seven strategies being utilized by the institutions represented in this study are presented. The lack of formal assessment of programs and student experiences was a chronic challenge relayed by participants. By integrating these findings, this study introduces the notion of transnational partnerships as part of a network that enhances the ability for individual institutions to share resources and expertise in order to pursue new opportunities globally. In this way the tension between the traditional educational mission of the institutions and new entrepreneurial interests can be balanced.

This paper illustrates recent processes of internationalization of second home tourism based on detailed research of the Spanish insular destination Mallorca as a case study. German second home owners are especially emphasised within the paper as they predominate on the island in terms of international ownership (as well the anual amount of tourist arrivals). The paper includes discussion on teoretical aspects of second home tourism with focus on latest trends such as international ownership of second homes and retirement migration. Empirical part describes second home tourism on Mallorca within the context of its historical development, spacial organization and using patterns. The key part of the research is questionnaire survey which has been conducted in order to find resident's perception of German second home owners in municipalities Andratx and Deiá.

What constitutes effective corporate governance? Which director characteristics render boards effective at positively influencing firm-level performance outcomes? This dissertation examines these questions by taking a multilevel, multidisciplinary approach to corporate governance. I explore the individual-, team-, and firm- level factors that enable directors to serve effectively as strategic resources during international expansion. I argue that directors’ international experience improves their ability to serve as effective strategic consultants and resource providers to firms during the complex internationalization process. However, unlike prior research, which tends to assume that directors with the potential to provide important resources uniformly do so, I acknowledge contextual factors (i.e. board cohesiveness, strategic relevance of directors’ experience) that affect their propensity to actually influence outcomes. I explore these issues in three essays: one review essay and two empirical essays. In the first empirical essay, I integrate resource dependence theory with insights from social-psychological research to explore the influence of board capital on firms’ cross-border M&A performance. Using a sample of cross-border M&As completed by S&P 500 firms from 2004-2009, I find evidence that directors’ depth of international experience is associated with superior pre-deal outcomes. This suggests that boards’ deep, market-specific knowledge is valuable during the target selection phase. I further find that directors’ breadth of international experience is associated with superior post-deal performance, suggesting that these directors’ global mindset helps firms in the post-M&A integration phase. I also find that these relationships are positively moderated by board cohesiveness, measured by boards’ internal social ties. In the second empirical essay, I explore the boundary conditions of international board capital by examining how the characteristics of firms’ internationalization strategy moderate the relationship between board capital and firm performance. Using a panel of 377 S&P 500 firms observed from 2004-2011, I find that boards’ depth of international experience and social capital are more important during early stages of internationalization, when firms tend to lack market knowledge and legitimacy in the host markets. On the other hand, I find that breadth of international experience has a stronger relationship with performance when firms’ have higher scope of internationalization, when information-processing demands are higher.

This thesis is focusing on problem of choosing the right foreign market for international expansion of a small company. It's main part is about setting the right foreign market entry strategy, that comprises of internationalization strategy, market entry mode strategy and international management strategy. On the basis of this strategy were set the criteria for evaluating target market's potential, and they were also immediately used in analysis of two pre-chosen markets.

Theoretical part explains the position of internationalization among other developing processes of the World Economy. It also defines the category of Small and Medium Enterprises (SME), describes the position of this segment in the Czech Republic and includes patterns of internationalization. Analytical part decomposes the decision-making process of suitable form of SME internationalization and analyses particular impacts of internationalization on firms. Practical part verifies and completes the analytical part by committing a structured interview with the CEO of W.A.G. mineral fuels, Inc.