Studies of banks’ internationalization are few, particularly of Swedish banks’ and studies holding a process view of internationalization. This is surprising considering the fact that banks’ have an incredibly important role in our societies. Furthermore, the Swedish banks have until recently been restricted from internationalizing. However today the four largest Swedish banks have all become multinational. The purpose of this thesis is to describe and analyze the two Swedish banks Handelsbanken and Swedbank’s internationalization process between the years 1995-2010. This achieved by covering all relevant foreign markets that the banks are active in during their internationalization process in a longitudinal cross-case study based on archival sources (i.e. newspaper articles, press releases and annual reports). The analytical framework is constructed from behavioral theories and follows a process view of firms’ internationalization by applying the concepts of market commitment, market knowledge and expectation. Latterly firms’ expectation is included to take the future dimension into account in understanding firms’ internationalization behavior. Conclusions made in this thesis show that the banks internationalization process has some semblances but otherwise they show completely different internationalization behaviors. The study shows that firms’ internationalization process is bound to what the firm will expect of the future and that this expectation is very different based on what knowledge the firm has and its experience. Furthermore the study evidences through empirical findings that the internationalization process of firms’ is also strongly related to the state of the market, i.e. stable or unstable. / Studier av bankers internationalisering är relativt få i sitt omfång, särskilt om svenska banker och studier med en teoretisk process vy över internationalisering. Det här är ganska överraskande med tanke på hur viktiga bankerna är i vårt samhälle. Samtidigt var det inte särskilt länge sedan som bankerna var reglerade från att internationalisera medan de idag fyra stora svenska bankerna samtliga har blivit multinationella. Därför är syftet med denna avhandling är att beskriva och analysera de två svenska bankerna Handelsbanken och Swedbanks internationaliserings process mellan åren 1995 och 2010. Studien följer samtliga relevanta marknader som bankerna är aktiva i under deras internationalisering process genom två longitudinella fallstudier baserad på arkiv data (framför allt tidningsartiklar, pressmeddelanden och årsredovisningar). Det analytiska ramverket är grundat på beteendeteorier och följer bankernas internationalisering ur en process vy med koncepten marknadsåtagande, marknadskunskap och förväntningar. Den senare är inkluderat i syfte att fånga in den framtida dimensionen påverkan på företags internationaliserings beteende. Slutsatser som görs i avhandlingen är t.ex. att bankernas internationaliseringsprocess har sina likheter i vissa aspekter men är ändå helt olika i deras internationaliseringsbeteende. Studien visar att företags internationaliseringsprocess är bunden till vad företagen förväntar sig av framtiden och att denna förväntning kan se väldigt olika ut beroende på vilka kunskaper och erfarenheter företaget besitter. Därutöver gör studien det empiriska upptäckten att företags internationaliserings process är starkt beroende på marknadstillståndet, d.v.s. om det är stabilt eller instabilt.

Digitalization has reshaped the internationalization process of most firms, especially giving a new way for digital firms. Most of the previous research was based on the internationalization of developed countries, and the perspectives of emerging markets were relatively limited, and digital firms were also no exception. Exploring the uncharted territory of international business was the main motivation for writing this thesis, which aims to investigate motives and the internationalization path through the case study of four companies from China, the most representative emerging market. The findings show that the motivation of digital firms from emerging markets is influenced by internal factors and contextual factors such as institutional settings. Their choice of markets is determined by the social distance and digital level of the host countries, as well as market potential. They tend to actively choose to enter foreign markets by developing strategic local networks and striking a balance between replicating domestic strategies and localization. Besides, adapting to the local business environment and how to deal with digital security issues are challenging their performance in new markets.

The purpose of this study was to analyze the general education faculty members’ perspectives on the internationalization of the general education curriculum in Mississippi community colleges. The participants in this study included all full-time instructors of general education courses at 2 of the 15 public community colleges in the state of Mississippi. The study used a survey Analysis of Faculty Perception: Factors Affecting the Internationalization of General Education Curriculum in Mississippi Community Colleges to examine factors that included a) importance of internationalization, b) institutional success with internationalization efforts and c) importance and existence of administrative support for internationalization. No studies were found that analyze nor investigate the importance of internationalizing the general education curriculum in Mississippi community colleges. Quantitative data were collected using Survey Monkey online instrument that was sent to full-time general education faculty members teaching at the 2 community colleges in the State of Mississippi. The data were analyzed using Kruskal-Wallis Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Mann-Whitney U Test tables and descriptive statistics were reported. Results showed that a large number of the educators recognized the need for a partner institution in another country. Many of them also recommended that there should be a designated administrative office to coordinate and support international education initiatives, and they also saw the need for their college to have a plan designed to increase international/global understanding among students and to have general education courses with an international/global focus available to all students. Some differences in perceptions were observed in the teachers’ perceptions of internationalization based on years worked in higher education, country of birth, gender, international experience, and level of education. The educators believed that internationalization activities on their campus was a positive movement towards expanding their offerings to students by helping to develop an educational environment where they can become more globally competitive and more professionally effective. Many of the educators in this study support the expansion of programs that support study abroad or student exchange programs.

A lot of empirical research has been done on Savings and credit cooperative Societies in Kenya for decades but majority have focused more on the challenges that these Sacco’s face. Most of these research have focused on finding ways of increasing the competitiveness of these Sacco’s within a certain geographical region. However, very few literature exists on the challenges that these Sacco’s face in their quest to internationalize and find diaspora customer. Over the years, there has been an increase in Kenyan diasporas sending remittances back home through relatives and friends for the purposes of investments but their efforts have been futile. Some of these diasporas find it difficult to invest in other financial institutions due to bureaucracy and high interest rates. This is where the Sacco’s then come in due to their simple teams and conditions and low interest rates. This thesis sought to establish how Sacco’s in Kenya internationalize and the challenges that they face in the internationalization process. The research followed a quantitative approach whereby four Saccos were Analyzed after semi structured interviews were conducted with the managers of the respective firms. Based on the research conducted, the empirical findings reveal that Saccos in Kenya adopted the network approach of internationalization whereby they establish formal or informal relationships with participants in the foreign markets and that way they are able to influence more networks. The findings also revealed that the main challenges that hinder Saccos from internationalizing are competition, management and governance as well as knowledge and information systems. Geographical distance and competition were not a major challenges as earlier revealed by the literature.

No description available.

Chinese firms in the cultural and creative industry (CCI) are substantially entering the global business landscape. But research on the motivation of Chinese enterprises’ internationalization mostly remains in the traditional industries (e.g., manufacturing and mining). Therefore, this thesis aims to explore the determinants of the internationalization of firms in China’s CCI. The empirical analysis is based on a qualitative case study of ByteDance (China’s CCI “national champion” firm and TikTok’s parent firm) via interviews and second-hand data. Our findings suggest that firm-specific advantage is an essential driver for Chinese firms in CCI to engage in internationalization. Our findings also reveal that top managers’ national sentiment promotes the internationalization of CCI enterprises in China in order to enhance cultural exports, and government encouragement of cultural exports motivates thesefirms to internationalize. However, we identify that from the host-government perspective, cultural exports can turn into a liability, which creates barriers to and hinders Chinese CCI firms’ internationalization. Our findings provide fresh insights into the determinants of the internationalization of firms in China’s CCI, which contribute to the literature on internationalization, particularly on emerging-market firms’ internationalization.

This paper has two main focuses. It aims to investigate the role of English in relation to short term international exchanges in a secondary school in the south of Sweden and also discusses the reflections of the outcomes of a number of participating students and teachers. The data were collected through qualitative semi-structured interviews. The results indicate that the role of English is fundamental to the internationalization process and as the language of communication and the common language on the exchanges. Furthermore, English is seen as key in the implementation of internationalization in the education at the school. Both the interviewed staff and students reflected on communication problems when away and how they dealt with them through language strategies. Moreover, the data revealed that the reflections from the outcomes of the exchanges were centered round two aspects: the student’s development of their communicative English and the social aspect. The interviewed teachers and students discussed the fact that the short term exchanges provided new learning opportunities through the out-of school context. In addition, a possibility for further research within the area is proposed as a result of the data collection and based on the gap in the research concerning compulsory schools’ internationalization process.

The success of internationalization depends heavily on faculty support and engagement. Nonetheless, the motivations of faculty heavily engaged in international activities—described by scholars as champions and advocates—are not well understood, despite the fact that their efforts have been labeled as critical to advancing such efforts. This study examined the perceived motivating factors of faculty members heavily engaged in international activities at Virginia Tech, a university that created a strategic plan aimed at increasing such endeavors in 2004. Interviews with identified champions and advocates of internationalization in two colleges at Virginia Tech—the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences and the Pamplin College of Business—sought to explore the benefits and elements that led these faculty members to become and remain engaged in international activities. This study also investigated whether faculty members' involvement in international concerns could be linked to the influence of factors proposed in the faculty engagement literature as commitment enabling. Specifically, this research sought to test Wade and Demb's (2009) Faculty Engagement Model, which asserts that certain professional factors contribute to professors becoming involved in community engagement. This analysis found that five of the professional factors in Wade & Demb's (2009) model, discipline, status/rank, socialization, professional community and department support—are useful for examining faculty members' willingness and ability to engage in international activities. However, it also found that faculty member involvement is shaped by a convergence of professional, institutional and personal factors. These together enabled faculty members to begin and remain engaged in international activities. In addition, despite the rationales offered by leadership and through strategic plans for becoming engaged in international concerns, the most common motivating factors identified by champions and advocates were intrinsic or personal influences that are not captured in institutional efforts to internationalize. These findings suggest that although universities may create mission statements, strategic plans and policies to guide internationalization, the motivations of faculty members who undertake and implement such initiatives in their classrooms and through their research and outreach play a large part in whether and how such efforts will be realized. / Ph. D.

American universities have been internationalizing for decades, and their leaders often contend they must engage globally to stay relevant and prepare students adequately for a rapidly changing work environment. Faculty members, as keepers of the curricula and pivotal university actors, are critical to global engagement efforts on their campuses. However, many university leaders have yet to engage individual professors in ways that have resulted in securing their sustainable support for comprehensive internationalization (CI). A similar weakness of CI related research to date has been its failure to include a broad group of voices when investigating faculty engagement in internationalization. Following Childress’ framework (2010), this study explored the meaning-making, motivations, and perceptions attached to CI through individual interviews with a sample from all ranks of U.S. civil and environmental engineering faculty members from three Land Grant universities. Interviewees highlighted a variety of barriers and motivations linked to internationalization including, historical constructs, personal and professional values, and perceptions of potential outcomes of CI engagement. The analysis highlights and explores these factors and their connections to the international outlook ranking for interviewees’ institutions. / Ph.D. / American universities have been addressing global concerns and challenges for decades. Their faculties have for just as long sought palliatives and solutions to those issues. One element of that work is efforts to prepare students to work in an internationally connected world. University professors who design classes for students and conduct research are critical to all of these initiatives. However, university leaders have not been able to find ways to involve a sufficient and sustainable group of professors to make globally focused research and teaching efforts a central priority. Past studies investigating faculty involvement in internationalization have not yet researched a full range of professorial perceptions of such efforts. This study sought to understand what a sample of civil and environmental engineering faculty members at three American Land Grant universities perceived concerning internationalization initiatives at their institutions. I chose this group for study because their views have not been examined systematically and because there are more students studying engineering and in this one field within engineering than ever before. Those I interviewed included faculty members of all ranks and they also exhibited a wide range of levels of engagement in globally focused research and teaching. Interviewee responses highlighted a diverse array of motivations for international engagement and as many disincentives for faculty to do so. Professors’ work histories, values, and personal and professional perspectives all mediate their involvement in globally relevant issues. This analysis identified a list of concerns that university leaders can address to encourage their faculties to pursue internationalization. It also examined the connection between university reputations and faculty engagement with international concerns.

Born-sustainable textile reuse businesses conduct textile waste management tasks in accordance with sustainable standards. Innovation and collaboration are the core values around which these businesses have operated since inception. As there are not enough regulated channels to manage textile waste across many parts of the globe, they remain in warehouses for a long time before being discarded into landfills or incinerators. Re-using this waste globally will significantly reduce the environmental impacts of manufacturing new fabrics. However, these born-sustainable businesses frequently have difficulties managing their operations with limited resources and hence it would be challenging for them to expand their business globally. As there is a scarcity of research on born-sustainable businesses and their internationalization, the present study aims to fill this gap through a qualitative study by interviewing multiple textile reuse businesses and one of the case company business stakeholders. The analysis demonstrates that textile reuse businesses that are born sustainable are also born digital and internationalized more quickly than traditional businesses, due to innovation and digital business opportunities. Additionally, characteristics of born sustainable businesses and internationalization coexist with each other as these businesses are also Born Global. Since the textile sector is a global business, these businesses have networking opportunities and had to deal with difficulties in the institutional void from the inception.