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Millions of people around the developing world struggle to obtain safe, decent and affordable housing. The United States of America has substantially improved the residential construction sector by engineering new materials and developing efficient systems in wood construction. The goal of this research was to assess the potential of introducing system built wood construction system manufactured in the United States in urban social housing markets of developing countries. Peru, Ecuador and Colombia were three countries chosen for this study. Stakeholders in social housing in these three countries were interviewed to assess key aspects of traditional construction, current social housing deficits, perception of wood use in construction, and policies associated with social housing in selected markets. Findings indicate developing custom housing products for urban social housing programs can provide access to this untapped markets. Awareness about wood construction was very limited in the studied region. System built wood construction manufacturers in the U.S. were assessed to identify barriers and incentives for internationalization. Manufacturers in the U.S. also identify the need to expand their existing customer base. Findings of the survey conducted among the manufacturers identified various barriers to export. This research contributes to opening of new markets for exports of prefabricated wooden buildings in new geographical regions. / Master of Science

Yes / The international business literature has mainly focused on the impact of top managers' psychological attributes on firms' strategic decisions. However, the potential moderating influence of industry conditions such as competition has not been well explored. Deriving insights from the regulatory focus and upper echelons theories, this paper extends the international business and regulatory focus literature by investigating how the impact influence of CEOs' regulatory foci on firms' degree of internationalization depends on the intensity of competitive market conditions. Using primary data gathered from 289 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Ghana, the findings of the study revealed when competition is intense in the domestic market, the potency of a CEO's promotion focus as a driver of internationalization is amplified. In addition, the research shows that intense domestic market competition weakens the negative influence of a CEO's prevention focus on a firm's degree of internationalization. These findings have important research and managerial implications for international business.

Thesis advisor: Gerardo Blanco / The Fulbright Program is the US’ flagship international exchange program. Given its continued prominence in international higher education from its postwar inception to the present day, this study uses critical discourse analysis methods to analyze power, mission, and purpose in the history of the Fulbright Program. The analysis demonstrates several overarching ideas. First, throughout the program’s history, the concept of promoting mutual understanding between nations has been conflated with mutuality in the exchange of resources. Second, while the program’s efforts have often promoted the idea of a singular US identity, critics have consistently challenged this argument. Third, while the program grapples with its relationship to Senator Fulbright, the influence of his ideology remains throughout history. Scholars and practitioners of educational diplomacy may consider these findings as they pursue ways to promote equitable and mutual educational exchange. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2024. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Leadership and Higher Education.

Thesis advisor: Gerardo L. Blanco / Many academic departments at US higher education institutions have either recently begun to offer STEM-degree programs or have reclassified their traditionally non-STEM degree programs as STEM. It has been theorized that departments may do this to recruit F-1 student visa holders, who may be eligible to apply for two-year US work extensions after graduation after graduating from a STEM-designated degree program. However, this theory has not been studied at US higher education institutions. This quantitative study therefore explores the factors that have driven the creation or reclassification of STEM degree programs at six New England universities, focusing on the perceptions and observations of administrators. The findings show that currently-enrolled or recently-graduated F-1 students were most significant in influencing degree program reviews, although international student recruitment influenced and other institutional goals influenced this as well. Surveyed administrators reported that much of their time was spent ensuring compliance with US Department of Homeland Security regulations, which required significant time working with faculty and staff. The findings demonstrated that immigration policy may, by way of F-1 international students, influence academic decisions, suggesting a shift in the role academic faculty have in curriculum. / Thesis (MA) — Boston College, 2024. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Leadership and Higher Education.

Background:  As the world is getting more and more globalized, the internationalization of companies has become an important way to achieve growth and competitiveness. Companies expand globally to find growth opportunities, compete with worldwide competitors, assist global consumers, get access to global competence, as well as improve their efficiency. Due to the changing business landscape and the lowered barriers for firms to internationalize, small companies, among them many startups, now also have the opportunity to take their operations to countries outside their home market. However, they often lack the resources and competencies that are necessary to successfully globalize their operations, which is exactly where business incubators come in. Purpose: This study explores how business incubators affect startup internationalization. More specifically it looks at how business incubators influence the internationalization process of startups who are part of the incubator program. This contributes to the scarce literature that is available on the topic of incubator influence on startup internationalization and it provides startup founders and incubators with valuable insights and recommendations on this topic. Method: In this study, a qualitative multiple case study was conducted, where we collected data through 15 semi-structured interviews with business coaches and startup founders from four different business incubators as well as complimentary secondary data about the case incubators and startups. The data was then analyzed using a thematic analysis approach. Conclusion: Based on the analysis that was conducted, it was found that incubators influence the internationalization process in four key ways. Namely, those are influences through networks, knowledge, financial aid as well as programs and events. Additionally, it was found that the business coaches themselves also have a direct influence on how the startups they support internationalize. Lastly, it was recognized that some startup-specific factors moderate the amount to which business incubators influence the internationalization process of these firms.

Purpose – The purpose of this thesis was to investigate how networking is influenced by the choice of internationalization strategy of software firms with a born global mindset. To achieve this purpose, the following research questions were answered: How applicable is previous research on traditional internationalization strategies to born global software firms? How does networking vary between the different choices of internationalization strategy for born global software firms? Method – The research philosophy of this thesis was interpretivistic, supported by an abductive qualitative multi-method approach of exploratory character. Additionally, the data collection methods were literature studies, interviews and documentation conducted from six case companies. The collected data form the base of the developed networking and internationalization model which serves to support the general understanding of how born global software firms can internationalize and use networks to benefit their operations. Findings – By forming clusters and looking into how networking varies between the different choices of internationalization strategy, several types of internationalization strategies of born global software firms were identified, these being referred to as Nascent Global, Cautiously Global, Regionally Global and Instantly Global. Additionally, the results show that it is the choice of internationalization strategy that influences the choice of the networking activity. Nascent Global firms are firms who has not yet launched their service or decided upon internationalization strategy, they mostly network in order to strategize and plan; Cautiously Global firms operates nationally or have recently internationalized into another country, for them the networking focus lies on the process of learning to minimize the risk of mistakes or failure; Regionally Global firms are internationalizing incrementally with a regional focus and networking to access sources of knowledge; Instantly Global firms are those who are global right from inception where the focus is targeted at growth opportunities. Moreover, the findings show that Instantly Global firms are the ones that truly contradict traditional theory on internationalization strategies. Research limitations – The first limitation of this study is that we have solely focused on networking from the firm’s perspective and have not gone into the actual external network of each firm. Additionally, it would be appropriate to include a larger amount of case companies, in order to increase the level of generalizability. Nevertheless, due to limitations concerning the scale of work and time-constraints, six case companies were included. Further research – If practitioners would conduct a similar investigation of born global software firms, it would be interesting to conduct a quantitative study, analyzing potential linkages between the use of networks and internationalization. Also, since this study was cross-sectional, opportunities exist of conducting a longitudinal study, looking into how born global software firms change over time.

Syftet med denna uppsats ämnar att beskriva svenska modeföretags internationaliseringsprocess. Därför ska vi undersöka och analysera nätverkets betydelse, barriärers påverkan, val av etableringsstrategier och varumärkesbyggnad vid internationalisering. För att uppnå syftet med vår studie har nedanstående huvudproblem formulerats:   Hur går svenska modeföretag tillväga vid etablering och varumärkesbyggnad på den internationella marknaden?   Uppsatsens teoretiska utgångspunkt innefattar svenska modeföretags etablering på den internationella marknaden vilket berör internationaliseringsprocessen, nätverksperspektiv, barriärer, etableringsstrategier samt varumärkesbyggnad. Studien utgår från en kvalitativ forskningsmetod med en deduktiv ansats där fyra fallstudier har tillämpats. I empirin redogörs en jämförelse mellan fallföretagen, vilket leder fram till analysen där empirin ställs mot teorin. Uppsatsens slutsats visar att svenska modeföretags internationaliseringsprocess innebär att företag ställs inför olika utmaningar som val av marknad och att hitta samarbetspartners. Företag väljer etableringsstrategi för företagens verksamhet och bygger upp varumärket på den internationella marknaden. Avslutningsvis presenterar vi det gap vi funnit i teorin, teoretiska bidrag, praktiska rekommendationer samt framhäver förslag till vidare forskning. / The purpose of this paper is to describe the internationalization process of Swedish fashion companies’. Therefore, the network's importance, the barriers impact, choice of market entry mode and brand building in the internationalization will be examined and analyzed. In order to achieve the purpose of our study the following main question were formulated:   How do Swedish fashion companies’ proceed with expansion and brand building in the international market?   The theoretical base of the thesis includes Swedish fashion companies’ establishment in the international market which affects the internationalization process, the network perspective, barriers, market entry mode and brand building. The study is based on a qualitative research method with a deductive approach where four case studies have been applied. In the empirical data a comparison is presented between the four case studies, followed by analysis where the empirical data is compared against the theory. The study’s conclusion implies that Swedish fashion companies’ internationalization process implies that companies’ face different challenges such as the choice of market and finding partners and the choice of market entry mode for the business and brand building on the international market. Finally, we present the gap we found in the theory, theoretical contribution, practical recommendations and highlights suggestions for further research.

Este estudo é resultado de pesquisa realizada com coordenadores e ex-coordenadores de projetos de parceria universitária financiados por meio do Programa CAPES/Brafitec (Brasil-France Ingénieur Technologie). Um dos programas mais consolidados da Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES), o Brafitec viabiliza a formação de redes de cooperação entre Escolas de Engenharia do Brasil e da França. O Programa é resultado da parceria da CAPES com a CDEFI (Conference des Directours d’Écoles et Formations d’Ingénieurs) e, desde sua criação em 2002, já beneficiou 5.220 alunos brasileiros e 2.273 franceses por meio de 204 projetos financiados. Esta pesquisa objetiva avaliar a contribuição do Brafitec para: a internacionalização dos cursos de engenharia no Brasil; o reconhecimento recíproco de créditos; e a geração de oportunidades de prática profissional por meio de estágios em laboratórios e empresas no Brasil e na França. / This study is based on a survey conducted with coordinators and former coordinators of university partnership projects funded within the CAPES/Brafitec Program (Brazil-France Engineer Technology). One of the most successful programs of the Brazilian Federal Agency for the Support and Evaluation of Graduate Education (CAPES), Brafitec enables the creation of cooperation networks among Brazilian and French Engineering Schools. The Program resulted from the agreement between CAPES and CDEFI (Conference des Directours d’Écoles et Formations d’Ingénieurs) and, since its establishment in 2002, it has benefited 5.220 Brazilian and 2.273 French students within 204 financed projects. This research aims to evaluate Brafitec’s contribution to: the internationalization of engineering courses in Brazil; the mutual recognition/transfer of credits; and the establishment of work experience opportunities through internships at laboratories and companies in Brazil and France.