This essay proposes a production management model adequate to the small and medium enterprises of the metal mechanic segment, as a way to work focused on continuous improvement and engaged to the competitive advantage. The planning to get that intention at first considered the identification of the best practices adequate to the shop floor management and based on the Industrial Engineering concepts. Then, to verify the aplicability of that concepts it was organized a research next to the metal mechanic segment located on the region of Santa Rosa County, northwest of the State of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Among the studied companies it can found subcontracted manufacturers and factories that produces their own products, all of them producing several metallic products, mainly including agricultural implements. It was verified different circumstances concerning the way these companies manages their factories and that evidentiates that, with the implementation of the proposed system, it is possible to obtain substantial improvements in their levels of competitive advantages. It was verified too, as a information of the research, that the refered companies, in a majority level, already developes and produces their own products, as a strategy to reduce their economic dependence to the great enterprises. / O presente trabalho propõe um modelo de sistema de gestão da produção voltado às empresas de pequeno e médio porte do ramo metal-mecânico, de maneira a atuarem com o foco na melhoria contínua e na obtenção de vantagem competitiva. Para cumprir os objetivos propostos, primeiramente buscou-se identificar as melhores práticas de gestão adequadas ao chão de fábrica e fundamentadas pela Engenharia de Produção. Para verificar a aplicabilidade dos conceitos foi realizada uma pesquisa junto às empresas do pólo metal-mecânico localizado na região da Grande Santa Rosa, noroeste do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul. Dentre as empresas pesquisadas contam-se prestadoras de serviços terceirizados e também fabricantes de produtos metálicos diversos, principalmente voltados ao segmento de mecanização agrícola. Verificou-se situações diferenciadas no contexto de como estas empresas gerenciam suas fábricas e que evidenciam que, com a implantação do sistema proposto, há a possibilidade de se obter melhorias substanciais em seus níveis de competitividade. Verificou-se também, através da pesquisa, que as referidas empresas, em sua maioria, incluindo-se as terceirizadas, já desenvolvem seus próprios produtos, reduzindo a dependência das grandes fabricantes.

Abstract Title: Business of “another World” – Virtual Reality (VR): Influence of Virtual Reality on consumer experience, co-creation and competitive advantage Course: Thesis for Master Degree in Business Administration Authors: Dominik Ruggenthaler and Maximilian Waidhofer Supervisor: Maria Fregidou-Malama, PhD Examiner: Akmal S. Hyder, PhD Date: 2017/06/01   Purpose: This study’s aim is to examine the influence of VR in the field of architecture and its contribution to create competitive advantages. Methodology: To collect empirical data, the research applied a qualitative and inductive approach. Semi-structured interviews with ten participants with different backgrounds are conducted. Furthermore, primary and secondary data obtained from existing scientific resources built the base for argumentation. Findings & Conclusion: The main findings of the research are clustered in four groups. (1) VR planning creates a new service system and has an influence on the project performance; (2) VR experience and (3) co-creation contributes to generate new competitive advantages; (4) the use of the technology is a trigger for architect companies to differentiate compared to their competitors. Theoretical contribution: This is one of the few studies that combines VR planning with customer experience and co-creation. Furthermore, previous researches do focus on competitive advantages in this context. The developed conceptual model identifies the impact of VR on competitive advantage generation within the architecture business. Managerial implications: The implication of VR leads to both new opportunities and new problems. On one hand, architects can embed their clients better in the planning stage, but on the other hand, customers might become overwhelmed by the multisided VR opportunities. Also, it is outlined that a form of virtual planning will probably become an industry standard, which has to be adopted by architects. Limitations: Cost Leadership, one element of competitive advantages, is not explored through this study. Also, customer response of VR services has to be evaluated more deeply. Therefore we suggest further research in those fields. Keywords: VR planning, co-creation, experience, competitive advantage, architecture

Abstract The purpose of this thesis is to contribute empirical evidence focusing on sustainable competitive advantage through ERP systems. It identifies the shift towards strategic positioning while moving in different ERP stages and industrial environments. The work starts from the premise that advanced ERP processes are simply commodities insinuating competitive convergence. The literature considers IT and strategy but few texts deal with understanding ERP resources over time in order to become source of sustainable advantage. As companies undergo transformation or strive to develop new approaches to competition, it is particularly significant to investigate this venture. The exploratory inquiry in this dissertation aims to develop insights by a combination of qualitative and quantitative research traditions. The dual approach seeks to integrate the best research practices for contribution to the pertinent stakeholders. The first section is the introductory part followed by publications including case studies and surveys conducted on the basis of the gaps identified between theory and practice. The work is limited in scope and the intention is to appreciate knowledge acquired from the studies instead of drawing rigid extensive conclusions. However, the study traces that the ERP systems do provide competitive advantage, the sustainability depending on integrating to meet the business needs and building uniqueness. The implication is to capitalize on the potential of ERP, the idea being not to imitate competitors but to tailor applications to the company's overall strategy.

Purpose:  The purpose of this thesis is to examine how companies can favorablycommunicate their sustainable practices in a transparent way in order tobe perceived as trustworthy so that a competitive advantage canperhaps be achieved. Further, it will be investigated if transparencywithin the supply chain can be used as a fundament for being perceivedas credible by consumers. Method:   The method will be qualitative with an inductive approach. Theresearch will consist of forming a case study based on the companyPatagonia, where primary data will consist of interviews with multipleexperts on the topic. Besides, secondary data will consist of books,journal articles, conference material and information from the websiteof Patagonia. Conclusion:   In this research it was found that transparent communication aboutsustainable business practices can increase the trust in brands and canthus deliver a competitive advantage. Hence, companies need to solelyfocus on the core customer, integrate the customer in thecommunication process and deliver easy and clear information. Thisinformation should educate the customer and thus be perceived asvaluable and trustworthy.

M.Com. (Business Management) / The commercial real estate broking industry is considered one of the most competitive industries globally, with research showing that it has many competitors and the ease of entry is rather easy. This research was conducted in the context of the commercial real estate broking industry in order to examine the extent of competition in the industry and to establish how one of the companies in this industry can sustain the competitive advantage. The study revealed that gaining and sustaining competitive advantage is about strengthening the resources that are not valuable, rare and imitable in the organisation as reflected in the model by Knott (2009: 166). The primary purpose of this study was to explore how JLL SA can obtain and sustain competitive advantage in the competitive commercial real estate broking environment through the Resource Based View. The research methodology applied in this study was a qualitative study, which consisted of 9 semi structured interviews from Jones Lang LaSalle South Africa (JLL SA). The criteria for the population sample was that the respondents had to have adequate experience in the commercial real estate broking industry and had a thorough knowledge of the company under review. The research highlighted a number of challenges regarding the market position of JLL SA and that the company does not have a formal rivalry strategy. From the research, it was found that strategic planning, particularly for competition happens as and when the organisation is challenged by competition. The study also reveals that JLL SA does not communicate a strategic direction for tackling competition. The main recommendations of this study is that JLL SA adopts the model suggested by Knott (2009:166) as a measure to gain and sustain competitive advantage. The model refers to the valuable, rarity and inimitability of resources through, in which JLL SA can selects attributes or resources to evaluate in order to sustain competitive commercial real estate broking industry is considered one of the most competitive industries globally, with research showing that it has many competitors and the ease of entry is rather easy. This research was conducted in the context of the commercial real estate broking industry in order to examine the extent of competition in the industry and to establish how one of the companies in this industry can sustain the competitive advantage. The study revealed that gaining and sustaining competitive advantage is about strengthening the resources that are not valuable, rare and imitable in the organisation as reflected in the model by Knott (2009: 166). The primary purpose of this study was to explore how JLL SA can obtain and sustain competitive advantage in the competitive commercial real estate broking environment through the Resource Based View. The research methodology applied in this study was a qualitative study, which consisted of 9 semi structured interviews from Jones Lang LaSalle South Africa (JLL SA). The criteria for the population sample was that the respondents had to have adequate experience in the commercial real estate broking industry and had a thorough knowledge of the company under review. The research highlighted a number of challenges regarding the market position of JLL SA and that the company does not have a formal rivalry strategy. From the research, it was found that strategic planning, particularly for competition happens as and when the organisation is challenged by competition. The study also reveals that JLL SA does not communicate a strategic direction for tackling competition. The main recommendations of this study is that JLL SA adopts the model suggested by Knott (2009:166) as a measure to gain and sustain competitive advantage. The model refers to the valuable, rarity and inimitability of resources through, in which JLL SA can selects attributes or resources to evaluate in order to sustain competitive advantage.

We build a general Ricardian model of international trade, which extends Eaton and Kortum (2002), in order to analyze the sources of the gains from trade, the effects of trade openness on productivity, and the role of nominal exchange rates. For general distributions of industry efficiencies, welfare gains can always be de- composed into a selection and a reallocation effect. The former is the change in average efficiency due to the selection of industries that survive international competition. The latter is the rise in the weight of exporting industries in domestic production, due the reallocation of workers away from non-exporting industries. This decomposition, which is hard to calculate in the general case, simpli es dramatically with Fréchet- distributed efficiencies, providing easy-to-quantify model-based measures of these two effects. For an average of 46 countries in 2000 and 2005, the selection effect turns out to be somewhat more important than the reallocation effect. By analyzing the relationship between trade openness and total factor productivity (TFP), we propose a novel methodology to measure the latter. The logic of our approach is to use a structural model and measure TFP not from its "primitive" (the aggregate production function), but from its observed implications. We estimate TFP levels of the manufacturing sector of 19 OECD countries, relative to the United States, in 1985-2002, as the average productivity a proxy for aggregate TFP that best ts data on trade, production and wages. Our measures turn out to be easy to compute and are no longer mere residuals. To examine the role exchange rates in a model of real consumption and production decisions with no money, we follow an insight of Keynes (1931) and replicate a currency depreciation with an increase in import barriers and a symmetric decline in export barriers. By mimicking changes in exchange rates with changes in the model parameters, we can demonstrate a series of classical results and conjectures, in a very general framework with many countries, tradeable goods and non-tradeable goods. We show not only that a depreciation has no real effects with flexible wages, but, with sticky wages, we are able to prove that an undervalued currency causes involuntary unemployment abroad, while at home it determines inefficiently high employment in the export sector, raising real GDP but lowering welfare. If the currency is overvalued, we also show that there exists an appropriate depreciation that restores competitive prices, with welfare-enhancing effects, proving Friedman's conjecture (1953).

Background: With the appearance of the fourth industrial revolution a lot of industries had to change and adapt to computer integrated manufacturing, the ‘Internet of things’, cloud computing, machine to machine communication, additive manufacturing and ‘big data’. Overall, this industrial transformation is driven by digitalization. The Swedish dental laboratory industry is of special interest for our research due to the lack of adaption to the new technological changes, decreasing market share in Sweden and the threats from cheap Chinese production. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to understand the current situation the Swedish small and medium sized dental laboratories are facing because of the threats from the Chinese competition. Therefore, we analyze the Swedish dental laboratory industry and map the situation. Moreover, we show what the laboratories are currently doing to defend their market position in a highly competitive environment. Method: The data was gathered from semi structured and open interviews of dental technicians, dentists and industry experts. This empirical data was analyzed in an abductive thematic approach. Additionally, this theory driven approach combines the research question and the propositions with the empirical findings to create a precise research report. Conclusion: Up to recently, China was a big threat for the domestic dental laboratories but this threat is decreasing nowadays. Due to the demand of high quality products with precise services, dentists require a close collaboration with the dental laboratories. In order to survive as an SME in the Swedish dental industry, collaborating in networks among local competitors can help to lift investments for new equipment in the transforming environment. With state of the art technology and shared competences Swedish dental laboratories can sustain their competitive advantage in global competition.

A growing consensus on suitability of Strategic Entrepreneurship (SE) for firms to face challenges in a competitive environment is anchored on the argument that SE is an intersection of entrepreneurship and strategic management associated with opportunity-seeking and advantage-seeking behaviours. However, this concept is flawed by failure of firms to simultaneously combine opportunity-seeking and advantage-seeking behaviours to attain and sustain performance, a situation that raised contentions on the relevance of constructs chosen to build SE. Recently, other scholars suggested that SE is more than interface between strategic management and entrepreneurship and treat this fusion as a debatable idea. This argument presents a conceptual gap which triggered this study. This study examined three constructs namely: Market Orientation (MO), Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO) and Networking Capability (NWC), which are collectively referred to as dimensions of Strategic Entrepreneurial Response (SER) as appropriate constructs to enhance simultaneous opportunity-seeking and advantage-seeking behaviours. With the understanding that these constructs were collectively used for the first time to study SER, this study examined if their individual dimensions could successful measure SER, and if they are related to SME performance. Also, examined how much variance in SME performance is explained by scores of the dimensions of SER and whether the interaction of the dimensions of SER explains a significant amount of variance in performance to enhance simultaneous opportunity-seeking and advantage-seeking behaviours. In the course of the study, a cross-sectional research design was used to collect data from SME’s in Tanzania of which 291 SME owners/managers were randomly selected and interviewed in three types of industries namely: manufacturing, service and retail. A factor analysis after oblique rotation revealed 9 factors and explained 68.16% of total variance. The identified factors were customer orientation, competitor orientation (market orientation), pro-activeness, risk taking, competitive aggressiveness (entrepreneurial orientation), relational skills, internal communication, coordination and partner’s knowledge (networking capability). Subjecting the nine factors into the second order factor analysis converged into a single component suggesting successful measuring SER. The findings confirmed a relationship between dimensions of SER and SME performance suggesting that emphasis on market orientation, entrepreneurial orientation and networking capability enhance SME performance. However, the interaction of the three dimensions only market orientation and entrepreneurial orientation explained significant amount of variance in SME performance, with large amount of variance accounted for by the market orientation. The findings suggest that emphasis on market orientation is a firm’s strategic choice to generate strategic information which forms a seedbed of opportunities from which entrepreneurial oriented firms identify and proactively seize to build competitive advantage. Contrary to previous studies, which emphasized that opportunity seeking is a domain of entrepreneurial orientation, this study argues that previous studies underplayed the role of market orientation on opportunity seeking. This study views entrepreneurial orientation as more driven by opportunity exploitation which is more of advantage seeking than opportunity seeking. This study suggest that sustained market orientation and entrepreneurial orientation cultures build opportunity seeking and advantage seeking behaviors crucial to create and sustain SME performance. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / Business Management / unrestricted

The presented dissertation reports the findings of a quantitative study on shared values of a multinational corporation across its Middle East and Sub-Saharan subsidiaries. The study is based on the Competing Values Framework (Quinn &Rohrbaugh, 1983; Cameron&Quinn, 1999) with 24 shared values superimposed upon the Competing Values Framework (McDonald&Gandz, 1992). The presented work argues that an organisation can increase its competitiveness by understanding its shared value system and by managing the organisation accordingly. In return, the organisation due to an increased competitiveness would realise a competitive advantage by understanding the shared value composition. In understanding the shared values composition one can attract and retain staff due to a greater person organisation fit, which in turn would lead to a reduction in staff turnover, skilling and training cost in return yielding a competitive advantage. The research found that there seems to be a common shift or trend in the Cape Town, Johannesburg and Middle East subsidiaries. The trend is that the subsidiaries value those shared values most that fits into the clan and market culture quadrants with some elements of the adhocracy and hierarchy cultures type resembled. The latter not being as dominant as the clan and market culture types. The Pretoria and Turkey subsidiaries regarded the values of the clan and adhocracy culture quadrants higher than those within the market and hierarchy culture quadrants. This is unexpected to a degree as the subsidiaries are across multiple nations encompassing different cultures. The subsidiaries believe in culture of collaboration and competition with the purpose of group cohesion and the pursuit of objectives. Copyright / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

In developed democracies, incumbents are consistently found to have an electoral advantage over their challengers. The normative implications of this phenomenon depend on its sources. Despite a large existing literature, there is little consensus on what the sources are. In this three-paper dissertation, I find that both electoral institutions and the parties behind the incumbents appear to have a larger role than the literature has given them credit for, and that in the U.S. context, between 30 and 40 percent of the incumbents' advantage is driven by their "scaring off" serious opposition. / Government