Internationalization has long time ago been very much been undergone and sustained inseveral companies all over the world, ranging from small to large sized firms. This is sobecause there has been increased demand for companies to meet in not just their domesticmarkets but also international markets. Therefore, internationalization is an inevitablephenomenon in the business sphere. Sadly, literature covering the African perspective ofinternationalization is scarce. Emerging country markets like Nigeria proves to provide acomprehensive and detailed outlook. Moreover, Covid-19 literature is still in its developingstage due to its recency. Africa in particular has experienced Covid-19 in a peculiar mannerwhich is different from other parts of the world.Which is why this study seeks to provide additional knowledge by taking a look at theinternationalisation of firms since the pandemic, particularly in the Nigerian cement industry.The purpose of this study is to understand how Covid-19 affected the internationalisationprocess of Nigerian cement firms as well as their progress of recovery since the hit. Includedin this study are 3 major Nigerian cement firms which form a representation of the industry.All 3 have internationalised within Africa. Semi-structured interviews were carried out withcompany representatives who are knowledgeable and involved in the internationalisationprocesses of their respective firms.Empirical findings inform us that the process of internationalisation is a daunting process tosay the least due to many factors ranging from social, environmental and geographic.Unfortunately, the Covid-19 pandemic emerged viciously and disrupted business operations.Which affected transactions, sales and regulations regarding trade. On a good note, companiesleveraged on technology and network relationships to sustain their businesses despite harsheconomic conditions.

Concrete is a material with attributes that are difficult to replace. However, concrete and cement industries are responsible for as much as 5-8 % of the global emissions. Today, there are solutions to reduce emissions associated with the production of concrete and cement. How much are those possibilities used and what are the potential obstacles for extended use?The goal according to “Färdplan klimatneutralbetong” is to make the concrete and cement industry climate neutral to year 2045. How likely is that to happen? Has the “Cement crisis” and the readjusted concrete standard SS137003 effected the development? And if so, how?Our study is in some ways a follow-up study after a study from 2021. What are the changes to the industry since the last study? Both last years study and our study are part of the project Betcrete 2.0 run by Katarina Malaga and RISE. Betcrete 2.0 is a collaborative project where it is ensured that the implementation of the roadmaps for cement and concrete progresses.The study is done with both quantitative and qualitative methods. Through literature studies, we have acquired a theoretical basis which we then used to create a web-based questionnaire that was sent out to concrete manufacturers. We have interviewed some clients to get their views. In the results, we then compared our results with Strömbom's previous study from 2021. Furthermore, we have engaged in document analysis. Generally, about concrete, specifically about climate-improved concrete, the readjusted concrete standard and about Cementa and their work towards climate neutrality.We have limited ourselves to only collect data regarding concrete production for 2021 and the survey was distributed primarily to members of the association Svensk Betong.The results show that the proportion of climate-improved concrete produced on the market has increased since the previous measurement was performed. In addition, the number of higher levels of climate-enhanced concrete has increased. Both customers and manufacturers have expressed some concerns about Cementa's mining permission in Slite. If they do not continue, it will have major consequences for the industry. So far, companies have reacted differently to the cement crisis that has arisen. If they do not continue, it will have major consequences for the industry. So far, companies have reacted differently to the threat posed by a possible cement crisis. Some are accelerating the work on climate-improved concrete, to exclude as large a proportion of cement as possible. Others act instead passively, because it is believed that a stop in Slite contributes to the need for other cement to be used and thus new tests must take place anyway.Concrete manufacturers believe that it is the customers who must increase the proportion of climate-improved concrete in their orders in order to accelerate development. The customers, in their turn, believe that it is not only in their hand to bear the cost of choosing climate-improved concrete, but instead believe that “Boverket” must set higher requirements, and that there should be opportunities for financial incentives.The companies that have been involved in collaborative projects, where several actors gather to jointly oversee new solutions for construction, thinks it’s rewarding. They believe that through collaboration, goals were achieved that one does not believe only one actor can solve on their own. Finally, we see that increased collaboration, higher demands from politicians and customers, manufacturers continued environmental propulsion, the need of implementation of CCS at Cementa production site in Slite,the opportunity for financial incentives to accelerate development to reach climate-neutral concrete 2045. We also believe that more education and more understanding is needed at all levels for the industry to work together for the same goals. / Betong är ett material med egenskaper som är svårersättliga. Dock bidrar betong- och cementindustrin med så mycket som 5–8 % av de globala utsläppen. Det finns idag möjligheter att minska utsläppen kopplat till tillverkning av cement och betong. Hur mycket används dessa möjligheter och om det föreligger hinder för utvidgad användning vad är då dessa?2045 ska cement- och betongindustrin enligt ”färdplan klimatneutralbetong” vara just klimatneutral. Hur sannolikt är det? Har ”cementkrisen” och den reviderade betongstandarden SS 137003 påverkat utvecklingen? Om ja, hur? Vår studie är till viss del en uppföljande studie på ett examensarbete från 2021. Hur har branschen förändrats sedan förra studien? Både förra årets studie och vår ingår i projektet Betcrete 2.0 som drivs av Professor Katarina Malaga och RISE. Projektet är ett samverkansprojekt där man tillser att implementeringen av färdplanerna för cement och betong går framåt. Studien är gjord med både kvantitativa och kvalitativa metoder. Genom litteraturstudier har vi skaffat oss en teoretisk bas som vi sedan använt till att skapa en webbaserad enkät som skickats ut till betongtillverkare. Vi har intervjuat några beställare för att få deras syn. I resultatet har vi sedan jämfört våra resultat med Strömboms tidigare studie. Vidare har vi ägnat oss åt dokumentanalys. Generellt kring betong, specifikt kring klimatförbättrad betong, den reviderade betongstandarden och kring Cementa och deras arbete mot klimatneutralitet. Vi har avgränsat oss till att endast ta in data gällande betongproduktion för 2021 och enkäten distribuerades framför allt till medlemmar i branschföreningen Svensk Betong. Resultatet visar att andelen producerad klimatförbättrad betong på marknaden har ökat sedan förra mätningen utfördes. Dessutom har antalet i de högre nivåerna på klimatförbättrad betong ökat. Fabrikörer och beställare känner viss oro för Cementas tillstånd för att bryta kalk i Slite. Får de inte fortsätta sitt arbete, kommer det innebära stora konsekvenser för branschen. Hittills har företagen reagerat olika på det uppkomna hotet5/134om en eventuell cementkris. Vissa skyndar på arbetet med klimatförbättrad betong, för att utesluta så stor andel cement som möjligt. Andra agerar i stället passivt, eftersom man menar att ett stopp i Slitebrottet bidrar till att annan cement måste användas och därmed måste ändå nya provningar ske. Genom att jämföra EPD:er på olika betongprodukter som är klimatförbättrade, mot produkter som inte är det, har vi fått fram jämförande data på mängd utsläpp. Resultatet av sammanställningen räknades om till exempel på vilka effekter på minskning av emissioner som skulle kunna skett i de fall man i stället valt klimatförbättrad betong. Betongproducenter anser att det är beställarna som måste öka andel klimatförbättrad betong i sina beställningar för att skynda på utvecklingen. Beställarna i sin tur, menar att det är inte bara dem som ska ta kostnaden för att de väljer klimatförbättrad betong, utan tror i stället på att Boverket måste ställa högre krav, samt att det bör finnas möjlighet till ekonomiska incitament från politikerna. De företag som varit inblandade i samverkansprojekt, där man samlas flera aktörer för att tillsammans tillse nya lösningar på byggnationer, talar väl om dessa. De menar att genom samverkan uppnåddes mål som man inte tror enbart en aktör kunnat lösa på egenhand. Slutligen ser vi att ökad samverkan, högre kravställning från politiker och beställare, fortsatt klimatförbättrade arbete hos fabrikörer, implementering av CCS i Slites anläggning, möjlighet till ekonomiska incitament för att accelerera utvecklingen för att nå klimatneutral betong 2045. Vi tror också att det behövs mer utbildning och mer förståelse i alla led för att branschen får samma bild över möjligheter och tillsammans arbetar åt samma håll. / <p>2022-06-21</p>

Stabilization of poorly graded sand in full-scale applications is challenging. This thesis evaluated cement-stabilized sand and had two objectives: (1) evaluation of stabilized material using the PM device to quantify engineering properties for future comparison to alterative materials and to investigate the effectiveness of the device with sand and (2) investigation of the merits of alternative application of cement to sand to benchmark against other topically applied materials. The PM device was successfully used to recommend 10% cement for field studies with one sand, successfully allowed data collection in laboratory and field applications, and its potential in sand seems promising though more overarching conclusions on characterization of sand using the PM device are withheld for subsequent efforts. Topical application methods developed in this thesis were able to percolate cement into sand and produce an average estimated unconfined compressive strength of 245 psi measured on cores that were 2.5 inches thick.

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