A pesar de la gran importancia que se le han atribuido a las innovaciones tecnológicas como la principal fuente de ventaja competitiva y como un motor del buen desempeño económico, aún no ha surgido en la literatura un marco analítico sobre las técnicas o enfoques que permitan entender el comportamiento de las actividades de investigación y desarrollo (I+D) y varios temas demandan una investigación más profunda. En este contexto surge esta tesis cuyo principal objetivo es analizar las actividades de innovaciones tecnológicas siguiendo una perspectiva analítica de proceso. Caracterizando a la innovación como un proceso que consta de las fases de buscar, seleccionar, implementar y capturar, esta tesis desarrolla cuatro investigaciones empíricas para entender cada una de las etapas del proceso de innovación. El Capítulo II se enfoca en las fases de búsqueda y selección y tiene como objetivo incrementar nuestro conocimiento en el comportamiento de las empresas que determina la selección de la estrategia de I+D. Las estrategias de innovación son definidas en esta tesis como la estrategia de hacer, que representa el desarrollo interno de actividades de I+D; la estrategia de comprar que constituye la externalización de las actividades de I+D y; la estrategia de hacer-comprar que combina el desarrollo interno y externo de I+D. Contrariamente a la literatura previa, este Capítulo considera que los recursos internos de la empresa y las condiciones de la industria determinan la selección de la estrategia de I+D. El Capítulo III también explica la selección de la estrategia de I+D pero con un especial énfasis en el papel que desempeñan las ayudas públicas. El Capítulo IV, analiza las fases de seleccionar e implementar, busca analizar cuál es el efecto que tienen las diferentes estrategias de I+D en el desempeño innovador de las empresas. Finalmente el Capítulo V se enfoca en las últimas dos fases del proceso innovador, implementar y capturar. El propósito de este Capítulo es el de proponer un nuevo enfoque para analizar la relación, entre innovación y desempeño económico de la empresa. En esta investigación se sugiere que el uso indistinto de los inputs u outputs de la innovación para medir el grado de innovación de una empresa no está libre de problemas y que más bien éstos deberían de considerarse simultáneamente siguiendo una perspectiva productiva. Todos los análisis econométricos realizados en esta tesis se han realizado utilizando una muestra tomada de la Encuesta Sobre Estrategias Empresariales. Esta encuesta es de tipo panel (1992-2005) y recoge información sobre empresas manufactureras españolas. Los resultados muestran que la estrategia de comprar es principalmente seleccionada por empresas con bajos recursos organizativos y es evitada por empresas que compiten en mercados con altos niveles de incertidumbre. Sus efectos en el desempeño innovar de la empresa son los menores y tienen un efecto a corto plazo. Por el contrario, la estrategia de hacer-comprar suele ser seleccionada por empresas con altos recursos tecnológicos y con operaciones en mercados con un alto grado de incertidumbre tecnológica. Respecto a sus efectos en el desempeño innovador, los resultados muestran que ésta produce el mayor efecto y genera un impacto a largo plazo. Adicionalmente, los resultados muestran que los efectos de las estrategias en el desempeño innovador está moderado por la intensidad tecnológica en la cual las empresas se desempeñan. Finalmente, los resultados obtenidos brindan soporte a nuestro argumento de que la mejor manera de medir el impacto de las actividades de I+D en el desempeño de la empresa es a través de la eficiencia del proceso de innovación tecnológica. / Despite the great importance attributed to technological innovations as the main source of competitive advantages and as the driver of firm performance, a comprehensive picture of the techniques and approaches for understanding firms’ R&D behavior has not yet emerged and several issues require further investigation. In this context, the aim of this dissertation is to analyze, in a broader sense, the technological innovation activities following a process-based perspective. Categorizing innovation as a process which embraces the phases of searching, selecting, implementing and capturing, this dissertation develops four empirical studies in order to capture and understand each of the innovation process phases. The first empirical Chapter accounts for the searching and selecting phases of the innovation process and aims at increasing our knowledge of firm innovative behavior by analyzing the factors that determine firm R&D strategy selection. Three R&D strategies are defined and represent the internal development of R&D (make), the externalization of R&D (buy) and the combination of internal and external R&D (makebuy). Contrary to previous studies, we consider the joint effect of firm internal resources, industry characteristics and appropriability conditions as determinants of R&D strategy selection. The second empirical Chapter also explains the determinants of the R&D strategy selection but with an emphasis on public R&D funding. The third empirical Chapter aims at ascertaining the effects of the different R&D strategies on firm innovative performance, which accounts for the selecting and implementing phases. In order to evaluate RDSs effects in a broader sense and looking for robust results, we consider different measures of product and/or process innovations as indicators of firm innovative performance. Finally, the fifth chapter accounts for the implementing and capturing phases of the innovation process. It proposes a new approach to tackle the innovation-performance relationship; its objective is to cope with the, so far, mixed and inconclusive results of studies analyzing this relationship. We argue that the indistinctly use of the innovation inputs or outputs in order to measure firm innovativeness is not trouble-free; they should be, rather, jointly considered from a productive perspective. All empirical studies are carried out using the Survey of Business Strategies of Spanish manufacturing firms which is a panel dataset from 1992 to 2005. Results show that the buy strategy is mainly selected by young firms lacking organizational resources and it is avoided by firms competing in uncertain markets and characterized by major technology shifts. Its effects on firm innovativeness are weaker and last less than that of any other R&D strategy. On the opposite side, the make-buy strategy is selected by firms possessing high technological resources and acting in highly uncertain markets. Regarding its effects on firm innovativeness, we observe that they are stronger and last longer. In addition, we find empirical support for our proposed argument that the effects of the R&D strategies on firm innovativeness are moderated by the technological intensity level. Finally, results of the last empirical Chapter support our arguments that the better measurement of outcomes of the technological innovations is through the efficiency whereby they are developed. Moreover, we test the moderating effect of the technological intensity level and firm size on the efficiency-performance relationship.

Although the economic motivation and efficiency effects of mergers and acquisitions (M & As) in the insurance industry have been discussed, none of the prior studies have addressed the relationship between M & A activity and insurance price change. In addition, little is known about the effect of diversification on the differences in insurance price across lines. The main objective of the dissertation is to provide evidence on these issues. A secondary objective is to investigate the relationship between M & A activity and insurer’s efficiency and financial performance. We also examine various firm characteristics that affect insurance price differences across lines and that influence insurer’s efficiency and performance. We conduct fixed effects model regressions to test our hypotheses using unbalanced panel data over the sample period 1989-2004. The empirical tests indicate that the price of insurance for newly formed insurers decreases following the M & As and diversified insurers charge lower prices than less diversified firms. Our result is consistent with one possible explanation that acquiring insurers reduce overall underwriting risks and more efficiently manage the frictional costs of capital through geographic and/or product line diversification by engaging in the M & As and therefore gain a competitive advantage in pricing. Our analysis also reveals a number of other interesting results. We find that insurance price is positively related to marginal capital allocation and inversely related to firm insolvency put value, suggesting the importance of incorporating insolvency risk and marginal capital costs in pricing lines of insurance business. We also find that the price of insurance is inversely related to cost efficiency, consistent with the efficiency structure hypothesis. However, the market share variable is not significant, implying that market power that can arise from M & A activity may not be a big concern for insurance regulators. In the analysis of efficiency and financial performance, we provide evidence that acquirers’ overall cost and revenue efficiency and financial performances decrease following M & As. We also find that more focused insurers outperform the diversified insurers.

What operational factors can explain the performance differences between manufacturing firms? Scholars have produced a significant volume of research that examines the linkages between operational factors (resources and practices) and firm performance. There is agreement that organizational capabilities mediate the relationship between operational factors and firm performance. However, due to the numerous and sometimes contradictory definitions of organizational capabilities in the literature and because organizational capabilities includes non-operational factors, it has been suggested that operational capabilities, as a sub construct of organizational capabilities, is more appropriate for establishing an empirical relationship between operational factors and firm performance. Scholars have argued that process improvement practices facilitate the development of operational capabilities, which can consequently lead to improved firm performance. Other scholars have argued that process improvement practices facilitate organizational knowledge creation, which can also influence firm performance. We integrate these two theoretical perspectives into a single conceptual model that better explains the relationship between knowledge-creating practices and firm operational performance. Specifically, we argue that knowledge-creating practices play a significant role in developing a firm’s operational capabilities, which in turn, influence firm operational performance. This research investigates the existence of a relationship between organizational knowledge creation and firm operational performance that is mediated by operational capabilities.

This study examines the relationship between SAHA’s corporate governance rating score and firm performance in Turkey for the period between 2008, 2009 and 2010. The purpose of study is to analyze whether there is a relationship between Saha’s corporate governance score which is based on the principles of Capital Market Board of Turkey and firm performance for 16 companies listed in corporate governance index Istanbul Stock Exchange (ISE) by using Saha’s Corporate Governance. It also aims to determine this relationship by attempting to answer the question of whether better governed firms as measured by high corporate governance score have higher firm performance in Turkey. With this purpose three analyses were conducted and random effect model, one type of panel data, is used to analyze whether there is a relationship between corporate governance and firm performance. The conceptual framework for this study is a combinationan of approaches to agency, stakeholder and stewardship theory. Panel data is created as unbalanced data and random effect model is used.Accounting based performance measures of firms: return on asset, return on equity and returnon sales were used to compare with Saha’s Corporate Governance Rating Score based on four sub-indices: 1) shareholder rights, 2) public disclosure and transparency, 3) stakeholders and 4) board of directors. The results based on Saha’s Corporate Governance Score show that corporate governance does matter in Turkey. The study shows that better governed firms measured by high corporate governance score have better performance in Turkey. The result of regressing return on asset, return on equity against Saha’s corporate governance rating score indicates that there is a significantly relationship between corporate governance and firm performace. However, the result of regressing return on sales indicates that there is no statistically significant relation between Saha’s corporate governance score and return on sales.

With contribution of Modigliani and Miller in 1958, capital structure has attained animportant place in finance field. The path breaking contribution has stimulated subsequentresearchers to put emphasis on this topic. Therefore, other theories and researches have beenrevealed and many aspects have been included to capital structure studies so far. However, it has always been controversial topic and the consensus has not been reached yet. Nevertheless,there are many important theories and hypotheses, which explain and investigate this topicvery well such as agency cost theory, trade-off theory, pecking order theory, signalling theory,efficiency-risk hypothesis and franchise-value hypothesis. When we reviewed the literature and extended our understanding of these theories andhypotheses, we found that the relationship between capital structure and firm performance isinteresting aspect and worthwhile to research. Therefore, we started an extensive literaturereview and found a research gap, which is the relationship between capital structure and afirm's financial performance from the perspective of capital structure theories in the Swedishcontext during the period 2002-2011. Since researchers investigate the relationship betweencapital structure and firm performance in many different countries and there is nothing in theSwedish context, we thus decided to write the thesis about it. Accordingly, our study began with discussing the problem background. We also stated theresearch question, the objectives, and the expected contribution to clarify the scope ofresearch. After that, we present the existing theories regarding capital structure and providetheir interplay with firm performance. After we constituted research question and reviewed literature, we knew what kind of data weneeded to utilize. Therefore, we started to search the best database provider for our study. Asa result, we decided on using Thomson Reuter’s database, DataStream. The study sampleincluded 174 non-financial Swedish firms listed on Nasdaq OMX (Stockholm StockExchange). We used ordinary least squares regression analysis over a period of ten years from2002 to 2011. After we collected the data, we imported it to SPSS and ran regression anddescriptive analysis. According to our empirical findings and analysis, we identify that there is a significantnegative relationship between capital structure and firm performance of listed Swedish firms.In other words, the financial performance of Swedish listed firms for the past decade isnegatively influenced by its leverage ratio. In practical terms, the more debt in relation toassets that firm takes in to finance its operations, the worse does the firm perform financially.When we elaborated our investigation and looked at each industry, we found no differencefrom the general results when dividing the Swedish firms into four major industry categories.However, health care industry has a different relationship. With this study, we provide further evidence about the interplay between capital structure andfinancial performance and make a contribution both to theory regarding capital structure andfinancial performance as well as giving practical insight for Swedish CFO’s and CEO’s.

Problem – The essential problem being analyzed in the research paper is the methods of improving supply chain flexibility under certain circumstances and constrains that are imposed on the company. Purpose - The paper aims at providing suggestions on improvement of supply chain flexibility for ICA AB (Clothing) based on comparative analysis on sub-case study of ZARA. The major part of analysis is based on investigation of the relationship between supply chain characteristics and firm performance of both companies that is crucial for finding out areas for improvements for ICA supply chain. Design, Methodology and Approach – The research is based on qualitative analytical approach using two basic case studies on Northern Europe’s leading retailer ICA AB and the largest international fashion retailers ZARA. The main idea of comparing these two retailers is that they have different supply chains in terms of its set up, responsiveness, postponement and level of flexibility. The main method of the research is comparative analysis of two supply chains based on literature review, personal interviews with companies’ representatives (Director of Logistics and Supply Chain Department, Supply Chain Manager – Operating and Category Manager Non-Food) and provided internal materials of the company. Frame of references – Based on various sources of literature concerning supply chain flexibility, enablers for flexibility management in global supply chain, value chain flexibility, manufacturing flexibility, comparison between flexibility and adaptability in supply chain and flexibility as a determinant of supplier selection. We, as researches, also included in the analysis how flexibility relates to company’s performance in the supply chain context. Research questions and Limitations – In order to solve the problem in the research there are certain questions to be answered and supported in empirical study. The first question is how the supply chain looks like for the same products (textile products) in two different companies in terms of its flexibility. The second question is connected to enablers of the supply chain flexibility improvement in specific business environment, namely retailing, after comparative analysis of the aforementioned supply chains. The research provides limited number of suggestions in certain supply chain aspects for ICA AB. As concrete case studies were analyzed, wider and broader range of solutions of increasing supply chain flexibility could not be provided. It is necessary to take into account the fact that the focus company has its own position in the market, strategy, mission, financial strength and available resources. Conclusion - The research paper includes the analytical review of theoretical base on supply chain flexibility and focuses on further understanding of it in textile industry. The paper provides suggestions on improvement of supply chain flexibility for fundamental case study of ICA AB (Clothing). These suggestions are given for improving the flexibility of supply chain in four areas after conducting the comparative analysis based on Model of Supply Chain characteristics and Firm Performance. The analysis was grounded on model modified by authors. While conducting the analysis the authors realized the necessity of dividing Firm Performance into two main types, such as Financial Performance and Non-Financial Performance. This can be considered as authors’ academic contribution and also has its practical implications. The comparative analysis was grounded on the main case of ICA AB and sub-case study of ZARA.

This study examines whether different corporate real estate (CRE) strategies affect the stock outperformance and systemic risk of various companies. The sample of 443 listed companies of 17 industries in Taiwan during 2000 to 2010 was divided into four groups for the different corporate real estate strategies. The pairwise abnormal return and systemic risk of composite and business (without the affect from real estate market) series were empirically examined and compared using a partial adjustment model. This study also conducts the two-stage least squares procedure to determine whether four CRE strategies were considered diversifiable factors when evaluating the firm¡¦s value The results do not indicate an increasingly abnormal return performance associated with the company implementing a certain CRE strategy, but companies with a stable profession and consistent adjustment strategies are considered a good diversifier by stock investors. Aggressive adjustment strategies do not diversify the systematic risk to overall industry, otherwise the scale of total assets would be considered a diversification in companies with aggressive strategies. The companies using an aggressive profession strategy to increase leverage are regarded as risky phenomen for stock investors, and companies with stable profession strategies face higher systemic risk if their book value is greater than their market value. Therefore, this study determines that CRE strategies affect companies¡¦ systematical risk.

A large body of literature has explored that investor sentiment and customer satisfaction have been viewed as important metrics to evaluate asset prices, little attention has been paid to whether investor sentiment influence the impact of customer satisfaction on stock returns. This paper examines whether customer-based portfolios can create abnormal returns by employing different risk-adjusted models in different sentiment states. This study finds that portfolio composed of firms with better customer satisfaction can continuously beat the benchmark index and create abnormal returns when adopting different risk-adjusted models. Furthermore, portfolio with better customer satisfaction can significantly outperform the market even in pessimistic and neutral investor sentiment state. This is because of higher CS firms can create stable business cash flows, alleviate customer complaints and strengthen customer loyalty, which will create insurance-like protection for firms in pessimistic investor state, which results in significant abnormal returns even in pessimistic investor state. These results suggest that customer-based metrics are valuable information that should be included in financial models.

In the recent years, a lot of Taiwan firms shut factories and turned to invest their capital in Mainland China. This situation reflects that the investment conditions in Taiwan are not as good as before. On the contrary, China has plenty of labor forces and their wage rate is much lower than Taiwan. Besides, China is an extensive market and abundant in natural resources. Many famous businesses in the world seize the chance of investing in China and get the market share. The first purpose of thesis is that analyzing the differences of HR values, competitive strategies, HRM systems, and firm performance between the indigenous firms in Taiwan and Taiwan firms in Mainland China. And the second purpose is that using all the samples to examine the effect of HRM systems on firm performance. This research collected data by issuing and mailing questionnaires. Effective questionnaires of indigenous firms in Taiwan sent back are 182 and effective rate is 10.11%; effective questionnaire of Taiwan firms in Mainland China sent back are 119 and effective rate is 19.01%. By using statistical method, the results are as follows: 1. There are significant differences in ¡§HR values¡¨ and ¡§firm performance¡¨ between indigenous firms in Taiwan and Taiwan firms in Mainland China. The result shows that Taiwan firms in Mainland China put more emphasis on HR values and has better performance than indigenous firms in Taiwan. 2. ¡§HR values¡¨ and ¡§competitive strategies¡¨ have positive effects on ¡§HRM systems¡¨. Besides, setting up an independent HR department also has positive effects on ¡§HRM systems¡¨. The result indicates that if the top managers put more emphasis on human resource management and adopt differentiation strategies, the firms are more likely to use ¡§make-organic¡¨ HRM systems. 3. ¡§HR values¡¨, and ¡§competitive strategies¡¨ have positive impact on ¡§firm performance¡¨. This result shows that if the top managers put more emphasis on human resource management and adopt differentiation strategies, the firms will get better performance. According to the results above, this study suggest that we should take human resource as the most important asset of the business, and set up an independent HR department to manage human resource and make good use of it. In addition, we should adapt the ¡§make-organic¡¨ HRM systems in order to improve performance. v

Today, gender quotation in the Board of Directors has become an important political question that is being discussed not only in Sweden but in several other countries as well. However, research on gender diversity and, for that matter, other forms of diversity in the corporate world is not something new. Diversity in Board of Directors and Top Management Teams and how it affects firm performance have been the topic of many researches the last two decades. Nevertheless, there are still many unanswered questions in this field that need to be answered. The purpose of this dissertation is to study how diversity in BoDs and TMTs affect firm performance. We used five different diversity variables, tenure, age, education, nationality and gender in our research and we tested them separately to see how they each affect firm performance. Because there is limited previous research conducted on diversity in Sweden and on Swedish firms, this dissertation attempts to fill that gap. This study is conducted on Swedish firms that are listed on large cap on Stockholm stock exchange. We used several ways to measure the five different diversity variables in both BoDs and TMTs. Firm performance was measured by using two well established measurements, Return on Equity and Return on Assets. We developed ten hypotheses to test how diversity affects firm performance; some diversity variables had positive effect on firm performance, while others had negative effect. The hypotheses are based on earlier research. There are mixed results from our study; seven out of ten hypotheses had to be rejected due to insignificant relationship between diversity and firm performance. Three hypotheses were rejected, even though they showed a significant relationship between diversity and firm performance, because the relationship was the opposite of our hypotheses. One reason for these results can be that there is low diversity in both BoDs and TMTs, and this makes it difficult to measure and establish a relationship between diversity and firm performance.