The purpose of this research was to find out how individual salesperson’s ability to recognize and acquire knowledge is utilized in the organization through absorptive capacity in order to develop sales capability. First of all, the work aims to clarify how individual salespeople recognize external knowledge. Second the work provides insight into how the knowledge is assimilated, transformed and exploited within the subunit and how it is shared between different subunits of the organization in Finland. And third the work aims to identify how different organizational factors influence on the knowledge recognition, acquisition and transformation and exploitation. The used methodology for the thesis is an exploratory case study and the used method is semi-structured interview. The target of the study is a team, which operates in a non-profit organization in Finland. First the case study suggests that leadership may switch the individual motivation from self-centered motivation to develop individual skills into motivation to develop team. The human resource management tools did seem to create motivation and ability towards sales work and they contributes to the capability development as well. However, this finding may suggest that in future research leadership could be studied within the context of capability development through absorptive capacity. Second, the pattern, according to which the sales people were able to recognize development needs of the sales capability, to search and recognize the knowledge within the environment, the ability to bring the knowledge into the team for open discussion and participate on the decision making is central in the absorptive capacity. This pattern contributes to the operational capability development through the principles of absorptive capacity and the case illustrates the role of individual salespeople in it. In further research this kind of pattern could be researched more probably through researches where the researcher would be taking notes in the social integration mechanism in order to gain further knowledge regarding to the different stages of absorptive capacity. Third the knowledge sharing practices within the sales capability development were impeded by the organizations strategy. This suggests that the misalignment between the organizational strategy and sales capability development may cause thus reduce absorptive capacity. The results from the case provide direction for future research in sales capability development through absorptive capacity and they can be used in organizations when developing sales capability. Even though the non-profit business is significantly different from for-profit business, the general way how absorptive capacity functions does not differ that much. When it comes to the generalizability of the results, it has to be remembered that this was a single case study in a non-profit organization taking strongly individual perspective, and thus it does not create a holistic picture of the absorptive capacity or the sales capability development within the organization. However, the results do support the future research by providing insight into how absorptive capacity can be used in development of sales capability.

Recruitment has shifted from traditional channels and practices to processes taking place online and recruitment research has subsequently started to investigate online recruitment processes. While there have been conflicting perceptions amongst recruitment researchers about whether the organizational or the applicant perspective has been neglected in recruitment research most of the present literature focuses on the first phase of the recruitment process, attracting applicants. This thesis takes the perspective of the applicant, and in this case the Millennial generation, and investigates the later phases of the recruitment process, recruitment communication and online assessment. The aim is to find out what kind of preferences Millennial applicants have towards recruitment communication’s timing, content and media and different online assessment methods such as online tests, digital interviews and gamification. This thesis is conducted as a qualitative research with a factist perspective. After extensive review of recruitment and Millennial research a theoretical framework is developed. Empirical data is gathered trough semi-structured thematic interviews and analyzed with content analysis. The research findings are then applied to the theoretical framework and the framework is adjusted to depict the preferences of the Millennial applicant towards recruitment communication and online assessment methods. The research findings suggest the Millennial applicant has several expectations towards both recruitment communication and different online assessment methods. Recruitment communication is expected to happen in a continuous manner to avoid uncertainty and show the hiring organization’s respect and valuation towards the applicant. Recruitment communication should also be efficient and convenient for the applicant, and email is found to be the preferred communication medium. The Millennial applicant also expects feedback on his or her performance as well as reasoning for selection decisions. Concerning different online assessment methods, the Millennial applicant prefers assessment methods that make them feel they have influence over recruitment outcomes. In addition, perceptions of validity and relevance as well as efficiency and convenience affect Millennials’ preferences concerning different online assessment methods. The research findings have several managerial implications. Designing recruitment processes in which millennial preferences are taken into consideration can produce better applicant experience and have a positive effect on the company image. Although measures have been taken to ensure research reliability, the number of research participants and the same field of study of the research participants limit the generalizability of the research results.

Global Account Management (GAM) is a global strategic, relationship oriented and marketing management program. In today’s highly competitive business scenario GAM has become one of the most significant strategic alliance by many companies with their customers to have the competitive advantage over their counter-part. It is a systematically approached program specifically in sales for managing strategically important customers globally. It is an ongoing process since many years now for all the global companies even though the rate of success is not so fast. Globalization has got an important role here for GAM analysis where the supplier firm engages it-self in standardizing marketing programs. It coordinates worldwide activities and integrates competitive moves across country markets. Hence Shi et al. (2010: 626) suggests firms can increase the use of GAM strategies when faced with increasing globalization. This report reviews the scientific literature and empirical studies of many past researchers on GAM analysis, its drivers and strategy and concludes the importance of GAM for all global companies. The objective of the study was to understand how global account management and strategy helps in managing global customers. It is a case study. The research problem was approached with a careful research design, which consists of a theoretical part and an empirical part. The theoretical part of the study defines and clarifies the GAM analysis where an integrative theoretical model is drawn to describe GAM relationship between a global account customer and a focal supplier. The empirical part will explore along with literature reviews and provide a quantitative analysis to the research study. Through extensive literature reviews, case study and empirical interviews, the current study developed answers to the research question, “As globalization increasing, how global account management helps companies to manage customers globally?”

Global luxury automotive industry faces one of the most competitive and dynamic markets in the world. The focus of this research has been to discover the corporate strategies relating to competitive positioning and differentiation via brand personality. Both Aaker brand personality framework and specifically for this industry developed luxury automotive strategy framework are applied for content analysis data, which has been extracted from the mission and vision statements of four case companies: Audi, BMW, Daimler and Ferrari. The empirical research has been divided in to three separate research questions concerning luxury automotive industry positioning and differentiation. The first research question stated: “How Audi, BMW, Daimler and Ferrari express their corporate brand personality in their mission and vision statements?” Based on the data analysis and application of two different brand personality frameworks, each of the four automotive companies express their brand personalities with unique corporate brand profiles. The second research question stated: “How Audi, BMW, Daimler and Ferrari position and/or differentiate themselves in the luxury automotive industry using mission and vision statements?” Based on the data analysis and application of two different brand personality frameworks, most of the luxury automotive companies positioned themselves very similarly within the Aaker brand personality framework. However, in the luxury automotive framework further differences in positioning were seen. Differentiation was minimal with Aaker brand personality framework application, and slightly more prevalent in the luxury automotive framework. Finally, the third research question stated: “Are there differences in positioning and differentiation for Audi, BMW, Daimler and Ferrari if alternative brand personality framework is used to complement Aaker brand personality framework?” Based on the data analysis there were differences in positioning, however similarly, most companies seemed to align their position with the competition. Daimler and Ferrari stood out by focusing more on their deep-rooted heritage.

Export intermediaries are entrepreneurial service firms who are to link foreign customers and domestic firms. They assist SMEs in export by providing export services based on their resources. What’s most important, export intermediaries need have a thorough understanding of the problems exporters facing during their internationalization development and what assistance they require to overcome the difficulties. The purpose of this Master’s thesis is to find out the role of export intermediaries in assisting small companies in internationalization activities through investigating what export services are mostly needed by SMEs. The focus is on export intermediaries who act as external resources of exporters. Additionally, specific export services regarding entering German and China markets are examined respectively. The research method of this study is qualitative. In the empirical part, data are collected through semi-structured interviews of six respondents. These respondents can be categorized in two groups: the exporter group contains three Finnish small food manufacturers and the expert of internationalization group consists of one export agent and two internationalization experts from supporting organizations. The data obtained from the interviews were recorded and transcribed. Conclusions of the study are based on the answers to the three sub-research questions. The empirical results revealed that the most challenging thing exporters will face in exporting is to find contacts, partners and customers overseas. Lack of resources is the underlying fundamental cause for SMEs. When assisting in export, intermediaries need discover the needs of exporters and adapt to them. Therefore the role of export intermediaries identified in the study is to actively search customers in target market and to link exporters with them; to lower export costs and to help exporters gain market knowledge and experiences about target markets. / Viennin välittäjät ovat palveluyrityksiä, jotka yhdistävät ulkomaisen asiakkaan kotimaiseen toimittajaan. Ne avustavat pk-yrityksiä viennissä tarjoamalla palveluja, jotka perustuvat välittäjäyrityksen resursseihin. Kuitenkin viennin välittäjillä tulee olla syvällinen ymmärrys ongelmista, joita pk-yritykset kohtaavat kansainvälistymisessä ja avusta, jota viejät tarvitsevat ratkaistakseen nämä vaikeudet. Tämän pro gradu -työn tavoitteena on selvittää viennin välittäjien tehtävää pienten yritysten kansainvälistymisen tukemisessa tutkimalla, millaisia viennin palveluja pk-yritykset eniten tarvitset. Työ keskittyy viennin välittäjiin, joita tarkastellaan viejien ulkopuolisina resursseina. Lisäksi työssä selvitetään, millaisia vientipalveluja tarvitaan erityisesti Saksan ja Kiinan markkinoille pääsemiseksi. Tutkimusmenetelmänä on laadullinen tutkimus. Empiirisessä osassa tietoa on kerätty puolistrukturoiduilla haastatteluilla, joiden kohteena on ollut kuusi vastaajaa. Nämä voidaan luokitella kahteen ryhmään: viejien ryhmä käsittää kolme suomalaista elintarvikealan pk-yritystä ja asiantuntijoiden ryhmä vientiagentin sekä kaksi asiantuntijaa viennin tukiorganisaatioista. Työn johtopäätelmät perustuvat haastateltavien vastauksiin liittyen kolmeen tutkimuksen alakysymykseen. Empiiriset tulokset osoittavat, että viejien suurin haaste on löytää kontakteja, yhteistyökumppaneita ja asiakkaita ulkomailta. Pienten yritysten resurssien puute on taustalla oleva perussyy. Viennin välittäjien tulee selvittää avustettavien viejäyritysten tarpeet ja mukautua niihin. Tässä tutkimuksessa tunnistettiinkin viennin välittäjien tehtävä hakea aktiivisesti asiakkaita kohdemarkkinoilta ja yhdistää viejät asiakkaisiin, alentaa vientikustannuksia sekä auttaa markkinatiedon ja kokemusten hankkimisessa kohdemarkkinoista.

This bachelor study is aiming at giving the reader an understanding of sanctions and embargos; how they are being used, what effects they have and how well they succeed in serving their purposes in a broad way. The outcome of sanctions will also be analysed on company level in the case study Valio Russia.

The purpose of this study is to explore and understand the European Union internal energy market processes and how European Union constructs and justifies the markets. The idea is to understand where and how the internal energy market is created and what underlying of socio-political features effects this economic program. Growing exploitation of renewable energy and electricity, especially solar and wind, sources have created an impact on the economic policies. This study contributes to the discussion in market and energy market studies. To further the analysis is done by analysing the EU’s formal legislation, politics and policies provided in the high-ranking European Commission documents. The study aims to understand and elaborate on the EU’s internal energy market policies and means (which can be regarded as economic) and how the EU avails these policies. Due to the centrality of the thought of sustainable development within the European region for decades, the European Union has been the forerunner in this development and the single energy market is in many ways a model example of this interdependency. Energy questions centralise these policies and the internal energy market combines them in one form. The key topics of this study are renewable energy, the integrated market, harmonising regulation, the growing influence amongst consumers and public intervention as well as unbundling and transparency. I take critical realist stance on economics. Critical realism is a thought where reality exists outside of the human representation of it, but at the same time, it does not view social as a closed system. In this sense, economic agents are not isolated. In this study, the themes of energy and economics are deeply related to the thematics of environmental politics and their development. The nexus of environmental issues has been transforming towards the concepts of climate, energy, economy and even security.

Expatriates are an increasingly important part of global organizations. As multinational corporations establish new subsidiaries, they require an individual or group of individuals to setup and oversee the proper operation of these companies in accordance with the global strategy. Expatriates allow parent organizations to transfer crucial knowledge, corporate philosophy and culture to a subsidiary, as well as acquire important information from the host country. The effective management of expatriates needs to include a performance measurement system with appropriate criteria. The purpose of this study is to analyze the criteria utilized by researchers in the measurement of expatriate performance. The analysis will be conducted through the parent company’s point of view. The focus will be on whether or not the criteria currently used meets the objectives set forth by the parent organization as a primary stakeholder. This study will utilize a systematic review of past research. The proper protocols and procedures were followed to ensure an unbiased group of articles were selected. The articles were analyzed to examine the objective, purpose and type of expatriate performance measurement criteria they utilized. The articles were also evaluated according of a parent company stakeholder checklist outlining the most important aspects to the parent organization. The results of the study concluded that a research gap is evident. The measurement criteria utilized by the overwhelming majority of researchers does not meet the basic objectives set forth by the parent organization. A universal measurement framework for international assignments is absent, both in practice and in research. A small percentage of researchers are aware of this discrepancy and over reliance on a self-evaluation of performance when it comes to expatriate research. In conclusion, the study shows a gap in the current expatriate research and suggests a more detailed look at the measurement criteria used by the researchers in this field. The current criteria utilized fails to meet the basic objectives of the parent company.

Commercialization of products is an essential process for a firm in the course of value delivery. It is sometimes seen as a yardstick used in measuring the performance of the firm in the market as well as the revenue generating capacity of a firm. Premised on this, it is pertinent to ask how a successful commercialization strategy is being planned and executed by a firm. So, this research is hinged on the role of business model (innovation) in the commercialization strategies in SMEs. The present study is then focused on how business model innovation contributes to the successful commercialization of products in SMEs and for this reason, a framework is introduced that explains the roles of open innovation, the business environment and product reconfiguration as inherent in the path to success in the market by SMEs. Hence, the framework is further anchored on the use of both inflows and outflows of knowledge or technologies by SMEs in product reconfiguration with the basic aim of commercialization of same successfully in the market. It should be borne in mind that a business model describes the rational a firm will use to make revenue in the process of value delivery and when the business model seems to be ineffective, a replacement comes in. In this wise, business model innovation is the replacement of an existing business model of a firm. Business model innovation will consequently evolve the means of product reconfiguration for a firm in the attempt to re-create and re-deliver value to its customers. It follows therefore that business model innovation will aid the renewal of an existing product through reconfiguration in order to re-create, re-capture and re-deliver value in the market. In this line, the commercialization of products in the open market requires business model innovation to succeed. The open innovation environment therefore serves as the harbinger through which the innovation of a business model may take place by availing the firm the opportunity to collaborate and share ideas or technologies with others as opposed to the closed innovation attempt. This study, which is done empirically, aims at contributing theoretically and managerially to helping firms understand the nature of their business model and recognize lapses inherent therein for renewal. More so, it will also serve as an avenue for managers to be more equipped in understanding their existing business model and to detect and benefit from the use of new and incipient technologies. The study has been carried out based on the use of empirical data collected from two case companies in Finland and Nigeria thereby producing a reliable result on the role of business model innovation in the commercialization strategies in SMEs and also demonstrating the importance of business model innovation in the internationalization exertion of SMEs.

With the development of high-technology and coming ages of internet-based business, there is an increasing number of e-commerce business plans has been sent to venture capitalists to raising capital funds. Venture capitalists have their certain rules to select ideal business plans. Business plans, as the initial stage of business models have become a heated topic in recent years. In order to make sure the investment is profitable, both venture capitalists and entrepreneurs should bear in mind which parts are important in venture firms. Based on the phenomena, the research is made to bridge the business model with venture capital investment and find out what are the key components from business model influence venture capitalists’ interests. The thesis has three main parts: First, the thesis reviewed the existing literatures of business model and venture capital investments. And selected influencing factors for venture capital decisions and the conceptualization method of business model for analysis. Second, based on the selected factors and conceptualization model, the thesis selected and modified the factors which are consisted in business model components and built a research framework for empirical analysis. And last, the research designed a questionnaire for venture capital related respondents, in order to find out what are key factors influence their decisions. All the answers were analyzed by statistical analysis tool SPSS, and the Factor Analysis method was used to extract major factors which influence venture capitalists’ choices from business model components. The results of the research has found out that there are 8 main factors: markets and customers, products and technologies, external environments, organizational designs, entrepreneurs’ personalities, and finances. And from the 8 main factors, answers from the respondents showed that the markets and customers, and products and technologies are the most important elements for their investment decision. On the contrary, finance issues are the least important.