The research focuses on internationalizing social value creation of social enterprises taking the point of view of social enterprises’ adaptation to foreign environments. The paper aims to clarify what kinds of methods social enterprises use in order to adapt to the foreign environments in which they are creating social value. The research has been conducted as a qualitative study combining information from previous researches with new empirical data collected by interviewing four international social enterprises. The interviewed enterprises operate and are originally from different countries. The results of this study show that internationalization of social enterprises is partly different from the internationalization of commercial ones. Due to the differences in mission and operating context, social enterprises often face bigger challenges when internationalizing their mission than commercial enterprises do. Based on this research, it is obvious that social networks and partnerships are crucial for social enterprises when adapting to foreign markets. The partners can help, among other things, in learning the culture, applying for funding and in general recognizing the social value creation possibilities abroad. In addition, changing the legislation and rules in the host country, organizational flexibility and product adaptation play an important role when adapting to creating social value abroad. The earlier researches have quite rarely focused on the internationalization aspects or taken the international perspective on social entrepreneurship. Therefore, adaptation to foreign environments is a new topic in social entrepreneurship research. Hence, the results of this study help to understand the field of international social entrepreneurship better and contribute to theory building on the field. Furthermore, the results can be used as a tool to facilitate internationalization of social impact. / Tutkimus paneutuu yhteiskunnallisten yritysten yhteiskunnallisen vaikutuksen kansainvälistämiseen ja erityisesti ulkomaiseen toimintaympäristöön sopeutumiseen yhteiskunnallisen vaikutuksen näkökulmasta. Työn tavoitteena on selvittää, millä tavoin yhteiskunnalliset yritykset pyrkivät sopeutumaan ulkomaisille markkinoille laajentaessaan luomansa yhteiskunnallisen vaikutuksen ulottuvaksi kotimaansa ulkopuolelle. Tutkimus on laadullinen ja se on toteutettu analysoimalla aikaisempia tutkimuksia ja yhdistämällä näiden tutkimusten löydöksiä haastatteluilla kerättyyn empiiriseen aineistoon. Tutkimusta varten on haastateltu neljää yritystä neljästä eri maasta. Yritysten toimialueet ovat erilaiset. Yhteiskunnalliset yritykset kansainvälistyvät hieman eri tavalla kuin perinteiset yritykset ja ne myös kohtaavat monet kansainvälistymisen haasteet suurempina tavoitteen ja toimintaympäristön erojen vuoksi. Tutkimus osoittaa erittäin selkeästi, että yhteiskunnallisille yrityksille sopivat yhteistyökumppanit ovat avainasemassa kansainvälistymisen ongelmia ratkottaessa. Yhteistyökumppanit voivat auttaa muun muassa kohdemaan kulttuurin ymmärtämisessä, rahoituksen hakemisessa tai ylipäätään ulkomaisten liiketoimintamahdollisuuksien tunnistamisessa. Tärkeässä roolissa sopeutumisprosessissa ovat myös kohdemaan sääntöjen ja lakien muuttaminen, organisaation joustavuus sekä tuotteen muokkaaminen kulttuurillisesti kohdemarkkinoille sopivaksi. Yhteiskunnallisista yrityksistä on aikaisemmin tehty hyvin vähän tutkimusta kansainvälisestä näkökulmasta tai kansainvälistymiseen liittyen. Tästä syystä ulkomaisille markkinoille sopeutuminen on yhteiskunnallisen yrittäjyyden tutkimuksessa uusi aihe, minkä vuoksi tämän tutkimuksen tulokset auttavat ymmärtämään kansainvälisen yhteiskunnallisen yrittäjyyden ilmiötä paremmin sekä tarjoavat työkalun yhteiskunnallisen vaikutuksen kansainvälistämisen avuksi.

International partnering is an attractive internationalisation vehicle and one of the main concerns when managing international partnerships is opportunism. Opportunism is self-interest seeking behaviour which aims to gain benefit at the cost of the partner. In international partnerships the cultural differences complicate the management of the partnership and induce opportunistic behaviour. This study aims to get a better insight of international opportunism and its management. There are both formal and relational governance mechanisms to curb opportunism, and in this paper the relational governance mechanism of trust is investigated, as previous research indicated trust to be the most efficient governance mechanism in international partnerships with high environmental uncertainty. Furthermore the impact of culture on opportunism and trust building were the main interests. These issues were studied in Western-Indonesian partnerships, the focus on managing Indonesian partner opportunism from the Western firm’s viewpoint. This is a qualitative multiple case study, which aims to get a deeper understanding of the phenomenon of international partner opportunism. Data was obtained through semi-structured interviews with relevant representatives of the Western companies partnering with Indonesian firms. Data was coded and analysed accordingly. It was found that for managing foreign partner opportunism in Indonesia relationship building and trust are essential factors. Relationship building requires a lot of socializing and rather informal business relationships. Cultural differences impact both opportunism and the building process of a trustful relationship notably. The main elements noted in the Indonesian culture were differences in values, communication style and mind-sets. These aspects affect and complicate the process of building trust and good quality relationship, besides affecting the level of opportunism. Managers should acknowledge these elements of cultural differences and find ways to mitigate their unfavourable effects. This study contributes to research by offering a qualitative study on international opportunism and this way enriching the knowledge of the subject. Especially pointing out the critical elements of culture regarding opportunism and trust building truly enhances the current research. The contributions can be used to guide Western managers aiming to develop a partnership in South-East Asia.

This study takes an example from Japan into the connection between culture, business networks and SME internationalization. This is divided into two parts, a literature review and six (N=6) face-to-face semi-structured expert interviews with Japanese SME internationalization experts. The literature review finds that there is a consensus in the field that business networks generally increase the propensity and success of SME internationalization. Culture is also found to have a clear impact in SMEs in terms of behavior in both national and international contexts. A key concept on the connection between culture and SME internationalization is psychic distance. These phenomena of the general theory are compared with the case of Japanese SMEs, and a theoretical framework is formed. The findings of this study that are based on the theoretical framework and six semi-structured interviews can be summarized into four main propositions; P1.) Networks have a strong influence on the internationalization of Japanese SMEs. In some cases, Japanese SME internationalization through networks behavior differs from the general patterns in the way that in case of horizontal networks, networks do not increase the propensity for internationalization for member SMEs. P2.) Psychic distance seems to lessen Japanese SME motivation to internationalize. In case of Japanese vertical networks, the strong network ties revoke the effect of psychic distance. In case of Japanese horizontal networks a strong pulling factor for internationalization does not exist, and therefore psychic distance has a stronger influence. P3.) Japanese culture, specifically psychic distance, can be seen as one of the reasons for the differences in Japanese SME internationalization through networks when compared to the general theory. P4.) Culture seems to have a strong connection with both business networks and SME internationalization, and this connection varies according to the focal culture. Out of these propositions, the first three ones offer an explanation of the connection between Japanese culture, business networks and SMEs, whereas the last proposition makes a contribution for the theory in general level; the connection between culture, business networks and SME internationalization. The study raises focus on the fact that culture can have a different connection to both business networks and SME internationalization (and their connection is thus different) according to different cultures. This is especially important in the research field of SME internationalization through network approach, which is dominated by Western theories.

This literature review constructs together main features of potential acquirers on the markets. Also paper defines M&As separates them from each other also defining the existence of them through resource dependency theory, resource-based view and internalization theory. Basically big technologically oriented MNEs with M&A history are the most potential acquirers on the startup exit markets.

This study focuses on digitalization of manufacturing industry, commonly known as Industry 4.0. In this study, digitalization is viewed as a radical change from the perspective of current processes and organizational structures. In general, transformation and radical change create a threat for the existence of the organization. Simplified definitions of Industry 4.0 solution in manufacturing environment would be embedded sensor in product components communicating with interlinked manufacturing equipment. At the same time production system analyzes available data from various sources, and represent the information to human operator(s) who oversees ultimate decision making. This study aims at supporting the strategic decision making of the managers working towards Industry 4.0 and digitalization. Secondly, this study makes an attempt to understand if ad hoc process model can be used to describe organizational success. Study combines two models, dynamics capabilities and ad hoc process in order to explain why some firms manage to go through successfully such a big change and some of them not, and which part of the successful digitization might be explained through dynamic capabilities and when the success can be derived from reacting to spontaneously appearing, unfamiliar problems. Study uses qualitative research method, and it has both theoretical and empirical part. Theoretically formulated problems are categorized in the familiar and unfamiliar sub-problems with applicable solutions based on empirical part. Empirical has been collected through theme-centered interviews of four Finnish digitalization experts. Results show that digitization-related problems can be divided in the unfamiliar and familiar problems. Thus, organization might be able to prepare itself for incoming change with dynamic capabilities. Findings to not represent or generate a single I4.0 framework nor organizational change theory, but provide tools for managerial implementation. Results of this study can be used as a vehicle to understand what kind of problems utilization of I4.0 technologies might generate before the actual benefits are reached.

Internationalizing small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) are often struggling with limited resources. These resources might also set the limits for the opportunities to grow. Capabilities and resources have been studied within context of MNCs, but, SMEs have been left with less attention. Capability development gives a good perspective for the internationalizing SME, and it might give answer for the question of why some internationalizing SMEs perform better than others. Capability development process starts from understanding resources and capabilities of the SME. Resource-Based View and Dynamic Capability Perspective gives a good grounding for understanding capability development. After the theoretical part, case study has been used for finding more sharpen perspective for finding answers to the research questions. Case study from Finnish firm Gravity has been included for scoping the subject through lenses of real-life SME. Questionnaire was used in a case study for collecting empirical data from the case firm. This master thesis is aiming to find answer to research question: How an internationalizing SME have to develop their capabilities? In addition, as an additional research question, this master thesis is aiming for finding the answer the following question: How internationalizing SME have to adapt their capabilities in growing stage? In this study, the objective is focusing on the perspective scoped through a case firm. By using a case firm, it is excepted to find the concrete suggestions, the key factors of the capability development for an internationalizing SME. The results showed that within RBV perspective, firm must know it resources including processes and products before developing capabilities. Internal factors work as a trigger for developing process. DCP emphasizes firm-specific managerial skill as critical aspect, with creating, extending and modifying the resource base for adapting changes in external environment. Both perspectives agree that capability development is much dependent on managerial skills and on perspective of how managers see those resources and capabilities. Resources might set limitations to grow, but these limitations can be stretch a little, e.g. by relationship building. The results give concrete proposition to develop capabilities for the case firm and general findings can be drawn giving answers to the research questions. The case study strengthens and supported the findings found from the strategic management theories. The study itself offered a fresh perspective for the subject of capability development by bringing the internationalizing of the SME along. Further studies by utilizing bigger sample of internationalizing SMEs could bring more reliable results.

The approaching 5G technology is expected to offer new opportunities for business especially in the indoor networks. Researchers have estimated that a new actor, a micro operator could take some part of the traditional mobile network operators’ role in the future. This research takes a future-oriented coopetitive perspective and examines the micro operator within its coopetitive ecosystem in 5G environment in campus context. The research aims to identify possible future business model elements for the micro operator in the 5G campus environment. This research is conducted with a qualitative anticipatory action research approach. The qualitative methodology facilitates the creation of fundamental understanding of the researched subject that is required. Anticipatory action learning combines future studies and action research. This corresponds well with the target to vision the future business models and creates new knowledge for organizational change. The empirical data was gathered through background interviews and a co-creational workshop. The knowledge developed in the workshop is not static but co-created by players from the micro operator’s ecosystem with various perspectives. The empirical data is analyzed from coopetitive, 4C and openness perspectives. The results of the study show promise. Many possible ways to generate a new business model were identified in the study. Three potential service entities were recognized for the campus use case. In total three service entities possess fifteen individual business opportunities. From the coopetition perspective, most of these fifteen potential business opportunities lies on the creation of new markets but also on the efficiency in the resource utilization. From the 4C business model perspective, the potential is mainly located on the content and context levels. The micro operator is operating in the coopetitive ecosystem. Thus, some level of openness is anticipated. This kind of business model’s elements are the core and extensions. They can both be closed and operated by one company or they can be developed together within the ecosystem if the core or extensions or both are open. The research offers insight for academics and practitioners. It contributes to the scarce literature related to the coopetitive business models of micro operators. The study depicts how coopetition enables creation and capture of additional value that could not be created without coopetition. Thus, the coopetition can be valuable as part of the individual company’s business model. However, coopetition can be demanding for the managers as they coordinate the company’s conflicting goals. The study presents various potential business models that managers can evaluate and utilize in practice. The reliability and validity can not be used as measurements in future-oriented research. The quality of the research is measured by the probability based on trends, the plausibility based on events that could occur in the future and the preferability based on the future we would like to have. The quality of the research is also enhanced by transparency as the choices and the research process are explained in detail.

This thesis looks at impact that financial factors have on growth of a company and how financial factors can be used as a tool in growth management. The purpose is to empirically analyze the influence of investments, equity ratio and gearing on growth of a firm. Furthermore, the aim is to find out whether these three variables have a relation with the growth of medium-sized Finnish companies. The study begins with a literature review where the concepts of investments, equity ratio and gearing are researched from the perspective of influencing growth. Based on existing literature about the three variables hypothesizes are formed for statistical testing. Consequently, the literature review forms a foundation for the empirical part of the thesis. The research method used in this study is quantitative and the data for the regression analysis has been gathered from certain company listings published in Talouselämä-magazine, implicating that this study uses secondary data as a data collection technique. Microsoft Excel and StatsModel softwares have been utilized to runt the statistical analysis of the study and to determine the relation between the studied variables and growth. As Finnish medium-sized companies have lacked growth in recent years, it is evident that ways to find root causes for slow growth, have gained attention. In this sense, this thesis is also continuity for the search of how companies can grow faster. The findings and results of the study provide clear implications how investments, equity ratio and gearing impact on growth of a company. Coherent with existing academic literature, the results of the thesis support the perception that there is a statistically significant relation between investments and growth, as well as, between equity ratio and growth. On the contrary, the findings indicate that there is not a statistically significant relation between gearing and growth of a company. Additionally, it can be concluded that investments have the most significant relation on growth. Suggesting that a firm should prioritize investments over equity ratio when looking for ways to grow company faster. The main purpose of this Master’s thesis is not to produce one size fits all suggestions for growing company faster. Theoretical part focusing on growth management with financial indicators is constructed with the aim to bring management perspective to the thesis and to produce reflections on how readers own organization is currently viewing usage of financial metrics data. Similarly, literature review and empirical study on relation of the three financial factors and growth cannot be generalized very well because of a rather small population used in the analysis, which in addition includes only companies from one country.

This literature review investigates the current researches on pop-up stores to get a comprehensive look on the phenomenon and its applicability for micro-entrepreneurs.

In international business research, there is an illegal gap, literally. This mostly unexplored area of illegal international businesses can be very fruitful: the international illegal businesses operate in highly dynamic and turbulent environment under great pressure. Also, in illegal context lies potential to test existing concepts and theories in very similar but profoundly different context. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to discover how the acceleration of the internationalization is influenced by the contextual factors of illegal businesses. To seek answer to research problem, this research adapts to critical realistic in its philosophical nature. Furthermore, the method of this exploratory research is qualitative, and data is collected in semi-structured interviews. The data is analyzed and interpreted abductively, and so the findings are the result of continuous discussion between theory and the data. This research found support that illegal international businesses have some unique features, and that these contextual factors do influence their internationalization. This study supports earlier findings of Born Global research on acceleration of internationalization, draws attention to the role of external environment (institutional environment) as influencing factor of acceleration of internationalization, and brings insight on the firms’ abilities of continuous innovativeness and change