<p>Setting strategies for an organisation is full of complexities (which strategy or strategic process to use) and these complexities arise from the ambiguous and non-routine processes. This is so because, strategy development is about the future and this future is unknown, as the paths companies follow are dynamic. Due to these complexities, managers tend to embark on knowledge gain through competencies in the management of companies. In order for future managers who have not had organisational experience to understand how strategic management is in real company situation, a case study on the types of market growth strategies and strategy development process in a multinational company is done in this thesis. How these strategies implemented affects market share is also an elaborate part of this study</p><p>This study was done as a case study in Komatsu Forest AB; a multinational company that manufactures forestry machines. In this light, the study sets to identify the market growth strategies implemented by this company, its strategy development process and how the strategies have affected its market share.</p><p>As basis for an empirical research process, a theoretical framework was compiled from existing literatures on market growth strategies and strategy development process, where the strategies were considered both at the business level and corporate level. A deduction research approach was appropriate for the study whereby qualitative empirical data was collected through semi-structured face-to-face interviews. The interviews were conducted with two employees of the company (Market analyst and the spokesman for the company) who were considered to be knowledgeable in the subject area. This allowed a thorough understanding of particular issues pertaining to the company.</p><p>The analysis of the empirical findings showed that this company implements acquisition, partnership/networks and diversification at the corporate level and high pricing, differentiation at the business level as its market growth strategies. This company develops these strategies through a planned process; meaning that strategies are intended and these strategies have a positive impact on the company as its overall market situation has increased. This study offer some contributions for this company on how some strategic adjustments can be made in order to improve the current market situation and some recommendations for its management in better decision making.</p>

Setting strategies for an organisation is full of complexities (which strategy or strategic process to use) and these complexities arise from the ambiguous and non-routine processes. This is so because, strategy development is about the future and this future is unknown, as the paths companies follow are dynamic. Due to these complexities, managers tend to embark on knowledge gain through competencies in the management of companies. In order for future managers who have not had organisational experience to understand how strategic management is in real company situation, a case study on the types of market growth strategies and strategy development process in a multinational company is done in this thesis. How these strategies implemented affects market share is also an elaborate part of this study This study was done as a case study in Komatsu Forest AB; a multinational company that manufactures forestry machines. In this light, the study sets to identify the market growth strategies implemented by this company, its strategy development process and how the strategies have affected its market share. As basis for an empirical research process, a theoretical framework was compiled from existing literatures on market growth strategies and strategy development process, where the strategies were considered both at the business level and corporate level. A deduction research approach was appropriate for the study whereby qualitative empirical data was collected through semi-structured face-to-face interviews. The interviews were conducted with two employees of the company (Market analyst and the spokesman for the company) who were considered to be knowledgeable in the subject area. This allowed a thorough understanding of particular issues pertaining to the company. The analysis of the empirical findings showed that this company implements acquisition, partnership/networks and diversification at the corporate level and high pricing, differentiation at the business level as its market growth strategies. This company develops these strategies through a planned process; meaning that strategies are intended and these strategies have a positive impact on the company as its overall market situation has increased. This study offer some contributions for this company on how some strategic adjustments can be made in order to improve the current market situation and some recommendations for its management in better decision making.

The aviation industry has more than a hundred years in history in the United States. And the industry has always been one of the important projects to conduct of the country. The industry involves not only technology, capitals but also politics. In order to maintain the influential power to the world, countries, especially the United States and Western Europe invest huge amount in this industry. However, under the globalization and high oil prices era, the industry encounters some difficulties to change. Outsourcing has become the solution for those manufacturers. The high growth of economic in Asia becomes another battle field for western countries to fight, especially in China. Chinese power is getting stronger; however, western countries concern about the special political backgrounds in China. Nevertheless, conducting business and finding cheap labor resource have been multinational companies¡¦ priority these days. The influential power of multinational companies and those parent countries become the major decision maker in the game. The Boeing Company has all the characteristics of these controversial issues. Chinese government, the Boeing Company, the rival Airbus and the U.S. government in the game would affect the industry.

Companies have a need to internationalize and locate all over the world to gain advantages against competition. However, when companies internationalize, they face difficulties. One of the major difficulties is how they can reach the same high quality around the world in their business facilities. Over one third of all construction projects reporting major defects. The purpose of this thesis is to research how companies implement Quality Management in offshore construction projects, what are the common challenges related to the subject and how to overcome these challenges. The theoretical framework for the study is gathered from academic literature. The thesis uses a qualitative research approach. The primary data is gathered through interviews and observations that are conducted on an offshore construction site. The case study in this thesis researches how a multinational company handles Quality Management in an offshore construction project.  The company’s Quality Management guidelines and practices have been established in Europe, whereas the location and context of this study is in Southeast-Asia. The difference in business context and cultures causes additional challenges in implementing Quality Management in the project. After analyzing the data, the company’s Quality Management practices are compared to suggested practices in the academic literature. These suggestions can be valid for other multinational companies that are expanding to different continents. The results show that when companies do offshoring decisions, relationship quality with contractors and partnership credibility should be central attributes, even if it means doing business with higher priced companies. Many companies do not focus enough on the quality aspect in the contractor tendering phase. Instead they tend to base decisions solely on cost and speed even though bad quality work results in increased costs and delays in construction projects.

<p>Vietnam is a developing country in South-East Asia with borders toward China, Laos and Cambodia. As other countries in the same area are far more developed, Vietnam can gain a lot from international trade. It is an important factor for a country to build prosperity and gain economic growth and thereby reach a higher standard of living. But for a company to succeed in the international market is a demanding task. Both internal and external factors that influence a company’s competence need to be taken into consideration. The awareness of Corporate Social Responsibility is increasing every day and it is becoming a more and more important factor for the end-customer as well as the buyers and suppliers. This Master Thesis deals with the relationship between Vietnamese suppliers and their international buyers and how Corporate Social Responsibility affects that relation.</p><p>The result of the study shows that there are advantages for both the Vietnamese supplier and the international buyer. Companies that work together and care for each other will end up with a strong and long-term relation. Both the quality and the productivity increased and that the staff turn-over decreased when introducing CSR. One also has to understand that the international customers are in command and that the suppliers are merely following the customer’s demands. Furthermore, quality, price and delivery time are the most important factors when choosing a supplier but by working with CSR these factors will also be affected positively.</p><p>It was also, apart from the main focus of this thesis, interesting to discover how corruption and cultural differences affected the supplier-buyer relation and also the discussion about whose responsibility it actually is to work with these issues; the buying rich customer or the relatively poor supplier?</p>

Vietnam is a developing country in South-East Asia with borders toward China, Laos and Cambodia. As other countries in the same area are far more developed, Vietnam can gain a lot from international trade. It is an important factor for a country to build prosperity and gain economic growth and thereby reach a higher standard of living. But for a company to succeed in the international market is a demanding task. Both internal and external factors that influence a company’s competence need to be taken into consideration. The awareness of Corporate Social Responsibility is increasing every day and it is becoming a more and more important factor for the end-customer as well as the buyers and suppliers. This Master Thesis deals with the relationship between Vietnamese suppliers and their international buyers and how Corporate Social Responsibility affects that relation. The result of the study shows that there are advantages for both the Vietnamese supplier and the international buyer. Companies that work together and care for each other will end up with a strong and long-term relation. Both the quality and the productivity increased and that the staff turn-over decreased when introducing CSR. One also has to understand that the international customers are in command and that the suppliers are merely following the customer’s demands. Furthermore, quality, price and delivery time are the most important factors when choosing a supplier but by working with CSR these factors will also be affected positively. It was also, apart from the main focus of this thesis, interesting to discover how corruption and cultural differences affected the supplier-buyer relation and also the discussion about whose responsibility it actually is to work with these issues; the buying rich customer or the relatively poor supplier?

This practicum sets out to address several challenges faced by a multinational corporation operating within a globalized marketplace through the reconsideration of its workplace design. The aim is to achieve a balance between cultural adaptation and standardized corporate identity in the design for the hypothetical multinational management consulting company, Torrent. The balance is perused in order to support Japanese and Canadian national-work-cultures, the two cultures on which the practicum is based, while creating a strong, consistent, and recognizable visual identity across its different subsidiaries. The practicum’s overall objective is to demonstrate how both of these themes can be achieved simultaneously in order to create a balance that benefits both the multinational company as well as its host country. The practicum’s outcome involves two design solutions developed for Torrent based on a single workplace, one responding to Japan’s national work culture, and the other to Canada’s. A standardized corporate identity is achieved through the communication of a consistent company identity in both workplace designs.

The role of society for the development of multinational companies’ (MNC) business has so far not attracted much scholarly attention in international marketing. Responding to recent calls for further research relating MNCs with society, the aim of this thesis is to enhance the understanding of the MNC relationship with society. Standing on the business network perspective, the theoretical view includes society in the network. Apart from business actors, the view incorporates public actors (such as governments) and civil society actors (such as Non-Governmental Organizations). Thus, contrary to earlier business network studies, the MNC relationships with non-business actors are explicitly handled as part of the business network in this thesis. For the fulfillment of the aim - understanding the MNC relationship with society - the study applies the four relationship elements knowledge, commitment, trust and legitimacy. In further developing the theoretical view, the results from the empirical and theoretical findings in the papers, along with others’ contributions in this field, have inspired the development of interdependence in relationships. Consequently, the main emphasis in the ‘Thesis Summary’ is put on a deeper theoretical discussion of the concept of interdependence. The interdependence framework maps different relationship types with business and non-business actors in business networks. The implications on the management of the different types of relationships are also further developed. The empirical study, which inspired the theoretical development, concerns a qualitative and abductive case study of a Swedish MNC’s relationships with actors from the business, public and civil society sectors in Argentina and Brazil. The study is based on 51 interviews, observations and documentation as its main data sources. It resulted in four papers, which were developed in the areas of crisis, subsidiary strategy, radical innovation and expansion to the rural ‘Base of the Pyramid’, all applying a relational perspective. The thesis has both empirical and theoretical contributions. The major empirical contribution concerns the behavior of MNCs in emerging economies in relation to society. The theoretical development contributes deeper exploration of business relationships and network perspectives in the context of society, adding a novel employment of the same.

This practicum sets out to address several challenges faced by a multinational corporation operating within a globalized marketplace through the reconsideration of its workplace design. The aim is to achieve a balance between cultural adaptation and standardized corporate identity in the design for the hypothetical multinational management consulting company, Torrent. The balance is perused in order to support Japanese and Canadian national-work-cultures, the two cultures on which the practicum is based, while creating a strong, consistent, and recognizable visual identity across its different subsidiaries. The practicum’s overall objective is to demonstrate how both of these themes can be achieved simultaneously in order to create a balance that benefits both the multinational company as well as its host country. The practicum’s outcome involves two design solutions developed for Torrent based on a single workplace, one responding to Japan’s national work culture, and the other to Canada’s. A standardized corporate identity is achieved through the communication of a consistent company identity in both workplace designs.

We approached a multinational manufacturing company that wants to reduce its employee turnover among white collars workers. Thailand's current labour shortage requires an ability to retain employees and a quantitative survey is conducted to measure the perceived job satisfaction. Job Satisfaction is a key component in strive for employee retention. The study identifies and analyzes organizational reasons that contribute to job satisfaction and that can contribute to increased employee retention. By investigating perceived job satisfaction amongst white collar worker, aims the study to find factors that are central to employee retention and how the most central factors can be strengthen and developed by the organization. The study creates an understanding of the benefits of employee retention strategies and the results may support the organization in the development of these. The conclusion is that organizational effort within work design, leadership, social support; development, compensation &amp; benefits, and work-life balance are essential for employee retention. The study indicates that employees‘ annual development, competitiveness within compensation &amp; benefits and a leader that lives up to the employee's expectations have an influence on the perceived job satisfaction. A continuous effort to increase job satisfaction reduces employee desire of movement. The pros of staying and the risks of leaving the organization increases and the result is an increased opportunity for employee retention / Vi kom i kontakt med ett multinationellt tillverkningsföretag som vill minska sin personalomsättning bland tjänstemän. Thailands rådande arbetskraftbrist ställer krav på en god förmåga att behålla personal och en kvantitativ undersökning genomförs för att mäta den upplevda arbetstillfredsställelsen. Arbetstillfredsställelse ses i tidigare studier som en nyckelkomponent för arbetet med personalbehållning, och vår studie fortsätter i samma riktning. Syftet är att finna och analysera organisatoriska grunder i arbetstillfredsställelse som kan bidra till ökad personalbehållning. Genom att undersöka tjänstemännens upplevda arbetstillfredsställelse kan vi besvara vilka faktorer som är centrala för personalbehållning och hur de mest centrala faktorerna kan stärkas och utvecklas av organisationen. Resultatet ökar förståelsen av fördelarna med personalbehållningsstrategier och kan stödja organisationen i utvecklingen av dessa. Slutsatsen är att organisationens arbete med Arbetsdesign, Ledarskap, Socialt stöd, Utveckling, Kompensation &amp;Förmåner samt Balansen mellan privat- och arbetslivs är centrala för deras personalbehållning. Studien indikerar även att årlig utveckling hos de anställda, konkurrenskraftiga kompensationer &amp; förmåner och en ledare som lever upp till de anställdas förväntningar har en stark inverkan på arbetstillfredsställelsen. Ett kontinuerligt arbete för ökad arbetstillfredsställelse minskar de anställdas önskan om att byta arbete. Fördelarna med att stanna kvar samt riskerna med att lämna organisationen ökar och resultatet blir en förbättrad möjlighet till personalbehållning