Bakgrund: Valet av strategi kan vara en avgörande faktor för att ett företag ska kunna anpassa sig efter en föränderlig miljö. Eftersom dagens affärsmiljö är dynamisk och snabbt förändras behöver företagen ständigt inrätta sig efter dessa. Det som ger upphov till att ageranden är nödvändiga när marknaden förändras är osäkerhet som kan leda till ekonomiska svårigheter. Strategi och strategisk planering är betydelsefullt för att ett företag ska nå sina mål. Däremot kan uppfattningen av vad som är strategiskt variera. Stora företag och SME tenderar att skilja sig åt eftersom SME är mindre formella i både strategi och strategisk planering. Med bakgrund av detta saknas forskning beträffande förändringar under osäkerhet i samband med strategi men även beträffande hur SME agerar för att överleva under osäkerhet. Syfte: Syftet med studien är att skapa förståelse för hur företag i känsliga branscher anpassar sin strategi under osäkra förhållanden och förklara dess påverkan på företagen. Ur detta kommer även eventuella likheter och skillnader identifieras i hur SMEs och stora företag agerar under osäkerhet. Metod: Studien utgår från ett kvalitativt tillvägagångssätt där forskningsansatsen är abduktiv. För att samla in det empiriska materialet har semistrukturerade intervjuer genomförts. Totalt genomfördes tio intervjuer vid nio olika företag som sedan låg till grund för den empiriska analysen. Fortsatt genomfördes en analys med utgångspunkt i vad som beskrevs i den empiriska analysen och jämfördes med den teoretiska referensramen för att finna eventuella likheter och skillnader. Slutsats: Studiens resultat visar att företag hanterar strategi under osäkra förhållanden genom att anpassa förhållningssätt utefter sin grundstrategi. Detta görs främst genom att företagen anpassar sig efter efterfrågan på marknaden. Fortsatt återfinns skillnader i hur stora företag och SME hanterar strategi. De stora företagen tenderar att vara mer formella och tillämpa strategisk planering för strategiska krisåtgärder medan SME endast arbetar med förebyggande åtgärder. / Background: The preferred strategy can be a decisive factor when it comes to a company’s ability to adapt to a changing environment. Taking into account that today’s business environment is dynamic and rapidly changing, companies are more or less obligated to adjust to this. The cause of this action regarding the change on the market is the uncertainty which can result in financial difficulties. Strategy and strategic planning is significant with regard to the company’s ability to achieve its goals. However, the perception of what is strategic can vary. Big companies and SME tend to differ since SME are less formal, both when it comes to strategy but also to strategic planning. With this said, there is a lack of research regarding changes during uncertain situations in connection with strategy, but also how SME act in order to survive the uncertainty. Purpose: The aim of this study is to create an understanding regarding companies within sensitive industries and how they adapt their strategy during times of uncertain conditions, but also explain its impact on them. Furthermore, to be able to refer back to the purpose, differences and similarities will be presented in relation to how SME and big companies are acting at the time of uncertainty. Method: The study is based on a qualitative approach where the research approach is abductive. In order to be able to achieve the empirical material, semi-structured interviews have been highly necessary. In total, ten interviews were conducted of which nine were companies. These interviews then formed the basis of the empirical analysis, which were then compared to the theoretical frame of reference for further analysis to examine possible similarities and differences. Conclusions: The result of this thesis shows that companies manage their strategy under uncertain conditions by adapting approaches according to their overall strategy. This is mainly done by adaptation to the market demand. Furthermore, differences between SME and big companies are presented regarding the management of strategy. The large companies tend to be more formal and apply strategic planning for strategic crisis measures, while SMEs only work with preventive measures.

The present thesis aims to increase our understanding of the causes of separatism. The inspiration for this topic comes from the fact that separatist conflicts can become extremely destructive, and thus a better understanding of why they emerge may help us prevent much human suffering by pointing to ways in which separatism can be avoided. More specifically, the thesis aims to explain the link between separatism and regional development disparities. The argument presented is that inter-regional economic conflicts (such as about inter-regional fiscal redistribution) easily emerge between regions at different levels of development, and that under certain conditions, particularly prolonged recessions and austerity, such conflicts can become an important driver of separatist aspirations. This can happen in both poorer and richer regions. The thesis further argues that this entire process can only be fully understood if we analyse society through a class prism. Given that regional development disparities often lie at the root of inter-regional economic conflicts, one of the ways of avoiding such conflicts – and thus also separatism – would be to equalize regional development levels. In order to do so, however, we first need to understand why regional disparities emerge and persist. Focusing on capitalist countries, the thesis argues that the disparities emerge as a natural consequence of the operation of oligopolistic markets, which are the dominant market form in capitalism. Regional development policies are explored at length, and it is argued that they are generally insufficient to overcome the tendency of markets to produce regional disparities. All the topics in the thesis are explored at the general level and for a larger number of countries, but the main in-depth case study is of regional disparities in the United Kingdom and how they relate to Scottish separatism.

Submitted by Riccardo Bozzeda (rbozzeda1@gmail.com) on 2017-10-05T12:41:04Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Tesi_FGV.pdf: 498038 bytes, checksum: f5b53be07d249e12438bff90982a5a14 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Josineide da Silva Santos Locatelli (josineide.locatelli@fgv.br) on 2017-10-05T12:56:00Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Tesi_FGV.pdf: 498038 bytes, checksum: f5b53be07d249e12438bff90982a5a14 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-10-05T16:03:50Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Tesi_FGV.pdf: 498038 bytes, checksum: f5b53be07d249e12438bff90982a5a14 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-09-22 / This paper provides evidence of the effect of Working Capital Management (WCM) on the performance of Latin America companies. The study also investigates whether the effect of WCM on performance differs between ‘small’ and ‘big’ firms. The paper employs Panel data regression analysis on a sample of 117 non-financial firms over an eleven-year period (2005- 2015). The results show that WCM has a convex relationship with performance. However, the results suggest that WCM is relatively more important for the performance of ‘big’ companies than ‘small’ companies. Overall, the study proves that WCM components do affect the performance of Latin America firms. / Este documento fornece evidências do efeito da Gestão de Capital de Trabalho (WCM) sobre o desempenho das empresas da América Latina. O estudo também investiga se o efeito da WCM no desempenho difere entre empresas ‘pequenas’ e ‘grandes’. O artigo emprega análise de regressão de dados do painel em uma amostra de 117 empresas não financeiras ao longo de um período de onze anos (2005-2015). Os resultados mostram que a WCM tem uma relação convexa com o desempenho. No entanto, os resultados sugerem que o WCM é relativamente mais importante para o desempenho de empresas ‘grandes’ do que empresas ‘pequenas’. Em geral, o estudo comprova que os componentes da WCM afetam o desempenho das empresas da América Latina.