Many large multinational energy company leaders lack strategies to successfully enter and thrive in bottom of the pyramid (BOP) markets. The purpose of this single case study was to explore strategies using a purposeful selection of 7 senior managers from a U. S. based global multinational energy leader with experience in BOP markets in the Republic of Cameroon. The BOP concept served as the conceptual framework for the study. Data were collected through semistructured interviews with senior managers, relevant websites, and government publications. Several themes emerged that were narrowed through categorical aggregation to identify strategies. Major themes included BOP readiness for social entrepreneurship, field knowledge to facilitate partnerships, and customer service. Findings suggest multinational energy company leaders seeking BOP opportunities should create internal corporate structures dedicated to the BOP markets. Leaders should know how businesses operate and thrive in the BOP, especially when working with BOP governments and a poorly informed population. Equally important is product choice, quality, and reliability for the BOP market. Customer service and satisfaction metrics are necessary to support brands. Participants highlighted the need for positive social change to improve lives, which could occur through capacity building, entrepreneurship, job creation, enhanced governance, increased wealth, and improved quality of life for local people.

This work is devoted to the study of trust in marketing and in the building of successful partnerships. The phenomenon of trust is investigated from the marketing point. As a result, it was given new determination of trust, that is a specific kind of relationship in the framework of marketing and partnerships. The partnership, its conditions and stages of building are studied. Also, there the nature and classifications of trust were determined, criteria for selecting partners and the imperatives of building a trusting partnership were established. It was determined that the trust plays a key role in building and maintaining long-term partnerships in business networks, but is not the sole determinant of its basic construction, it works in the complex along with other factors, building business partnerships. In practical part “Company Hangiry” was examined. The instructions of building trusting relationship were practiced in “Company Hangiry”. / Данная работа посвящена исследованию доверия в маркетинге и в формировании партнерских отношений. Рассмотрен и изучен феномен доверия с позиции маркетинга, в результате чего определено, что доверие представляет собой определенный вид отношений в рамках маркетинга и партнерских отношений. Изучены партнерские отношения, условия их возникновения и этапы формирования. Рассматриваются деловые сети, их сущность и классификации. Также сформулированы критерии выбора партнеров и императивы построения доверительного партнерства. Определено, что доверие играет ключевую роль в построении и поддержании долгосрочных партнерских отношений в бизнес-сетях, но не является единственной основополагающей детерминантой его построения, а работает в комплексе наряду с другими факторами построения бизнес-партнерства. Проанализированы и определены отношения участников предприятия общественного питания ООО «Компания Хангири», условия формирования отношений бизнес-партнерства и процесс их формирования на данном предприятии. Предложена дорожная карта построения доверительного партнерства и апробирована на предприятии ООО «Компания Хангири».

The national curriculum and the School Act emphasize the importance of establishing partnerships between schools and local businesses. The formation of partnerships was expected to be facilitated by the decentralization reforms that took place in the beginning of the 1990’s. These reforms gave schools and municipalities greater scope for adjusting education to meet local circumstances. However, central government has not made financial resources available for stimulating the establishment of school-business partnerships, nor does it penalize municipalities that do not set up such partnerships. The questions in focus in this study are: why do partnerships arise, how are they organised and what factors are important in achieving a partnership which can function in practice? Urban regime theory is applied to explain why collaborations occur and policy network theory is used to analyse how they are organised. A further aim of the study is to examine whether the partnerships can be defined as urban regimes. The study was based on case studies of four upper secondary schools in Sweden, each in a different municipality. These municipalities are all industrialized, but the structure of their industrial base varies. Two are dominated by one or a few major companies whereas the others are characterized by the predominance of many small businesses. The study focuses on how three vocational study programmes – industry, electricity and building - collaborate with local businesses. The study shows that the main explanation of why a partnership arises is that both partners believe that they can gain something by collaborating. For schools, the main reason for establishing a partnership with business is a belief that this will make the vocational education programmes more attractive for pupils. Through partnerships, schools can get access not only to practical experience for their pupils, but also help from business with developing the content of courses and some financial contributions. However, the economic benefits are of limited importance compared with the perceived gains in terms of the development of the educational content of the courses. This goes against results from studies in other countries. For business, it is particularly important to be able to influence decisions about the content of local education. By doing so, they hope to ensure that the pupils, after having completed their education, will enter the local labour market with more relevant qualifications. My research shows that several requirements have to be present for a successful partnership to be established. First, there must be a commitment and firm intentions from both partners. Second, size of the businesses involved in the partnerships is important for how they are organized. Larger businesses tend to see the partnership from a more long term perspective. However, it is also possible to organize collaborations with smaller businesses if they can be united under a common organisation. Third, specific actors make a difference in the partnerships. Devoted and interested key actors who are closely associated with the partnership are very important for the continuity of the partnership The study suggests that urban regime theory and policy network theory are useful for understanding why and how partnerships between schools and businesses are established and retained. However, it can not be concluded that these collaborations in themselves are urban regimes at a more local level. This would require that their focus was much more long-term.