In the recent couple of years, African countries have conducted a free tradeagreement which will affect the whole African continent. Providing the largestfree trade agreement in history so far in terms of participating countries.AfCFTA provides new conditions and enhancement, aiming for Africa tobecome one single market and boosting intra-African trade. Countries such asKenya, has during recent years made changes and reforms which has enhancedits business environment for companies operating there. In addition, this thesisaims to investigate how the new free trade agreement is affecting KenyanSMEs in the manufacturing sector today, and how it will affect them in thefuture when the free trade agreement is fully implemented. To receive a deeperunderstanding about the subject, a qualitative method and an abductiveapproach have been conducted. Moreover, the theoretical framework derivesfrom internationalization theories commonly used and which benefits from theterms that the free trade agreement holds. The conceptual framework assumesthat international marketers experience different market prerequisites, thus theview of the internationalization process differs from one market to another.Therefore, our empirical findings derive from a multi-case study, whichinvestigate Kenyan manufacturing SMEs possibilities and difficulties tointernationalize on the African continent. The analysis presents the theoreticalframework and the empirical findings in the contrast and relation to each other.Finally, the conclusion chapter provides insights in opportunities anddifficulties still remaining for the AfCFTA to be fully implemented and forKenyan manufacturing SMEs to fully utilize the agreement. Also, limitationsand suggestions for future research is conducted in the chapter. The result ofthis research stipulates that there are still difficulties for Kenyanmanufacturing SMEs to utilize the agreement and that the agreement requirestime to provide a fully functional single market for Africa.

Submitted by Maicon Juliano Schmidt (maicons) on 2015-06-30T19:19:44Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Sergio Satt Junior.pdf: 2776264 bytes, checksum: de08438865c711b12dacc3721b268331 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-06-30T19:19:44Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Sergio Satt Junior.pdf: 2776264 bytes, checksum: de08438865c711b12dacc3721b268331 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-07-06 / Nenhuma / O ambiente empresarial atual apresenta determinados eventos de alta incerteza e de difícil previsibilidade, é necessário que as empresas e seus gestores estejam preparados para atuar em novos e diferentes ambientes de negócios. A mudança no ambiente do refino de petróleo no Brasil iniciou com a abertura do mercado de combustíveis em 1997, Lei 9.478/97. Essa lei propiciou a participação de outros agentes, além da Petrobras, no exercício das atividades de importação e exportação de derivados de petróleo. O segmento de refino no Brasil tem apresentado ciclos de baixa e alta, pois os preços dos derivados nas refinarias não têm sido reajustados na mesma velocidade dos movimentos de preços dos derivados no mercado internacional. Com isso, as refinarias não integradas, é o caso estudado neste trabalho - a Refinaria de Petróleo Riograndense, têm apresentado menor rentabilidade se comparadas com refinarias integradas. Portanto, é necessário identificar eventuais vantagens competitivas que permitam sustentar o negócio deste tipo de refinaria a partir de uma perspectiva de longo prazo. Para tal, foi aplicado o método de construção de cenário Global Business Network (GBN), a fim de criar cenários futuros que apontem alternativas de atuação para uma refinaria de petróleo de baixa escala e não integrada. Além disso, verificar quais as contribuições que o método de construção de cenários GBN trouxe para a empresa e seus gestores. A pesquisa foi caracterizada como qualitativa, exploratória, utilizando o método pesquisa-ação para descrever melhor a construção dos cenários na empresa pesquisada. O resultado da pesquisa foi a geração de dois cenários futuros para a Refinaria Riograndense, onde se apresentam caminhos distintos de atuação no segmento de refino, considerando o ambiente futuro dos negócios e as características da empresa, ou seja, refinaria de petróleo de baixa escala e não integrada. As conclusões do trabalho indicam que o método de construção de cenário GBN contribui para melhorar a percepção da empresa e dos seus gestores sobre o ambiente do futuro do negócio, reduzindo erros no processo de tomada de decisão. Com isso, foi possível apontar caminhos futuros de sobrevivência para a empresa em um ambiente de forte competitividade e restrições ambientais. Também, o método GBN mostrou-se ser flexível às características da empresa, permitindo valorizar os conhecimentos e experiências dos gestores, bem como incentivar o envolvimento dos gestores no processo de construção de cenários. / In the current business environment, there are certain events with high uncertainty that make predictability difficult; thus, companies and their managers must be prepared to act in new and different business environments. Changes in the environment of oil refining in Brazil began with the opening of the fuel market in 1997, since Law 9,478/97 enabled other agents, in addition to Petrobras, to participate in activities related to the import and export of oil products. The refining segment in Brazil has experienced cycles with low and high prices because they have not been adjusted at the same speed as the ones of oil products in the international market. From this perspective, non-integrated refineries were analyzed in this study, mainly the Riograndense Oil Refinery, which has shown lower profitability than integrated ones. Therefore, potential competitive advantages that enable the business to support this type of refinery in the long term were identified. The method of building Global Business Network (GBN) scenarios was applied in order to create future scenarios which can suggest alternatives to a small-scale and non-integrated oil refinery. Besides, the contributions that the method of building GBN scenarios brought to the company and its managers were verified. This qualitative and exploratory research used action research to better describe scenario building in the company. Results generated two scenarios (Maverick and Revolution) for the future of the Riograndense Refinery; they showed distinct paths to be followed in the refining segment, taking into consideration the future of the business environment and the characteristics of the company, i. e., a small-scale and non-integrated oil refinery. The study concludes that the method of constructing GBN scenario helps to improve the perception of the company and its managers about the future of the business environment, reducing errors in the process of decision making. In addition, future directions for the company to survive in an environment with strong competition and environmental constraints could be identified. Furthermore, the GBN method proved to be flexible concerning the characteristics of the company since it valued managers’ knowledge and experience and encouraged them to get involved in the process of scenario building.

O conceito de modelo de negócio pode ser utilizado para descrever e entender empresas. Ele determina que devemos entender um negócio utilizando os serviços que são prestados, as empresas (e seus papéis) envolvidas e a forma de faturamento que o empreendedor terá sobre o serviço. O conceito ganhou muita atenção com a explosão dos portais B2B que surgiram nos últimos anos na internet. Estes portais são empreendimentos que ofertam serviços que intermediam as interações entre as empresas. Com a reorganização da sociedade em redes globais de empresas, tais portais têm diante de si uma grande variedade de serviços a serem prestados, assim tornando a abordagem dos modelos de negócio um elemento fundamental para o entendimento do valor agregado pelos empreendedores do setor B2B. Mas faltam trabalhos de organização e sistematização desses modelos, e os próprios empreendedores brasileiros não vêm demonstrando entendimento sobre eles. Assim, no presente trabalho, serão organizados e sistematizados os conceitos de modelos de negócio, eCommerce e B2B, bem como será feita uma proposta de classificação destes modelos de negócio, de tal forma que pesquisadores e empreendedores possam utilizar este texto como base em seus estudos a respeito desses portais na internet. / Business models concept can be used to describe and understand all kind of enterprises. Using this concept one can understand a business by the services been delivered, the enterprises (and their roles) been involved and the invoicing return over the service. This concept became an buzzword during the recently explosion of B2B portals over the internet. These B2B portals are enterprises that offer brokerage services between other enterprises. With the sudden reorganization of society over global net of enterprises, these portals have a huge business opportunity for delivering a wide variety of services, becoming the business model a central element for understanding the aggregated value been proposed by each B2B portal. But there are a poor number of published materials around the organization and classification of these business models and brazilian entrepreneur does not seem to understand these business models. In this work the concept of business models, eCommerce and B2B will be organized and a classification of possible business models will be proposed. The proposed classification could be used by researchers and entrepreneurs as a tool for their studies about these portals over the internet.

Background: The management accounting coordination in a horizontal network of small and medium sized companies entails numerous questions and potential complications that may vary according to the extent of cooperation chosen. Categorizing network co-operations along an imaginary market–hierarchy continuum might offer the theoretical foundation needed to further understand networks and as a consequence illuminate the link to the diverse management accounting issues. Purpose: To analyze the management accounting systems in different forms of horizontal network co-operations. Delimitations: It is not within the purpose of the thesis to discuss the various reasons why cooperative relationships are established in the first place, nor how they develop. Proceed of the study: A multiple case study of three Swedish networks composed of small/medium-sized firms was carried out with the help of thirteen interviews. Conclusions: Empirical support is offered for both the business and functional network types. The model of Dahlgren et al. does not take into account that the degree of integration of the network supporting activities does not necessarily have to entail the equivalent degree of integration regarding the management accounting system. Hence, the typology of networks cannot be said to be conveniently applicable to study all horizontal networks, as the model may leave out certain significant dimensions that obstruct the understanding of a network.

Questo lavoro consiste in una collezione di 8 paper accettati da altrettante Conference internazionali di diverso indirizzo disciplinare, dal marketing B2B all'organizzazione aziendale ai sistemi informativi. In questi paper, si affronta da diversi punti di vista il tema dei business network e di come il business networking influenzi la capacità di innovazione delle imprese. Le ricerche presentate confermano su più fronti come le classiche variabili con cui si misurano i business network, quali la fiducia, la conoscenza reciproca, l'intensità dei flussi di risorse scambiate, eccetera, per quanto importanti, non siano sufficienti a spiegare l'influenza che il network ha sulle capacità di innovazione. Vengono quindi proposti 3 nuovi costrutti: Motivazioni al business network, Attitudine alle relazioni di business di lungo periodo, e Sostenibilità della collaborazione altruistica. Il lavoro ipotizza come diverse configurazioni di queste tre variabili possono influenzare le capacità di innovazione dell'organizzazione. Alcune ricerche qualitative, focalizzate sul settore turistico (sistema destinazione) e sul manifatturiero (supply chain) permettono di mettere a confronto il modello con contesti di business concreti. / The system of the organization's long-term business relationships is the organization's Business Network. This theory-building thesis focuses on how business networking influences the organization's performances, and more specifically its innovation capabilities. An important gap in theory is identified, since there is a lack of consistent research explaining why even Business Networks where all the traditional variables (such as Trust, Cooperation, Number of Ties, Strength of Ties, etc.) are ranking high, may perform poorly in terms of innovation capabilities. An inter-disciplinary effort may be a fruitful strategy for addressing such a gap in theory. Consistently, this thesis was structured as a collection of 8 papers submitted to and accepted by different international Conferences, whose disciplinary focus spanned from B2B marketing to organization studies, Information Systems, Operations research and eParticipation studies. These papers include qualitative researches for theory-building, and the considered cases belong to different industrial sectors such as Tourism and Manufacturing. The main novel outcomes of this work are: the identification of new Constructs (and related Scales) describing phenomena that influence, according to the qualitative researches conducted here, the innovation capabilities of Business Networks; and the in-depth analysis of how successful and sustainable innovation emerges from creative processes in collaborative settings. The identifed Constructs are: Motivations to Business Network, Attitude to Long-Term Business Relationships, Sustainability of Altruistic Cooperation. This work hypothesizes that if the main Motivation to Networking is the predictability of business interactions, this may result in a detrimental effect on Creativity/Innovation, and in a weakened resilience of the Altruistic Cooperation. On the other hand, if the main Motivation to Networking is to aggregate power, for example for lobbying activities, this tends to enhance only certain aspects of Altruistic Cooperation, whilst Creativity/Innovation at the network level is likely to be poorer. Finally, if the main Motivation to Networking is to aggregate capabilities, both Altruistic Cooperation and Creativity/Innovation are often positively impacted, especially when also certain levels of Predictability and of Power Aggregation are achieved.

<p>Background: The management accounting coordination in a horizontal network of small and medium sized companies entails numerous questions and potential complications that may vary according to the extent of cooperation chosen. Categorizing network co-operations along an imaginary market–hierarchy continuum might offer the theoretical foundation needed to further understand networks and as a consequence illuminate the link to the diverse management accounting issues. </p><p>Purpose: To analyze the management accounting systems in different forms of horizontal network co-operations. </p><p>Delimitations: It is not within the purpose of the thesis to discuss the various reasons why cooperative relationships are established in the first place, nor how they develop. Proceed of the study: A multiple case study of three Swedish networks composed of small/medium-sized firms was carried out with the help of thirteen interviews. </p><p>Conclusions: Empirical support is offered for both the business and functional network types. The model of Dahlgren et al. does not take into account that the degree of integration of the network supporting activities does not necessarily have to entail the equivalent degree of integration regarding the management accounting system. Hence, the typology of networks cannot be said to be conveniently applicable to study all horizontal networks, as the model may leave out certain significant dimensions that obstruct the understanding of a network.</p>

Univ., Diss.--Wien, 2006.

Universiẗat, Diss--Münster (Westfalen), 2006.

Zugl.: St. Gallen, Univ., Diss., 2009

Im Arbeitskontext ist das auf die Beeinflussung anderer Personen ausgerichtete Handeln ein wichtiges Element beruflichen Erfolgs. Dazu gehören beispielsweise Aktivitäten wie die Selbstdarstellung bei der Bewerbung oder in Verhandlungssituationen, der Aufbau gewinnbringender sozialer Netzwerke sowie der Erhalt relevanter arbeitsbezogener Informationen. Ausgeprägte mikropolitische Kompetenzen gelten dabei als hilfreich, um solche sozialen Einflussversuche in Organisationen erfolgreich zu gestalten und die eigene Karriere zu fördern. Zusätzlich zu solchen „Einflusskompetenzen“ werden seit einigen Jahren durch wesentliche Um- bzw. Neugestaltungen von Arbeitsprozessen und -strukturen weitere personale Fertigkeiten für den beruflichen Erfolg und die Karriere relevant: So wird durch eine steigende Virtualisierung von Arbeits- und Geschäftsprozessen und der damit verbundenen Nutzung von Informations- und Kommunikationstechnologien (IuK) der kompetente Umgang mit den verwendeten Medien zu einer wesentlichen Schlüsselqualifikation im beruflichen Kontext . Um am Markt als Unternehmen oder Arbeitnehmer sichtbar und handlungsfähig zu sein, ist die Nutzung webbasierter Dienste zur medialen Darstellung der eigenen Identität sowie zum Austausch fachbezogener Informationen mittlerweile fester Bestandteil. Im vorliegenden Beitrag soll am Beispiel von XING, dem mit mehr als sieben Millionen Mitgliedern im deutschsprachigen Raum führenden beruflichen Online-Netzwerk, untersucht werden, welche medien- und einflussbezogenen Fertigkeiten der Nutzer relevant sind, um erfolgreich diese Plattform zu nutzen. Es werden Konzepte zur Medien- und Einflusskompetenz, die Mthodik beschrieben und Ergebnisse dargestellt.