<p>The principle purpose of this thesis has been to study and analyse the conception of men and women in business bankruptcy during the 20th century. The analysis is built on a theoretical gender perspective and, combining this view and business and bankruptcy research, the thesis has focused on five themes: business networks, bank contacts, business competence, business characteristics and finally bankruptcy causes. These themes have been in focus when analysing bankruptcies in Uppsala 1920-1939, 1988, 1992 and 1996. A questionnair- and interview study with receivers active in Sweden 2001 has also been carried out. From the bankruptcy cases that have been studied, no specific gender differences have really been discovered. There were some variations between men and women, but it is very hard to claim that these are related to the sex of the debtor more than to the branch or to the individuals. Changes from the inter-war period to the latter part of the 20th century are in these respects also small. The image that the receivers gave through the questionnaire and interview study indicates on the other hand that there existed a conception that men and women seemed different as business owners. It is obvious that there were many receivers who thought that women were different from men in a situation of business bankruptcy, even though several of them stated that they did not beleive in any gender differences.</p>

The principle purpose of this thesis has been to study and analyse the conception of men and women in business bankruptcy during the 20th century. The analysis is built on a theoretical gender perspective and, combining this view and business and bankruptcy research, the thesis has focused on five themes: business networks, bank contacts, business competence, business characteristics and finally bankruptcy causes. These themes have been in focus when analysing bankruptcies in Uppsala 1920-1939, 1988, 1992 and 1996. A questionnair- and interview study with receivers active in Sweden 2001 has also been carried out. From the bankruptcy cases that have been studied, no specific gender differences have really been discovered. There were some variations between men and women, but it is very hard to claim that these are related to the sex of the debtor more than to the branch or to the individuals. Changes from the inter-war period to the latter part of the 20th century are in these respects also small. The image that the receivers gave through the questionnaire and interview study indicates on the other hand that there existed a conception that men and women seemed different as business owners. It is obvious that there were many receivers who thought that women were different from men in a situation of business bankruptcy, even though several of them stated that they did not beleive in any gender differences.

Titel: Internationella relationer i innovativa miljöer – en fallstudie av Mjärdevi Science Parks internationella arbete Författare: Sergio Quiñones Adress: Skrinnarvägen 7, 633 59 Eskilstuna | sergio.quinones@gmx.com Kurs: Kandidatuppsats i marknadsföring, EFO 225 Handledare: Angelina Sundström Problem: Hur kan svenska Science Parks genom internationella relationer utveckla sina processer och tjänster för att bättre stödja kunskapsutbyte och kommersialisering av innovationer? Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att beskriva Mjärdevi Science Parks internationella arbete ur ett marknadsföringsperspektiv. Metod: Kvalitativ fallstudie. Slutsatser: Mjärdevi Science Park arbetar internationellt för att främja regional tillväxt. Genom regional tillväxt bidrar man även till att öka Sveriges tillväxt och konkurrenskraft. Parkens motor och drivkraft är entreprenörerna och företagarna. Mjärdevi samarbetar och är engagerad i den globala organisationen IASP, Science Parks i andra länder, Exportrådet, företag och ambassader. Fallföretaget etablerar nya relationer främst genom sitt redan existerande internationella nätverk. Relationerna utvecklas genom att skapa aktiviteter som är ömsesidigt värdeskapande för parkerna, regionerna och företagen. Parkens styrelse har haft en uttalad nätverksbaserad strategi och handlingsplan som även inkluderat det globala perspektivet. Denna studie har visat att Mjärdevis strategiska och operativa arbete till stor del bygger på nätverksfilosofin. I sitt nätverk arbetar Mjärdevi både med att sprida operativ kunskap och att skapa erfarenhetsbaserad kunskap inom ramen för dessa aktiviteter. Nyckelord: science parks, innovationssystem, innovation, internationell, internationalisering, globalisering, samarbete, samverkan, relationer, relationsmarknadsföring, utbyte, företagsnätverk, affärsnätverk. / Title: International Relations in Innovative Environments - a Case Study of Mjärdevi Science Park's international work Author: Sergio Quiñones Address: Skrinnarvägen 7, 633 59 Eskilstuna, Sweden | sergio.quinones@gmx.com Course: Bachelor Thesis in Marketing (EFO 225) Tutor: Angelina Sundström Problem: How can the Swedish Science Parks through international relations develop their processes and services to better support knowledge sharing and commercialization of innovations? Purpose: The purpose of this study is to describe Mjärdevi Science Park's international work from a marketing perspective. Method: Qualitative Case Study. Conclusions: Mjärdevi Science Park works internationally to promote regional growth. The regional growth also contributes to Sweden's growth and competitiveness. The Parks engine and driving force are its entrepreneurs and businesses. Mjärdevi cooperates with the global organization IASP, Science Parks in other countries, the Swedish Trade Council, businesses and embassies. The case company establishes new relationships primarily through its existing international network. Relationships are developed by creating activities that are of mutual value creation for parks, regions and companies. The board of Mjärdevi Science Park has had an explicit network-based strategy and action plan that also included the global perspective. This study has shown that Mjärdevis strategic and operational work is based mainly on the network philosophy. Mjärdevi uses its network both to disseminate operational knowledge and to create experience-based knowledge within the framework of these activities. Keywords: science parks, innovation systems, innovation, international, globalization, cooperation, collaboration, relations, relationship marketing, exchange, business networks.

The high economic growth of formerly closed markets such as China, Russia, Poland, and the Baltic states has created vast business and growth opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Although this international business expansion of SMEs occurs in highly dissimilar business contexts and fierce international competition, it remains overlooked by research. Therefore, the main aim of this thesis is to contribute to an enhanced understanding of internationalization processes of SMEs by studying the overarching research question: What are the main features of internationalization processes of SMEs in an emerging market context? Three sub-problems are researched with regard to SMEs entering and taking off from emerging markets, as well as differences and similarities between these processes, in order to identify what features characterize them. Empirically, two surveys of 116 and 203 Swedish SMEs, respectively, with experiences of entry into emerging markets were conducted through standardized questionnaires via mail and on-site visits. In addition, case studies were conducted through interviews and observations of five internationalizing Chinese SMEs and four Chinese wholesale and retail market platforms. Five essays are compiled within the thesis and major findings and conclusions provide theoretical and empirical contributions to research on the internationalization processes of SMEs. With regard to the overlooked internationally experienced manufacturing SMEs from mature markets such as Sweden, theoretical advancements are made identifying the main concepts of their entry into emerging markets: entry node (the establishment point into the foreign business network); market-specific experiential knowledge; and perceived institutional distance. With regard to the internationally novel Chinese SMEs, these were seen to diverge from traditional internationalization paths. Indications were found of a parallel expansion abroad and at home, even using foreign markets as a springboard for further growth at home. The take-off node concerns the departure from an emerging home market, where a paradox of knowledge was found: the use of indirect export via a domestic intermediary facilitates the take off, but hinders further international expansion since no international experience or relationships are built up. Moreover, institutional distance was reduced due to collective internationalization through co-locating abroad. Generally, degree of maturity of the home market; as well as degree of internationalization and type of firm; are the main features behind differences between internationalization processes of SMEs in an emerging market context.

Univ., Diss.--München, 2004.

A globalização da economia e dos negócios consolida um novo contexto de competição acirrada, de mercados mutantes, onde não é mais possível auscultar o passado para orientar as decisões do agora e muito menos do futuro. Com isso surgem as crises, os concorrentes mudam rapidamente sua forma de competir, surgem novos conceitos que são aplicados na gestão e organização dos negócios, novas tecnologias aparecem com ciclos de vida cada vez mais curtos, tornando obsoletas as que estão em uso. Nos setores empresariais mais afetados pelo novo ambiente, onde o acirramento da competição está mais presente e visível, parece estar sendo cada vez mais difícil para uma empresa sozinha enfrentar a concorrência. Surgem, então, alguns indícios de que as empresas estão buscando outras formas de gestão e de atuação para competir, que incluem inclusive a competição conjunta. Ou seja, uma forma de competição diferente entre as empresas, nas quais algumas se unem a outras empresas para disputar o mercado com outros agrupamentos e ou aglomerados de empresas. Esta união já foi evidenciada através de diferentes formatos supra-empresas. Dentre esses formatos destacam-se os clusters de negócios e as redes de negócios, nos quais a governança transcende as fronteiras de uma empresa isolada, atingindo a todo o aglomerado. A preocupação da presente pesquisa foi verificar se, dentro de agrupamentos de empresas denominados pela literatura como clusters, existem ou não, dentre as empresas nele instaladas, algumas que, também, se orientam por estratégias supraempresas de redes de negócios, e não só por estratégias de clusters. Isso foi verificado pela pesquisa, que, em dois clusters de negócios importantes para seus países, o do vinho do Porto, no Vale do Douro, em Portugal, e o de vinhos de mesa do Vale dos Vinhedos, na Serra Gaúcha, no Brasil, encontrou empresas orientadas por uma estratégia dual, isto é, por estratégia de cluster e por estratégia de rede de negócios. E esse achado é novo na literatura de entidades supra-empresas, até porque essas próprias entidades só recentemente tornaram-se conhecidas e objetos raras pesquisas. Foi, também, preocupação da pesquisa que embasou esta tese, verificar se o fato constatado de existirem empresas orientadas por estratégia dual contribuía ou não para um aumento em suas respectivas capacidades de competição, o que, também, acabou sendo comprovado. / The globalization of the economy and business consolidates a new context of fierce competition, changing markets, where you can no longer hear the past to guide the decisions of the now much less of the future. With that come the crisis, the competitors rapidly change its manner to compete, new concepts are applied in management and business organization, new technologies appears with lifecycles each time shorter, making obsolete the ones in use. In the business sectors most affected by the new environment, where increased competition is more present and visible, seems to be increasingly difficult for one company alone to face the competition. Then we see some evidence that companies are seeking other forms of management and performance to compete, including even the competition in conjunct. In other words, a form of competition of companies in which they join other companies to compete in the market with others agglomerates of companies. This union has been evidenced by different formats of supra-companies. Among these formats we can highlight the business clusters and business networks, in which governance transcends the boundaries of a single company, reaching the entire agglomerate. The concern of this study was to determine if, within groups of companies named in the literature as clusters, exist or not among the companies in it, some of them that are also guided by supra-companies strategies of networks business, not just by cluster strategies. This was verified by this research, two clusters of important business in their countries, the Port wine, in the Douro Valley, Portugal, and the wines of Vinhedos Valley, in Serra Gaúcha, Brazil, we found companies oriented with a dual strategy, in other words, by cluster strategy and business network strategy. And this discover is new in the literature of supra-companies entities, because those entities themselves are not of very recent scholarship. Another concern of this research was to verify if the fact of companies driven by a dual strategy had contributed to an increase in their competitiveness, what the study also confirmed

This study investigates the impact of networking on access to finance and performance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the Buffalo City Municipality in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. The objectives of this study are to examine (1) whether entrepreneurial characteristics of the SME owner and the firm characteristics of the SME are related to networking by SMEs, (2) whether networking is related to access to bank loans and trade credit by SMEs, (3) whether networking is related to the performance of SMEs and (4) whether access to debt finance by SMEs mediates the relationship between networking and performance of SMEs. The results reveal that the gender and education of SME owners and the age, size and legal status of SMEs are the entrepreneurial and firm characteristics that are positively related to networking by SMEs. In addition, the results indicate that there is a positive relationship between networking and access to finance and performance of SMEs. The results of this study further reveal that access to debt finance partially mediates the relationship between networking and performance of SMEs. Lastly, the study recommended that SMEs should network more to gain access to information, resources and contact sharing. This will increase the likelihood of SMEs obtaining finance, and will also improve the performance of SMEs.

This study to meant to determine the extent to which the Zimbabwean women in the small-scale business sector depended on their social capital to make it. The primary question of the study was: What is the significance of social capital in determining the success or failure of women’s businesses in Zimbabwe? Methodologically, the study followed the constructivist approach, which aimed at obtaining detailed and thick in-depth descriptions from the women who are socially a vulnerable group. It followed the qualitative research design; whose characteristics were dependence on the narratives of the discussants to explain phenomena. Non-probability sampling was preferred, and the sampling techniques used were mainly purposive. The sample comprised 21 participants, drawn from a population of women in small scale businesses in Glen Norah A, Glen View 1 and Highfield in Harare. The researcher used focus group discussions and individual interviews for data collection. Data was analysed thematically. The key findings were that women were dependent on their bonding and linking social capital to succeed (or fail) in business. Thus, such findings constitute some of the major contributions of the study to the commonwealth of knowledge. In particular one contribution is that women’s business development in the small-scale informal sector follows a particular lifecycle where different types of social capital are required. The findings led to the recommendations that women must be recognized as key players in economic development, and should be assisted at nascent stages so that their participation in economic development can be more robust and visible. / Sociology / D. Litt. et Phil. (Sociology)

Mobile payment services are expected to be the next step of the electronic payment evolution. However, the level of penetration in European countries is lower than expected. The focus of most academic research has been in two main areas: (i) mobile payment adoption by consumers and (ii) technical aspects of the service. Consequently, a number of themes remain under-researched. In order to expand knowledge on reasons that affect the wider penetration of mobile payments, challenges related to the introduction of mobile payment services in the market have been explored in this thesis. More specifically, this research has addressed two problem areas: (i) why mobile payments have not been widely adopted by merchants; and (ii) what effects that the introduction of mobile payments has had on the business networks of the involved actors. As an example, we use the mobile payment services applied in the Swedish retail industry. The study is focused on the main groups of stakeholders – the mobile payment providers, the retailers, and the consumers. First, this study has helped to identify what different stakeholders expect of mobile payments and how these services correspond to their needs. In order to analyse the expectations of stakeholders, we have developed an analysis framework based on the theory of diffusion of innovations, the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), and the theory of network externalities. The analysis highlights the expectations of stakeholders and helps to understand what kind of mobile payment service merchants expect and are willing to adopt. One key finding is that existing mobile payment services for retailing could be further improved in order to ensure an enhanced purchasing process for consumers. Second, the research has explored the impact of mobile payment services on the business networks. In order to analyse the relationships and cooperation between business actors, and changes in business strategy and network structure, we used the approach proposed by the Industrial Marketing and Purchasing (IMP) Group. The performed analysis illustrates the following changes in the structure of business networks for the traditional payment solutions (bank cards): (i) emergence of new business actors (i.e. independent mobile payment providers); (ii) new roles and activities of business actors; and (iii) exclusion of traditional business actors (i.e. banks) from the mobile payment systems. All these changes lead to increased complexity of relationships and increased level of interdependence between business actors within the networks. The following changes in the strategies of involved actors have been identified: (i) mobile payment providers seek to achieve a control over the business network; (ii) the retailers affect strategies of the mobile payment providers; (iii) the marketing strategies of business actors include cross-marketing in different sectors. All these changes result in additional value and enhanced quality of service for consumers. In order to analyse a complex and multidisciplinary area such as mobile payments, it is beneficial to use more than one analysis approach. A combination of different complementing methods helps to explore different aspects of the phenomenon and provides a more comprehensive overview of several research aspects. This work contributes to the academic research of mobile payment service adoption by merchants through proposing a theoretical analysis framework. More specifically, the research addresses a new area – expectations of retailers when new solutions are introduced. The framework consists of the following criteria and aspects: technological feasibility, economic benefits, lower service costs, added value of services, network externalities and the problem of critical mass, and finally, ease of use. This framework helps to identify what merchants can expect of mobile payment services. Another area of contribution is the analysis of the effect that mobile payments make on the actors and business networks of traditional payment services. The introduction of new services results in emergence of new business actors, a need to establish new relationships, and increased complexity of a business network. Moreover, in order to succeed, cooperation between all network actors is needed. As a result, business actors have to adjust their services and strategies according to needs of others. / <p>QC 20150828</p>

The need for faster, more flexible and less risky ways for organisations to expand their capabilities and competencies increasingly lead to the formation and proliferation of networking strategies and partners. Understanding the potential contribution that CoP membership can provide within these teams is a step towards developing and refining a strategy to support and enhance the speedy progression of the team towards a productive phase. The study shows that membership of researchers to the same or similar CoPs have some impact on the norming stage, and assist in reaching the performing / productive stage faster in team development. The survey in particular has indicated that similar standards, practices, terminology, ethics, standards, peer recognition, trust and a sense of belonging have more of an impact on the productive phase of team forming, than on the norming phase. The hard factors such as terminology, standards and similar practices have a strong correlation with the softer factors such as a sense of belonging and trust. This information should be utilised in both the socialisation processes in academic institutions as part of the education of professionals, as well as organisational approaches to Research and Development (R&D), information sharing and development of the researchers. The paper also highlights emerging organisational and strategic Best Practices currently prevalent in R&D teams and collaborative projects. It is clear that research collaborations cuts across the whole spectrum of business and management areas - from strategy, across intellectual property issues, finance, strategic human resource management, R&D management and innovation, knowledge management, organisational values and culture, and many more. To support innovation and R&D on a strategic level, both internally and on inter-firm collaborations, requires a review of the total organisational strategy, culture and norms in an organisation. Innovation and R&D support should be a holistic approach, with strategic and pro-active risk management supported by appropriate strategic human resources management and systems. Literature on CoPs, teams, social capital (SC), knowledge management (KM), intellectual capital (IC), intellectual property (IP), strategy and governance provide theoretical grounding. / Business Leadership / Ph. D.