Businesses today face intense international competition, a heightened pace of development and shortened product life cycles. As a result, many researchers recommend firms collaborate and partner with other firms to succeed. With over a decade of research examining alliances and inter-firm collaboration, we know a great deal about the benefits and outcomes firms realize through collaboration. An important gap exists, however, in our understanding of the effect of partnering firms on collaborative outputs. This study attempts to address this gap by examining the success of collaborative new product development outputs. The study was a quasi-experimental study using archival, time-series data. Hypotheses were tested at the project level, defined as the product output from the collaborative development effort. Predictors were developed at both the firm and dyadic levels. Several findings emerged from this research. The primary finding is that roles of alliance partners impact which capability and capital benefits accrue. Firms functioning as a publisher benefit from increases in relevant experience. Firms functioning as a developer benefit from working in areas in which they have experience, but largely to the extent that the developer also generalizes their capabilities. One implication emerging from the capability findings suggests a need for configurational capability research. From a social capital conception, developers with high network centrality have a negative impact on the perceived quality of the final software product. Developers also benefit from embeddedness, products developed by developers in constrained networks outperformed products developed by developers in brokered networks.

Globalization is a development that allowed businesses to internationalize with ease. Startup hubs in Europe are growing and fashion is one of the most dynamic internationalizing industries. Combining the aspects of startups, fashion and internationalization led to the development of this research topic. The internationalization of fashion startups is known as a complex and difficult procedure. Nevertheless, a theory presenting factors that characterize the internationalization of fashion startups has yet to be developed. The purpose of this research study is to fill this gap. Furthermore, internationalization became a vital operation for startups in general to establish a growing business. Since the internationalization process can fail or be successful, this research investigates specific strategies fashion startups take to avoid any unexpected declining activity in foreign markets. As businesses exist in an environment, external factors will influence their processes. Additionally, businesses can take certain actions themselves and have the means to shape internationalization. Operating with a qualitative research design, eight fashion startups located in Europe were interviewed. Through semi-structured interviews, four internal and four external factors were found that characterize the process. Moreover, three actions were identified that fashion startups perform to ensure the survival of their internationalization process. Based on the analysis the internal factors: Knowledge, Resources, Entrepreneurial Orientation and E-Commerce were identified and elaborated on. On the other hand, the external factors: Networks, Supply Chain, Societal Goals, and Unexpected Events/ Crises characterize the internationalization. Risk management, resource evaluation, and flexibility will assure startups to strengthen their internationalization processes and contribute positively to the survival of the operation. Lastly, this research gives managerial, theoretical, and policy implications on what must be considered when internationalizing a fashion startup.

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The organizational facets of JIT are investigated for 130 US manufacturing firms. Five research hypotheses are formulated and tested. The results of this research are presented in the context of a conceptual framework which attempts to shed some light on the organizational facets relevant to successful JIT implementation.

States that owing to foresight and planning by Portuguese business executives, most firms in Portugal survived the difficult 1970s and 1980s and, as a consequence, are stronger in today's competitive internal and external challenges. Sets out the methodology used and gives data analysis and results in a descriptive way, with the use of explanatory tables. Closes by stating that time-based differentiation may offer new ways for firms competing in highly differentiated markets.

Purpose – The purpose of this study is twofold. First, the relevant literature is reviewed briefly to provide a strategic context of the different views on strategy development. In the process, the linkages between the e-commerce view of strategy and previous views are explored. As such, the perspectives of different schools of thought on strategy are briefly highlighted. Second, the different dimensions of the e-commerce strategy and their impact on organizational performance are investigated. Design/methodology/approach – Asurvey integrating different theoretical views of value creation was developed and sent to Portuguese e-commerce firms to assess the underlying dimensions of their strategies through factorial analysis. Then, a clustering analysis was performed to determine strategic groups to compare corporate performance. Findings – Three e-commerce dimensions were identified: marketing, innovation and efficiency. Results of data analysis suggest that differentiation factors have impact on corporate performance in the context of virtual markets. Research limitations/implications – Although the Portuguese specific nature of the study could be seen as a limitation of the generalization of the findings, in the authors’ view, it is not truly a limitation because Portuguese executives face the same challenges that other countries counterparts, due to the universal application of e-commerce. Moreover, the use of a Portuguese sample validates findings from other cultural settings, contributing toward a unified theory and testing its applicability. In this way, it is an opportunity rather then a limitation. Practical implications – The research identifies what is strategic and highlights the competitive methods that enhance differentiation in virtual markets, which could be useful as a framework for strategic formulation. Moreover, it provides a theoretical rational for investments in intangible assets. Originality/value – The development of a survey to assess e-commerce strategies and the identification of the e-commerce strategic dimensions are the main contributions of this research, which highlights the importance of differentiation factors in virtual markets.

Las tecnologías de la información (TI) son consideradas por diversos autores como facilitadores tecnológicos que permiten a las organizaciones responder de manera rápida y oportuna a los constantes cambios de su entorno interno y externo. Los proyectos de tecnologías de la información, desde su implementación en las organizaciones, presentaron dificultades para ser exitosos, debido a que, por su naturaleza cambiante, no podían basarse en procesos rígidos tal como lo establece el denominado método cascada o gestión tradicional de proyectos. En ese sentido, este tipo de proyectos empezó a hacer uso de metodologías ágiles que le permiten desenvolverse mejor y responder más rápido a los cambios del entorno externo. Todo ello generó que en las organizaciones se implementase la agilidad estratégica y la estrategia comercial digital. En este orden de cosas, el presente trabajo tiene como finalidad presentar investigaciones relevantes sobre la gestión de proyectos de tecnologías de la información y el cambio que se genera con su implementación en las organizaciones. / Information technologies (IT) are considered by various authors as technological facilitators that allow organizations to respond quickly and in a timely manner to the constant changes in their internal and external environment. Information technology projects since their implementation in organizations that have difficulties to be successful, due to the fact that due to their changing nature, they do not have to be based on rigid processes as established by the cascade method or traditional project management. In this sense, this type of project began to make use of agile methodologies, which allow it to perform better and respond faster to changes in the external environment. All this, generated in organizations, will implement strategic agility and digital business strategy. The purpose of this work is to present relevant research on the management of information technology projects and the change that is generated with their implementation in organizations. / Trabajo de Suficiencia Profesional

The pervasive nature of technological advancements has increased the complexity, and thus the environmental volatility that span well across the borders of industries and na-tions. It could be argued that the need for firms to demonstrate dynamic capabilities are greater than ever before. In this conceptual study we take an exploratory approach to understand how dynamic capabilities are dynamically interconnected with digital trans-formation and the consequences this has on the business model(s) and further, the over-arching business strategy. This is realized through the introduction of a conceptual framework for “data-driven dynamic capabilities” which constitutes that there is a dynam-ic interconnectivity at play between the dynamic capabilities and digital transformation themes. Our findings suggest that the dynamic conflation between the two help fuel one another and that the firm’s business model(s) ought to be congruent with its data-driven dynamic capabilities. Further our findings suggest that there is a feedback loop between the firm’s overarching business strategy and its data-driven dynamic capabilities. Thus, the implications of this conceptual paper will be to create new value, adding knowledge and new theoretical trajectories into the field with the help of the integrative conceptual framework introduced in our study.

Digitalization has changed the business environment for all businesses, whether large or small. As the multitude of digital solutions for the business world continuously develop and evolve, investigating how companies can better take advantage of digitalization is crucial for gaining and retaining competitive advantage. The current research field regarding digitalization is rather novel and has been heavily focusing on how digitalization can improve businesses, and which technical solutions may work best for companies. Thus, switching the focus and studying how companies can improve their digitalization presents an alternative perspective for the current research. As the research field has stressed the importance of studying digitalization within SMEs due to the lack of knowledge and know-how in smaller companies, we examine digitalization in the context of SMEs. In order to examine aspects that may be beneficial for digitalization, we chose to use entrepreneurial orientation as a lense. Entrepreneurial orientation considers a set of characteristics resulting in a level of entrepreneurship in all sizes of companies, and it is found to improve business performance. In order to develop a comprehensive theoretical framework regarding entrepreneurial orientation and digitalization, the following research question was formed: How is the digitalization of Swedish SMEs facilitated by Entrepreneurial Orientation? For gaining a comprehensive understanding on how digitalization is implemented to the business models of SMEs in Sweden, and how entrepreneurial orientation facilitates the implementation of digitalization, our theoretical framework is built upon three theories: entrepreneurial opportunities; digitalization; and entrepreneurial orientation. The construct used for observing entrepreneurial orientation consists of five elements: proactiveness, risk taking, innovativeness, autonomy and competitive aggressiveness. The study was conducted in Sweden through semi-structured interviews. The data was collected from small- to medium sized companies that all had implemented digitalization in their business models and were mature. The interviewees were all in managerial positions in the firms, either as CEOs or COOs. The semi-structured interviews resulted in rich data that provided us with insights in terms of digitalization, how digitalization is implemented to the business models of SMEs, and how the elements of entrepreneurial orientation play a role in this implementation. The results indicated that digitalization begins by making smaller changes to business models (e.g. adopting business systems). Gradually, the existing systems are completely replaced by digitalization, and the companies move on to exploring digitalization in terms of new products and services. In this process, entrepreneurial orientation has a facilitating effect through i.a. higher levels of risk taking, emphasis on being early in adopting new solutions, improved productivity and efficiency through innovativeness, and increased trust for employees to make decisions and to perform projects autonomously. The only element that did not show any clear indications in terms of digitalization was competitive aggressiveness, as SMEs do not use digitalization directly as a source of competitive advantage, but rather as a way to improve other aspects in their business models and thereby gain competitive advantage.

This research investigated the relationship between several firm-controlled, marketing and management factors and firm performance. Hypotheses describing the relationship between the strategic, geographic, tactical, technological and organizational factors and firm performance of hardwood lumber manufacturers were tested. These factors were operationalized, measured in a mail survey and used in statistical analysis to identify relationships among the variables. An adjusted response rate of 19.8% was obtained from the mail survey. Non-response bias was not found to be a significant problem in the data. A twelve measure performance indicator was developed and utilized to evaluate the performance of hardwood lumber manufacturers who were predominantly privately-held companies. The averages for the profit and costs performance measures were the lowest of all twelve performance measures and this suggested that firms should focus improvement on these measures. The current marketing tactics, including species mix, product mix, customer mix, and promotion mix was determined. The utilization of advanced production technology has increased in the industry since it was last measured in 1999. The majority of respondents (60%) had dry kiln operations and 49% had a surfacing mill. Thirty five percent of respondents indicated that their company was certified by either forest, chain-of-custody, or both. Of the five firm-controlled factors investigated in this research, four of them were found to be related to firm performance. Geographic location was not found to be related to the performance of hardwood sawmills. Firms who were backward integrated and firms who were both backward integrated and forward integrated performed significantly better than firms who were not vertically integrated or forward integrated. Higher performance scores were associated with larger firms, firms who had multiple sawmills and firms who were members of the NHLA. There was no relationship found between diversification of the product mix, species mix, customer mix variables and performance. The diversification of a firm's promotion expenditures was positively correlated to performance. Firms that used optimized headrigs, optimized edgers and optimized trimmers performed significantly better than did firms not using all three of these technologies. Firms that used computer based log tallying, lumber tallying or inventory control performed significantly better than firms utilizing none of these technologies. An increase in the use of business strategy from previous studies along with a shift towards the use of a differentiation strategy was discovered. Firms interpreted to be following a hybrid differentiation/cost leadership strategy performed better than firms following a cost leadership, focus, or differentiation strategy. The implication of these results is that larger, vertically integrated firms are likely to perform better than smaller, non-integrated hardwood lumber manufacturers. It is recommended that firms diversify their use of promotion media and venues in order to attract new customers. Adoption of production and information technology will help some hardwood lumber manufacturers improve their performance. It is recommended that hardwood lumber manufacturers control costs and differentiate their products in order to gain competitive advantage. / Ph. D.