Submitted by Estagiário SPT BMHS (spt@fgv.br) on 2013-07-30T12:35:47Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertation Felipe Buchbinder.pdf: 1585162 bytes, checksum: b566d391b5cfffdea11553af4c3fcd3e (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Estagiário SPT BMHS (spt@fgv.br) on 2013-07-30T12:36:04Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertation Felipe Buchbinder.pdf: 1585162 bytes, checksum: b566d391b5cfffdea11553af4c3fcd3e (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Estagiário SPT BMHS (spt@fgv.br) on 2013-07-30T12:36:22Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertation Felipe Buchbinder.pdf: 1585162 bytes, checksum: b566d391b5cfffdea11553af4c3fcd3e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2013-07-30T12:36:46Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertation Felipe Buchbinder.pdf: 1585162 bytes, checksum: b566d391b5cfffdea11553af4c3fcd3e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-06-08 / Competitive Strategy literature predicts three different mechanisms of performance generation, thus distinguishing between firms that have competitive advantage, firms that have competitive disadvantage or firms that have neither. Nonetheless, previous works in the field have fitted a single normal distribution to model firm performance. Here, we develop a new approach that distinguishes among performance generating mechanisms and allows the identification of firms with competitive advantage or disadvantage. Theorizing on the positive feedback loops by which firms with competitive advantage have facilitated access to acquire new resources, we proposed a distribution we believe data on firm performance should follow. We illustrate our model by assessing its fit to data on firm performance, addressing its theoretical implications and comparing it to previous works.

[pt] Este estudo tem por objetivo a identificação e análise de competências organizacionais relevantes para que uma empresa consiga alcançar vantagem competitiva sustentada frente a seus concorrentes. A pesquisa visa explorar empresas intensivas em tecnologias que operam através de canais de distribuição e que sejam subsidiárias de empresas estrangeiras. A revisão da bibliografia do modelo Resource-Based View of the Firm e de diversos modelos de identificação e análise de competências mostrou que peculiaridades de cada indústria influenciam diretamente a percepção por parte dos gestores acerca de como as competências organizacionais podem impactar seus negócios. Isso mostrou a necessidade de desenvolvimento de um modelo que integre atributos e técnicas preconizados pela literatura recente em gestão estratégica, considerando a idiossincrasia deste segmento da indústria de tecnologia. Um estudo de caso da Apple Computer Brasil será realizado ao longo da pesquisa para ilustrar como este modelo pode ajudar gestores e executivos a explorar competências capazes de alavancar vantagem competitiva sustentada. / [en] The study focuses on the identification and analysis of important organizational competencies so that a company may attain sustained competitive advantage in face of its competitors. The survey aims at exploring companies that are technology intensive operating through distribution channels and are also subsidiaries of foreign companies. A review of the literature regarding the model Resource-Based View of the Firm, as well as other several models, for identifying and analyzing competencies has shown that peculiarities of each industry directly influence the perception of managers as to how organizational competencies can impact their business. This has brought forth the need for the development of a model that integrates attributes and techniques advocated by the recent literature on strategic management, taking into consideration the idiosyncrasy of this technology industry segment. A case study of Apple Computer Brasil will be carried out during the survey to illustrate how this model can help both managers and executives explore organizational competencies for leveraging sustained competitive advantage.

Problem/frågeställningar: När företagsledare runt om i världen ska ta beslut uppgår 40% av dessa beslut till att baseras på magkänslan. Ett påstående kring konkurrensfördelar och magkänsla är att ”ett av de största hindren för konkurrensfördelar är att agera enbart på magkänsla eller intuition”. Denna uppsats tar fasta på det påståendet och granskar hur BI, ett verktyg som stödjer företagsledarna i sina beslut, spelar in. Ett synsätt för att studera konkurrensfördelar är det resursbaserade synsättet, där resurser följaktligen är grunden i det som skapar konkurrensfördelar. Kombinationen mellan hur BI stödjer med information för att underlätta beslut och faktumet att magkänsla eller intuition hindrar konkurrensfördelar gör att den här uppsatsen ställer sig frågan ”Hur och varför kan BI ur ett resursbaserat synsätt stödja skapandet av konkurrensfördelar på kort samt lång sikt inom stora företag?” Syfte: Att beskriva samt förklara hur och varför BI ur ett resursbaserat synsätt kan stödja skapandet av konkurrensfördelar på kort samt lång sikt inom stora företag. Teori/modell och metod: Inom den teoretiska referensramen presenteras och diskuteras först definitionen av BI och dess användning. Därefter följer en presentation av det resursbaserade synsättet utifrån en modell byggd av Hart, vilken kompletteras med annan forskning inom det resursbaserade synsättet. Det genererar sedan en egen modell, som därefter byggs på med en BI-del för att utgöra en undersökningsmodell som används vidare i uppsatsen. Tillvägagångssätt: För den här uppsatsen har 18 st företag som har någon form av BI på företaget intervjuats. Utöver att företagen är bland Sveriges 120 största har inga vidare urval sett, vilket har resulterat i respondenter från branscher så som media, teleoperatörer och försäkring. På dessa företag har intervjuer skett med den person som ansetts vara BI-ansvarig. Vissa företag har Controllers som är de som har övergripande ansvaret för BI, medan det på andra företag är IT-chefer eller specifikt BI-ansvariga. Inom metodavsnittet förs även en genomgång kring de intervjufrågor som framtagits. Huvudsakliga resultat/slutsatser: I slutsatserna fastslås bland annat att BI kan stödja och driva på en så kallad patchningsförmåga, vilket innebär att företag är snabba i anpassningen mot marknaden. Därutöver konstateras att en av anledningarna till att BI stöttar skapandet av konkurrensfördelar är dess förmåga att stödja effektivisering, optimering och processinnovation i olika förmågor som senare kan leda till konkurrensfördelar. Dock visar det sig också att BI är sämre på att stödja skapandet av konkurrensfördelar på lång sikt, tack vare avsaknaden av stöttandet till faktorer som gör resurser svåra att imitera. / Problem: When business leaders around the world are about to take a decision, 40% of these decisions are based on gut rather than any rational information. This, together with the claim that “one of the biggest hinders for competitive advantage is acting solely on gut or intuition” leads to the combination of the decision support tool Business Intelligence and competitive advantage. Competitive advantage can be seen from numerous perspectives; one of these is the resource-based view, where the resources are the basic pillar for competitive advantage. From this the thesis study question is formulated; “How and why can BI, seen from a resource-based perspective, support the creation of competitive advantage, on short and long term, in large companies?” Purpose: To explain and describe how and why BI, seen from a resource-based perspective, can support the creation of competitive advantage, on short and long term, in large companies. Theory: The theoretical foundation is based upon definitions on BI and what BI really is, together with a presentation and discussion on the resource-based view. Following the BI and resource-based view parts, the research model for this thesis is presented, where a modified resource-based view model for competitive advantage, and a definition collection for BI, is combined. Method: For this thesis, 18 companies where they have some sort of BI solution implemented, has been interviewed. The companies have been selected based from their size, where the 120 largest companies first were contacted with an interview proposal. The companies are based in industries such as media, telephone communications and insurance. On these companies, the individual that is the “BI responsible” has been interviewed, which varies from company to company. BI responsibles could be Controllers, IT Managers or specific BI Managers. Conclusions: In the conclusions part of this thesis the research question is divided into a how part and a why part. One conclusion from the how part, is that BI can both support and drive a so-called patching capability, which means that a company can be faster and more agile in their market adaption. One of the reasons why BI can support competitive advantages from a resource-based view is that it can help to drive efficiency, optimization and process innovation in different capabilities that can lead to competitive advantage. Another conclusion is that despite its abilities to support what drives competitive advantage through the resource-based view, the term for this is mainly short-term, due to the fact that it is not hard to imitate the information, which constitutes the basic resources that BI supports.

Even though knowledge management has progressed from an embryonic to an increasingly recognized discipline over the course of the last decade, the bulk of studies in knowledge management have been descriptive and focused on definitions and integrating existing definitions. There have been relatively few studies (mostly surveys) that focus on knowledge management in relation to other organizational factors (Zack, McKeen & Singh, 2009), and work in the area of knowledge management and competitive advantage has been found to be theoretically and empirically immature and underdeveloped (Chuang, 2004).   Therefore, aim of this research was to fill in the identified gaps by utilizing the resource-based view of a company to conduct an exploratory qualitative study to provide empirical and practical evidence regarding the relationship between knowledge management and competitive advantage. This was done mainly through interviews with knowledge management academics and practitioners in an attempt to have multiple perspectives on the matter to gain deeper understanding.   From the interviews, a number of observations were made. First, knowledge management can be used strategically to gain competitive advantage but this can only be done by introducing a successful knowledge management initiative. This calls for an implementation approach based on focus and measurement as principles and that takes into account strategy, organizational learning, culture and systems and technology as pre-conditional dimensions for a successful knowledge management project. In addition, these principles and preconditions all have to take the people into consideration as the people play a centre role in this system, being the ones that actually establish, run and maintain these mechanisms.   These findings are then synthesized into a knowledge management implementation model that may serve as a starting point for further research in successful knowledge management implementation. Practitioners may also use these findings and model as a tool for successful knowledge management implementation.

The thesis titled Development of competitiveness of company deals with arrangements for a café in the city center leading to the strengthening of its competitiveness. First, it analyzes the internal and external environment and evaluates customer satisfaction questionnaire. The results of these analyzes are summarized in the SWOT analysis. Based on the information measures are proposed, which should contribute to increasing the competitiveness of the company.

This thesis deals with the formation of competitive strategies for the company involved in services. The aim is to propose a competitive strategy of chosen company with regard to the current state of internal environment in relation to the external environment. Based on these objectives and competitive advantages will also propose time implementation of the strategy created.

This thesis is focused on possibilities of raising competitivness in the area of car sales using operational leasing with Škoda Auto, a.s as an example. This automotive company together with Škofin, s.r.o. provides its customers with a service „Škoda without worry“. The company positioning on the market was evaluated based on quantitative and qualitative analysis of the product, market and competition. Suggestions presented in this thesis bring up a conceptual change of the service „Škoda without worry“ with a goal to increase the value for customers and competitivness of the company. Introducing a loyalty program Škoda is mentioned as an alternative solution. Benefits and risks associated with implementation of the suggested measures are listed in conclusion.

This Master´s Thesis introduces options of using Comptitive Intelligence to predict future actions of Competitor in Competitive environment.

Magister Commercii - MCom / A major challenge facing the South African wine industry has been the economic repositioning of the sector, which since 1994 has moved away from a highly regulated domestic environment. The increasing integration of the local industry into international markets and global value chains has been accompanied by the industry’s deregulation and restructuring. From the production focus on a limited range of low value-added varieties produced for domestic tastes and to meet monopoly quotas, producers have shifted to planting noble cultivars suited to various international tastes. Despite the lack of growth in traditional Western European markets, new world producers like South Africa have successfully competed and secured new market share. The Western Cape ine industry is ranked as the second-largest contributor to the Western Cape economy. The thesis explores the effect of cluster governance and the coordination of strategic collective actions on the Western Cape wine cluster’s competitiveness. The data has been gathered through a combination of documentary analysis and interviews conducted with the leadership and/or management of various industry organisations. A qualitative approach has been adopted in the data analysis and interpretation of the findings, with information gathered via a combination of documentary analysis and semi-structured interviews with key representatives of established industry bodies and key role-players in the Western Cape wine cluster. / South Africa

The field of study on coopetition has been given a growing emphasis in the recent years by researchers and business practice. Coopetition is a term integrating the notions of cooperation and competition happening as an intensive simultaneous process where actors seek to leverage the value created by other companies in their business network. These complex and paradoxical interactions are acknowledged as needing further research about the effects of coopetition and the different types of coopetitive interactions involved when firms coopete. The business network highlighted in the current study concerned the Swedish Cleantech industry. It offers an interesting ground as Sweden has been investing substantial amounts in environmental protection technologies. Moreover, SMEs in Sweden play an increasingly significant role in the national economy by their rapid technological development. Nonetheless, these SMEs battle to sustain opportunities and are facing many challenges such as lack of key resources, a limited market presence, and liabilities of newness. Thereby, collaboration is essential among Cleantech SMEs in order to overcome these challenges and sustain competitive advantages. This study sets out to fill this gap through the following objectives: by describing the cooperative and competitive activities happening of SMEs inside the Swedish Cleantech industry, by understanding how SMEs select their cooperative relationship with their competitors inside their business network, and by analyzing how coopetition can be implemented by SMEs as a strategy to develop sustainable competitive advantage. This research was conducted through a qualitative case study and semi-structured interviews of seven Swedish SMEs operating in the Cleantech industry. The findings underline that coopetition can be used as a matching strategy between the internal and the external environment of the firm. Further, before coopetition can lead to sustained competitive advantages, companies first need to develop societal advantages in the form of economic value, social value, and natural value.