Baigiamajame magistro darbe nagrinėjami Lietuvos tekstilės pramonės tarptautinio konkurencingumo didinimo aspektai. Aprašoma tekstilės pramonės tarptautinio konkurencingumo reikšmė šiuolaikiniam Lietuvos ūkio sektoriui. Mokslinių šaltinių analizės metu buvo nustatyta, kad pramonės tarptautinis konkurencingumas priklauso nuo tokių veiksnių kaip santykiniai ar absoliutūs šalies pranašumai (klimatinės sąlygos, geografinė padėtis, apsirūpinimas ištekliais ir pan.), naujų technologijų taikymo gamybos procese, investicijų, valstybės politikos įgyvendinant pramonės tarptautinio konkurencingumo didinimą. Siekiant įvertinti Lietuvos tekstilės pramonės tarptautinį konkurencingumą buvo atlikti empiriniai tyrimai, kurie leido nustatyti veiksnius, labiausiai veikiančius šalies tekstilės pramonę ir jos konkurencingumą. Taip pat darbe analizuojama įvairių šalių patirtis tekstilės pramonės tarptautinio konkurencingumo didinimo srityje. Išnagrinėjus teorinius ir praktinius aspektus, darbe yra pateikiamos rekomendacijos Lietuvos tekstilės pramonės tarptautiniam konkurencingumui didinti. Darbo pabaigoje yra suformuluotos išvados ir pasiūlymai. Darbą sudaro 7 dalys: įvadas, tekstilės pramonės tarptautinio konkurencingumo didinimas – Lietuvos ūkio sektoriaus plėtros prioritetas; teoriniai modeliai, taikytini tekstilės pramonės konkurencingumui didinti; Lietuvos tekstilės pramonės tarptautinio konkurencingumui įvertinti skirti empiriniai tyrimai; rekomendacijos Lietuvos tekstilės pramonės... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / At the master thesis Lithuanian textile industry international competitiveness improving aspects are being researched. The meaning of textile industry international competitiveness to modern Lithuania economics is being described. During scientific sources analysis it was found that the industry's international competitiveness depends on factors such as relative or absolute advantages of the state (climate, geographical position, resources and self-sufficiency, etc..), new technologies in the production process, investments, government policy in the international competitiveness of industry . In order to assess the Lithuanian textile industry international competitiveness empirical surveys were disposed, which allowed the identification of the factors most affecting the country's textile industry and its competitiveness. It was also examined the practice of the various countries in textile industry international competitiveness improvement. The examination of the theoretical and practical aspects of the work is presented recommendations Lithuanian textile industry to increase international competitiveness. At the end of the thesis conclusions and suggestions were performed. Structure: introduction; textile industry international competitiveness improvement is modern Lithuanian economics priority; theoretical models, whitch can be used to improve textile industry international competitiveness; empirical researches used to evaluate the international competitiveness of... [to full text]

The adoption of information technology (IT) is an intensive and ongoing process in society. All types of firms, but especially service firms, tend to adopt IT. Professional services, a sub-section of the service sector, are heavy users of IT. These firms are special because their business builds on the knowledge of the people in the firm. Therefore, tt is of special interest to study the impact of IT in these firms. The impact of IT in professional service firms is identified in four ways: service quality, competitive advantage, bottomline (management visions), and industry structure. The empirical focus is on the Swedish architectural industry and the adoption of CAD in this industry. Two extensive surveys each consisting of several in-depth interviews and a mailed questionnaire provide the empirical data. The research design is longitudinal and changes in the industry were observed. In special focus were the differences between the firms that had CAD—adopter firms—and firms that did not have CAD—non-adopters. Both the architects and their clients rated services performed with CAD to have better quality; e.g., the cooperation was eased by the use of this technology. The findings also suggest that CAD may be used as a competitive tool in the industry. The adopters increased their productivity significantly more than the non-adopters did between the two surveys and the adopters had significantly more loyal clients. CAD seems to be a tool that accentuates the differences between the adopter and the non-adopter firms. The results suggest that adopters and non-adopters develop into two different types of firms. The characteristics of these firms indicate that a division of the industry appeared. For example, the adopters were significantly larger than the non-adopters and plans to expand their business. One explanation to the disparity between these two types of firms may be the differences in management vision. The adopters may be characterized as progressive firms and the nonadopters as traditional firms. / <p>Diss. Umeå : Univ., 2001</p> / digitalisering@umu

In today’s world, we live in a technologically advanced environment where information access is huge and limitless. The advantage to this is that, people are able to create more information, share and communicate with each other instantly on the go regardless of where they are in the world. However on the downside, with endless information, it becomes confusing and difficult to filter which information is right for a person’s need. This goes hand-in-hand for business companies, as it requires strategic processes and tools to identify the information from the market, store and evaluate it into meaningful insights and lastly communicate it efficiently so that the value of it is not lost along the way. Therefore this study focuses on how augmented reality (AR) as an emerging digital technology is able to dissect and communicate information and bring value to those who are implementing it. What is more interesting in this study is to see the usefulness and ease of using AR from commercial and non-commercial aspects in B2B field. This study was conducted through a qualitative research approach with semi-structured interviews with five companies providing and using AR applications. In conclusion, AR brings value by transferring data faster and communicating it effectively through visualization of integrating computer-generated information with the real world as one. From commercial aspect, companies could use this technology in their marketing communication to increase customer involvement and perception of the brand. In contrast, from non-commercial perspective, companies could use AR as an internal resource to increase efficiency in operation process.

Purpose To determine sustainable Resource Based View drivers (RBV) (i.e. resources, capabilities) and motivation for the successful (i.e. positive Financial (FP) / Social Performance (SP)) implementation of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the strategies of top performing companies in regards to CSR. In addition to find out how these drivers are being nourished, developed and utilized in order to contribute to the sustainable development in companies. Design/ Methodology/ Approach Interviews are held with CSR-managers from top performing companies based on their engagement and performance in CSR. In addition, their Corporate Responsibility (CR) reports are observed in order to apply triangulation on the company’s engagement in CSR. Furthermore shall reports by third party organizations be observed to get multiple perspectives on the concept of CSR and Sustainability? Lastly an exclusive guest lecture at Linnaeus University is attended which provided insight on corporate partnership in regards to CSR from the point of view of a charitable organization. Findings The most important non-financial drivers of CSR and Sustainability are; knowledge flow, capabilities and competence. Knowledge can be acquired through active engagement with all the company’s stakeholders, especially by collaborating with universities and for example charitable organizations. Companies have invested in the training of top level management in their understanding of the importance of CSR and Sustainability. This is because the top level management is seen as the driving and deciding force within the company to engage in CSR and Sustainability. Some companies have invested research in the understanding of their stakeholders’ perceptions on Sustainability issues which they deem as most important. Delimitations/ Limitations This research investigates the non-financial drivers (i.e. sources and antecedents) of CSR and Suitability in order to invest in and develop the drivers with the purpose of further developing Sustainability. This research is primarily focussed on Swedish companies as they seem to be further advanced in this subject due to for example legislation and the fact that Sweden is one of the most prosperous countries in the world. The purpose of this research is not to generalize the findings, but to provide insight so other companies could learn and develop themselves further in their pursuit for Sustainability.  Implications In order to develop Sustainability further companies need to create tighter collaborations with especially universities as the managers and business leaders for the future, but also other employees, are the students of today. Especially business students complain about the way their subject is being taught as it fails to thoroughly address current and future business problems. Furthermore the concept of Sustainability should be taught not only at universities but at high schools as well, because the society as a whole needs to collaborate to deal with the mega forces that await us in the not too distant future.  Originality/ Value CSR finds itself in a cross-section in academic literature between different affecting disciplines. By combining the different disciplines the authors want to contribute to sustainable development and competitive advantage in CSR-strategies by examining top performing companies who are (perceived to be) well advanced in this subject. Previous research has primarily focussed on proving the relationship between implementing CSR and positive Financial Performance (FP) as the driver of CSR. Much less have other antecedents to CSR been investigated with purpose of further improving sustainable development.

The wood-based building products industry has experienced significant turbulence over the past several decades as a function of multiple forces including among others globalization, product and process innovation, and shifting customer and consumer interest and demands. Collectively, these changes have challenged the historical tenets which have defined industry strategy and competition in the realm of basic products and contributed to consolidation and labor reductions. Consequently, an onus has been placed on industry participants to better understand and adapt to the new competitive landscape or risk loss of competitive advantages built on the practices suited to historical tradition. However, a limited range of work that considers the machinations of turbulence and resulting strategic implications has been directed toward the industry particularly where differentiation of products is limited. A contributing factor for this deficiency is the relative stability that has defined the industry for generations due in part to limited strategic variation beyond cost and production, limited cycles of technological and product innovation, commodity nature of many products, and passive manner of consumption. Accordingly, there is value in work that takes a critical and empirical view of industry changes in the context of both strategic and competitive implications, how participating firms address challenges, and what factors influence consumer purchase decisions. This work addresses this need through examination of each element, industry, firm, and consumer, in the context of turbulence, competition, and strategy and delineates previously unidentified considerations for competing in the new landscape. At the industry level, drivers of industry turbulence and subsequent strategic challenges, adaptations, and opportunities are identified and reviewed. Analysis suggests that improved strategy which considers organizational and product differentiation beyond cost and production efficiencies permits greater stability and increased leverage in the turbulent competitive environment. Recognizing a need for improved strategy, the firm level analysis employs a primary qualitative approach to isolate previously unidentified firm qualities analogous to successful deployment of a market orientation strategy using the resource based view of the firm as a framework for analysis. Connecting strategy to the consumer and product, theoretical consumer behavior constructs (consumption, behavior, and involvement) were connected to conceptualize dimensions of product differentiation capable of holding consumer appeal and acting as behavioral drivers in the passively consumed arena of primary wood-based building products. Taken together this work provides a view of strategic considerations within the wood-based building product industry that extends beyond previous work in several ways. First, by considering industry environment, firm strategy, and consumer behavior and product differentiation collectively in the manner described, this work provides a more vertically complete strategic perspective for industry participants. Second, within each chapter, findings and case based examples relevant to each element are presented. / Graduation date: 2012

電子業在近20年來在台灣蓬勃發展，不論是上游的晶圓廠，IC設計，中游的半導體製造業，乃至於下游的電子產品製造業，在全球市場裡皆佔有一席之地。在整個產業鏈之中，半導體製造業在2008年的銷售額達到255 Billions,其中半導體通路商就佔全部銷售額的30%以上，半導體通路商在產業鏈中的地位是相當的重要。 半導體零組件通路商在整個產業鏈扮演著何種角色呢？半導體零組件通路商必然能對上游供應商與下游的電子製造業提供價值，並且具有其競爭優勢，以存活在這競爭的產業，因此本研究採用個案分析方式針對亞洲最大的半導體通路商與日系半導體通路商進行研究探討，主要的研究發現有： 1. 以實際量化的方式半導體電子零件通路商對供應商與客戶的價值。 2. 從半導體產品價值鏈依不同類型供應商/通路商/客戶歸納通路商的策略類型為規模經濟型、技術本位型以及特殊關係型。 3. 規模經濟型、技術本位型以及特殊關係型三種不同類型的通路商所具備的競爭優勢。 4. 在動態的環境下，不同類型的代理商如何跨足其他類型的通路商，並且從成功案例之中了解其策略為何。 / In the past 20 years, Electronics industry flourishing in Taiwan, from the upstream wafer manufactory, IC design, to the middle reaches of the semiconductor manufacturing, as well as in the downstream electronic products manufacturing, both in the global market place. In the whole semiconductor supply/demand chain, the semiconductor manufacturing industry in 2008 achieved sales of 255 Billions, in which the semiconductor distributors accounted for more than 30% of total sales. This shows the important of semiconductor distributors in the semiconductor industry. What is role of distributors in the industry? Distributors must be able to provide value to upstream suppliers and downstream customer – the electronic manufacturing industry, and has its competitive edge to survive in this competitive industry. So this study used case study approach targeting the largest semiconductor distributors in Asia and the Japanese semiconductor distributor to conduct research into, the main findings are: 1. Practical way to quantify the value of semiconductor distributor to the supplier and customer. 2. Base on different types of suppliers / distributors / customers to induction distributors strategy type of the semiconductor value chain. As “Economies of scale”, “Technology-based model”, and “Special relationship”. 3. The competitive advantage of “Economies of scale”, “Technology-based model”, and “Special relationship”. 4. In a dynamic environment, how the different types of agents to branched out into other types of distributors? And identify the strategy from the success stories.

This research aims to investigate the extent to which media organisations in Taiwan apply human resource management strategies and policies to sustain their competitive advantage in a threatening environment. This study argues that human capital is the most valuable resource of media companies. As long as the human resource is optimally allocated and managed, it can facilitate media companies to outperform their competitors, and thus, enable media companies to achieve sustained competitive advantage. The first stage of this research analyses the Taiwanese media industry from a broad perspective. During the development of Taiwan’s media industry, the government and political parties played important roles. The key factors involved in the changes in the environment are examined from political, economic, social, and technological points of view. In addition, this research analyses the human resource management practices adopted by the two leading media groups in Taiwan. One of the groups is the United Daily News group, an old established media company with its interest in newspapers, and a newly established Eastern Broadcasting Corporation (EBC) group which is a multi-media company. Qualitative research approach was adopted as the framework for this research and also to explore and understand the links between specific human resource management indicators and media organisations’ sustained competitive advantage. Two Taiwanese media groups were selected as case studies. The case study approach involved in-depth interviews conducted with management staff and non-management staff, in order to understand the two companies’ human resource management policies and practices. Connecting the study as a whole, there are three important findings: (1) The deregulation which began from the late 1980s has transformed the Taiwanese media industry from a party-state domination to a fiercely competitive marketplace. (2) Consequently, Taiwanese news organisations have shown a greater propensity to pursue commercial performance. As such, in addition to journalists, advertising sales personnel were included in the talent pool by news organisations. (3) The view of human resources as a pool of capital implies a change in the perception of costs in media companies’ human resource management practices. HRM is practised by the two companies in different degree. Taiwanese media companies should pay attention to the different characteristics of their core workers, and maintain their core workers to convey their organisational culture, and achieve their companies’ SCA. In Taiwan, the HRM function had been ignored for a long time due to decades of regulation on new competitors. However, when the media proprietors spent a majority of their capital on the payroll and emphasized that ‘human capital’ is their most important asset, to some extent, Taiwanese media companies perceived HRM as a means to achieve their companies’ SCA. In this regard, Taiwanese media companies should make more effort to develop and nurture the HRM practices and policies which are suitable for the organisation’s unique culture, in improving the outcomes of their human resource investment and in turn providing sustained competitive advantage.

The link between information technology (IT) and competitive advantage has been the preoccupation of many IT researchers. IT plays a key role as a necessary, but not sufficient, source of value. Prior research has in most cases investigated the direct link between IT and competitive advantage. Other researchers have examined the effect of IT on mediating factors (such as firm strategy) or applied higher order IT support for core competences in their research constructs. Only a few have recognised the potential of IT in enabling dynamic capabilities. This thesis argues that the dynamic capability perspective of strategic management provides a better insight into how IT, beyond its traditional role, needs to be converted into a higher order resource to deliver competitive advantage. The objectives of the study are therefore: (1) to apply the concept of the dynamic capability perspective to the IT-competitive advantage research in order to explicate the strategic role of IT in attaining competitive advantage; and (2) to examine the antecedent capabilities and competences that may lead towards developing adaptive IT capability. This study proposes and empirically tests a dynamic capability-based model of IT and competitive advantage. The proposed model posits adaptive IT capability as a mediating higher order resource that relies on IT capabilities (infrastructure, personnel and management) and IT support for core competences (operational and market) to influence a firm's competitive position (competitive edge in market and financial performance). The model also hypothesises that IT support for core competences can lead to competitive advantages. To test the model, data were collected from a cross- sectional sample of 203 medium- and large-sized Australian organisations. Descriptive and analytical (structural equation modelling) tools were employed to test both the measurement and structural models. The findings reveal that the developed model explained 28% of the variance in competitive advantage, 72% for adaptive IT capability, 51% for IT support for operational and market competence, demonstrating the strategic role of adaptive IT capabilities as sources of competitive advantage. This indicates that those firms that deploy IT for creating operational and market competences require a further capacity to rebuild and reconfigure their resources to improve market and financial performance. Thus, it appears that the impact of IT support for core competences on competitive advantage is not direct, but indirect through adaptive IT capability. Several IT capabilities and competences were identified as antecedents for building adaptive IT capabilities. This PhD study's main contribution lies in bridging a research gap by developing and empirically testing a model of adaptive IT capability that measures how IT can enable firms' dynamic capabilities. The model includes both the antecedent factors that build the higher order resource of adaptive IT capability (upstream factors) as well as the effect on competitive advantage (downstream factors). Practitioners can benefit from the results of this study in terms of the ramifications for investment decisions as well as to benchmark where they stand with their IT in terms of potential for value creation and business support.

The Malaysian property development industry contends with economic challenges arising from increased competition and property glut in the market. The situation is further worsen by the onslaught of world disasters for example tsunamis, earthquakes, bird flu pandemic and terrorist attacks, thus weakening the spending power of property buyers and investors. This exploratory research therefore investigated the importance of Emotional Intelligence (EQ) in enhancing customer service for sustainable competitive advantage. Guided by an analytical framework, it reviewed the key issues in the context of customer service within the Malaysian property development industry, the existing challenges faced by Malaysian property development companies, emotional intelligence (EQ) and training and development.The identified research gaps permitted the crafting of three Research Propositions. The combined outputs from the literature review, analysis of the research data and conclusions provided useful insights on the research problem. The case study methodology, supplemented by two other categories of exploratory research, namely experience surveys and one-on-one interviews, were the research techniques used to test the research propositions.The participants involved in the experience survey and one-on-one interviews included Heads of Department from the case-study company, Frontline employees, existing clients and vendors supplying goods and services to the case-study company. The procedure of data analysis consisted of examining, categorising, tabulating and recombining the evidence to address the research problem and the related research questions.The testing, by this research, yielded useful insights on the research problem.First, in order for Malaysian property developers to gain a sustainable competitive advantage, there is a need for fresh emphasis and commitment towards customer service, placing special focus on the development of employees in the area of emotional intelligence (EQ) through the reinforcement of emotional competencies. Despite efforts to enhance customer service through training programmes, the lack of effectiveness needs to be addressed and new measures should be undertaken.Second, the need for Malaysian property development companies to understand the importance of building a service culture and to begin by formulating and implementing a service strategy and it is here that leadership plays a critical role in ensuring the success of every customer service programme throughout the entire organisation. This suggests that new approaches to creating a service culture are necessary, benchmarking with best practices of service leaders around the world, even from different industries. Third, the need for the customer service training model to be reviewed and revamped. It calls for new emphasis on the development of emotional intelligence (EQ) competencies, to ensure training effectiveness and the achievement of customer service excellence through human capital.Finally, the research findings permitted the construct of a policy framework for securing sustainable competitive advantage. The research yielded useful insights for theory and model building. In respect of enhancing customer service to achieve sustainable competitive advantage in the Malaysian property development market, the research findings suggested a Service Culture Development Model that will ensure that customer service excellence can be maintained and delivered consistently, leading to a sustainable competitive advantage in the marketplace. In respect of enhancing customer service through the development of EQ competencies in every employee and throughout the organisation, the research findings suggested a new Customer Service Training Model, where EQ competencies development programme becomes the pre-requisite foundational programme for all employees, prior to the training of customer service skill-sets. In order to create a service culture throughout the entire organisation, a customer service-oriented organisation will ensure that all employees, including top management personnel, participate in the EQ development programme.Follow-up research to test a model, based on this framework should further contribute to new theory development in emotional intelligence impacting customer service in the Malaysian property development industry.

The aim of the thesis is to provide a deeper understanding regarding how the phenomenon Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) affects Swedish multinational corporations (MNCs), in relation to competitive advantage in the Chinese market. The research demonstrates the relevance of investigating the topic, as the aspects of CSR are interchanging. The reviewed literature highlights aspects incorporated in the phenomenon, as well as internationalization, strategy and competitive advantage. In addition, the three dimensions of CSR: economic, environmental and social, are considered fundamental pillars in the analysis of sustainable business behavior. The research is conducted through an explanatory nature, in order to comprehensively describe the included variables and their correlation, the connection is further shown in the conceptual framework, established with the literature review as a basis. The implementation of a qualitative research method ensures an in-depth perspective of the participants’ perceptions and experiences. For the empirical findings, four Swedish MNCs active in the Chinese market are interviewed regarding their CSR initiatives, in order to provide a meaningful insight for the analysis. The analysis of the thesis involves a discussion of the similarities, and also the differences, between the literature review and empirical findings, in accordance to the conceptual framework. Following, the conclusion will answer the research question and provide implications, as well as suggestions for further research. The purpose of study is to further close the research gap regarding the relation between Swedish CSR initiatives and competitive advantage in the Chinese market.