Background: During the past ten years an increasing trend of international representation in Swedish boards, referred to as board internationalization, has occured. Figures show that in 1994 foreign board members held 3,4% (Sundin & Sundqvist, 1995) of the seats in Swedish companies boards, today that figure is 14,2% (Fristedt & Sundqvist, 2005). This trend seems to continue as the nominations of this year is streaming in. Although this trend occurs Swedish business press is questioning why not more foreign directors are being appointed members to board (Almgren, 2006). Fahim (2005) also questions this and argues that companies need to realise that there is a profitability perspective on the subject of diversity. In many of the large Swedish companies the absence of foreign directors is noticed, but there is a few in the forefront which have appointed foreign directors. The reasons for internationalizing a board can be different and it interesting to investigate how forefront companies discuss internationalization in general and which reasons in particular that drives board internationalization. Purpose: The thesis' purpose is to investigate the main rational for board internationalization. Frame of reference: In the frame of reference, four possible influences on the internationalization of the board is presented, in order to be discussed and compared to the empirical findings; corporate governance, ownership structure, stakeholder pressure, and competitive advantage. Method: In order to fulfill the purpose, a qualitative research method is chosen, based on in-depth interviews. The sample consists of ten interviews with chairmen of Swedish boards within companies that are represented by at least one foreign board member. Conclusion: We have concluded that the main rational of board internationalization is the search for competitive advantage, which is believed to be created by a board with diverse competences and networks. Regarding ownership structure, foreign private owners are the only ones that are influencing the internationalization. Both the corporate governance development and the stakeholder pressure are identified in the empirical findings, but not believed to be an influence of internationalization.

Strategic management has long been viewed as the concept and process that link an organization and its environment together (Leibold, Probst & Gibbert, 2002). It consists of the analysis, decisions and actions an organization undertakes in order to create and sustain competitive advantages (Dess, Lumpkin & Taylor, 2005). Within the history of strategic management research there has been an unbalance between the internal and the external perspective. During the 1980s Michael Porter, one of the most prominent strategic management researchers, and his Five Forces model focused strictly on the external competitive environment (Mintzberg, Ahlstrand & Lampel, 1998). Further, in the 1990s the focus shifted from external to internal along with Jay Barney’s development of the resource based theory in 1991 (Barney, 1991). The issue of excluding one or the other perspective has now started to be acknowledged and researchers today are striving for developing models integrating both perspectives. However, theoretical models existing today that combine the two perspectives are complex and hard to apply in practice for managers within the business world. In order to address the complexity of the strategic management concept we have chosen to develop a model with the purpose to connect and relate the external and internal perspectives by conducting an in-depth analysis of a chosen company. The model also strives to be easily communicated, applicable and understandable for managers and employees on different levels within the organization. This leads us to the purpose of this thesis: “to develop a simplified model that combines the external and internal perspective of strategic management and apply this to a chosen company”. The research was conducted through a case study based on the authors’ participation in a PBM (Project Based Module) - project. The model was tested on the company in question by analyzing the company’s internal and external environment with the means of analysis tools such as PEST-analysis, strategic group analysis, threshold analysis and the SWOTanalysis. To conclude it is important to balance an organization’s internal efforts with the external market conditions and avoid excluding one or the other from the strategic management process. Combining the two perspectives results in identifying the current capabilities and competences and the direction of how to use these in order to meet market demands and gain competitive advantage.

Turkish textile and clothing industry is one of the pillar industries of Turkish economy with its contribution to export, GDP and employment. Also, it has linkages with many other industries. As a consequent, developments emerged in the industry eventually affect the overall economy of Turkey. Hence, analysis of the competitiveness of the enterprises operating in the textile and clothing industry of Turkey is very important for a more competitive country. Within this context, the purpose of this study is to explore the key determinants of competitiveness of Turkish textiles and clothing industry, and analyze the effects of firm characteristics and future expectations on perceived competitive advantage of Turkish textiles and clothing firms. The study further purposes to analyze the Turkish textiles and clothing industry&rsquo / s structure.

Background: The purpose of this master thesis was to investigate what generic strategies are utilized by big players in the solar photovoltaic industry to improve their competitive positions. The continuous expansion of the solar market indicated the significance of this research, since the correctly chosen strategy has a direct influence on the success and prosperity of the growing and developing high tech companies.Aim: The first aim of the study was to examine the applicability of Michael Porter‟s theory of generic strategies to the high tech industry, to be more precise the solar photovoltaic industry. The second aim of the study was to explore the cases, if any, when the simultaneous pursuit of more than one generic strategy was possible. The last but not the least aim was to deeply investigate the potential of the differentiation strategy and the effect it has on the companies.Definitions: The continuous utilization of the following concepts is present in the research: Generic strategies – the three different strategic approaches – cost leadership, differentiation, and focus – the companies can undertake to build a strong competitive advantage and outperform their competitors Differentiation – a case when a firm‟s offering is preferred, on some buying occasions (or by some customers all of the time) over rival firm‟s offerings Solar energy – alternative solutions of receiving energy directly from the sun – using solar modules which convert sunrays into electricityMethodology: Qualitative research methodology was used in this study. The in depth analyses of three case companies were done mainly by means of collecting the secondary data. In addition to that two out of three companies were contacted in order to conduct personal interviews via phone and email. Their answers were used as a supportive tool for the developed propositions.Results: The collected and analyzed secondary data together with the outcomes of the interviews revealed the flaws and limitations of Porter‟s theory. The simultaneous pursuit of two strategies was proven not only to be taking place, furthermore, to be leading to prosperity in some situations. The new model was developed which showed that the pursuit of two strategies is more of a necessity under certain circumstances. A thorough examination of the differentiation concept resulted in discovering the ways and methods which could be used by companies to strengthen their market positions.

Purpose: The purpose of the study is to explore the challenges that are faced by born global SMEs and how they overcome these challenges. Method: For literature review and secondary research, data and information has been gathered from disciplines of international entrepreneurship. Primary research has been done on four born global firms; two from Sweden and two from Pakistan. Qualitative research and analysis has been used in the study. Originality: This study contributes to literature by covering some missing portions in born global discipline. In this research, effort is made to compile various challenges that are faced by born global firms, through literature review. The report further has focused on overcoming these challenges by gathering information through primary research. Conclusion: The research has concluded that there are certain challenges that are faced by born global firms in their international business development. These challenges are internal as well as external. Despite these challenges and problems, born global firms are able to achieve their position in international market by overcoming these challenges through building networks and competency alliances with partners situated internationally.

The authors of this study have both studied at the U.S.B.E. (Umeå School of Business and Economics) for four years. Both of them have had a private interest in IT-organizations business as well as their development possibilities. We know that there exist organizations, which provide services for outsourcing of IT-activities and these are, according to us, simple to use. The purpose with this study is to identify possible limitations and opportunities with outsourcing of specific IT-activities. We want to be able to understand what drives IT- organizations to use outsourcing or not. To be able to do so, we have created a theoretical framework with four different themes containing strategy, service, decision-making and collaboration. This framework has been our line of argument throughout this research. We have a positivistic approach with an objective view, which have influenced this study. This led us to choose a deductive approach to where we started from creating a theoretical framework that concerns our research area. Our theories laid the foundation of the creation of a survey, which was randomly distributed, to 1200 IT-organizations within Sweden. Out of these 1200 organizations we received 133 answers. This data have served as the primary data for study and have been analyzed by us as well with the help of the statistical computer program SPSS. What we have found was that IT-organizations that were using outsourcing today, do it to gain a competitive advantage in being able to focus on their core competence. The organizations had different core competencies but they all had one thing in common, which was that they focused a lot on providing their customers with a high service level. However, they felt a loss in their service capability when outsourcing. This was something they believed to be a drawback. Organizations that did not use outsourcing today saw there was a security risk with outsourcing of sensitive materials to external subcontractors located outside Sweden. Not many of the respondents’ felt that there was a risk for them losing their jobs as a result of outsourcing. Despite this fact, there were more respondents’ that did not use outsourcing today, which felt a bigger threat compared to those organizations that did. The theoretical contribution of the thesis was a combined model of strategy, service, decision-making and collaboration that can help IT-organizations when thinking of whether they should outsource, or not. We believed that the practical contribution was helping the IT-organizations understanding the importance of knowing what their core competence was to be able to gain a competitive advantage, something our respondents’ did not seem to be aware of.

Guanxi plays an important role in Chinese entrepreneurial networking activities, especially for micro entrepreneurial firms in China. Due to limited information and resources available to micro firms, micro firms are more dependent on entrepreneurs’ guanxi networks to get access to the necessary resources. Previous literatures have particularly discussed the impacts of guanxi networks for foreigners successfully doing business in China. Nevertheless, there are scant literatures that study on the role of the guanxi in Chinese entrepreneurship. The purpose of this study is to provide a better understanding of the role of guanxi in Chinese entrepreneurship. This study employs the relevant guanxi concepts, Western social capital theory, and network-based entrepreneurship as the main conceptual framework to examine how Chinese entrepreneurs utilize their guanxi networks during the development of micro firms. Furthermore, this study is based on ten case studies in China. Empirical Data are collected from semi-structured interviews with ten Chinese entrepreneurs in micro firms. The results show that guanxi networks are highly important for Chinese entrepreneurs to develop their business. Firstly, Chinese entrepreneurs make use of different guanxi governance mechanisms--qinqing, renqing and jiaoqing to acquire different information and resources for the development of their firms. The obtained information and resources constitute the social capital, which can be used to complement insufficient capital within the firms. Secondly, Chinese entrepreneurs intentionally enlarge their guanxi network size to obtain more resources. Moreover, Chinese entrepreneurs benefit from strong guanxi ties and closure network structures to obtain the cohesive social capital. While Chinese entrepreneurs gain greater benefits from weak guanxi ties and spare network structures for acquiring additional information, resources and business opportunities. Thirdly, guanxi-networking activities are different from Western social networking activities, as guanxi-networking activities put more emphasize on keeping harmony and mutual reciprocity. Furthermore, Chinese entrepreneurs are proactive to build and maintain guanxi networks through various approaches for their business development. Lastly, even though guanxi networks play important roles in the development of micro entrepreneurial firms, they cannot be sustainable competitive advantage in the long term. Indeed, the core competences such as high quality of products and services, advanced technologies and marketing channels could be sustainable competitive advantages for the entrepreneurial firms in today’s increasingly fierce competitive market.

Globalization, economic volatility and uncertainty have impacted global business markets. This has also had an effect on the logistics and supply chain sector. The third party logistics (3PL) industry is constantly changing due to global industry consolidation, technology integration, industry specialization, and industry alliance networks. The most significant changes have been in areas such as 3PL industry size and make-up, services offered, geographical reach, and the information technology (IT) support provided. Companies can survive in a highly competitive environment by creating competitive advantage. Literature presents three different strategies for creating competitive advantage. These are cost leadership, differentiation and focus. Furthermore, innovations and collaboration between companies can also be strategies for creating competitive advantage. The purpose of this paper is to analyse from the retailers’ perspective, how 3PL providers could meet the customers’ needs better and create competitive advantage in the 3PL market. Furthermore, the purpose of the research is to find out which are, according to the customers’ needs, the best directions that 3PL providers should follow. This research contains both inductive and deductive research approach elements. The empirical data is collected through a survey and interviews. In total 45 retailers took part in the survey. Moreover, five of the survey respondents were selected for additional interviews. The collected data have been analysed by using theories and previous studies in the literature. The main findings from analysing the empirical data and the existing theory are that in order for 3PL providers to create competitive advantage, they should focus on the three elements: selection criteria, incentives and barriers. These influence their relationship with the retailers. 3PL providers should also try to enhance the service quality and satisfaction level in the fields of transportation, warehousing and reverse logistics activities. Most importantly, 3PL providers should provide logistics services and solutions that are in the same level with the retailers’ objectives. Furthermore, 3PL providers can also improve their efficiency and become more competitive by having deeper co-operation with other logistics providers.

Titel: Competitive advantage through strategic sourcing: A SME perspective. SME: The size of an enterprise can be measured by its employment, sales, or profit (Tam etal, 2007). Small and medium sized enterprises range between 10 and 250 employees. FiveSwedish SMEs was used for the multi case study. Background: The competitive market situation has created a shift in companies’ strategythinking. Strategies focus increasingly on core activities and business development. Oneeffect of this is that companies choose to outsource activities they don´t consider to be corebusiness (Van Weele, 2010; Thrulogachantar and Zailani, 2011). Purpose: The purpose was to investigate strategic sourcing plans that SMEs can apply toincrease their competitive advantage. Methodology: The research was conducted through a qualitative study with a deductiveapproach. A multi-case study was made on five SMEs in Kronobergslän, Sweden, with twosemi-structured interviews at each company. Result and conclusion: The investigation resulted in a current view of SMEs sourcing andsuitable recommendations for SMEs to direct their purchasing activities to strategic sourcing.The process of implementing a strategic plan for SMEs can be seen as relatively difficult butthere are purchasing activities that can be improved by a strategic thinking. To keep in mind isthat supplier’s performance matter, but it is the resources of suppliers that are the maincompetitive advantage and it is in this area where supplier development and sourcingstrategies should focus. Further research: However further research could investigate strategic sourcing in adifferent approach, both from a supplier and customer perspective

The research question how green marketing is used as a competitive advantage was answered by the analysis of the multiple case-study of two organizations of the boardsports industry, Jade and Notox. The comparison between theories and interviews revealed that, by doing green branding, having eco-labels, and implementing the five I’s, Jade and Notox are differentiating. This differentiation provides them a competitive advantage. In addition, Jade and Notox innovate in green materials and processes which, coupled with eco-labels, maintain the differentiation and generate a sustainable advantage.