The purpose of this thesis is to examine Turkey&rsquo / s export competitiveness in the first 15 members of the European Union (EU-15 market) against non-EU-15 competitors. The study covers the recent period since the Customs Union agreement signed between Turkey and the EU at the end of 1995. Turkey&rsquo / s position in the EU-15 market is analyzed in detail by focusing upon major dimensions of export competitiveness / such as &lsquo / export similarity&rsquo / , &lsquo / export diversification&rsquo / , &lsquo / intensive and extensive margins&rsquo / , &lsquo / revealed comparative advantages&rsquo / , &lsquo / dynamic market positioning&rsquo / and &lsquo / competitive threat&rsquo / . We use various indexes from the literature and develop some original indexes as our own contributions. In terms the subject-matter, time dimension and data-detail of our study, all indexes utilized in this thesis are applied to Turkey&rsquo / s case for the first time. Examining price and quantity differences across countries and within each industry, Turkey&rsquo / s competitive position in the EU-15 market is analyzed as compared to 30 countries for more than 3000 export-product groups classified according to their technological characteristics. Based on the results, suggestions at the levels of countries, products and technological categories are made for Turkey to improve its export strategy in terms of seizing the existing but unexploited opportunities in the EU-15 market against its competitors. Policy possibilities are also discussed for directing Turkey&rsquo / s competitiveness towards higher value-added products in a rational and strategic way.

Following the Globalization trend, the policy of Deregulation, Open Sky and BOT had been implemented into the transportation industry in Taiwan. This new policy created the dynamics for transformation both in the Airlines Industry and Railway Industry. The new transportation policy lead to the establishment of E-Airways and T-Rail. This research concentrated on the case study of Operations Readiness Strategy implemented by E-Airways and T-Rail respectively based on the academic theory of SWOT and Five Force Model. E-Airways Case Study covers the strategic items on the establishment of Operations Core Competence, Flight Networks, Innovation of Economy-Deluxe class, Marketing Channel and Airline Strategic Alliance. T-Rail Case Study refers to the Operations Readiness Strategy implemented to import the core competence of High Speed Rail. This research reached the conclusions: 1.To confirm academic theory to be applicable for the successful model of both E-Airways and T-Rail case study; 2.To confirm same strategy model to be applied for different industry; 3.To confirm the strategic competence to be created; 4.That Cross verification of SWOT and Five Force Model will lead to solid strategy. 5.The successful model of E-Airways case study with analysis on the operation readiness strategy is available as reference for any potential airline operator after merge & acquisition of existing airlines. 6.The successful model of T-Rail case study is available as reference model for any ¡§next one¡¨ national HSR (High Speed Rail) Project.

The future is uncertain. We therefore make predictions and forecasts of the future in order to be able to plan and react to future events. For this purpose, financial analysts are argued to have a responsibility towards investors and the market, in helping to keep the market efficient. Given that financial analysts act in a rational way we argue that analysts should strive to maximize forecast accuracy. The purpose of this study is to investigate how accurate financial analysts’ forecasts of Swedish firms’ future values are, and what information that analysts use that significantly affect the analysts’ forecast accuracy. To investigate this we first examine whether financial analysts contribute with value to investors by comparing their forecast precision against a simple time-series model. Our findings show that financial analysts produce significantly more accurate forecasts than a time-series model in the short term. Furthermore, given that rational analysts act in their own best interest while making accurate forecasts, we argue that analysts will incorporate and use the information that is available to them for the purpose of maximizing forecast accuracy. We investigate this by testing if the analysts’ forecast accuracy is affected by; the forecast horizon, the number of analysts following a firm, the firm size, the corporate visibility, the predictability of earnings, and trading volume. We find that the forecast accuracy is better when the amount of analysts following a firm is high, the firm size is larger, the forecasted company’s corporate visibility in the news is more frequent, and the predictability of earnings is higher. The trading volume does not have a significant effect on analysts’ forecast accuracy. To conclude, we question the value of financial analysts’ forecasts for longer forecast horizons.

Field pea is an important crop in western Canada. The current recommended seeding rate in field pea is 88 plants m-2. As certain pea genotypes have the ability for increased branching, it may be possible for a producer to seed at a lower plant population without reduced yield or to choose a highly branched cultivar to have reduced risk of yield loss under conditions of poor emergence. The objective of this research was to determine how differences in branching among seven representative pea cultivars affected crop yield at different seeding rates, and to determine if branching affected the competitive ability of pea cultivars. In the plant population experiment, seven pea cultivars were seeded at five target plant populations (10, 30, 90, 120, and 150 plant m-2) during 2005 and 2006 at Rosthern and Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The competition experiment involved eight cultivars being seeded at 50 plants m-2 to measure competitiveness with weeds. Plant emergence, number of branches, light interception, harvest index and grain yield were measured. Growth, seasonal temperature and rainfall were near normal in 2005. Severe terminal drought occurred in 2006 which may have lead to decreased yields. Branching was greatest at low plant densities and decreased as plant density increased. Grain yield increased as plant density increased until it plateaued at 80 100 plants m-2. The response of yield to plant density differed to some extent among cultivars, with CDC Acer and CDC Bronco achieving more of their potential yield at lower densities, while Carrera and Courier required higher densities to reach the same proportion of potential yield. Weed biomass was lowest in plots sown to longer vined cultivars with normal leaf type. Branching habit did not affect the competitiveness of pea cultivars. Potential exists to plant highly branched cultivars to reduce risk of yield loss in situations where low plant emergence might occur.

The aim of this thesis is to identify and to study the micro and macro determinants of export performance. The results of micro determinants suggest that there is no significant relationship between export performance and R&amp / D intensity, which could be a result of underreport of R&amp / D expenditures in income statements of firms and the realization of its effects in the long-term. The results for marketing intensity, ratio of foreign exchange profits in total sales, fixed investment intensity and capital intensity are in the same way. On the other hand, bank loans and previous year&amp / #8217 / s export performance is strongly related with export performance. Moreover, it is found that there is no significant difference between low technology industries&amp / #8217 / and medium and high technology industries&amp / #8217 / export behavior. On the other hand, from the macro-economic determinants perspective, the implementation of flexible exchange rate policy has favorable effects on the volume of exports. While export intensity is positively affected by the major devaluations experienced in 1994 and 2001.

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.

Mergers and Acquisitions (M&As) are a popular strategy companies undertake in order to create value and synergies, and also to increase the competitiveness of the firm.  Findings from previous studies show that many M&As fail to create value, however there is also existing evidence that they do, where the execution plays a major role. The success of an M&A depends on both internal and external factors such as the competitive strengths of the firm, strategic fit, and growth of the market. It is argued that problems such as poor management within M&A processes could affect the outcome of the M&A in a negative way. Previous research shows that middle managers play a key role in strategic change processes such as M&As. When companies go through strategic change, the entire company gets involved; however the middle manager is the one who must keep in contact with co-workers, customers, suppliers, and top management at the same time. The purpose of this thesis was to investigate middle managements’ perception of changed competitiveness after an M&A has been completed. In order to fulfill the purpose, we used a qualitative approach where we conducted a case study and made interviews with middle managers at Toyota Material Handling’s German subsidiary that had recently gone through an M&A process. Our findings show that when a company is buying another company it needs to see the positive assets from another perspective than only through possible gains in market shares and synergies. When the two companies merge they must take advantage of each other’s specific resources that have made each company successful. Furthermore what fosters increased competitiveness after a merger is good information and communication about goals and strategies. What in turn hinders increased competitiveness after a merger is low flexibility in terms of not being able to adapt to market changes fast enough, and to have an organization that does not make it possible for employees to bring up their opinions.

Field pea is an important crop in western Canada. The current recommended seeding rate in field pea is 88 plants m-2. As certain pea genotypes have the ability for increased branching, it may be possible for a producer to seed at a lower plant population without reduced yield or to choose a highly branched cultivar to have reduced risk of yield loss under conditions of poor emergence. The objective of this research was to determine how differences in branching among seven representative pea cultivars affected crop yield at different seeding rates, and to determine if branching affected the competitive ability of pea cultivars. In the plant population experiment, seven pea cultivars were seeded at five target plant populations (10, 30, 90, 120, and 150 plant m-2) during 2005 and 2006 at Rosthern and Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The competition experiment involved eight cultivars being seeded at 50 plants m-2 to measure competitiveness with weeds. Plant emergence, number of branches, light interception, harvest index and grain yield were measured. Growth, seasonal temperature and rainfall were near normal in 2005. Severe terminal drought occurred in 2006 which may have lead to decreased yields. Branching was greatest at low plant densities and decreased as plant density increased. Grain yield increased as plant density increased until it plateaued at 80 100 plants m-2. The response of yield to plant density differed to some extent among cultivars, with CDC Acer and CDC Bronco achieving more of their potential yield at lower densities, while Carrera and Courier required higher densities to reach the same proportion of potential yield. Weed biomass was lowest in plots sown to longer vined cultivars with normal leaf type. Branching habit did not affect the competitiveness of pea cultivars. Potential exists to plant highly branched cultivars to reduce risk of yield loss in situations where low plant emergence might occur.

Abstract After the financial tsunami in 2008, the global economy slowly revives. Taiwan's department store retail industry is flourishing. There is one common feature from observing the location of these new department stores. They have all chosen to locate inside or next to the train station, high-speed railway stations, subway stations and other passenger transportation stations. Department stores in Taiwan formally entered another era. The research shows to discuss the development and definition of terminal department stores from the history of Japan¡¦s department stores. By using quality research, the managers of SKM and GMALL reply to understand what the 7 competitions indexes of terminal department stores. 1.Based on this perspective, the study examines the seven competitions indexes of terminal department stores: 1. Site conditions and the business district: the crowd from transportation is the advantage for terminal department stores, moreover, the booming of the business district will benefit terminal department stores. 2. Commercial space and transfer stations: terminal department stores collocate the commercial space and transfer stations. 3. Product constitution and recruit firm: the major selling points of terminal department stores are famous restaurant, take-out food and instant food of convenient stores that will congregate the consumers to increase their time for shopping in other floor. 4. Service: terminal department stores add more service for customer e.g. passenger luggage storage, wireless Internet for business travelers, foreign currency exchange and delivery of goods. 5. Marketing planning ability: marketing can use not only advertisement and promotion in station, but the DM of members and online community website. 6. Finance: terminal department stores establish one or two years that are lack of overall revenue performance. 7. Overall environment and strategy: combination complementary measures and marketing abroad will add up stores¡¦ image and promotion.

Engineering and Construction Services is a traditional manufacturing industry, provides factory or facility construction service for petrochemical, electrical power, steel manufacturer, storage and transfer system, environmental protection, technology, energy and public construction project. Most of domestic small and medium sized engineering and construction companies lack of resources for working capital, technical manpower, project management and design capability, such that they are not able to take part in the bidding for a large turnkey project. They can only contract for a smaller construction or be a subcontractor for a larger engineering and construction company, beside that, their profit will be very negligible due to lower entry barrier of this industry. In recent years, more and more companies of petrochemical industry move to foreign countries as well as global economic downturn, case number of domestic construction projects is trending down. Most of medium and small engineering and construction companies are in the face of business distress because of the tough competition, and that will limit the growth of business. In the mature and competitive industry, the most import strategy for medium and small companies is to build up core ability, build competitive advantage, and improve competitiveness. After that, the companies will have adequate resources and abilities to become a larger company which can enlarge the scale of operation, move to overseas market, and maximize the stockholders¡¦ value. To become a large company is very import for medium and small construction companies. All of these are the vision of small and medium sized engineering and construction companies and are the most important mission of the administrator of the companies. In this thesis, qualitative research method was used to study C Company by using PEST, Porter 5-force, value chain and SWOT analysis. The purpose of this work is to build up the strategy of competitive advantage for medium and small companies, and to find out proper business strategy for C Company. Some advices will be given to break through the business bottleneck, to enhance core competitiveness, and to enlarge the business scale and scope of C Company. We wish to share our experiences of competitive advantage building up and company renovation.