The aim of this research is to develop, examine and validate a conceptual framework, which explains factors of the export supply chain relationship focusing on information sharing in export supply chain management field. This research seeks to understand the dyadic exporter-producer relationship in the export industry of fresh fruit and vegetables from Jordan to the European Union. Jordan supplies very limited fresh fruit and vegetable exports to the European market and the exporter-producer relationships are still weak, which impedes the emergence of a high performance supply chain within this promising market. There has been a lack of conceptual and empirical research on information sharing, which limits the understanding of the business relationship and there is no theoretical framework analysing export supply chain relationships. Therefore, this research examines the possible association between the following factors: relationship, network and transaction dimensions; information sharing; and export performance. A framework for the influence of information sharing on a dyadic exporter-producer relationship of supply chain management guiding this research is developed initially, based on three perspectives: relationship marketing theory, network theory and transaction cost theory. Qualitative methodology is used to achieve the research aim and objectives in Jordan. The research is comprised of two phases. In phase one, seven interviews with experts are conducted to refine the initial framework for key propositions and propose a framework for supply chain management. In phase two, there are ten multiple-case studies, which contain 40 semi-structured interviews, 40 hours of observations and archival records. These cases are primarily conducted with the selected exporter and producer firms in the export industry of fresh fruit and vegetables. Data are collected and analysed, based on key themes and a case study protocol, which individually explore each exporter-producer relationship ―case‖ in order to examine the proposed framework. Finally, the ten cases are cross-analysed to explain the key findings and to match them to the framework in order to validate it as the final conceptual framework for supply chain management. The research findings support the central premise that specific dimensions of relationships, networks and transactions are the key antecedents of information sharing, which in turn influences export performance. The findings confirm that the exporters and the producers are able to support their relationships through the benefits gained from these dimensions at the relationship, network and transaction levels of the export III Information Sharing in an Export Supply Chain Relationship Luai Jraisat supply chain. It is through this alignment that firms create better information sharing between them. Likewise, the findings suggest that firms will be able to gain strategic advantages from supply chain management based on information sharing and its components, namely content, sharing methods, sources and value, thus suggesting that the firms should apply information sharing to improve financial and non-financial export performance. The research makes key contributions to theory and methodology, and has policy and managerial implications. Theoretical contributions are made to the supply chain management literature by providing a holistic framework for supply chain management to understand the exporter-producer relationship. The research expands on the applications of the three perspectives combined and focuses on information sharing as a key factor. Methodological contributions are offered as this research connects the qualitative methodology to the theory, enabling an analytical generalisation of supply chain management relationships by examining both sides of the dyadic relationship to guide their information sharing. This research expands more on the validity and reliability aspects to ensure the strength of this qualitative empirical research. Policy and managerial implications are addressed for managers and policy-makers. The research limitations and guidelines for future research are discussed.

<p>Background: Many companies have outsourced their IT-operations and their expectations of what this IT-outsourcing will contribute to the business are high. Cost cuts are not always a natural outcome of IT-outsourcing. Many companies that have outsourced their IT-operations consider it to be problematic and complex to exercise management control and reach cost control which was the purpose of the IT-outsourcing.</p><p> Purpose: To describe and analyze what affect IT-outsourcing has on a company’s management control system and a company’s possibility to exercise cost control. We will also make a suggestion on how a company can arrange their IT- outsourcing to facilitate management control. </p><p>Method: We have through a case study like approach interviewed IT-managers, IT- controllers and IT-maintenance personnel in five large corporations in Sweden. </p><p>Results: It’s common that a company that decides to outsource their IT- operations underestimates the difficulties that occur when the company transforms their operations from producing IT-services in house to ordering from a supplier. After a while the company often realizes that it lacks sufficient competence to order IT-services. There is also a great risk that the company becomes very dependent on its IT-supplier. For the company to reach the optimum order volume of IT-services from the IT-supplier it’s very important to create a competent procurement department for IT-services. A key factor in reaching a successful IT-outsourcing with good competence to order IT-services is to keep the architectural role within the company. Furthermore is the design of the IT-contract one of the most important tools in creating a solution for IT-outsourcing that facilitates management control. Examples of important ingredients in a good IT-contract are rules how to conduct benchmarking and how the company can put competitive pressure on the IT-supplier.</p> / <p>Bakgrund: Det är många företag somhar outsourcat sin IT-verksamhet och förhoppningarna om vad IT-outsourcing ska medföra för verksamheten är höga. Kostnadsinbesparingar och effektiviseringar är dock inte en självklar följd av IT-outsourcing. Många företag som har outsourcat sin IT-verksamhet uppfattar det som problematiskt och komplext att utöva ekonomisk styrning och uppnå den kostnadskontroll som eftersträvades när IT-verksamheten outsourcades. </p><p>Syfte: Att beskriva och analysera hur ett företags ekonomiska styrning och möjligheter till kostnadskontroll påverkas av att IT-verksamheten outsourcas. Vidare vill vi utarbeta ett förslag på hur ett beställarföretag kan konstruera sin IT-outsourcing för att underlätta utövandet av ekonomisk styrning och kostnadskontroll. </p><p>Metod: Vi har i en fallstudieliknande studie intervjuat IT-chefer, IT- controllers och förvaltningsansvariga på fem stora bolag i Sverige som har outsourcat sin IT-verksamhet. </p><p>Resultat: Det är vanligt att beställarföretaget underskattar svårigheterna med omställningen att gå från att ha varit utförare till att bli beställare och efter ett tag upptäcker att det saknas tillräcklig beställarkompetens. Risken är också stor att beställarföretaget hamnar i en mycket stark beroendeställning till sin IT-leverantör. För att beställarföretaget ska hitta den optimala volymen av IT-tjänster är det viktigt att beställarföretaget bygger upp en kompetent beställarorganisation. En nyckelfaktor för att uppnå en framgångsrik outsourcing där beställarkompetensen är god är att behålla arkitekturrollen inom företaget. Vidare är utformningen av kontraktet ett av de viktigaste verktygen för att skapa en outsourcinglösning som underlättar utövandet av ekonomisk styrning. Exempel på viktiga beståndsdelar i ett bra kontrakt är klausuler som reglerar hur benchmarking och en konkurrensutsättning ska gå till samt hur effektiviseringsvinster ska fördelas mellan parterna.</p>

Background: Many companies have outsourced their IT-operations and their expectations of what this IT-outsourcing will contribute to the business are high. Cost cuts are not always a natural outcome of IT-outsourcing. Many companies that have outsourced their IT-operations consider it to be problematic and complex to exercise management control and reach cost control which was the purpose of the IT-outsourcing. Purpose: To describe and analyze what affect IT-outsourcing has on a company’s management control system and a company’s possibility to exercise cost control. We will also make a suggestion on how a company can arrange their IT- outsourcing to facilitate management control. Method: We have through a case study like approach interviewed IT-managers, IT- controllers and IT-maintenance personnel in five large corporations in Sweden. Results: It’s common that a company that decides to outsource their IT- operations underestimates the difficulties that occur when the company transforms their operations from producing IT-services in house to ordering from a supplier. After a while the company often realizes that it lacks sufficient competence to order IT-services. There is also a great risk that the company becomes very dependent on its IT-supplier. For the company to reach the optimum order volume of IT-services from the IT-supplier it’s very important to create a competent procurement department for IT-services. A key factor in reaching a successful IT-outsourcing with good competence to order IT-services is to keep the architectural role within the company. Furthermore is the design of the IT-contract one of the most important tools in creating a solution for IT-outsourcing that facilitates management control. Examples of important ingredients in a good IT-contract are rules how to conduct benchmarking and how the company can put competitive pressure on the IT-supplier. / Bakgrund: Det är många företag somhar outsourcat sin IT-verksamhet och förhoppningarna om vad IT-outsourcing ska medföra för verksamheten är höga. Kostnadsinbesparingar och effektiviseringar är dock inte en självklar följd av IT-outsourcing. Många företag som har outsourcat sin IT-verksamhet uppfattar det som problematiskt och komplext att utöva ekonomisk styrning och uppnå den kostnadskontroll som eftersträvades när IT-verksamheten outsourcades. Syfte: Att beskriva och analysera hur ett företags ekonomiska styrning och möjligheter till kostnadskontroll påverkas av att IT-verksamheten outsourcas. Vidare vill vi utarbeta ett förslag på hur ett beställarföretag kan konstruera sin IT-outsourcing för att underlätta utövandet av ekonomisk styrning och kostnadskontroll. Metod: Vi har i en fallstudieliknande studie intervjuat IT-chefer, IT- controllers och förvaltningsansvariga på fem stora bolag i Sverige som har outsourcat sin IT-verksamhet. Resultat: Det är vanligt att beställarföretaget underskattar svårigheterna med omställningen att gå från att ha varit utförare till att bli beställare och efter ett tag upptäcker att det saknas tillräcklig beställarkompetens. Risken är också stor att beställarföretaget hamnar i en mycket stark beroendeställning till sin IT-leverantör. För att beställarföretaget ska hitta den optimala volymen av IT-tjänster är det viktigt att beställarföretaget bygger upp en kompetent beställarorganisation. En nyckelfaktor för att uppnå en framgångsrik outsourcing där beställarkompetensen är god är att behålla arkitekturrollen inom företaget. Vidare är utformningen av kontraktet ett av de viktigaste verktygen för att skapa en outsourcinglösning som underlättar utövandet av ekonomisk styrning. Exempel på viktiga beståndsdelar i ett bra kontrakt är klausuler som reglerar hur benchmarking och en konkurrensutsättning ska gå till samt hur effektiviseringsvinster ska fördelas mellan parterna.

Taiwan¡¦s e-commerce market value continued to grow, the scale is about NT$ 430 billion in 2011, as compared to 2010 growing 20 percent. Which B2C e-commerce market reached NT$ 250 billion in 2011 accounted for about 6.4% of the overall retail market revenue, the scale compared to 2010 growing 22%. The relatively low entry barriers lead to a lot of companies to establish. However, each year about 60 percent of E-commerce Company out of the market in such a competitive situation. It is important that E-commerce Company must have a successful business model. Past research of value creation for e-commerce only take single theory such as transaction cost theory, Resource-Based View, Value Chain, Network Theory and Schumpeter Innovation, however, that failed to fully explain to the e-commerce company's value creation. Therefore, this study will according to five theoretical, and based on secondary data and literature for the case study company PChome, Books, and Mayuki to identify the business model of e-commerce company in Taiwan. Through this research found Taiwan¡¦s e-commerce companies are gradually expand from a small niche market to mass market, in addition, " cheap is not the most important, but to provide free activities for consumers that feeling add value. "

With the coming of digital times, global competition resulted in every industry expanding their requirements in supply chain integration and enterprise resource planning. The importance of information system integration industries also increases with time. When all kind of industries continues to integrate supply chain and establish cooperative partnerships, trying to exploit cooperation to acquire more competencies in the market, we want to know whether the information system integration industries establish their cooperative relationship. Therefore, our study tried to review the actives and relationship between integrators by the systems integration service process. Through the theory¡¦s guiding, we attend to induce the factors of inter-firm cooperation in system integration industries. We use multiple case study to design our research¡Aand select three cases to study. Semi-structural interview is used to collect needed data to understand the true cooperative relationship between integrators. According to transaction cost theory, resource-base theory and social exchange theory, we propose some theoretical propositions to guiding the real cases analysis. The conclusions not only describe the real cooperation in Taiwan system integration industries, but also induce several factors of cooperative relationship between integrators, including product characteristics, transaction cost, resource, trust and guanxi. Moreover, the transaction cost is the most important element in the cooperative relationship between information system integrators.

Abstract By taking the advantages of the Internet technology, the online bookstores developed personalized services, such as providing information for making transaction decision which lowers the consuming cost, fastens the customer loyalty, and creates competitiveness. The purpose of setting up the service mechanism is to win back the consumer. Therefore, understood the customer¡¦s usage intention on the personalized services would benefit the online bookstores to build up their personalized service mechanism and to improve the practical values of the personalized services. ¡@¡@Utilizing Transaction Cost Theory as the extended viewpoint of Technology Acceptance Model, this thesis not only analyzed if the online bookstore¡¦s personalized services impact the consumer¡¦s transactional cost, but also investigated if the benefits arisen from the personalized services vary by other factors. By means of the analysis of the transaction cost and the investigation of the consumer¡¦s useful recognition, the usage intention of the online bookstore¡¦s personalized services can be reasoned out. In this thesis, the acceptability of the online bookstore¡¦s personalized services is realized, the possible factors that could affect the consumer¡¦s usage intention are discussed. The major findings are: the benefits of transaction cost arisen from personalized services were affected by the transactional frequency. More transactional activities, more benefits arisen from the personalized services were observed. Consumers believe that the personalized services provided by online bookstores can lower their transactional cost while their subjectiveness and need are being cared. In addition, different levels of consumer¡¦s useful recognition were obtained while the personal feelings or realizations vary with the contents of the personalized services. According to the findings, the online bookstore¡¦s personalized services are highly recognizable by consumers, especially at the fields of ¡§Purchase & Process Feedback Service¡¨ (PPFS) and ¡§One-by-one Customer Service¡¨ (OCS). The useful recognition for ¡§E-papers Service¡¨ is also sound but relatively lower than that of the others. Referring to the Technology Acceptance Model, the findings show that consumers are highly intentioned to use the online bookstore¡¦s personalized services.

The aim of this study is to discuss the query: ¡§When organizations apply different human resource (HR) systems in managing their employees with different characteristics, what will be the employees¡¦ possible performance patterns?¡¨ by modifying and extending Lepak & Snell¡¦s (1999) HR architecture. According to employees¡¦ contribution to the sustained competitive advantages (SCAs), we first identified two main characteristics of employees: complexity and uniqueness. The employees could be further categorized into core, unique, complex, and imitable HR and the HR architecture is thereby constructed. Furthermore, based on agency theory and transactional cost theory, we propose behavioral control and internal development as the two main strategies for managing employees with different characteristics: integration with HR architecture, and construction of human resource management (HRM) architecture. Finally, there are exchange relationships between employees and their organizations. Since psychological contracts reflect employees¡¦ beliefs in the terms and conditions of a reciprocal exchange relationship between them and their employers (Rousseau, 1995), they are viewed as the best linking mechanism between HR systems and employee behaviors (Wright & Boswell, 2002). Accordingly, we adopted psychological contract perspective to discuss the relationships between HR systems and employees¡¦ role behaviors and sequentially proposed the corresponding psychological contract architecture as well as the performance architecture. Multilevel analysis and t-test of data from 172 Taiwanese datasets (172 copies from immediate managers and 806 from employees) revealed that different HR systems not only are applied to manage different types of employees but also elicit different patterns of employees¡¦ performance. First, organizations would like to apply higher levels of internal development and lower levels of behavioral control in managing their core HR. These strategies caused employees to believe that they had a long-term exchange relationship with the organizations and simultaneously improve their in-role behaviors, OCBI, and OCBO. In contrast, organizations would like to apply lower levels of internal development and higher levels of behavioral control in managing their imitable HR. This governance made employees focus on specific performance-reward contingencies in their exchange relationships with the organizations, as well as to enhance their in-role behaviors. Next, organizations would like to apply higher levels of internal development and behavioral control in managing their unique HR. These strategies caused employees to believe that they had a long-term exchange relationship with the organizations, with an emphasis on specific performance-reward contingencies. For this reason, this HR system could prompt employees¡¦ appropriate in-role behaviors and OCBO. Finally, according to the HRM architecture, an organization should theoretically apply a lower level of internal development and behavioral control in managing its complex HR. Since it is not possible to form employees¡¦ psychological contract or create relevant role behaviors when organizations do not actively adopt specific strategies to manage them, we did not empirically examine the relationships between HR systems and employees¡¦ complex role behaviors. However, complex HR still contributes to the SCAs. Accordingly, future research could focus on complex HR and explore which types of HR system would be beneficial in regard to their role behaviors.

This dissertation examines the forces that drive organizational structure and boundary decisions. Using theoretical concepts drawn from transaction cost theory and agency theory, this dissertation develops a model that draws attention to behavioral and outcome distinctions in information flow. Specifically it examines how characteristics of these different types of management information alter the organizational design outcomes predicted by the two theory bases above. The foundational arguments regarding firm boundaries and structure are based on the two contracting modes of agency theory, behavioral and outcome. The construct of information localization (IL), defined as theneed to use information within its immediate context (or conversely, the difficulty of transferring and utilizing information outside of its immediate context), is introduced and used to predict organizational design decisions. This construct represents a synthesis of prior conceptions of information characteristics and is used both to capture salient characteristics of management information and to facilitate an examination of the impacts of different information technology (IT) applications. The relationship between information localization and firm boundaries and structure is tested at the task level. The relationship of information technology with boundary and structure decisions is explained using the model and tested concurrently with the test of the information localization hypotheses. A comprehensive model is proposed and propositions to guide future research are developed. The distinction between outcome and behavioral information localization allows a more nuanced assessment of the impacts of information and information technology on the organization of work. The empirical results suggest that the impact of IT on outcome information localization is negligible for tasks with low outcome IL but increases the likelihood of outsourcing for tasks with high outcome IL. Contrary to prior findings utilizing different conceptualizations of information flow, the impact of technology on behavioral IL on autonomy showed that applications of IT may increase autonomy (decentralization of decision-making) rather than decrease it. / text

Cloud computing is becoming a viable option for Chief Information Officers (CIO’s) and business stakeholders to consider in today’s information technology (IT) environment, characterized by shrinking budgets and dynamic changes in the technology landscape. The objective of this study is to help Federal Government decision makers appropriately decide on the suitability of applications for migration to cloud computing. I draw from four theoretical perspectives: transaction cost theory, resource-based theory, agency theory and dynamic capabilities theory and use a conjoint analysis approach to understand stakeholder attitudes, opinions and behaviors in their decision to migrate applications to cloud computing. Based on a survey of 81 government cloud computing stakeholders, this research examined the relative importance of thirteen factors that organizations consider when migrating applications to cloud computing. Our results suggest that trust in the cloud computing vendor is the most significant factor, followed by the relative cost advantage, sensing capabilities and application complexity. A total of twelve follow-up interviews were conducted to provide explanation of our results. The contributions of the dissertation are twofold: 1) it provides novel insights into the relative importance of factors that influence government organizations’ decision to migrate applications to cloud computing, and 2) it assists senior government decision makers to appropriately weigh and prioritize the factors that are critical in application migration to cloud computing.

Huruvida ett företag gynnas av att börsnotera sig är många gånger en fråga som är svår att svara på. Det finns fördelar såväl som nackdelar med att gå från att vara ett privatägt till ett publikt bolag noterat på den svenska aktiemarknaden. Företagets bransch, finansiella ställning, framtida mål och övriga förutsättningar har alla en inverkan på ett eventuellt beslut att genomföra en börsnotering. Det finns studier som framhäver fördelarna med att vara börsnoterad. Främsta motivet är ofta att få förbättrad tillgång till kapital - både i form av bättre tillgång till krediter och lån, men också en utökad möjlighet för företaget att även efter noteringen resa nytt kapital via till exempel nyemissioner. Samtidigt så säger Pecking order theory (Majluf &amp; Myers, 1984) att ett företag endast som sista utväg bör sälja av aktier för att finansiera verksamheten. Pecking order theory anser att en börsnotering är ett sub-optimalt val om syftet med noteringen är att lösa företagets finansiering. Agency cost theory (Fama &amp; Jensen, 1983, s. 304-307) är en annan teori som antyder att effektiviteten i styrningen av ett företag kan minska efter en börsnotering. Detta beror på att styrningen och ägandet blir mer separerad och att ledningen efter en börsnotering därför ofta har mindre incitament att agera i aktieägarnas bästa intresse. Studien har utgått från studier som visar på fördelar/nackdelar och motiv med börsnoteringar samt Pecking order theory och Agency cost theory som båda antyder att en börsnotering inte är ett bra val utan istället riskerar att försämra företagets finansiella prestation. Syftet med studien är att granska den effekt en börsnotering har på den finansiella prestationen för företag på den svenska aktiemarknaden. I den aktuella studien förklaras den finansiella prestationen av fyra nyckeltal, där dessa är omsättningstillväxt, vinsttillväxt, avkastning på eget kapital och avkastning på totalt kapital. En granskning av 103 bolag som noterades på den svenska aktiemarknaden under perioden 2008 till 2013 genomfördes. Sammanställning av finansiella data från företagen i kombination med uträkning av finansiella nyckeltal samt användande av statistiska tester gjorde att studiens syfte kunde uppfyllas. Resultatet visade att omsättningstillväxt, med en signifikansnivå på 5 %, uppvisade en svagare utveckling efter en börsnotering jämfört med innan. Enbart 6 av de 24 statistiska testerna som genomförts blev signifikanta, vilket medförde att det inte gick att fastställa att en börsnotering leder till en förändring av ett företags finansiella prestation. De icke- signifikanta testerna indikerade dock även dem att den finansiella prestationen blev sämre efter noteringen, då en majoritet av företagen i urvalet uppvisade sämre värden på de finansiella nyckeltalen efter börsnoteringen. Dock kan inga slutsatser angående målpopulationen som helhet dras från de testerna.