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Background:  The increment of global population flows has challenged businesses to harness the potential of a culturally diverse environment. Nonetheless, previous studies on the effect of cultural diversity on teams has been equivocal, specifically when it is related to a firm’s innovation process. Mostly, these said studies have been focusing on cultural diversity as an input and innovation performance as an output. This means, understanding the mechanisms under which cultural diversity affects team performance has yet to be established. There is however a consensus among scholars that cultural diversity can act as a “double-edged sword” as it can be a source of friction and conflict, but also synergy and learning.  Purpose:  The purpose of this study is to explore multicultural team dynamics involved in the new product development process and determine if and how cultural diversity affects the innovation process, particularly, in a global knowledge-intensive firm. Our study aims to contribute to a deeper understanding of how cultural differences drive specific team processes, and thereby, offer both practitioners and scholars important insights.  Method:  We made use of a qualitative research approach with an exploratory design and a single holistic case study of a Swedish-based global, knowledge-intensive company. By conducting semi-structured interviews with members of multicultural NPD teams and one HR representative, we gained an understanding of different views and experiences that shape the team dynamics, which ultimately influences the innovation process.  Conclusion:  The results of this study suggest that cultural diversity does not directly impact the innovation process, but rather the effect is influenced by certain contextual factors and materializes through specific team outcomes. These outcomes could positively or negatively impact the innovation process.

The term mergers and acquisitions (M&A) is a collective name for a certain type of financial transaction, in which two organizations become a single entity (Rosenthal 2002, Seo & Hill 2005, Silhan 1994). In the post-M&A transaction process, the phase of integrating the organizations together emerges. These strategies can either be to absorb the acquiring organizations into the acquirer's entity or let the acquiring organizations stay fully preserved as stand-alone organizations. Another integration strategy includes transforming both organizations, where both parties adapt to each other (Marks & Mirvis 2010).  Despite the vast number of resources poured into the field, M&A transactions still have a high faliure rate (Homburg & Bucerius 2006, Marks 2001, Saunders et al. 2009). A failed M&A transaction does not only result in the loss of financial capital for the involved organizations but could also lead to people losing their jobs and potential environmental consequences. Because of this organizations become less efficient and therefore must spread their resources on activities that do not yield a positive result (Marks & Mirvis 2010, Schweiger & Goulet 2005). With Boateng & Lodorfos (2006) uncovering how “culture plays a key role in theintegration process and consequently the overall success of M\&As" and Hofstede (2001)claims that organizational culture are possible to manipulate. With these key statements,the purpose of this study is to investigate organizational culture and its role in theintegration process. The following research questions were created: 1.How do managers from different organizational cultures perceive the same integrationstrategy into a knowledge-centered organization? 2.How can an acquiring organization work with different organizational cultures during anintegration? In the thesis, we studied multiple organizations, the "umbrella organization" whichspecializes in conducting M&A transactions as a strategy for growth, and some of the organizations they have acquired and are undergoing integration into the umbrella organization. The thesis was conducted with a mixed method with a survey inspiredmostly by Schweiger & Goulet (2005) and Hofstede (2001) combined with semi-structured interviews to enable us to examine certain integration factors and cultural dimensions thatwe used in order to find correlations between them. In combination with this, we investigated how all the organizations perceived the integration to transpire based on theintegration framework by Marks & Mirvis (2010) and if organizational culture played a rolein how an organization should customize these strategies. Our findings suggest that having employees within certain cultures can affect the perception of how one sees the integration strategy, indicating that the umbrella organization and the acquired organizations are not aligned in their perception of the integration strategies. In order to enhance the effectiveness and potential success of integration we propose that it could be beneficial to customize the integration approach and strategy depending on each individual M&A transaction. Limitations of this study can be connected to the quantitative method since the results are restricted to a small sample size from one case organization as well as only investigating the correlation and not the causality between variables. / Termen mergers and acquisitions (M&A) är ett samlingsnamn för en viss typ av finansiell transaktion, där två organisationer går ihop och blir en enda enhet (Rosenthal 2002, Seo & Hill 2005, Silhan 1994). I processen efter M&A transaktioner uppstår fasen med att integrera organisationerna tillsammans. Dessa strategier kan antingen vara att absorbera de förvärvande organisationerna i förvärvarensenhet eller låta de förvärvande organisationerna förbli helt bevarade som fristående organisationer. En annan integrationsstrategi inkluderar att transformera båda organisationerna, där båda parter anpassar sig till varandra (Marks & Mirvis 2010). Trots den stora mängd resurser som läggs på att studera M&A transaktioner har de fortfarande en hög misslyckande grad (Homburg & Bucerius 2006, Marks 2001, Saunders et al.2009). En misslyckad M&A transaktion leder inte bara till förlust av finansiellt kapital för de inblandade organisationerna utan kan också leda till att människor förlorar sina jobb och potentiella konsekvenser för hållbarhet. På grund av detta blir organisationer mindre effektiva och måste därför sprida sina resurser på aktiviteter som inte ger ett positivt resultat (Marks & Mirvis 2010, Schweiger & Goulet 2005). Boateng & Lodorfos (2006) avslöjade hur "kultur spelar en nyckelroll i integrationsprocessen och följaktligen den övergripande framgången för M&As" och Hofstede (2001) hävdar att organisationskulturen är möjlig att manipulera. Med dessa nyckelpåståenden är syftet med denna studie att undersöka organisationskultur och dess roll i integrationsprocessen. Följande forskningsfrågor skapades: 1.Hur uppfattar chefer från olika organisationskulturer samma integrationsstrategi in i en kunskapscentrerad organisation? 2.Hur kan en förvärvande organisation arbeta med olika organisationskulturer under en integration? I avhandlingen studerade vi flera organisationer. Den förvärvande organisationen, "paraplyorganisationen", är specialiserad på att genomföra M&A transaktioner som en strategi för tillväxt. Examensarbetet har genomförts med en blandad metod genom en undersökning inspirerad till mestadels av Schweiger & Goulet (2005) och Hofstede (2001) kombinerat med semistrukturerade intervjuer. Detta för att vi ska kunna undersöka vissa integrationsfaktorer och kulturella dimensioner som vi använt för att hitta samband mellan dem. I kombination med detta undersökte vi hur alla organisationer uppfattade att integrationen skett baserat på integrationsramverket av Marks & Mirvis (2010) och om organisationskulturen spelade en roll i detta, samt hur paraplyorganisationen skulle kunna anpassa dessa strategier beroende på organisationernas olika kulturer. Våra resultat tyder på att olika kulturer uppfattar integrationen på olika sätt trots att den ska vara densamma. Detta indikerar att paraplyorganisationen och de förvärvade organisationerna inte är samordnade i sin uppfattning om integrationsstrategierna. För att förbättra integrationens effektivitet och potentiella framgång föreslår vi att det kan vara fördelaktigt att anpassa integrationsstrategin beroende på varje enskild M&A-transaktion. Begränsningar av denna studie kan kopplas till den kvantitativa metoden eftersom resultaten är begränsade till en liten urvalsstorlek från en fallorganisation samt endast undersöker korrelationen och inte kausaliteten mellan variabler.

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This cumulative dissertation covers three studies on the research subject of Cross-Cultural-Negotiations. The first study provides a systematic literature review of the research field. It categorizes and synthesizes the literature based on the cultural dimensions used in negotiation research and sorts it along the four negotiation stages of Adair and Brett (2005). It shows controversial findings, research gaps, highlights potential impasses in methodological approaches, and provides recommendations for future research. The second study investigates the potential cultural influence on First Offer anchors in negotiations. No support for a direct cultural influence could be found. Instead, the participants' age and concerns that the opposite may take advantage of a too low First Offer has been found to influence First Offers. Additionally, the latter finding shows significant differences across cultures. The third study investigates whether the implicitly understood universality of ‘Getting to yes’ (Fisher, Ury, and Patton 2012) holds in a Cross-Cultural-Context. The study finds that the implicitly understood universality of principled negotiations is not supported by findings in Cross-Cultural-Negotiation research. Instead, a dichotomic applicability of the authors’ advice of ‘Getting to yes’ along the bipolar cultural construct of Hofstede’s Individuality dimension was found. This dissertation underlines that culture has a high impact on negotiations. It provides research, practice, and teaching additional knowledge to address and deal with the phenomenon of culture in Cross-Border-Negotiations.

Bakgrund: CSR-redovisning skiljer sig åt mellan olika länder. Tidigare studier har funnit tvetydiga resultat huruvida kultur är en bidragande faktor till detta. Få studier har dock inkluderat ett jämställdhetsperspektiv i dessa typer av analyser. Syfte: Syftet med studien är att jämföra och förklara hur kultur och jämställdhet påverkar CSR-redovisningen i olika länder. Metod: Studien har använt en kvantitativ forskningsmetod och en deduktiv ansats. Datan består av sekundärdata från börsnoterade företag i Sverige, Norge, Kina, Indien, Tyskland och USA. Resultat: Resultatet tyder på att kulturen i landet påverkar hur företag CSRredovisar. Däremot kan vissa kulturdimensioner påverka CSRredovisningen mer än andra. Dessutom indikerar resultatet att ett lands grad av jämställdhet kan påverka CSR-redovisningen. Kunskapsbidrag: Genom att analysera vad kultur och jämställdhet har för effekt på CSR-redovisning, belyser denna studie vikten av att beakta dessa faktorer. Studien bidrar genom detta till befintlig forskning kring kultur, jämställdhet och CSR-redovisning.

This thesis explores the strategic considerations for the international expansion of family-owned professional development companies in Central European markets, specifically Germany, Poland, Austria, and Slovakia. The study integrates multiple theoretical perspectives such as the Resource-Based View of the firm, Eclectic Paradigm, Institutional Theory, and Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions Theory with empirical data on the markets in question to identify the most relevant factors that aid in the location choice decision-making. Multi-criteria decision Analysis was used in this research to assess various criteria such as market size, economic stability, cultural compatibility, competitors and revenue potential. Furthermore, regression analysis was carried out to test the optimal number of cultural dimensions to be included in the analysis. The results showed that Germany was the most attractive location followed by Austria, Poland, and Slovakia. Market size, economic stability, and cultural compatibility was found to be in alignment with the resource advantages strategies highlighted by the Resource Based View. The results provide a comprehensive framework for choosing the optimal criteria for country selection decisions for expansion which are robust and based on empirical market data and therefore should aid family-owned professional development companies to successfully expand into highly competitive international markets.

The culture demonstrates itself in the shared values, attitudes, beliefs, norms and behaviours of people and it is distinguished from each other by differences in those shared meanings of people interacting. As culture is varied across countries, leadership styles are also varied across countries and are not exercised in the same way across different cultures. They are imported in accordance with the cultural environment in which they are perceived. Therefore, understanding the culture is significant in order to explain preferences of leaders concerning leadership styles. The main purpose of the present dissertation is to provide an overview of the relationship between Turkish culture and the way in which leadership is exercised by Turkish female leaders. The present study is completed in three steps in order to demonstrate that the existing relationship between the Turkish culture and leadership styles of female leaders in Turkey. In the first step, the study examined what culture is, what dimensions of the national culture are, what leadership is and how leadership styles are culturally-linked. In the second step, the paper investigated how female leaders perceive and exercise different leadership styles across different cultures. In the third step, the study researched what cornerstones of Turkish culture and how anticipated leadership styles of Turkish female leaders are shaped by Turkish culture.     The study followed a qualitative research approach based on the grounded theory. Ten female leaders coming from different backgrounds were interviewed in order to draw a holistic picture of the relationship between Turkish cultural values and leadership styles of Turkish female leaders. The findings of the study indicate that the Turkish culture has an influence on leadership styles of Turkish female leaders. According to the results, while Islamic values have no significant impact on leadership behaviours of female leaders, such cultural attributes as collectivism, high power distance, uncertainty avoidance and paternalism have a huge impact on leadership styles of Turkish female leaders.       The research examined only leadership styles of Turkish female leaders. Therefore, this study recommends a future research which will investigate leadership styles of Turkish males in order to understand whether gender has also an effect on leadership styles of Turkish leaders.

A Política Nacional de Humanização (PNH) basicamente direciona quanto à relação e aos processos de atenção ao usuário. A eficiência da PNH depende da forma como a instituição está estruturada, de quais são seus valores, hierarquias, objetivos, ou seja, da cultura da organização, a qual pode ser considerada conforme as dimensões culturais de Hofstede. Assim, foram elaborados pressupostos que relacionavam as diretrizes da PNH com as características das dimensões culturais de Hofstede, inferindo-se que houvesse: baixa distância ao poder; baixa aversão à incerteza; coletivismo; orientação a longo prazo; feminilidade; e indulgência. Desse modo, para validar essa inferência, primeiramente, caracterizou-se a cultura organizacional de um hospital universitário quanto às dimensões culturais de Hofstede, por meio de dados secundários, aplicação do questionário de Hofstede e de questionário de apoio, com questões abertas, elaborado pelo autor e aplicado para os níveis hierárquicos da gerência e da divisão do hospital. Assim, identificou-se, conforme percepções das gerências, que as dimensões culturais de Hofstede da unidade eram: baixa distância ao poder; baixa aversão à incerteza; coletivismo; orientação a longo prazo; feminilidade; e indulgência. A convergência de resultados indicou a busca da instituição em seguir as diretrizes da PNH, e certa uniformidade cultural, devido, principalmente, ao momento da coleta de dados que foi na transição de gestão, diminuindo a influência de subculturas. Os resultados indicaram uma possibilidade de mensuração da implementação da PNH em uma instituição, a partir da identificação das características culturais de Hofstede, por meio do questionário padrão. No entanto, sugerem-se ajustes para verificar a replicabilidade do pressuposto deste trabalho, como a aplicação do questionário aos usuários e demais funcionários, o estudo em diversas instituições hospitalares e o emprego de outros modelos culturais. / The National Humanization Policy (NHP) basically addresses the relationship and processes of attention to the user. The efficiency of NHP depends on the way the institution is structured, what its values, hierarchies, objectives, namely, the culture of the organization, which can be considered according to the cultural dimensions of Hofstede. Thus, assumptions were made that related the guidelines of the NHP with the characteristics of the cultural dimensions of Hofstede, inferring that there was: low distance to power; low aversion to uncertainty; collectivism; long-term orientation; femininity and indulgence. Thus, to validate this inference, we first characterized the organizational culture of a university hospital regarding the cultural dimensions of Hofstede by means of secondary data, the application of the Hofstede questionnaire and a questionnaire of support, with open questions, elaborated by author and applied for the hierarchical levels of hospital management. Thus, it was identified, according to management\'s perceptions, that Hofstede\'s cultural dimensions of hospital unit were: low distance to power; low aversion to uncertainty; collectivism; long-term orientation; femininity and indulgence. The convergence of results indicated the institution\'s pursuit of the NHP guidelines and a cultural uniformity, due mainly to the moment of data collection that was in the management transition, reducing the influence of subcultures. The results showed a possibility of measuring the implementation of the NHP in an institution, from the identification of the cultural characteristics of Hofstede, through the standard questionnaire. However, adjustments are suggested to verify the replicability of the assumption of this work, such as the application of the questionnaire to users and other employees, a study in several hospital institutions and the handling of other cultural models.

In this study, the subject matter evaluated is the difference between the United States and Latin America concerning the practice and acceptance of servant leadership. This research compares the practice and the acceptance of servant leadership between the United States of America and Latin America. In order to do this, a cross-cultural comparison was conducted between these two groups. The objective was to find the differences in the leadership styles of these two groups and subsequently analyze the results. The Hofstede’s cultural dimensions were used to be able to compare cultural differences, and understand why these differences appear in the societies of the two groups studied. A survey was conducted in order to gather different feedback from individuals of the U.S. as well as from Latin America. The approach for this research started by analyzing the results of the survey and dividing it into the two cultural groups. The results were tested using a one tailed t-test for the mean difference of independent samples. This research provides information on how and why leadership styles differ between the two groups studied and what are the characteristics that people seek in leaders of these two groups when testing servant leadership between the U.S. and Latin American samples.