This thesis aims to understand the relative influence of institutional, cultural and organizational factors on the adjustment of the United Nations’ (UN) and multinational companies’ expatriates in Egypt. The research makes a contribution to the field of expatriate research through its application of the institutional lens in examining the factors impacting on adjustment; and through testing a traditional adjustment model in an under-researched host context. As a result of the research this thesis proposes a new framework for understanding the factors impacting on adjustment which adopts a contingency perspective and incorporates a stronger focus on institutional determinants and the organisational infrastructure supporting the management of expatriates. The study relies, for its theoretical basis, on certain cultural and organizational factors borrowed from the expatriate literature, in addition to introducing other factors (mainly institutional factors) which have not been previously examined in the literature as predictors of adjustment. The research questions the utility of these organizational, cultural and institutional factors, especially those from traditional models, when applied to relatively new national and organizational contexts, the Egyptian national context and the United Nations organizational context. Both contexts are under-researched areas in the expatriate adjustment literature and in the international human resources management literature in general. The Arab cultural context introduces many differences to the Anglo-Saxon and European context, more traditionally the subject of research studies and thus it provides an opportunity for testing the wider application of expatriate models. Equally the UN is a highly multicultural organisational context with a socio-political mission which is highly distinct from the ‘for profit’ based multinational. Thus both these contextual factors offer fertile ground for the further development of a framework for understanding expatriate adjustment during contemporary times. In addition, the novelty of the context brings to the fore the opportunity for examining the utility of institutional theory as an alternative or complement to cultural theory as a way of understanding the factors influencing expatriate adjustment. In terms of the method, the research relies mainly on quantitative data obtained by surveying expatriates in multinational and United Nations organizations working in Egypt. In addition a qualitative technique (interviews) was used to aid questionnaire development and data contextualization. The results highlight the role of institutional measures in explaining expatriate adjustment. The evidence suggests that the institutional variables provide additional explanatory power beyond that provided by traditional factors studies. However, the research also demonstrates that the institutional measures do not replace the cultural measures and therefore there is not a substitution factor at work. Rather, we would argue that the institutional lens provides additional understanding and is tapping into other factors not already captured through measures of culture. The research puts forward a contingency model incorporating additional organisational and institutional variables which are often overlooked or underemphasised in some of the traditional organisational focused models.

Title: “Starting to close the communication gap in technology transfer to the PRC” Level: Final assignment for Master Degree in Business Administration Author: Jiani Yang,  Zhouni Lin Supervisor: Ernst HOLLANDER Examiner:  Akmal HYDER Date: 2012-May Purpose — We have double purpose of promoting SME’s involvement in PRC’s development and technology transfer for sustainability in this research. From the double perspective of Chinese business economics and long run cooperation with Swedish enterprises, we investigate and analysis the main problems faced by SMEs when taking technology transfer to China.  By doing this to help SMEs to overcome the barriers during technology transfer and promote the international technology transfer cooperation in the long run, as well as appeal technology transfer agencies to adopt a holistic approach to help SMEs to plan and implement technology transfer projects effectively and sustainably. Design/methodology/approach — We use the technology transfer project in China’s sewage market as our research case to illustrate our research problems. The discussion is based on the existing literatures regarding technology transfer, former researches and authentic cases about technology transfer to China, and interviews with relevant people. Findings — The findings indicates there is huge potential business opportunities in China’s sewage treatment market. Information transparency plays a critical role to foster the cooperation between transferor and transfers, as well as promoting SME’s involvement in China. Get directly to the leader taking the decisions is one effective way to get access to China’s market in short term. Communication gap becomes one of the main concerns for SMEs when taking technology transfer to China. In mid-term, organize workshop, get to learn with the local employee, promote the understanding between each other; get to the person who is capable to understand the technology and its effect is necessary; For the long run cooperation, technology transfer process transparency needs to be improved. Originality/value — This paper is of value through draw out the fact of common problems of taking technology transfer to China’s sewage market and analysis the reason. Transparency problem during the technology transfer process is drawn and analyzed.  Key points for accessing China’s market by SMEs are produced.

本文研究的是公司的所有權結構對於合併關係的影響，衡量是否在雙方銀行持股結構差異較大時，雙方合併的綜效或風險會因此而增加。本研究的另一項重點，在於試圖對一些在股權結構上的傳統認知提出挑戰。我們往往認為政府持股比率越高時，企業整體的營運會趨於無效率化；而當法人或金融機構持股比率較高時，這些公司較能夠用公正的立場來監督董事會或是企業經營的成果；而家族持股比率部分，說法則正反不一。本部分研究與其他類似研究的最大不同點，是挑選了台灣近年蓬勃發展的銀行業，希望能在此高度受到管制的行業當中，找出證據證明或是反駁上述的刻板印象。 經過研究與分析之後我們發現，家族以及政府機關持股比率對銀行的發展存在不良影響，然而我們卻缺乏顯著證據證明金融機構持股比率將有利於銀行合併。最後，在本研究中代表部分文化差異的持股結構差異變數，對於銀行在合併前後的提列呆帳準備、稅前淨利以及營運成本有顯著的不良影響，符合本研究的基本假設。 / This paper is to examine the relationship between corporate ownership structure and mergers & acquisitions, and to comprehend whether the “Ownership Distance” will affect the synergy or the risk during corporate mergers & acquisitions. Moreover, we study the conventional wisdom of relationship between ownership structure and corporate governance. Traditionally, we are usually accepted the idea that government controlling companies will result in operating inefficiency, and institutional shareholders are more impartial auditors. First, our results in sample of Taiwan banking industry indicate that the family and government shareholders are harmful to corporate governance, and the result of financial institutional shareholders is uncertain. Second, we find evidence that the “Ownership Distance” which roughly describes culture distance between merger companies will have a negative impact on several income statement components such as “provisions”, “earning before tax”, and “overhead cost”. The result is cohered with our hypothesis.