It is well accepted in business practice that there are advantages for individuals and organisations in utilising their relationship networks for the purposes of personal and business advancement. Furthermore, the need for firms to develop the ability to innovate products, processes and positions to remain competitive is welldocumented. The purpose of this research was to make an academic contribution to the body of knowledge of the relationship between networking and innovation in firms operating in emerging economies.The research drew on the previous understanding of theories of business networks and innovation, and in some respects drew from relevant empirical studies from emerging economies. The literature review identified key concepts and business network descriptors to be used in the data analysis.Secondary data (using survey methodology) from the European Union INGINEUS project [No 225368] was used for this analysis. Using 720 responses, the data was analysed to investigate possible associations between each set of business network descriptors and innovation. This analysis was then expanded to build a regression model, revealing empirical evidence of significant relationships between some of the sub-variables for Country, Company structure, Collaboration type and Linkage type with Level of innovation. From this, key recommendations could be inferred for policymakers, business managers and entrepreneurs. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

The world is globalizing and so are the businesses within. Today a more integrated global economy increases the usage of foreign direct investments to a larger extent than ever before. In recent decades a shift of the perception of foreign direct investments has occurred from being something negative and disadvantageous for the host market to a more positive and advantageous opportunity for emerging markets. Historically, foreign direct investments were seen as capital movement between developed countries to increase market shares, nowadays, foreign direct investments are more focused on emerging markets to manufacture products at a lower cost and exploit the natural resources. The real effects and implications of foreign direct investments for the host country are a contested topic within the research field. Both positive and negative effects can be found in previous research. In this thesis, the focus is on understanding the effects that foreign direct investment has on emerging markets. This is conducted by analyzing relevant statistical data for a 10-year period and compare the findings against the perception of this phenomenon in previous research. The outcome of this study shows both positive and negative effects derived from FDI can be found by analyzing the collected data. The real effects of foreign direct investments are limited since several factors could be a key driver behind the changes of the measured effects. Nonetheless, in some analyzed changes there is a possibility to see patterns that correlate with inward foreign direct investments.

During the last decades, the circular economy has enabled a new kind of business model that is challenging the traditional linear way of doing business. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate how an international social enterprise work towards a circular business model, as well as the challenges and opportunities that comes with operating in an emerging market. Previous research on the subject is limited which leaves a research gap in existing literature. Indonesia is an emerging country that is struggling with a weak recycling infrastructure and   lack of waste management, which has resulted in an ocean plastic pollution problem.   In the theoretical framework, relevant aspects of the circular economy, social enterprises and opportunities and challenges with operating in an emerging market are presented. A conceptual framework concludes the literature review by illustrating how the concepts ties together. In order to answer the research questions, a qualitative research method has been followed throughout this single case study, combined with an abductive approach. The data has been collected through semi-structured interviews presented together with secondary data, in order to get a deeper understanding of the case. By examining an international social enterprise with operations in an emerging market, findings on what opportunities and challenges this social enterprise encounter in Indonesia are presented together with how they work towards a circular business model. This study indicates that the international social enterprise challenges the linear way of doing business and can be set as an example for other companies that has a social mission and wants to do business in a sustainable way.   The analysis discusses the relation between the theoretical concepts and the empirical findings, together with observations from the authors. The analysis is followed by the concluding chapter where the contributions are stated, and the research questions are answered, followed by implications, limitations and suggestions for future research. The findings showed that international social enterprises can find opportunities in infrastructure- and institutional gaps in emerging markets. In addition, the findings indicate that a strong social mission can reduce the challenges of operating in an emerging market. The findings have contributed to introducing the social enterprise phenomenon into the international business research field, as well as international social enterprises operating in emerging markets. The authors also provide their definition of the concept ‘social enterprise’.

[pt] Este estudo tem como objetivo analisar a relação entre remuneração de administradores e a adoção de boas práticas de governança corporativa nas empresas brasileiras de capital aberto. Este não é um tema novo e, particularmente nos últimos anos, tem crescido a quantidade de pesquisas abordando este assunto no Brasil. Porém, o número de trabalhos no país ainda é reduzido, em função da menor disponibilidade de informações e do menor tamanho do nosso mercado em comparação ao norte-americano. Esse estudo traz uma grande contribuição ao tema, por ser o primeiro a considerar a mais ampla base de dados (em relação ao número de empresas e ao período) pública disponível sobre remuneração de executivos em empresas brasileiras de capital aberto. Os resultados indicam que, controlando por diversas características da firma e considerando a governança corporativa de uma maneira agregada, empresas com boas práticas de governança corporativa tendem a pagar remunerações mais elevadas a seus executivos, o que pode parecer contraditório, em vista a literatura internacional e nacional sobre o tema. Entretanto, ao considerar a governança corporativa de forma mais ampla, foi encontrado que as dimensões de transparência e estrutura de controle possuem relação positiva com remuneração de executivos, ao passo que as dimensões conselho de administração e direitos dos acionistas possuem uma relação negativa. / [en] This study analyses the relation between executive remuneration and corporate governance in Brazilian listed firms. This topic is not new and the number of papers on this subject has been increasing over time. However, the literature on executive remuneration is not vast in Brazil when compared to the international market, because data is not easily available. This work contributes to the literature by building and analyzing the largest dataset (regarding the number of companies and years) on executive remuneration of Brazilian listed companies. Our results indicate that, after controlling for firm characteristics and considering corporate governance as an aggregate variable, companies with better governance pay a higher remuneration to their executives, both in absolute and relative terms. This result seems contrary to the international literature. However, when governance is analyzed more broadly, we find that disclosure and ownership structure are positively related with executive remuneration, while board practices and shareholder rights have a negative relation with remuneration.

In the past decade, the financial industry has been criticized to lack a faster digital transformation to provide more efficient services, where FinTech (a neologism generated from the contraction of “(Fin)ancial” and “(Tech)nology”) start-ups or fintechs represent a paradigm shift to reinvent the industry. FinTech is gaining attention in multiple academic disciplines, however, it was found that it has been neglected from the international business discipline to understand the internationalization process of fintechs. Furthermore, as the financial industry is an important cornerstone to foster economic growth and social welfare, particularly in the context of Latin American emerging countries, lack of studies in this context also motivated the development of this thesis. The purpose of this study is to accommodate FinTech in the international business discipline drawing from network theory and born-digital firms’ characteristics, emphasizing on core activities within the digital value chain to analyze the internationalization process and identify the main challenges. A conceptual framework was developed to analyze the internationalization process of Ecuadorian fintechs and the challenges faced. The research has a qualitative approach, employing multiple case studies strategy, where semi-structured interviews with founders and senior managers of four Ecuadorian fintechs were conducted. Empirical findings showed that despite having a high digital value chain and take advantage of internet technologies to internationalize faster, Ecuadorian fintechs followed a gradual regional expansion within Latin American countries and their internationalization process was mostly network-driven. Furthermore, besides the most prominent internationalization challenges such as liabilities of outsidership (LoO) and institutional regulations, additional resource-related internationalization challenges were found such as funding, skilled IT talents and innovation, which raise the importance to emphasize in such challenges for further research.

A shift in economic power from the developed world to emerging markets has seen the BRICS countries becoming the new growth centre of the world. In 2010, half of the total global foreign direct investment (FDI) flows went to emerging economies. A large portion of these FDI flows goes to the manufacturing industry with a quarter of the global GDP being generated by the production processes of multinational manufacturing enterprises (MMEs). The challenge for the BRICS countries will be to sustain their trend in FDI inflow. Previous studies on this topic focused on the determinants of FDI at country level as opposed to an industry specific focus. The outcome of this study assists MMEs in their entering decisions and policy makers in developing policies that create an enabling environment that will attract foreign capital.This research analyses the BRICS countries as potential destinations for FDI in the manufacturing industry. The analyses followed a three phased approach. The first phase identified the potential determinants of FDI to the manufacturing industry of the BRICS countries. The second phase either validated or disproved investor perceptions about the factors that would impact on the performance of an investment. In the third and final phase of the analysis, the competitiveness of the BRICS countries in attracting FDI to the manufacturing industry was assessed.The analysis of the three hypotheses contributed to the overarching theme of evaluating the BRICS countries as potential destinations for MMEs. The outcome of the analysis highlights that countries are unique and that investor perceptions about a country’s conditions and how this will impact on the performance of an investment are not always valid. In the overall analysis of the BRICS countries as potential destinations for FDI, the majority of the BRICS countries, with the exception of South Africa, are found to be competitive destinations for attracting FDI to the manufacturing industry. On the basis of the outcome of the analysis and the methodology followed in this study, a general model that can be used in future FDI research is suggested. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

Vale, a Brazilian-based, multinational mining company is used as a case study to investigate the impact of institutions on company strategy in dynamic markets. The research focuses on Vale’s exploration and development of the coal deposits of Mozambique, a country in which the institutional environment was decimated by war between 1964 and 1992.The objective of the research is to investigate how using the theory of institutions, as articulated in international business and corporate strategy literature, could be useful in understanding how firms make strategic choices and seek to gain competitive advantage in dynamic markets. In addition, the research provides a case study based in an African market, which will add to the material available for teaching general management principles in dynamic markets.The research demonstrates the importance of the link between Brazil’s foreign policy between 2000 and 2010, and Vale’s expansion strategies in Africa at that time. It highlights the institutional deficiencies in Mozambique at the time of Vale’s entrance, such as the limited rail infrastructure and weakly developed mineral rights legislation; and shows how Vale has been able to turn these deficiencies into competitive advantage, and has developed a dominant position in an internationally significant coalfield.In this way, the research supports the “institutional-view” of strategy, as articulated by Peng, Wang and Jiang (2008) and positions the role of institutions as being at least as important as industry and company resource factors in determining company strategy in dynamic markets.The challenge presented to readers of the case is to describe the institutional landscape in Mozambique and assess Vale’s response to it, using Khanna, Palepu and Sinha’s (2005) framework; to assess the merit of Peng et al.’s (2008) “strategy-tripod” when considering dynamic market strategy; and to consider the economic, political and social context facing Vale in trying to maintain and grow their competitive position. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

According to Saville (1993), the economic growth of less developed countries is impeded due to the presence of four “gaps” in these economies. However, Saville (1993), states that, by filling these gaps, developing economies are able to achieve economic growth and development. The main objective of this research is to update the study of Saville (1993) in order to determine the impact of the multinational corporation on the host economy in reference to the drivers of exogenous and endogenous growth in contribution to filling these gaps.This is a quantitative study which makes use of secondary data obtained from JSE listed firms operating in the mining sector in South Africa. Statistical regression analysis was conducted and results are compared to the previous Saville (1993) study.In summary, the results of the study are mixed however in terms of informing government policy, this study confirms the importance of FDI in emerging markets. The caveat however, firstly, is to inform policy to attract the right kinds of FDI to contribute to filling specific gaps in to achieve the required economic growth. Secondly, policy should require collaboration between MNC’s, private firms as well as public sector firms in order to share knowledge and profits in having a positive effect on social welfare and economic growth in the domestic economy. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

This thesis examines reactions of German manufacturing firms to emerging market competitors while operating in the institutional conditions of the Russian market. Although the literature on internationalization of emerging market firms is rapidly growing, research in the Russian institutional context remains scarce. At the same time, rivals from emerging economies already hold strong positions in this major market, especially in the mature manufacturing industries. Against this background, the theoretical framework of this dissertation stems from theories of industrial organization, strategic management, marketing, and international business. To address the novelty and complexity of this inquiry, the thesis adopts interpretivism paradigm, primary inductive logic, and qualitative research strategy. The study was conducted in two stages among 34 managers representing 28 German automotive and mobile machinery suppliers operating in Russia. The process of data collection and analysis was enhanced by combining key procedures of the grounded theory with several other common qualitative techniques. The analysis showed that despite hostile activities of emerging market firms, the German managers primarily focused on competition with rivals from other developed countries. The emerging market competitors were perceived as benefiting from cost-leadership strategy and local market proximity. Consequently, the managers frequently ignored their activities and considered that their firms were protected from competition by several entry barriers. Those companies, which responded to these competitors, mainly combined strategies of differentiation, localization, retreat, and a narrow set of tactical retaliations. This study also determined the direct and mostly deteriorative influence of the Russian institutional environment on the competitive advantage of the German companies. Furthermore, the longitudinal research design revealed a largely adverse impact, which the occurred institutional changes had on the competitiveness of the German firms. The findings provide a novel synthesis of competitive reactions to entrants from emerging markets. Moreover, this research is the first one to describe an aggregated impact of Russian institutional environment on the competitiveness of Western firms related to emerging market companies. In this way, it supports the institution-based view of strategy, and synthesizes a practically applicable decision framework for competitive reaction. Considering the importance of the Russian market and increasing competitiveness of emerging market firms, this thesis makes an important contribution to competition research in emerging economies.

Background: The phenomenon of CSR has become an increasingly adopted strategy among companies, as a result of the frequent discussion on climate change. At the same time, consumers have attained further awareness regarding sustainability and how consumption impacts the environment. Further, the fast fashion industry has been highlighted as one of the most harmful and unethical industries that negatively impacts the environment and lives of all. Thus, it is interesting to explore which factors influence consumers’ purchase decisions, and determine whether sustainability and CSR are taken into consideration. Purpose: This thesis aims to explore millennial consumers’ attitudes toward Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), as well as which factors consumers take into consideration when they are making purchase decisions. Method: In order to meet the research objectives, data has been collected with exploratory and qualitative methods. The research philosophy follows interpretivism, and adopts an abductive approach. Furthermore, 13 semi- structured interviews were conducted, which aim to explore and provide and understanding for consumers’ attitudes and perception. Interview participants were selected based on a purposive sampling method, with two identified criteria. Additionally, a coding system was constructed based on the literature review, which was used to analyse the data collected from the interviews. Conclusion: The results, extracted from the empirical data and analysis, suggest that there are two categories with factors influencing millennial consumers’ purchase decisions. The first category includes product related factors, whereas the other category includes a number of consumer related factors. The empirical results further conclude that the participants generally experience positive attitudes toward sustainability and CSR, while product related factors are more influential in the decision-making process.