<p>The report is about globalization, when Chinese companies come to Europe. The aims are to sum up this phenomenon by answering three key questions thanks to the literature (why coming to Europe, how, what challenges may be encountered on the way), and then to update the challenges we found to make them more actual. We would like this report to be the reference in this field.</p><p>In order to do so, we built up a model explaining the process of Chinese companies coming to Europe, and then took contact with Chinese and Swedish companies with deep knowledge of internationalization and interviewed them, starting with the challenges we found out after a literature review. They helped us to sort these challenges between “no longer relevant” (despite recent information from the literature) and “still relevant”, and also added some new ones.</p><p>Then we updated our model: among the 16 challenges we had at the beginning, we kept 11 of them, removed 5 and added 2 new ones. The aims and means for coming to Europe remained unchanged.</p><p>We conclude this report by giving possible further studies such as listing which culture differences matter when doing business, or finding solutions to the problems found.</p>

The report is about globalization, when Chinese companies come to Europe. The aims are to sum up this phenomenon by answering three key questions thanks to the literature (why coming to Europe, how, what challenges may be encountered on the way), and then to update the challenges we found to make them more actual. We would like this report to be the reference in this field. In order to do so, we built up a model explaining the process of Chinese companies coming to Europe, and then took contact with Chinese and Swedish companies with deep knowledge of internationalization and interviewed them, starting with the challenges we found out after a literature review. They helped us to sort these challenges between “no longer relevant” (despite recent information from the literature) and “still relevant”, and also added some new ones. Then we updated our model: among the 16 challenges we had at the beginning, we kept 11 of them, removed 5 and added 2 new ones. The aims and means for coming to Europe remained unchanged. We conclude this report by giving possible further studies such as listing which culture differences matter when doing business, or finding solutions to the problems found.

As a result of agreements negotiated at the World Trade Organisation (WTO), traditional trade protection measures such as tariffs and quotas are falling away. But to some extent they are being replaced by domestic technical regulations that permit countries to bar products from entering their markets if the products do not meet certain standards. To become and remain competitive, producers and suppliers must meet the Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) requirements set by importers’ governments in importing countries. Some SPS measures are very simple and specific, but others are combined in extremely complex systems like the requirements governing the import of plants and plant products for entry in to the European Union (EU). The aim of this study was to evaluate the phytosanitary certification system currently used by the National Plant Protection Organisation (NPPO) of South Africa with regard to exports of agricultural produce to the European market and to develop an effective and efficient strategy to ensure compliance with the European Union’s phytosanitary regulations. The expansion of world trade has placed a huge responsibility on the National Plant Protection Organisation (NPPO) of South Africa to facilitate safe agricultural trade with its international trading partners. After putting the phytosanitary constraints/ weaknesses faced by the South African Export Regulatory System into perspective, numerous aspects of the export process were considered in this study. The NPPO of South Africa does experience capacity constraints in its phytosanitary export regulatory system mostly due to the recent restructuring of the Department of Agriculture (DOA). This information, combined with background information obtained from the personal experience of the author as a plant health officer for the past ten years at the Department of Agriculture and the analysis of questionnaires indicated that the current phytosanitary certification system are the most fundamental impediment to accessing foreign markets. This is followed by an evaluation of the export certification system to identify the major challenges experienced by the NPPO officials in phytosanitary certification to the European markets. Lack of fundamental scientific knowledge and the inability to interpret the phytosanitary import requirements of the European market were identified as the elementary barriers to phytosanitary compliance. Finally, the accuracy of phytosanitary certification is of paramount importance for international trade. If credibility is lost, this can result in stricter and lengthier inspection procedures in importing countries and eventually loss of markets. This study resulted in the development of a certification guide to equip the NPPO of South Africa with the necessary technical assistance to ensure compliance with the European Union’s phytosanitary regulations. This standard operating procedure (SOP) is currently in used by the certification officials of the DOA. / Dissertation (MInstAgrar)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Microbiology and Plant Pathology / unrestricted

Background: Growth and innovation are two well-known words in particular for the 21st century, however, no previous studies are focusing on the growth of an innovative firm.  Research question: How does an innovative firm enter the European market? What factors makes the internationalization process on the European market successful for an innovative firm?  Purpose: The purpose of this dissertation is to identify initiatives implemented by innovative firms in order to ensure successful growth in the international market. It will also highlight the important aspects of an innovative firm internationalizing on the European market.  Theoretical framework: The traditional Uppsala internationalization model is used as a framework for suggestions on how a firm should enter new markets. Furthermore, a theory about internationalization is used and continued with a theory about innovative firms and the chapter ends with the marketing mix.  Methodology: A case study of an innovative firm has been done where a qualitative research approach has been taken. First hand data in terms of interviews together with secondary data in terms of articles and previous research lays as a foundation for the study.  Empirical material: The empirical material is based on interviews with four interview persons from the case company on distance. In combination with this, information has been gathered from company reports and the webpage of the case firm.  Conclusion: The result of this study indicates that innovative firms does not follow all the steps that the theory suggest for internationalization. Continually, the most vital factors that were followed and not followed are highlighted in the conclusion.

Cette thèse prend la forme de quatre essais. Elle présente une analyse de la performance ex-post des entreprises européennes qui ont fermé leur capital en le privatisant. Le sujet de la « trajectoire ex-post des Buyouts européennes » est assez vaste, c’est pour cela que nous avons essayé de l’étudier et de l’analyser à travers des perspectives différentes et en utilisant différentes méthodes quantitatives.Au cours de notre étude nous utilisons à la fois des mesures objectifves et perceptuelles pour établir les performances de ces entreprises et pour trouver les raisons pour lesquelles elles ont une meilleure performance. Ce recueil d’essais aborde ces problématiques, assez reliées les unes avec les autres, qui concernent la performance ex-post des sociétés européennes qui ont subi un procès de privatisation de leur capital avec des transactions qui les font passer du domaine publique au domaine privé (PTP). Les trois premiers essais concernent leurs performances économiques ; et les relations de leurs performances financières avec : l'évaluation de l'innovation ; l'application des techniques de gestion comme l’organisation apprenante (LO) ; et la mise en œuvre de la Responsabilité Social des Entreprises (RSE). Le comportement du marché dans quatre pays européens pendant le même période est également étudié dans le quatrième essai. Un comportement grégaire de ces marchés pendant la crise a été observé.Les résultats présentés sont soutenus par des preuves descriptives et quantitatives importantes et substantielles. L'hypothèse sous-jacente commune testée qui est celle que établient les entreprises ayant subi un procès PTP ont de meilleurs résultats dans la période ex-post, et qu’elles obtiennent une meilleure performance dans les champs de l'innovation, des LO et de la RSE, est bien prouvé / This dissertation, takes the form of four essays. It presents an analysis of the ex-post performance of the European companies that have gone private. “Ex-post journey of the European Buyouts” is a broad topic, which we tried to investigate and analyze through different perspectives using different quantitative methods.We have used both objective and perception based measures to dig out the performance and reach out the possible reasons behind their better performance. This collection of essays addresses the research questions, which are much related to each other, concerning the ex-post performance of European companies after public-to-private (PTP) transactions. The first three essays concern their economic performance, and linkage of their financial performance with: the assessment of innovation and application of management techniques like Learning Organization (LO), implementation of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The market behaviour in the Four European countries during the similar period is also investigated in the fourth essay. We found the herd behavior in these markets during crisis.The results presented are supported by large and substantial descriptive and quantitative evidence. The common underlying hypothesis which we wished to test, that PTP firms perform better in the ex-post period and show better on the scales of innovation, LO and CSR, is well

本研究探討歐洲已開發市場之主權信用違約交換與主權債券和無風險利率之債券信用價差之間的動態關係以及價格發現現象。此外亦分析可能影響歐洲已開發市場主權信用違約交換與債券信用價差變動之因子。 實證結果發現信用違約交換有較明顯之價格發現功能，且信用違約交換與債券信用價差間之基準差與信用風險呈現正向關係。而歐洲主權債券因其性質特殊，其使用德國政府公債作無風險利率反而較歐元交換利率為佳。此外我們發現利率變化與股市皆為影響歐洲主權信用價差之因子，而波動率之影響不明顯，原因也可能是歐洲主權債券過去低風險而成為資金避險標的之特殊性質。 / The thesis examines the dynamic relation between CDS and bond spread on developed European sovereign bonds. We also investigate which variables will affect the changes of CDS and bond spreads. We found that price discovery occurs on CDS more often, and the basis between CDS and bond spread has a positive relationship with credit risk. Due to the special characteristic of developed European sovereign bonds, the German sovereign bond yield is a better benchmark for risk-free rate than the Euro swap rate. Also we found that the change of rates and the return on stock market affect the European sovereign credit spread, but the effect of volatility on credit spread is limited. The reason should be the low-risk nature of these bonds in the past, which made them “safe” products for capitals to park.