The primary goal of this study was to identify value added export opportunities for the hardwood products manufacturing industry. By studying current industry practices and trends, we can better understand the opportunities hardwood lumber businesses have exploited in the past and could do so today. The study found that opportunities exist for businesses with the right initial mindset preparing them for exporting, the proper equipment, and the appropriate educational experience. Surveys of hardwood lumber manufacturers in 1989 and 2002 addressed similar objectives and helped better understand export participation of hardwood lumber manufacturers in the Appalachian Region. The objectives of this research project included determining current export experience, access and use of export development programs, key export markets, and mill production, marketing, equipment, personnel and other attributes of the region's hardwood lumber industry. Other objectives included determining if any significant changes in the region's hardwood industry had occurred, and in particular, what was mill export market experience in the past 15 years. The key was to identify key factors that lead to export marketing participation. This study showed that export market participation is growing as forest sector businesses consolidated during this period. Businesses were found to seek assistance from multiple government agencies, trade associations, and most importantly from their customers. While the largest export market continues to be Canada, little information is available on other businesses purchasing Appalachian hardwood lumber, indicating the need for more research on markets and their size. Important species for exporting are red oak, yellow-poplar, white oak, and maple, and higher grades of hardwood lumber continue to be the top three. Owning a kiln is essential to exporting, and having an above average size marketing staff was found to be helpful. The most important attribute of exporters is an open-minded management that sees the benefits of exporting. / Master of Science

Cette thèse analyse comment les fluctuations du prix du pétrole affectent les économies des pays exportateurs de produits de base. Plus précisément, l'objectif de cette thèse est d'étudier les impacts macroéconomiques, financiers et environnementaux des fluctuations des prix du pétrole, en accordant une attention particulière à l'hypothèse de la monnaie du pétrole. À cette fin, cette thèse se compose de trois chapitres. Les premier et deuxième chapitres portent sur le taux de change réel des devises de plusieurs pays exportateurs de pétrole. Le troisième chapitre explore les liens entre le prix des biocarburants et le compte courant des pays émergents et en développement exportant ou important des matières premières agricoles contrôlant l'effet non linéaire potentiel exercé par le prix du pétrole sur cette relation. Ces chapitres montrent que si le prix du pétrole a un effet macroéconomique sur les économies exportatrices de pétrole et les pays exportateurs de produits agricoles, son impact varie d'un pays à l'autre et il n'y a pas de règle unique pour décrire le fonctionnement de ces économies. / This thesis analyzes how fluctuations in the price of oil affect the economies of commodity exporting countries. More specifically, the aim of this thesis is to investigate the macroeconomic, financial and environmental impacts of oil price fluctuations, by paying particular attention to the oil currency hypothesis. To this end, this thesis is composed of three chapters. The first and second chapters deal with the real exchange rate of the currencies of several oil exporting countries. The third chapter explores the links between the price of biofuels and the current account of emerging and developing countries exporting or importing agricultural raw materials controlling for the potential nonlinear effect exerted by the price of oil on this relationship. Altogether these chapters show that while the price of oil has a macroeconomic effect on oil exporting and agricultural commodities exporting countries, its impact varies across countries and there is no one fits all rule.

El presente plan de negocios tiene por objetivo analizar la factibilidad de la exportación de subproductos del cacao mediante la puesta en marcha de una planta de procesamiento de los derivados del grano para el mercado externo. Tomando en cuenta la creciente demanda internacional y el potencial del Perú por la calidad de sus productos, la empresa Cacao El Rey, establecida hace 10 años en Tarapoto, San Martín, decide incursionar en el mercado externo para acceder a nuevos clientes y mejorar los ingresos de comercialización que llegan a duplicar los márgenes de contribución. La planta se localiza en una zona privilegiada, lo que le permite procesar de manera directa los granos de cacao y reducir los costos de producción. Se cuenta con laboratorios de prueba y calidad, que generan la trazabilidad respectiva para establecer lotes con los estándares que se requieren. La metodología descriptiva del presente plan consistió en identificar la competencia: medianas empresas nacionales que comercializan estos derivados al exterior. Según el estudio, se estima que se cubrirá la demanda en el exterior a partir de julio 2019, para lo cual la planta cuenta con plena capacidad y personal idóneo para atender los requerimientos. Al cierre del 2018, las ventas de la empresa ascendieron a S/19 702 000. Para el cierre del 2019 se espera un crecimiento 2.3 veces superior, el cual se traduce en resultados positivos, con un VAN de S/7.6 millones, utilizando una tasa de descuento del 10,5 % y una TIR del orden del 20.2 %. / The purpose of this business plan is to analyze the feasibility of exporting cocoa by-products by setting up a processing plant for grain derivatives for the external market. Taking into account the growing international demand and the potential of Peru for the quality of its products, the company Cacao El Rey, established 10 years ago in Tarapoto, San Martín, decides to enter the foreign market to access new customers and improve revenue of marketing that double the contribution margins. The plant is located in a privileged area, which allows it to directly process cocoa beans and reduce production costs. There are test and quality laboratories, which generate the respective traceability to establish lots with the required standards. The descriptive methodology of this plan was to identify the competition: national medium-sized companies that sell these derivatives abroad. According to the study, it is estimated that demand will be met abroad from July 2019, for which the plant has full capacity and suitable personnel to meet the requirements. At the end of 2018, the company's sales amounted to S / 19 702 000. For the closing of 2019, 2.3 times higher growth is expected, which translates into positive results, with a NPV of S / 7.6 million, using a 10.5%. / Trabajo de investigación

Thesis (D.A.)--Illinois State University, 2003. / Title from title page screen, viewed November 15, 2005. Dissertation Committee: Mohammad Tavakoli Targhi (chair), Lawrence McBride, Hassan Mohammadi, Paul Holsinger, Tony Adedze. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 109-119) and abstract. Also available in print.

National Science Foundation Grant no. SIA75-00739

Globalisation has created a world where countries compete with each other over trading. Historically, emerging countries started with a negative brand image to enhance exporting. This is particularly true in the Asian context where a general developmental path has been established by countries such as Japan and South Korea. Their success has gained a strong brand image for their products. China, after launching itself into the global market in the late 70s, has gained an increasing market share of ‘Made in China’ products. The reputation of ‘Made in China’, however, is perceived at low quality mass production of low-tech content, and there are only few Chinese brands which can stand out in the global market. This study explores ‘Made in China’ phenomenon in the global market, especially from the producer’s viewpoint. The literature review provides a background to the research. It covers the studies on Country of Origin (COO) effect, economic development strategies and competitive advantage theories. This research employs a mixed methods strategy that combines both quantitative and qualitative studies. The questionnaire survey was designed to reveal British importers’ perception of ‘Made in China’ products. Netnography and Interview are adopted to investigate the voice from Chinese producers and manufacturers. The design of this research allows for triangulating the findings. The results show the international buyers, i.e. British importers, perceive the biggest advantage for Chinese products is price. Chinese producers’ contributions suggest four themes to represent the current situation of ‘Made in China’, namely the image, price, quality and imitation. In their view the future development lies in ‘Created in China’, which consists of other four themes: creativity, branding, designing and R&D. A model of -From ‘Made in China’ to ‘Created in China’- is developed in this research. This model identifies the major obstacles that impede the development are thin profit and copying. This research shed lights on the study of developing a country brand, especially for the emerging nation like China. For the first time, this research explores the producers’ views to highlight the importance of their roles in a country brand’s development. The findings also have the implications for Chinese policymakers and industrial development agency. It further offers knowledge to the emerging nations who wish to develop their country brand in the international exporting market.

The work describes the notion of international trade with focus on the theory interlinked with pracice. The extended focus is on business environment of Slovenia and the Czech Republic. The thesis presents the risks, purposes and advantages of doing business internationally. Furthermore, there are examples of specific companies in related industries and the products that are offered on different markets. The idea of the work is to give an insight to those who are interested in international business (exporting and importing) with various application of strategies.

The objectives of this dissertation are to explain the production behavior of OPEC's member countries from 1971 to 1987 and to determine whether there was any structural shift in OPEC's production behavior after the organization attempted to assign a quota to each member. This study focused on political and social as well as economic variables, in order to overcome the misspecification of previous models. In order to achieve the above objectives, the study used the following four models, with modifications: the cartel, competitive, target revenue, and property rights models. The double log multiple linear regression technique was used to operationalize the cartel, competitive, and target revenue models; simple linear regression was used to estimate the property rights model. The cartel model was based not only on economic variables but also on social and political variables. The internal political instability of each OPEC country was measured by the number of armed attacks within the country. The structural shift in OPEC's production behavior between the 1971-1982 period and the 1983-1987 period was evaluated using the Chow-test. The Chow-test showed no significant difference between these two periods for OPEC overall or for individual members. Thus, the two periods were combined so that the study was performed for the entire 1971-1987 period. Because this period of analysis was relatively short, alternative models were applied to pool the data and thereby increase the reliability of the model estimates. A cross-sectional correlated and time-wise auto-regressive model (CCTA) was selected to pool the data and to estimate OPEC's production coefficients. Then each individual OPEC member's production model was estimated and compared to the pooled model. The results indicate that OPEC behaved as a cartel, and that a partial market-sharing hypothesis was significant for all 11 OPEC members. These findings indicate that OPEC was a loose cartel, with only partially effective cooperation on production decisions. Political instability was found to be significant (at the 10-percent level) overall, and it negatively affected production. It was also significant at the 5-percent level for the price-pusher group (Iran, Venezuela, and Algeria). This group was also the only one pooled using least squares with dummy variables (LSDV), because of its common slope and different intercepts. Overall results suggest that OPEC members were basing their production decisions on crude oil prices, excess production capacity, and each member's share of total OPEC output.

This research study concerns entrepreneurial startups that converted into internationalization by implementing an export business strategy. MASApparel and Dilma Tea companies in Sri Lanka, two leading companies, were selected to illustrate the export strategy for business expansion in foreign markets. The research focuses on how both companies achieved their foreign markets and their continuous successful presence in the industry even now by doing. The study begins with a comprehensive discussion of the theory of competitive advantage, business strategy, and entrepreneurial internationalization. The terms examine both conventional and contemporary views of business strategies implemented to gain a competitive advantage to expand in the international market. A review of the basic concepts of entrepreneurship and internationalization proceeds with a detailed review of the literature on the competitive advantage of the business strategy. Various local and global influences are identified in the export strategy for the internationalization process. The selected two case's findings are presented, and the evidence is based on considering implementing an export business strategy for business internationalization.

El ámbito de trabajo de la presente tesis se centra en el análisis del resultado exportador de las pequeñas y medianas empresas -en un territorio concreto- desde una perspectiva empresarial y tratando de integrar un modelo que recoja los principales aspectos destacados por la literatura como factores de competitividad.Inicialmente se ha efectuado una revisión de las diferentes teorías sobre la internacionalización empresarial, así como las proposiciones metodológicas y conclusiones de los estudios empíricos más trascendentales que se han publicado en los últimos años. En este sentido, lo anterior ha sido el fundamento para el posterior desarrollo de un marco de trabajo teórico que tuviera en cuenta los principales factores que afectan dicho cometido. El esquema teórico que se presenta, relaciona el desempeño exportador con los principales factores identificados.A continuación, se formulan las hipótesis a partir de dichos factores y las preguntas que sugiere la investigación. Inmediatamente se muestra el ámbito del estudio y los criterios de selección de las empresas y la muestra resultante del trabajo de campo. La muestra utilizada se ha compuesto de 164 empresas (extraídas de una población de 640). Finalmente, se ha explicado, de manera resumida, los métodos y las técnicas de análisis de los datos utilizados en la presente investigación.En una primera parte empírica del estudio se presenta un análisis descriptivo de la información que se propuso investigar sobre cómo es la empresa exportadora.Después, en una segunda, igualmente empírica, se realiza un análisis comparativo entre aquellas empresas con mayor éxito exportador (con una intensidad exportadora superior a la media) y aquellas otras empresas con resultados exteriores más reducidos.Finalmente, en la tercera parte, se presenta un análisis sobre cuáles de las variables utilizadas anteriormente producen un efecto positivo sobre la intensidad exportadora de las empresas. En este sentido, se utiliza como principal herramienta estadística para el estudio de la información el análisis de regresión lineal -complementado con el análisis factorial- para ver qué efecto tienen las mencionadas variables sobre la intensidad exportadora.El estudio acaba definiendo aquellas áreas en las que pueden mejorar las empresas, así como unas futuras líneas de investigación propuestas. / L' àmbit de treball de la present tesi es centra en l' anàlisi del resultat exportador de les petites i mitjanes empreses -en un territori concret- des d' una perspectiva empresarial i tracte d'integrar un model que reculli els principals aspectes destacats per la literatura com factors de competitivitat.Inicialment s'efectua una revisió de les diferents teories sobre l' internacionalització empresarial, així com les proposicions metodològiques i conclusions dels estudis empírics més transcendentals que s' han publicat en els darrers anys. En aquest sentit, l'anterior ha estat el fonament per al posterior desenvolupament d' un marc de treball teòric que ha tingut en compte els principals factors que afecten aquesta comesa. L'esquema teòric que es presenta, relaciona el desenvolupament exportador amb els principals factors identificats.A continuació, es formulen les hipòtesis a partir dels esmentats factors i les preguntes que suggereix l' investigació. Immediatament es mostra l' àmbit de l' estudi i els criteris de selecció de les empreses i la mostra resultant del treball de camp. La mostra utilitzada està composada per 164 empreses (extretes d' una població de 640). Finalment, s'explica, de manera resumida, els mètodes i les tècniques d' anàlisi de les dades utilitzades en la present investigació.En una primera part empírica de l' estudi es presenta un anàlisi descriptiu de la informació que es va proposar investigar sobre com és la empresa exportadora.Després, en una segona part, igualment empírica, es realitza un anàlisi comparatiu entre aquelles empreses amb major èxit exportador (amb una intensitat exportadorasuperior a la mitjana) i aquelles altres empreses amb resultats exteriors més reduïts.Finalment, en la tercera part, es presenta un anàlisi sobre quines de les variables utilitzades anteriorment produeixen un efecte positiu sobre l' intensitat exportadora de les empreses. En aquest sentit, s' utilitza com principal estri estadístic per l' estudi de a' informació l' anàlisis de regressió lineal -complementat amb l' anàlisi factorial- per veure quin efecte tenen les esmentades variables sobre l' intensitat exportadora.L' estudi finalitza definint aquelles àrees en les que pot millorar les empreses, així com unes futures línies d' investigació proposades. / This thesis concerns the analysis of the export performance of small and medium enterprises (sme's) in a specific geographic area, from an enterprise perspective and trying to build a model according to the most important items mentioned by literature as a competive factors.Initially, a review of different internationalization theories was made, as well as of methodological propositions and of conclusions of empirical researches published in the last years. In this sense, the first was the base for the further development of a framework for a theorical work that consider the main factors. This theoretical outline relates exporting results with the main factors identified.After that, hypothesis are formulated from those factors and questions that the research suggests. Immediately, the research field was shown along with the enterprise selection criteria and the resulting sample. The sample was composed by 164 companies (from a total of 640). Finally, there is a brief explanation of methods and data analysis techniques used in this research.In the first empirical part of this study there is a descriptive analysis of the information proposed for the research about how the exporting company is.After that, in the second empirical part as well, there is a comparative analysis between the most exporting successfully companies (with an exporting intensity over the media) and those other companies with lower results.Finally, in the third part, there is an analysis about the variables utilized before and their effect on the exporting intensity of the company. In this sense, the main statisticaltool used for the data processing was the linear regression, complemented with factorial analysis to see effect of the mentioned variables on the exporting intensity.The research finishes defining areas where companies can improve, and also, mentioning future researching lines proposed.