<p><strong>Problem:</strong> There is a significant lack of research within the family business area which focuses on the micro-processes of strategy. Johnson, Melin and Whittington (2003) stated that while the field of strategy has traditionally concentrated on the macro-level of organizations, it needs now to attend to much more micro-level phenomenon. Furthermore, there is a general lack of research within the family business area in regards to strategy processes due to "the family business definition dilemma" (Lumpkin, Martin & Vaughn, 2008, p. 127). This dilemma is suggested to be lessened by a better understanding of the impact of the individuals on the strategic process.</p><p><strong>Purpose:</strong> This thesis examines influences on the micro-processes of strategy formation in the family firm in order to contribute to the family business research area. The specific influences that are in focus we labeled as 'components of identity'. These components of identity focus on the 'who' of the micro-process. Components of identity include identity, psychological ownership and attachment.</p><p><strong>Main research question:</strong></p><p>How and why do the components of identity influence the micro-process of strategy in a family firm?</p><p><strong>Method:</strong> This is an exploratory study which is based on a qualitative study of 14 individuals in six family-owned companies in the Småland area of Sweden. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with both family members and non-family members in an attempt to create case studies and contribute inductively. The case studies are presented in a storytelling format and were then used as a starting point for our analysis. Each case was analyzed from the perspective of the different components of identity as well as studying the influence that the dyadic relationship has on the family members. The names of the companies and the people involved have been changed in order to protect their privacy since this topic is personal in nature.</p><p><strong>Main findings:</strong> Gaining a better understanding within our area of study has allowed us to make some conclusions about the "how and why" of micro-processes of strategy in the family firm. One of the main findings, which makes a vast difference in this area of research, is the fact that the power-base within each company must be identified in order to enable a correct understanding of the micro-processes within the firm. Further, our results show that history, both in terms of historical decisions regarding the family business as well as the individual's past, play a significant role on strategy formation today. Moreover, the circumstances and emotions surrounding the individuals' entry into the family business impacts not only on succession process but also the direction of the firm, risk taking behaviour and asset retention. We were also able to make some conclusions with regards to family business strategy process. As well as provide a starting point for further research into the micro-process and the family business definition, we provide a basis for a possible new direction of governance research.</p>

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to analyze how major transnational firms adjust their corporate visual identity (CVI) when entering foreign markets and to determine whether there is a relationship between firmand market-level factors and CVI adjustments as well as an impact on a company’s performance. Methodology/approach: A deductive approach was applied utilizing triangulation with quantitative research through a content analysis of websites of transnational firms (n=329) and qualitative research through semi-structured interviews with six firms. Findings: Out of all observed companies, 46.2% adjusted at least one element of their CVI when entering a foreign market, with most changes being incremental and the slogan being adjusted most often. The greater the international experience of a firm, the less likely are CVI adjustments. Out of the qualitative analysis, a major impact of global branding strategies arose, which often sets strict guidelines for local managers. There are positive relationships to the industries of food processing and restaurants and a negative relationship to the industry of automotive &amp; truck manufacturers. Whether B2B or B2C markets are targeted is, however, not significant. The firm’s performance is not affected by CVI adjustments as no significant relationship has been found. Managerial implications: Managers cannot follow one general conclusion with regards to CVI adjustments found within literature, they should rather take the individual firm- and market-level factors of their business environment into account and use this study as well as additional scientific evidence as the starting point for their own decision-making process. Research limitations/implications: Limitations include the number of items and the convenience sample, as well as the limitation to only one foreign market per company for the analysis. The empirical data represents a certain point in time and does not reflect any developments that may have occurred over time. Further research may include a statistical analysis of the factor of global brand strategy and an investigation on how CVI adjustments and with it a firm’s performance change over time. In addition, a follow-up study could take into account all foreign markets a multinational firm operates in. Originality/value: This paper is one of the first to analyze adjustments of CVI elements and theirrelationships with firm- and market-level industries on a global scale, not limited to few companies or countries. Thus more general conclusions can be drawn.

Background: Now-a-days, the forces of globalization derive firms to go to international market. When a firm thinks to expand its business outside of the home market, it needs to explore the form of operation through which it will enter into the foreign market. International entry mode research deals with this matter. (Brouthers et.al.2007). Selection of an optimal entry mode strategy is very important because it is very difficult to change or correct and have a long-term impact on the firm’s foreign operation (Pedersen, Petersen, &amp; Benito, 2002). Actually, it is very difficult for a firm to serve in the market on a permanent basis without a well formulated entry strategy. (Pehrsson A. 2008). Market entry mode strategies are influenced by both firm and country level factors and a firm must take into consideration these factors in choosing an appropriate entry mode. Purpose: The basic purpose is to gain a deep knowledge about the critical factors in selecting an optimal international market entry mode strategy to enter into an emerging market. The minor purpose is to justify the suitability of the target market. Methodology: Due to the dependency on subjective interpretation of text or other visual material and small sample was used to investigate the specific phenomena, qualitative method has been practised in this research process. Secondary data has been mainly collected from e-sources, and primary data has been collected through phone interview with the three foreign mobile telecom companies in Bangladesh. Findings: Bangladesh mobile telecommunication market is still attractive for the foreign entrants and the optimal entry mode strategy is joint venture to enter into the moderately attractive industry. Implications: The study has showed that international entry mode strategy is affected by various organizational, economical, Institutional, and sociological factors (categorized as country and firm level factors). This research has also provided relevant information to the potential foreign firms about which country and firm level factors should consider in formulating a well entry mode strategy in perspective of an emerging market.

L’objectif de cette thèse est d’apporter de nouveaux éclairages théoriques et empiriques sur les mécanismes d’entrepreneuriat organisationnel, et plus précisément « orientation entrepreneuriale » (OE). Afin de mieux comprendre ce phénomène, cette dissertation est le fruit de quatre efforts successifs : - Identifier ce qu’est l’orientation entrepreneuriale en le distinguant de ce que ce n’est pas - Comprendre comment le construit « OE » s’intègre dans les principaux modèles d’entrepreneuriat organisationnel - Offrir une discussion critique en synthétisant et mappant les questions existantes, dévoilant qu’il y a en fait au moins quatre conceptualisations derrière « OE », parmi lesquelles la conceptualisation initiale de Miller (1983), ignorée ou incomprise. - Pour poursuivre dans l’intention de Miller, je propose une tamie dexono firmes selon leur gestalt d’OE, ainsi que les caractéristiques propres de chaque configuration. Par une meilleure compréhension du phénomène d’entrepreneuriat organisationnel, cette thèse propose de contribuer à la littérature en entrepreneuriat, en management stratégique, et en management. / The objective of my PhD is to better understand the theoretical and empirical mechanisms of organizational-level entrepreneurship, and more precisely “entrepreneurial orientation” (EO). To better comprehend the phenomenon, this dissertation is the succession of four research efforts: - Identify what entrepreneurial orientation is by distinguishing from what it is not (entrepreneurial management) - Understand how the EO construct fits into the main models of firm-level entrepreneurship - Furnish a critical discussion of EO through the synthesis and mapping of existing issues, to unveil that there are actually four conceptualizations behind the term “EO”, among which the original conceptualization by Miller (1983), gone unheard or misunderstood - In line with Miller’s initial intention, I offer a taxonomy of firms according to their gestalt of EO, and the characteristics of each configuration This dissertation aims at contributing to entrepreneurship literature, to strategic management, and to general management by improving our understanding of firm-level entrepreneurship in SMEs.

Esse trabalho tem como objetivo investigar a existência de heterogeneidade no ganho de qualidade informacional com a adoção de IFRS. A adoção de IFRS está geralmente associada com um aumento de qualidade das demonstrações contábeis. Entretanto, as empresas dentro de um mesmo país provavelmente possuem diferentes incentivos econômicos em relação à divulgação da informação. Nesse sentido, tratar as empresas de forma homogênea, sem considerar os incentivos econômicos atrelados, poderia contaminar a investigação da qualidade informacional. É analisado o caso do Brasil, um país classificado como code-law, cuja legislação fiscal induzia a prática contábil e cuja adoção de IFRS foi mandatória. Em primeiro lugar, as empresas brasileiras listadas na BOVESPA foram separadas em dois grupos, a saber: as empresas que emitiram ADR até a adoção de IFRS e as empresas que não emitiram ADR até a adoção de IFRS. Em seguida, esse segundo grupo de empresas foi agrupado, por meio de uma análise de conglomerados, em dois diferentes subgrupos em função de incentivos econômicos em comum. Com base nos grupos identificados, é testada a qualidade da informação contábil para cada grupo antes e após a adoção de IFRS. Esse trabalho utiliza o reconhecimento tempestivo dos eventos econômicos, a value relevance do lucro contábil e o gerenciamento de resultados como proxies para verificar a qualidade da informação contábil. Os resultados encontrados sugerem que um determinado conjunto de empresas obteve, de fato, um incremento de qualidade da informação contábil divulgada após adoção do padrão IFRS no Brasil. Esse grupo de empresas teria incentivos suficientes para deixar para trás a conformidade contábil-fiscal e apresentar uma qualidade superior no seu conjunto de informações contábeis divulgadas. Além disso, foi verificado um segundo grupo de empresas com qualidade da informação contábil antes e após 2008. Em contrapartida, foi identificado um terceiro conjunto de empresas que não apresentou qualidade da informação contábil seja antes ou após 2008. Esses resultados corroboram o pressuposto de que os incentivos no nível das empresas possuem um papel relevante na qualidade das demonstrações contábeis. Isso não implica afirmar que as normas contábeis não importam, mas de que existem outros direcionadores que moldam a qualidade das demonstrações contábeis e que as normas contábeis deveriam ser vistas como um desses direcionadores. / This work aims to investigate the existence of heterogeneity in the quality of accouting information after the adoption of IFRS. The adoption of IFRS is generally associated with an increased quality of the financial statements. However, companies within the same country probably have different economic incentives regarding the disclosure of information. Accordingly, treat companies evenly, without considering the linked economic incentives, could contaminate the identification of information quality after the adoption of IFRS. It examined the case of Brazil, a country classified as code-law, whose tax laws induced the accounting practice and whose adoption of IFRS is mandatory. First, Brazilian companies listed on the BOVESPA were separated into two groups, namely: companies issuing ADRs to the adoption of IFRS and the companies that have not issued ADR to the adoption of IFRS. Then, this second group of companies were grouped by means of a cluster analysis in two different subgroups based on economic incentives in common. Then, based on the identified groups, the accounting quality information is tested for each group before and after the adoption of IFRS. This work uses the timely recognition of economic events, value relevance of net income and earnings management as proxies for the quality of accounting information. The results suggest that a particular group of companies obtained, in fact, an increase of accounting information quality after adoption of the IFRS in Brazil. This group of companies would have sufficient incentives to leave behind the accounting and tax compliance and provide superior quality to your set of accounting information disclosed. In addition, a second group of companies with quality of accounting information was checked before and after 2008. In contrast, a third group of companies has been identified that did not show quality of accounting information either before or after 2008. These results support the assumption that incentives at the level of companies have an important role in the quality of financial statements. This does not imply stating that accounting standards do not matter, but that there are other drivers that shape the quality of financial statements and accounting standards should be seen as one of those drivers.

This study introduces a new firm-level dataset containing over two million projects co-funded by the European Union´s (EU) structural and Cohesion funds in 25 EU member states in the multi-annual financial framework 2007-2013. Information on individual beneficiary firms and institutions published by regional authorities is linked with business data from Bureau van Dijk's ORBIS database. Moreover, we show how modern text mining techniques can be used to categorise EU funded projects into fifteen thematic categories proposed by the European Commission. A first analysis of the dataset reveals substantial heterogeneity of beneficiaries and projects across and within countries. While in the majority of lagging regions the largest project expenditure is dedicated to transportation and energy infrastructure, in most other regions the major part is assigned to innovation and technological development as well as business (including SME) support. In an econometric analysis we control for project and firm characteristics and find that the highest single project values are associated with older beneficiary firms that are larger in size. Furthermore, the projects with topmost expenditure are carried out in Dutch and British regions. / Series: Department of Economics Working Paper Series

Entrepreneurship has been argued to be a key driver of the economy by creating jobs, turning inventions to innovations, and also improving the overall standard of life. A firm’s entrepreneurial orientation (EO) indicates the degree to which a firm is entrepreneurial. However, there are several different approaches to conceptualizing the EO concept and its sub-dimensions, frequently described as innovativeness, risk taking, and proactiveness. The role of the sub-dimensions is not quite clear in the EO literature. Furthermore, many studies claim that firms can increase their performance simply by increasing their EO, while this thesis draws upon contingency theory to argue that EO needs to be aligned with—‘fit’ the internal and external context, if the firm is to perform well. Thus, this thesis aims to advance the conceptualization of EO by problematizing the core construct and also discussing how EO can fit with context. The thesis consists of four papers in which the EO concept is elaborated on and contingency theory is applied to construct conceptual models of the interaction between EO and different contexts, which are also empirically investigated. Furthermore, the sub-dimensions of EO are discussed in terms of their meanings and measurement to point out their individual impact on the EO. The overall findings indicate that EO is not as simple a concept as often portrayed in the EO literature. Rather, EO is more complex in the ways that it can fit with internal and external context and, on these bases, it is suggested that ideal types of EO and context is a way forward for research in the area. Additionally, it is argued that EO as a theoretical construct may not only be conceptualized as an overall entrepreneurial attribute (which is common in the extant literature), but also as a complex and granular attribute.

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In this dissertation, I explore a variety of methods for the econometric analysis of firm-level production data. Three distinct approaches are considered, namely i) proxy variable methods of controlling for unobservable productivity, ii) data envelopment techniques for estimating the boundary of a production set, and iii) stochastic frontier methods for estimating the productive inefficiency of firms. Much of the focus is on semiparametric and nonparametric estimators that allow for a highly flexible specification of the function that relates input combinations to output quantities. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

This study presents a new firm- and project-level dataset containing data on over two million projects co-funded by the EU structural and cohesion funds in 25 EU member states during the programming period 2007-2013. Information on individual beneficiary firms and institutions is linked with business data of Bureau van Dijk's ORBIS database. Moreover, text mining techniques are applied to categorise the EU cohesion policy projects into fifteen thematic categories. Stylised facts reveal substantial regional heterogeneity in the distribution of funds to certain projects and beneficiaries (with respect to their size or industry). Furthermore, regional funds distribution differs across less developed and higher-income as well as urban and rural regions. In an econometric analysis, we control for project and firm characteristics that we expect to determine the single project's value, which is confirmed by the results. Nevertheless, there remains unexplained variation in individual project volumes, which differs systematically across countries.