This thesis provides the analysis of the glass production company BAKU GLASS LLC located in the Republic of Azerbaijan, and proposes a possible expansion strategy that will enhance its international presence abroad. More specifically, it has been demonstrated in the thesis that Georgian glass market has a certain potential taking into account its fast growing economic growth and other areas of the economy. For this purpose, a thorough analysis of the most important sectors that include environmental study of the glass industry in Georgia was carried out. As a result the joint venture with the local firm has been chosen as the most suitable mode of entry to this market. I consider my work to be very helpful in understanding all the necessary areas and fields in the glass industry as such. Moreover, I created and described international expansion proposal for Baku Glass based on the study of various literature related to the topic. To my mind the value added of my work is comprised from detailed analysis, knowledge and foremost the chance to see the company from inside, which is always the most important and valuable element.

This thesis deals with the process and management of the joint venture project from a theoretical point of view and subsequently analyzes particular international joint venture of two automobile companies - Spanish SEAT S.A. and Czech Skoda Auto Inc. - into the Volkswagen Group. The main goal of this thesis is to answer the question why the SEAT S.A. after the integration into the Volkswagen Group did not become as successful as Skoda Auto achieved to be.

Depuis quelques années, on assiste au grand retour de la Chine en Afrique. Pour promouvoir un nouveau partenariat économique, la chine a mis en place le forum bilatéral sur la coopération Chine-Afrique qui s’est tenu pour la première édition à Pékin en 2000 et a regroupé Chefs d’Etat et hommes d’affaires. Ce forum qui est un modèle de développement commercial s’inscrit dans la logique du Livre Blanc sur la politique africaine de la Chine publié en Janvier 2006 et qui révèle que la Chine travaille à l’établissement et au développement d’un nouveau type de partenariat stratégique caractérisé par l’égalité et la confiance mutuelle dans un esprit « gagnant - gagnant » sur le plan économique et surtout pétrolier. Le continent noir notamment au sud du Sahara, qui possède 9,4% des réserves mondiales de pétrole, soit un potentiel comparable à celui de l’Irak, assure aujourd’hui 11,4% de la production de pétrole. Ainsi, le continent Africain apparaît comme une terre providentielle pour les entreprises chinoises avec des opportunités d’investissements considérées comme la réalisation des projets de prospection par le biais de joint-ventures. Cependant, il a été constaté que les contrats pétroliers entre les entreprises chinoises et les Etats africains sont déséquilibrés. Trois raisons peuvent l’expliquer : d’abord parce que les Etats africains sont économiquement fragiles, ensuite ils souvent en délicatesse avec les institutions internationales et ont donc besoin d’appui de grandes puissances, dont la Chine, enfin ces Etats sont faibles, avec des cadres moins formés à la négociation des contrats pétroliers. Ce qui laisse croire que ces contrats sont léonins, dont la nature juridique n’est pas celle des contrats d’Etat pour absence de principe pact sunt servanda. Toutefois, pour attirer les investissements étrangers, les Etats africains octroient des avantages et des garanties immenses aux investisseurs étrangers, acceptent la stabilité et l’intangibilité du contrat, sont favorables à l’arbitrage international et à la dénationalisation du contrat. Malheureusement, l’argent issu des contrats pétroliers ne permettent pas le développement des Etats au point d’alimenter des conflits internes. Au point où la responsabilité des compagnies pétrolières est difficilement mise en cause, même lorsqu’il s’agit des questions de développement durable ou de protection des populations locales autour des sites pétroliers / In recent years, we have witnessed the great return of China to Africa. To promote a new economic partnership, China set up the bilateral forum on China-Africa cooperation held for the first edition in Beijing in 2000 and brought together Heads of State and businessmen. This forum, which is a model of commercial development, is in line with the White Paper on China's African Policy, published in January 2006, which reveals that China is working on the establishment and development of a new type of partnership. characterized by equality and mutual trust in a 'win - win' spirit at the economic and especially the oil level. The black continent especially south of the Sahara, which has 9.4% of the world's oil reserves, a potential comparable to that of Iraq, now accounts for 11.4% of oil production. Thus, the African continent appears as a providential land for Chinese companies with investment opportunities considered as the realization of prospecting projects through joint ventures. However, it has been found that oil contracts between Chinese companies and African states are unbalanced. Three reasons can explain it: firstly because the African states are economically fragile, then they often in delicacy with the international institutions and thus need the support of great powers, of which China, finally these states are weak, with executives less trained to negotiate oil contracts. This suggests that these contracts are leonine, whose legal nature is not that of state contracts for lack of principle pact sunt servanda. However, in order to attract foreign investment, African states grant immense benefits and guarantees to foreign investors, accept the stability and inviolability of the contract, favor international arbitration and denationalization of the contract. Unfortunately, money from oil contracts does not allow the development of states to the point of fueling internal conflicts. At the point where the responsibility of oil companies is difficult to question, even when it comes to issues of sustainable development or protection of local populations around oil sites

Utilising internship evaluation forms of students from different majors, who were attending two universities in the USA, and Portugal, this research sought to assess relevant abilities, skills, and attitudes impacting the job performance of these students during their internships. Based on the evaluations analysed, it appears that executives of business organisations tended to value other non-technical aspects of performance, rather than merely the technical aspects. The implications and recommendations of this research to business education, and the business community are presented in the form of two conceptual frameworks. The frameworks are designed to promote win-win relationships, which enhance the employability of business graduates. The proposed frameworks stress the consistency, and the systematic approach to the business-like educational model.

The changing and highly competitive job market is putting pressure on both the private and public sectors to maintain and prepare an educated and well-trained human resource. In this context, a well-integrated educational and training strategy must be formulated and implemented, jointly, by the public and private sectors. This study presents the effort of Portugal in this direction. It emphasises a process orientation to achieve the goal of upgrading the educational skills of Portuguese employees, part of whom are entrepreneurs. For the purpose of this study cluster analysis, regression analysis and the important performance analysis were used. Based on the findings, the implications of the cooperation between the public and private sectors are discussed and a conceptual framework to aid policymakers, decision makers, and future researchers is offered. The benchmarking implications of this process are underscored.

Die vorliegende Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit der Bedeutung der weichen Erfolgsfaktoren im Management der chinesisch-deutschen Joint Ventures in China. Im Mittelpunkt dieser Arbeit steht die Hybridisierung der Joint Venture-Kultur und deren Einfluss auf das Joint Venture-Management. Ziel der Arbeit ist es, ein umfassendes Bild des interkulturellen Managements in chinesisch-deutschen Joint Ventures zu liefern und die Charakteristika der neu generierten Manage-mentkultur in den sechs Bereichen Führungsstil, Motivations-, Kommunikations-, Beziehungs- und Planungs- sowie Produktionsmanagement zu beschreiben. Es werden theoretische Ansätze aus den Bereichen Joint Venture-Management, Kulturdimensionen und Interkulturellem Management vorgestellt, auf deren Basis anschließend eine qualitative Untersuchung durchgeführt wird. Hierbei werden u.a. Leitfaden- und Experteninterviews mit Hilfe eines halbstandardisierten Fragebogens in der empirischen Forschung eingesetzt. Die Untersuchung ergab, dass die chinesische und deutsche Kultur in Managementbereichen asymmetrisch vertreten sind. Die eng mit Personen und Verhalten verbundenen Managementbereiche werden überwiegend durch die chinesische Kultur beeinflusst, während die technischen Bereiche wie z.B. Produktion und Qualitätskontrolle eher durch die deutschen kulturellen Charakteristika bestimmt werden. Die Joint Venture-Kultur und der damit verbundene Managementstil weisen im Ganzen wie im Einzelnen eine deutlich erkennbare hybride Struktur auf. Diese im Joint Venture generierte Interkultur beinhaltet zentrale Kulturelemente beider Seiten.

This study aims to explore the various factors that influence the international joint venture (IJV) parent firms to use a specific control mechanism in an emerging market (EM). The study adopted a single case study design involving an IJV between a Nigerian firm as the local partner and a Chinese firm as the foreign partner. Data was collected through twenty semi structured interviews from both the parent firms and the IJV; and complemented by observations of the IJV activities, relevant information from newspapers; magazines; company brochures and newsletters; and website of the parent firms, IJV and the government regulating body. The study revealed that the design of formal and social control is influenced by a range of factors identified in the literature. This includes resource contribution and bargaining power, previous experience of the IJV managers, knowledge transfer, trust-building, environmental uncertainty, and institutional forces. In contrast to findings from existing studies, this study also reveals that a combination of factors can influence the use of a particular control mechanism. By examining the types of control exercised by each partner and the antecedent of each control type, this study complements prior research by incorporating insights from transaction cost theory, resource dependency theory, social exchange theory, institutional theory and organisational lerning perspective to provide a more integrative explanation of IJV control design. Specifically, it explains how one partner develops certain types of formal and social control according to its individual resource contribution and dependency and can adjust controls to achieve its various objectives.

Due to the nature of globalization, new strategies have been designed to break into new markets. Joint Venture is a common strategy to enter new markets and by using a Joint Venture, companies share risks and establish new contacts with local knowledge. Brazil is a market where foreign investors gain more and more interest. Brazil's economy is growing fast and made well during the global financial crisis. The middle class in Brazil is constantly growing and for the first time, poverty is not a majority in Brazil.In an International Joint Venture (IJV), it is usually a foreign company establishing a partnership with a local company. Often, IJVs fail because companies have problems collaborating, depending on different variables. In this thesis, we chose to analyze the cultural barriers in a Brazilian-Swedish IJV on the Brazilian market. The purpose of this thesis is to gain an understanding and describe cultural barriers in an IJV partnership, and high-light those to increase the chances for successful IJVs between Brazilian and Swedish companies in the future.This thesis is qualitative, with an abductive approach, in order to gain a deeper and better understanding of experienced barriers. We have chosen to see culture from both a national and an organizational perspective as earlier research has showed that national culture affects the organizational culture within an IJV. Using Hofstede's (1991) four dimensions of national culture as a supplement to Wilson’s (2001) four factors influencing the organizational culture, we have conducted four interviews in two Swedish-Brazilian IJV companies located in São Paulo, Brazil. The companies we have chosen to interview have been small or medium-sized manufacturing. Interviews were conducted face-to-face in a comfortable environment for all respondents. In our analysis, we used matrices to make it easier to see what differences and/or similarities there are between the case-companies.Results of this study, demonstrate that the experiences from the two case-studies are well in line with each other. The organizational structure in Brazil has been perceived as more hierarchical than the Swedish vertical and more open structure. This in turn, has strengthened the differences in communication between managers and employees, which been perceived as more top-down in Brazil than in Sweden. Our conclusion is that cultural barriers have been perceived, in the perception of the leaders’ expected behavior, language barriers, differences in planning and management of uncertain situations, Brazil's more family-oriented society and close relationship between private life and work in the Brazilian market.Several of these barriers have been experienced during the early start-up of an IJV, something we believe increases the importance of being well prepared for cultural barriers that may arise. The importance of an agreement upon the structure and policies at the company at an early stage is crucial, to reduce future possible conflicts. Show mutual respect and understanding for one's partners’ culture and experienced cultural barriers, use these to avoid any negative effects, and instead create a positive impact for the IJV. / Minor Field Study

De nos jours de plus en plus de joint-ventures apparaissent. Cette forme de coopération peut être sous certaines conditions un espace d'apprentissage et de transfert de connaissances entre les entreprises mères. Pourtant, le transfert de connaissances dans le cadre d'une joint-venture demeure encore un domaine peu connu. La présente recherche s'est proposé d'explorer le phénomène de transfert de onnaissances dans le cadre d'une joint-venture. A travers cette thèse on propose une vision originale et riche en précisant la nature et la dynamique d'une relation triale (entreprises mères et joint-venture). Les résultats de la recherche ont montré, tout d'abord, que la réussite de transfert dépend de la qualité des contributions de l'entreprise mère étrangère, de l'entreprise mère locale et de la joint-venture. Ensuite, la relation informelle entre les décideurs est apparue comme un facteur facilitateur du transfert de connaissances. Enfin, nous avons pu identifier des facteurs déterminants du transfert de connaissances de l'entreprise mère étrangère vers la joint-venture, de l'entreprise mère locale vers la joint-venture et de la joint-venture vers les entreprises mères. Les facteurs suivants : la confiance mutuelle, la performance de la joint-venture, la qualité des contributions, l'équilibre du pouvoir de négociation, la compatibilité stratégique et la compatibilité culturelle sont des facteurs déterminants dans les trois processus de transfert de connaissances. Autant les entreprises mères que la joint-venture doivent les prendre en compte en vue de mieux réussir le transfert de connaissances.

Syftet med denna studie har varit att undersöka de multinationella företagens ”tvingande joint venture-avtal” med de kinesiska tillverkarna, och hur det påverkar teknologisk överföring. Som metod för att samla in information valde uppsatsförfattaren att genomföra kvalitativa intervjuer, vilka var semi-strukturerade. Genom ett icke-sannolikhetsurval valdes tre företag ut för att delta i studien. Studiens slutsatser tyder på förutsatt att den kinesiska regeringens krav på joint venture-avtal reviderades eller helt slopades och de multinationella fordonstillverkarna därmed fick valfri möjlighet till FDI, då skulle det leda till att färre företag ingår joint ventures med kinesiska tillverkare. Dessutom ökar incitamenten för de multinationella företagen att överföra teknologier till den kinesiska fordonsindustrin om de har möjligheten att fritt bestämma FDI, däremot är det ingen garanti för mer effektiva teknologier. Företagen överför endast teknologier och produkter som den kinesiska marknaden efterfrågar och är beredd att betala för. Multinationella företag kan inte implementera de mest avancerade teknologierna i fordon ämnade för den kinesiska marknaden på grund av bristande kvalitet på färdbränsle. Enligt de multinationella företagen krävs det därför hårdare och mer strikta regleringar från den kinesiska regeringens sida när det gäller kvaliteten på bränsle. Denna studie har bidragit med kunskap om hur joint venture-avtalen inom just den kinesiska fordonsindustrin påverkar den teknologiska överföringen utifrån de multinationella företagens perspektiv. Framförallt belyser studien betydelsen av relationskvalitet, tillit och absorptionsförmåga i samband med teknologisk överföring. Förutsatt att kraven på joint venture antingen revideras eller helt slopas i framtiden skulle det vara intressant att genomföra en liknande studie och således jämföra omfattningen på teknologisk överföring innan och efter de eventuella lagändringarna. Det vill säga  hur effekterna av valfri FDI för multinationella företag i själva verket påverkar teknologisk överföring. Ytterligare förslag på framtida forskning är att genomföra en liknande studie men utifrån ett mer djupgående samhällsperspektiv. / The purpose of this study was to investigate the multinational corporations “mandatory joint venture agreement" with the Chinese manufacturers, and how it affects technology transfer. The researcher chose to conduct qualitative interviews which were semi-structured, as a method to collect information. Through a non-probability sample, three companies were selected to participate in the study. The study's findings suggest that if the Chinese government's demands on the joint venture agreement was revised or completely abolished, and the multinational vehicle manufacturers got free choice of FDI, then it will lead to fewer companies which will establish joint ventures with Chinese manufacturers. It would also increase the incentives for multinationals to transfer technologies to the Chinese automotive industry. However, it is not a guarantee for more efficient technologies, because the multinationals only transfer technologies and products that the Chinese market demands and is willing to pay for. Multinational companies can not implement the most advanced technologies in the vehicles destined for the Chinese market due to the lack of quality of the fuel. According to the multinationals, they require harder and stricter regulations by the Chinese government, when it comes to the quality of the fuel. This study has contributed with knowledge about how the joint-venture agreements in the Chinese automotive affect the technological transfer, based on the multinational corporations’ perspective. In particular, the study highlights the importance of relationship quality, trust and absorptive capacity in the context of technology transfer. Provided the requirements for joint ventures either were revised or abolished in the future, it would be interesting to conduct a similar study and thus compare the extent of technology transfer before and after any legislative changes. Additional suggestions for future research is to conduct a similar study but from a more profound societal perspective.