Today organizations are facing different kinds of challenges as they are operating in a dynamic global market. Due to the lack of proper knowledge and skill in management, shortage of capital, weak infrastructure etc. the challenge is more intensive for organizations situated in developing countries like Ethiopia. Therefore, such organizations have to seek for alternative ways to improve their business activities in order to compete in the global market. Supply Chain Management (SCM) is one of the most effective ways that many organizations like Wall-Mart have managed to achieve best organizational performance. In the Ethiopian business context, especially in Basic Metal and Engineering Industries (BMEIs), the concept of SCM should be well understood and practiced because these industries are the backbone of other growing industries in the country. The basic objectives of this research are (1) to assess the level of implementation of SCM practices in Ethiopian BMEIs, and (2) to analyze the relationship between SCM practices and organizational performance in the same industries.

<p> </p><p>Since the 1990s and the Swedish membership in the European Union in 1995, the presence of Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) has increased radically in the Swedish economy. The objective with this study is to analyze MNEs effects in different regions within the Swedish manufacturing industry in terms of productivity. Is a region with more MNEs, more pro-ductive than a region with a lower share of MNEs? The theory claims that productivity spillovers of MNEs occurs through three channels namely, via R&D, increased competi-tion and transmission of technology. By observing 81 regions which consists of all 290 municipals in Sweden and taking the average value of productivity and the explanatory variables trough 1997-2004, a cross-sectional analysis is conducted. The results evidently showed signs of productivity spillovers of MNEs on local firms in the manufacturing in-dustry. Findings suggest that (1) a regions with higher share of MNEs did face a higher re-gional productivity. However the spillovers was not successfully absorbed by regions with a industry structure that was not dominated by a the manufacturing industry. (2) Larger re-gions, in terms of population, tend to show a lower productivity level compared to the av-erage levels of the rest of the regions, since their structure was dominated by the service sector. (3) Regions with small technological difference compared to the MNEs, tends to hold the skills and knowledge needed to efficiently exploit the productivity spillovers, hence MNEs influence on regional productivity was greater in these regions than regions with a lower level of technical capability.</p><p> </p>

<p><strong>Introduction:</strong> Research has shown that family firms play an important role in modern economies and that they maintain special characteristics and features in comparison to non-family businesses. Furthermore, it is evident in literature and practice that internationalization is a crucial process and strategy in the present global business environment.</p><p><strong>Problem:</strong> These findings however, have not led to a family business internationalization strategy. Only some studies have been conducted concerning the influence of the special features of family firms on the process of internationalization. This means that there is a gap between theory and practice.</p><p><strong>Purpose:</strong> To increase the academic understanding of the phenomenon internationalization of family businesses, through the use of both theoretical and empirical findings.</p><p><strong>Research questions:</strong> This study attempted to fulfill the purpose by providing answers to several research questions. The main research questions are: What is the current state of knowledge about internationalization, family business features and previous research in internationalization of family firms? How do the family business features theoretically influence the internationalization process? How do the family business features empirically influence the internationalization process? What are the theoretical contributions and practical managerial implications of these findings?</p><p><strong>Method:</strong> A solid literature research has been conducted in order to determine the theoretical influences of family business features on internationalization. The empirical testing of the expectations was conducted through a qualitative approach by taking personal interviews at eight companies, four in The Netherlands and four in Sweden, and studying secondary documentation.</p><p><strong>Findings:</strong> The study shows that it is difficult to decisively determine the either facilitating or constraining influence of family business features on internationalization. The results show that the 23 features which have been studied in the sample are facilitating or constraining under certain conditions (see table 5, p. 108). This implies that managers, researchers and consultants will be required to study these conditions first in order to determine the facilitating or constraining effects in a company. In addition, a model has been constructed illustrating the empirical findings concerning the internationalization process (see figure 8, p.112). Finally, concerning internationalization theories, it is determined that family businesses tend to use the Network approach in starting their internationalization process, the Stage approaches in further developing the international operations and support their process through the Resource-based view and the Knowledge-based view.</p>

Today organizations are facing different kinds of challenges as they are operating in a dynamic global market. Due to the lack of proper knowledge and skill in management, shortage of capital, weak infrastructure etc. the challenge is more intensive for organizations situated in developing countries like Ethiopia. Therefore, such organizations have to seek for alternative ways to improve their business activities in order to compete in the global market. Supply Chain Management (SCM) is one of the most effective ways that many organizations like Wall-Mart have managed to achieve best organizational performance. In the Ethiopian business context, especially in Basic Metal and Engineering Industries (BMEIs), the concept of SCM should be well understood and practiced because these industries are the backbone of other growing industries in the country. The basic objectives of this research are (1) to assess the level of implementation of SCM practices in Ethiopian BMEIs, and (2) to analyze the relationship between SCM practices and organizational performance in the same industries.

The focus of this thesis is on the precast concrete products manufacturing industry, which as one of the labour-intensive industries requires a substantial number of highly skilled operators in terms of crews to produce the final product. A crew is a group of multi-skilled chargehands and operators that have various skills and experience necessary to conduct an activity in a professional way. The high cost of skilled operators and the apparent inefficiencies of utilising such skilled operators in the industry are the major driving force. To achieve this, optimal crew allocation is required. Crew allocation is complex because of the multi-criteria nature of the problem and availability of thousands of possibilities and allocation alternatives. There is a gap in previous research efforts associated with crew allocation planning in the precast industry. Current practices suggest that the crew allocation process is carried out intuitively and the allocation of crews to production processes is subjective. This has led to high process-waiting times, improper allocation of skilled operators and ultimately higher production costs. In this context, the aim of this research is to propose an effective crew allocation methodology and a computer-based intelligent simulation model for its implementation. The objective of the approach is to guarantee a better workflow through minimising process-waiting time, optimising operator utilisation, and subsequently reducing the allocation cost. This research develops a holistic and integrated methodology for modelling crew allocation problems by reviewing state-of-art resource allocation techniques, structured interviews with production managers, site visits and a detailed case study. The methodology is developed using an IDEF0 process model and a generic process map for both the business and the production processes of the precast manufacturing system. A multi-layered genetic algorithm model is developed in conjunction with a process-simulation model to form a hybrid allocation system dubbed ‘SIM_Crew’. The model incorporates databases (Excel and MS Access), a simulation model (developed using Arena 12.0) and genetic algorithms (developed using Visual Basic for Applications) to facilitate the generation and evaluation of various “what-if” crew allocation scenarios. A number of performance criteria have been developed to evaluate the allocation plans. ‘SIM_Crew’ enables the investigation and analysis of allocating possible schedules and provides a facility to visualise the production processes. ‘SIM_Crew’ was validated using real life case study data and it was concluded that the allocation of crews to precast processes using genetic algorithm improves the throughput time and reduces the allocation cost as compared with real life production data. It is anticipated that future use of this research will solve the crew allocation problem in the precast industry.

Over the last decades the concept of eco-innovation has increased its relevance among academics, practitioners and policy makers. The majority of prior literature has concerned eco-innovations and their drivers. Research concerning the barriers to eco-innovation is however scarce, especially among large companies. The purpose with this thesis is therefore to extract further information regarding the field of the barriers to eco-innovation. The aim is to contribute with enhanced knowledge and expand the current literature, as focus is placed on large companies and their barriers. This has been done by implementing a qualitative approach. Twelve semi-structured interviews have been performed with respondents in nine large Swedish manufacturing companies. Secondary data has also been collected in order to triangulate the primary data. The findings show that the main barriers for the large companies to be eco-innovative are related to the awareness in the organization, the quality requirements for the products and production process as well as the regulations affecting the company.

Background: There is a growing consensus that our world is facing substantial global challenges which can have devastating consequences for both planet and people. The call for change is clear and to shift the unsustainable trends, there must be an involvement by everyone, including business. However, there is a high risk of change initiative’s failure and one of the main reasons have considered to be employee resistance. One solution to change resistance is suggested to be change readiness, which has not received as much academic attention. The question that remains is how businesses, which account for major negative impacts on both planet and people, can create change readiness.    Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to explore how change readiness is created in the context of changes initiated to develop more sustainable businesses.   Method: This thesis is a qualitative study with an exploratory nature where 21 interviews, representing 13 companies were conducted in order to collect the empirical data. Further, this thesis involves a comparative study of multiple case studies. Conclusion: The findings show that businesses are creating readiness for change towards becoming more sustainable by establishing various components including discrepancy, appropriateness, efficacy, principal support, personal valence and the affective component. These components are conveyed through the accompanying strategies, persuasive communication and active participation. Furthermore, education was found to be a strong influencer of change readiness for sustainable development. Nevertheless, change readiness as a concept is not consciously used by any of the companies represented in this thesis.

Background: The existing literature addresses the emerge of sustainability issues being one of the main concerns in organizations’ supply chains. Constantly growing environmental, social, and ethical concerns have increased the pressure of organizations to adopt sustainable business practices into their operations. Purpose: The aim of the study was to examine the current status of sustainability of supply chains and how it is measured. The goal of this study is to answer the research question: How organizations measure their sustainable supply chain performance with Key Performance Indicators? Method: To comprehensively answer the research question, a qualitative research approach was chosen, and the primary empirical data was collected through semi-structured interviews. Sufficient data was also gathered from companies’ websites and annual reports which is complimentary for data gathered from interviews. For data analysis, an abductive approach was followed. Conclusion: The results show that the sustainability in manufacturing industry is a growing trend. Commonly used Key Performance Indicators in manufacturing industry were identified and comparison was made between three companies, to finally find out how performance measurement is carried out in manufacturing companies.

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to enhance the understanding of how to successfully collaborate on digital platforms in the manufacturing industry by developing a contingency framework. To fulfill this purpose, the following research questions were derived: RQ1: Which challenges arise when collaborating on digital platforms in the manufacturing industry? and RQ2: How can collaboration challenges on digital platforms in the manufacturing industry be managed? Method – The study was conducted as an explorative, inductive single case study of a digital platform. More specifically, the study examined the development process of a digital twin platform created by a large high-technological company and its collaborative actors. In total, 21 interviews were conducted at eight different companies. The respondents all had experience of digital twin platforms, where some were working with digital twins sporadically and others on a daily basis. The data were analyzed through a thematic analysis. Findings – The analysis reveals that actors on digital platforms can face five types of challenges that hinder a successful collaboration: disadvantages of dependency, uncertainty regarding data management, varying customer needs, insufficient work methods, and unsuitable payment models. The analysis also reveals four strategies that can be used to address the challenges: transparency strategy, incentive model strategy, servitization strategy, and control strategy. Moreover, these findings are summarized in a contingency framework that explains which types of challenges that can be addressed with which strategies based on the specific prerequisites of each collaboration. Theoretical and practical implications – The study extends the digital platform literature by providing empirical evidence for several collaboration challenges among the actors on a digital platform, which has previously bee not been studied. Additionally, the study provides evidence of how these challenges can be addressed. Our framework helps manufacturing companies to successfully adopt digital platforms by providing managers with the tools to handle the required collaboration. Limitations and further research – The study is limited by a single case study of a specific digital platform. Thus, to extend the findings, further research that examines other contexts are recommended. Moreover, the establishment of the studied platform is currently in an early phase which limits the study to hypothetical challenges and management methods. To validate the findings, further research that examines a fully developed and implemented platform is recommended.

Este trabalho estimou a produtividade total dos fatores (PTF) para a indústria de transformação brasileira no período de 2003 a 2012, utilizando-se de uma função translog e um modelo de fronteira estocástica. Os dados em painel originam-se da Pesquisa Industrial Anual do IBGE. O objetivo principal foi analisar a variação da PTF, decomposta em progresso técnico, eficiência técnica, efeito escala, eficiência alocativa e choques aleatórios. As conclusões revelam crescimento negativo da PTF para o conjunto das atividades industriais ao longo do período e para as atividades de alta, média alta e média baixa intensidades tecnológicas. Somente as atividades de baixa intensidade tecnológica apresentaram variação positiva na PTF. O progresso técnico foi o componente que mais contribuiu para a queda na PTF. / This study estimated the total factor productivity (TFP) for Brazilian manufacturing industry from 2003 to 2012, using a translog function and stochastic frontier model. The panel data originate from the Pesquisa Industrial Anual of IBGE. The main objective was to analyze the variation of TFP, decomposed into technical progress, technical efficiency, scale effect, allocative efficiency and random shocks. Results reveal negative TFP growth for the group of industrial activities over the period and to the high activity, upper middle and lower middle technological intensity. Only low technology activities had positive change in TFP. Technical progress was the component that contributed most to the fall in TFP.