Introduction Industry 4.0 is rapidly approaching the manufacturing industry and are generating multiple challenges for the companies to overcome. Simultaneously, the customer demand is changing towards customisation and the industry requires new technology within the production system development to remain competitive. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis is to develop a framework and assess the maturity towards Industry 4.0 and to provide guidance for further advancement. The following two research questions were defined and answered to guide the authors: ~        RQ1: What dimensions should be considered when assessing the maturity of Industry 4.0? ~        RQ2: How could the maturity assessment of Industry 4.0 be performed?    Methodology A literature review was performed to attain previous results within the area of creating and performing maturity assessment. Further, a multiple case study was performed at a selection of case companies where semi-structured interviews, workshop and observations were used to collect empirical data. The analysis has been performed through a cross case analysis for evaluating patterns between the frame of reference and empirical findings. Frame of Reference The literature review increased the authors understanding of how a maturity assessment model functions and which parameters that creates the foundation. The review mainly focused on what set of dimensions and how many levels that can be used in relation to assess a production system. Empirical Findings The empirical findings provide an overview of the current state of production within each case company. Aspects regarding a transition towards Industry 4.0 is elaborated based on process, technology and people aspects. Analysis and Discussion The synthesis between Frame of Reference and Empirical findings contribute with important dimensions to consider when assessing the maturity model. This thesis has decided to conclude the dimensions into three headings consisting of process, technology and people.  A second contribution is a framework for a maturity assessment towards Industry 4.0, where five levels are defined for each dimension. A concluded picture visualises the case companies’ mean maturity level within each dimension of process, technology and people. Conclusions and Recommendations Provided by the maturity assessment, an initiative towards Industry 4.0 exist within the case companies, although major challenges of defining the concept of Industry 4.0 and a lack of competence is highlighted. Future recommendations are to perform a similar study with more depth into the investigations within each case company to validate the maturity assessment towards Industry 4.0 within each case company.

Submitted by Biblioteca Digital de Teses e Dissertações (sdi@ucb.br) on 2018-11-08T17:02:24Z No. of bitstreams: 1 FernandoAmaraldeAguiarDissertacao2018.pdf: 613142 bytes, checksum: ca63fd03e438b9af6ede8dbd384e42aa (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Biblioteca Digital de Teses e Dissertações (sdi@ucb.br) on 2018-11-08T17:03:16Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 FernandoAmaraldeAguiarDissertacao2018.pdf: 613142 bytes, checksum: ca63fd03e438b9af6ede8dbd384e42aa (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-11-08T17:03:16Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 FernandoAmaraldeAguiarDissertacao2018.pdf: 613142 bytes, checksum: ca63fd03e438b9af6ede8dbd384e42aa (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-07-31 / Studies on the impact of technological innovation on the economy have spread through the literature. A specific field seeks to understand the advantages that a company or an industry has in deciding to produce technology internally or to buy it from third parties and to apply to existing processes. This paper reproduces the study by Cassiman and Veugelers (2006) and questions whether there is complementarity in the innovative process of the transformation industry in Brazil. The goal is to understand if the results found by the Belgian authors would be similar or different to Brazil, given the peculiarities of the Brazilian innovation sector. The evidence suggests that it is more advantageous for the transformation industry to buy technology rather than to invest in the creation of innovations within the sector. Therefore, the innovative process lacks complementarity. A possible explanation for this finding regards some particularities of Brazil, such as low labor productivity, excessive bureaucracy, low protection of intellectual property, but further investigation is necessary to distinguish the effects of those variables. This work is a pioneer in this topic for Brazil, and, for such reason, it does not exhaust the possibilities of inclusion of variables in the proposed models. The goal here is to introduce the subject and to raise discussions. / Estudos relacionados ao impacto da inovação tecnológica na economia têm tomado cada vez mais espaço na literatura. Um campo específico busca compreender as vantagens que possui uma empresa ou um setor ao decidir produzir tecnologia internamente ou comprá-la de terceiros para aplicar nos processos já existentes. Este trabalho reproduz o artigo de Cassiman e Veugelers (2006) e busca entender se existe complementariedade no processo inovativo da indústria de transformação no Brasil. O objetivo é compreender se, dadas as peculiaridades do setor inovativo brasileiro, os resultados obtidos seriam semelhantes ou distintos daqueles encontrados no artigo dos autores belgas. Conclui-se que é mais vantajoso para a indústria de transformação comprar tecnologia pronta ao invés de investir na criação de inovações internas, não existindo, portanto, complementariedade no processo inovativo. Particularidades do caso brasileiro poderiam explicar tais resultados, a exemplo de baixa produtividade da mão de obra, intensa burocracia, baixa proteção da propriedade intelectual. Contudo novos estudos são necessários para se determinar os efeitos de cada uma dessas variáveis, etc. Este trabalho é pioneiro neste tema para o Brasil, e, por este motivo, não exaure as possibilidades de inclusão de variáveis nos modelos propostos. O objetivo é introduzir o assunto e suscitar discussões relacionadas ao tema.

Submitted by Sara Ribeiro (sara.ribeiro@ucb.br) on 2018-11-29T17:59:35Z No. of bitstreams: 1 FernandoAmaraldeAguiarDissertacao2018.pdf: 613142 bytes, checksum: ca63fd03e438b9af6ede8dbd384e42aa (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Sara Ribeiro (sara.ribeiro@ucb.br) on 2018-11-29T17:59:50Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 FernandoAmaraldeAguiarDissertacao2018.pdf: 613142 bytes, checksum: ca63fd03e438b9af6ede8dbd384e42aa (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-11-29T17:59:50Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 FernandoAmaraldeAguiarDissertacao2018.pdf: 613142 bytes, checksum: ca63fd03e438b9af6ede8dbd384e42aa (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-07-31 / Studies on the impact of technological innovation on the economy have spread through the literature. A specific field seeks to understand the advantages that a company or an industry has in deciding to produce technology internally or to buy it from third parties and to apply to existing processes. This paper reproduces the study by Cassiman and Veugelers (2006) and questions whether there is complementarity in the innovative process of the transformation industry in Brazil. The goal is to understand if the results found by the Belgian authors would be similar or different to Brazil, given the peculiarities of the Brazilian innovation sector. The evidence suggests that it is more advantageous for the transformation industry to buy technology rather than to invest in the creation of innovations within the sector. Therefore, the innovative process lacks complementarity. A possible explanation for this finding regards some particularities of Brazil, such as low labor productivity, excessive bureaucracy, low protection of intellectual property, but further investigation is necessary to distinguish the effects of those variables. This work is a pioneer in this topic for Brazil, and, for such reason, it does not exhaust the possibilities of inclusion of variables in the proposed models. The goal here is to introduce the subject and to raise discussions. / Estudos relacionados ao impacto da inovação tecnológica na economia têm tomado cada vez mais espaço na literatura. Um campo específico busca compreender as vantagens que possui uma empresa ou um setor ao decidir produzir tecnologia internamente ou comprá-la de terceiros para aplicar nos processos já existentes. Este trabalho reproduz o artigo de Cassiman e Veugelers (2006) e busca entender se existe complementariedade no processo inovativo da indústria de transformação no Brasil. O objetivo é compreender se, dadas as peculiaridades do setor inovativo brasileiro, os resultados obtidos seriam semelhantes ou distintos daqueles encontrados no artigo dos autores belgas. Conclui-se que é mais vantajoso para a indústria de transformação comprar tecnologia pronta ao invés de investir na criação de inovações internas, não existindo, portanto, complementariedade no processo inovativo. Particularidades do caso brasileiro poderiam explicar tais resultados, a exemplo de baixa produtividade da mão de obra, intensa burocracia, baixa proteção da propriedade intelectual. Contudo novos estudos são necessários para se determinar os efeitos de cada uma dessas variáveis, etc. Este trabalho é pioneiro neste tema para o Brasil, e, por este motivo, não exaure as possibilidades de inclusão de variáveis nos modelos propostos. O objetivo é introduzir o assunto e suscitar discussões relacionadas ao tema.

Purpose - The purpose of this master thesis is to enhance knowledge about how revenue models for smart, connected and integrated product-services come about. Thus, the author aim to primarily contribute to the revenue model literature with insights on processual characteristics and activities. Method – The thesis uses an exploratory single case-study approach, based on qualitative data gathered mainly from semi-structured interviews. In total six manufacturing companies and five experts within relevant areas were included in the study. Data were analyzed through an abductive analysis approach, and a combination of the Gioia Methodology and Thematic coding. Findings – The study’s main findings show that the process when designing revenue models for smart, connected and integrated product-services, is characterized by an iterative phase layout and a strong customer focus. Key activities include pilot project testing, continuous evaluations and an organizational transformation, beginning with some initial analyzes to continue with a stepwise implementation and rollout of a new integrated product-service offer. Research limitations/implications – This study is limited by the single case study approach, and the aim to merely develop theory, not practically test it. The study contributes to the revenue model literature by enhancing knowledge about the processual characteristics when developing revenue models. Also, the processual framework provides structure and guidance for management at mature manufacturing companies. Originality/value – The novel contribution of this study is a processual framework and enhanced knowledge about the design process in the so far scarcely explored area of revenue models for smart, connected and integrated product-services. Keywords - Revenue models; Servitization; Digitalization; Smart, connected products; Manufacturing industry Paper type - Master thesis

The focus of this study is to examine the factors that lead to growth in small firms in a Least Developed Country (LDC). The research is based on the manufacturing sector in Ghana. The main objectives of the research are to identify the key variables that lead to small firms' growth and to ascertain the critical barriers that impede growth. A research model which is developed out of an initial exploratory research and existing literature focuses on how the characteristics of the owner/manager, the characteristics of the firm and the business strategy variables interact to affect growth in employment. In addition factors that are perceived to have constrained the growth of the small firms during the study period are ascertained and discussed. To properly test the hypotheses developed a face to face interview survey involving 122 owner/managers of small manufacturing firms is conducted. This resulted in a range of variables that allowed for the construction of a comprehensive multivariate model of small firm growth. A resulting regression model provides about 68 percent of the explanation for the growth of the small firms sampled. It also indicates that the owner/manager characteristics variables offer the most powerful explanation to small firm growth. We find that the owner/manager's growth aspiration is the most influential factor in achieving growth. The other owner/manager characteristics variables that have positive influence on growth are level of education, prior industry experience and entrepreneurial family background. Owner/managers with local experience and/or with other business interests are less likely to achieve faster growth. Foreign owned/managed firms grow faster. Younger and smaller firms appear to grow faster. While firms with multiple ownerships tend to grow at a slower rate than firms owned and managed by one person. Business planning, marketing and export have positive and significant impacts on growth. Other business strategies such as innovations and staff training also have direct relationships with growth but not significant. Some of the main constraining factors to growth are cost of borrowing, lack of access to credit, high cost of inputs, lack of trust within the business community, high bureaucracy, late payments and lack of efficient support system. While the external environment plays important role in small firm growth and development, the behaviours, response and strategies pursued by individual owner/manager are significant factors that determine the rate at which a firm will grow. / Ghana Leasing Company Limited

Small and medium sized companies are important to the European economy and considered as the true backbone of the European economy, being primarily responsi-ble for wealth and economic growth. Further, the purchasing function of small and medium sized companies had become more and more important to firms within the creating of competitive advantages. Additional, former research emphasizes the need of companies to engage in closer relationships in order to survive in nowadays business environments. These three issues, - SMEs, its purchasing performance and the relationships the small and medium sized firms are engaged with are interrelated and therefore the essences of the thesis. The thesis is limited to the manufacturing industry due to the potential wide area of small and medium sized companies. The purpose of the thesis is to examine the purchasing practices of small and me-dium sized enterprises with a focus on strategic considerations and supplier relation-ships. The research project is developed with four single case studies. Participating companies were two small sized manufacturing companies and two medium sized manufac-turing companies, defined according to the definition of the European Commission. The study is built on a critical review of former literature and research findings within the purchasing area and the area of small and medium sized companies. The find-ings from literature review (frame of references) and the findings from the empirical study were connected in order to fulfill the purpose of the thesis as well as the developed research questions. In the analysis, the characteristics of SMEs purchasing process were outlined. Evi-dence for strategic consideration were found and the characteristics of the companies relationships where established. Small and medium sized enterprises have developed its purchasing performance po-sitively in the comparison to former research findings. By using business technology systems, strategic planning and deliberations and finally through building close and long-term relationships, manufacturing SMEs found a suitable ways to perform its purchasing activities successful and found its place in sophisticated supply chains.

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.

Introduction: 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. Problem: 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. Purpose: To increase the academic understanding of the phenomenon internationalization of family businesses, through the use of both theoretical and empirical findings. Research questions: 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? Method: 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. Findings: 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.

Revenue management is a concept aimed to maximize capacity utilization and through that maximize revenues. It originated in the airline industry in the 70’s and due to its effectiveness  quickly spread to other sectors of the service industry. Today it is used in several industries like hotels, television and radio broadcasters, and energy transition companies to name a few. Since revenue management was developed in and for the service industry, most studies on revenue management are done on the service industry, creating a rather large research cap. Recently this concept has spread to the manufacturing industry as well. Despite this, there is very limited research done on revenue management in the manufacturing industry. Therefore, this paper’s aim is to partially filling this research gap by studying capacity management and pricing strategies (two mechanisms of revenue management), and how they have been shaped when implemented in a manufacturing company. This paper was done with a case study done on a multinational manufacturing company, who recently implemented revenue management. Interviews were conducted with people in key positions with good insight to the usage of revenue management in this company. Some of the most important result was that in this manufacturing company it is not possible to nest capacity on a customer segment level. However, in this company nesting was done on a market level instead. Also the pricing strategy differed between the service industry theory and this company. Instead of having a dynamic price that changed the total price up or down to change demand, this company had more of a fixed total price, and instead added more features to the product, decreasing the profit margin. The conclusion was drawn that the industry characteristics of the manufacturing industry have forced a rather large modification of revenue management. However, since this was a qualitative case study, no generalizing conclusions for the entire manufacturing industry can be drawn.

The main purpose of this thesis is to study why the chosen case companies, Atlas Copco, Sandvik and Alfa Laval engage in CSR activities, with a secondary purpose of investigating how the aformentioned case companies has executed their engagement in CSR and what their present focus is. Our empirical findings suggest that the case companies have similar motives and approaches to CSR engagement. Whereas their main motivation for CSR engagement derives from a concern of legitimacy to their investor community, hence the case companies foremost emphasize an economic responsibility as a motivator and driver for their CSR agenda. In addition we have observed that all case companies use CSR reporting as the base-line for their CSR implementation, which our theoretical framework indicates is a systematic approach to mitigate risk and cost, as well as strengthen their reputation. Furthermore, we have observed that the case companies’ present concern in terms of their responsibility is focused on achieving a tighter implementation between a competitive business strategy and CSR activities as well as developing a better understanding of the increased complexity of social issues and human rights questions surrounding their widespread operations.