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.

本文研究重點為探討跨國公司對在地國之影響，分析與比較俄羅斯天然氣工業集團(Gazprom Group)在烏克蘭與白俄羅斯兩國之議價關係。 Gazprom為全球壟斷性天然氣公司，在2006年冬季俄、烏天然氣談判破局而發生歐洲大規模斷氣事件後，其對在地國的特殊影響力才逐漸成為各界熱烈討論之議題。一般而言，在全球化下的跨國公司研究多半聚焦在跨國公司的經濟影響力，然而Gazprom在母國政府的支持下，在全球市場上除了經濟面外，還對其他國家發揮著政治面向上的影響力，特別是在烏克蘭與白俄羅斯的例子上格外明顯。學界目前對於Gazprom的主流評論認為Gazprom為母國外交工具，然而追溯Gazprom、在地國與俄羅斯三方之天然氣關係背景，發現Gazprom在烏、白兩國之作為不能單純將Gazprom設想為「母國外交工具」，Gazprom與兩國之天然氣衝突是俄羅斯政府「外交目標」與Gazprom「商業獲利」考量下之綜合結果；以Gazprom為主體方向下思考，對Gazprom來說，俄羅斯政府是企業對在地國的「產業政策影響工具」，更正確地來說，Gazprom與俄羅斯政府是屬於互相為用的關係。 為破除既定「外交工具」思考方向，本文採議價能力衰減模型(Obsolescing Bargaining Model)作為基礎研究架構，以Gazprom為研究主體，突破以往傳統上單層議價模型中只論跨國公司與在地國之議價過程，加入母國政府與在地國政府之議價關係，分析俄與烏、白兩國政府議價結果與Gazprom影響力之關聯，以貼合本文案例實際研究需要。 / This paper examines the impact of multinational corporations (MNC) on host country, analyzes and compares the two cases in Ukraine and Belarus of bargaining relations between Gazprom Group and host governments. Gazprom is a global natural gas monopoly, after the breakup of gas negotiation between Russia and Ukraine and cut-off of Russian gas to Europe, its special impact on host country has attracted people of all the different circles to discuss it. In most cases of globalization researches on MNC’s role, people concentrate on the economic impact of MNC; however, with the support from home government, Gazprom has shown not only its economic power, but also its political impact on host country, especially on Ukraine and Belarus. Till now, the academic circle has seen Gazprom as an instrument of Russian foreign policy, but after tracing back the historical background of gas relations between Gazprom, host country, and Russia, we can figure out Gazprom can’t be simply regarded as the policy instrument, in fact, the Russia-Ukraine and Russia-Belarus gas disputes between are the complex of Russian foreign policy consideration and Gazprom commercial actions. For Gazprom, Russian government is an instrument as well to influence host country’s policy in gas sector. More correctly, Gazprom and Russian government use each other for their own purposes. To break through the existing “instrument of foreign policy” research direction, this paper uses obsolescing bargaining model as the basic framework, regarding Gazprom as the main subject, changing the traditional one-tier bargaining model into two-tier, including bargaining relationship between home government and host government, then analyzes the correlation between the governmental bargaining results and Gazprom’s bargaining power for the practical case study needs.

Depuis plus de trois décennies, l'un des aspects par lequel se manifeste la mondialisation est la mobilité internationale des firmes et des facteurs de production. L'interdépendance croissante des économies, qui résulte de l'expansion des échanges et du développement des mouvements des capitaux, est devenue incontournable. La mondialisation a donné lieu à la promotion du libéralisme économique, et au développement d'un processus mondialisé des activités, dans lesquels les IDE se font une place centrale, dans les politiques de développement des pays d'accueil. Qu'ils soient pays développés ou PED, ces derniers se livrent à une concurrence acerbe, pour l'attractivité des flux d'IDE sur leur territoire. Les FMN ont gagné une place centrale dans ce nouveau schéma. Après avoir suscité la méfiance et l'hostilité des gouvernements des PED, elles sont devenues une composante principale dans la stratégie de développement. Suivant leurs propres préoccupations (gains de productivité, sources d'approvisionnement, etc), les FMN établissent des stratégies dans une perspective internationale, et intègrent dans les activités leur responsabilité sociale et environnementale. Les IDE ont fait l'objet d'une forte controverse sur leurs potentialités à faire profiter les pays d'accueil des « spillovers ». Une inégale répartition des flux d'IDE, amène les PED à mettre en place des politiques d'attractivité ambitieuses (exonérations fiscales, subventions, etc.). L'Algérie a engagé, à l'instar d'autres PED, une série de réformes pour s'inscrire dans une nouvelle logique qui consacre les lois du marché et la libéralisation de l'économie touchant tous les secteurs d'activité. L'objectif de cette thèse est d'évaluer empiriquement les déterminants d'attractivité des IDE dans le modèle algérien, de la conduite de sa politique de promotion et de son évaluation. La qualité des institutions est bel et bien validée comme déterminant central dans la conduite de la politique d'attractivité de l'Algérie. La construction de la matrice d'attractivité a révélé que l'Algérie se place dans le cercle des « pays potentiels », qui pourraient figurer un jour dans la « short-list », à condition d'améliorer certaines composantes de leur attractivité. Des réformes cohérentes restent à faire pour une insertion effective dans l'économie internationale. / For over three decades, one aspect by which manifests globalization is the international mobility of firms and factors of production. Growing interdependence of economies resulting from the expansion of trade and development of capital movements has become unavoidable. Globalization has given rise to the promotion of economic liberalism, and development of a process of global activities in which FDI are central in the development policies of host countries. Whether developed or developing countries, these one are engaged in a bitter competition for FDI attractiveness of flux of FDI in their territory. The MNF has taken a central place in this new scheme. After arousing the suspicion and hostility of the governments of developing countries, they have become a key component in the strategy of development. Following their own concerns (productivity gains, exoneration, etc.), the MNF gone to research an international perspective, and integrate their activities in the social and environmental responsibility. The FDI has been subject of an important controversy over their potential to benefit the host countries of the "spillover". An unequal distribution of FDI, make the developing countries to take up an attractive ambitious policies (tax holidays, subsidies etc.). Algeria has committed, like other developing countries, a series of reforms to be part of a new logic that embodies the laws of the market and liberalization of the economy, affecting all sectors of activity. The objective of this thesis is to empirically assess the determinants of FDI attraction in the Algerian model, the conduct of its promotion policy and its evaluation. Quality of institutions is indeed well validated as a central determinant in the conduct of political attractiveness of Algeria. The construction of the matrix of attractiveness revealed that Algeria is located in the circle of ?potential countries", and that could one day appear in the "short list", provided certain components to improve their attractiveness. Consistent reforms are still needed for effective integration into the international economy.

This dissertation examines the role of government policies in attracting the foreign direct investment (FDI) to SADC countries. To achieve this, the study uses econometric, statistical, and thematic methods within a panel data context and explores means through which SADC countries can attract the FDI. The study covered a panel of 15 SADC countries over the period 1980–2018. FDI is associated with several benefits, particularly in the less developed countries for their investment purposes. However, these less developed countries – including SADC member countries – encounter challenges of attracting FDI despite having abundant natural resources and proposing various regulatory reforms to liberalise their economies. The empirical approach suggested several ways through which a country can attract FDI. The study found that FDI in SADC is not entirely driven by the presence of natural resources but by other determining factors such as the infrastructure development and economic growth, which proved to be paramount in attracting FDI. Therefore, the study recommends that SADC should not only adopt structural policy reforms that potentially improve trade openness, but also adopt strategic infrastructure development. / Business Management / M. Com. (Business Management)

<p>Transitioning to cloud computing is a complex and major effort for large multinational corporations (MNCs). Automated cloud migration tools (ACMTs) have been developed and are evolving to streamline this process. The potential benefits of their use are reported to be significant in terms of cost, time, and business innovation. Academic research on ACMTs and the best leadership practices for their use has been limited. </p><p> </p><p>The purpose of the research was to identify the best leadership practices of MNCs in the use of automated migration tools for the adoption of commercial cloud computing platforms. Adoption of cloud computing is a major technological shift occurring globally, and is still in early stages of growth. Major providers of commercial cloud computing platforms include technological giants such as Microsoft, Amazon Web Services, Google, Oracle and IBM.</p><p> </p><p>A meta-analysis designed research approach focusing on the triangulation of case studies, cloud computing industry data and trends from cloud service providers (CSP) revealed that best practices of leaders within MNCs fall under three main categories: awareness, impact and actions. Further, it was determined that the ACMTs with the most advanced capabilities do not necessarily equate to faster realization of cloud value for the MNC. </p><p> </p>With the continued development of ACMTs and their growing adoption, further study on the role of automation in cloud migration solution deployment will be critical, as ACMT capabilities will continue to mature. No longer the sole domain of becoming a market leader alone, organizations that utilize ACMTs are increasingly doing so just to maintain competitive parity, as the true differentiator in organizational excellence is now in cloud optimization and not simply just getting to the cloud.

Der ischämische Schlaganfall ist global eine der bedeutendsten Volkskrankheiten. Die derzeit verfügbaren kurativen Therapieoptionen werden vorrangig durch ein enges therapeutisches Zeitfenster limitiert. Ziel der aktuellen Schlaganfallforschung ist die Entwicklung von über dieses Zeitfenster hinaus wirksamen Therapien. Ein vielversprechender neuer Ansatz ist die experimentelle Behandlung mit humanen Nabelschnurblutzellen. Diese Arbeit erforscht das therapeutische Zeitfenster für die systemische Therapie des ischämischen Schlaganfalls mittels mononukleärer Nabelschnurblutzellen (hUCB MNC) in spontanhypertensiven Ratten nach permanentem Verschluss der Arteria cerebri media (pMCAO). Hierzu wurden die Therapiezeitpunkte 4, 24, 72, 120 Stunden und 14 Tage nach experimentellem Schlaganfall in einem komplexen Studiendesign inklusive neurofunktioneller Tests, magnetresonanztomographischer und immunhistochemischer Verfahren untersucht. In vitro wurde der Einfluss kokultivierter hUCB MNC auf Nekrose und Apoptose in neuralem Gewebe unter Sauerstoff-Glukose-Deprivation betrachtet. Die Studie ergab eine verbesserte funktionelle Rekonvaleszenz und eine geringere Ausprägung von Atrophie und Astroglianarbe bei Therapie innerhalb eines 72- Stunden-Zeitfensters. In vitro wurde eine signifikante Reduktion von Nekrose und Apoptose durch kokultivierte hUCB MNC beobachtet. Eine histologische Relokalisierung der intravenös applizierten Zellen war in keiner Therapiegruppe möglich. Die Integration der hUCB MNC ins Hirnparenchym stellt somit keine conditio sine qua non für die funktionelle Erholung nach Schlaganfall dar. Trotz des beobachteten erweiterten Zeitfensters ist die Translation dieses Therapieansatzes in die klinische Realität kritisch zu diskutieren, da weiterführende Studien unserer Arbeitsgruppe eine limitierte Wirksamkeit unter sehr praxisnahen Bedingungen (z.B. Einsatz kryokonservierter hUCB MNC) gezeigt haben. / Experimental treatment strategies using human umbilical cord blood mononuclear cells (hUCB MNCs) represent a promising option for alternative stroke therapies. An important point for clinical translation of such treatment approaches is knowledge on the therapeutic time window. Although expected to be wider than for thrombolysis, the exact time window for hUCB MNC therapy is not known. Our study aimed to determine the time window of intravenous hUCB MNC administration after middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO). Male spontaneously hypertensive rats underwent MCAO and were randomly assigned to hUCB MNC administration at 4h, 24h, 72h, 120h or 14d. Influence of cell treatment was observed by magnetic resonance imaging on days 1, 8 and 29 following MCAO and by assessment of functional neurological recovery. On day 30, brains were screened for glial scar development and presence of hUCB MNCs. Further, influence of hUCB MNCs on necrosis and apoptosis in post-ischemic neural tissue was investigated in hippocampal slices cultures. Transplantation within a 72h time window resulted in an early improvement of functional recovery, paralleled by a reduction of brain atrophy and diminished glial scarring. Cell transplantation 120h post MCAO only induced minor functional recovery without changes in the brain atrophy rate and glial reactivity. Later transplantation (14d) did not show any benefit. No evidence for intracerebrally localized hUCB MNCs was found in any treatment group. In vitro hUCB MNCs were able to significantly reduce post-ischemic neural necrosis and apoptosis. Our results for the first time indicate a time window of therapeutic hUCB MNC application of at least 72 hours. The time window is limited, but wider than compared to conventional pharmacological approaches. The data furthermore confirms that differentiation and integration of administered cells is not a prerequisite for poststroke functional improvement and lesion size reduction.

The exogenous shock that Russia's invasion of Ukraine entailed brought great challenges and demands for change in companies worldwide. Governing under these conditions is not easy, nor is knowing what is actually right to do. There is research on turbulent environments and exogenous shocks, divestments, and legitimacy, but research on the interaction between these is limited. In this study, we examine how companies have responded to exogenous shocks, more specifically how Swedish MNCs have acted and communicated as a result of Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. The study consists of 69 Swedish MNCs that were active in Russia pre-invasion and their communications and actions as a result of this event, with data drawn from press releases, company reports, state registers and the media. The results show that many of the examined companies have acted in a similar way and divested the Russian market, albeit with varying quickness and forcefulness, thus adopting an approach consistent with what may be considered to be a legitimate strategy, with a few exceptions where the companies' actions has not been as consistent. What this means is that despite the fact that these decisions are made by the respective company management, the measures are generally in line with each other, which may be a result of pressure from both internal and external stakeholders and society at large.

Product development is more complex than ever. Industries all over the world face intensified competition, forcing firms to improve their innovation performance. This involves integrating software development to a greater extent. As an effort to cope with such progression, agile project management methodologies have been adopted. These include methodologies that are tailored to fit large organisations, made to enhance communication and speed up decision-making. Moreover, such methodologies allocate time for joint planning sessions (such as Program Increment Planning) to foster coordination between teams. The need for extensive coordinating capabilities increases with firm size and product complexity, meaning that large, multinational manufacturers with integrated software- and hardware development face the greatest challenges. With difficult coordination challenges comes a demand for prominent organisational coordination capabilities. This includes capabilities to identify dependencies between agile teams in time, to avoid delays, budget overruns, and quality issues. Hence, firms must adopt sufficient project management procedures, as well as shape organisational artefacts, processes, and culture to maximise their organisational coordination capabilities. In this project, these artefacts, processes, and the organisational culture were defined as factors. Furthermore, the project aimed at (1) – identifying factors that positively contribute to organisations’ capabilities to find inter-team dependencies, and (2) – investigating how to favour those identified factors. The research was conducted at Volvo Car Corporation, a Swedish car manufacturer that undergoes a transition towards being a large-scale agile organisation. Theories concerning coordination, communication, and knowledge management were jointly deployed to construct a state-of-the-art theoretical framework. Thereafter, the conceptual model was the guiding lens for collecting and analysing empirical evidence. Consequently, this project was able to assess 26 factors for identifying inter-team dependencies. Furthermore, several of these factors are proven to be interconnected as they fuel each other and exist in symbiosis. Thus, this project advocates that large-scale agile organisations must understand these factors and their connection to each other — that is when incorporating coordination mechanisms to better identify inter-team dependencies.

在「全球化」的浪潮席捲之下，讓跨國企業的「企業社會責任」議題，成為當今企業管理不容忽視的焦點。 醫藥產業在全球經濟體中扮演的角色，是研發和生產創新的產品，來拯救人類的生命和促進健康。 而身為一個企業組織，也同時擔負有創造利潤的責任。 然而大眾卻經常質疑這些企業過度哄抬產品價格，並認為人人都有權利無限制的獲得醫藥資源。 醫藥企業必須面對強大的壓力以及高度複雜的利害關係人，特別是跨國公司，負擔更是沉重。 就如同其他產業一樣，「企業社會責任」的議題對醫藥企業能否具有競爭力和永續經營而言，也愈來愈重要。 近年來，許多的研究指出「企業社會責任」的策略和競爭優勢有關，而且必須整合至企業的核心事業，才能確保永續的成功。 許多跨國藥廠他們的營業績效表現亮眼，而且在台灣已經耕耘超過十年了，因此，本研究首度嚐試去檢視在台的領先跨國醫藥企業，他們的CSR動機、決策過程和CSR作為表現，以及其經理人對CSR的管理思維。 本研究的目的是希望能學習跨國領先藥廠在台灣的經驗，並鼓勵「策略型CSR」的作為以及企業與社會的「共享價值」。 我們使用「多重個案分析法」，利用問卷、次級資料的分析和深入訪談來研究十家個案公司。 所有的受訪經理人都表示他們是依據企業總部的指導綱領，而自行決定在台灣執行的CSR的活動。 研究結果發現，絕大多數的個案公司，因為在台灣只是一個業務功能的角色，資源和能力都有限，所以多關注在客戶關係的議題上，並多半執行「回應式CSR」而非「策略型CSR」。 此外，我們也發現其CSR策略和企業的屬性、社會責任觀點及領導有關。 這些經理人並承認他們沒有系統性的方法來評估CSR表現和影響。 他們主要追求的是企業的聲譽，而面對的最大挑戰是，如何透過CSR來發展企業競爭優勢。 本研究並舉出幾個成功案例，鼓勵策略型思考以及將社會觀點融入商業策略的核心架構中。 / Under the sweep of globalization, the corporate social responsibility (CSR) of multinational corporations (MNCs) has now become a focus that cannot be ignored in business management. The health care industry’s role in the global economy is to research, develop and manufacture innovative products to save people’s lives and improve health. At the same time, as corporations, they have a duty to increase profits. However, the industry is often challenged for its overcharge of the products and there should be unlimited access to medicines. The health care companies face a great pressure and a highly complex stakeholder universe especially for multinational companies. As in many industries, corporate social responsibility becomes increasingly critical to competitive success and sustainability of multinational health care companies. Recent studies point out that CSR strategies are associated with competitive advantages and should integrate CSR into the core business to lead to sustainable success. Many Multinational pharmaceutical companies are doing very good business and have been operating in Taiwan for over 10 years. Therefore, we attempt to gain a better understanding of the factors that influence the CSR involvement of MNCs’ subsidiaries and the aspects of their strategies as well as the managerial insight of the managers dealing with CSR from leading health care companies. The aim of this study is to encourage strategic CSR and shared value of business and society and to learn the experiences from multinational pharmaceutical companies in Taiwan. The analysis is based on a multiple case study that includes surveys coupled with careful review of relevant documents and web sites and in-depth interviews with managers from 10 case companies. All the managers interviewed mentioned that CSR activities are implemented at the local level within the framework of global guidance. The findings indicate that most of the subsidiaries focus on customer relations and are doing 「responsive CSR」 rather than 「strategic CSR」because of their sales-oriented function and limited resources and skills. We also found that their CSR strategies depend on the characters of the companies, CSR views and the leadership. All the managers admitted having no systematic way of measuring the outputs, tangible impacts or functionality of their CSR interventions. The key benefit they want to gain is the company reputation and the major challenge for the managers is to develop competitive advantages through CSR. Success stories are provided to encourage strategic thinking and the integration of social perspective into the core frameworks of value chain and competitive context.

本研究以日商在台子公司為個案，探討多國企業核心流程之動態演化與創新研究。分析個案子公司的演化與創新過程，本研究從子公司的組織、母子公司關係、子公司角色、以及其核心流程，發現以下五點： 一. 對子公司的組織管理，母公司運用彈性的管理導向，有助於發揮子公司資源與能力。 二、母公司與子公司互相依存的關係，得以讓母公司可善用地主國的優勢，提昇多國企業整體營運的績效；亦能減少多國企業管理上的困難，甚至有助於多國企業的創新速度。 三、子公司的領導統御的務實化與主動性，有助於專業化資源與能力的提高。透過角色的改變，可擴大國際職責的參與機會。 四、相對於各行其是的多國企業，具有整合執行能力的子公司，可以為多國企業創造價值，並成為知識流通的來源。 五、子公司的動態演化，有助於多國企業的當地知識來源及國際化的拓展。 / This thesis has used Japanese subsidiary in Taiwan as case to study the dynamic evolution and innovation through the core process of MNC. From the view point of the organization control of alleged subsidiary, relationship of parent-subsidiary, subsidiary role in MNC, and its core process of subsidiary, we conclude the major findings are： (1). For the purpose of organization management, Parent company of MNC has adopted the flexible managerial patterns to facilitate subsidiary’s capability and its resources accumulation. (2). Relationship between parent and its subsidiary is interdependence. This kind of relationship helps Parent company who can utilize the net ownership advantages of host country to increase the total operational performance of MNC. It also helps to reduce the management difficulty toward subsidiary of MNC and even helps to increase the speed of innovation. (3). Top management of subsidiary shows their management skill with realistic and takes initiative in helping subsidiary to increase its capability and resources. Through the change of charter or its strategic roles, subsidiary can expand its participation of international responsibility. (4). Compare with other MNCs, subsidiary which has the capability of global integration can generate value-creation activities for MNC. Subsidiary will become the source of knowledge flow for its parent company. (5). The core process of subsidiary with dynamic evolution provides MNC with domestic knowledge. This evolution also helps MNC in internationalization development.