Though the strategic importance of regional economic integration to multinational companies (MNC) has been researched extensively internationally, this concept has not been studied in South Africa. In fact, there is a growing nostalgia that with the South African Development Community (SADC) moving towards its set macroeconomic convergence targets; regional economic integration eventually leads to macroeconomic stabilisation. This ultimately becomes the root of growth in a region that has been severely affected by globalisation, financial crises, increasing government debt and budget deficit problems. This study, hence, tries to find out how the critical decisions of South African MNCs are made when operating within regional markets. Consequently, statistical econometric models were developed to test time-series data from 1980-2011 using the best (most efficient) linear unbiased estimator (BLUE) ordinary least square regression technique. An analysis was then done to investigate how South African firms have been able to gain maximum benefits by adopting the SADC as its major trading bloc in Africa. The study’s findings showed that the major barriers that impede MNCs of South African origin from penetrating these markets were custom duties, direct and indirect tariffs. It was observed that this would only be reduced by regional integration. Determined to critically interrogate the problems detailed in this research, three hypotheses were tested, analysed and subsequent interpretation of the findings revealed that South African MNCs contribute positively to regional economic growth and investment in the SADC. Furthermore, the study found out that although these factors were important, they were not the only variables that stimulated the competitiveness of South African MNCs in the SADC region. The literature review sections of this study found that the adoption of strategic management initiatives by MNCs improved the operation of transnational companies in South Africa. A comparison between the value of South African MNCs, as well as, other explanatory variables, and the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of both South Africa and the SADC using time series data for the period 1980-2011 indicated that there was a positive relationship between the contribution of MNCs to South Africa’s economy and the GDP of both South Africa and the SADC. This proved that there is a significant link between MNC growth and national/regional productivity. In conclusion, the study established that the findings of the literature review were theoretically in sync with the empirical analysis. Also, the outcome of this study concurred with the findings of similar research. In essence, regional trade arrangements are an increasingly important element of the global trade environment, of which the move by South Africa’s MNCs to operate in the SADC market was a positive one. Finally, the study found out that for these firms to be successful in the international business arena, business management decisions need to be made, only after a detailed strategic analysis of the significance of regional economic integration is considered. This integrative framework certainly determines the operational efficiency, survival and profitability of most MNCs that operate within the region. / Business Management / M.Admin. (Business Management (International Business))

En Chine la croissance économique observée durant ces trois dernières décennies, s’est accompagnée d’importants changements sociaux. Jusqu’en 2008, le droit du travail hérité de l’ère socialiste et inadapté à l’économie de marché, servait les intérêts de la croissance au détriment de ceux des travailleurs. La nouvelle loi sur le contrat de travail de 2008 a pour ambition de corriger cette situation en rééquilibrant les relations du travail dans un contexte de redistribution plus juste des nouvelles richesses. L’objectif de ce mémoire est de comprendre comment les entreprises étrangères présentes en Chine appréhendent ce changement institutionnel. Cela impacte-t-il leur gestion et leur stratégie de localisation ? Cette question est traitée, à travers l’étude du cas d’une entreprise étrangère implantée à Shanghai depuis 10 ans. Le premier effet observé est une professionnalisation du secteur des ressources humaines. L’augmentation des coûts de fonctionnement à laquelle la nouvelle loi participe a également pour effet une relocalisation des activités de production dans des régions à moindres coûts dans le centre de la Chine. L’expertise spécifiquement acquise localement est une des raisons majeures interdisant une délocalisation dans un pays tierce. / China's economic growth observed over the past three decades has been accompanied by some significant social changes. Until 2008, the labor law inherited from the socialist era and unsuited to the market economy, benefited economic growth rather than workers. The new Labor Contract Law (2008) aims at correcting this situation by balancing the labor relationship in the context of a more equitable sharing of wealth. The objective of this M.A. thesis is to understand how foreign companies in China contend with this institutional change. Does it impact their management and their location strategy? This issue is addressed by studying the case of one foreign company that has been based in Shanghai for the last 10 years. The first observed effect is a professionalization of human resource management within the firm. The increase in operating costs (to which the new law contributes in part) has also led to the relocation of manufacturing operations to cheaper area in central China. The specific expertise acquired in Shanghai is the major reason prohibiting a relocation to another country.

Dans ce travail, nous analysons et comparons les comportements de localisation de trois différentes formes d'investissements durables (les greenfields seuls, les investissements directs étrangers totaux (IDE) et les investissements productifs intérieurs). Parmi un groupe de déterminants, dont une large partie est inspirée de la littérature empirique existante, nous étudions tout particulièrement le rôle que joue le taux de change réel sur l'attractivité des territoires vis-à-vis de chacun de ces investissements. Un tel examen est opéré à partir d'une économétrie de données de panel. Il consiste à tester un modèle de référence sur les greenfields, les IDE totaux ainsi que sur les investissements productifs – avec des spécifications adaptées à chaque cas – et à interpréter l'ensemble des résultats et en particulier les écarts obtenus. Pour appréhender les variables dépendantes, nous nous appuyons sur les séries statistiques de la CNUCED et de l'OCDE, ainsi que sur celles du FDI Markets (Financial Times), et de l'European Investment Monitor (Ernst & Young) qui ont jusqu'à présent été peu exploitées, voire ignorées, par les études portant sur le sujet. Plusieurs échantillons (global, européen et OCDE) et plusieurs périodes (2004-2010, 1998-2010, 1995-2010) sont retenus en fonction de la disponibilité des données. Nos résultats indiquent que les greenfields, les IDE totaux (et donc, par déduction, les fusions-acquisitions) et les investissements productifs répondent à des critères de localisation bien différents correspondant à leurs caractéristiques propres. L'impact qu'exerce notamment le taux de change réel sur chacun de ces capitaux est des plus intéressants. De faibles prix relatifs apparaissent ainsi comme attirant de façon sensible les investissements productifs, qu'ils soient d'origine domestique ou étrangère (greenfields). En revanche, il semble que ces prix relatifs n'aient aucune influence sur les recompositions transnationales de capital, déduites à partir des IDE totaux. / In this work, we analyze and compare locational behavior of three forms of durable investments (greenfields, foreign direct investments, and internal productive investments). Among a group of determinants, mainly inspired by the existing empirical literature, we study more particularly the role played by the real exchange rate on countries' attractiveness towards each of those investments. Panel data econometrics is used for this study. We test a basis model on greenfields, total FDIs, and on productive investments – with specifications adapted to each case – and then analyze the results, particularly when they show differences. In order to proxy the dependent variables, we use the UNCTAD and the OECD's data series, as well as the FDI Markets (Financial Times) and the European Investment Monitor (Ernst & Young) which have somehow been ignored by the studies on the subject until now. Several samples (global, European and OECD) and several periods (2004-2010, 1998-2010 and 1995-2010) are analyzed depending on data availability. Our results prove that greenfields, total FDIs (and mergers and acquisitions by deduction), and productive investments respond to different location criteria according to their characteristics. In particular, the impact of the real exchange rate on each of those investments is very interesting. While low relative prices attract significantly productive investments, financed by domestic or foreign multinational companies (greenfields), they don't seem to have any impact on mergers and acquisitions (deduced from total FDIs).

The performance effects of multinationality have been subject to extensive study over the last four decades. To date, the findings of empirical studies have not been able to demonstrate a consistent picture as far as the relationship between multinationality (M) and performance (P) is concerned; nor have they established a general link. This dissertation suggests that the M-P relation might be contingent upon certain contextual considerations. In particular, this doctoral thesis examines the performance effects of multinationality depending on a) scope of international expansion (regional vs. global); b) the role of firm-specific assets (FSAs) and c) home region effects.

Though the strategic importance of regional economic integration to multinational companies (MNC) has been researched extensively internationally, this concept has not been studied in South Africa. In fact, there is a growing nostalgia that with the South African Development Community (SADC) moving towards its set macroeconomic convergence targets; regional economic integration eventually leads to macroeconomic stabilisation. This ultimately becomes the root of growth in a region that has been severely affected by globalisation, financial crises, increasing government debt and budget deficit problems. This study, hence, tries to find out how the critical decisions of South African MNCs are made when operating within regional markets. Consequently, statistical econometric models were developed to test time-series data from 1980-2011 using the best (most efficient) linear unbiased estimator (BLUE) ordinary least square regression technique. An analysis was then done to investigate how South African firms have been able to gain maximum benefits by adopting the SADC as its major trading bloc in Africa. The study’s findings showed that the major barriers that impede MNCs of South African origin from penetrating these markets were custom duties, direct and indirect tariffs. It was observed that this would only be reduced by regional integration. Determined to critically interrogate the problems detailed in this research, three hypotheses were tested, analysed and subsequent interpretation of the findings revealed that South African MNCs contribute positively to regional economic growth and investment in the SADC. Furthermore, the study found out that although these factors were important, they were not the only variables that stimulated the competitiveness of South African MNCs in the SADC region. The literature review sections of this study found that the adoption of strategic management initiatives by MNCs improved the operation of transnational companies in South Africa. A comparison between the value of South African MNCs, as well as, other explanatory variables, and the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of both South Africa and the SADC using time series data for the period 1980-2011 indicated that there was a positive relationship between the contribution of MNCs to South Africa’s economy and the GDP of both South Africa and the SADC. This proved that there is a significant link between MNC growth and national/regional productivity. In conclusion, the study established that the findings of the literature review were theoretically in sync with the empirical analysis. Also, the outcome of this study concurred with the findings of similar research. In essence, regional trade arrangements are an increasingly important element of the global trade environment, of which the move by South Africa’s MNCs to operate in the SADC market was a positive one. Finally, the study found out that for these firms to be successful in the international business arena, business management decisions need to be made, only after a detailed strategic analysis of the significance of regional economic integration is considered. This integrative framework certainly determines the operational efficiency, survival and profitability of most MNCs that operate within the region. / Business Management / M. Admin. (Business Management (International Business))

Submitted by JOSIANE SANTOS DE OLIVEIRA (josianeso) on 2019-03-20T12:32:52Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Klaus Peter Stolzmann_.pdf: 1291405 bytes, checksum: 8ba46b28ffcae95c2b291db9ef3d1a05 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2019-03-20T12:32:52Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Klaus Peter Stolzmann_.pdf: 1291405 bytes, checksum: 8ba46b28ffcae95c2b291db9ef3d1a05 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-12-17 / Nenhuma / Ainda que os gerentes tenham expectativas moderadas sobre a capacidade das suas subsidiárias de contribuir para a renovação estratégica e tecnológica de todo o grupo multinacional, várias medidas poderiam ser tomadas para possibilitar a geração de novas tecnologias nas subsidiárias. Como a geração de conhecimento numa subsidiária é um tema relativamente recente explorado no campo acadêmico, a proposta desse trabalho é trazer alguma contribuição no processo de geração de conhecimento tecnológico como fator de mudança do papel de uma subsidiária brasileira de uma multinacional de um país desenvolvido. Por meio de um estudo de caso único, os dados foram coletados em análise documental, observação in loco e entrevistas com diversos colaboradores, entre eles engenheiros, gestores, expatriados, estrangeiros e brasileiros. Após, os dados foram triangulados com a técnica de análise de conteúdo. Os resultados indicam a relevância da geração de conhecimento tecnológico pela subsidiária e reconhecido pela matriz, para a mudança de seu papel na MNC, representado por um esquema gráfico de como tal processo ocorreu. Durante o mapeamento do mesmo, percebeu-se algumas particularidades no caso estudado, como a grande importância do papel do repatriado (funcionário da subsidiária que passa um determinado tempo na matriz e retorna), pouco abordado na literatura, e no presente caso, da relevância do cliente no processo de geração de conhecimento tecnológico no país da subsidiária, assim como ficou confirmada a grande importância do papel do gerente da subsidiária como também a influência dos fatores moderadores nesse processo. Por fim, esse trabalho traz alguma contribuição prática para os gestores de subsidiárias de países emergentes, sobre os quais poderão avaliar as iniciativas da sua subsidiária, tais como o treinamento dos seus empregados na matriz ou a busca de novos projetos para atender clientes locais, para obter a atenção da matriz e preparar-se para a mudança de seu papel dentro da MNC. / Although managers have moderate expectations about their subsidiaries' ability to contribute to the strategic and technological renewal of the entire multinational organization, a number of measures could be taken to enable the creation of new technologies in the subsidiaries. As the knowledge generation in a subsidiary is a subject that has not yet been deeply explored in the academic field, the proposal of this work is to bring some contribution in the process of technological knowledge generation as a factor to change the role of a Brazilian subsidiary belonging to a multinational from a developed country. Through a single case study, the data were collected in document analysis, in loco observation and interviews with several collaborators, among them engineers, managers, expatriates, foreigners and Brazilians. Afterwards, the data were triangulated with the content analysis technique. The results indicate the relevance of the technological knowledge generation by the subsidiary and recognized by the headquarter, to change its role in the MNC, represented by a graphic diagram of how such a process occurred. During the process analysis, we noticed some peculiarities in the present case, such as the great significance role of the inpatriate (employee of the subsidiary who spends a certain time in the headquarter and returns) which was less discussed in the literature and for this specific case, the customer role relevance in the process of technological knowledge generation in the subsidiary country, as well as confirming the great importance of the subsidiary manager's role and the moderator factors in this process. Finally, this work brings some practical contribution to managers of emerging-country subsidiaries who can evaluate their subsidiary's initiatives, such as the training of its employees in the headquarters or the search of new projects to serve local clients, to get the parent's attention and prepare to change its role within the MNC.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-26T20:20:59Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Marcus de Oliveira Kaufmann.pdf: 2222812 bytes, checksum: 6d75dda58354e1faf67b592daeb0df6d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-05-25 / Four themes emerge from the study that is presented in favor of the idea of a associational unionism: the action, on the global ground, of multinational companies; the response of international trade unionism, by its most eloquent actors, towards capital; the ways in which workers can, from the workplace, organize themselves to participate in the governance of the company; and the interrelationship that labour, from the workplace to the international scene, may need to keep to their survival, in an complex environment of collective labour relations, with other types of collective representations of workers, from a non-union nature, assembled by singular means (personnel delegates or elected representatives of workers) or by collective means (committees or commissions of company or factory). The debate about the connections between supposed distant themes provide the material source from which the unions can expect to face the advance of capital, while they can build, from the workplace to the global field, democratic environments for more respectful and equal coexistence between labour and capital. One of the instruments, the study presents, for the union movement, particularly in Brazil, is the idea of a associational unionism, whereby unions, in a vertical orientation, link themselves, with information and experience traffic, by holding minimum rights regarding employee participation in the governance of the company, with various levels through which workers organize from the workplace to the international stage; and, in a horizontal orientation, link themselves, with information and experience traffic through the exploitation of rights of participation in the governance of the company, with collective representations of workers of a non-union nature, from the workplace to the international scene. So far the approach of all those interrelationships is not usual for the industrial relations Law in Brazil, although present though sometimes not so quiet or in a simple manner for the union movement in European countries and to countries seen as the "North", part of the bibliographic references eminently come from European and American perspectives, but not at any time losing the horizon of the political and legal Brazilian scene, as to propose, even in the context of the restrictive Brazilian union model, or beyond that model, new ways for the unionism act and think / Quatro temas afloram do estudo que se apresenta em prol da ideia de um sindicalismo associativo: a atuação, no terreno global, das empresas multinacionais; a resposta do sindicalismo internacional, mediante seus atores mais eloquentes, ao avanço do capital; as formas mediante as quais os trabalhadores podem, desde o local de trabalho, se organizar para participar do governo da empresa; e a inter-relação que o sindicalismo, desde o local de trabalho até o cenário internacional, pode e necessita manter, para a sua sobrevivência, em um ambiente de complexas relações coletivas de trabalho, com outros tipos de representações coletivas de trabalhadores, de perfil unitário e não-sindical, montadas por vias singulares (delegados de pessoal ou representantes eleitos de trabalhadores) ou por vias coletivas (comitês ou comissões de empresa ou de fábrica). O debate em torno das conexões existentes entre supostamente tão distantes temas oferece a fonte material a partir da qual o sindicalismo pode se preparar para enfrentar o avanço do capital, ao mesmo tempo em que pode construir, desde os locais de trabalho até o terreno global, ambientes mais democráticos para a convivência, com maior respeito e equivalência, entre trabalho e capital. Um dos instrumentos que, do estudo, se apresenta para o movimento sindical, particularmente ao brasileiro, é a ideia de um sindicalismo associativo, mediante a qual os sindicatos, em uma orientação vertical, podem estabelecer relações, com tráfego de informações e de experiências, pela exploração de mínimos direitos atinentes à participação dos trabalhadores no governo da empresa, com os diversos níveis por meio dos quais os trabalhadores se organizam desde os locais de trabalho até o cenário internacional; e, em uma orientação horizontal, podem estabelecer relações, com tráfego de informações e de experiências, mediante exploração de direitos de participação no governo da empresa, com representações coletivas de trabalhadores de natureza unitária e não-sindical, desde os locais de trabalho até o cenário internacional. Em razão de a abordagem de todas essas inter-relações não ser usual para o Direito Coletivo do Trabalho no Brasil, embora presente ainda que, por vezes, não tão tranquila para o movimento sindical de países europeus e para os países tidos como do Norte , a pesquisa bibliográfica parte de referências eminentemente europeias e norte-americanas, mas sem, em nenhum momento, perder o horizonte do cenário político e jurídico brasileiro para propor, mesmo em contexto de unicidade, ou para além da unicidade, outra forma de agir e de pensar para o sindicalismo

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This thesis consists of four self-contained essays. The common theme of the essays is the behavior of multi-plant firms. An underlying idea in all four of them is that firms possess intangible assets such as management skills and organizational expertise, technological knowledge, marketing know-how and better access to finance capital or natural resources. These assets are typically specific to the respective firm. Due to market imperfections and failures, firms tend to internalize the advantages of firm-specific assets and exploit them themselves rather than sell or lease them to other firms. For instance, intangible assets are often joint inputs in the sense that knowledge developed by one unit can be transferred to another unit within the same firm at a low cost and without diminishing the amount of knowledge available to the first unit. Furthermore, the assets are typically only partly appropriable by their owner, and the market transactions of the assets are hampered due to information asymmetries between a potential buyer and seller. The literature on multinational firms emphasizes the role of intangible firm-specific assets in creating ownership advantages that, together with location and internalization advantages, explain the pattern of foreign direct investments. The essays in this thesis are based on the view that the ownership advantages created by firm-specific assets are the "raison d'etre" of large multi-plant firms. The existence of such assets is assumed to create multi-plant economies of scale and give incentives to make better use of capacity or overheads to gain advantage in size, economies of interdependent activities, integration and/or diversification. Rather than studying the international aspects of firms with intangible assets, the first three essays empirically explore different aspects of multi-plant firm behavior in domestic markets. This analysis has been made possible by the access to unique plant-level data on the thirty largest multinational manufacturing corporations in Sweden. The sample corporations play an important role in the Swedish economy. For instance, the thirty corporations account for about 70 percent of aggregate industrial R&D in 1999. This should be compared with their share of total manufacturing employment, which was about 30 percent during the period of study. The first essay examines the sources of productivity growth within multi-plant firms and particularly emphasizes the role of external restructuring and ownership changes in explaining why multi-plant firms may sustain higher productivity growth as compared to single-plant firms. The second and the third essay explore the idea that large multi-plant corporations exploit their ownership advantages when acquiring partial- and full-firm assets. The second essay analyzes whether technological intangible assets may explain transfers of productive capacity from acquiring corporations to their target. The third essay explores the idea that multi-plant corporations search for targets matching their firm-specific organizational capabilities when acquiring corporate assets. Uncertainty about the matching outcome explains why some acquisitions end in divestitures. However, the likelihood of a "good" match is expected to increase in the buyer's organizational capabilities. The fourth essay, coauthored with Karolina Ekholm, extends the analysis to encompass the international aspects of multinational firms. In this essay, we develop a theoretical model analyzing the localization decisions of multi-plant firms beyond the national borders. More specifically, we develop a two-country model where firms can choose to separate their innovative activities generating an intangible asset from the production of the final good. In our model, there are two agglomeration forces: knowledge spillovers associated with R&D and backward and forward linkages associated with high-tech production. We analyze how the interplay of these forces affects the localization decisions of the firms. / Diss. Stockholm : Handelshögsk., 2003

The Motor Industry Development Programme (MIDP) was implemented on 1 September 1995 in the context of the country's political and economic liberalisation and the major structural shift in government policy and the trade regime. In an intensely competitive global environment, the strategies of a few dominant motor vehicle manufacturers, mainly operating from the Triad regions of North America, Europe and Japan, impact significantly on the developments of the global automotive industry. Over the past decade the small, highly protected and inwardly focused South African automotive industry has become fully integrated in the global strategies of foreign parent companies. As South Africa's leading manufacturing sector, the automotive sector is contributing significantly to the country's economy in terms of exports, investment, employment and the gross domestic product. The objective of the study was to establish and measure the relevance and value of the MIDP as a promotional tool in the global automotive environment by capturing the responses and perceptions of direct automotive industry exporters and stakeholders for * the South African automotive industry in general, and * the companies forming part of the empirical survey. To satisfy the objectives of the study, the research methodology incorporated an extensive primary and secondary research phase (qualitative and quantitative). A structured empirical survey was used to collect the primary data. The survey data were captured and processed by the Bureau for Market Research (BMR), Unisa. The main findings of the study are that: * The promotional relevance and value of the MIDP as a promotional tool is embedded in the programme's ability to trigger interest in the South African automotive industry, to generate business and to attract investments. * The MIDP is successful in contributing to the automotive sector's international competitiveness and is therefore a very important promotional tool for convincing foreign parent companies to consider South Africa as an investment destination. * The South African automotive industry would not be able to cope with global competition without the MIDP. * Different factors impact on the business operations of the South African automotive industry in general and the specific company in particular and the factors are viewed differently by the selected groups based on their demographic details. The process of trade liberalisation is forcing many South African companies to encounter both intensified competition and new forms of competition. The South African government's target of a 6 percent economic growth rate by 2010 will largely depend on the ongoing successes achieved in priority sectors such as the domestic automotive sector. / Business Management / M. Comm. (Business Management)