<p><p>Internationalization research has for a long time been dominated by a strong focus on how large firms from large and developed economies expand into other developed countries. Until recently, little attention has been devoted towards understanding that part of the internationalization process in which small and medium sized firms from small and open economies, attempt to establish themselves in undeveloped countries. This research gap is the point of departure for this thesis.</p><p> </p><p>By using a recently published conceptual framework by Laanti et al. (2009) the authors study how five groups of factors have shaped the internationalization process of a small Swedish electricity company in the midst of starting up business in Congo Kinshasa. In this in-depth single-case study, data was collected through semi-structured interviews with representatives of PPC Engineering AB. The study finds that the importance of different factors vary throughout the process, but in this case, when seen as a whole, <em>host country factors</em> and <em>company specific factors </em>play the most prominent roles. Furthermore, Laanti et al.’s (2009) conceptual framework is redesigned to explain the dynamic process of internationalization. However, more research is needed to determine the extent to which this framework can be generalized.</p></p>

Internationalization research has for a long time been dominated by a strong focus on how large firms from large and developed economies expand into other developed countries. Until recently, little attention has been devoted towards understanding that part of the internationalization process in which small and medium sized firms from small and open economies, attempt to establish themselves in undeveloped countries. This research gap is the point of departure for this thesis.   By using a recently published conceptual framework by Laanti et al. (2009) the authors study how five groups of factors have shaped the internationalization process of a small Swedish electricity company in the midst of starting up business in Congo Kinshasa. In this in-depth single-case study, data was collected through semi-structured interviews with representatives of PPC Engineering AB. The study finds that the importance of different factors vary throughout the process, but in this case, when seen as a whole, host country factors and company specific factors play the most prominent roles. Furthermore, Laanti et al.’s (2009) conceptual framework is redesigned to explain the dynamic process of internationalization. However, more research is needed to determine the extent to which this framework can be generalized.

Cette thèse étudie les typologies des stratégies relationnelles que peuvent entretenir les firmes avec leurs concurrentes dans une industrie de réseau : la téléphonie mobile. Elle se donne aussi pour objet de mettre en évidence les déterminants de ces choix stratégiques ; ainsi que leur implication. Elle vise enfin à effectuer une comparaison des performances des firmes en fonction des choix de stratégies relationnelles. Pour aborder ces préoccupations, nous avons eu recours, d'une part à la méthode d'analyse de contenu structuré, afin d'identifier les mouvements stratégiques des opérateurs mobiles de pays et régions géographiques différents ; d'autre part à deux méthodes (exploratoire et confirmatoire) d'analyse et de traitements des données. A travers cette thèse, nous mettons en évidence trois résultats principaux : Le premier résultat montre que l'agressivité concurrentielle, la coopérativité et la coopétition sont les stratégies relationnelles viables dans le secteur de la téléphonie mobile. Le second résultat majeur montre que des variables sectorielles telles que la concentration industrielle, la maturité sectorielle ou la plus ou moins forte présence à l'international apparaissent comme des facteurs déterminant les comportements stratégiques (agressif, coopératif et coopétitif) des opérateurs mobiles ; de même que plus d'agressivité et plus de coopérativité conduisent à de meilleures performances. En dernier lieu, il est montré dans cette recherche que la performance de la firme varie en fonction de la stratégie adoptée (agressivité, coopérativité ou coopétitivité) par l'opérateur mobile, mais aussi en fonction de son implantation géographique. / This thesis examines the types of relational strategies that firms can adopt with their competitors in a network industry : the mobile phone industry. It also purposes to highlight the determinants of these strategic choices and their implication. Finally, it aims to make a comparison of the performances of firms, according to their relational strategies choises. To address these concerns, we used, on one hand the method of structured content analysis so as to identify the strategic movements of the mobile phone operators of different countries and geographical areas ; on the other hand, we used two methods (exploratory and confirmatory) analysis for data processing. Through this thesis, we highlight three key findings : The first result shows that competitive aggressiveness, cooperativeness and coopetition are the viable relational strategies in the mobile phone industry. The second major result shows that the sectorial variables such as industrial concentration, sectorial maturity ; or more or less international presence appear to be factors determining the strategic behavior (aggressive, cooperative and coopetitive) of the mobile operators ; as well that more aggressiveness and more cooperativeness lead to better performance. Finally, it is shown in this study that the performance of the firm depends on the strategy (aggressive, cooperative, or coopetitive) adopted by the mobile operator, but also on its geographical location.

1 Summary Key words: Natural monopoly, network industry, energy industry, regulation, liberalization, unbundling, third party access The present thesis sets out to explore the legal aspects of network industries and natural monopolies. It researches these aspects using the example of the energy sector (i.e. the power and gas industries), which is a typical example of a network industry. In terms of its geographical scope, the thesis focuses on the EU energy law and its specific application in the Czech Republic. The fundamental point of departure for the present thesis is a believe that energy law is closely intertwined with economic policy, and is appropriately interpreted only in the context of the concrete measures, tools, and concepts meant to reflect a nation's energy policy. The main driver of energy policy, and hence also of energy law, is a reform of the energy industry aiming at its liberalization. The key tools for its successful implementation are economic regulation, third party access, unbundling, and public administration by independent regulatory bodies. Firstly, the present thesis discusses the economic characteristics of network industries, that is most importantly the existence of a natural monopoly. The second part of the thesis outlines the background of liberalization and the related...

Les marges de progression pour le système ferroviaire français et européen restent nombreuses tant du point de vue de la gouvernance que de la compétitivité. C’est la conclusion à laquelle tend ce travail. Les résultats du consortium de recherche Enerdata-LET (2014) montrent que dans le respect du facteur 4 à horizon 2050, le report de la demande en transport vers le ferroviaire pourrait être massif. Face à cela, la situation de la LGV Paris-Lyon, déjà à la limite de la saturation, interroge sur la capacité du système à accueillir de nouveaux trafics. Deux écoles s’affrontent sur cette question. D’un côté, les tenants du SNIT proposent un quasi doublement du réseau LGV pour répondre aux futurs besoins tandis que la commission « Mobilité 21 » privilégie la recherche de rendements croissants à partir de l’existant. Sans prétendre résoudre le débat, ce travail tente d’apporter des éléments de compréhension sur l’interaction entre demande et offre dans le ferroviaire.L’étude de la concordance entre augmentation de la demande et offre ferroviaire nous mène à poser la question de la performance. Elle sous-entend d’être en premier lieu capable de définir la capacité d’une infrastructure ferroviaire. En second lieu, la mise en évidence de limites conduit à interroger le phénomène de saturation ou congestion. Enfin, interroger la notion de saturation mène inévitablement à mettre en perspective la relativité des limites et à poser la question de leur dépassement.L’objectif de cette recherche est d’appliquer cette problématique au système ferroviaire en tenant compte de ses spécificités. On tient compte de sa constitution en tant qu’industrie de réseau et de monopole naturel dans le cas de l’infrastructure (gestionnaire d’infrastructure). Sans prétendre trancher le débat sur le mode de gouvernance, on considère que cette particularité peut influencer le comportement des acteurs et indirectement la performance du système. On considère également l’évolution législative du système au niveau européen. On ne peut aborder la question de la performance sans resituer le secteur dans son contexte juridique. Enfin, l’essentiel de l’analyse repose sur l’étude de la saturation de la LGV Paris-Lyon. On considère cette LGV représentative de la performance souhaitée pour le réseau ferroviaire français. Elle concentre à la fois les défis techniques et économiques de la capacité qui constituent le cœur de notre réflexion sur la performance, ses conditions et les marges de progression du réseau français. / There is still much progress to make concerning the French and the European railway networks, both from governance and competitiveness standpoints. This is the conclusion this work lead to. The results from the Enerdata-LET research consortium (2014) illustrate that, considering factor 4 for horizon 2050, the modal shift of demand in transport towards railway could be massive. Regarding this, the situation of Paris-Lyon high-speed line, already up to its saturation level, addresses the issue of the capacity a system possesses to bear new traffics. Two schools oppose there. On one side, the supporters of the SNIT suggest a quasi-doubling of the high-speed railway network, in order to cope with futures needs, whereas on the other side, the “Mobilité 21” commission gives priority to the search of increasing returns from the existing infrastructure. Without claiming to solve the issue, this work attempts to bring up comprehension elements on the interaction between demand and offer in the railway sector.Studying the accordance between an increase in railway demand and offer leads us to question performance. It means being able to define capacity of the railway infrastructure, first. But it also means questioning its limits, which addresses the phenomenon of saturation, also called congestion. Eventually, this all inevitably leads to put into perspective the relativeness of these limits and to question the ways to overcome them. The objective of this research is to apply this issue to the railway system, accounting its specificities. We consider its constitution as a network industry and as a natural monopoly, when considering the infrastructure (infrastructure manager). Without pretending to conclude the debate on governance, we consider that this particularity might influence actors and, thus, performance. We also consider the legal framework at the European scale. One can’t question performance without framing the railway sector within its legal context. Then, the main purpose of the analysis stands in the study of saturation of the Paris-Lyon high-speed line. We consider the line as representative of the expected performance level of the whole French railway network. It challenges both technical and economic capacities that are in the core of our rationale on performance, its requirements and the opportunities of the French network.

本研究主要透過新產品的開發專案，探討技術知識特質對組織知識創造平台的影響。研究範圍以台灣電腦網路廠商為主，針對其產品創新表現優秀的企業為主，深入訪談其產品開發專案負責人與核心成員，瞭解其產品開發的過程，與組織知識的創新平台。本研究結果顯示如下： 一、技術知識特質會影響台灣電腦網路廠商之知識創造平台 （一）技術知識路徑相依度低之產品開發專案，CEO在概念與生成及發展扮演重要角色。技術路徑相依度高的開發專案，概念的生成主要來自於各功能性部門。 （二）技術知識路徑相依度低的專案，與上游技術網路的成員保持較緊密的關係。技術知識路徑相依度高的專案，與上游技術網路成員保持較鬆散的關係。 （三）當組織開發的產品為新產品線的研究發展時，團隊管理者偏向「專案管理型」的角色，與市場方面的連結則以PM/行銷/銷售部門為主。當組織開發的產品為擴展公司現有產品線的深度時，團隊管理者偏向「總經理型」的角色。當組織開發的產品為改良或修正現有產品時，團隊管理者偏向「企劃型」的角色。 （四）當組織開發的產品為新產品線的研究發展時，組織傾向於使用「自主型團隊」來進行產品開發。當組織開發的產品為擴展公司現有產品線的深度時，組織傾向於使用「重型團隊」來進行產品開發。當組織開發的產品為改良或修正現有產品時，組織傾向於使用「輕型團隊」來進行產品開發。 （五）技術知識複雜度高，則技術網路成成員種類較多。技術知識複雜度低，則技術網路成員種類較少。 （六）技術知識複雜度愈高，組織溝通方式傾向以整合問題解決模式，若生產在專案過程參與較少，則研發與生產之間會透過產品工程做連結。 （七）技術知識複雜度高，則團隊成員組成多元程度較高。技術知識複雜度低，則團隊成員組成多元程度較低。 二、台灣電腦網路廠商知識創造平台的特性 （一）在組織知識創造的場域（Ba）中，對組織成員適度的關懷（Care）是台灣優秀電腦網路廠商的特色。 （二）在Dialoing Ba中，正式與非正式的溝通同樣為外化過程中不可或缺的方式。 （三）台灣優秀的電腦網路廠商的創新類型偏重於架構式創新，並與國外技術提供者保持適度的跨組織的知識交流。 （四）技術知識特質對組織知識創造的場域（Ba）的影響並不明顯。