The shift towards relationship marketing entails an increased attention directed to buildingcollaborative relationships in the business-to-business market. This has further contributed tothe current interest in the intraorganizational setting in the area of sales and key accountmanagement, and more specifically the notion of sales teams. In light of the above, the purposeof this study is to develop a conceptual framework emphasizing the intraorganizationalperspective of such teams. Within this context, the team’s design and processes have beenhighlighted in relation to its performance and ability to form relationships with customers. Toprovide insights to the purpose of this study a single-case study was conducted in a companyoperating within the cloud software industry. The analysis demonstrates how the design of theteam, depicted by the formalization of procedures and the heterogeneity of team members’expertise, constitutes the frame in which the processes are carried out. Further, the interplay ofcommunication, proactiveness and alignment of goals showed to constitute key processesenabling the team to build relationships with its customers. Thus, by providing a conceptualframework emphasizing the intraorganizational perspective of sales teams, this studycontributes to the theoretical discussion as well as to practitioners in the field.

<p>This study empirically investigates the levels of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and market orientation (MO), and their links to performance within the context of French Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs).</p><p>SMEs represent today the heart of the European strategy and account fro 99% of the total companies in France. The current study argues that SMEs and especially French ones deserve a particular attention.</p><p>Besides, even though many studies have been conducted in the fields of entrepreneurial orientation and market orientation, when combining both, only a few included performance in their empirical analyses. Moreover, most relied on large established companies or MNE. Little concern has been put in SME and none have been done on the case of French SMEs. The current study propose a cross-sectional analysis to investigate the combination of EO and MO and its impact on performance through a quantitative research method.</p><p>Based on existing theories and previous studies, three hypotheses have been formulated :</p><p>H1 : Companies that are entrepreneurial oriented outperform companies that are not.</p><p>H2 : Companies that are market oriented outperform companies that are not.</p><p>H3 : Companies that are both entrepreneurial and market oriented outperform companies that are either one or none.</p><p>In order to test those hypotheses, a online 24 questions survey has been administrated to a sample of 338 French SMEs. All questions were based on the works of Covin and Slevin (1989), Narver and Slater (1990), Lumpkin and Dess (1996), and Blois and Carson (2000).</p><p>The results show that all hypothesis are verified. However, if no correlation was found between EO and MO, the combination of both enables SMEs to achieve higher performance.</p>

This study empirically investigates the levels of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and market orientation (MO), and their links to performance within the context of French Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs). SMEs represent today the heart of the European strategy and account fro 99% of the total companies in France. The current study argues that SMEs and especially French ones deserve a particular attention. Besides, even though many studies have been conducted in the fields of entrepreneurial orientation and market orientation, when combining both, only a few included performance in their empirical analyses. Moreover, most relied on large established companies or MNE. Little concern has been put in SME and none have been done on the case of French SMEs. The current study propose a cross-sectional analysis to investigate the combination of EO and MO and its impact on performance through a quantitative research method. Based on existing theories and previous studies, three hypotheses have been formulated : H1 : Companies that are entrepreneurial oriented outperform companies that are not. H2 : Companies that are market oriented outperform companies that are not. H3 : Companies that are both entrepreneurial and market oriented outperform companies that are either one or none. In order to test those hypotheses, a online 24 questions survey has been administrated to a sample of 338 French SMEs. All questions were based on the works of Covin and Slevin (1989), Narver and Slater (1990), Lumpkin and Dess (1996), and Blois and Carson (2000). The results show that all hypothesis are verified. However, if no correlation was found between EO and MO, the combination of both enables SMEs to achieve higher performance.

Syftet med studien är att bidra med kunskap om hur entreprenöriell orientering kan mäta entreprenörskap inom branschen för mobiltelefoni. Förhållandet mellan entreprenörskap och ekonomiska utfall mäts med utgångspunkt i Millers resonemang om entreprenöriell orientering. Hur kan entreprenörskap operationaliseras? Hur ser förhållandet ut mellan entreprenörskap och ekonomiska utfall? Studien baseras på tidigare forskning, facklitteratur, vetenskapliga artiklar, årsredovisningar, branschartiklar, avhandlingar och andra relevanta underlag som belyser entreprenörskap. Både kvalitativ och kvantitativ metod tillämpas för att åstadkomma triangulering. Entreprenörskap kan mätas utifrån hur pass radikal innovationen är. Den nya och tidigare okända innovationen kan resultera i positiva ekonomiska utfall som också mäter graden av entreprenörskap. Entreprenörskap kan mätas genom grad av riskaversion. Risktagande kan ge både positivt och negativt ekonomiskt utfall. Entreprenörskap kan mätas genom proaktivitet och begreppet first mover. Proaktivitet kan bidra till högre grad av entreprenörskap som i sin tur kan ge positiva ekonomiska utfall. Att vara proaktiv idag utgör ingen garanti för positiva ekonomiska utfall i framtiden. / The purpose of this study is to contribute with knowledge concerning how entrepreneurial orientation can measure entrepreneurship within the cellphone business. The relationship between entrepreneurship and economic outcomes is measured using Millers arguments about entrepreneurial orientation. How can entrepreneurship be operationalized? How does the relationship between entrepreneurship and economic outcomes look like? The study is based on prior research, nonfictional literature, scientific articles, annual reports, business articles, theses and other relevant sources, which highlight entrepreneurship. Both qualitative and quantitative method is used to achieve triangulation. Entrepreneurship can be measured by how radical the innovation is. The new and earlier unknown innovation can result in positive economic outcomes, which can be used as a tool for measuring entrepreneurship as well. The level of risk aversion can measure entrepreneurship. Risk taking can result in both positive and negative economic outcomes. Proactiveness can be measured by using the term first mover. Proactiveness can contribute to higher level of entrepreneurship causing positive economic outcomes. Being proactive today does not guarantee positive economic outcomes in the future.

How to integrate sustainability into business activities is discussed within corporations more than ever today. With increasing sustainability requirements set by governments and non-governmental organizations, corporations in all industries are facing challenges to readjust their businesses. The emission intense stainless steel industry is no exception. Through a case study of Corporation X, this thesis aims to investigate how Facility Y works with sustainability aspects and what could be done to enhance the level of environmental sustainability. It is done by first exploring what sustainability is. When a common understanding of sustainability hasbeen established, it is explored how a corporation can be identified in terms of their sustainability commitment and ongoing projects. Lastly, an investigation of how a corporation could enhance the level of substantiality is conducted through four pillars to fulfill the bottom line. We found that Corporation X is somewhat proactive and have a minimization approach towardenvironmental sustainability. In other words, they are considered to aim at ‘being less bad’ rather than being ‘more good’ in their sustainability work. Corporation X thus face challenges with increasing requirements and should enhance their level of sustainability to remain competitive. With an analysis of the four pillars, we concluded that Facility Y should prioritize improvements within the pillar of measurement and disclosure since they lack in terms of reliable carbon dioxide emission metrics on a product level. We further argue that the four pillars are intertwined but should be prioritized differently based on the prerequisites of thecorporation at hand. The recommended prioritization at Facility Y on measurement will thuschange when there are reliable carbon dioxide emission measurements. A reassessment of what is most important must be done.

Made available in DSpace on 2009-11-18T19:01:37Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 abenedito.pdf: 555296 bytes, checksum: d24c813a868e1b743e55942cb049c317 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009 / The subject entrepreneurship has been gaining strength within the area of strategy, as the entrepreneurial activity represents one of the gears of economic growth and a political social and economic response of the entrepreneur¿s capital. Nevertheless, there are not many studies that investigated if entrepreneurial orientation influences firm performance in Brazil. The objective of the research is to understand and conclude on the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and firm performance. To achieve this objective, qualitative research through in-depth interviews with 14 managers was followed by quantitative research through data collection involving 104 managers in a heterogeneous sample of 104 companies. The research used the model of Lumpkin; Dess (1996) for entrepreneurial orientation in five dimensions (autonomy, innovativeness, risk taking, proactiveness and competitive aggressiveness), to which two more dimensions were added: strategic alliances and market orientation ¿ that emerged during the qualitative phase of the study. As a result a generic model was obtained ¿ composed of one variable (proactiveness) which positively impacts the firm performance. Proactiveness was also the key factor that positively impacted the firm performance for the service sector and small businesses. For the commercial sector, the model was composed by three dimensions (innovativeness, risk taking and market orientation). While the industry / construction sectors showed no linear relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and firm performance. Competitive aggressiveness is the key factor that impacts positively on firm performance for big companies, whereas for mediumsized companies it is the market orientation which relates positively to firm performance. Finally, there are no significant differences depending on the sector in which the firm operates or its size. / O tema empreendedorismo vem ganhando força dentro da área de estratégia, uma vez que a atividade empreendedora representa uma das engrenagens do crescimento econômico e uma resposta política, social e econômica do capital empreendedor. Apesar disso, não há muitas pesquisas que investigaram se a orientação empreendedora (OE) influencia a performance das empresas (PE) no Brasil. O objetivo da pesquisa visa compreender e concluir sobre a relação entre OE e PE. Para atingir este objetivo, realizou-se uma pesquisa qualitativa, através de entrevistas em profundidade com 14 gestores, seguida de pesquisa quantitativa, através de coleta de dados envolvendo 104 gestores de uma amostra heterogênea de 104 empresas. A pesquisa utilizou o modelo de Lumpkin; Dess (1996) para OE em cinco dimensões (autonomia [A], inovação [I], capacidade de assumir riscos [CAR], pró-atividade [PA] e competitividade agressiva [CA]), ao qual foram acrescentadas mais duas dimensões, formação de parcerias [FP] e orientação para o mercado [OM] que surgiram durante a fase qualitativa do estudo. Obteve-se um modelo genérico composto por uma variável (PA) que impacta positivamente a PE. A PA também foi o fator-chave que impactou positivamente a PE para o setor de serviços e para empresas pequenas/micro. Para o setor de comércio o modelo foi formado por três dimensões (I, CAR, OM). Enquanto o setor de indústria/construção não apresentou relação linear entre OE e PE. A CA é o fator-chave que impacta positivamente a PE para empresas grandes, ao passo que para médias é a OM que se relaciona positivamente à PE. Por fim, não existem diferenças significativas dependendo do setor em que a empresa atua ou do seu tamanho.