Branding dates back to centuries ago when traders were trying to distinguish their products from others in order to promise a higher quality to their consumers. Today, brands are considered as intangible resources that can have a significant contribution to the firm performance. Based on the Resource-Based Theory (RBT), valuable, rare, inimitable, and non-substitutable brands are strategic resources that create superior value and play a key role in achieving a sustainable competitive advantage over rivals. In the process of developing and maintaining strong brands, brand managers constantly need to make multiple decisions. Whether to add, delete or retail brands are among the routine decisions that brand managers face in managing their brand portfolios. Brand managers need to regularly assess their brand portfolios in order to make sure they are not selling redundant brands. Through brand portfolio assessment, brand managers can recognize weak brands and delete the unprofitable brands from the portfolio in order to free up resources and reinvest them in their stronger and more successful brands to gain competitive advantage in the market. This admonition is in line with the RBT of competitive advantage. This dissertation builds upon and extends previous literature on RBT in the context of brand deletion to achieve three main objectives. The first objective is to find the answer to why companies decide to delete brands from their portfolios. Thus, the focus of the first objective is to identify the organizational (i.e., firm, managerial, and brand) factors that drive the brand deletion strategy in a company. The second goal is to find the answer to the when question through identifying the environmental (i.e., market) factors associated with brand deletion decision making in a company. Finally, the third objective is to go deeper and investigate the different types of brand deletion strategy (i.e., merge, sell, milk, and kill). In other words, the third objective seeks to find the answer to the how question. Deleting brands from the portfolio of a company, being the most sensitive issue in strategic brand portfolio management, is yet understudied in the brand portfolio management literature. This study adds to the literature of strategic brand portfolio management by a) applying the Resource-based Theory (RBT) in the context of brand deletion decision making and b) empirically testing the relationships among the drivers of brand deletion strategies. The findings of this dissertation provide a better understanding on how each of these factors are associated with the brand deletion decision making process in companies. The current dissertation provides practitioners with several managerial insights as well. First, the study identifies and empirically tests several organizational-level factors that drive brand deletion decisions in companies. This will help brand managers be familiar with factors that they need to consider when evaluating their poor-performing brands. Breaking these factors into internal (brand and firm) and external (market) drivers provides practitioners with a better understanding of the brand deletion decision making process. In addition, the findings of this study help managers realize their own role (in terms of their attitude toward deletion and their commitment to the brand) in the brand deletion process. Finally, the identification and discussion of the four types of brand deletion strategy help companies have a clearer picture of how they can remove brands from their portfolios.

The impending NHI will cause a disruptive change in the health care industry in South Africa. For that reason the affected firms need to prepare themselves. Furthermore the current stakeholders in the private health care sector are feeling disenfranchised in terms of how the NHI will turn out.The aim of this study was to understand the response of existing firms whose existence is threatened due to impending disruptive change.The research method that was used was qualitative and exploratory in design. It involved one on one semi structured interviews with 13 respondents from a total of 7 firms who were selected to participate in the study, from the following business groups: pharmaceutical firms, private hospitals, and medical distributors.The findings revealed that the majority of firms would respond by strengthening their relations with the government who is the key stakeholder in the NHI. Secondly, they would build capacity in terms of resources and capabilities in line with the NHI. Lastly, they would innovate their value offering in the current market or new markets. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

ABSTRACTDate: Seminar Date: 2 June 2020, Submission Date: 7 June 2020Level: Bachelor thesis in Business Administration, 15 crInstitution: School of Business, Society and Engineering, Mälardalen UniversityAuthors: Gabriel Arteaga Fakhri Qusay Shehab Christine Katusabe Mukidi(96/03/31) (99/01/05) (97/05/15)Title: Global Value Chains, the effects and responses of Multinational Enterprises in a crisis environment: A case study on the effects of the COVID-19 crisisTutor: Edward GillmoreKeywords: Global Value Chain, Contingency, Resource-based Management, Global Crisis, Multinational EnterprisesResearch questions:RQ 1: How does a global crisis affect the parts of multinational enterprises’ global value chain?RQ 2: How do multinational enterprises respond to a global crisis with their functions and actions?Purpose: This study seeks to gain in-depth understanding of how a global crisis can affect an MNE’s production and what response an MNE can use to mitigate the consequences of a global crisis.Method: The method consisted of an abductive approach with the combination of secondary data and semi-structured qualitative interviews with varied top- and middle-level managers within the chosen MNE, to help answer the research questions of the thesis.Conclusion: The global crisis disrupted parts of the MNE’s GVCs and affected demand, business relationships and caused production facilities to shut down. Since the GVCs are being impacted, the COVID-19 crisis has also impacted the way in which an MNE operates. Both MNEs showed the importance of flexibility and adapted their strategies and operations as the crisis progressed.

University business incubators (UBIs) are organizations that provide new startup companies with a support environment. However, there are split opinions on the UBIs’ contributions to the startups and the regional economy and, consequently, there are also split opinions on  how to assess UBI performance. According to the resource-based view (RBV), a company’s competitive advantage results from the various resources the company has access to. The biotechnology industry is characterized by high research intensity, weak entrepreneurial and managerial skills of the entrepreneur, huge capital requirements, and long product  evelopment approval processes. Previous research has showed that these characteristics imply certain challenges for new biotech ventures. In this study, these industry specific characteristic and challenges were believed to affect what constitutes successful bioincubation and how bio-incubators’ performance should be assessed. The purpose of this report is, thus, to examine how bio-incubator performance can, and should be, assessed. An existing framework for assessing UBI performance is used as a basis for performing  emistructured interviews with 18 incubator managers in order to examine what performance indicators are perceived as robust for assessing bio-incubator performance. The findings show that the value contributions of bio-incubators mainly include space and network provision, support services, and coaching. The perceived value contributions, in combination with the perceived challenges, imply that it is particularly appropriate to assess bio-incubators performance in terms of Job Creation, Economy Enhancement, Access to Funds, and the Incubator Offer and Internal Environment. However, Job Creation and Economy Enhancement are closely related and are therefore suggested to be merged into a single performance indicator. Hardware and Services, on the other hand, seems to be less relevant for assessing bio-incubator performance as it depends on the incubator’s strategy. The study concludes that there are additional ways of assessing bio-incubator performance, such as shortened time to graduation, links with universities, and the flexibility of the incubator. Further research may include the entrepreneurs’ point of view or use the approach of this study to examine incubator performance in other high-technology industries.

Entering a new market is one of the most important strategic decisions a company makes, and being an external player can make it possible to reveal opportunities not apparent to the industry players. The key is to not take industry structures for granted, but to think outside the box when formulating the entering strategy. This study rests on the assumption that there are factors in industries that are more path dependent than others, hence they are rigid and difficult to change. These factors could eventually prevent the industry from evolving even though new technology and processes are available. By first identifying factors strongly governed by path dependency and then delving deeper to understand the reason why they have not changed, this study argue that new business opportunities can evolve. The approach developed in this paper is particularly beneficial when the product or service is not yet developed and the company has many different resources, enabling a more diversified product portfolio, in which opportunities can be prioritized against the company resources. This enables matching a product or service to the industry rather than pushing it out on the market. In this report the path dependency approach is applied on the banana market, which has features governed by path dependency, and the entering company is a subsidiary to an established company and thereby has multiple resources as well as products and services. Since the subsidiary chose to proceed with the strategy formulated by using the path dependency approach the findings from the case study show that the approach can be useful when entering a new market. The report concludes that the concept of path dependency is ambiguous and subjective but could be useful when formulating an entry strategy into a new market. However, further research is needed to evaluate the application of the approach and the path dependency approach should primarily be seen as a complement to existing market entry strategies.

The aim of the study is to capture and understand the perceptions of SMEs with regard to the resources that they feel are missing as they engage in the process of internationalisation. The methodology of this study follows a qualitative method wherein four SMEs were interviewed along with an industry expert using semi-structured interviews. The collated data was processed according to academic procedure outlined by Creswell & Creswell (2018). Thereafter, the categorised data was analysed using an adapted situational analysis inspired by the SOAR Framework to identify missing resources. Findings and Conclusion: SMEs from Gävleborg, Sweden wish to internationalise but face extensive barriers caused by the lack of necessary resources. The empirical findings align with existing literature in identifying a lack of financial, human, and intellectual resources among the SMEs. However, the findings reject theories which cited a lack of financial skills and physical resources as causal factors. The framework presented (Figure 3) was found to be useful for academics, in reality the SMEs in the Gävleborg region follow a different approach. Contribution of the Study: This study adds specific insights and knowledge about the resource gaps experienced by Swedish SMEs to the literature. The outcomes indicate significant obstacles facing SMEs in the early or pre-internationalisation stage. Practical recommendations from this study suggest regional development of mentoring, accessible funding, and networking support. Reflections on the Study and Suggestions for Future Research: The Covid-19 pandemic forced all interviews online but zoom recordings facilitated clear and accurate collection of empirical evidence. For the future, a longitudinal study of SMEs in Sweden comparing resource availability by region and/or by firm size merits investigation. Similarly, research into why the resource gaps among SMEs remain an issue would be a welcome addition to resource-based literature.

Purpose The purpose of this study is to identify the causes and benefits of workforce diversity in a Swedish electrical engineering multinational corporation. Furthermore, to identify various challenges faced by the managers in diversity management and to find strategies adopted by them to minimize those challenges. Design/Methodology/Approach For this research qualitative method is undertaken. The research was undertaken in two stages. In stage one, an open-ended questionnaire was used to collect primary data from three line-managers and in stage two focused group discussion was conducted with three employees from HR department. The total sample size is six employees working in a Swedish Electrical Engineering MNC. Findings and Conclusions The nature of the business carried by the studied MNC requires continuous innovation and customization of products, which requires employees with diverse knowledge, skills and capabilities. The causes for diversity in the studied organization are because of encouraging internal movement of employees from various subsidiaries to the headquarters and by using various other staffing practises such as inpatriation, global virtual teams, permanent transfers etc. The company is also hiring employees from diverse jobmarkets. The findings from the primary data shows that the studied MNC is benefited from highly diversified work force. However, there are certain challenges faced by managers in managing diversity. The Diversity 360 policy of the company is helping the studied MNC to overcome the challenges in diversity management.

This study examines the effects of servant leadership and service technology on frontline bank employees’ turnover intentions, mediated by job satisfaction and organizational commitment. A conceptual framework is developed based on the tenets of the resource-based view of the firm and the self-determination theory to test the hypothesized relationships. Frontline employees of a bank serve as the study setting. The results indicate that servant leadership and service technology affect employees’ turnover intentions through job satisfaction and organizational commitment where servant leadership plays a stronger role. We discuss the implications of our findings and offer future research avenues.

The resource-based view (RBV) of competitive strategy emphasises the importance of unique firm resources and associated capabilities to the formulation of competitive strategy. This cross-sectional study seeks to determine whether or not the pattern of usage of competitive methods related to marketing, information technology and flexibility in the Portuguese service sector aligns with the resource-based view. Fifteen service-related competitive methods are identified. Surveyed firms were asked to indicate the degree of relevance of these competitive methods to their competitive strategy. Exploratory factor analysis and structural equation modelling indicates that these methods represent four underlying strategy dimensions that reflect some of the dynamic capabilities suggested by the resource-based view. In addition, cluster analysis revealed that each of the responding firms could be classified into one of three capability orientations. Some implications of these findings for strategy development in the Portuguese service sector are discussed. Limitations of the study and areas for future research are also presented.

This study sought to examine strategic entrepreneurship and issues surrounding this type of activity in a public sector context. The concept of strategic entrepreneurship has received increasing attention in recent years; however, limited studies have focused on strategic entrepreneurship as a distinct construct in public sector context. Consequently, the objective of this study was to address the question of “What is the nature and scope of strategic entrepreneurship in the context of South Africa’s SOEs” through examination of theory and practice. The research question is addressed by first developing a revised framework of strategic entrepreneurship from literature on entrepreneurship, strategy, and public sector context. This revised framework is then examined on activity which is entrepreneurial and strategic within four SOEs operating South Africa as at 2011. Transcripts from a series of interviews, and publicly available documents are analysed thematically. The study identified additional supporting and external factors of strategic entrepreneurship which form a revised conceptual framework of strategic entrepreneurship. The study showed core, supporting, and the external environment elements of strategic entrepreneurship contribute to the increased level of entrepreneurial activity in the public sector context, in particular state-owned enterprises. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted