The objective of this study is to investigate the determinants of the export behavior of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Turkey. In SMEs, key decision makers play important roles / therefore, studying the impact of managerial characteristics is of paramount importance for understanding the determinants of SME export behavior. Particularly, possible relations between CEO age, tenure, level of education, international experience and foreign language skills and the export performance of SMEs will be examined. While doing this, two distinct theories, namely, upper echelons perspective and resource-based view of the firm (RBV) will be integrated. Furthermore, the study will focus on the role of the human capital as a strategic resource that may enhance the SME export performance. The relations between international experience and foreign language skills of the human capital and SME export performance will be analyzed from upper echelons perspective and RBV point of view. Overall, this study attempts to illustrate that CEOs and human resources are valuable, rare, inimitable and non-substitutable resources for SMEs, and that studying their attributes in SME internationalization context is crucial to understanding the determinants of expert activities of SMEs. As a result, this study expects to reveal important implications for those who aim at increasing the export performance of SMEs. Practitioners may benefit from the findings by addressing which managerial and human capital characteristics influence SME export behavior and in which directions, so that they can better match the characteristics of CEOs and human capital with SMEs in order to attain higher export performance.

<p>Free and Open Source Software has not only increased researchers’ interest about community-driven software development, but lately, interest from commercial actors increased as well. In addition, some scientists have claimed that Open Source Software has entered a new phase: OSS 2.0. Even so, a coherent way of analyzing commercial Open Source ventures is still missing.</p><p>Commercial Open Source firms’ strategies are often described using the term “business models”. However, these models often lack stringent structures and have been used primarily to describe the firms’ offerings and methods to earn revenue.</p><p>Through the adaptation of an existing, firmly theoretically-based analytical business model framework, this thesis suggests a new analysis model for studying for-profit Open Source companies. In addition, the framework is generically constructed, ensuring its usability for other industries as well. The model consists of three elements: <em>market positions, operational platform</em> and <em>offering</em>.</p><p>This particular study concerned four software product vendors, all of which base their products on Open Source Software. When analyzing their business, insights were made about how these firms operated. The result show that there are certain key elements and factors that determine if a company has a sustainable business or not. From the analysis framework, three elements were refined. The main <em>Open Source Software project</em> connects the market positions and the operational platform; and from the offering, the <em>product and service</em> and the<em> revenue model</em> were very important.</p><p>The study identified eight key factors which influenced the elements: <em>brand</em> for the product, the company and the Open Source Software project; <em>community</em>, that is the sum of the non-paying users and developers connected to Open Source Software projects; <em>resources</em>, which are community-based resources such as development and testing; <em>legitimacy,</em> the perceived legitimacy regarding licenses and the revenue models; <em>control,</em> i.e. the control the firm has of the software; <em>ability to charge</em>, or how the company can charge for its services; <em>customers</em>, the paying users; and finally <em>volume</em>, which is the number of paying customers.</p><p>The findings also indicate that companies interested in working with the open-source community have to be able to balance the demands from both their customers and the community in order to benefit and gain competitive advantage.</p> / Report code: LiU-TEK-LIC 2008:26.

The corporate political activity field has focused on the study of political capabilities that allow firms to influence governments and regulators. Building on previous studies, this thesis examines a set of capabilities that allow host firms to adapt to rather than influence political environments. Specifically, this set of adaptive political capabilities can be used by firms to confront host country political contexts in emerging economies that share two characteristics: authoritarian regimes and weak institutions. The findings of this thesis show that host firms can develop and use adaptive political capabilities rather than political capabilities to start and sustain their operations in this type of political contexts. This entails attuning firm processes, structures, and practices to local norms and political behaviors, rather than attempting to shape the host country political environment in its own likeness. Our results suggest host firms can develop adaptive political capabilities to enhance their strategic repertoire when starting or sustaining operations in emerging economies with such characteristics. Our contribution is that by using mixed methods, we provide and test several exploratory propositions that support the conceptualization of a framework to guide the development of adaptive political capabilities by host firms and we make explicit a taxonomy of corporate adaptive political strategies that can enable firms to envision how they can adapt to host political contexts.

There is a growing need to better understand environmental decision making in the context of climate change and limited renewable resources. This dissertation deepens our understanding of such decision making by focusing on strategic green decisions, which can be defined as the individual and collaborative green decisions within or between organizations that help organizations improve their operating position, adapt to changes in their external institutional environments, and simultaneously generate environmental benefits. The particular focus is on decisions related to energy in the North American context. The research draws on and contributes to organizational theory with the aim of better understanding those factors that motivate and/or facilitate green decisions by organizations, especially social economy organizations—an area of only limited research to date. Two complementary empirical studies address the overarching research goal. The first study focuses on understanding the nature and extent of the association between organizational attributes and those factors that motivate and/or facilitate a green energy decision. Insights are based on a bi-national survey of 212 organizations that voluntarily began to purchase green electricity between 1999 and 2008. Findings indicate that important influences are similar across organizational types. Survey results highlight the importance of organizational culture and internal champions—both individually and in combination—in making the initial decision to purchase green electricity, despite its relatively higher price. These two factors, as well as strategic benefits, emerge as the dominant explanations for why organizations expand their green energy purchases. The relative importance and particular roles of these factors vary across organizational and decision types. The second empirical study extends our understanding of how organizations adapt to external changes while maintaining the capacity to innovate in order to address their core objectives. The focus is on the residential energy services market, and is based on 12 interviews with the executive directors of non-profit environmental service organizations (ESOs) that are part of a national network called Green Communities Canada. These organizations survived a funding shock by creating new services and diversifying funding sources with actions that collectively can be referred to as ‘green collaborative entrepreneurship’; collaborative because it was facilitated by strategic partnerships with businesses and local governments, as well as the cross-national social capital network connecting the ESOs. The important motivating factors of green collaborative entrepreneurship were the green values and objectives that drive these organizations. The facilitating factors of green collaborative entrepreneurship included human capital, social capital and strategic partnerships, which acted as dynamic capabilities because of their flexibility to help increase the level of entrepreneurship when necessary for organizational survival, and yet, scale-up and deliver core programs during stable funding periods. The dissertation provides important insights into broad questions related to green decisions, especially for organizations that are affected by political policy cycles. The findings highlight that organizations are able to be more environmentally sustainable while also improving their own strategic performance by making green decisions that either provide the capacity to adapt to exogenous change for survival, or to create endogenous change for competitive advantage. The research contributes to our understanding of societal transitions to sustainable development by highlighting two green decisions that are occurring in the social economy. The dissertation contributes to organizational theory and in particular the traditional corporate literature by including multiple organizational types. Sustainability researchers should focus on green decisions that both enhance organizational stability and ecological sustainability if they wish to better understand creative green solutions from organizations.

科技的發展日新月異，產業變動也愈來愈激烈，而新舊技術的交替更是頻繁，企業如何創造並維持其競爭優勢，一直是各方關注的議題。 現今的企業面對產業環境與消費者喜好的高度不確定性，企業如何面對、認知，以及正確回應環境的變動，適時更新企業的競爭優勢，才能在隨時變動遊戲規格的快速競爭環境中生存。企業在過往所建構的競爭障礙，諸如稀少、無法模仿、無法替代的資源，一旦面臨大環境的變化，如果企業的組織流程、資源配置，以及發展途徑未能與時俱進，企業將在短時間內被迫退出市場。 本研究所探討的個案公司由光儲存晶片市場崛起，並以破壞式創新的商業模式快速進入手機晶片市場，一舉成為中國手機晶片市場的霸主。但是近年來智慧型手機的快速興起，動搖了個案公司原本的市場地位，導致營收與獲利績效均不若以往。 本研究以動態能力的觀點，分析個案公司在發展歷程中各個階段的資源分佈與能耐結構，同時配合產業與市場環境的變遷，描繪出個案公司的動態能力演進過程。之後亦針對個案公司近來面臨的困境，藉由動態能力的觀點，分析其原因以作為其他企業發展借鏡。

This study seeks to make a theoretical contribution to the rapidly growing field of International Entrepreneurship by investigating the process of internationalization of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). Bell, McNaughton, Young & Crick, (2003) emphasized the need for researchers to re-conceptualize their thinking on the internationalization process of smaller firms. While there has been substantial research done on the small business internationalization and how the participation of these firms in the global economy has fuelled economic growth in a number of countries (Audretsch & Thurik, 2003; Acs, Randall Morck, Shraver & Yeung, 1997; Storey, 1994; Alam & Pacher, 2003), there is tangible evidence that SMEs in Australia are not keeping up with global trends. Studies conducted on Australian firms allude to the following reasons for their constrained presence in international markets: (i) geographic and psychic distance; (ii) costs disadvantage; (iii) overdependence on inward FDI from large foreign multinationals; (iv) a history of inward-looking and narrowly focussed economic development policies of the Australian government. These factors had the combined effect of imbalanced economic growth which was particularly detrimental to the small business sector (Australian Trade Commission, 2002; Maitland & Nicholas, 2002; Alam & Pacher, 2003). Despite the identified obstacles, some Australian SMEs have succeeded in penetrating international markets. This study involved a preliminary qualitative investigation of selected Australian SMEs and their unique internationalization process. Evidence from the case study based investigation will indicate that the respondent firms have leveraged on entrepreneurial qualities to overcome the obstacles and enhance their success in international markets. As such, the internationalization process for these selected firms is seen as an extension of and integral to their entrepreneurial behaviour. Using the lenses provided by relevant facets of the entrepreneurship, internationalization and strategy scholarly fields, this exploratory qualitative study, while building the foundation for further empirical research into the internationalization process of SMEs, can serve as a guide to researchers for ascertaining future directions in this emergent field. The findings from the study are intended to contribute to a body of knowledge encompassing the cross-border operations of SMEs. The research also has value from a practical perspective as Australian SMEs can draw from this body of knowledge as they pursue opportunities internationally.

This research sought to establish the nexus between the two management disciplines of strategic management and knowledge management. Through a study of the life cycle of knowledge assets within the Australian Public Sector, this nexus has been established. Over the last three decades, there has been a growing interest in the nascent discipline of knowledge management (Wiig 1997). However, discussion regarding knowledge, knowledge workers and knowledge management started much earlier when Chester Barnard’s management classic The Functions of the Executive (1938) included suggestions made on how to manage knowledge workers. The 1960s saw management authors and researchers such as Peter Drucker (1993; 1994; 1995; 1997a; 1997b), Machlup (1962), and Michael Polanyi (1967) discussing topics such as knowledge work, knowledge workers, and tacit and explicit knowledge. During much the same period, strategic management was also being researched and discussed, with Alfred D. Chandler being among the first scholars to study strategic management. His book Strategy and Structure (1962) described the development of organisations, and showed that the practice of strategic management predated its study as a management discipline. Chandler was followed by other researchers including Igor Ansoff (1965) and Learned, Christensen, Andrews and Guth (1965), Henry Mintzberg (1979; 1985; 1990; 1996a; 1996b; 1999), and Michael E. Porter (1980; 1985). Research continues in both disciplines; however, research on the interface between these two important disciplines is rare, particularly in Australia.The Australian Public Sector was selected as the target industry for this research, and case study as the research strategy. The research strategy combined a variety of methods including interviews, questionnaires and surveys. The approach taken with data analysis was to employ aspects of the approach used in grounded theory. In addition, action research was used as a meta-methodology, in that periods of review and reflection were undertaken that generated improvements to the research methodology. This research has found that there is a marked interdependence between strategic management and the management of knowledge assets. The strategic management process requires skills and capabilities (knowledge assets) for its execution. Moreover, the resultant strategies require the exploitation of knowledge assets to ensure effective implementation. The life cycle of knowledge assets starts and ends when their need or otherwise is identified directly or indirectly by strategic plans. Knowledge assets are acquired, deployed, utilised and maintained until they are no longer needed. They are then disposed of by outsourcing or atrophy when people are redeployed or retrained. This research has focused on the disciplines of strategic management and knowledge management; however, its contribution lies largely in the area of capability management. Corporate strategy theorists, from the RBV (Resource Based View) and KBV (Knowledge Based View) schools, see organisations as a body of knowledge (Spender 1996). From the perspective of knowledge assets, used as the theme of this research, an organisation is a body of capabilities, and to achieve corporate objectives, the capabilities must match the strategies.

This research sought to establish the nexus between the two management disciplines of strategic management and knowledge management. Through a study of the life cycle of knowledge assets within the Australian Public Sector, this nexus has been established. Over the last three decades, there has been a growing interest in the nascent discipline of knowledge management (Wiig 1997). However, discussion regarding knowledge, knowledge workers and knowledge management started much earlier when Chester Barnard’s management classic The Functions of the Executive (1938) included suggestions made on how to manage knowledge workers. The 1960s saw management authors and researchers such as Peter Drucker (1993; 1994; 1995; 1997a; 1997b), Machlup (1962), and Michael Polanyi (1967) discussing topics such as knowledge work, knowledge workers, and tacit and explicit knowledge. During much the same period, strategic management was also being researched and discussed, with Alfred D. Chandler being among the first scholars to study strategic management. His book Strategy and Structure (1962) described the development of organisations, and showed that the practice of strategic management predated its study as a management discipline. Chandler was followed by other researchers including Igor Ansoff (1965) and Learned, Christensen, Andrews and Guth (1965), Henry Mintzberg (1979; 1985; 1990; 1996a; 1996b; 1999), and Michael E. Porter (1980; 1985). Research continues in both disciplines; however, research on the interface between these two important disciplines is rare, particularly in Australia.The Australian Public Sector was selected as the target industry for this research, and case study as the research strategy. The research strategy combined a variety of methods including interviews, questionnaires and surveys. The approach taken with data analysis was to employ aspects of the approach used in grounded theory. In addition, action research was used as a meta-methodology, in that periods of review and reflection were undertaken that generated improvements to the research methodology. This research has found that there is a marked interdependence between strategic management and the management of knowledge assets. The strategic management process requires skills and capabilities (knowledge assets) for its execution. Moreover, the resultant strategies require the exploitation of knowledge assets to ensure effective implementation. The life cycle of knowledge assets starts and ends when their need or otherwise is identified directly or indirectly by strategic plans. Knowledge assets are acquired, deployed, utilised and maintained until they are no longer needed. They are then disposed of by outsourcing or atrophy when people are redeployed or retrained. This research has focused on the disciplines of strategic management and knowledge management; however, its contribution lies largely in the area of capability management. Corporate strategy theorists, from the RBV (Resource Based View) and KBV (Knowledge Based View) schools, see organisations as a body of knowledge (Spender 1996). From the perspective of knowledge assets, used as the theme of this research, an organisation is a body of capabilities, and to achieve corporate objectives, the capabilities must match the strategies.

O mercado de vinhos no Brasil teve sua condição competitiva modificada, principalmente a partir da década de 1990 com a abertura comercial. Com isso, as vinícolas precisaram buscar formas mais eficientes de gerir seus recursos e capacidades, bem como de buscar a melhoria da qualidade de seus produtos por meio da inovação de produtos e processos e a transmissão de uma imagem de qualidade e credibilidade ao consumidor. Dentre as mais de 600 vinícolas do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul, destaca-se a Casa Valduga como uma das mais emblemáticas representantes da busca pela qualidade e sofisticação deste novo vinho brasileiro. Um dos produtos de destaque da vinícola é o Storia, considerado seu vinho ícone. Tal produto necessitou da utilização conjunta de vários recursos e capacidades pela empresa, não apenas para criá-lo, mas também para que ele pudesse ser reconhecido e valorizado pelo seu valor de uso. Assim, o seu terroir, bem como as rotinas agrícolas e o expertise do enólogo e do responsável pelo marketing possibilitaram a criação do Storia. Outro aspecto importante que se destaca no aumento da percepção do valor de uso do produto é a reputação da empresa, bem como seus relacionamentos estratégicos, principalmente com os formadores de opinião, jornalistas e experts da área. Tal questão é favorecida pelas empresas apoiadoras da vinícola, tais como os representantes comerciais, a assessoria de imprensa e as escolas de degustação. Desta forma, trata-se o presente estudo de uma pesquisa qualitativa com finalidades exploratórias e descritivas, procurando, dentro da abordagem estratégica da Visão Baseada em Recursos (VBR), propor um framework integrativo capaz de abarcar a condição competitiva da Casa Valduga, bem como de suas empresas apoiadoras. O framework engloba também aspectos da idiossincrasia do consumidor no uso do valor do produto, ou seja, a sua cocriação. Além disso, também é utilizada a escultura social de Joseph Beuys como uma maneira de aproximar cada vez mais o lado do consumidor com a produção. Assim, um vinho não apenas será excelente por causa da indústria ou de aspectos técnicos de produção, mas também por fatores subjetivos relacionados ao consumo e às particularidades e contextos de uso e interação do cliente-consumidor com o produto e as empresas que, direta ou indiretamente, participam da cadeia produtiva do vinho. / Since the 1990’s, with the ingress of imported goods in Brazil, the national wine industry has experienced situations of growing and professionalization. Among more than 600 wineries, Casa Valduga stands out as a premium winery. A family business, which for three generations has been dedicating itself to growing grapes and producing fine wines in the Serra Gaucha, the company seeks to combine technology, expertise and innovation with design elements to create sophistication and high quality products. Its product line ranges from the icon wine Storia, awarded as the best merlot red wine in the country, to white wines, sparkling wines, and rosés. The Resource-Based View (RBV) has been considered an increasingly dominant approach to strategy. However, in the past ten years efforts have been made in order to link it with consumer perception and participation in value creation. In this direction, this study aims to structure an integrative framework with the participatory art and social sculpture of Joseph Beuys. For Beuys, an artist is not simply the one who creates the work of art, but also the one who provides the conditions for public interaction, thus helping in the construction of art. The same seems to be happening with goods. Consumers are the arbiters of value and it is them, with their experience, that examine its "profit". The research is a detailed case study, where forty five consumers and professionals connected, directly or indirectly, to the management, the production and the marketing of the winery were interviewed. A semi-structured interview with a questionnaire was used as the main form of primary data collection, as well as nonparticipant observation. The research also makes use of secondary data coming from the company's website and other institutions linked to the sector, as well as journals and magazines. The data are analyzed using content analysis and converged by triangulation. The results show the terroir, the agricultural routine, the expertise of the winemaker, and marketing strategies as the determinants for the creation of Storia. In turn, reputation, strategic relationship and Villa Valduga are the resources that support a perception of high value of use. Thus, a wine will be considered excellent not only because of the technical production aspects, but also the subjective and contextual factors related with the consumption.

O mercado de vinhos no Brasil teve sua condição competitiva modificada, principalmente a partir da década de 1990 com a abertura comercial. Com isso, as vinícolas precisaram buscar formas mais eficientes de gerir seus recursos e capacidades, bem como de buscar a melhoria da qualidade de seus produtos por meio da inovação de produtos e processos e a transmissão de uma imagem de qualidade e credibilidade ao consumidor. Dentre as mais de 600 vinícolas do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul, destaca-se a Casa Valduga como uma das mais emblemáticas representantes da busca pela qualidade e sofisticação deste novo vinho brasileiro. Um dos produtos de destaque da vinícola é o Storia, considerado seu vinho ícone. Tal produto necessitou da utilização conjunta de vários recursos e capacidades pela empresa, não apenas para criá-lo, mas também para que ele pudesse ser reconhecido e valorizado pelo seu valor de uso. Assim, o seu terroir, bem como as rotinas agrícolas e o expertise do enólogo e do responsável pelo marketing possibilitaram a criação do Storia. Outro aspecto importante que se destaca no aumento da percepção do valor de uso do produto é a reputação da empresa, bem como seus relacionamentos estratégicos, principalmente com os formadores de opinião, jornalistas e experts da área. Tal questão é favorecida pelas empresas apoiadoras da vinícola, tais como os representantes comerciais, a assessoria de imprensa e as escolas de degustação. Desta forma, trata-se o presente estudo de uma pesquisa qualitativa com finalidades exploratórias e descritivas, procurando, dentro da abordagem estratégica da Visão Baseada em Recursos (VBR), propor um framework integrativo capaz de abarcar a condição competitiva da Casa Valduga, bem como de suas empresas apoiadoras. O framework engloba também aspectos da idiossincrasia do consumidor no uso do valor do produto, ou seja, a sua cocriação. Além disso, também é utilizada a escultura social de Joseph Beuys como uma maneira de aproximar cada vez mais o lado do consumidor com a produção. Assim, um vinho não apenas será excelente por causa da indústria ou de aspectos técnicos de produção, mas também por fatores subjetivos relacionados ao consumo e às particularidades e contextos de uso e interação do cliente-consumidor com o produto e as empresas que, direta ou indiretamente, participam da cadeia produtiva do vinho. / Since the 1990’s, with the ingress of imported goods in Brazil, the national wine industry has experienced situations of growing and professionalization. Among more than 600 wineries, Casa Valduga stands out as a premium winery. A family business, which for three generations has been dedicating itself to growing grapes and producing fine wines in the Serra Gaucha, the company seeks to combine technology, expertise and innovation with design elements to create sophistication and high quality products. Its product line ranges from the icon wine Storia, awarded as the best merlot red wine in the country, to white wines, sparkling wines, and rosés. The Resource-Based View (RBV) has been considered an increasingly dominant approach to strategy. However, in the past ten years efforts have been made in order to link it with consumer perception and participation in value creation. In this direction, this study aims to structure an integrative framework with the participatory art and social sculpture of Joseph Beuys. For Beuys, an artist is not simply the one who creates the work of art, but also the one who provides the conditions for public interaction, thus helping in the construction of art. The same seems to be happening with goods. Consumers are the arbiters of value and it is them, with their experience, that examine its "profit". The research is a detailed case study, where forty five consumers and professionals connected, directly or indirectly, to the management, the production and the marketing of the winery were interviewed. A semi-structured interview with a questionnaire was used as the main form of primary data collection, as well as nonparticipant observation. The research also makes use of secondary data coming from the company's website and other institutions linked to the sector, as well as journals and magazines. The data are analyzed using content analysis and converged by triangulation. The results show the terroir, the agricultural routine, the expertise of the winemaker, and marketing strategies as the determinants for the creation of Storia. In turn, reputation, strategic relationship and Villa Valduga are the resources that support a perception of high value of use. Thus, a wine will be considered excellent not only because of the technical production aspects, but also the subjective and contextual factors related with the consumption.