Im Zentrum der Studie stehen erfolgreiche betriebliche Anpassungsprozesse im Prozess der ostdeutschen Industrietransformation. Trotz einer breiten Forschung zur ostdeutschen Transformation ist dieses Phänomen bislang weitgehend ununtersucht. Während die Transformationsforschung in weiten Teilen vor allem von der Erwartung einer Angleichung der ostdeutschen an die westdeutschen Strukturen geprägt ist, folgen die realen Anpassungsprozesse im Zuge der ostdeutschen Industrietransformation einer eigenen, durch die spezifischen ostdeutschen Problemlagen bestimmten Logik. Auf der Mikroebene der Unternehmen entwickelte sich so eine Unternehmenslandschaft mit spezifischen Strukturmerkmalen und Eigenheiten der von den Unternehmen verfolgten Geschäftsmodelle. Auf der Makroebene sind die Unternehmen mit aus Westdeutschland transferierten Institutionen konfrontiert, die im ostdeutschen Kontext teils nur schwach institutionalisiert und begrenzt funktionsfähig sind, auch wenn der Institutionentransfer formal als gelungen gilt. Dies gilt insbesondere für die industriellen Beziehungen und die duale Berufsausbildung als Kerninstitutionen des (west-) deutschen Kapitalismusmodells. Die Studie untersucht anhand von zwölf Unternehmensfallstudien die Entwicklung und Ausprägung erfolgreicher betrieblicher Anpassungsstrategien sowie die institutionelle Einbettung der von den Unternehmen verfolgten Geschäftsmodelle. Die Arbeit stellt dabei die ostdeutschen Akteure und ihr strategisches Handeln ins Zentrum der Forschungsperspektive. Sie vertritt die These, dass die besonderen ostdeutschen Rahmenbedingungen das Handeln der ostdeutschen Akteure wesentlich stärker prägen, als dies von der Transformationsforschung wahrgenommen wird. Auf der Mikroebene müssen Unternehmen und Betriebe sich mit eigenen Strategien insbesondere auch gegen westdeutsche Wettbewerber durchsetzen. Bei der Entwicklung von Wettbewerbsstärken sind sie vor allem auf vorhandene, zu DDR-Zeiten herausgebildete industrielle Kompetenzen verwiesen, die die Transformationsforschung überhaupt nicht als betriebliche Ressource anerkennt. Auf der Makroebene müssen sie mit Institutionen umgehen, die zwar dem westdeutschem Vorbild nachgebildet wurden, aber in Ostdeutschland nicht dieselbe Funktionalität entfalten. Trotzdem unterfüttert die institutionelle Einbettung ihrer Geschäftsmodelle die von den Unternehmen verfolgten Strategien. Abschließend diskutiert die Arbeit, inwiefern das komplementäre Zusammenspiel originärer Geschäftsmodelle und spezifischer Formen der Institutionalisierung für Ostdeutschland einen eigenen sozioökonomischen Entwicklungspfad begründet.

This cumulative dissertation covers the concepts of scenario-based strategic planning and strategic management in family firms over five articles. The first article gives an overview of the cumulative dissertation explaining the research gap, approach and contribution of the dissertation. The paper highlights the two research areas covered by the dissertation with two articles focusing on scenario-based strategic planning and two on strategic management in family firms. The second article is the first of two focusing on scenario-based strategic planning. It introduces and describes a set of six tools facilitating the implementation of scenario-based strategic planning in corporate practice. The third paper adapts these tools to the financial management and controlling context in private companies highlighting the tools’ flexibility in managing uncertain and volatile environments. The fourth article is the first of two focusing on strategic management in family firms. It analyzes organizational ambidexterity as a factor explaining family firm performance. The article shows that a high level of organizational ambidexterity in family firms leads to a higher family firm performance. The final paper concludes the dissertation examining the tendency of family firms to focus on capability exploration or resource exploitation over different generations managing the family firm.

Submitted by Renard Machado Respino (machadorenard@gmail.com) on 2015-03-06T13:35:02Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao_Renard Machado_vFinal_FGV.pdf: 1998531 bytes, checksum: d3b7841831985daa5e9a5d3e2f66c6bc (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Janete de Oliveira Feitosa (janete.feitosa@fgv.br) on 2015-03-06T14:22:23Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao_Renard Machado_vFinal_FGV.pdf: 1998531 bytes, checksum: d3b7841831985daa5e9a5d3e2f66c6bc (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Marcia Bacha (marcia.bacha@fgv.br) on 2015-03-12T18:45:49Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao_Renard Machado_vFinal_FGV.pdf: 1998531 bytes, checksum: d3b7841831985daa5e9a5d3e2f66c6bc (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-03-12T18:46:01Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao_Renard Machado_vFinal_FGV.pdf: 1998531 bytes, checksum: d3b7841831985daa5e9a5d3e2f66c6bc (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-03-11 / Organizations are targets of constant changes imposed by factors that require fast and consistent decisions to remain competitive. The strategy that best leverages resources and capabilities to obtain sustainable competitive advantages can be found inside or outside organizational boundaries. This study aims to identify and assess the reasons for a beverage industry to migrate from an outsourced distribution model to a vertically integrated one. Therefore, we built a case study which allows us to evaluate carriers' behavior in the contractor perspective and to analyze the financial feasibility of their own fleet, not to mention the exploration of pilot project idea and the vertical implementation itself. With the results we could assess benefits and risks of having own physical distribution, exploring the intersection between theoretical and empirical contributions. Therefore, we broadened the vision of the academy and executives on the sourcing decision, exploring strategic aspects of this complex and important decision-making process. / As organizações são alvos constantes de mudanças impostas por fatores que exigem rápidas e consistentes decisões para se manterem competitivas. A estratégia que melhor explora os recursos e as competências como forma de obtenção de vantagens competitivas sustentáveis pode estar dentro ou fora das fronteiras organizacionais. Este trabalho tem como objetivo identificar e avaliar as razões que levaram uma indústria de bebidas à migração de um modelo de distribuição terceirizado para um verticalmente integrado. Para tal, foi realizado um estudo de caso que permitiu avaliar o comportamento dos transportadores na ótica do contratante, e o processo de análise e implementação desse projeto de verticalização. Com os resultados obtidos foi possível avaliar as vantagens e riscos desse novo modelo, explorando o cruzamento entre as contribuições teóricas e empíricas. Portanto, ampliamos a visão da academia e dos executivos sobre a decisão de sourcing, e exploramos os aspectos estratégicos desse complexo e importante processo decisório.

Submitted by Cristiane Oliveira (cristiane.oliveira@fgv.br) on 2011-06-10T16:45:39Z No. of bitstreams: 1 71070100692.pdf: 3539597 bytes, checksum: 49a2150b74e5119c2d61894e84192a6f (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Gisele Isaura Hannickel(gisele.hannickel@fgv.br) on 2011-06-10T17:13:59Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 71070100692.pdf: 3539597 bytes, checksum: 49a2150b74e5119c2d61894e84192a6f (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Gisele Isaura Hannickel(gisele.hannickel@fgv.br) on 2011-06-10T17:15:05Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 71070100692.pdf: 3539597 bytes, checksum: 49a2150b74e5119c2d61894e84192a6f (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2011-06-10T18:56:20Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 71070100692.pdf: 3539597 bytes, checksum: 49a2150b74e5119c2d61894e84192a6f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-05-09 / The main objective of this study is to examine the effects of the information technology (IT) usedecisions over IT performance. There is a great need to justify the investments in this area and an expectation to promote superior performance from the use of IT resources and capabilities. Therefore, it is important to clarify the IT value and role in the firms. Changes and high velocity marketing contexts are major challenges to environmental organizations. In this sense, the IT use decisions should be able to mobilize IT resources and capabilities to respond to organizational environment changes and IT performance should be evaluated for their contribution to business processes, rather than to try linking on a direct relationship to overall performance in which many variables obscure the real IT value. This study is based on resource-based view of the firm (RBV), dynamic capabilities and complementarities of organizational resources. Two guidelines are proposed for IT use decisions. The first one is driven by IT reconfigurability and complementary capabilities. The second one is driven by IT infrastructure, personal and partnerships assets. The performance is evaluated by the IT use competences in terms of aspects of their functionality and market requirements relative to IT process. This empirical investigation assessed its goal considering a sample of professionals responsible for IT decision making and planning in Brazilian organizations. Datas were analyzed through partial least squares path modeling (PLS-PM). The main results indicated strong and significant effects of capabilities-oriented IT use decisions over their assets-oriented. It was revealed that personal assets-oriented IT use decisions are the ones that influence the performance of IT funcionality competences. Finally, it was evident the importance of IT use decisions treatment as a dynamic capability even without the influence of the moderating effect of the turbulence of organizational environment. The main scholarly contributions are filling the gap of decisions involving the use of IT, its performance on process level within the organizational context of Brazil, and theoretical use of the resource-based view of the firm and dynamic capabilities as background able to promote IT value. Among the main contributions to professional practices stands out to take in account of reconfigurability and complementarity capability of IT resources in their use decisions along with other organizational resources so that they can get a better process performance. The study shows promising future researches in assessing the IT value and development of measures and constructs more appropriate to its evaluation. / O objetivo principal do estudo é verificar os efeitos das decisões do uso da tecnologia da informação (TI) no seu desempenho. Existe uma grande necessidade de justificar os investimentos realizados nessa área e uma expectativa de promover um desempenho superior com o uso dos recursos e capacidades da TI. Portanto, é importante esclarecer o seu valor e o seu papel nas organizações. Mudanças e contextos mercadológicos de rápidas transformações são grandes desafios ao ambiente das organizações. Nesse sentido, as decisões do uso da TI devem ser capazes de mobilizar os recursos e capacidades da TI para responder às mudanças do ambiente organizacional e o desempenho desse uso deve ser avaliado pela contribuição aos processos de negócio, ao contrário de insistir numa relação direta ao desempenho geral em que muitas variáveis ofuscam o real valor da TI. O estudo fundamenta-se na visão baseada em recursos da firma, nas capacidades dinâmicas e na complementaridade dos recursos organizacionais. São propostas duas orientações para as decisões do uso da TI. A primeira orientada pelas capacidades de reconfigurabilidade e complementaridade da TI. A segunda orientada pelos ativos de infra-estrutura, pessoal e parcerias. O desempenho é avaliado pelas competências do uso da TI em relação aos aspectos de sua funcionalidade e de mercado, em nível das exigências do seu processo. O estudo avaliou empiricamente seu objetivo numa amostra de profissionais responsáveis pela tomada de decisão e planejamento de TI em organizações brasileiras. Os dados foram analisados através da modelagem de caminhos por mínimos quadrados parciais. Os principais resultados apontaram fortes e significantes efeitos das decisões do uso da TI orientadas pelas capacidades sobre as decisões orientadas pelos ativos de TI. Revelou-se que as decisões orientadas pelos ativos de pessoal são as únicas que influenciam o desempenho das competências de funcionalidades da TI. Por último, foi evidenciado a importância do tratamento das decisões do uso da TI como uma capacidade dinâmica mesmo sem influência do efeito moderador da turbulência do ambiente organizacional. As principais contribuições acadêmicas são o preenchimento da lacuna que envolve as decisões do uso da TI, seu desempenho em nível de processo dentro do contexto organizacional brasileiro e o usoteórico da visão baseada em recursos da firma e das capacidades dinâmicas como pano de fundo capaz de promover o valor da TI. Dentre as principais contribuições para a prática profissional destaca-se a consideração das capacidades de reconfigurabilidade e complementaridade dos recursos de TI nas decisões do seu uso junto aos demais recursos organizacionais para que se possa obter um melhor desempenho dos processos. O estudo aponta pesquisas futuras promissoras na avaliação do valor da TI e no desenvolvimento de medidas e construtos mais apropriados para sua avaliação.

In studying organisational change in Air Seychelles, the context, content and process of change together with the interconnections of the airline and the tourism industry in Seychelles through time is explored. The literature review shows that the substantive issues of interest to this study, contextualism as a theory of methods in management research, requires a case based research in particular with regards to the following gaps in the literature: the integration of inner and outer perspectives on sustaining competitive advantage, and conceptual insights on how strategy links firms and their environment. The study adopted a contextual and processual framework to build a theoretical perspective of competitive advantage. The study contributes to the field of strategic management and tourism development in Seychelles in the following ways: firstly, the development of a contextual and processual framework to explain the transformation of firms over time; secondly, the development of an understanding of the historical context of the tourism industry and its interactions with other sectors of the Seychelles economy; thirdly, developing an understanding of how Air Seychelles developed its resources and capabilities to sustain competitive advantage; fourthly, linking change processes and action to performance and in a sense developing an understanding on strategy implementation of strategic management practice in Air Seychelles. The study sheds some light on strategy formation and implementation at the firm level, and the dynamics between the firm and the industry. The findings suggest that firms respond opportunistically to external discontinuities in a dynamic environment - the entrepreneurial leadership of a firm prepares and support managers to operate under conditions of great uncertainty and ambiguity and allows them to behave opportunistically. / Graduate School of Business Leadership / DBL / Thesis (D. B. L.)

Adaptive co-management (ACM), one of the most prominent management approaches to emerge in the recent years, combines iterative learning, flexibility, and adaptation promoted by adaptive management with the principles of nurturing diversity and fostering collaboration among different partners that underpin co-management philosophy. ACM has been proposed as an approach to address the deficiencies of centralized management in ensuring sustainability of social-ecological systems (SESs) in face of future uncertainties. This thesis aims to evaluate the readiness of resource users (the Waodani) as well as external actors (the Ecuadorian State and NGOs) for future implementation of ACM and thus enhancing the long-term social-ecological sustainability of the Waodani SES located in the Yasuni Biosphere Reserve in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Qualitative data obtained by means of focus groups with the Waodani and individual interviews with external actors and Waodani leaders revealed different levels of readiness for ACM. Firstly, in the case of the Waodani, the insufficient fulfillment of some conditions required for successful ACM as well as intercommunity differences in regards to these conditions can complicate the implementation of ACM, unless sufficient external assistance is offered to the SES. The analysis of NGOs demonstrated, on the other hand, a relative readiness for ACM, providing that such aspects as sufficient funding, long-term commitment to collaboration, and inter-institutional linkages are strengthened. The study also found that the Ecuadorian government’s potential to contribute to ACM is hindered by the lack of readiness to work with the indigenous society as well as by funding and communication challenges. Furthermore, the resource based economy supported by the State limits the scope of innovation and adaptation. Still, as in the case of other actors, overcoming the challenges and transitioning towards adaptive governance and thus ACM could be possible in the long-term, if recent legal and political changes are truly implemented.

As alianças estratégicas são uma das alternativas de estratégias de cooperação estabelecidas entre duas ou mais empresas com objetivos comuns, visando o estabelecimento de uma vantagem competitiva, sendo que a joint venture, dentre as possibilidades, é a mais frequente. Neste sentido, a presente pesquisa buscou analisar a estruturação, o desenvolvimento e a evolução da joint venture JOST Brasil Sistemas Automotivos Ltda., empresa localizada em Caxias do Sul (RS), resultado da parceria entre a empresa brasileira Randon S.A. e a empresa alemã JOST-Werke. Como metodologia de pesquisa, foi utilizada a pesquisa qualitativa, com caráter exploratório, a partir do desenvolvimento de um estudo de caso, aliado à análise documental e à aplicação de entrevistas individuais em profundidade, com uma abordagem semi-estruturada, considerando-se, como sustentação teórica, a literatura relacionada à estratégia, alianças estratégicas, joint ventures e a Teoria VBR (Visão Baseada em Recursos). A pesquisa permitiu identificar os motivos dos parceiros de negócio para a implementação da joint venture relacionando-os com a Teoria da Visão Baseada em Recursos, as principais etapas de implementação, os fatores críticos de sucesso, os mecanismos de governança adotados, bem como a evolução da JOST Brasil, resultando em considerações teóricas e empíricas que servem como suporte para a compreensão do processo de estruturação, desenvolvimento e evolução de joint ventures. Entre os principais resultados encontram-se a existência de objetivos comuns entre os sócios, a complementariedade de recursos e o desenvolvimento de vantagens competitivas. / Submitted by Marcelo Teixeira (mvteixeira@ucs.br) on 2014-06-04T16:30:22Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Flavia Camargo Bernardi.pdf: 2219580 bytes, checksum: 6ea54708289e82abc8dad56b2661df4a (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-04T16:30:22Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Flavia Camargo Bernardi.pdf: 2219580 bytes, checksum: 6ea54708289e82abc8dad56b2661df4a (MD5) / Strategic alliances are one of the choices for strategies of cooperation established between two or more companies with common goals in order to gain a competitive strategy. Joint ventures, among such possibilities, are the most frequent ones. In this sense, this research has sought to examine the structure, development and evolution of the joint venture JOST Brasil Sistemas Automotivos Ltda., a company based in Caxias do Sul (RS), and the result of a partnership between the Brazilian company Randon S.A. and the German company JOST-Werke. As research methodology, the qualitative research with exploratory nature has been used from the development of a case study, combined with documentary analysis and in-depth individual interviews using a semi-structured approach. As theoretical support, literature related to strategy, strategic alliances, joint ventures and RBV (Resource-Based View Theory) has been likewise used. The research made it possible to identify the reasons why business partners have decided to set up a joint venture, relating them to the Resource-Based View Theory, main implementation phases, critical success factors, adopted mechanisms of governance, as well as the evolution of JOST Brasil, resulting in theoretical and empirical considerations that serve as support to understand the structuring process, development and evolution of joint ventures. Among the main results are the partners` common goals, complementary resources and development of competitive edges.

Abstract The rapid development of digital technology and software in recent years has created great variety of totally new business opportunities. Software startups are commonly considered to be the fastest in exploiting the new opportunities and the most innovative in creating new products and services. At the same time, software startups are often small, immature enterprises with limited resources and inexperienced teams. The initial team plays a key role in the early stages of a software startup. This research focuses on the initial team from the perspective of human capital – the knowledge, experiences, skills, and other cognitive abilities. It studies the initial team empirically, utilizing the multi-case study and triangulation methods applying the human capital, resource-based view, capability, and the opportunity discovery and creation theories. The empirical data were gathered from thirteen software startups in Italy, Norway and Finland, and from a student experiment. From the analysis of this data, a generic structure of a software startup’s initial team was identified, consisting of three different roles, with each having a specific human capital profile. This team structure sought a balance between the team’s human capital and problems and challenges to be solved. The level of the initial human capital of the team and the means to strengthen it varied, and affected the progress of the work in the studied startups. Though the components of the team’s human capital were not rare and inimitable in terms of the resource-based view, building a balanced startup team created a unique and task-specific setup, which is a key capability of a software startup. The balanced startup team structure is proposed to be the generic human capital model of a software startup’s initial team. / Tiivistelmä Digitaalitekniikan ja ohjelmistojen nopea kehitys viime vuosina on synnyttänyt suuren joukon kokonaan uusia liiketoimintamahdollisuuksia. Ohjelmistostartup-yrityksiä pidetään yleisesti nopeimpina hyödyntämään uusia mahdollisuuksia ja erityisen innovatiivisina luomaan uusia tuotteita ja palveluita. Kuitenkin samalla, ohjelmistostartup-yritykset ovat usein pieniä, kehityksensä alussa olevia yrityksiä, joilla on pienet resurssit ja kokematon henkilökunta. Varhaisen vaiheen ohjelmistostartup-yrityksissä alkutiimin merkitys on keskeinen. Tässä tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan alkutiimiä inhimillisen pääoman, osaamisen, kokemuksen ja taitojen, näkökulmasta. Tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan alkutiimiä kokeellisesti, käyttäen monitapaustutkimuksen ja triangulaation menetelmiä ja soveltaen inhimillisen pääoman, resurssipohjaisen näkemyksen, kyvykkyyden ja liiketoimintamahdollisuuksien hyödyntämisen teorioita. Kokeellinen tutkimusaineisto on kerätty kolmestatoista yrityksestä Italiasta, Norjasta ja Suomesta ja yhdestä opiskelijoilla tehdystä kokeellisesta tutkimuksesta. Tutkimuksessa löydettiin alkutiimin yleinen malli. Mallissa on kolme roolia, kullakin oma inhimillisen pääoman profiili. Mallissa on tiimin inhimillisen pääoman ja ratkaistavien ongelmien tasapaino. Tiimien inhimillisen pääoman määrä ja sen kehitystavat vaihtelivat, ja vaikuttivat tutkittavien yritysten edistymiseen. Vaikka alkutiimien inhimillisen pääoman komponentit eivät olleet ainutkertaisia resurssipohjaisen näkemyksen kannalta, tasapainossa olevan alkutiimin rakentaminen synnytti ainutkertaisen, tehtävänmukaisen tiimirakenteen, jota voidaan pitää yrityksen keskeisenä kyvykkyytenä. Havaittu tiimirakenne esitetään yrityksen alkutiimin inhimillisen pääoman yleiseksi malliksi.

A área de estratégia, por meio da teoria baseada em recursos (RBT), desenvolve estudos que procuram compreender as características, recursos, capacidades e processos que levam algumas empresas, na mesma indústria, a terem um desempenho melhor que seus concorrentes. A RBT atingiu a maturidade teórica exigindo novos rumos para a sua revitalização. Simultaneamente, os estudiosos de marketing internacional afirmam que a teoria sobre a imagem do país de origem (COI) precisa ser revigorada e recomendam que ela seja analisada à luz da literatura de estratégia. É sob essa perspectiva que esta tese apresenta a sua contribuição, desenvolvendo e validando uma escala de importância de COI na perspectiva empresarial. O construto foi desenvolvido com base em uma capacidade específica da empresa: a construção e gestão da marca. Para isso, as bases teóricas sobre RBT, interface entre RBT e marketing, COI e marca foram revisadas e, ancorada nesta literatura, foi possível identificar os processos para incorporar a COI na estratégia da marca, os quais foram utilizados como dimensões da escala. Foram realizados diversos procedimentos psicométricos seguindo as recomendações de diversos psicometristas. O constructo foi definido como a capacidade de gestão da incorporação da COI à marca (BCOI), que reflete a importância conferida pela empresa para usar a COI como um recurso na construção da capacidade de marca. Após a etapa inicial, em que foram gerados e validados os itens com pesquisadores e com gestores, realizou-se um levantamento com 457 executivos. A amostra foi dividida em duas subamostras para aplicação de diferentes técnicas estatísticas. Na subamostra 1 foi realizada uma análise fatorial exploratória que confirmou o modelo inicial da escala delineado junto a pesquisadores e gestores no processo de geração de itens. Esse modelo foi testado na subamostra 2 por meio da análise fatorial confirmatória e da modelagem de equação estrutural. Os resultados indicaram que a BCOI se manifesta por meio de 26 itens organizados em cinco dimensões: elementos textuais e visuais, sentidos, recursos culturais, recursos naturais e empregados / The strategy stream, through resource theory based (RBT), develops studies that seek to understand the characteristics, features, capabilities and processes that lead some companies in the same industry, to have a better performance compered to its competitors. The RBT has reached the theoretical maturity requiring new directions for its revitalization. Simultaneously, international marketing scholars claim that the theory about the country of origin image (COI) needs to be invigorated and recommend it to be examinated in the light of the strategy literature. It is from this perspective that this thesis presents its contribution by developing and validating a scale of importance of COI in business perspective. The construct was developed based on a specific capability of the company: building and manageming the brand (branding). For this, the theoretical basis of RBT, the interface between marketing and RBT, COI and branding were reviewed and anchored in this literature, it was possible to identify the processes to incorporate the COI in the brand strategy, which were used as scale dimensions. various psychometric procedures following the recommendations of several psychometricians were performed. The construct was defined as the branding capability of COI incorporation (BCOI), which reflects the importance given by the company to use the COI as a resource in brand building capability. After the initial stage, in which items were generated and evaluated with researchers and managers, a survey with 457 executives was held. The sample was divided into two subsamples for application of different statistical techniques. An exploratory factor analysis was performed with subsample 1. The EFA produced an initial scale model that was tested in subsample 2 through confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling. The results indicated that the BCOI iis manifested through 26 items organized into five dimensions: textual and visual elements, senses, cultural resources, natural resources and employees.

Il presente lavoro, riconoscendo la rilevanza che le aziende familiari detengono all’interno del contesto internazionale, con particolare riferimento a quello italiano, si propone di analizzare la loro propensione verso l’implementazione della strategia di acquisizione. In particolare lo studio, composto da tre paper tra loro connessi, è volto a delineare una “fotografia” del tessuto imprenditoriale italiano rilevando le caratteristiche delle aziende familiari e della tipologia delle operazioni di crescita per via esterna da queste conseguite. Inoltre, la ricerca fornisce delle comparazioni con le operazioni svolte dalle imprese non familiari così da comprenderne similitudini e differenze evidenziando come la partecipazione della famiglia proprietaria, sia in termini di proprietà che di gestione, incida sulla predisposizione ad acquisire. Il primo paper indaga l’attitudine delle imprese familiari e non familiari ad acquisire, mostrando tipologie e caratteristiche delle operazioni di crescita per via esterna da queste conseguite nel periodo 2000 – 2014. Il secondo lavoro, approfondito il ruolo della distanza culturale ed economica tra acquirente ed acquisita, verifica se le aziende familiari hanno economicamente beneficiato dell’implementazione della strategia di crescita per via esterna. Il terzo contributo analizza come le differenti modalità e livelli di coinvolgimento diretto della famiglia alla vita d’impresa incida sulla predisposizione ad acquisire. / The aim of this work, which recognizes the importance of family-owned firms in the international environment – focusing in particular on the Italian context – is to analyze their propensity to implement the acquisition strategy. The study, composed of three interrelated papers, is intended to “take a picture” of the Italian entrepreneurial fabric, by detecting the features of family firms and the type of growth operations through acquisitions. Furthermore, this research outlines comparisons with the operations led by non family firms, in order to understand similarities and differences by highlighting how the role of family owner, both in terms of property and management, influences the propensity to acquire.  The first paper examines the propensity of family and non family firms to acquire, showing the types and features of the growth operations through acquisitions in the timeframe 2000 - 2014. The second paper, after studying in depth the role of the cultural and economic distance between the acquirer and target, checks whether family firms benefitted from the implementation of acquisition. The third paper analyses the influence of the several implementation procedures and the level of direct involvement of the family in the life of the firms on the propensity to acquire.