Aim: The purpose of the study was to find out how clusters can assist small- and medium sized organizations to expand to the international market.    Method: A qualitative approach was used in this study where the primary data was collected with the help of semi structured interviews. The data was collected from a total of ten participants ranging from five different organizations in the region of Gävleborg in Sweden. The analysis was done with the help of concepts identified in the literature as well as new themes that was found in the empirical investigation.     Result & Conclusions: The findings in this research have shown that the clusters combined can help the SMEs to overcome obstacles related to capital, learning, innovation, networking, sales, and strategy. The clusters can also help the SMEs in terms of sustainability. The weakest link is to help the SMEs to gain social capital where the clusters abilities are low. The clusters have their niche competence and collaborate between clusters to help the SMEs in their international journey. We could also find that there are other themes emerging in the empirical findings which is related to the mindset of the SMEs and the limitations the SMEs face may be dependent of this mindset, mainly due to the manager in the organizations.    Suggestions for future research: Future studies can focus on longitudinal research in this area to be able to follow the journey of the SMEs between the clusters but also to be able to capture and compare if the SMEs and cluster are experiencing the same pros and cons of the support system. We also suggest replicate this study in another region of Sweden to see if the results can be generalized or if it is a very local context regarding the help the SMEs can gain as well as to see if the theme of mindset occur.    Contribution of the thesis: The theoretical contribution is that we have extended the knowledge around the support system known as clustering by showing that the weaker areas in the clusters was the ability to help in the barrier of social capital and that cluster can help in a good matter when it comes to capital, creating environments for innovation and organizational strategy. The theoretical contribution also showed that one cluster are not able to help in all the given areas but together the clusters are able to help the SMEs to overcome most of the barriers towards internationalization. Another theoretical contribution is the addition of the new barrier to internationalization that we named as mindset. The managerial contribution is that we have shown what areas clusters can assist the SMEs with and thereby shown that managers need to realize the opportunities that comes when they are a part of a cluster as well as they need to be able to trust in the clusters who have a great knowledge in those areas.

The food industry represents one of the most promising business sectors for sustainable development comprising numerous environmental, social and economic challenges. The industry is fragmented into a multitude of organizations with particular supply chains based within a complex multi-stakeholder environment. Therefore, the organizational goal of creating a sustainable supply chain is experiencing increased attention within research. Even though previous literature has assessed the diverse drivers and barriers impacting sustainable supply chain management (SSCM), the theory of stakeholder management for SSCM has so far barely been recognized. This paper aims to fill this research gap and establishes the connection between the concepts of stakeholder management and SSCM taking into consideration the implicated drivers and barriers. The assessment of prominent drivers and barriers as well as crucial stakeholder groups functions as a basis for the evaluation of possible stakeholder strategies suitable for SSCM. This research study is situated in the context of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the German food industry. By conducting 13 semi-structured interviews with supply chain representatives this study follows a qualitative research approach. The data analysis reveals that SMEs in the German food industry face numerous obstacles in their attempt to implement sustainability within the supply chain. Moreover, it is apparent that current stakeholder strategies are insufficient in the context of supply chain sustainability. A closer network beyond business is considered the most effective strategic objective for the engagement with crucial stakeholder groups in order to enhance the drivers and reduce the impact of existing barriers. Consequently, this thesis provides a theoretical contribution by developing a deeper understanding of stakeholder management as a tool for increasing supply chain sustainability and further advances existing theory with the formation of a new analytical framework as well as the recognition of a novel stakeholder strategy.

This research work shows how the financing for micro and small businesses in Peru has increased and has greatlyexpanded in the last few years, not only in institutions specialized in this field, focused their efforts in giving financialservices to businesspeople of micro and medium-sized business, but most of the so-called traditional banks havefocused their attention to this emerging sector using the know-how of microfinance lending technology, banking seekto work with people of low income sectors, that were not subject for credit opportunities to develop their business andas a consequence not able to improve their quality of life .Throughout this investigation, we make a diagnosis of macro and micro environment of the microfinance field, itsdevelopment and expectations for a strong presence in the Peruvian financial market. We consider the development oflending technology, where the analysis of the ability and willingness to pay are the fundamental basis for the evaluationof credits in specialized companies in this sector. / El presente trabajo de investigación nos muestra cómo el financiamiento a la micro y pequeña empresa en el Perú seha estado desarrollando en forma creciente y escalonada en los últimos años, donde no solo las entidades especializadasen este segmento focalizan sus esfuerzos para dar servicios financieros a los empresarios de la micro y pequeña empresa,sino que la mayoría de los denominados bancos tradicionales han redireccionado su atención a este sector emergente y,utilizando el know how de la tecnología crediticia microfinanciera, buscan la bancarización trabajando con personas delos sectores de bajos ingresos, que hasta hace poco no eran sujetos de crédito con posibilidades de desarrollar sus negociosy, consecuentemente, mejorar su calidad de vida. Así, a lo largo de esta investigación, se realiza un diagnóstico delmacro y microentorno del sector microfinanciero, su evolución y expectativas para una mayor presencia en el mercadofinanciero peruano; asimismo, se examina el desarrollo de la tecnología crediticia, donde el análisis de la capacidad yvoluntad de pago son la base fundamental para la evaluación de créditos en las empresas especializadas en este sector.