Países têm mudados suas políticas econômicas. As formas de governança tidas como protecionistas são discutidas quanto a sua eficácia como modelos de gestão atuais, obrigando a todos, estados, empresas, indivíduos, a compreenderem a amplitude e profundidade de mudanças rápidas e grandiosas em seus vários aspectos. Muitas empresas não se sentem prontas para sozinhas assumirem estes novos desafios; por isto, um crescente número de alianças vem se formando em vários lugares do mundo, buscando reforçar competências e sanar deficiências para então competir e sobreviver. O Pólo Ervateiro do Norte Gaúcho, considerado como um centro de produção do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul, é o objeto deste estudo. Buscou-se conhecer as características individuais das empresas que executam processo de industrialização e comercialização, sob o aspecto de cadeia de valores e condutores de singularidade (Porter 1989); e o quanto estas empresas se assemelham para futuramente poderem se unir buscando novos mercados, inclusive internacionais, os quais oferecem grandes oportunidades. Ao final, o trabalho apresenta um quadro dos grupos de empresas afins, tipos de alianças que se adequam às suas realidades, etapas de processos que cada grupo deverá desenvolver com base nas suas características, para que possam se inserir no mercado internacional, e uma análise do nível de dificuldade que provavelmente os grupos enfrentarão no desenvolvimento e gerenciamento das alianças. / The world is not closed and unknown anymore. The governance forms considered as protectionists are discussed as for its effectiveness as current administration models, forcing to ali, states, companies, individuais, to understand it the width and depth of fast and huge choices in their several aspects. A lot of companies don't feel ready for alone to assume these new chailenges; then, a crescent number of alliances are getting together in several places of the world, searching for to reinforce competences and to cure dificiencies overcome to compete and to survive. The Pólo Ervateiro Gaúcho, considered as a center of production of the State of Rio Grande do Sul, is the object of this study. It was tried to know the individual characteristics of the companies that execute industrialization process and commercialization, under the aspect of chain of values and drivers of singularity (Porter, 1989); and how much these companies resemble each other for hereafter to be able to join looking for new markets, besides international, ones which ofter great opportunities. At the end, the work presents a picture of the groups of similar companies, types of alliances that can be adapted to their realities, stages of processes that each group should develop base in their characteristics, so that they can interfere in the international market, and an analysis of the levei of difficulty that probably the groups will face in the development and administration of alliances.

The increased competitive intensity in several global markets has encouraged firms which traditionally compete, to also collaborate with each other, that is coopetitive branding alliances. Coopetitive branding has, to the best of our knowledge, not been researched from a consumer perspective.Does this mean that consumers remain unaffected when two competitors all of a sudden also collaborate?The purpose of this thesis is to explore how consumers’ brand images can be affected by firms’coopetitive branding strategies. With support from existing alliance literature and an empirical studycomprised of four focus groups, an abductive research approach is adopted.The findings indicate four distinct parameters, which can influence an alliance’s outcome, from theperspective of a consumer’s positive or negative brand image - which is a vital component in consumer-based brand equity. The contradictory nature of simultaneous competition and collaborationmakes coopetitive branding more or less desirable, from a consumer perspective, under differentcircumstances, which need to be acknowledged and managed by the partnering firms. A suggestionfor future research is to examine a wider consumer segment and not only students, to validate thetransferability of our findings.The results contribute to the strategic alliances theory, since existing research has not examinedthe consumer perspective and brand image in relation to coopetitive branding alliances. The resultscan also provide managerial guidelines for firms that wish to understand what elements of a coopetitive branding alliance creates value with consumers.

O trabalho estuda a competitividade internacional do setor têxtil, através das interações da cadeia produtiva. Especificamente, se verifica como a internacionalização do varejo está influenciando a competitividade internacional dos fornecedores de confeccionados têxteis, especificamente aquelas com foco em vestuário e acessórios. Pretende-se contribuir, ainda, para o aperfeiçoamento da capacidade de competir internacionalmente do setor de confeccionados têxteis. O ponto de partida é a revisão teórica dos temas competitividade internacional, estratégias de globalização e alianças estratégicas, contrapondo-os com os casos, sete no total. Portanto, o método utilizado é o de estudo de múltiplos casos, sendo a seleção realizada através de visitas aos pontos de venda das empresas varejistas selecionadas, localizados na região metropolitana de São Paulo. Verificou-se que: (1) Em somente uma empresa há esforço para criar marcas internacionais; (2) A rede de relacionamentos pode ter desempenhado papel fundamental para o sucesso competitivo em muitas das empresas estudadas; (3) Somente uma das empresas brasileiras (há duas multinacionais na amostra) tem como estratégia aumentar o valor adicionado dos produtos vendidos pela empresa; (4) Há consciência, por parte de pelo menos uma empresa, que nem sempre mão-de-obra de baixo custo é garantia de sucesso neste setor; (5) Pode haver obstáculos dentro da cadeia têxtil para que as empresas de confeccionados atendam ao padrão de qualidade exigido pelos varejistas internacionais nos países desenvolvidos. O trabalho traz ainda muitos outros fatos e um quadro com recomendações para alguns dos casos estudados. / The study analyzes the international competitiveness of the textile sector through supply chain interactions. It specifically verifies how the globalization of the retail sector influences the international competitiveness of garment suppliers, all of them listed as vendors of international retailers operating in Brazil. The effort aims to contribute to enhancing the international competitive strength of garment makers. The starting point is a theoretical review of the themes: International Competitiveness, Globalization Strategies and Strategic Alliances; comparing the concepts with what was found in the field study. The research method is a multiple case study. Cases were selected through visits to the points-of-sale of the international retailers, all of them located in the metropolitan area of the city of Sao Paulo. The main findings are: (1) Only one company is endeavoring to create international brands; (2) The network of alliances might have had an instrumental role in the competitive success of many of the companies; (3) Only one of the Brazilian companies pursues the strategy of increasing the added value of the products it sells; (4) In at least one company there is awareness that low wages will not always bring success in this sector; (5) There might be hurdles in the textile supply chain that halt the garment makers to comply with the pattern demanded by international retailers in the operations they carry in developed countries. Many other interesting facts were found and a chart with recommendations to some of the cases studied is presented.

Países têm mudados suas políticas econômicas. As formas de governança tidas como protecionistas são discutidas quanto a sua eficácia como modelos de gestão atuais, obrigando a todos, estados, empresas, indivíduos, a compreenderem a amplitude e profundidade de mudanças rápidas e grandiosas em seus vários aspectos. Muitas empresas não se sentem prontas para sozinhas assumirem estes novos desafios; por isto, um crescente número de alianças vem se formando em vários lugares do mundo, buscando reforçar competências e sanar deficiências para então competir e sobreviver. O Pólo Ervateiro do Norte Gaúcho, considerado como um centro de produção do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul, é o objeto deste estudo. Buscou-se conhecer as características individuais das empresas que executam processo de industrialização e comercialização, sob o aspecto de cadeia de valores e condutores de singularidade (Porter 1989); e o quanto estas empresas se assemelham para futuramente poderem se unir buscando novos mercados, inclusive internacionais, os quais oferecem grandes oportunidades. Ao final, o trabalho apresenta um quadro dos grupos de empresas afins, tipos de alianças que se adequam às suas realidades, etapas de processos que cada grupo deverá desenvolver com base nas suas características, para que possam se inserir no mercado internacional, e uma análise do nível de dificuldade que provavelmente os grupos enfrentarão no desenvolvimento e gerenciamento das alianças. / The world is not closed and unknown anymore. The governance forms considered as protectionists are discussed as for its effectiveness as current administration models, forcing to ali, states, companies, individuais, to understand it the width and depth of fast and huge choices in their several aspects. A lot of companies don't feel ready for alone to assume these new chailenges; then, a crescent number of alliances are getting together in several places of the world, searching for to reinforce competences and to cure dificiencies overcome to compete and to survive. The Pólo Ervateiro Gaúcho, considered as a center of production of the State of Rio Grande do Sul, is the object of this study. It was tried to know the individual characteristics of the companies that execute industrialization process and commercialization, under the aspect of chain of values and drivers of singularity (Porter, 1989); and how much these companies resemble each other for hereafter to be able to join looking for new markets, besides international, ones which ofter great opportunities. At the end, the work presents a picture of the groups of similar companies, types of alliances that can be adapted to their realities, stages of processes that each group should develop base in their characteristics, so that they can interfere in the international market, and an analysis of the levei of difficulty that probably the groups will face in the development and administration of alliances.

Um dos grandes desafios das empresas para maximizarem sua capacidade de inovação, necessidade preemente nos dias atuais, é o desenvolvimento de mecanismos que proporcionem a obtenção da complementaridade de competências entre duas ou mais empresas (MOFFAT; GERWIN; MEISTER, 1997). Entre estes mecanismos encontram-se as alianças estratégicas para o desenvolvimento de novos produtos, fenômeno relativamente recente e que já pode ser considerado como tendência nas decisões de pesquisa e desenvolvimento (P&D). O foco do presente trabalho é a análise destas alianças estratégicas, através do estudo da teoria já existente, fazendo surgir reflexões importantes e gerando novas contribuições. O escopo do estudo é, sem dúvida, a questão organizacional, em uma visão macro, permitindo uma análise sistêmica do fenômeno. Muitos trabalhos trazem separadamente temas acerca das alianças estratégicas para o desenvolvimento de novos produtos. Surge com isso, como conseqüência, a oportunidade de estruturação desses elementos, aparentemente dispersos, em uma síntese teórica ou estrutura conceitual, o que possibilita uma compreensão mais profunda do tema. Além disso, é feita uma organização e estudo das variáveis existentes no fenômeno para contribuir com as decisões acerca da forma organizacional mais adequada às alianças / One of the great challenges of the companies to maximize its capability of innovation, an urgent necessity in current days, is the development of mechanisms that allow the complementing of competences between two or more companies (MOFFAT; GERWIN; MEISTER, 1997). One of these mechanisms is the strategic alliances for new product development, a relatively recent phenomenon and one that already can be considered as a trend in research and development (R&D) decisions. The focus of the present work is the analysis of these strategic alliances, through the study of the existing theory, causing important reflections to emerge and generating new contributions. The scope of the study is, with no doubt, the organizational problem, in a macro viewpoint, which makes possible a systemic analysis of the phenomenon. Many papers separately bring subjects concerning the strategic alliances for new product development. That brings the opportunity to structure these elements, apparently dispersed, in a theoretical synthesis or conceptual structure, which makes possible a deeper understanding of the subject. Moreover, the existing variables in the phenomenon are studied and organized, so that this contributes to arrive at the decisions concerning the most suitable organizational format for the alliances.

Most of prior multilevel studies on trust in inter-organizational relationships place much emphasis on specifying the level of analysis at which trust occurs (i.e. individual, group, or organization level) while overlooking the level of management, which refers to the hierarchical echelons within an organization. In addition, more often than not, the inter-organizational context where trust develops is not specified. Integrating both levels-of-analysis and levels-of-management perspectives, the dissertation investigates the distinctive trust dynamics at two hierarchical echolons, to understand the cross-level interaction between these echelons which leads to the establishment of shared trust in the partner organization and the formation of organization-level trust, and to contemplate the factors that might lead to within-organization trust heterogeneity. The focus on the management level also enables to discern contingencies associated with the trust development process in horizontal alliances as opposed to vertical alliances. Adopting the case stud method, the alliance between KLM and Northwest Airlines is investigated to illustrate key concepts in the developed theoretical framework and to buld a stronger case for future large-scale empirical studies.:CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1. Motivation for the dissertation 1.2. Objectives of the dissertation 1.3. Key contributions of the dissertation 1.4. Structure of the dissertation CHAPTER 2: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 2.1 The concept of trust in strategic alliances 2.1.1 Definition of trust 2.1.2 Levels of trust 2.1.3 Trust development in strategic alliances 2.2 Boundary spanning roles in strategic alliances 2.2.1 Nature of boundary spanning roles in strategic alliances 2.2.2 Hierarchical perspective on boundary spanning roles CHAPTER 3: THEORETICAL FRAMING 3.1 Theoretical model of trust development in strategic alliances 3.1.1 Initiation stage 3.1.2 Negotiation stage 3.1.3 Formation stage 3.1.4 Implementation stage 3.2 Boundary condition of trust development 3.2.1 Interpersonal-level characteristics 3.2.2 Firm-level characteristics 3.2.3 Alliance-level characteristics 3.3 Discussion 3.3.1 Integration of level of analysis and level of management 3.3.2 Within-organization trust homogeneity vs. heterogeneity 3.3.3 Context of analysis: vertical alliances vs. horizontal alliances CHAPTER 4: ILLUSTRATIVE CASE STUDY 4.1 Objective of the empirical study 4.2 Rationale for case study methodology 4.3 Research Design 4.3.1 Data collection 4.3.2 Data analysis 4.3.3 Validity and reliability of the study 4.4 Results 4.4.1 Alliance background 4.4.2 Impact of corporate-level trust on operating-level trust 4.4.3 Influence of operating-level trust on corporate-level trust CHAPTER 5: IMPLICATIONS, LIMITATIONS AND CONCLUSION 5.1 Implications of the dissertation 5.2 Limitations of the dissertation 5.3 Conclusion REFERENCES APPENDIX

During the last two decades, strategic alliances have gained importance across many industries. This also applies the alliance of MAN and Scania as part of the TRATON Group operating in the commercial vehicle industry. After being created in 2015, the group has worked on developing a collaboration structure to leverage the benefits of working together. The thesis´ aim is to examine key challenges and benefits of the specific collaboration structure called Lead Engineering Concept as one approach of working together within the strategic alliance of the group. Moreover, it aims to investigate function-specific challenges occurring in different parts of the organization. This is supposed to create a holistic view of the strategic alliance of the TRATON Group and to formulate suggestions for improvement of the current collaboration structure. Applying the relational view as a theoretical framework, a lack of collaboration-specific assets investments, and the potential of the consolidation of synergy-sensitive resources could be identified. To complement the relational view, the dimensions of process alignment and sharing principles have been introduced, which aims to facilitate the discussion of challenges arising during the implementation of alignment measures. Lastly, the thesis concluded with suggesting six potential improvements of the lead engineering concept, namely (1) the integration of goals, (2) the sharing of principles, (3) the translation of high-level goals into function-specific directions, (4) the investments into collaboration-specific assets, (5) the consolidation of synergy sensitive resources, and (6) the definition of a common technical understanding.

Why should technology-based startups in the energy sector collaborate? How do they collaborate today? What is the incumbents’ perspective on collaboration with startups? Today these are issues of high interest for the energy sector in Sweden and for other startups in similar industries. This thesis considers the changing dynamics within the Energy sector in Sweden, the potential of innovation through startups, the market potential and barriers that these actors within the industry are facing. It also considers how collaborations and networks serve to seize opportunities and to overcome challenges and barriers faced by the industry today. Opportunity areas identified were: the trends within the industry concerning decentralized generation, the founders’ dedication for their startups, startup’s ability to act fast and flexibly, their technology contribution, and incumbents differentiating themselves through startups in a highly competitive market. Entry barriers identified were a traditional and slow market, dominative national champions, financial, regulatory, lead times, lack of experience, high risk, lack of system context and credibility. Finally strategic networks and collaboration prove to be an essential part for startups to overcome their liabilities and barriers to entry.

Background Strategic alliances grant access to rare know-how, inimitable resources and valuable capabilities otherwise out of reach for a single firm. Existing alliance management literature focuses on the transfer of technical know-how between alliance partners. The intra-organizational learning process with the aim to build a firm-level alliance management capability to become better at managing strategic alliances has received little attention. Especially striking is the lack of extensive research on the barriers to this process. Aim This paper aims to shed light on the existence of learning barriers to the building of a firm-level alliance management capability. Methodology A qualitative study was conducted using semi-structured interviews. Ten individuals with varying degrees of experience in managing strategic alliances were interviewed. The ten respective sample firms were spread across seven different countries and six different industries. Findings The analysis revealed 38 learning barriers existent to the building of a firmlevel alliance management capability both confirming common organizational learning barriers and revealing context-specific learning barriers. They originate either in the firm member’s thinking and behavior, the firm’s processes and structures or in the specific learning environment. Categorized in thematical clusters, they show problem areas such as a lack of top management support. Some of the found learning barriers like the tendency of alliance managers to prioritize the relationship to the alliance partner are findings that have not received attention in theory yet. Those contributions can support a deeper understanding of what individual firms and the field of alliance management is missing in building a firm-level alliance management capability.

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