Investing in cluster formation or encouraging companies to network in regional strategic networks is a common strategy used by municipalities to promote regional growth in peripheral regions. Previous research has investigated the significance of creating regional advantages by building clusters and regional networks, but researchers have not provided much insight into the problems facing the project management trying to implement such collaboration. In my thesis I describe and analyze a network project in order to shed light upon some of the complications that such a collaboration project might entail. My theoretical framework of analysis rests upon the concept of social capital, a concept that investigates the value that social contacts might incur. I have studied a designed network situated in the Swedish municipality of Söderhamn called Firsam. After the closure of the telecommunications factory of Ericsson/Emerson and the military airbase F15 Söderhamn lost 10 % of its local employment in 2004.The need for regional growth programmes therefore became dire. The companies that prior to the closure worked in close collaboration with the Ericsson/Emerson factory were also looking for new revenue streams to compensate for their loss of business. Collaboration with the local manufacturing companies to create innovative projects and to take on joint tenders seemed to be a perfect solution to the problems facing them and the municipality. In this spirit a regional strategic network called Firsam (Företag i regional samverkan) was initiated. I analyze the Firsam project using two different aspects of the concept social capital:”bonding” and”bridging”. The bonding form of social capital is associated with small and homogeneous groups that build prerequisites for long-term collaboration by forming close contacts and building trust. The bridging form of social capital creates an open stance towards social relations that enables new contacts to be formed outside one’s own socially established context. The bonding form of social capital provides prerequisites for close collaboration but can also result in close-mindedness and over-embeddedness in one’s own social context. Building bridging connections outside one’s own social context might encourage innovative thinking and spur entrepreneurship. The somewhat fleeting connections that are associated with the bridging form of social capital might on the other hand make it difficult to cultivate a common sense of trust within an existing group. These different manifestations of social capital create a paradox that might be hard to handle in the design of a regional strategic network. Is it best to support already existing network structures and impose the risk of creating a less innovative environment, or should members from outside the established social context be included in the network design to encourage innovative thinking? There are both positive and negative effects associated with either strategy. I shed light upon this paradox by analyzing the regional strategic network of Firsam.

<p>The organisational forms of companies have undergone a transformation from a hierarchal structure towards a network based form. The network form has proven to be the best structure for the current competitive environment. With technological advancements in almost every area it has become almost impossible to produce everything “in-house” and still stay competitive. This has caused an increase in the degree of outsourcing parts of the value chain to suppliers. Therefore, the competition has now moved from between companies to between entire value chains. For a manufacturing company, with a large part of the value chain outsourced to suppliers the task of setting up production in a new market brings forth new questions such as: is it possible to move an entire value chain to a new country? The purpose of this thesis is to explore what factors influence the construction of a strategic network of suppliers of a manufacturing company when entering a new market. The purpose was divided into two research questions: How is the internationalisation process performed in a strategic network situation and what factors influence the construction of a supplier structure in a world based on networks? Three multinational companies with a large part of their value chain outsourced to suppliers were chosen for interviews: Ericsson, Scania and Volvo Truck Corporation.</p><p>The internationalisation process of a manufacturing company is conducted as follows: the first step is the decision to enter a new market followed by a rather quick set up of a production plant. In this initial phase of the establishment, everything or almost everything is imported which is possible due to a global network of suppliers. The last step depends on the strategic objective with the establishment, either importing will continue or a complete organisation will be established in the country. A complete organisation is in this aspect when the company makes large investments inthe market and starts constructing a supplier network, surrounding sales and marketing functions. Factors influencing the internationalising process are: degree of networking, the type and structure of the network surrounding the company; level of knowledge, the accumulated experience of operating in foreign markets; type of market, the characteristics of the market and degree of commitment i.e. will an entire organisation be built up or will importing suffice.</p>

The organisational forms of companies have undergone a transformation from a hierarchal structure towards a network based form. The network form has proven to be the best structure for the current competitive environment. With technological advancements in almost every area it has become almost impossible to produce everything “in-house” and still stay competitive. This has caused an increase in the degree of outsourcing parts of the value chain to suppliers. Therefore, the competition has now moved from between companies to between entire value chains. For a manufacturing company, with a large part of the value chain outsourced to suppliers the task of setting up production in a new market brings forth new questions such as: is it possible to move an entire value chain to a new country? The purpose of this thesis is to explore what factors influence the construction of a strategic network of suppliers of a manufacturing company when entering a new market. The purpose was divided into two research questions: How is the internationalisation process performed in a strategic network situation and what factors influence the construction of a supplier structure in a world based on networks? Three multinational companies with a large part of their value chain outsourced to suppliers were chosen for interviews: Ericsson, Scania and Volvo Truck Corporation. The internationalisation process of a manufacturing company is conducted as follows: the first step is the decision to enter a new market followed by a rather quick set up of a production plant. In this initial phase of the establishment, everything or almost everything is imported which is possible due to a global network of suppliers. The last step depends on the strategic objective with the establishment, either importing will continue or a complete organisation will be established in the country. A complete organisation is in this aspect when the company makes large investments inthe market and starts constructing a supplier network, surrounding sales and marketing functions. Factors influencing the internationalising process are: degree of networking, the type and structure of the network surrounding the company; level of knowledge, the accumulated experience of operating in foreign markets; type of market, the characteristics of the market and degree of commitment i.e. will an entire organisation be built up or will importing suffice.

O acirramento da competição no mundo de negócios atual fez crescer o grau de incerteza, aumentando a complexidade no processo de tomada de decisão. Conhecer o mercado consumidor e as forças concorrenciais que influenciam e determinam a competitividade dos atores econômicos, deixou de ser apenas uma necessidade, para se tornar um aspecto imprescindível no dia a dia das empresas. Antecipação e adaptação tornaram-se palavras chaves neste ambiente competitivo e em constante mudança. Essa também é a realidade atual do mercado moveleiro brasileiro, especialmente dentro do segmento de móveis planejados, para o qual dispor de informações relativas à atuação da concorrência e da configuração do mercado consumidor é fundamental. Inserida nesse contexto, encontra-se a Bertolini com sua unidade de negócios Evviva juntamente com sua rede de revendas exclusivas. O presente trabalho busca identificar as variáveis presentes na estrutura de negócios e atuação da rede de revendedores, que têm relevância para estruturar os alicerces de um sistema de Inteligência Estratégica de mercado. Para tanto, desenvolveu-se uma metodologia baseada em dois procedimentos: a aplicação de um instrumento de avaliação das revendas e uma survey junto aos profissionais das revendas. Como resultado obteve-se a identificação e confirmação de variáveis relevantes para fundamentar as bases de um sistema de observação e inteligência de mercado, para a Evviva e sua rede de revendas em seu ambiente de negócios. / The intensified competition in the current business environment has increased the level of uncertainty as well as the complexity in today’s decision making processes. Knowing the consumer needs, the forces that drive the market and the competence levels of one’s competitors is no longer just one more requirement for doing business, but has become an indispensable need in a company’s daily existence. Anticipation and adaptation have become key words in this constantly changing and increasingly competitive environment. The Brazilian furniture market is no exceptions. The access to relevant intelligence, such as competitor’s activities, consumer behavior as well as socio-economic and demographic changes in the consumer base is, especially in the segment of customized furniture, of the most vital importance. In this market segment Bertolini is active through its business unit Evviva and with the chain of exclusive stores operating under the Evviva brand name. This study aims to identify the variables in the business structure and the activities of the retail distribution through the chain of exclusive stores with the purpose of developing a system of market related Strategic Intelligence. For this purpose a methodology was developed consisting of two procedures: the application of a technique, capable of evaluating the corresponding retail stores and the creation of a survey in cooperation with the professionals active in the retail stores. The result produced the identification and confirmation of relevant variables which served as a basis for an observation and market intelligence system for Evviva and its network of retail stores within their business environment

O acirramento da competição no mundo de negócios atual fez crescer o grau de incerteza, aumentando a complexidade no processo de tomada de decisão. Conhecer o mercado consumidor e as forças concorrenciais que influenciam e determinam a competitividade dos atores econômicos, deixou de ser apenas uma necessidade, para se tornar um aspecto imprescindível no dia a dia das empresas. Antecipação e adaptação tornaram-se palavras chaves neste ambiente competitivo e em constante mudança. Essa também é a realidade atual do mercado moveleiro brasileiro, especialmente dentro do segmento de móveis planejados, para o qual dispor de informações relativas à atuação da concorrência e da configuração do mercado consumidor é fundamental. Inserida nesse contexto, encontra-se a Bertolini com sua unidade de negócios Evviva juntamente com sua rede de revendas exclusivas. O presente trabalho busca identificar as variáveis presentes na estrutura de negócios e atuação da rede de revendedores, que têm relevância para estruturar os alicerces de um sistema de Inteligência Estratégica de mercado. Para tanto, desenvolveu-se uma metodologia baseada em dois procedimentos: a aplicação de um instrumento de avaliação das revendas e uma survey junto aos profissionais das revendas. Como resultado obteve-se a identificação e confirmação de variáveis relevantes para fundamentar as bases de um sistema de observação e inteligência de mercado, para a Evviva e sua rede de revendas em seu ambiente de negócios. / The intensified competition in the current business environment has increased the level of uncertainty as well as the complexity in today’s decision making processes. Knowing the consumer needs, the forces that drive the market and the competence levels of one’s competitors is no longer just one more requirement for doing business, but has become an indispensable need in a company’s daily existence. Anticipation and adaptation have become key words in this constantly changing and increasingly competitive environment. The Brazilian furniture market is no exceptions. The access to relevant intelligence, such as competitor’s activities, consumer behavior as well as socio-economic and demographic changes in the consumer base is, especially in the segment of customized furniture, of the most vital importance. In this market segment Bertolini is active through its business unit Evviva and with the chain of exclusive stores operating under the Evviva brand name. This study aims to identify the variables in the business structure and the activities of the retail distribution through the chain of exclusive stores with the purpose of developing a system of market related Strategic Intelligence. For this purpose a methodology was developed consisting of two procedures: the application of a technique, capable of evaluating the corresponding retail stores and the creation of a survey in cooperation with the professionals active in the retail stores. The result produced the identification and confirmation of relevant variables which served as a basis for an observation and market intelligence system for Evviva and its network of retail stores within their business environment

O acirramento da competição no mundo de negócios atual fez crescer o grau de incerteza, aumentando a complexidade no processo de tomada de decisão. Conhecer o mercado consumidor e as forças concorrenciais que influenciam e determinam a competitividade dos atores econômicos, deixou de ser apenas uma necessidade, para se tornar um aspecto imprescindível no dia a dia das empresas. Antecipação e adaptação tornaram-se palavras chaves neste ambiente competitivo e em constante mudança. Essa também é a realidade atual do mercado moveleiro brasileiro, especialmente dentro do segmento de móveis planejados, para o qual dispor de informações relativas à atuação da concorrência e da configuração do mercado consumidor é fundamental. Inserida nesse contexto, encontra-se a Bertolini com sua unidade de negócios Evviva juntamente com sua rede de revendas exclusivas. O presente trabalho busca identificar as variáveis presentes na estrutura de negócios e atuação da rede de revendedores, que têm relevância para estruturar os alicerces de um sistema de Inteligência Estratégica de mercado. Para tanto, desenvolveu-se uma metodologia baseada em dois procedimentos: a aplicação de um instrumento de avaliação das revendas e uma survey junto aos profissionais das revendas. Como resultado obteve-se a identificação e confirmação de variáveis relevantes para fundamentar as bases de um sistema de observação e inteligência de mercado, para a Evviva e sua rede de revendas em seu ambiente de negócios. / The intensified competition in the current business environment has increased the level of uncertainty as well as the complexity in today’s decision making processes. Knowing the consumer needs, the forces that drive the market and the competence levels of one’s competitors is no longer just one more requirement for doing business, but has become an indispensable need in a company’s daily existence. Anticipation and adaptation have become key words in this constantly changing and increasingly competitive environment. The Brazilian furniture market is no exceptions. The access to relevant intelligence, such as competitor’s activities, consumer behavior as well as socio-economic and demographic changes in the consumer base is, especially in the segment of customized furniture, of the most vital importance. In this market segment Bertolini is active through its business unit Evviva and with the chain of exclusive stores operating under the Evviva brand name. This study aims to identify the variables in the business structure and the activities of the retail distribution through the chain of exclusive stores with the purpose of developing a system of market related Strategic Intelligence. For this purpose a methodology was developed consisting of two procedures: the application of a technique, capable of evaluating the corresponding retail stores and the creation of a survey in cooperation with the professionals active in the retail stores. The result produced the identification and confirmation of relevant variables which served as a basis for an observation and market intelligence system for Evviva and its network of retail stores within their business environment

The road to breakthrough innovation is complicated, lengthy, costly, and risky to shareholders. This research examines the literature for breakthrough innovation across several industries and disciplines to provide a holistic definition of breakthrough innovation for the biopharmaceutical industry in order to best explore the relationship between breakthrough innovation, knowledge sharing, strategic network alliances, and shareholder value. The study design uses multiple-case studies: a small pilot case study, a second in-depth case study, and a third case study that examines the challenges of breakthrough innovation from senior executives perceptive. Our findings provide three new insights of breakthrough innovation. First, we formulate a new model of breakthrough innovation utilizing strategic network alliances centered on small companies focused on the early phases of development, while larger firms leverage their global commercial infrastructures. Interwoven in the new strategic alliance network are venture capital firms, academia, and government. The second finding is that industry executives prefer the approach of knowledge sharing within a formal strategic network alliance due to the confidential framework of the relationship. The third finding is that incremental innovation is a necessary building block toward breakthrough innovation. The relationship of strategic network alliances and knowledge sharing to breakthrough innovation in the biopharmaceutical industry are critical. Finally, a review of breakthrough innovation factors having the most significant positive impact on maximizing shareholder value in the biopharmaceutical industry. / Business Administration/Strategic Management

Transport and travel is necessary for our society to function. Today, the privately owned car stands for more than half of all personal trips in Sweden. In the last couple of years researchers have highlighted the idea that personal transport is facing a paradigm shift, which means a reduction in the use and dependent of the privately owned car and an increased focus on individuals buying their Mobility as a Service (MaaS). MaaS is described as an integrated mix of different mobility services which are arranged in the form of customized mobility packages to the customer. These mobility packages can be compared to a mobile phone subscription, which includes various mobility services, such as train, bus, subway, taxi, carpool, etc. in various amounts depending on the individual's changing needs. The individual can take care of their own travel planning, booking and payment via an app in their smartphone. What distinguish MaaS from other mobility services is that the customer can travel from door-to-door instead of a predefine station to another. There have been various Maas projects around the world in order to increase understanding of the concept of MaaS, there is still a lot of unanswered questions and researchers would like to see more studies in the field, in order to find factors that are important and vital to the concept MaaS. The aim of the thesis is to: Discuss some competences that may be significant for the further development of the concept Maas in Sweden and discuss potential challenges that may arise at further development of the concept MaaS in Sweden. This study is based on previous research and experiences and thoughts on the concept MaaS from various stakeholders with knowledge and experience of the concept. This study has an abductive approach. Primary data were obtained through qualitative semistructured interviews with eight people who have knowledge and experience of the Maas. The main conclusions in this study is that the competences that are most important in the development of MaaS is collaborative skills and competences required to create an attractive mobility package based on customer needs. One challenge identified in this study is the challenge of creating individualized mobility package in which different types of mobility services are integrated. Another challenge can arise when public and private organizations collaborate and when new organizations enter the transport network and try to cooperate with the established organizations / Transporter och resor är nödvändiga för att vårt samhälle ska fungera. Idag står den privatägda bilen för mer än hälften av alla personresor. Flera forskare har under de allra senaste åren lyft fram idén att persontransportsektorn står inför ett paradigmskifte, som innebär ett minskat användande och beroende av den egenägda bilen och ett ökat fokus på att individer köper sin förflyttning i form av en tjänst, Mobilitet som tjänst; Mobility as a Service (MaaS). MaaS beskrivs som en integrerad mix av olika mobilitetstjänster vilka arrangeras till kunden i form av skräddarsydda mobilitetspaket. Dessa mobilitetspaket kan liknas vid ett mobiltelefonabonnemang, där det ingår flera olika mobilitetstjänster, så som tåg, buss, tunnelbana, taxi, bilpool med mera i olika mängd beroende på individens skiftande behov. Via en app i en Smartphone sköter individen själv sin reseplanering, bokning och betalning. Utmärkande för en MaaS-tjänst är att kunden kan köpa tjänsten att bli förflyttad från den punkt där denne befinner sig till den punkt individen vill åka till. Det har genomförts olika MaaS-projekt runt om i världen i syfte att öka förståelsen för konceptet MaaS, frågorna inom detta område är ännu många och flera forskare menar att det skulle behöva göras flera studier i syfte att finna faktorer som är viktiga och avgörande för konceptet Mobilitet som tjänst. Syftet med examensarbete är att diskutera några kompetenser som kan tänkas bli betydelsefulla vid vidareutvecklingen av konceptet MaaS i Sverige samt diskutera möjliga utmaningar som kan uppstå vid vidareutvecklingen av konceptet MaaS i Sverige. Denna studie har en abduktiv ansats. Primärdata har insamlats genom kvalitativa semistrukterade intervjuer med åtta personer vilka har delvis olika kunskaper och erfarenheter av MaaS. De viktigaste slutsatserna som dras i denna studie är att de kompetenser som är mest betydelsefulla vid utvecklingen av MaaS är samarbetsinriktade kompetenser samt de kompetenser som krävs för att skapa ett attraktivt MaaS-bjudande utifrån kundens behov. En utmaning som identifieras i denna studie är utmaningen att skapa individanpassade mobilitetspaket i vilka olika typer av mobilitetstjänster ska integreras. En annan utmaning kan uppstå då offentliga och privata aktörer ska samarbeta samt då nya aktörer träder in i transportnätverket och ska samarbete med de etablerade aktörerna.

Avec plus de 100.000 transactions chaque année, les marchés publics représentent près de 10 % du PIB français. Pourtant, peu de travaux en sciences de gestion ont tenté de comprendre les manoeuvres stratégiques qui facilitent l'accès des entreprises à la commande publique. En s'appuyant sur la théorie des réseaux, le but de cette thèse est, justement, d'étudier l'impact de l'environnement relationnel des entreprises. Nous proposons, ainsi, un modèle qui décrit comment les réseaux d'alliances influencent l'attribution des marchés publics. Pour réaliser ce travail de recherche, nous observons 4.242 transactions de marchés publics dans lesquelles sont impliquées des alliances stratégiques. Une analyse structurale des données nous permet, alors, de détecter les réseaux d'alliances. L'organisation de ces réseaux révèle des propriétés relationnelles non-triviales, et identiques à celles des réseaux sociaux. Ces propriétés sont testées à partir d'équations structurelles (PLS-path modeling). Les résultats montrent un effet significatif de 4 propriétés relationnelles (l'encastrement, l'attachement préférentiel, la force des liens et la transitivité) sur l'obtention des marchés publics. Nous décrivons, ensuite, la façon d'organiser, efficacement, des manoeuvres d'alliances. Nous posons, ainsi, les fondements d'un système d'intelligence économique pour former des coalitions. Ce système repose sur une cartographie des réseaux qui permet aux entreprises de comprendre et d'influencer leur environnement relationnel. / With over 100 000 exchanges per years, public procurement represent almost 10% of French GDP. Nevertheless, few scientific management studies have investigated strategies which ease accessibility to public procurement to companies. Based on network theory, my thesis purpose was to study the impact of the company relational environment. We now characterize a model that illustrates the effect of strategic networks on contract awarding. We investigated 4242 transactions in French public market with strategic alliances involvement. A structural data analysis highlighted strategic networks characterized by an organization having non trivial relational properties, which are identical to social networks. We used structural equations modeling (PLS-path modeling) to validate this observation. Indeed, we demonstrated that 4 different relational properties (embeddedness, preferential attachment, strength of ties and transitivity) influence significantly the public contract awarding. What are these model applications? This model draws a company network map, a useful tool for company to manage and understand their possible coalitions. We propose how to organize efficient strategic alliances which is one of the bases of competitive intelligence system.

Background: The management accounting coordination in a horizontal network of small and medium sized companies entails numerous questions and potential complications that may vary according to the extent of cooperation chosen. Categorizing network co-operations along an imaginary market–hierarchy continuum might offer the theoretical foundation needed to further understand networks and as a consequence illuminate the link to the diverse management accounting issues. Purpose: To analyze the management accounting systems in different forms of horizontal network co-operations. Delimitations: It is not within the purpose of the thesis to discuss the various reasons why cooperative relationships are established in the first place, nor how they develop. Proceed of the study: A multiple case study of three Swedish networks composed of small/medium-sized firms was carried out with the help of thirteen interviews. Conclusions: Empirical support is offered for both the business and functional network types. The model of Dahlgren et al. does not take into account that the degree of integration of the network supporting activities does not necessarily have to entail the equivalent degree of integration regarding the management accounting system. Hence, the typology of networks cannot be said to be conveniently applicable to study all horizontal networks, as the model may leave out certain significant dimensions that obstruct the understanding of a network.