The world today is confronted by the worst financial and economic crisis since the Great Depression of 1920’s. Due to the financial system being globalised and interdependent, the contagion effects of the financial crisis trickled down to Europe and ultimately triggered the recession of 2007-2009, which had far-reaching repercussions on cross-border economic activities. The severe international downturn had a significant effect on the Swedish economy and Swedish SMEs. Moreover, the recession has heightened economic uncertainty and combined with the existing challenges facing SMEs, created one of the most difficult business climates in decades, hence, a prevailing need for creating resilience. The purpose of this study is to examine how Swedish Internationalised SMEs remain resilient during times of recession. This will be studied through investigating what resources and capabilities were crucial for building resilience and how the SMEs changed their strategy during the recession to remain resilient. The study is conducted through a qualitative case study and an abductive approach in order to get a profound insight into the firm’s behaviour. The theoretical framework is founded on the area of strategy and resilience, by accounting for strategy formulation, the RBV, resilience and strategic change. Moreover, the empirical chapter presents the results of the data gathered from the six case companies and is structured according to the companies and the three research problems. In the analysis, the patterns emerging from the theoretical framework and the empirical data is analysed based on the three research problems through trying to understand the underlying reasons for the emerging patterns. The study conclude that Swedish internationalized SMEs remained resilient during the recession of 2007- 2009, through reconfiguring its critical resources and capabilities, and changing their strategy to adapt to the changes in the external environment caused by the recession.

A dinamização do processo de globalização, no final do século XX, impulsionou o comércio entre as nações e contribuiu para o acirramento da concorrência internacional. O setor industrial como um todo, para manter-se competitivo, precisou formular e implementar estratégias inovadoras. Assim, as empresas brasileiras produtoras de calçados, a partir da década de 1990, tiveram de se reestruturar. O objetivo desta dissertação é analisar as formas de reestruturação empresarial e as mudanças de posicionamento estratégico das empresas da indústria calçadista brasileira, diante da intensificação dos problemas de competitividade sistêmica e da concorrência internacional, principalmente, asiática. O referencial teórico utilizado procurou elucidar os fundamentos e conceitos relativos aos fatores determinantes da competitividade, as estratégias empresariais e as teorias relativas à organização industrial e às cadeias globais de valor. Além da utilização de dados secundários, realizou-se uma pesquisa de campo junto às empresas e lideranças do setor. A pesquisa de campo teve caráter exploratório, sendo que a coleta de dados priorizou a observação direta intensiva e extensiva. Os resultados dessa investigação indicaram que as principais mudanças concretizadas devido à nova dinâmica concorrencial foram as seguintes: as empresas orientaram a sua produção de calçados para o mercado nacional, buscaram novos mercados consumidores externos e priorizaram investimentos nas áreas de P&D e pesquisas de mercado com foco para a produção de mercadoria diferenciadas (melhorias no design) e de maior valor agregado. Em relação às dificuldades enfrentadas pela indústria calçadista, na concorrência internacional, foram destacadas as condições sistêmicas da economia brasileira com ênfase para os elevado custos tributários, salariais e de infraestrutura. / The intensification of the process globalization in the late twentieth century, boosted trade among nations and contributed to increased international competition. The industrial sector as a whole, to remain competitive, had to formulate and implement innovative strategies. Thus, Brazilian companies producing shoes from the 1990s, had to restructure. The objective of this dissertation is to analyze the forms of business restructuring and the changes in companies' strategic positioning of the Brazilian footwear industry, faced with the intensification of the problems of systemic competitiveness and of international competition, mainly Asian. The theoretical framework tries to elucidate the fundamentals and concepts of the determinants of competitiveness, corporate strategies and theories on industrial organization and the global value chains. In addition to using secondary data, we carried out a field research together the businesses and industry leaders. The field research was exploratory in nature, and the data collection prioritized direct observation intensive and extensive. The results of this investigation indicated that the major changes implemented due to new competitive dynamic are as follows: companies directed their production of footwear for the domestic market, foreign consumers sought new markets and prioritized investments in R & D and market research with focus on the production of differentiated goods (design improvements) and higher added value. Regarding the difficulties faced by the footwear industry in international competition, have been highlighted systemic conditions of the Brazilian economy with emphasis on higher tax costs, salaries and infrastructure.

This research aims to understand the context, process and the content of the strategic changes which characterized the history of ALPOX, a self-managed alcohol distillery set up in Porto Xavier, a small town in the northwest of the Rio Grande do Sul State (in the south of Brazil), from 1984 to 2003. In a general way the research interprets and emphasizes the real strategic changes happened in the period mentioned above, the internal and external factors in the context that influenced it and the result got by the organization with the change implementation. In relation to the used methodology, it is an unusual case study developed through a qualitative approach (Triviños, 1992; Gil, 1999; Yin, 2001) and a contextualizing approach (Pettigrew, 1987, 1992). At the same time, it was also based on the method of historical and longitudinal analysis (Kimberly, 1976; Salama, 1992) when adopting the direct research procedures ( Mintzberg and McHugh, 1985). From the historical and interpretative analysis of the organization, it was described the main critical events occurred at the distillery and it was identified the three-strategic periods which make up the studied period. The first strategic period (1984-1990) is characterized by the implementation of the distillery in that town and the mobilization towards the whole structure of the first cane-plantations. The second one (1991-1996) signs the organization renting period as a strategy to overcome the financial crisis. And the third one (1997-2003) is marked by the strategic decision of the company s failure and the renting of the broken mass by COOPERCANA. During each strategic period it was done an analysis based on theoretical approaches aiming a better explanation about the strategic changes. The theoretical explanation made possible a more accurate comprehension about the events and their meanings attached by the organizational actors (interviewed people) and by the researcher through the perception and the parallels identification from the existing theoretical approaches about the subject. So it is emphasized as the main contributions of the present study: the strategic change discussion in an organization of the sugar-alcohol agriindustrial sector which plays an important role on the Brazilian economy as in the region it is insert; the methodology used in the research because it privileges the analysis into a historical, contextualizing and processional perspective, providing much information about the formulation process of an organization s strategies in the Brazilian context; and a critical reflection on the strategic behavior adopted throughout the history of the distillery serving as subsidies for future decisions and actions of its directors. / Esta pesquisa objetiva compreender o contexto, processo e conteúdo das mudanças estratégicas que marcaram a história da ALPOX, destilaria de álcool autônoma situada na cidade de Porto Xavier no Noroeste do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul, no período compreendido entre 1984-2003. De maneira geral, interpreta e evidencia quais foram as mudanças estratégicas efetivas ocorridas no referido período, quais os fatores contextuais externos e internos que a influenciaram e qual o resultado obtido pela organização com a implementação da mudança. Em termos da metodologia empregada, trata-se de um estudo de caso singular desenvolvido através da abordagem qualitativa (Triviños, 1992; Gil, 1999; Yin, 2001) e contextualista (Pettigrew, 1987,1992). Ao mesmo tempo, utilizou-se do método de análise longitudinal e histórica (Kimberly, 1976; Salama, 1992) ao adotar os procedimentos da direct research (Mintzberg e McHugh, 1985). A partir da análise histórica e interpretativa da organização, descreveu-se os principais eventos críticos ocorridos na destilaria e identificou-se os três períodos estratégicos que compõem o período estudado. O primeiro período estratégico (1984-1990) caracteriza-se pela implantação da destilaria no município e a mobilização para a estruturação dos primeiros canaviais. O segundo (1991-1996) assinala o período de arrendamento da empresa como medida estratégica para sair da crise financeira. E o terceiro período (1997-2003) é marcado pela decisão estratégica de falência da indústria e o arrendamento da massa falida pela COOPERCANA. Em cada período estratégico realizou-se uma análise fundamentada em abordagens teóricas possibilitando uma melhor explicação das mudanças estratégicas. A explicação teórica propiciou a compreensão mais apurada dos eventos e dos seus significados atribuídos pelos atores organizacionais (entrevistados) e pelo pesquisador através da percepção e identificação de paralelos a partir das abordagens teóricas existentes sobre o assunto. Desta forma, destaca-se como principais contribuições do presente estudo: a discussão sobre mudança estratégica em uma empresa do setor agroindustrial sucroalcooleiro que desempenha um papel representativo na economia brasileira como na região de sua inserção; a metodologia da pesquisa por privilegiar a análise numa perspectiva histórica, contextual e processual, fornecendo uma gama de informações sobre o processo de formulação de estratégias de uma organização no contexto brasileiro; e, a reflexão crítica sobre o comportamento estratégico adotado ao longo da história da destilaria servindo de subsídios para futuras decisões e ações dos seus dirigentes.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-12-01T19:11:32Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 114855.pdf: 1553995 bytes, checksum: d98733919c5e77064e4a88d0dcc82e3c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-10-04 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The change process according to Pettigrew (1987) comprises the actions, reactions and interactions between various parts of the organization wishing to take it from a present state to a future state. In environments where laws are not enforced and there is the presence of informal/illegal businesses, these changes tend to have more negative influence for companies that operate legally. This study occurred in two companies in the city of Benjamin Constant -AM, on the border between Brazil, Peru and Colombia, analyzing strategic change according to the dimensions of process, context (internal and external) and Content aimed to identify how or if these companies were able to obtain competitive advantage in spite of competition from informal/illegal settlements. The case study used a qualitative approach using semi-structured interviews with owners and members of the management team. Through longitudinal analysis of the companies were able to identify the main events that have driven changes and realize the difficulties faced, strategies employed and contextual changes on the informal competition made possible by the lack of Brazilian supervision . / O processo de mudança de acordo com Pettigrew (1987) compreende as ações, reações e interações entre as várias partes da organização que pretendem levá-la de um estado presente para um estado futuro. Em ambientes onde as leis não são aplicadas e há a presença de negócios informais/ilegais, essas mudanças tendem a apresentar maior influência negativa para empresas que atuam de forma legal. O presente estudo ocorreu em duas empresas do município de Benjamin Constant-AM, na fronteira entre Brasil, Peru e Colômbia, analisando a mudança estratégica de acordo com as dimensões de Processo, Contexto (interno e externo) e Conteúdo, visando a identificar como ou se estas empresas conseguiram obter vantagem competitiva apesar da concorrência com estabelecimentos informais/ilegais. O estudo de caso utilizou a abordagem qualitativa através de entrevistas semiestruturadas com proprietários e membros da equipe gerencial. Através da análise longitudinal das empresas foi possível identificar os principais eventos que impulsionaram as mudanças e perceber as dificuldades enfrentadas, estratégias utilizadas e alterações contextuais diante da concorrência informal possibilitada pela falta de fiscalização brasileira.

A dinamização do processo de globalização, no final do século XX, impulsionou o comércio entre as nações e contribuiu para o acirramento da concorrência internacional. O setor industrial como um todo, para manter-se competitivo, precisou formular e implementar estratégias inovadoras. Assim, as empresas brasileiras produtoras de calçados, a partir da década de 1990, tiveram de se reestruturar. O objetivo desta dissertação é analisar as formas de reestruturação empresarial e as mudanças de posicionamento estratégico das empresas da indústria calçadista brasileira, diante da intensificação dos problemas de competitividade sistêmica e da concorrência internacional, principalmente, asiática. O referencial teórico utilizado procurou elucidar os fundamentos e conceitos relativos aos fatores determinantes da competitividade, as estratégias empresariais e as teorias relativas à organização industrial e às cadeias globais de valor. Além da utilização de dados secundários, realizou-se uma pesquisa de campo junto às empresas e lideranças do setor. A pesquisa de campo teve caráter exploratório, sendo que a coleta de dados priorizou a observação direta intensiva e extensiva. Os resultados dessa investigação indicaram que as principais mudanças concretizadas devido à nova dinâmica concorrencial foram as seguintes: as empresas orientaram a sua produção de calçados para o mercado nacional, buscaram novos mercados consumidores externos e priorizaram investimentos nas áreas de P&D e pesquisas de mercado com foco para a produção de mercadoria diferenciadas (melhorias no design) e de maior valor agregado. Em relação às dificuldades enfrentadas pela indústria calçadista, na concorrência internacional, foram destacadas as condições sistêmicas da economia brasileira com ênfase para os elevado custos tributários, salariais e de infraestrutura. / The intensification of the process globalization in the late twentieth century, boosted trade among nations and contributed to increased international competition. The industrial sector as a whole, to remain competitive, had to formulate and implement innovative strategies. Thus, Brazilian companies producing shoes from the 1990s, had to restructure. The objective of this dissertation is to analyze the forms of business restructuring and the changes in companies' strategic positioning of the Brazilian footwear industry, faced with the intensification of the problems of systemic competitiveness and of international competition, mainly Asian. The theoretical framework tries to elucidate the fundamentals and concepts of the determinants of competitiveness, corporate strategies and theories on industrial organization and the global value chains. In addition to using secondary data, we carried out a field research together the businesses and industry leaders. The field research was exploratory in nature, and the data collection prioritized direct observation intensive and extensive. The results of this investigation indicated that the major changes implemented due to new competitive dynamic are as follows: companies directed their production of footwear for the domestic market, foreign consumers sought new markets and prioritized investments in R & D and market research with focus on the production of differentiated goods (design improvements) and higher added value. Regarding the difficulties faced by the footwear industry in international competition, have been highlighted systemic conditions of the Brazilian economy with emphasis on higher tax costs, salaries and infrastructure.

A dinamização do processo de globalização, no final do século XX, impulsionou o comércio entre as nações e contribuiu para o acirramento da concorrência internacional. O setor industrial como um todo, para manter-se competitivo, precisou formular e implementar estratégias inovadoras. Assim, as empresas brasileiras produtoras de calçados, a partir da década de 1990, tiveram de se reestruturar. O objetivo desta dissertação é analisar as formas de reestruturação empresarial e as mudanças de posicionamento estratégico das empresas da indústria calçadista brasileira, diante da intensificação dos problemas de competitividade sistêmica e da concorrência internacional, principalmente, asiática. O referencial teórico utilizado procurou elucidar os fundamentos e conceitos relativos aos fatores determinantes da competitividade, as estratégias empresariais e as teorias relativas à organização industrial e às cadeias globais de valor. Além da utilização de dados secundários, realizou-se uma pesquisa de campo junto às empresas e lideranças do setor. A pesquisa de campo teve caráter exploratório, sendo que a coleta de dados priorizou a observação direta intensiva e extensiva. Os resultados dessa investigação indicaram que as principais mudanças concretizadas devido à nova dinâmica concorrencial foram as seguintes: as empresas orientaram a sua produção de calçados para o mercado nacional, buscaram novos mercados consumidores externos e priorizaram investimentos nas áreas de P&D e pesquisas de mercado com foco para a produção de mercadoria diferenciadas (melhorias no design) e de maior valor agregado. Em relação às dificuldades enfrentadas pela indústria calçadista, na concorrência internacional, foram destacadas as condições sistêmicas da economia brasileira com ênfase para os elevado custos tributários, salariais e de infraestrutura. / The intensification of the process globalization in the late twentieth century, boosted trade among nations and contributed to increased international competition. The industrial sector as a whole, to remain competitive, had to formulate and implement innovative strategies. Thus, Brazilian companies producing shoes from the 1990s, had to restructure. The objective of this dissertation is to analyze the forms of business restructuring and the changes in companies' strategic positioning of the Brazilian footwear industry, faced with the intensification of the problems of systemic competitiveness and of international competition, mainly Asian. The theoretical framework tries to elucidate the fundamentals and concepts of the determinants of competitiveness, corporate strategies and theories on industrial organization and the global value chains. In addition to using secondary data, we carried out a field research together the businesses and industry leaders. The field research was exploratory in nature, and the data collection prioritized direct observation intensive and extensive. The results of this investigation indicated that the major changes implemented due to new competitive dynamic are as follows: companies directed their production of footwear for the domestic market, foreign consumers sought new markets and prioritized investments in R & D and market research with focus on the production of differentiated goods (design improvements) and higher added value. Regarding the difficulties faced by the footwear industry in international competition, have been highlighted systemic conditions of the Brazilian economy with emphasis on higher tax costs, salaries and infrastructure.

Luftverkehrsprognosen stellen ein wichtiges Instrument dar, die Luftverkehrsinfrastruktur zu beeinflussen. Hinter vielen der Projekte, die von Luftverkehrsprognosen begleitet werden, stehen Interessen. Dies gilt insbesondere für Ausbauvorhaben von Flughäfen, die von eindeutigen Zielen und Wünschen getragen werden. Die Gutachter, die im Rahmen solcher Ausbauvorhaben tätig werden, sind der Gefahr ausgesetzt, beeinflusste Prognosen zu erstellen. Es ist Ziel der folgenden Arbeit, die Qualität von Luftverkehrsprognosen in Deutschland empirisch zu überprüfen. Dabei stößt man auf das Problem, dass es für Luftverkehrsprognosen praktisch nur einen Gutachter gibt. Dies ist die Intraplan Consult GmbH. Prognosen anderer Gutachter liegen in so geringer Zahl vor, dass sie nicht empirisch auswertbar sind. Wir beschränken uns im Folgenden deshalb darauf, die Prognosen von Intraplan Consult GmbH zu analysieren. Wir glauben, dass die Untersuchungsergebnisse allgemeingültigen Charakter haben und auf andere Luftverkehrsprognosen übertragbar sind. Es werden drei Fragestellungen untersucht. • Überzeichnen die Luftverkehrsprognosen der Intraplan Consult GmbH die tatsächliche Verkehrsentwicklung? • Gibt es Hinweise darauf, dass Überzeichnungen bei bestimmten Prognosegrößen (z.B. PAX, Fracht, Flugbewegungen) besonders häufig vorkommen? • Gibt es Hinweise darauf, dass Überzeichnungen bei bestimmten Gutachtentypen bzw. Gutachtenanlässen (z.B. Erweiterungen, behördliche Genehmigungen) besonders häufig vorkommen? Die empirische Untersuchung zeigte, dass die Prognosen insgesamt betrachtet tendenziell die tatsächliche Verkehrsentwicklung überschätzen. Es konnte zudem ermittelt werden, dass die Qualität der Ergebnisse stark streut und sich nicht normalverteilt verhält. Weiterhin konnten Wendepunktefehler im Prognose-Realisierungs-Diagramm beobachtet werden. Das bedeutet, dass das Modell von Intraplan Wendepunkte von Entwicklungen nicht erkennen kann. Die Airlines haben in den von den Prognosen erfassten Zeiträumen Strategiewechsel vorgenommen, die von Intraplan nicht erkannt wurden. Im weiteren Verlauf wurden die drei Prognosegrößen (i) Passagiere, (ii) Fracht- und Postaufkommen sowie (iii) Flugbewegungen einzeln analysiert. Alle drei Größen zeigten systematisch überschätzende Prognosen. Besonders stark ist dies bei den Flugbewegungen zu erkennen. Die Prognosen wurden nach ihrem Zweck in die Kategorien „Planfälle bei Genehmigungsgutachten“, „Worst-Case-Fälle bei Genehmigungsgutachten“ sowie „Marktstudien“ getrennt. Alle drei Kategorien weisen systematische Fehlschätzungen auf. Bei den Marktstudien liegen systematische Überschätzungen vor. Sie sind tendenziell etwas geringer als bei Planfallprognosen, wo die Überschätzungen erhebliche Größenordnungen annehmen (20-50% zu hohe Wachstumsraten). Worst-Case-Prognosen unterschätzen die tatsächliche Entwicklung systematisch. Da die beiden letzteren Kategorien (also Planfälle vs. Worst-Case-Fälle) im Zusammenhang mit Ausbauvorhaben an Flughäfen stehen, liegt die Vermutung nahe, dass im Rahmen der Genehmigungsgutachten die Worst-Case-Prognosen gezielt zu niedrig angesetzt werden (Unterschätzung), während die Planfallprognosen zu hoch angesetzt werden (Überschätzung), um das jeweilige Ausbauvorhaben in einem bedeutenderen Licht erscheinen zu lassen. Die Wendepunktfehler zeigen, dass Intraplan Strategiewechsel der Luftverkehrsunternehmen nicht richtig prognostiziert. Dies kann im Zusammenhang mit dem von den Auftraggebern verfolgten Zweck der Projekte stehen: Andere als die von den Auftraggebern gewünschten Strategien werden nicht abgebildet. Dieses sind, wie die empirischen ex post Ergebnisse zeigen, weder alle denkbaren Strategien und nicht einmal die wahrscheinlichsten Strategien. In der Luftverkehrswirtschaft wird argumentiert, dass die Prognosen von Intraplan nur wegen der Finanzkrise 2008, die nicht vorhersehbar gewesen wäre, so schlecht seien. Unsere Analyse zeigt für einige Flughäfen tatsächlich deutliche Brüche der Entwicklung nach der Finanzkrise. Bei anderen Flughäfen ist demgegenüber eine Konstanz der Entwicklung vor und nach der Finanzkrise festzustellen. Auch bei diesen Flughäfen ist aber die Prognose schlecht. Darüber hinaus gibt es Flughäfen, bei denen Airlines Strategiewechsel schon vor der Finanzkrise vorgenommen haben. Auch bei diesen hat das Prognosemodell von Intraplan schlechte Resultate erzielt. Bei anderen Flughäfen dagegen, ist die Prognoseleistung trotz Finanzkrise gut. Alles in allem zeigt sich deshalb, dass es weniger die Finanzkrise von 2008 ist, die zu Fehlprognosen führt, als die fehlende Fähigkeit, die Strategien der Airlines richtig abzubilden. / Aviation traffic forecasts and airport analyses are important instruments which influence decisions on aviation related infrastructure. Behind many of such infrastructure projects, which are supported by forecast analyses, one finds political interests. This is especially the case for aviation projects, such as infrastructure enlargement projects of airports, which are motivated by distinct goals and desires. Referees who act within this framework are exposed to the risk of producing biased results. The quality of such aviation traffic forecasts is the subject of this working paper. To begin with, one major obstacle is that there is only one such referee available in Germany - Intraplan Consult GmbH. Other referees have only a minimal, insignificant share of output, which cannot be used for any further empirical investigation. This is the reason why the present working paper focuses on airport analyses produced by Intraplan Consult GmbH. We believe that these research results are of common character, and thus are transferable to other related airport studies. The following three research questions have been investigated: • Do recent aviation traffic forecasts performed by Intraplan Consult GmbH overestimate actual traffic developments? • Are there any indications that some specific forecast measures (such as PAX, freight and cargo, flight movement) might be overestimated exceptionally frequently? • Are there any indications that specific types and events of forecast analysis (such as airport expansion projects, official authorisation of a project by the public administration) overestimated exceptionally frequently? Empirical investigation has shown that forecast analyses tend to be indeed overestimated, compared to the actual traffic developments. It could be shown that the quality of the research results is widespread and not normally distributed. Furthermore, systematic errors with regard to the point of inflection in forecast-realisation-diagrams were identified. This means that models constructed by Intraplan could not identify points of inflection on the development path in the real world. For instance, airlines have undergone structure and strategic changes over the periods of investigation which could not be captured by Intraplan models. In addition, three forecast measures, namely the amount of (i) passenger, (ii) freight and post and the (iii) flight movements, have been analysed. All three of them have shown systematic overestimated forecast results. In particular, forecasts of flight movements have been largely overestimated. These forecast analyses have further been categorized according to their purpose, namely project cases for the issue of approval certificates, worst-case scenarios for the issue of approval certificates and market studies. All three categories show systematic misjudgements and miscalculations. Regarding the market studies, systematic overestimation was identified. It tends to be less severe than for the project cases, where extreme estimates of 20-50% higher growth rates were found. In contrast to this, worst-case scenarios systematically underestimated actual development trends. The last two of which suggest the assumption that, when analysing enlargement projects of airports, worst-case scenario forecast figures and project case forecast figures have been deliberately manipulated in order to put the expansion project in question into the right perspective. Misjudgement by Intraplan, regarding the points of inflection, shows that they cannot forecast any strategic development by the aviation industry flawlessly. However, it can be assumed that this may also be in the interest of their contractors. Others as those suggested strategies by their clients are not included in their models. To further strengthen this suggestion, all empirical ex post results show that only a small share of all possible strategies, and especially the most improbable strategies, had been used. The aviation industry argues that miscalculation by Intraplan only relates to the events around the financial crisis in 2008, which have been unpredictable. Our research results showed that few airports had indeed been hit, regarding their development, by the financial crisis in 2008 and after. Others, however, have shown no effect and continued their rather constant development before and after the financial crisis. Forecast analyses have also been inaccurate and false for these airports. In addition to this, some of these airports had already undergone a strategic change, airline strategic change, before the financial crisis. As well, with regard to these airports, the forecast model by Intraplan produced false results. On the other hand, some forecast results have been correct, despite the financial crisis. All in all, it can be argued that incorrect forecasts have not been caused as much by the financial crisis as by the missing capacities of the model to incorporate strategic change.

Planned change and change-related communication are perceived very differently by the members of an organization. Strongly varying perceptions of new tasks, work processes and goals make joint action difficult and cause the failure of many change initiatives. The purpose of this study is to investigate how internal communication and sensemaking processes contribute to the perception of strategic change among the members of a public service organization. The following questions are answered: How does the management plan and perform internal communication during a strategic change of the Swedish public service television company Sveriges Television (SVT)? How do the members of the organization make sense of a strategic change and the internal communication related to the changes that are planned and carried out? A social constructivist perspective combined with theories of sensemaking, communication, social identities, roles, groups, power and status constitutes the analytical framework. The investigation is designed as two case studies of the SVT production facilities in Malmö and Örebro. The empirical material consists mainly of personal interviews. Written documents and observations have also been used. The case studies took place between 2002 and 2004. Some main conclusions are as follows: 1) Internal communication is central for how members of an organization make sense of, and participate in, major change. Yet, not even in ideal communication situations do the employees experience that the information has been sufficient and that they have been included in the change process. There are thus reasons for more balanced expectations of what is possible to achieve with internal communication during strategic change. 2) The most influential factor determining how people make sense of change-related communication is the practical everyday reality that constitutes their frames of reference. The reluctance to consider, and act upon, how other individuals conceive of a situation leads to misdirected internal communication and gaps of understanding. 3) Organizational identities, group membership, roles and status function as frames of reference when employees make sense of changes. But irrespective of whether the changes take place on an organizational, departmental or group level, personal identities are the most influential frames of reference for interpreting organizational change. The investigation thus establishes an order of precedence for frames of reference that has important implications for internal communication during strategic change. The thesis contributes to sensemaking theories by demonstrating their extensive ability to explain mutually related phenomena, such as attention, resistance and self-fulfilling prophecies. The apparent ability to explain basically all sensemaking-related issues in organizations, and thus leading to reductionism, is also concluded to be one of the weaknesses of the theories. By connecting sensemaking theories with roles, social identities and power, the study contributes to clarifying the frame concept.

Bakgrund och problem: Ett företags konkurrenskraft och överlevnadsförmåga hänger i mångt och mycket ihop med hur väl de kan förändra sig. Som ett verktyg för att hantera en föränderlig omvärld behöver företag därmed kunna förändra sin strategi, både på övergripande och detaljnivå. För att fatta rätt beslut behöver företag tänka på många aspekter, det blir därmed av största vikt för företag att se till vilket beslutsunderlag de använder vid beslut om strategiska förändringar. Som ett led i detta finns det en roll som ekonomistyrningen kan spela för företag när underlaget ska samlas in och användas. Syfte: Denna studies syfte är att öka kunskapen om på vilka grunder företag tar beslut om strategiska förändringar. Detta ska ske genom att redogöra för vilken typ av information som används som beslutsunderlag, samt vilken roll ekonomistyrning har vid, dessa beslut. Metod: Som forskningsmetod har en fallstudie med ett huvudföretag, Visma SPCS, valts. Utöver fallföretaget finns även två stycken referensföretag medverkande, i form av IKEA Kalmar samt ett anonymt företag, benämnt som Företag C. De intervjuer som hålls med företagen är av semi-strukturerad art, via antingen direkta intervjuer eller via telefon. Slutsats: Det som företagen anser vara viktigast när beslut om strategisk förändring ska fattas är att företaget har rätt historisk information för att kunna skapa sig en förståelse om företagets framtid, där olika information är olika viktig vid olika situationer. Allt som sker ska också vara med ett fokus mot företagets kunder, vilket påverkar vilket underlag som företagen lägger vikt vid. Ekonomistyrningen kan sägas spela en roll i att den ger underlag till företagen, baserat på vad företaget presterar, men att de även kan involvera sina medarbetare och använda ekonomistyrningen mer interaktivt. / Background and problem: A company’s competitiveness and survivability is in many ways connected to their ability to change. As a tool to handle an ever-changing world, companies needs to be able to change their business strategy, both overall and on detail level. To be able to make the right decisions, companies needs to consider many aspects, it will therefore be of most importance that companies look at which basis of decisions they use in times of strategic strategic change. As a part in this, a company’s management control system could play a part in the way that this information is gathered and used. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to increase the knowledge about the reasons that companies make strategic changes, by explaining what kind of information companies use when they decide on strategic change, as well as the part that the company’s management control system plays in these situations.  Method: As research method a case study was chosen, with one main case in Visma SPCS, as well as two other cases in IKEA Kalmar and the anonymous Företag C. The interviews are semi structured, via either telephone or in person. Conclusion: The thing that these companies think is most important when making decisions about strategic change is that the have an understanding about their situation and their future. Everything that the companies do should be with focus on their customers, and that affects the information they use when making these strategic decisions. Their management control system both plays a part as feedback, to see how the company’s performing, as well as involving the employees in the company’s strategic work.

Bakgrund: Covid-19 har lett till förödande konsekvenser på individer, samhällen och organisationer. Nya konsumentbeteenden har trätt fram vilket utmanat detaljhandeln att agera och reagera som svar till påträffade marknadsförändringar. Därmed har företag inom detaljhandeln behövt förändra sitt strategiska arbete för att fortsätta vara konkurrenskraftiga men även för att anpassa sig till nya förutsättningar som uppstått. Det så kallade “nya normala” har präglat samhället vilket skapar möjligheter och svårigheter för detaljhandelsbolag att fortsätta bedriva verksamheten och förbli lönsamma. Med anledning av detta är strategisk förändring i en pågående pandemi ett intressant och aktuellt ämne att studera då det även råder avsaknad av vetenskaplig forskning inom detta område.   Syfte: Syftet med studien är att få en ökad förståelse för hur detaljhandelsbolag har förändrat sin strategi under pandemin och om dessa strategiska förändringar anses vara framgångsrika eller inte.  Metod: Denna kvalitativa uppsats tar avstamp i ett fenomenologiskt perspektiv i kombination med en abduktiv ansats. Den insamlade empirin baseras på semistrukturerade intervjuer med sju respondenter från sex olika fallföretag inom detaljhandeln. Respondenterna har valts utifrån tre olika urval; målstyrt-, bekvämlighets- samt snöbollsurval.    Slutsats: I slutsatsen fastställs att de strategiska förändringarna i detaljhandelsbolag genomsyrats av ökad e-handel och fallföretagen har även lagt stor vikt på att skifta fokus till en säker butiksverksamhet. Vidare konstateras att ett förändrat konsumentbeteende och digitalisering har varit de mest förekommande omvärldsfaktorerna som, bortsett från covid-19, bidragit till de strategiska förändringarna. Hur framgångsrika dessa förändringar anses grundas slutligen i det faktum att fallföretagen lyckats genomföra de strategiska förändringarna som i sin tur minimerat de negativa konsekvenserna till följd av pandemin. / Background: Covid-19 has resulted in devastating consequences for individuals, societies and organizations. A new form of consumer behavior has emerged which has challenged retail companies to act and react to these new changes. Hence, retail companies have been required to change their strategy to stay competitive and adapt to the new circumstances. A “new normal” has imprinted the society which, therefore, creates both opportunities and difficulties in the continuation of conducting business and generating profitability in retail companies. Examining strategic changes as a result of Covid-19 then becomes a relevant and interesting subject due to the lack of scientific research within this field.  Purpose: The purpose of this study is to gain an increased understanding of what strategic changes retail companies have conducted during the pandemic and whether or not these changes have been successful.  Methodology: This qualitative study is based on a phenomenological perspective with an abductive approach. The collection of empirical data was conducted through semi-structured interviews with seven different managers from six different retail companies. The respondents were selected based on three different selection methods which are goal-oriented-, convenience- and a snowball method.  Conclusion: In the conclusion, it is determined that the strategic changes in retail companies are characterized by an increase in e-commerce as well as a focus on conducting a safe in-store environment. Further, it is stated that the most common exogenous factors, besides Covid-19, contributing to strategic change in the retail companies are changed consumer behavior and increased digitization. Whether these changes are successful or not is being determined by the completion of the implementation of these changes as well as mitigating the negative effects caused by the pandemic.