This research is carried out by studying a Chinese factory, producing metal spare parts, and its Swedish parent company that produces binding machines. The companies recently merged together after a previous relationship as supplier and customer. To bring the companies closer together an ERP-system was implemented during the research period. The purpose of this study is to answer three research objectives: Explore what outcomes there are when a Swedish company acquires a Chinese factory related to cultural differences affecting the merging process. Investigate conditional barriers for developing the Chinese factory to meet Swedish standards regarding the relation of quality and production. Discover how efficient communication with ERP-system can help with the achievement of meeting Swedish standards for the subsidiary Chinese factory. To answer these questions, interviews with three people in management positions was constructed and carried out. A questionnaire was constructed to get the employees views on changes. Observations was made in the Chinese factory which provided some information useful to answering the research objectives and with these three methods the results could be triangulated. Literature was reviewed with connections to: culture differences, ERP-systems and quality perspective in China to construct the theoretical basis for this research.   The study discovered how culture differences affected important areas such as communication, work implementation and management. The cultural differences also affected the second research question about quality and production. Other aspects as education, quality focus, and involvement from employees were also acting as a barrier for developing quality and production. The implementation of an ERP-system experienced some of the barriers mentioned above as language and culture differences but also providing effective communication. Also other benefits as a clearer view of the organization structure, manufacturing processes and the production flow.  However, the ERP-system implemented also has its flaws since it is not fully adapted to the Chinese market and users’ needs. It is also a reflection on the importance of understanding and adjusting to the Chinese culture.

The subject of dissertation is the law which establishes civil liability of the parent company against the creditors of subsidiary, also interpretation of this law and its application in practice. This paper discusses liability issues of the parent company against the creditors of subsidiary in German, Swiss, French, English, USA and Lithuanian (highlight) legal systems. The research highlights the liability of parent company as shareholder of the subsidiary, as director of the subsidiary, as well as contractual liability of parent company and liability in the bankruptcy process of the subsidiary. / Disertacijos tyrimo dalykas – civilinę patronuojančios įmonės atsakomybę prieš dukterinės įmonės kreditorius nustatančios teisės normos, jų aiškinimas ir taikymas. Vadovaujantis lyginamuoju metodu ir kitais moksliniais metodais darbe yra ištirti patronuojančios įmonės atsakomybės prieš dukterinės įmonės kreditorius institutai (modeliai) Vokietijos, Šveicarijos, Prancūzijos, Anglijos, JAV ir Lietuvos (akcentas) teisinėse sistemose. Tyrimo metu didžiausias dėmesys yra sutelktas ties patronuojančios įmonės kaip dukterinės įmonės dalyvio bei patronuojančios įmonės kaip dukterinės įmonės vadovo atsakomybės institutais, taip pat patronuojančios įmonės sutartine atsakomybe bei atsakomybe dukterinės įmonės bankroto procese.

Japanese-style management and Japanese companies have been popular targets of management studies since the 1970s. Many studies have been devoted to the examination of Japanese companies in Japan. By comparison, less understanding has been achieved about how Japanese companies conduct business in their international operations and how famous Japanese management has been transferred to Japanese subsidiaries. This thesis contributes to an ongoing academic debate about the internationalization processes within Japanese multinational companies. The processes involved in interaction between the parent company and subsidiaries address the research question of how subsidiaries of Japanese multinational firms perceive the relationship with their parent companies. The parent-subsidiary relationship is conceptualized within the boundaries of communication and information exchange theory. The conceptual framework creates a tool for research inquiry into the parent-subsidiary relationship. The framework conceptualizes the relationship between facilitating factors and perceived parental influence. Access to the parent company, motivation to engage with the parent company, and ability to engage with the parent company are conceptualized as factors facilitating the parent-subsidiary relationship. National/country and organizational/industry characteristics are identified as attributes moderating the relationship. Information outflow, inflow, and intraflow are derived components of the parental influence. The study presented here is exploratory with findings based on two sequential comparative research stages. The Czech Republic and New Zealand, although different in terms of national and country characteristics, are argued as a suitable comparable base for conducting research within subsidiaries ofJapanese firms. In stage one, 18 Czech and 17 New Zealand subsidiaries of Japanese companies participated in a questionnaire survey. In stage two, 26 semi-structured interviews were conducted for case studies within Czech and New Zealand subsidiaries of six Japanese parent companies. The case studies provided further insights into the subsidiary-parent relationship. This research seeks contribution to the internationalization literature by offering a new useful framework for the examination of the parent-subsidiary link. The self-identity of Japanese subsidiaries was found to give meaning to the parental relationship as perceived by the subsidiary. This relationship was influenced by the subsidiary�s country location, the industry in which the subsidiary operates, and the presence of expatriate management in the subsidiary. This research also found significant commonalities among the perceptions of parental influence in all Japanese subsidiaries involved in the study. The observed commonalities indicate that Japanese companies might have moved away from the internationalization processes ascribed to them by previous academic research. The change triggered by collapse of stock markets in mid-1990s has resulted to a recent reduction of expatriate staff reported little parental guidance, independence, and the strong self-identification of subsidiaries with their local environment. Keywords Internationalization, Japanese Multinational Company, Subsidiary, Czech Republic, New Zealand, Information, Parent-Subsidiary Relationship

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Richard Ivey School of Business, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 229-248).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 1991. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 145-159).

Frankfurt (Oder), Europa-Universität Viadrina, Thesis (doctoral), 2000. / Includes bibliographical references.

The research topic for this thesis is the transfer of best practice from a MNC to a subsidiary during the pre-implementation phase of an ERP system. A lot is written about best practice transfer but there is a call for more research on how the implementation is perceived from a subsidiary perspective. This study wishes to contribute to the literature in the intersection between knowledge transfer and legitimacy within MNCs. In order to do so, this thesis was conducted through a qualitative case study and data was mainly collected through semi-structured interviews. Based on the literature review five factors were identified that can affect the best practice transfer Furthermore, the potential effect of legitimacy related to the knowledge transfer was investigated. The thesis resulted in the classification of indirect and direct factors that affect the transfer of best practices in an MNC and their impact on knowledge implementation and the increase of internal legitimacy for a subsidiary. Moreover, a relationship between knowledge and legitimacy was observed. An interesting finding that calls for more research was the facilitating effects of internal audits on the knowledge transfer.

Made available in DSpace on 2009-11-18T19:01:13Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 ACF153.pdf: 634361 bytes, checksum: c975e48fd56b71e0f5c55c6d73447167 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007 / The pharmaceutical industry is a segment that is dominated by transnational companies. This characteristic is visible in Brazil, where there are only three domestic laboratories in the top ten pharmaceutical companies list. From the 1970s onwards, the world pharmaceutical market went through deep changes caused mainly to the increase of regulatory control and patent expiration that led to the advent of generic medicaments. In 1999, it was published the law that allowed the introduction of generic medicaments in Brazil, creating a new market that is currently dominated by domestic laboratories. This dissertation proposes to identify the reasons for a subsidiary of foreign laboratory does not achieve the leadership of this market. The literature is based on international political economy and international business concepts that means, relations between subsidiary and head office, domestic and foreign companies and government. Four propositions are presented and tested through multiple sources of evidences. The empirical research was mainly grounded in interviews with key persons and participant observation that allowed access to information, which would be not available for scientific investigation. The results indicate that the relationships considered in this study affect the subsidiary performance in generic medicament market in regard to its ability to make decisions, price competitiveness and wide portfolio creation. The respondents considered those three aspects as success critical factors. The results can be used for future research, aiming to wide the focus of the study about domestic laboratory dominance in generic medicament markets. Another suggestion is to follow this market evolution regarding to the internationalization process of domestic laboratories. / A indústria farmacêutica é um segmento dominado por grandes empresas transnacionais, sendo que esse domínio é particularmente visível no Brasil, onde apenas três empresas nacionais figuram no ranking das dez maiores do setor. A partir de 1970, o mercado farmacêutico mundial sofreu profundas mudanças causadas pela elevação dos marcos regulatórios e pela queda das patentes, que levou à entrada dos medicamentos genéricos no mercado. Em 1999, foi publicada a lei que permitiu a introdução dos medicamentos genéricos no Brasil criando um novo mercado, que é, atualmente, liderado por laboratórios nacionais. A proposta do presente estudo é identificar os motivos que levaram uma subsidiária de um laboratório estrangeiro a não obter a liderança nesse mercado. O referencial teórico aborda a questão nos âmbitos da economia política internacional e dos negócios internacionais, ou seja, nas relações entre matriz e subsidiária, entre empresas nacionais e transnacionais, e entre ambas e o governo. A pesquisadora, com base na literatura disponível, apresenta quatro proposições cujas validades foram testadas a partir de múltiplas fontes de dados. A base da pesquisa empírica foi as entrevistas realizadas com representantes dos diversos atores envolvidos no processo, além da observação participante, que permitiu o acesso a informações que usualmente não estariam abertas à investigação científica. As conclusões indicam que as relações analisadas têm impacto direto no desempenho da subsidiária ao afetarem a sua agilidade no processo de tomada de decisão, sua competitividade em preços e a criação de um portfólio amplo de medicamentos, sendo todos esses aspectos considerados fatores críticos de sucesso pelos respondentes. Os resultados do trabalho podem ser utilizados em pesquisas futuras, visando ampliar o foco do estudo a respeito da dominância dos laboratórios nacionais no mercado de medicamentos genéricos. Além disso, é sugerido o acompanhamento da evolução dos laboratórios nacionais sob a ótica do processo de internacionalização.

As modificações do ambiente competitivo nos mercados consumidores maduros, o aumento do número de empresas competidoras e a aceleração da propagação de novos conhecimentos e tecnologias vêm provocando alterações nas estratégias das empresas e contribuindo para a ampliação do processo de internacionalização. O Brasil está inserido neste processo, ampliando a participação no mercado internacional, com o aumento do número de empresas de capital nacional com subsidiárias no exterior. As empresas decidem pela aquisição e implantação de unidades industriais no exterior com o intuito de ampliar seus mercados e rendimentos. A subsidiária contribui não apenas para o mercado ao qual serve, mas também para outros mercados, tanto como plataforma exportadora quanto como unidade que gera conhecimento a partir do relacionamento com agentes externos. Dado que o processo de internacionalização é importante tanto para empresas quanto para países, o objetivo em questão é entender qual tem sido a trajetória das empresas brasileiras. Dessa forma, este trabalho analisa a gestão das subsidiárias de empresas brasileiras e os diferentes papéis dessas unidades, pretendendo, além de obter um retrato do cenário atual destas empresas, compreender a dinâmica entre matriz e subsidiárias. Para atender aos objetivos foi realizada pesquisa de natureza exploratória e qualitativa, através de estudo de caso de quatro empresas. Foram utilizadas técnicas de entrevista em profundidade, com o apoio de fontes documentais. O trabalho com múltiplos casos foi fundamental para caracterizar as diferenças de estratégias entre as empresas, assim como para justificar a escolha das mesmas. A pesquisa mostrou que não é possível estabelecer um modelo de gestão típico para as subsidiárias, isto é, não existe alinhamento ótimo entre os elementos da estratégia de gestão da empresa atribuição da subsidiária, grau de autonomia dos gestores, nível de transações de conhecimento, nível de atividades técnicas e mecanismos de gestão. Conclui-se que o alinhamento é dependente da estratégia, que por sua vez é estabelecida em função da análise do ambiente econômico. / The changes in the competitive environment in mature consuming markets, the increase on the number of competing companies and the accelerated propagation of new knowledge and technologies have been producing alterations in company strategies and contributing for the enlargement of internationalization process. Brazil is inserted in this process, extending its participation in the international market by the increase on the number of national companies with subsidiaries abroad. These companies decide for the acquisition and establishment of subsidiaries abroad intending to extend its markets and incomes. These units contribute not only to the market which they serve, but also to other markets, as exporting platform and units that generates knowledge from the relationship with external agents. Given that the internationalization process is important both for companies and countries, the aim of this study is understanding which has been the trajectory of some Brazilian companies. In this way, it was analyzed the management of Brazilian company subsidiaries and the different functions of these units intending to visualize the current scenario of the companies, as well as understanding the dynamics between national headquarters and their subsidiaries. In order to achieve these objectives it was done a qualitative research, through a case study of four companies. Interviewing techniques were used supported by documentary sources. The work with multiple cases was fundamental to characterize different company strategies, as well as to justify the reasons of choice of the companies. The research pointed out that it is not possible to establish a typical model of management for the studied subsidiaries, that is, there is not an excellent alignment between the elements that are part of the management strategy attribution of subsidiary, management mechanisms and levels of managers autonomy, knowledge transaction and technical activities. One may conclude that the alignment depends on the strategy, which on its turn is established by the economic environment analysis.

This case study, through ten interviews with a variety of people working with or around theSwedish manga publishing industry, attempts to catalog the rise, decline and lasting effects of theindustrial boom of Japanese manga literature published in Sweden between the years 2000 and2017. The study explores relationship between subsidiary and mother company, as well as to fill inthe blanks of the research field as it pertains specifically to Sweden’s manga scene. The study usesthe theory of the culture industry by Adorno and Horkheimer (1944), together with Herbert Gans(1974) distinction between high and low culture to study this field. Theoretically the study alsooperates on the basis of the conditions that the globalized world awards these two aspects (Lechnerand Boli, 2008).The paper concludes that a mix between industry related issues, such as an over-saturation of themarket and failure to adapt to the global flow of cultural commerce is to blame for the decline. Thistogether with aspects of a cultural nature, such as an underlying disdain for manga as both only for,while at the same time harmful for children proved to be enough to almost entirely kill off mangapublishing in the country over the years studied.