[pt] As corporações estão sendo cada vez mais cobradas por uma atuação ambientalmente sustentável, principalmente nos mercados mais maduros, e tratam-se de importantes atores no atingimento das metas para o controle do aquecimento global. O Brasil tem uma participação protagonista no comércio mundial de alimentos, e seu papel torna-se mais relevante ao passo que as taxas crescentes de aumento populacional colocam o mundo em alerta para as questões climáticas e de segurança alimentar. Trazendo ainda mais foco para a temática, o país possui uma das maiores biodiversidades do planeta e é detentor de grande parte da Floresta Amazônica, a maior floresta tropical do mundo e responsável por parte do equilíbrio climático do globo, ao passo que a agroindústria responde pelo consumo de mais de 78 porcento dos recursos hídricos brasileiros, ocupa em torno de 21 porcento do território nacional e é responsável por 74 porcento das emissões de gases de efeito estufa do país. Nesse contexto, fundamentado na Resource Based-View e Teoria Institucional foi construído um modelo com o objetivo de analisar o impacto dos fatores organizacionais (capacidades dinâmicas) e do ambiente institucional (sociedade, regulação e concorrência) nas estratégias de sustentabilidade ambiental e como estas estratégias impactam o desempenho de exportação das empresas da agropecuária brasileira. Na literatura há poucos estudos empíricos com foco em analisar as relações entre esses constructos e nenhum deles no âmbito da agroindústria brasileira. Ademais, buscou-se uma contribuição adicional ao analisar como o nível de maturidade em sustentabilidade ambiental dos países de destino influencia na relação entre as estratégias de sustentabilidade e o desempenho de exportação. Para o teste do modelo, foi realizado um levantamento de dados com gestores de 143 empresas exportadoras da agroindústria brasileira, através de um questionário on-line e foi utilizada a Modelagem de Equações Estruturais (PLS-SEM) para a estimativa de parâmetros. Os resultados empíricos corroboram parte das hipóteses apresentadas, revelando a significância da relação principal do estudo (estratégias de sustentabilidade e desempenho de exportação), além de apresentar o engajamento da liderança na temática da sustentabilidade como o principal fator interno da adoção deste tipo de estratégia, assim como a pressão percebida da sociedade estrangeira e da concorrência como os principais fatores externos. Contudo, a principal contribuição teórica do estudo é advinda da análise do fator de moderação. Os resultados evidenciam que no âmbito do grupo de empresas que exportam para países com uma maior maturidade na temática de sustentabilidade ambiental, a relação entre as estratégias de sustentabilidade ambiental e o desempenho de exportação foi mais expressivo do que para o grupo de empresas que exporta para países menos maduros no assunto. / [en] More and more the corporations are being charged for Environmental Sustainability performance, especially in developed markets and this indicator is essential for reaching the global warning control targets .Today Brazil has a significant share of the global food trade and has a leading hole taking into consideration the alert for climate changes and food security issues that are becoming relevant due to global population growth. Bringing even more focus on this subject, the country has one of the largest biodiversity of the planet and holds the greatest share of the Amazon, the largest rainforest in the world and responsible for part of the global climate balance, while the agroindustry is responsible for the consumption of more than 70 percent of Brazilian water resources, occupies around 21 percent of the national territory and accounts for 74 percent of the country s greenhouse gas emissions. In this context, rooted in Resource Based- View and Institutional Theory, a model was constructed for the purpose of analyzing the impact of organizational factors (dynamic capacities) and the institutional environment (society, regulation, and competition) on environmental sustainability strategies and how these strategies impact export performance of Brazilian agricultural companies. In the literature there are few empirical studies focused on analyzing the relationships between these constructs and none of them within the scope of the Brazilian agroindustry, besides that, an additional contribution was sought when analyzing how the level of maturity in environmental sustainability of the countries influences the relation between the sustainability strategies and export performance. For the model s test, a data survey was conducted with managers of 143 exporting companies from the Brazilian agroindustry, through an online questionnaire and the Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to estimate parameters. The empirical results corroborate some of the hypotheses presented, revealing the significance of the main relationship of the study (sustainability strategies and export performance) and distinguishes between the organizational factors and the external environment that most impact on the adoption of these strategies, besides to present the leadership engagement in the sustainability as the main internal factor of the adoption of this type of strategy, as well as the perceived pressure of foreign society and competition as the main external factors. However, the main theoretical contribution of the study is derived from the analysis of the moderation factor. The results show that the relationship between environmental sustainability strategies and export performance was more significant in the group of companies that export to countries with a greater maturity in the area of environmental sustainability, than in the group of companies that export to least mature countries in this theme.

Rapid rate of digitalization, emerging financial technology and changes in consumer behaviour have begun to transform the existing paradigm in the financial industry. Incumbent banks have found it difficult to keep up with this change however and are now faced with the challenge of deciding on what digital financial services build internally, buy externally or develop through partnerships. This study attempts to get a general overview of what factors traditional Swedish retail banks need to consider before deciding on a build, buy or partner strategy in order to digitize their financial services offering. This is done through a case study, where the empirical data consists of interviews with the retail division of a Swedish bank looking to digitize their securities trading offering as a response to a transforming industry. A few interviews were also conducted with people outside of the bank to increase the generalizability somewhat. The findings of the study identified 16 factors to be considered by traditional banks when faced with the challenge of deciding on whether to build, buy or partner in order to digitize their securities trading offering. Out of these, 9 factors were deemed to be especially important; Sustainable Competitive Advantage, Flexibility, Uncertainty, Supplier/Partner Relationship, Economies of Scale, Specialized Resources, Integration, Asset Specificity and Regulation. Several of the factors identified were shown to influence the build, buy or partner decision both positively and negatively and their impact should therefore be carefully evaluated and weighed against each other by managers before making a final decision on a build, buy or partner strategy. / Ökad digitaliseringstakt, ny finansiell teknologi och förändringar i kundbeteenden driver på en transformering inom finansindustrin. Traditionella banker har haft svårt att följa med i denna utveckling, och ställs nu inför utmaningen att bestämma vilka digital finansiella tjänster de bör bygga internt, köpa in externt eller utveckla tillsammans med en extern aktör genom ett partnerskap. Denna studie syftar till att få en generell överblick över vilka faktorer som svenska storbanker behöver överväga innan de beslutar sig för en bygg-, köp- eller partnerstrategi för att digitalisera sitt erbjudande av finansiella tjänster. Detta görs i form av en case studie, där den empiriska datan till största del består av intervjuer med nyckelpersonal från en svensk bank som ingår i ett projekt att försöka digitalisera deras värdepappershandelserbjudande som ett svar på en industri i förändring. Ett fåtal intervjuer genomfördes också med personer utanför banken för att öka generaliserbarheten av studien något. Resultatet av studien identifierade 16 faktorer som bör övervägas av traditionella banker som ställs inför beslutet om att bygga, köpa eller ingå i ett partnerskap för att digitalisera sitt värdepappershandelserbjudande. Av dessa anses 9 faktorer vara särskilt viktiga; Långsiktiga Konkurrensfördelar, Flexibilitet, Osäkerhet, Leverantörs-/Partnerrelation, Stordriftsfördelar, Specialiserade Resurser, Integration, Funktionsspecificitet och Regelverk. Resultatet indikerar också att flera av de identifierade faktorer kan påverka beslutet om en bygg-, köp- eller partnerstrategi både positivt och negativt. Deras påverkan bör därför utvärderas noggrant och jämföras mot varandra innan ett slutligt beslut tas gällande en bygg, köp eller partnerstrategi.

This research evaluates the technological, organizational, and environmental determinants of emerging technologies adoption represented by Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT) driving SMEs’ competitive advantage within a resource-based view (RBV) theoretical approach supported by the technological-organizational-environmental (TOE)-framework setting. Current literature on SMEs competitive advantage as outcome of emerging technologies in the technological, organisational, and environmental contexts presents models focused on these contexts individual components. There are no models in the literature to represent the TOE framework as an integrated structure with gradual levels of complexity, allowing for incremental evaluation of the business context in support of decision making towards emerging technologies adoption supporting the firm competitive advantage. This research gap is addressed with the introduction of a new concept, the IT resource-based renewal, underpinned by the RBV, and supported by the TOE framework for providing a holistic understanding of the SMEs strategic renewal decision through information technology. This is achieved through a complex measurement model with four level constructs, leading into a parsimonious structural model that evaluates the relationships between IT resource-based renewal, and emerging technologies adoption driving SMEs competitive advantage. The model confirms the positive association between the IT resource-based renewal and emerging technologies adoption, and between the IT resource-based renewal and SME competitive advantage for the SMEs managers model, with the SME owners model outcomes are found not being supportive towards emerging technologies adoption driving SME competitive advantage. As methodology, PLS-SEM is used for its capabilities of assessing complex paths among model variables. Analysis is done on three models, one for the full sample, with two subsequent ones for owners and managers, respectively, as SME decision makers, with data collected using a web-based survey in Canada, the UK, and the US, that has provided 510 usable answers. This research has a theoretical contribution represented by the introduction of the IT resource-based renewal concept, that integrates the RBV perspective and the TOE framework for supporting organization’s decision on emerging technologies adoption driving SMEs competitive advantage. As practical implications, this thesis provides SMEs with a reference framework on adopting emerging technologies, offering SME managers and owners a comprehensive model of hierarchical factors contributing to SMEs competitive advantage acquired as outcome of AI and IoT adoption. This research makes an original contribution to the enterprise management, information systems adoption, and SME competitive advantage literature, with an empirical approach that verifies a model of emerging technologies adoption determinants driving SMEs competitive advantage.

In studying organisational change in Air Seychelles, the context, content and process of change together with the interconnections of the airline and the tourism industry in Seychelles through time is explored. The literature review shows that the substantive issues of interest to this study, contextualism as a theory of methods in management research, requires a case based research in particular with regards to the following gaps in the literature: the integration of inner and outer perspectives on sustaining competitive advantage, and conceptual insights on how strategy links firms and their environment. The study adopted a contextual and processual framework to build a theoretical perspective of competitive advantage. The study contributes to the field of strategic management and tourism development in Seychelles in the following ways: firstly, the development of a contextual and processual framework to explain the transformation of firms over time; secondly, the development of an understanding of the historical context of the tourism industry and its interactions with other sectors of the Seychelles economy; thirdly, developing an understanding of how Air Seychelles developed its resources and capabilities to sustain competitive advantage; fourthly, linking change processes and action to performance and in a sense developing an understanding on strategy implementation of strategic management practice in Air Seychelles. The study sheds some light on strategy formation and implementation at the firm level, and the dynamics between the firm and the industry. The findings suggest that firms respond opportunistically to external discontinuities in a dynamic environment - the entrepreneurial leadership of a firm prepares and support managers to operate under conditions of great uncertainty and ambiguity and allows them to behave opportunistically. / Graduate School of Business Leadership / DBL / Thesis (D. B. L.)

This doctoral thesis presents the basic and the main developments of the theories of the firm rooted in Transaction Cost Theory (TCT). Since the article of Coase on the nature of the firm, this question has been elaborated by number of economists. In my point of view, I would like to introduce the last theory developed by the representative of the school called New Institutional Economics. The theory concentrates on the role of institutions. We distinguish institutions formal and informal. The formal are laws, constitution, regulations, contracts and other written rules. The informal don't require a written form and they represent informal restrictions such as rules of behaviour, conventions, traditions and habits. The main purpose of the institutions in their various forms is mainly to protect property rights, enforce voluntary contracts and establish the physical and regulatory infrastructure to facilitate economic activity. Generally, we can call them the rules of the game. They inform us about possible economic behaviour and give us basic restrictions in this sense. First -- the theoretical part of this thesis, we can find a simple model with human asset specificity based on TCT. The main proposition is that transactions with a high level of asset specificity are more probably internalised because the firm handles better such transactions compared to the market, even if asset specificity increases the cost of coordination in the firm. If the hierarchy, for example through the formation of routines, may enhance the efficiency compared to the market, we can modify the previous model. The model developed according to a Knowledge-based view assumes that asset specificity reduces transaction costs inside the firm and increases transaction costs on the market. In the conclusion of the theoretical part is discussed the reply on first formulate hypothesis if the TCT is still compatible with a newer Capability and Knowledge based view. In my opinion based on the presented arguments and views, both theories are compatible, they can answer more questions and explain more issues. The last step links the aforementioned theories into one Theory of firm boundaries. In the practical part of the thesis, I bring basic arguments about the institutional framework quality in the Czech Republic. These arguments rely on the latest studies of the international institutions such The Transparency International, The Heritage Foundation, The Kurtzman Group and mainly The World Bank. Studies reveal certain weak arrangements concerning for example the number of procedures when starting a business, complicated construction permits, rigidity of working hours, time-consuming and administrative demanding tax system, duration of judicial process which results in ineffective contract enforcement and mainly poor protection of property rights. Taking these disclosures into account we have to say that emergent transaction costs are enormous. These transaction costs influence negatively the competitiveness of the firms and the whole Czech economy. Therefore a negative response to the second hypothesis relating to the quality of the institutional framework in the Czech Republic.

近年來，環境汙染、能源危機等議題，使世界各國莫不開始重視環境永續經營之課題。目前被認為具發展潛力之替代能源包括太陽能、風力、地熱、水力、生質能等，其中，由於太陽能為取之不盡、用之不竭的循環再生能源，具無汙染、發展歷史悠久、取得來源穩定、發電成本逐年下降等優勢，因此，各國政府皆致力於太陽能光電產業之發展與推動。 根據統計，太陽能光電產業產品製造重心在2008年金融風暴後，快速往亞洲地區移動，產量增加最快的地區為中國和臺灣，兩岸因各自不同的地理環境、發展條件、政府政策等因素，促使相關產品在全球市場佔有率持續增加。2009 年全球太陽能電池產量為9.34GW，其中，中國與台灣佔全球總產量的49%（中國38%、台灣11%），可見兩岸同時共享全球太陽能光電市場，亦共同競爭全球再生能源產業版圖。 本研究由廠商角度出發，針對兩岸太陽能光電產業競爭與合作策略進行多面向分析研究。首先透過Porter (1980, 1990)五力分析與鑽石模型，對兩岸太陽能光電產業進行探討，並以廠商層次之資源基礎與交易成本等理論，瞭解個案廠商的交易成本與交易價值，同時探討國家和產業因素是否在廠商合作或不合作決策間形成調節效果。本研究發現，面對中國廠商，不同價值鏈階段的台灣廠商需選擇不同的競爭或合作策略，垂直整合並非台灣太陽能光電廠商首選之發展策略。同時，基於資源與能力的互補性可發現，兩岸同價值鏈階段廠商呈相互競爭狀態，廠商合作動機低，而兩岸不同價值鏈階段廠商的合作動機則高。在合作方式方面，則因台灣廠商的目的性差異，主要分作長短期契約和合資兩種方式。此外，本研究亦發現國家條件，如生產要素互補性與政府政策，以及產業發展現況將帶動兩岸廠商建立合作關係的可能性。 / Due to increasingly environmental issues such as pollution or energy crisis, people begin to regard environmental sustainability as an important topic in recent years. There are several kinds of potential substitute energy, including solar, wind, geothermal, water power, biomass energy, etc. Solar energy is one of important substitute energies because of its pollution-free characteristics, stability and decreasing cost trend. Therefore, the governments are committed to develop and promote the solar photovoltaic industry. According to statistics, the production area of photovoltaic products has been moved quickly from Europe to Asia after the financial crisis in 2008. The two of the fastest growing areas are China and Taiwan. Due to geographical environment, development conditions, government policies and other industrial factors, photovoltaic products from China and Taiwan continue to increase in the global market share. For instance, China and Taiwan accounted for 49% (or 93.4GW) of the worldwide solar cell production (38% in China, 11% in Taiwan) in 2009. It is obvious that China and Taiwan are competing the global photovoltaic market share. Based on five forces model, diamond model, transaction cost theory and resource-based view, this study provides a multi-strategic analysis of co-opetition in the cross-strait photovoltaic industry. By collecting secondary data and conducing case study, I complete a serious of systematic analysis and results with the grounded theory approach.

International tätige Unternehmen werden durch ihre grenzüberschreitenden Tätigkeiten mit zunächst fremden Kulturen konfrontiert. Die Diskussion über die Konzentration der Unternehmen auf ihre Kernkompetenzen führt zu der grundsätzlichen strategischen Überlegung, ob nicht auch die Kulturelle Diversität eine Quelle für die Generierung von Wettbewerbsvorteilen sein kann, und zu der Frage, in welchen Organisationsstrukturen sie proaktiv genutzt werden kann. Es wird ein Organisationsansatz für die wettbewerbsrelevante organisationale Fähigkeit Interkulturelles Lernen entwickelt. Der ressourcenorientierte Ansatz des strategischen Managements dient hierbei als Bezugsrahmen. Die Prozesse organisationalen Lernens bilden die dynamische Komponente, um von der Ebene der Ressourcen zu organisationalen Fähigkeiten zu gelangen. Die Kollektivierung organisationaler Lernprozesse bedarf dabei der Mechanismen von Reflexion und Sozialisation grundlegender Normen und Werte sowie Basisannahmen. Damit überhaupt Interkulturelles Lernen (i.S. von Lernfähigkeit) entstehen kann, werden Gestaltungselemente entwickelt, welche Kulturelle Diversität nicht unterdrücken, sondern explizit in der Organisationsstruktur berücksichtigen. Die organisationstheoretischen Basis hierfür bildet der systemorientierte Ansatz des entwicklungsorientierten Managements. Vor dem Hintergrund einer transnationalen Strategie werden die folgenden Gestaltungselemente entwickelt und kritisch diskutiert: - der Abbau von Lernbarrieren, - interkulturelle Personalentwicklungsmaßnahmen, um die individuelle Lernfähigkeit - als Voraussetzung organisationaler Lernfähigkeit - zu erhöhen, - kulturell gemischte überlappende Arbeitsgruppen, - die heterarchische Konfiguration als integriertes Netzwerk, um Interaktionsräume zwischen Organisationseinheiten aus unterschiedlichen Kulturen zu schaffen, - synergetische Unternehmenskultur, da mit einer hohen Differenzierung der erforderliche Grad an Integration steigt, und um die vielfältigen landeskulturellen Orientierungen zu einer Ganzheit zu integieren, - Organizational Slack, um dysfunktionale Effekte interkultureller Interaktion im langfristigen Gestaltungsprozeß zu überbrücken. Abschließend erfolgt die Diskussion der Kulturabhängigkeit und der Probleme im Anwendungszusammenhang von Interkulturellem Lernen.

Im Zentrum der Studie stehen erfolgreiche betriebliche Anpassungsprozesse im Prozess der ostdeutschen Industrietransformation. Trotz einer breiten Forschung zur ostdeutschen Transformation ist dieses Phänomen bislang weitgehend ununtersucht. Während die Transformationsforschung in weiten Teilen vor allem von der Erwartung einer Angleichung der ostdeutschen an die westdeutschen Strukturen geprägt ist, folgen die realen Anpassungsprozesse im Zuge der ostdeutschen Industrietransformation einer eigenen, durch die spezifischen ostdeutschen Problemlagen bestimmten Logik. Auf der Mikroebene der Unternehmen entwickelte sich so eine Unternehmenslandschaft mit spezifischen Strukturmerkmalen und Eigenheiten der von den Unternehmen verfolgten Geschäftsmodelle. Auf der Makroebene sind die Unternehmen mit aus Westdeutschland transferierten Institutionen konfrontiert, die im ostdeutschen Kontext teils nur schwach institutionalisiert und begrenzt funktionsfähig sind, auch wenn der Institutionentransfer formal als gelungen gilt. Dies gilt insbesondere für die industriellen Beziehungen und die duale Berufsausbildung als Kerninstitutionen des (west-) deutschen Kapitalismusmodells. Die Studie untersucht anhand von zwölf Unternehmensfallstudien die Entwicklung und Ausprägung erfolgreicher betrieblicher Anpassungsstrategien sowie die institutionelle Einbettung der von den Unternehmen verfolgten Geschäftsmodelle. Die Arbeit stellt dabei die ostdeutschen Akteure und ihr strategisches Handeln ins Zentrum der Forschungsperspektive. Sie vertritt die These, dass die besonderen ostdeutschen Rahmenbedingungen das Handeln der ostdeutschen Akteure wesentlich stärker prägen, als dies von der Transformationsforschung wahrgenommen wird. Auf der Mikroebene müssen Unternehmen und Betriebe sich mit eigenen Strategien insbesondere auch gegen westdeutsche Wettbewerber durchsetzen. Bei der Entwicklung von Wettbewerbsstärken sind sie vor allem auf vorhandene, zu DDR-Zeiten herausgebildete industrielle Kompetenzen verwiesen, die die Transformationsforschung überhaupt nicht als betriebliche Ressource anerkennt. Auf der Makroebene müssen sie mit Institutionen umgehen, die zwar dem westdeutschem Vorbild nachgebildet wurden, aber in Ostdeutschland nicht dieselbe Funktionalität entfalten. Trotzdem unterfüttert die institutionelle Einbettung ihrer Geschäftsmodelle die von den Unternehmen verfolgten Strategien. Abschließend diskutiert die Arbeit, inwiefern das komplementäre Zusammenspiel originärer Geschäftsmodelle und spezifischer Formen der Institutionalisierung für Ostdeutschland einen eigenen sozioökonomischen Entwicklungspfad begründet.

This cumulative dissertation covers the concepts of scenario-based strategic planning and strategic management in family firms over five articles. The first article gives an overview of the cumulative dissertation explaining the research gap, approach and contribution of the dissertation. The paper highlights the two research areas covered by the dissertation with two articles focusing on scenario-based strategic planning and two on strategic management in family firms. The second article is the first of two focusing on scenario-based strategic planning. It introduces and describes a set of six tools facilitating the implementation of scenario-based strategic planning in corporate practice. The third paper adapts these tools to the financial management and controlling context in private companies highlighting the tools’ flexibility in managing uncertain and volatile environments. The fourth article is the first of two focusing on strategic management in family firms. It analyzes organizational ambidexterity as a factor explaining family firm performance. The article shows that a high level of organizational ambidexterity in family firms leads to a higher family firm performance. The final paper concludes the dissertation examining the tendency of family firms to focus on capability exploration or resource exploitation over different generations managing the family firm.

In studying organisational change in Air Seychelles, the context, content and process of change together with the interconnections of the airline and the tourism industry in Seychelles through time is explored. The literature review shows that the substantive issues of interest to this study, contextualism as a theory of methods in management research, requires a case based research in particular with regards to the following gaps in the literature: the integration of inner and outer perspectives on sustaining competitive advantage, and conceptual insights on how strategy links firms and their environment. The study adopted a contextual and processual framework to build a theoretical perspective of competitive advantage. The study contributes to the field of strategic management and tourism development in Seychelles in the following ways: firstly, the development of a contextual and processual framework to explain the transformation of firms over time; secondly, the development of an understanding of the historical context of the tourism industry and its interactions with other sectors of the Seychelles economy; thirdly, developing an understanding of how Air Seychelles developed its resources and capabilities to sustain competitive advantage; fourthly, linking change processes and action to performance and in a sense developing an understanding on strategy implementation of strategic management practice in Air Seychelles. The study sheds some light on strategy formation and implementation at the firm level, and the dynamics between the firm and the industry. The findings suggest that firms respond opportunistically to external discontinuities in a dynamic environment - the entrepreneurial leadership of a firm prepares and support managers to operate under conditions of great uncertainty and ambiguity and allows them to behave opportunistically. / Graduate School of Business Leadership / DBL / Thesis (D. B. L.)