The purpose of this study is explaining the effect of trust on consumers mobile commerce adoption under the influence of cross-cultural effects in the tourism industry.  This research applied a quantitative method, with a total sample size of 200. The collected samples are coming from China and France in the tourism industry. The result of this study is in line with previous studies that trust plays a crucial role in mobile commerce(MC) adoption of consumers. Design, privacy and reputation are very important determinants of trust on MC adoption. This study shows that uncertainty avoidance(UA) has a negative impact on the relationship between trust and MC adoption, and the moderating effect of UA is weaker for the consumer who are accustomed to low UA culture, compared to those who are accustomed to high-level UA culture.

Background: Impulse buying is increasingly grown and it creates up to 80% of all purchases in certain low involvement product categories. In Sweden, a Swede can spend 20000SEK a year for impulse shopping in average. On the other hand, impulse buying is calculated to be strongly grown in the emerging markets such as Vietnam and Turkey. Due to the steady economic growth of 7% every year in Vietnam, it leads to a higher demand in shopping of the consumers. Similarly, Turkey’s economy is considered as one of the fastest growing economies in Europe and consequently leads to the increase of impulse buying behavior among the customers. Purpose: The purpose of the present study is to expand the understanding of the impulse buying behavior by looking further into the role of culture in cross-cultural contexts Hypothesis:   H1-There is a significant relationship between individualism-collectivism and impulse buying behavior. H2- There is a significant relationship between power distance and impulse buying behavior. H3- There is a significant relationship between uncertainty-avoidance and impulse buying behavior H4- There is a significant relationship between masculinity-femininity and impulse buying behavior Methodology: Three focus groups and seven interviews are served as the pre-study and a cross-cultural questionnaire is substantially conducted across three countries: Sweden, Turkey and Vietnam. Findings: Culture generates certain effects on impulse buying behavior and the influence is diverse across these countries. However, the findings also indicate that there could be other factors that could affect impulse buying behavior.

People all over the world are embracing online shopping and there is a general agreement that trust plays a key role in influencing online shopping frequency. This project seeks to address the increasing need for new studies in this area. This is an empirical project that investigates the moderating effects of culture on the impact of trust on online shopping frequency. The central focus of this project was to examine whether culture affects the decision of the international consumer to trust in online shopping contexts. In an attempt to contribute to both cross-cultural and e-commerce research, the project examined shoppers across 34 countries using two of Hofstede’s six cultural dimensions: Uncertainty avoidance and Individualism. The project took a post-positivist approach to research and adopted a mixed method research design. Thus, data were collected using both quantitative and qualitative research designs, which provided a complimentary triangulation of the results. Both secondary and primary data sources were used, as the project developed a model and tested several hypotheses based on the literature on e-commerce, social psychology, and culture. Seven hypotheses were tested and research results revealed that trust has a positive impact on online shopping frequency in a multicultural context. Interestingly, no moderation effects were found for culture. The importance of this project lies in the fact that it seeks to further research at the intersection of culture, trust, and online shopping. Moreover, unlike most e-commerce projects that gather data from students within a single country, this project examines data from respondents of various demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, across several countries.

This study investigates the effect of board size on firm performance measured through return on assets. Furthermore, this study investigates how this relationship is influenced by uncertainty avoidance. An unbalanced global sample of more than 9,000 observations divided over 23 countries for the time period 2006 – 2016 is used to examine this. In contrast with other studies a global sample is used and a new variable, uncertainty avoidance is added. In the study, I find that board size positively affects firm performance. Furthermore, I find that uncertainty avoidance affects the relationship between board size and firm performance. Although in contrast with other studies, my evidence supports the argument that firms should increase their board size to reduce agency costs and increase board capital.

<p>China and France have both adopted the International Standards on Auditing (ISA). Thelargest firms in auditing and accounting in the world, known as Big Four, are established inFrance as well as in China. Auditors from those firms apply procedures that have beenharmonized worldwide within Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers, KPMG, and Ernst &Young. When it comes to audit, French auditor and Chinese auditor talk the same language,use the same software, boundaries seem to be knocked over. On the other hand, what BigFour firms are not able to standardize is the culture of their auditors. Does auditor’s culturemay shatter all efforts that have been put to deliver the same services throughout the world?Does auditor’s culture may call the work of the International Auditing and AssuranceStandards Board (IAASB) into question? Do either French or Chinese auditors enable ahigher audit risk to the audited client? Many other questions could be raised about the effectof cultures on the audit process.</p><p>The purpose of this research is to explore, measure and analyse the cultural impact on theaudit process. In order to highlight the difference(s) of the audit outcome due to culture,countries have to exemplify a certain numbers of cultural differences. China and France havebeen chosen because their belonging to the Eastern and Western clusters, and as we know,Eastern and Western countries have substantial cultural differences (Hofstede, 2001).According to Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, Individualism (versus Collectivism) andUncertainty Avoidance are the two dimensions that get the higher cultural differences whenhe compares Chinese and French Culture. We want to discover how Chinese and Frenchauditors rely on analytical procedures and assess audit evidence and internal controlenvironment. We want to study if their audit results reflect the cultural differences betweenChina and France based on the two cultural dimensions.</p><p>In order to manage our empirical research, we use a sample of 28 Chinese auditors and 14French auditors. We use primary data collection through our design questionnaire. Theauditors’ answers were analysed using a quantitative approach to reveal the eventual existenceof a connection between the auditor’s cultural background and how the audit process iscarried out.</p><p>Our findings about cultural differences within Big Four companies are not so categorical. We did not find significant differences regarding Chinese and French auditors’ culture. However,Chinese auditors appear to have a higher willingness to refuse a misstatement in the client’s financial statements, due to collectivism cultural dimension, than French auditors. Auditors from both countries assess in similar way audit evidence, but they do not consider of the same importance some components of the internal control environment. French auditors considerof greater importance components that can directly influenced the accuracy of the accountingreporting process, because an individualism society as France tends to “encourage”accounting and cut-off errors within organizations.</p>

China and France have both adopted the International Standards on Auditing (ISA). Thelargest firms in auditing and accounting in the world, known as Big Four, are established inFrance as well as in China. Auditors from those firms apply procedures that have beenharmonized worldwide within Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers, KPMG, and Ernst &amp;Young. When it comes to audit, French auditor and Chinese auditor talk the same language,use the same software, boundaries seem to be knocked over. On the other hand, what BigFour firms are not able to standardize is the culture of their auditors. Does auditor’s culturemay shatter all efforts that have been put to deliver the same services throughout the world?Does auditor’s culture may call the work of the International Auditing and AssuranceStandards Board (IAASB) into question? Do either French or Chinese auditors enable ahigher audit risk to the audited client? Many other questions could be raised about the effectof cultures on the audit process. The purpose of this research is to explore, measure and analyse the cultural impact on theaudit process. In order to highlight the difference(s) of the audit outcome due to culture,countries have to exemplify a certain numbers of cultural differences. China and France havebeen chosen because their belonging to the Eastern and Western clusters, and as we know,Eastern and Western countries have substantial cultural differences (Hofstede, 2001).According to Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, Individualism (versus Collectivism) andUncertainty Avoidance are the two dimensions that get the higher cultural differences whenhe compares Chinese and French Culture. We want to discover how Chinese and Frenchauditors rely on analytical procedures and assess audit evidence and internal controlenvironment. We want to study if their audit results reflect the cultural differences betweenChina and France based on the two cultural dimensions. In order to manage our empirical research, we use a sample of 28 Chinese auditors and 14French auditors. We use primary data collection through our design questionnaire. Theauditors’ answers were analysed using a quantitative approach to reveal the eventual existenceof a connection between the auditor’s cultural background and how the audit process iscarried out. Our findings about cultural differences within Big Four companies are not so categorical. We did not find significant differences regarding Chinese and French auditors’ culture. However,Chinese auditors appear to have a higher willingness to refuse a misstatement in the client’s financial statements, due to collectivism cultural dimension, than French auditors. Auditors from both countries assess in similar way audit evidence, but they do not consider of the same importance some components of the internal control environment. French auditors considerof greater importance components that can directly influenced the accuracy of the accountingreporting process, because an individualism society as France tends to “encourage”accounting and cut-off errors within organizations.

Both information technology and small business are considered to be of great importance for economy today. Several empirical studies have however showed that the diffusion of information technology among small business have been limited. Since information technology is considered to be of strategic importance for organisations, the aim of this study is to identify and analyse strategic dispositions to information technology. This study has shown that information technology can be of different strategic importance for different managers. Strategic dispositions is a concept based on the managers perceptions of the strategic context, perceptions of information technology and the individual characteristics of the manager. The perspective used is based on a view upon strategies formed in an entrepreneurial mode or an adaptive mode.A survey is conducted with a sample of 600 managers in small business in Sweden. Analyses are conducted with a multivariate approach, using factor analysis to reduce complexity in data, cluster analysis to group objects and finally discriminant analysis to categorise groups and analyse different strategic dispositions to information technology.The classification of managers resulted in six groups, separated by their inclination to use technology, their dynamics and their uncertainty avoidance. Further analysis however showed that there are mainly four strategic dispositions within the population, where the two groups with a lower inclination to use technology showed similar patterns to two of the other groups. The four strategic dispositions are therefore divided by means of dynamics and uncertainty avoidance. Dynamics is a concept mainly based on contextual characteristics and uncertainty avoidance is a concept mainly based on how the firms handles the context. The overall context and handling of this context constitute an application context.The first application context in a situation of high dynamics and low uncertainty avoidance is labelled stratège development, where information technology has a strong linkage to core competencies in the business. In this application context, the strategic disposition is proactive. The second, based on high dynamics and high uncertainty avoidance, labelled adaptive change, includes patterns where information technology are used to adapt to uncertain environments. The strategic disposition is reactive. The third application context, in low dynamics and high uncertainty avoidance, is labelled fixed relations, where information technology is used to maintain a fixed relation with an other actor in the environment. This strategic disposition is interactive. Finally, in low dynamics and low uncertainty avoidance, the application context is labelled fixed structures. Information technology is in this case used not to achieve dynamics or growth, nor to reduce uncertainty, but merely because of a fixed structural complexity best handled with information technology. The disposition is inactive in its mode.The different strategic dispositions show that introduction of information technology is influenced by both context as well as individual intentions. The strategic importance of information technology is therefore a complex conception, to be used with discretion. / digitalisering@umu

This research develops a real options perspective framework for firms‘ valuation of strategic investments. I propose that a real options perspective can provide an effective means of re-examining and revising firms‘ strategic investment decisions in general, and of making individual, investment-level abandonment decisions in particular. The principal purposes of this research are to explore whether firms make abandonment decisions in accordance with real options theory, and the relative strength of the traditional economic theory, the behavioral theory of the firm and real options theory in explaining firms‘ abandonment decisions. I develop a set of hypotheses in the context of firms‘ R&D investment strategies in the world chemical industry. Using U.S. patent renewal data, I empirically test the hypotheses. The results from the empirical analyses suggest that, 1) firms‘ actual innovation abandonment decisions are consistent with the predictions made from real options theory; and 2) a real options perspective provides better explanation of firms‘ abandonment decisions than traditional economic theory and the behavioral theory of the firm. Therefore, taking such a perspective allows us to better predict abandonment than the other models. In investigating whether insights from real options theory enlighten firm‘s abandonment decisions, this research contributes to the strategic decision making literature, real options research, RBV and dynamic capability research and innovation literature.

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of perception and uncertainty among Generation Z and Generation Y Swedish consumers when making purchase decisions from online Chinese retailersQualitative method in the form of focus groups was used to collect the data in order to answer the research question. This study explored perception and uncertainty in Swedish Gen Z and Gen Y consumers when purchasing from Chinese online retailers. The results revealed that Gen Y prioritizes eco-friendliness and domestic retailers, while Gen Z is cost-conscious and prefers Chinese retailers. Income levels influence these preferences, with Gen Y valuing sustainability and Gen Z seeking competitive prices.

Understanding people from different cultures is essential but differences in thinking, which can cause misinterpretations and further on conflicts, are often neglected. To be able to understand peoples' actions as a result of their culture makes their behaviors apprehensible and acceptable. This type of understanding is important in schools and organizations as well as in societies in general. The purpose of this thesis was to investigate how Hofstede’s (2001) three cultural dimensions individualism or collectivism, uncertainty avoidance and power distance appear in Tanzanian organizations. The study was accomplished by doing interviews within each dimension, which was compared with the theory. The results showed that the respondents tended to be more collectivistic than individualistic, to have a low tolerance for uncertainties and to perceive a large power distance in some situations but a small in others. / <p>Validerat; 20101217 (root)</p>