Τα Μέσα Κοινωνικής Δικτύωσης (Social Media) έχουν μόλις τα τελευταία χρόνια ξεκινήσει να χρησιμοποιούνται από τις ελληνικές επιχειρήσεις, ως εργαλεία επικοινωνιακής στρατηγικής. Κατά συνέπεια, τα επιχειρηματικά στελέχη δραστηριοποιούνται στα ΜΚΔ, χωρίς να έχει διαμορφωθεί ακόμη ένα ικανοποιητικό πεδίο εμπειρικής έρευνας που να υποστηρίζει και να αιτιολογεί την σκοπιμότητα της χρήσης αυτών των μέσων, σε όρους αύξησης της απόδοσης, ή άλλων στόχων μάρκετινγκ. Σκοπός της παρούσας ποσοτικής μελέτης είναι: Να διερευνήσουμε τους λόγους, τους τρόπους και την ένταση της δραστηριοποίησης στα Μέσα Κοινωνικής Δικτύωσης, από τις επιχειρήσεις που δραστηριοποιούνται στην επιχειρηματική αγορά (b-to-b), καθώς και την επίδραση της δραστηριοποίησης αυτής στην απόδοση των επιχειρήσεων. Συγκεκριμένα, η υπόθεση (Η1) που ελέγχουμε είναι ότι οι στρατηγικές χρήσης και η ένταση χρήσης των ΜΚΔ επηρεάζουν θετικά την απόδοση της επιχείρησης, σε όρους αύξησης των πωλήσεων και εύρεσης νέων πελατών και προμηθευτών. Για την πραγματοποίηση της έρευνας μας συντάξαμε ένα ποσοτικό ερωτηματολόγιο το οποίο στηρίχθηκε σε προκαταρκτική ποιοτική έρευνα, με προσωπικές συνεντεύξεις από ειδικούς πάνω στο θέμα και επισκόπηση της διεθνούς βιβλιογραφίας. Το ερευνητικό δείγμα απετέλεσαν 405 επιχειρήσεις, οι οποίες επιλέχθηκαν τυχαία από διαδικτυακό ΜΚΔ LinkedIn (επί συνόλου 2620 ελληνικών επιχειρήσεων που έχουν ιστολόγιο σ’ αυτό), το οποίο απετέλεσε και το ερευνητικό πλαίσιο της έρευνάς μας. Το ποσοτικό ερευνητικό εργαλείο απεστάλη ηλεκτρονικά, στον προσωπικό ηλεκτρονικό λογαριασμό των στελεχών που φαίνεται να εκπροσωπούν την εταιρία τους στο LinkedIn. Συνολικά απάντησαν116 ερωτώμενοι, με ποσοστό ανταπόκρισης 28.64%. Η έρευνα διεξήχθη μεταξύ 04/06/2013 και 29/07/2013. Η στατιστική επεξεργασία των δεδομένων μας πραγματοποιήθηκε με το στατιστικό πακέτο SPSS v.21. Η ποσοτική ανάλυση περιλαμβάνει περιγραφική ανάλυση (Μέσοι Όροι, Τυπικές Αποκλίσεις, έλεγχος κανονικότητας κατανομών), διερευνητικές αναλύσεις παραγόντων, αναλύσεις αξιοπιστίας, συσχετίσεων, πολλαπλής παλινδρόμησης. Τα ευρήματα της έρευνας παρείχαν μερική υποστήριξη στην υπόθεση Η1, η οποία υποστήριζε ότι η ένταση και οι στρατηγικές χρήσης των ΜΚΔ έχουν θετική επίδραση επί της απόδοσης των επιχειρήσεων, σε όρους αύξησης πωλήσεων, ανεύρεσης νέων συνεργατών και νέων προμηθευτών. Περαιτέρω, η έρευνα καταλήγει σε βασικά συμπεράσματα για τα κριτήρια επιλογής, τους λόγους και τρόπους βέλτιστης δραστηριοποίησης στα ΜΚΔ. Η μελέτη καταλήγει με τους περιορισμούς της έρευνας, καθώς και με προτάσεις για τις επιχειρήσεις και για μελλοντική έρευνα. / Social media have only recently begun to be used by Greek companies, as tools of communication strategy. Consequently, business executives operating in social media, without having yet developed an adequate field of empirical research to support and justify the feasibility of using these tools in terms of increased efficiency, or other marketing objectives. The aim of this quantitative study is to investigate the reasons, ways and intensity of activity in social media by businesses that operate in the market business (b-to-b), and the impact of this activity on enterprise performance. Specifically, the hypothesis (H1) that we control is that strategies use and intensity of use of social media positively influence business performance, in terms of increasing sales and finding new clients and suppliers. To perform our research we drew a quantitative questionnaire based on preliminary qualitative research with personal interviews of experts on the topic and review of literature. The research sample constituted 405 firms, which were selected randomly from Online social media LinkedIn (a total of 2620 Greek firms have weblog therein), which was the research framework of our research. The quantitative research instrument was sent electronically to the personal online account executives that seem to represent the company at LinkedIn. Total respondents 116questionairs, with a response rate of 28.64%. The survey was conducted between 06/04/2013 and 07/29/2013. Statistical analysis of our data was performed with the statistical package SPSS v.21. The quantitative analysis includes descriptive statistics (means, standard deviations, testing normality of distributions), exploratory factor analysis, reliability analysis, correlation, multiple regressions. The findings provided partial support for the hypothesis H1, which argued that the intensity and the strategic use of social media have a positive effect on business performance, in terms of sales growth, finding new partners and new suppliers. Further, the research results in basic conclusions about the selection criteria, the reasons and how we could activate social media in the best way.

Grounding on institutional theory in organizational studies and e-commerce adoption literatures, this dissertation discusses the impact and effect of institutional environment on B2B e-commerce adoption. The institutional environment in question includes industrial, governmental, legal and national cultural factors. The study has been conducted in two phases. Phase I was in 2001-2003, as the infant stage of B2B e-commerce adoption. Phase II was in 2006-2007, reflecting the latest status of B2B e-commerce adoption. In both phases, the study collected and analyzed both secondary data at country-level and primary survey data at firm-level. The research methodology is a mixed approach of multi-time point, multilevel, multi-data source, multi-method, and comparative study. The cross-validated results of the study suggest that 1) the industrial pressure and/or encouragement is always the most powerful external facilitator for B2B e-commerce adoption; 2) at the beginning stage of e-commerce, the supportive government policy was a prime force to encourage private sector to adopt e-commerce; 3) as e-commerce becomes more prevalent and routine in business, e-commerce adoption becomes more business-driven, governmental policy loses its effect, and the legal environment becomes an important factor. The study is one of the first cross-country studies on the institutional environment in MIS research and fills the knowledge gap of understanding the external environment of e-commerce, especially from the temporal perspective. The research also offers empirical evidence to industrial practitioner and public policy-makers to develop e-commerce strategies.

Aptariamas mokslo ir pramonės bendradarbiavimo portalo modelis. Remiamasi trišalio bendradarbiavimo koncepcija, kuomet procese dalyvauja universitetas, pramonės atstovai bei studentai. Išnagrinėti sistemoje vykstantys procesai bei jų realizavimo būdai. Apžvelgiamos veikiančios panašios bendradarbiavimo sistemos Lietuvoje ir užsienyje, aptariamos pagrindinės jų kūrimo problemos. Identifikuojami būsimosios sistemos vartotojai, jų rolės bei informaciniai srautai. Pateikiamas eksperimentinis tyrimas - sistemos prototipas. Taip pat atlikta vertinamoji analizė. / The article presents the site model of industry and science collaboration. It is built on three-sided collaboration conception when university, industry and students are participating in the process. Article analyses the running processes and the ways of implementing. There are described other similar collaboration systems in Lithuania and abroad also their main development problems. All the users, their roles and the flows of information are described in the research. There is a experimental research - the prototype of system. Also evaluation analysis is provided.

Syfte: Syftet med den här uppsatsen är att förstå lokala Resebyråers relationer och samverkan ur ett nätverksperspektiv, för att kunna analysera produktutvecklingen och marknadsföringen. Med koppling till de valda syfte har följande forskningsfråga valts: Hur kan resebyråer använda sina relationer med leverantörer och samarbetspartners för att förbättra marknadsföringen och produktutvecklingen? Metod: Uppsatsen utgår från en kvalitativ undersökningsmetod och har en abduktiv ansats. Uppsatsen behandlar relationer och nätverk, vilket behandlas i ett eget kapitel. Informationen till kapitlet är insamlat genom sekundärkällor. Där efter presenteras och analyseras resultatet, resultatet är material från semistrukturerade intervjuer och telefonintervjuer. Slutsatser: Under arbetsprocessen har vi slutligen kunnat se hur resebyråer använder sina relationer och nätverk i utvecklingen av marknadsföring och produktutveckling. Vi har identifierat både likheter och olikheter med resebyråernas relationer och nätverk, men även möjligheter för resebyråerna att utveckla marknadsföringen och produktutvecklingen.

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the effects of competence networks on corporate branding in B2B SMEs and to develop a conceptual model of these effects. After reviewing the relevant literature that explores the field, eight components of corporate branding in an effective growth stage of an SME have been identified. Founders Alliance is a competence network in Sweden that was chosen as a case for our study. Representatives of five B2B SMEs within Founders Alliance were interviewed in order to understand what components of corporate branding the competence network influences. The study shows that even though B2B SMEs join competence networks for other reasons than improving their corporate branding, the corporate branding nonetheless is affected. However, the eight components of corporate branding are affected differently. Competence networks have no effect on three out of eight components of corporate branding, namely, controlling the corporate personality, assuring employees’ involvement and maintaining corporate image. Competence networks have possible effects on emphasizing brand-oriented strategic thinking, maintaining corporate identity and maintaining corporate brand communications. Finally, competence networks have an effect on managing corporate branding relationships and monitoring with feedback.

Background: China is today regarded as Sweden’s most important business partner in Asia. Even if there are cultural differences between Sweden and China the intercultural distance has successively decreased. One of the reasons is the globalisation. Another reason is the consecutive development of Swedish-Chinese relations. The interpretation from common understanding has increased the level of trade between the nations. There is an on-going development of business co-operation between Sweden and China.  The Purpose: This Bachelor Thesis will examine the differences between the Swedish-Chinese business culture and how the cultural differences affect the Swedish B2B in China. The purpose is formulated by the basis of our main research questions; “How do Swedish B2B companies perceive the cultural differences between the Swedish and Chinese way of doing business?“ and “how do Swedish companies operating in China deal with business cultural diversity in China?”  Theoretical Framework: The basis of our Bachelor Thesis examines the theories within cultural dimension. The theoretical framework is based on proven studies from e.g. Hofstede’s Five Dimensions, Trompenaars Cultural Diversity, CVS, the GLOBE Study, Cross-Cultural- Communication & Adaptation and Guanxi.  Methodology: We have used an abductive approach with the basis of a qualitative research strategy. The primary data is gathered from six different case studies; Scania, Ludvig Svensson AB, Formox AB, Century 21, Business Sweden and Småland-China Support Office. The empirical findings will further be interpreted with the theoretical framework, analysed and we will finish up with our conclusion.  Conclusion: From the research examined we have identified a numerous of business cultural differences between Sweden and China. Even if the cultural barriers including communication, decision-making, co-operation, relations and business behaviour differs there are numerous of essential exploratory effort that can be initiated to prevent cultural misunderstandings and barriers. This fundamental will be presented as our suggestions.

The study was conducted to measure brand loyalty of customers in a business-to-business environment, in this case the South African paint manufacturing industry. A brand loyalty conceptual framework developed for the Fast Moving Consumer Goods industry by Moolla (2010) was used to test if it also applies in a business-to-business setting. The framework was adapted to suit the above industry and used to measure brand loyalty levels of South African paint manufacturers. From the results it can be concluded that the model can be applied with some adaptations. Factor analysis was utilised to validate the influences. Factor analysis results were viewed with caution as sample adequacy was found to be marginal in some cases, possibly due to a small data set. Although two of the influences could not be validated, they were still found to be important. All the influences are found to be reliable as evaluated using Cronbach’s alpha. The measured brand loyalty values show that customers in the South African paint industry are quite loyal, with some influences scoring very high. Culture in particular was found to be not very important. This is likely due to the fact that individual culture instead of company culture was measured. More work is required to adapt the questionnaire to measure company culture when assessing brand loyalty in a business-to business setting. Clear brand loyalty differences were identified along with age, company size and the position the respondent holds with the company. Owners/directors, procurement personnel, technical personnel and general managers view different brand loyalty influences as important. / MBA, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

It is widely acknowledged that electronic commerce presents a significant opportunity for Small- Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) to compete alongside larger enterprises. For SMEs in the developing world in particular, the opportunities afforded by electronic commerce for competing in a global marketplace, are also attractive. However, it has also been observed that electronic commerce poses a considerable challenge for SMEs, particularly with regard to the decisions that must be made about which of the available electronic commerce applications to adopt and to integrate into existing business operations. A number of studies have been conducted to investigate the adoption of electronic commerce by SMEs. These studies have tended to view electronic commerce adoption in terms of a dichotomous outcome: either e-commerce is adopted, or it is not. Such studies give little indication of the diffusion, or extent of usage, of individual e-commerce applications. The aim of this study was to address this gap in existing research by investigating both the level of adoption and extent of usage of e-commerce applications. In so doing, the study draws on research in the area of innovation diffusion theory. The focus of the study is on manufacturing SMES in Malaysia, and considers their use of B2B (Business-to-Business) e-commerce. The specific objectives of the study were to measure and characterise B2B e-commerce adoption and extent of usage among manufacturing SMEs in Malaysia; to identify factors associated with the adoption of B2B e-commerce in Malaysian SMEs; and to determine the impacts of that adoption. (Continues...)

A typical problem with relationship management in a B2B environment is that implementing companies often see the relationship only from their own perspective. In other words, the supplier decides which customer is worth treating as a key customer, without involving the customer in this decision, or vice versa. As a result, even resource-consuming key account customers might move to competitors if they do not value the relationship in the same way as the supplier and see an opportunity to save costs by switching sources. This study develops a better understanding of value in B2B relationships. It investigates the segmentation methods currently used in relationship management and develops a new approach that brings the value perspectives from buyer and seller together. The major contribution of the research, however, is to test the proposition that congruency of the value expectations of buyer and seller will optimize the relationship strength.In the literature there seem two general approaches, the hard and the soft. This research combines these measures to form a single, cohesive measurement of congruency of relationship value, from the perspective of both partners in the relationship. There is a lacuna in the burgeoning literature on relationship management, where trust is often inadequately represented in the research, and where reciprocity of value between relationship partners is often omitted. This research addresses this critical, yet under-researched, issue. It also provides a useful, practical, guide to companies desirous of setting up strong relationships with other organizations by explaining the importance of soft value measures and focusing on shared value expectations in these relationships.The quantitative survey was conducted among buyers and sellers in small and medium sized companies in Germany that are operating on an international level. The empirical results strongly support the research thesis. Implications for theory and practice are provided as well as recommendations for further research.

The aim of this thesis is to investigate the appropriateness of B2B technology transfer in developing countries, particularly in Thailand. This study seeks an understanding of how Thai culture affects the appropriateness of B2B technology adoption for inter-firm communication in Thailand. A research model was developed for investigating this issue via a strategic fit lens. The proposed model extended the Task-technology fit (TTF) model by Goodhue and Thompson (1995) by integrating interorganisational theories and theories of national culture. This research takes the view that, to achieve a high utilisation of B2B technology adoption, firms in developing countries need to adopt effective IT strategies that align with their local environment. Hence, this research proposes that cultural fit is a major influence on the perception of appropriateness of B2B technology adoption in Thailand. The study was conducted using both qualitative and quantitative approaches. The first study, the qualitative study, was conducted as a preliminary study by interviewing officials in the Thai government and companies in the tourism industry. The objectives were to explore and identify the cultural dimensions that impact on the appropriateness of B2B technology adoption in Thailand. The resulting dimensionalities of cultural fit are: personal relationships; long-term relationships; interorganisational trust; ability to communicate in the English language and materialism. The second study was conducted via a quantitative approach and scales were developed to validate the proposed research model. Data were collected through a survey questionnaire, and analysed by using Structural Equation Modeling with Partial Least Squares (PLS) method. This study found that cultural fit does influence the appropriateness of B2B technology adoption in Thailand. A better perceived fit between Thai culture and B2B technology results in higher technology utilisation. In addition, the results of moderating effect analysis found that, although task-technology fit had no direct impact on utilisation, task-technology fit did have indirect impact on utilisation by moderating the impact of culture. Nevertheless, the results indicated that task-technology fit still had a greater impact on firms' perceived performance than utilisation.