A doctoral thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of PhD of Loughborough University.

Bakgrund: Skatteplanering är ett aktuellt och omdebatterat ämne. I USA har ett Under-sheltering Puzzle kunnat påvisas då vissa företag avstår från att skatteplanera. Vi frågar oss om fenomenet förekommer i Sverige och i så fall varför vissa företag ej skatteplanerar.  Syfte: Studien avser att förklara förekomsten av The Under-sheltering Puzzle i Sverige. Med hjälp av ett företags olika strategier vill vi påvisa fenomenet och förklara omfattningen av börsföretagens skatteplanering.  Metod: En deduktiv ansats genomförs där teorier testas genom hypotesprövning. Teorierna behandlar ett företags olika strategier samt teorin om Upper Echelon. Datan är insamlad mellan åren 2011 och 2015. Slutsatser: Vi kan i studien påvisa att The Under-sheltering Puzzle förekommer i Sverige då vissa grupper av företag tenderar att betala mer skatt än andra. Företagens marknadsstrategi kan anses mest betydelsefull för att förklara varför ett företag väljer eller avstår från att skatteplanera. / Background: Tax sheltering is a subject of debates and a current issue in society. In the USA however, results have demonstrated that some companies exhibit a phenomenon called The Under-sheltering Puzzle and avoid tax sheltering. We raise the question if the phenomenon also is present in Sweden and if that is the case, why some companies avoid taxes.  Purpose: The thesis pertains to explain The Under-sheltering Puzzle in Sweden. By applying theories which cover the different strategies in a company, we intend to proof the existence of the phenomenon and explain the magnitude of tax sheltering in public corporations. Method: A deductive research approach has been used and theories constitutes the basis for our hypotheses. The theories discuss the different strategies in a corporation and the impact of Upper Echelons. The data is collected between the years of 2011 and 2015.  Conclusions: In this thesis we can proof that The Under-sheltering Puzzle is present in Sweden and that some groups of companies tend to pay higher taxes than others. We believe that the market strategy is the most primal factor in explaining why a company choose or avoid tax sheltering.

Background: The usage of social media in Sweden have increased steadily in recent years. These communication channels have transformed the communication between customers and companies from a passive monologue to a dialogue in which the customers gets involved in order to create new, and maintain already existing relationships which ultimately creates long-term profitability. Although, this phenomenon is not exclusive for B2C but seems to in-clude B2B as well. Purpose: This study aim to gain a deeper understanding around social media as a marketing channel for food distributors in Sweden. For this reason, the study also want to sort out how the companies use, evaluate and legitimize these marketing activities. Method: This study is based on five interviews with three B2C-companies and two B2B-companies within food distribution in Sweden. Result and analysis: The result of this study show that the companies aim to be represented in the social mediums where they can find their customers. The most used social mediums was revealed to be Facebook and Instagram and that the sought values of marketing through social media was to distribute digital material, brand-building, create new and maintain present relations as well as directing customers towards the company’s homepage. In this study the similarities was found to exceed the differences between the B2C-companies and the B2B-companies. However, the differences that was highlighted in this study was that B2B-companis seems to be favored by a more earnest tonality and that the receiving parties of the communication in B2B are not as likely to further distribute the company’s message, nor do they move between communication-channels as “sprawling” as regular consumers. / Bakgrund: Användandet av sociala medier har ökat stadigt i Sverige de senaste åren. Dessa kommunikationskanaler har förändrat kommunikationen mellan kund och företag från att ha varit en passiv monolog från företagets sida, till att vara dialog där kunderna engageras för att skapa och upprätthålla relationer vilket i förlängningen skapar långsiktig lönsamhet. Detta fenomen är dock inte exklusivt inom B2C utan tycks sträcka sig även till B2B. Syfte: Denna undersökning ämnar att skapa djupare förståelse kring sociala medier som marknadsföringskanal för livmedelsdistributörer i Sverige. Av denna anledning ämnar undersökningen också att utreda hur företagen använder, utvärderar och legitimerar denna typ av marknadsföring. Metod: Denna undersökning bygger på fem kvalitativa intervjuer med tre B2C-företag och två B2B-företag inom livsmedelsdistribution i Sverige. Resultat & Analys: Resultatet från de genomförda intervjuerna visar att företagen vill befinna sig där kunderna är. De mest använda medierna visade sig vara Facebook och Instagram och de främsta värdena med att marknadsföra sig på sociala medier uppgavs vara att få spridning på digitalt material, bygga varumärke, skapa nya och vårda befintliga relationer samt att styra trafik mot den egna hemsidan. I denna undersökning upplevdes likheterna överstiga olikheterna mellan B2B-företag och B2C-företag. De skillnader som dock belystes var att B2B gynnas av en mer allvarsam tonalitet och att mottagarna inom B2B inte är lika benägna att sprida material vidare samt att de inte förflyttar sig lika “spretigt” mellan olika kommunikationskanaler som inom konsumentmarknaden.

Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

The technological development that we have seen in the last decades has resulted in a more digitized business environment and affected industries from an innovative and competitive perspective. The digital transition is an ongoing process and it creates opportunities and challenges for businesses globally. Digital transitions can have consequences for different aspects within a company, from the top management all the way to their customer relations. This study is concentrated on the latter, namely customer relations in a business-to-business context within the sportswear industry. The purpose of this degree project is to develop a deeper understanding about how perceived usefulness of a new digital tool affects the behavioral intention to use it based on a relationship marketing perspective. The study specifically investigates key account managers in a business-to-business context from the sportswear company Athics. By investigating perceived usefulness of 3D Virtual Prototypes by the key account managers’ behavioral intention to use, we managed to explain whether this technology would be accepted or rejected by the managers. None of the key account managers had previous experience with 3D Virtual Prototypes. The degree project had a qualitative method where we interviewed eight key account managers from the product division Athics Footwear through semi-structured interviews. The study takes a deductive approach. The ontological and epistemological stances are interpretivism and constructionism. After reviewing the literature on relationship marketing and technology acceptance model, we formed a conceptual model to get a deeper understanding of their relation to each other. This model was reconstructed once the empirical findings were analysed due to new findings. The revised model contributes to research on relationship marketing and technology acceptance. The findings show that Athics key account managers have a positive attitude towards using 3D Virtual Prototypes and intend to use it once Athics implements this new technology. They believe that 3D Virtual Prototypes can affect relationship strength directly and perceive it as useful in creating long-lasting relationships with their business-to-business customers. However, the study’s result shows that relationship performance will only be affected by sales performance. Implying that 3D Virtual Prototypes can still be perceived as useful but from a different cause. Moreover, the study’s result shows that by implementing 3D virtual prototypes customers will get more involved in the process of developing a shoe. Therefore, we consider customer involvement as a new finding and an important factor in relationship marketing when implementing a new digital tool. The key account managers perceive the digital tool to be more useful towards larger accounts due to their innovative and collaborative side. Smaller accounts are more challenging since they express a more conservative mindset by being less collaborative and perceive innovations as a higher risk.

Background: The concept of Customer Experience Management (CEM) is growing as a marketing tool used in order to remain a competitive actor on the market. By designing a customer experience, companies are able to differentiate themselves by offering a holistic customer experience.                                                                                             Problem: The existing body of knowledge regarding CEM in the B2B setting is limited. However, recent studies have begun to examine the fact that the buying process in B2B does not only concern task related and rational decision-making criteria, but also that emotional consideration plays a part in the buying process. Additionally, during recent years the Office Space Interior Solutions (OSIS) companies have gone through the development from selling simple furniture to offering activity-based environments as well as using a profile as design companies.                                                                                             Purpose: The aim of this thesis is to create an understanding regarding how the phenomena of CEM is implemented within the B2B industry, more specifically Swedish OSIS companies within the regions of Småland and Västra Götaland.                                                                                            Method: Through semi-structured interviews with four case companies that all are operating within the OSIS industry, qualitative data has been collected and analysed through a thematic analysis approach. The answers have later been revised through a conceptual framework that has been identified through a review of existing literature concerning CEM.   Result: The findings suggested that OSIS companies do practice all the dimensions identified in the conceptual framework regarding customer experience and experience value. However, implementing the dimensions as a holistic experience design did not seem to be practiced by the companies. Finally, by providing a customer experience, OSIS companies are able to influence the purchase intentions, establish relationships and generate WOM which in turn can attract and retain customers.

Poucas indústrias têm crescido tanto e tão rápido quanto a Indústria de Tecnologia da Informação e Comunicações (ICT), particularmente o segmento de software, que foi definido pelo governo federal como uma das áreas prioritárias de sua política industrial. O Brasil, que detém a maior indústria da Informática e Telecomunicações da América Latina, tem direcionado recursos para formação de profissionais nos níveis de graduação e pós-graduação e incentivado empresas do setor. Neste cenário, é importante que se desenvolvam estudos não só no campo técnico, mas também no campo da administração com vistas a subsidiar as empresas brasileiras para uma competição global. Os softwares utilizados nas empresas para suportar seus processos administrativos podem ser comercializados como pacotes, que são softwares padronizados, que não demandam interação entre quem os desenvolve e quem os utiliza, ou então como serviço, caso em que a empresa usuária contribui com o desenho do produto final. Esse “software-serviço", ou “software sob encomenda" é o foco do presente estudo, que possui dois objetivos: - Explorar a segmentação do mercado empresarial para esse serviço, buscando identificar como os clientes podem ser agrupados a partir da análise das UTDs (unidades de tomada de decisão) formadas para sua compra; - Explorar como esses clientes enxergam e avaliam os fornecedores, entendendo principalmente quais dimensões utilizam para posicioná-los. O embasamento teórico do estudo é provido pelos construtos desenvolvidos no campo do marketing estratégico, marketing B2B e marketing de serviços, pois se considera que o software sob encomenda é um caso particular de compra de serviços industriais. A pesquisa de campo foi feita a partir da seleção de cinco casos de compra, e seus resultados permitem proposições sobre a formação e a dinâmica das UTDs para compra de software sob encomenda. Uma dessas proposições é a possibilidade de segmentação do mercado a partir das crenças que o líder do processo de compra tem acerca de seu papel. Outro resultado é a constatação do uso de critérios subjetivos na avaliação dos fornecedores, mesmo nesse tipo de compra industrial, dita “racional". Finalmente, a pesquisa permite inferências sobre as diferenças nas dimensões de posicionamento dos fornecedores adotadas pelos representantes técnicos (TI) e pelos não técnicos (negócio) participantes da compra e uso dos serviços. / Few industries have grown so much and so rapidly as the Information and Communication Technology (ICT), particularly the software segment, defined by Brazilian federal government as one of its high priority areas. Brazil, a country that has the larger ICT industry in Latin America, has assigned resources to encourage graduate and postgraduate studies in the field, and has fostered the development of firms in the sector. Considering such scenario, the academic research is needed not only in the technical field, but also in the business administration field, in order to support Brazilian companies to face a global competition. Software used to support business administration processes can be marketed as packages, standardized software that do not require interaction between the developer and the user, or as a service, in which the user firm contributes to the final product design. Such “service-software" or customized software is the focus of this study, which has two main objectives: - Explore market segmentation for such service, aiming at identifying how the clients can be grouped based on the analysis of the DMU’s – Decision Making Units – formed for a specific purchase. - Explore how the clients evaluate their suppliers, understanding what dimensions they use to position them. The theoretical background for the study is provided by the constructs developed in the field of strategic marketing, B2B marketing and services marketing, because customized software is here considered as a particular case of industrial service purchase. The field research was accomplished based on five selected purchase cases, and its results allow propositions about formation and dynamics of DMU’s for customized software purchase. One of such propositions is the possibility of market segmentation based on the beliefs the purchase process leader has about his/ her organizational role. Another result is the observation of use of subjective evaluation criteria for supplier assessments in the industrial purchase, frequently called “rational". Finally, the research allows inferences about the supplier positioning dimensions adopted by the technical (IT) and non-technical (business) representatives participating in the service purchase or use.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-02-04T21:39:36Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Fernando Ribeiro dos Santos.pdf: 1544811 bytes, checksum: 3ec8609a38c936b0fdb67bc2406afc2b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006-05-26 / O estudo aborda as características do Marketing Business-to-Business (B2B), especificamente a prestação de serviços de transporte marítimo de longo curso sob o ponto de vista dos prestadores de serviços os armadores, que constituem um setor de grande representatividade nos negócios internacionais; tendo como base pesquisa bibliográfica e estudo de casos múltiplos de armadores operando navios porta-contêineres no Porto de Santos. O Porto de Santos se justifica por ser o de maior tráfego de carga conteinerizada no Brasil, considerando os valores de importação e exportação e pelo papel que desempenha nas rotas e linhas marítimas que servem a América do Sul. Os componentes do Marketing dos Armadores do transporte marítimo internacional, ou seja, as definições de produtos/serviços comercializados, as políticas e formas de negociação e estabelecimento de preços, o composto de promoção e como os produtos/serviços são comercializados e por quem, num contexto B2B, são o foco da pesquisa. As conclusões e limitações do estudo indicam que a relevância do tema se apresenta como fundamental para o esforço brasileiro de inserção competitiva no comércio internacional. Indicando a necessidade de se aprofundar a pesquisa acadêmica sobre o tema, principalmente na abordagem de gestão de negócios.

Este trabalho objetiva analisar os atributos no processo de decisão de compra de notebooks no segmento B2B. Observa-se que os players que vendem notebooks para o mercado corporativo têm dificuldades para identificar os atributos que são mais importantes para seus clientes. Com o intuito de auxiliar na resolução deste problema, foram entrevistados presencialmente profissionais responsáveis pela área de infraestrutura de TI de 15 empresas da região de Porto Alegre, pedindo para que eles ordenassem 20 cartões de perfil completo contendo a descrição técnica de alguns notebooks. A partir da apresentação dos dados gerais da amostra, estruturou-se os dados dentro do software de estatística SPSS, tendo como input os fatores e níveis estabelecidos a partir de reuniões realizadas com profissionais da área de Marketing que trabalhavam na mesma empresa do pesquisador e da literatura a respeito de atributos no processo de decisão de compra de notebooks. Em seguida, procedeu-se com a análise estatística propriamente dita, começando pelo estudo desagregado, passando pela etapa agregada e finalizando com a identificação dos clusters Os resultados obtidos indicaram que o storage é o fator com a maior importância relativa para as empresas estudadas, seguido por processador, preço, marca e memória. A análise de subgrupos indicou que 5 segmentos resultaram na menor soma dos erros quadrados. Assim, verificou-se a relevância que o conhecimento dos atributos de notebooks tem para as empresas atuantes neste setor, de modo a conseguirem definir preços baseados em valor, posicionar melhor seus produtos, desenvolver novas estratégias de negócio e elaborar campanhas promocionais direcionadas. / This paper aims to analyze the attributes on the buying decision process of notebooks in the B2B segment. It is notable that players who sell notebooks for the corporate market have difficulty identifying the attributes that are most important to their customers. In order to assist in solving this problem, professionals responsible for the IT infrastructure area of 15 companies from the Porto Alegre region were interviewed in person and they were asked to order 20 complete profile cards containing the tecnhincal description of some notebooks. Based on the sample overall data presentation, the data were structured whithin the SPSS statistical software, considering as inputs the factors and levels defined from meetings held with Marketing area professionals who worked in the same company as the researcher and from the literature with respect to attributes on the buying decision process of notebooks. Then, the statistical analysis itself was made, starting with the individual analysis, going through the aggregated stage and ending up with the clusters identification. The obtained results showed that the storage is the factor with the greatest relative importance for the analyzed companies, followed by the processor, price, brand and memory. The subgroup analysis pointed out that 5 segments resulted in the smallest sum of squared errors. Thus, it was verified the relevance that the notebooks attributes knowledge has for the companies that play in this sector, in order to achieve price definition based on value, better position their products, develop new business strategies and elaborate driven promotional campaigns.

This paper presents the challenges faced by the retailers during the adoption of smart packaging in food packaging industry. The paper introduces three largest food retailers in Sweden, and the problems they faced during the introduction of the adoption of smart packaging technologies packaging. Introduction- The authors present the paper with complete background of the food packaging industry in general, as well as each types of smart packaging techniques. In addition, the paper introduces the adoption process for the smart packaging. The research question of this paper is: What are the hinders of adopting smart packaging technology in food packaging industry and why? • What challenges do they face during the adoption process? • What are the hinders in this adoption process? • What are the new hinders in this adoption process? Purpose- The main purpose of this paper is to find the challenges that occur during the adoption of smart packaging in food packaging industry faced by the retailers. Knowing the basic knowledge of the food packaging industry and giving importance to the challenges may lead to achieve our aim. Methodology- This research paper uses the research onion model as a methodology to analyse the gathered data. The authors performed interviews with retailers and end-users of food packaging industry to analyse their challenges during the adoption of smart packaging. The collected data are further discussed in the analysis and discussion part. Conclusion- This paper concludes the adoption in the new technology and concentrates on how each retailer has their own perspective to see the quality and use it to overcome the adoption process. This paper describes the common and unique challenges faced by the retailers during the adoption process. The main common challenges faced by all the retailers in common was to create awareness and to make end-user understand the adoption process but also the benefits of adoption. The most important challenges faced by the retailers of ICA is they consider that adopting to new technology in smart packaging is a challenge for them, because they must create an understanding about the new technology to the end-users which requires a lot of time for the adoption process. According to Coop the open to new smart packaging technologies because since they use only localize products and resources, the overall cost of the product increases which again becomes a barrier for end-user adoption. The interviewee from Willys state that they offer affordable smart packaging technologies without creating barrier for customer adoption, at the same time they are not willing to adopt new technologies without testing its feasibility with the customers. Omar, Uma Thesis in Industrial Innovation Management (IN7001) iii Limitation- The aim of this study is focused on only one element of smart packaging i.e. “Adoption”. Moreover, this study is limited to adoption of smart packaging done in three companies (Coop, Willys & ICA Maxi) in the retail sector in Halmstad, Sweden. This study is conducted from the retailer perspective, by analysing the challenges faced by the retailers during the adoption process.