Problem: Palaseja is considering Sweden as a prospect market to enter and operate so, a study of Swedish business environment and its uncontrollable elements is required for Palaseja to serve this purpose effectively. Method: Thesis has followed a combination of exploratory & descriptive research and a qualitative approach has been applied. Both primary and secondary data have been gathered, primary data was gathered through interviews from retail stores' officials and Palaseja's sales manager. Conclusion: In this study, different environmental uncontrollable elements of Swedish market have been explored to find out how they can influence a new entrant Palaseja in Sweden. There are a few legal requirements for Palaseja to enter in food market of Sweden. Economic forces are facing a little slow down effect due to recent global economic slump but are quite encouraging for any new company entering Sweden in the long run. Breakfast cereal products that Palaseja produces have found to be a common part of cultural breakfast habits and huge consumption of breakfast cereal per capita also seems to be encouraging for new comers in this industry. Competitive forces have been found to be extremely challenging and quite discouraging in some way. The country of origin effect seems to be not so strong in Sweden although brand recognition of Palaseja is likely to cause some trouble to Palaseja's success.

The entrepreneurship dynamism of a country is the center of Schumpeter’s creativedestruction process and virtuous circle, in which new and innovative companies enteringthe market drive the obsolete and less productive ones out of the market. As aconsequence of this process, the market is improved and it incentivizes the creation ofinnovative solutions to solve problems. The study focuses on the pivotal function of theentries in this process. To better understand the creation of new ventures process the study investigates how thecontextual factors impact the entrepreneur’s decision of starting a new business, focusingon two business environments: Sweden and Brazil. Through interviews with Swedish andBrazilian entrepreneurs we analyze how entrepreneurs perceive the contextual factors andhow it impacted their new venture creation process. Through the literature we find that the business environment is composed by seven majorfactors that, with an extended framework based on literature review, we consider as:economic wealth, government policies and procedures, legal & administrative, society’sculture; network and knowledge; financial assistance; and non-financial assistance. Analyzing the empirical material about the business environments we find that Swedishand Brazilian entrepreneurs feel the influence of the different contextual factors inbusiness creation but do not always understand their causes. Our findings show that theseven contextual factors do not have the same level of influence in Sweden and Braziland often depend on the environment. However, for entrepreneurs in both two contextualfactors have a pivotal impact: network and financial assistance. This study contributes to the theory by providing a more detailed extended framework tostudy the influence of contextual factors on the process of starting a new business.Furthermore, this research also contributes by providing empirical evidence of Swedishand Brazilian entrepreneurs’ perceptions of their business environment and the influenceof the contextual factors.

Crises are unpredictable events which impact on organisational issues such as viability, credibility and reputation. In recent years, few topics have generated more interest within the discipline of public relations. Today, crises are a prominent feature of the business environment, and every organisation has the potential to experience one. The manner in which mass media frame crises can alter an organisation's reputation, affect organisational profitability, and ultimately the survival of the organisation. This thesis explores the application of Fink's (1986) Crisis Life Cycle model to mass media content. Further, it recommends the implementation crisis public relations strategies that address each stage of the model. The study demonstrated the relevance and importance of the extension of Fink's (1986) Crisis Life Cycle theoretical model to understanding mass media content during a crisis. The extended model provides a model to better understand a crisis and its life cycle from a public relations perspective. Further this expanded model provides the framework for public relations professionals to identify and comprehend the dynamic and multidimensional set of relationships that occur during the Crisis Life Cycle in a rapidly changing and challenging operational environment.

Το αντικείμενο μελέτης της παρούσας διπλωματικής εργασίας είναι η διερεύνηση των προσδιοριστικών παραγόντων του ρυθμού μεγέθυνσης των επιχειρήσεων δίνοντας ιδιαίτερη έμφαση στο ρόλο των χρηματοοικονομικών περιορισμών. Η εμπειρική ανάλυση βασίστηκε σε ένα δείγμα από διαστρωματικά δεδομένα για 546 επιχειρήσεις που δραστηριοποιούνται στην Ελλάδα το έτος 2003 και έχουν συλλεχθεί από την Παγκόσμια Τράπεζα και την Ευρωπαϊκή Τράπεζα για την Ανασυγκρότηση και την Ανάπτυξη στο πλαίσιο της έρευνας BEEPS (Business Environment and Enterprise Performance Surveys). Εκτιμήθηκαν τρία εμπειρικά υποδείγματα που διαφέρουν μεταξύ τους ως προς την προσέγγιση της οικονομικής επίδοσης των επιχειρήσεων (firm performance). Ειδικότερα, η επίδοση της επιχείρησης μετράται σε όρους μεταβολής α) των περιουσιακών στοιχείων (investment), β) των πωλήσεων (sales) και γ) του εργατικού δυναμικού (employment). Τα οικονομετρικά υποδείγματα (Probit και Multinomial Logit) επιλέχτηκαν με σκοπό να προσεγγίσουν ακριβέστερα την φύση της καθεμιάς εξαρτημένης μεταβλητής. Σύμφωνα με τα αποτελέσματα της οικονομετρικής ανάλυσης βρέθηκε ότι οι περιορισμοί ρευστότητας διαδραματίζουν έναν κρίσιμο ρόλο στις αποφάσεις που αφορούν την επένδυση της επιχείρησης. Το εύρημα αυτό δεν φαίνεται να επιβεβαιώνεται στην περίπτωση των δεικτών επίδοσης που αφορούν τις πωλήσεις και την απασχόληση. Να σημειωθεί ότι σημαντικά είναι τα ευρήματα αναφορικά με τον ρόλο άλλων μεταβλητών όπως η χρήση νέων τεχνολογιών και η ύπαρξη φαινομένων διαφθοράς. / The objective of this study is to investigate the role of investments and financial constraints on firms’ growth in Greece. The data come from the BEEPS (Business Environment and Enterprise Performance Surveys) and the empirical analysis uses 545 greek firms during 2003. The firms’ performance is measures in terms of fixed assets, sales and employment. The econometric models that are used are probit and multinomial logit in order to better estimate the control variable. The results from the econometric analysis show that financial constraints play an important role in investments decisions. This finding is not significant when firms’ performance is measured in terms of sales and employment. The empirical findings about technology and corruption are statistical significant.

A combinação dos fatores externos e internos, intrínsecos ao ambiente empresarial, pode afetar o desempenho de uma empresa, facilitando ou dificultando a sua estabilidade. O objetivo desta pesquisa consistiu em verificar as relações entre as variáveis do ambiente externo, os elementos do modelo de gestão, os controles gerenciais e os desempenhos de empresas de setores de atividade distintos. A partir disso, construíram-se os procedimentos metodológicos. Primeiramente, definiram-se as hipóteses, alicerçadas nos constructos teóricos da pesquisa. Com essa base, desenhou-se o instrumento de pesquisa, que foi aplicado, inicialmente, por meio de um pré-teste em 20 empresas da amostra, para então se dar seqüência ao trabalho de campo. A amostra da pesquisa compôs-se de 69 empresas do setor do comércio, 80 do industrial e 74 do de serviços, totalizando 223 empresas contatadas. Dessas, 118 responderam ao questionário enviado. A coleta dos dados deu-se por meio da aplicação de dois procedimentos: questionário e obtenção dos dados econômicos das empresas. O questionário foi disponibilizado em website para ser respondido pelos gestores do alto escalão da empresa, que pudessem ter a visão sistêmica da empresa presidente, diretor, gestor da área de controladoria, o que dependeu de cada empresa previamente contatada por telefone. Os dados econômicos foram obtidos a partir da Revista Exame Maiores e Melhores empresas do Brasil, para efeito da formação dos indicadores ROI (Return on Investments) e MO (Margem operacional), cujo período abrangeu os anos de 2005, 2006, 2007 e 2008. O período de realização da pesquisa de campo compreendeu os meses entre junho e outubro de 2009, sendo que antes disso, entre fevereiro e abril, foi aplicado o préteste. O tratamento e a análise dos dados coletados foram efetivados por meio da aplicação de estatística descritiva e modelagem de equações estruturais. Como resultado, verificou-se que as associações entre ambiente externo e modelo de gestão dos três setores empresariais observados se revelaram significantes, principalmente em empresas dos setores comercial e industrial. Não se constatou relação significativa entre os elementos do modelo de gestão e os desempenhos das empresas dos três setores. Verificou-se que os elementos do modelo de gestão influenciam, significativamente, os tipos de controles gerenciais adotados pelas empresas de todos os setores investigados, predominantemente aquelas do setor industrial. Os graus de relação entre o ambiente externo e os controles gerenciais mostraram-se baixos, não podendo ser considerados representativos neste estudo. Em se tratando da relação entre controles gerenciais e desempenho das empresas, puderam ser notados resultados expressivos nos setores industrial e de serviços, não ocorrendo o mesmo no comércio. Assim, esta tese atingiu o seu objetivo, demonstrando as relações entre ambiente externo, modelo de gestão, controles gerenciais e desempenho de empresas pertencentes a diferentes setores de mercado. / The combination of external and internal factors, intrinsic to the business environment, can affect a firms performance as well as its management structure. This study xamines the relations of the variables of the external environment (business conditions), lements of the management model, management controls and performance of companies in different sectors. The methodology entailed first defining the hypotheses based on the theoretical constructs found in the literature and then formulating a questionnaire, which was pre-tested in 20 companies before starting the main survey. The full sample consisted of 223 companies (69 engaged mainly in commerce, 80 in industry and 74 in services). The questionnaire was made available at a website for access by the respondents. They consisted of chief executives, other officers or comptrollers, epending on each company, contacted previously by telephone. Of the 223 firms approached, 118 answered the questionnaire. Besides the data from the questionnaires, performance indicators on the companies were obtained from the Maiores e Melhores (Biggest and Best) edition of the Brazilian business magazine Exame. The indicators considered were return on investment (ROI) and operating margin (OM), covering the years from 2005 to 2008. The main survey was carried out between June and ctober 2009, after completing the pre-test between February and April. The data were treated and analyzed with the use of descriptive statistics and modeling with structural equations. The results show that the associations between the external setting and management model in the three business sectors analyzed are significant, mainly in service companies. No significant relationship was found between the management model and performance of the firms in any of the sectors. However, the elements of the management model do significantly affect the types of management controls adopted by the firms in all three sectors, particularly in the industrial sector. The associations were low and cannot be considered as representative in this study. With respect to the relationship between the management controls and performance, the results were salient in the industrial and service sectors but not among commercial firms. On the whole, the thesis attained its objective, demonstrating the relations of the external setting, management model and performance of companies in the commercial, industrial and service sectors.

O investimento estrangeiro direto - IED é um dos principais fluxos de capitais internacionais, sendo um fator importante para o balanço de pagamentos, além de ser considerado também um condutor de transferências tecnológicas entre países e indutor de desenvolvimento econômico. O estudo dos determinantes deste tipo de investimento transnacional, apesar de relativamente recente, tem ganhado relevância no debate econômico. Através da abordagem do modelo gravitacional, este trabalho explora diversas metodologias econométricas para a estimação desse modelo. O método Poisson Pseudo-Maximum-Likelihood - PPML mostrou estatísticas mais robustas para as estimações, indo de encontro com a literatura econômica que o elege como o método mais adequado para as características dos dados utilizados na investigação do problema em questão. Os resultados obtidos mostraram que, além das variáveis usualmente utilizados na abordagem clássica do modelo gravitacional, como tamanho do PIB e distância, os fatores ligados ao ambiente de negócios também são significantes em explicar a determinação do IED bilateral. Desta maneira, a aplicação de reformas e medidas com o objetivo de melhorar o ambiente de negócios é desejável para a aumentar a atratividade de recursos nesta modalidade de investimento. / The foreign direct investment - FDI is one of the main international capital flows, being considered an important component of the balance of payments and also a driver of technological transfers between countries and promoter of economic development. The study of that kind of transnational investment, although relatively recent, has gained importance in the economic debate. This work explores many econometric methodologies in a gravity model approach. The Poisson Pseudo-Maximum-Likelihood method - PPML showed more robust results to the estimations, as appointed by the economic literature. The results obtained showed that, beyond the usual variables used in the gravity models, such as GDP size and distance, variables connected to the business environment are significant to explain the determination of bilateral FDI. Therefore, reforms and measures aimed to improve the business environment are desirable for increasing the attractiveness of that kind of international investment.

The thesis analyzes competitiveness and related business environment in the Czech Republic and Germany, also examines the legislative environment prevailing in both countries. The work is divided into three chapters. The first chapter determines the position of the two states in international competitiveness rankings. In the second chapter selected areas of the business environment are described, evaluated and compared. The final chapter is about starting a business in the Czech Republic, Germany. The thesis analyzes problems of cross-border activities of employees. Common features of both states and their differences are compared in order to be the inspiration for legal changes.

The background of this examination is that we live in a dynamic and complex global business environment which requires entrepreneurial thinking and action in organisations (intrapreneurship) if they are to secure viability. Companies in dynamic environments have to deal efficiently with operational tasks in existing businesses and at the same time achieve innovation in existing and new business with a medium to long term focus. This requires flexibility and adaptability to be able to use the opportunities and threats arising from changes in the business environment. The research work in this thesis clarifies the role of intrapreneurship and develops the design concept for holistic intrapreneurship. In the research process a frame of reference with five central findings on the role of intrapreneurship in a dynamic business environment is firstly introduced. In this process, the idea is that holistic and economic thinking together with management oriented theoretical concepts form a fruitful basis for the examination of intrapreneurship. Subsequently in the literature study there follows a synoptic illustration of the individual theoretical concepts on the role of intrapreneurship, the business environment and systems theory concepts. In a further literature analysis, the tasks identified for holistic intrapreneurship are examined and conveyed as a design concept in the synthesis. Three empirical studies reflect the theoretical findings in practical situations. Taking into account the results of the survey, the design concept is extended by elements for the development of a vital, entrepreneurial learning organisation. Entrepreneurial organisations have equally to understand the role of intrapreneurship as a concept for shaping the future as the external environments and the interaction between the organisation and its environment. This complex of themes is worked on in chapter 3 and nine design elements for the specification of the role of intrapreneurship are derived. On the basis of this, entrepreneurial information gathering, shaping of the future and organisation design are derived as central tasks of the entrepreneurial organisation and are analysed in chapter 4. A design concept for holistic intrapreneurship with a role model for the organisation, a conceptual framework for the understanding and analysis of the global business environment as well as a qualitative systems model for the interaction of the entrepreneurial organisation with the business environment is introduced in chapter 5 to aid with implementation of the entrepreneurial tasks. The role of intrapreneurship and the implementation of the role model in practice are examined in chapter 6. In this process, implementation of the role model based on the division of labour is recorded and condensed across all firms. In chapter 6.4, learning areas for the development of an entrepreneurial orientation and for a context-related strengthening of the five entrepreneurial roles in a vital entrepreneurial learning organisation are outlined. The novel contribution of the thesis is to present an integrated concept of holistic intrapreneurship derived from theory-based exploration which thus focuses on the entrepreneurial action of the organisation as a whole and the achievement of viability in a global and dynamic environment. This concept contains learning by the entrepreneurial actors, the entrepreneurial teams and the whole entrepreneurial organisation and defines the building blocks of a vital, entrepreneurial learning organisation. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Graduate School of Technology Management (GSTM) / unrestricted

Diploma thesis deals with position of Bavaria in German economy and cooperation possibilities with the Czech Republic. The main goal of this thesis is to outline the position of Bavaria in German economy and to analyse business environment of Bavaria. Another goal is to find out, what are main negatives of cooperation between the CR and Bavaria and how to improve them. In order to support these findings, a questionnaire was conducted. Also, this thesis suggests possible areas where cooperation could be broadened. This paper presents information about Germany and Bavaria, business environment of Bavaria and possibilities of cooperation.

The Diploma thesis - Domažlice Region - Business Environment Analysis - is concerned on problems of decision making in localization. In today's global economics, choosing locality of a company has a big impact on the future evolvement of economic entities. That is why it is so important to consider the localization of economic activity. The thesis proceeds the quality comparison of corporate environment in sub-regions of Pilsen Region regarding the territorial aspects. The main focus was set on subjects in Manufacturing and Direct Services sectors. All the sub-regions (Domažlice Region, Klatovy Region, Tachov Region, Rokycany Region, Plzeň- Jih Region, Plzeň-Město Region and Plzeň-Sever Region) were evaluated using 18 different criteria. Those criteria can be divided into six categories: Business Factors, Labour Factors, Infrastructural Factors, Local Factors, Cost Factors, Environmental Factors. Complex rating of Domažlice Region in the interregional comparison and structural analysis of companies in the same region are the outputs of the practical part. This analysis is focused on companies classification according to precept of law, sector and size. The survey also contains certain information about the participating companies. This gives a general view of potential competitors in the Domažlice Region. The Thesis could provide the useful data-source and also the source of information for companies which want to have an overview about economic entities in Domažlice Region as well as for companies considering this region for placement of their business or just for those who are considering localization analysis in their business decisions.