Réduire l’internationalisation des PME à leur seule fonction exportatrice reviendrait à nier le phénomène d’accélération de ces entreprises sous des formes plus élaborées, mais aussi plus complexes telles que l’implantation d’une structure à l’étranger. Face à un contexte économique turbulent, la localisation des activités à l’étranger est souvent stigmatisée et teintée d’une connotation négative. Néanmoins, l’implantation d’une filiale à l’étranger pour une PME a généralement un effet d’entraînement et d’interdépendance sur ses exportations. L’absence de proximité nécessite de mettre en place des mécanismes de contrôle et de coordination des activités internationales. Cette thèse se propose d’analyser la relation siège-filiales en mettant en tension deux perspectives théoriques apparemment opposées. L’étude empirique combine deux méthodes de recherche, une première étude qualitative suivie d’une enquête quantitative sur la base d’un échantillon de 201 maison mères et 469 filiales. Cette recherche met en évidence trois configurations de contrôle associées au rôle stratégique dédié à la filiale étrangère et au management spécifique des PME. / Reduce the internationalization of SMEs in their exporting only function is to deny the phenomenon of acceleration of these companies in more elaborate forms, but also more complex such as the establishment of a structure abroad. Faced with a turbulent economic environment, the location of foreign operations are often stigmatized and tainted with a negative connotation. However, the implantation of a foreign subsidiary for a small business usually has a ripple effect and interdependence of its exports. The lack of proximity required to establish mechanisms of control and coordination of international activities. This thesis aims to analyze the relationship headquarters-subsidiary through two theoretical perspectives in tension seemingly opposite. The empirical study combines two methods of research, a first qualitative study followed by a quantitative survey based on a sample of 201 headquarters and 469 foreign subsidiaries. This research highlights three control configurations associated with the strategic role dedicated to the foreign subsidiary and the specific management of SMEs.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / Literature on multilevel government is replete with the virtues of decentralisation as a governing model. As a result, the discourse of decentralisation has found its way into the constitutions, legislation and policy documents of most African states, including those that are ostensibly centralised. However, the enthusiasm for the juridical form of decentralisation is not reflected when it comes to the actual distribution of state power. In practice, the distribution of power ebbs and flows as states hover between decentralisation and centralisation. In other words, regardless of juridical commitments, states hardly ever promote decentralisation consistently, but move between cycles of decentralisation and recentralisation. Thus, once reforms that promote decentralisation have been adopted, they are shortly followed by a wave of recentralisation, which lasts until it in turn, is replaced by a further push for decentralisation. Consequently, the cycles are repeated. The central quest of this study is to explain the factors driving this cyclical pattern. It raises the following questions: Why are states seldom consistent with respect to decentralisation? What drives decentralisation? What drives recentralisation? What does this mean for the future of decentralisation? A comparative study of five Anglophone countries in Southern Africa was conducted with a view to analyse the waves of decentralisation and recentralisation both within and across countries over long periods of time. The countries were chosen in terms of their similar historical background and regional concentration. They are the countries of Botswana, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe. The study traced the process of decentralisation in these countries from the precolonial and colonial period up until 2019, examining historical, legal, constitutional, economic and political documentation and scholarship. In some cases, in-depth interviews with key informants were conducted to supplement evidence collected through desk-top research. The central argument of this study is that ruling elites are rational actors who make calculated moves based on external and internal pressures, threats to their power, and opportunities to increase it. Evidence from the five countries under study indicate that governments always prefer to centralise power and would maintain the status quo until a political or economic crisis arises. Such crises tend to open up spaces in which other actors are able to negotiate for decentralisation. These other actors include opposition political parties, minority ethnic groups and donors. However, because decentralisation is driven by crisis resolution negotiations, it faces challenges at the implementation stage, and this is always accompanied by a fresh wave of recentralisation. In the wake of this vicious cycle, it is concluded that decentralisation can be sustained if measures are put in place to contain the reverse wave of recentralisation and its unravelling effects. The measures include constitutional protection, the strengthening of the rule of law, good governance at local levels, and support from political parties.

This research is an exploratory study of the relationship between two supply chain management (SCM) concepts, namely supply chain structure and supply chain integration. The objective is to enhance the understanding of the extent to which supply chain structure is relevant to the supply chain integration, and of how this relationship between these concepts contributes to the ideas of supply chain quality (SCQ) in the manufacturing industry. The literature review with reference to the structure and integration results in the following structural dimensions: centralisation, formalisation and communication which are likely to have an effect on the supply chain integration; ultimately, on supply chain quality. For the purposes of this research, the conceptual model was developed, and its validity was explored via case-studies. The two manufacturing supply chains including their focal firms and the first-tier suppliers based in Turkey were selected as the case-supply chains. A total of 41 face-to-face, semi-structured interviews were carried out. The findings of the present study suggest that while formalisation and communication are positively related to the supply chain integration, centralisation in which a focal firm designs and manages the whole network negatively affects the supply chain integration. Hence decentralised, formalised supply chains facilitated by the means of communication are proposed in today’s global economy in order for supply chains to achieve integration, hence considered to attain supply chain quality.

<p><p>The aim of this study is to investigate and compare teachers’ attitudes to the current testing regimes for the 14-19 age cohorts in England and Sweden. A literature review reveals the historical and political contexts to the prevalent testing regimes in the two countries. One important finding is that the central tests in Sweden have clearly defined objectives whereas the tests’ objectives in England are, at best, insufficiently communicated but at worst not clearly thought through. The study also comprises a questionnaire with the purpose of collecting comparable material of teachers’ attitudes in both countries. Despite the small sample, the results clearly highlight significant discrepancies between objectives and achievements on the one hand and between English and Swedish attitudes on the other. Differences arose between the two countries on how well the objectives of tests are being met. English respondents are more positive towards external marking; meanwhile teaching to the test is seen as a lesser problem in Sweden. Many of these discrepancies and differences in attitudes can be explained from historical and cultural differences to education and assessment systems.</p></p>

<p>This report is the result of a Master Thesis written at Toyota Material Handling Europe (TMHE), with the purpose to map the existing spare part supply chain structure and to analyse future suggested supply chain structures with a focus on transportation flows.</p><p>TMHE is one of the world’s largest producing forklift distributers with large market shares throughout Europe. Besides the main activity of forklifts the aftermarket of distributing spare parts is a major business. With a current decentralised supply chain, the Future Logistic Concept (FLC) project was established to analyse the possibilities of a more centralised European supply chain.</p><p>While earlier analyses within the FLC have been focusing on the customer market, this thesis aims towards completing with analyses on the opposite side of the supply chain. It will present an aggregated view over a possible FLC supply chain setup with focus on suppliers, replenishment flows and usage of express transportation solutions.</p><p>An analysis was performed based on supplier localisation and historically delivered tonnages. To be able to analyse the replenishment flows between European Distribution Centre (EDC) and Regional Distribution Centres (RDC), an inventory control and transportation model was developed. The model calculates costs for inventory holding, replenishment flows and express flows and optimises the relationships between these controlling variables. This makes it possible to analyse the transportation flows in a specified set of possible supply chain structures.</p><p>The results of the localisation analyses based on suppliers, show that the central part of the supply chain should be located in the northern parts of central Europe. To be able to minimise the supplier inflow facilities should be established in Mjölby and Ancenis. A warehouse in Eastern Europe is probably necessary to be able to keep customer lead times at an acceptable level, but from a supply point of view this location is not supported due to the low amount of Easter European suppliers.</p><p>The results from the model suggests a supply chain structure with a central distribution centre in Antwerp, Belgium (Scenario 2 in the analysis) and regional warehouses in Sweden, United Kingdom, Spain, Italy and the Czech Republic.</p>

<p>Abstract</p><p>Aim: The aim of this essay is to study the global communication strategies of Red Cross/Red Crescent designed to help stop the hiv/aids-pandemic. The essay is also part of a cooperational project with the comprehensive purpose to investigate the relationship between the global and the local.</p><p>Material and method: The study draws on different materials and methods. Four interviews with Red Cross/Red Crescent coworkers, and a qualitative text analysis of different text documents of relevance for the global communication strategies have been carried out. These constitute the main material and methods, but two occasions of direct observations at seminars have also been carried out.</p><p>Main results: Due to the many differences between the localities of the world, the external global communication strategies of the Red Cross/Red Crescent are ment to be further developed at national level. The internal global communication strategies have an important mobilizing function, where the coworkers at national level are urged to commit to the fight against hiv/aids related stigma. The communications strategies at global level are constructed on basis of very broad and generalised conceptions about the target groups. The global dimensions of a global arena, global consciousness and global planning still appears important in the fight against the hiv/aids-pandemic.</p><p>Keywords: centralisation, decentralisation, mass communicaion, interpersonal communication, diffusion of innovations theory, global anena, global interdependence, global consciousness</p>

<p>Calmfors and Driffill in 1988 argued that there is a humpshaped relation between the degree of centralisation in wage bargaining structures within an economy and unemployment. They collected aggregate economic data from 17 different OECD economies and ranked them according to their relative degree of centralisation to prove their model. The model was further developed by Rowthorn who in 1992, using individual data from the same countries, concluded that there is a negative linear relationship between the degree of centralisation in wage bargaining structures and wage dispersion.</p><p>During the past two decades the Russian economy, as well as the Russian trade union movement, has transformed greatly. Membership rates in trade unions have fallen and bargaining leverage of trade unions vis-á-vis employers has decreased. Using data from ten sectors within the Russian economy (collected in interviews with trade union representatives in Moscow, June 2006) this essay questions whether the theoretical assumptions above hold in the Russian context. By ranking the sectors according to their relative degree of centralisation in wage bargaining structures and using these rankings as explanatory variables in econometric analyses with unemployment rates and wage dispersion rates as dependent variables, this essay finds little proof that the theoretical framework of Calmfors and Driffill holds within the Russian economy. However, Rowthorn’s model of centralisation and wage dispersion seems to be more valid.</p>

Abstract Aim: The aim of this essay is to study the global communication strategies of Red Cross/Red Crescent designed to help stop the hiv/aids-pandemic. The essay is also part of a cooperational project with the comprehensive purpose to investigate the relationship between the global and the local. Material and method: The study draws on different materials and methods. Four interviews with Red Cross/Red Crescent coworkers, and a qualitative text analysis of different text documents of relevance for the global communication strategies have been carried out. These constitute the main material and methods, but two occasions of direct observations at seminars have also been carried out. Main results: Due to the many differences between the localities of the world, the external global communication strategies of the Red Cross/Red Crescent are ment to be further developed at national level. The internal global communication strategies have an important mobilizing function, where the coworkers at national level are urged to commit to the fight against hiv/aids related stigma. The communications strategies at global level are constructed on basis of very broad and generalised conceptions about the target groups. The global dimensions of a global arena, global consciousness and global planning still appears important in the fight against the hiv/aids-pandemic. Keywords: centralisation, decentralisation, mass communicaion, interpersonal communication, diffusion of innovations theory, global anena, global interdependence, global consciousness

Calmfors and Driffill in 1988 argued that there is a humpshaped relation between the degree of centralisation in wage bargaining structures within an economy and unemployment. They collected aggregate economic data from 17 different OECD economies and ranked them according to their relative degree of centralisation to prove their model. The model was further developed by Rowthorn who in 1992, using individual data from the same countries, concluded that there is a negative linear relationship between the degree of centralisation in wage bargaining structures and wage dispersion. During the past two decades the Russian economy, as well as the Russian trade union movement, has transformed greatly. Membership rates in trade unions have fallen and bargaining leverage of trade unions vis-á-vis employers has decreased. Using data from ten sectors within the Russian economy (collected in interviews with trade union representatives in Moscow, June 2006) this essay questions whether the theoretical assumptions above hold in the Russian context. By ranking the sectors according to their relative degree of centralisation in wage bargaining structures and using these rankings as explanatory variables in econometric analyses with unemployment rates and wage dispersion rates as dependent variables, this essay finds little proof that the theoretical framework of Calmfors and Driffill holds within the Russian economy. However, Rowthorn’s model of centralisation and wage dispersion seems to be more valid.

This dissertation binds together and draws conclusions from a research project concerning conditions surrounding the growth of a bureaucratic element in large (union) organisations. In order to promote a wider knowledge of these conditions, a study was made of the great constitutional reform which the Swedish Confederation of Trade Unions underwent in 1941. An attempt was made to find the main driving force behind that constitutional reform.The study was drawn up as a case-study. The method is primarily historical-sociological. The data is primarily drawn from official sources and from the organisations. The results of a number of empirical studies are summarized.On a concrete level, it is possible to trace the Confederation's great constitutional reform back to conflicts between the Government and organisations operating within the labour market during the economic crisis at the beginning of the 1930's. The Government asserted its position in relation to the Labour organisations, and, as a last resort, threatened them with legislation. The putting through of the Saltsjöbaden Agreement between the Swedish Employers' Association and the Confederation of Trade Unions in 1938, with its subsequent changes towards authoritative centralisation in the Confederations1 s constitution, took the place of the legislation in question.On a more general level, centralisation and a reduction in membership influence may be seen as the price to be paid for the Confederation's method of adjusting itself to the development needs of a capitalist economic system. Within the Confederation of Trade Unions, a conflict developed between, on the one hand, the demands of members and the task of functioning as an organ of union struggle, and on the other, the demands of economic politics. These two demands were not always in harmony.The result of the case-study may thus be seen to be generally applicable on the causal side, in the restrictions which a capitalist economy's development, and the conditions of stabilisation politics, tended to set upon union activity (regarding conflict tactics and wage-policies). On the effect side, the results of the case-study are not generally appi i-cable. From the Government's side, conceivable measures in the face of conflict may include direct compulsion, informal appeals, or total passivity. From the organisation's side, possible reactions may range from voluntary cooperation to open conflict and struggle against the state. The main Swedish union organisations have, except in rare instances, cooperated voluntarily - under the latent threat of state intervention. The price, from the Confederation's side, has included a reduction of membership influence concerning conflict tactics and wage-policies.At the organisational level, this development has probably worked along with pressure from the Swedish Employers's Association, advantages to be gained from large-scale operation, and the need to find ways to solve inner conflicts, concerning, among other things, the enactment of the solidarity wage-policy under the restrictions mentioned above. Even the "inner dynamic" in large organisations, as identified by Robert Michels, has probably contributed to the total result. / digitalisering@umu