The collapse of construction companies in the Nigerian housing sector continues unabated, even in the face of 17 million housing deficits. Many construction company leaders believe that lack of business opportunities and the recent world economic decline have been responsible for the collapse. This situation has resulted in limited business activities for 80% of the Nigerian construction companies. This multiple case study explored the strategies used by leaders to maximize profitability in the Nigerian housing sector. The RBV and Porter's model of competition provided the conceptual framework for the study. Findings were based on detailed reviews of the policies and procedures of the companies, coupled with semi-structured face-to-face interviews with 5 leaders of construction companies that have successfully completed and currently involved in several housing projects in 2 southwestern states in Nigeria. The research question examined the strategies construction company leaders used to maximize profitability in the Nigerian housing sector. Four themes representing strategy categories emerged from thematic analysis: planning, human capital development, leadership factor, and organizational location. The key outcomes from the findings include the need to plan with the available resources, employ and invest in competent staff, increase leadership influence, and improve knowledge of the business environment. The implication for social change includes a potential reduction in unemployment in Nigeria. Profitable organizations will construct more affordable housing through collaboration with public authority, and more low-income earners will be able to afford to live in a decent environment, thus reducing the populations of slum dwellers in the country.

A gestão de competências possibilita o aumento do desempenho global da organização através da identificação e desenvolvimento das competências individuais. O objetivo principal deste trabalho é analisar a gestão de competências em uma empresa de pesquisa e desenvolvimento. Faz-se uma revisão bibliográfica sobre a evolução das mudanças organizacionais, sobre a gestão estratégica de recursos humanos e sobre os conceitos de competência e desempenho humano. Apresenta-se o estudo de caso na Embrapa Pecuária Sudeste, centro de pesquisa agropecuária, localizado na cidade São Carlos, a fim de ampliar a compreensão dos aspectos relacionados ao desenvolvimento de competências, à formulação de estratégias e à avaliação de desempenho. Nas conclusões, discutem-se as particularidades, os fatores favoráveis e as limitações da gestão de competências na Embrapa / The management of competence enables the increasing performance of the whole organization through identification and development of individual competencies. The aim of this work is to analyze the management of competence in a research and development organization. The bibliography review includes the evolution of the organizational changes, the human resource strategic management and the concepts of competence and performance. A case study is carried out at Embrapa Pecuária Sudeste, agricultural research center, located in São Carlos town, in order to enlarge the comprehension of the aspects related to the development of competences, the formulation of strategies and the performance evaluation. In the section of conclusions, the peculiarities, the favorable aspects and the limitations of the management competence are discussed

Made available in DSpace on 2015-03-05T18:36:36Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 29 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Pode-se dizer que as empresas petroquímicas brasileiras, após o processo de privatização e abertura comercial da década de 90, passaram a conviver em um ambiente competitivo que desencadeou mudanças institucionais nas organizações, fazendo-se necessário que essas empresas adotassem novas estratégias e agissem de forma pró-ativa em relação a essas mudanças. As empresas deste setor passaram a buscar novas formas de enfrentar a concorrência internacional. Como as escalas de produção das petroquímicas brasileiras são inferiores às escalas dos concorrentes estrangeiros, prejudicando a competição através da estratégia de custo, uma das formas para garantir a competitividade do setor é a busca da diferenciação de produtos, o que evidencia a importância da inovação para estas empresas sobreviverem no mercado O presente estudo buscou analisar como o setor petroquímico, especificamente o Pólo Petroquímico do Sul, se adaptou a essas mudanças institucionais e verificar como se processam a geração, a implementação e a di / It is possible to say that Brazilian petrochemical companies, after the privatization process and market opening to foreign products, conducted by the Brazilian government during the ninety’s, found themselves in a fierce competitive scenario, that carried them into significant institutional changes. Petrochemical companies became encouraged to look for a way of staying alive in such international competition. Sinceproduction capacities of Brazilian petrochemical plants are lower than foreign competitions, making difficult competition based on cost strategies, upgrades in products become primordial to competitiveness. This fact indicates how important is the innovation process in the companies to keep them surviving in the new market. The present study tried to analyze how the Petrochemical Industry Economy, specially the South Petrochemical Pole, could fit into the necessary institutional changes, and to verify how the companies of this Industrial Complex proceed with generation, implementation and diffusion

The purpose of this thesis is to describe and analyse the impact collaboration in strategic networks has on the individual company’s development. The particular focus is especially on whether the collaboration has contributed something to the individual company, which in the long run can help to improve the possibilities for a better outcome. The study is based on three research questions: 1) what happens on the network level respective the company level during collaboration; 2) what is the link between the activities of the strategic network and the individual company, and 3) what is the reason why the individual company is affected.The empirical data in the study consists of four strategic networks, and eleven participating companies. The study began in late spring 2004 and ended in spring 2008. Data was collected on several occasions during the study period. The companies that participated in the strategic networks were small and belonged to the wood product manufacturing sector. All four strategic networks participated in Nutek’s “Träklusterprogram” (Wood cluster program) which ran 2003-2005, but they all continued being active after the program ended. There are previous studies on strategic networks, but by studying both the strategic networks and the participating companies, this thesis adds new dimension, a discussion as to how collaboration could affect the participating companies’ strategies and development.The thesis shows that collaboration in strategic networks, which in reality is a relatively small part of a company’s operations, could have a significant strategic importance for example on the production process, marketing and external relations.Interesting findings from the study include indications that there may be a clear difference in how the individual company is affected, depending on whether the strategic network has market or competence related goals. Moreover, collaboration in strategic networks can improve a business executive’s self-confidence and infuse him or her with inspiration, with the result that he or she will dare to invest and take on more challenges. Among other things, this can have the effect that the company’s strategies are implemented and goals reached.For the strategic network, the results indicate that an enthusiastic, committed leader of the collaboration seems to diminish the importance of a well-structured organization, that is to say that a leader with drive is more important than a formal organization. The thesis also stresses the importance of a socialization process in strategic networks in order for them to be successful, in the sense that the participants should get to know each other and their respective companies. Finally, the company representatives’ commitment to the collaboration and their attitude to it tend to overshadow the importance of other factors. / Den här avhandlingens syfte är att beskriva och analysera vilken påverkan samarbete i strategiska nätverk har på det enskilda företagets utveckling. Speciellt fokus ligger på om samarbetet har tillfört det enskilda företaget något som i förlängningen kan bidra till att förbättra företagets förutsättningar för ett bättre resultat. Tre forskningsfrågor ligger till grund för studien: 1) vad händer på nätverknivå respektive företagsnivå under samarbete; 2) hur ser kopplingen ut mellan verksamheten i det strategiska nätverk och det enskilda företaget samt 3) vad är orsaken till att det enskilda företaget påverkas.I studien ingick empirisk data från fyra strategiska nätverk samt från elva av de deltagande företagen. Studien inleddes försommaren 2004 och avslutades våren 2008. Datamaterial samlades in vid ett flertal tillfällen under studieperioden. Samtliga företag som deltog i de strategiska nätverken tillhörde träförädlingsbranschen och var småföretag. Alla fyra strategiska nätverk var med i Nuteks Träklusterprogram som pågick 2003-2005, men verksamheten i samtliga fortgick efter att programmet avslutades.Det finns sedan tidigare studier på strategiska nätverk, men genom att såväl studera strategiska nätverk som deltagande enskilda företags verksamhet, tillför avhandlingen en diskussion om hur samarbetet kan påverka de deltagande företagens strategier och utveckling. Avhandlingen visar att samarbete i strategiska nätverk, som egentligen är en relativt liten del av ett företags verksamhet, kan få en märkbar strategisk betydelse på exempelvis produktionsprocessen, marknadsföring och relationer med omgivningen. Några intressanta resultat är att det kan vara en markant skillnad på hur det enskilda företaget påverkas beroende på om strategiska nätverk har marknadsrelaterade mål eller kompetensrelaterade mål. Vidare kan samarbete i strategiska nätverk bidra till att företagsledare får mer självförtroende och inspiration som leder till att de vågar satsa och ta större utmaningar. Resultatet kan bland annat bli att företagets strategier genomförs och uppsatta mål kan nås.För strategiska nätverk tyder resultaten på att en drivande och engagerad ledare för samarbetet verkar kunna reducera betydelsen av en välstrukturerad organisation, det vill säga att en drivande ledare är mer betydelsefullt än formell organisation. Avhandlingen understryker dessutom betydelsen av en socialiseringsprocess i strategiska nätverk för att det ska bli framgångsrikt – det innebär att deltagarna lär känna varandra och respektive företag. Slutligen förefaller företagsrepresentanternas engagemang i samarbetet och inställning kunna överskugga betydelsen av andra faktorer.

A gestão de competências possibilita o aumento do desempenho global da organização através da identificação e desenvolvimento das competências individuais. O objetivo principal deste trabalho é analisar a gestão de competências em uma empresa de pesquisa e desenvolvimento. Faz-se uma revisão bibliográfica sobre a evolução das mudanças organizacionais, sobre a gestão estratégica de recursos humanos e sobre os conceitos de competência e desempenho humano. Apresenta-se o estudo de caso na Embrapa Pecuária Sudeste, centro de pesquisa agropecuária, localizado na cidade São Carlos, a fim de ampliar a compreensão dos aspectos relacionados ao desenvolvimento de competências, à formulação de estratégias e à avaliação de desempenho. Nas conclusões, discutem-se as particularidades, os fatores favoráveis e as limitações da gestão de competências na Embrapa / The management of competence enables the increasing performance of the whole organization through identification and development of individual competencies. The aim of this work is to analyze the management of competence in a research and development organization. The bibliography review includes the evolution of the organizational changes, the human resource strategic management and the concepts of competence and performance. A case study is carried out at Embrapa Pecuária Sudeste, agricultural research center, located in São Carlos town, in order to enlarge the comprehension of the aspects related to the development of competences, the formulation of strategies and the performance evaluation. In the section of conclusions, the peculiarities, the favorable aspects and the limitations of the management competence are discussed

The aim of this thesis is to reach further understanding of the development of environmental adaptation in Swedish heavy industry by studying the case of the Rönnskär Smelter 1960-2000. More specifically, the aim of the thesis is to investigate the interplay between firm level environmental adaptation and national environmental politics and economic development. To fulfil this aim, the following questions are asked: How have company activities such as production processes, organisation and company strategies been developed and adopted in order to meet environmental demands with maintained competitiveness? How have company activities been framed by environmental policies and the specific environmental regulations, relevant for this case? What other factors, beside environmental regulations, have driven and framed the environmental adaptation process of the firm? The study concludes that a long-range competitive environmental adaptation was reached by a combination of investments in environmental technology with an overall rationalisation and modernisation of the enterprise. The study suggests that the environmental adaptation process of the Rönnskär Smelter became part of an overall process of industrial modernisation during the period, which reflects a wider context than the environmental issue itself. It mirrors technological development on other fields than the environment, and an increasing competition on a global scale that called for lower unit costs of production. This led to a modernisation for pollution reduction strategy that enabled the firm to increase production but still cutting its pollution levels considerably over time. The result is partly consistent with the Porter hypothesis that suggests that strict environmental regulation can strengthen firms’ and nations’ competitiveness. Time series data shows that emissions from the Rönnskär factory have radically declined since the 1960s. For these changes, process technology has proven to be most important. Technological adjustments came about through a step-by-step adaptation. It is clear that internal solutions, developed by the companies’ own engineers were more important at an early stage, when the supply of external solutions was limited. The study also concludes that environmental regulation has strongly influenced the environmental adaptation at the Rönnskär Smelter. Of most importance is the Environmental Protection Act (EPA: Miljöskyddslagen) implemented in 1969. In the economic historian Nathan Rosenberg’s terminology, this study suggests that the EPA model of individual testing promoted long-term innovative and cost-effective technical solutions, because it was consistent with decentralised experimental activity and the specific conditions that characterise the dynamics of technological development. However, not much can be said before comparative studies within the Swedish system have been conducted, or perhaps most fruitful, between various national systems of environmental protection. This study also concludes that the environmental issue became of strategic dignity at the very beginning of the 1970s, mainly as a consequence of the implementation of the EPA. Even though environmental issues did not become important for market strategies until the 1990s, the environmental issue called already in the 1970s for adjustments that required financial and personnel resources that demanded priorities and strategic decisions at the highest level of the organisation. The study also concludes that even though the technological dimension has played the most decisive role for lowering emissions, the significance of organisation has increased over time. While the 1960s, and especially the 1970s, brought about substantial pollution reductions through new technology, organisational aspects became relatively more important when the costs of abatement were rising in the 1980s. Organisational co-ordination, division of local responsibilities and education of personnel became a supplement to technology to obtain further pollution reductions. The technician as the “environmental hero” of the firm was successively replaced by the organisational co-ordinator.