The purpose of this study was to describe the level to which a target work culture based on core organizational values was shared in one lumber manufacturing plant. The organization under study perceived that their culture was a source of competitive advantage and was key to their success in safety, product quality, and labor-relations. The organization had actively managed their culture through operations management and human resource policies. The study addressed three research questions (1) to what extent were the core values of the organization shared, (2) were there any inconsistent values, and (3) did organizational members perceive their culture as helping or hurting their plant's performance outcomes. The study found eight of the nine values were shared across the organization. The values of safety and customer satisfaction were strongly shared. The value of environmental stewardship was not apparent in the organization. The organization perceived that its culture helped the mill success in key performance outcomes by promoting teamwork, participation, and communication. For the values of communication, involvement, trust, and respect there were perceptions of inconsistency between the target culture's definition of the value and its actual practice. The study provides support that culture may have an influence on organizational effectiveness. / Graduation date: 2002

In this thesis the authors strive to investigate the risk management phenomena in the banking sector by conducting a longitudinal comparative study in two different banks i.e. Handelsbanken and Swedbank. In a broader perspective to understand the phenomena the authors depart from theoretical framework that recognizes the social and cultural elements of risk. However, to be more specific the thesis narrows down its analysis to three main variables that come under the realm of this discussion which are; how banks organizing for risk, how they measure it and the role of IT and human judgment. This study contributes to the banking sector by providing a road map of how successful banks manage risk. It highlights that the risk question should be addressed strategically and deemed to be a continuous phenomenon.

Since it is a normal path for business to go for internationalization through merge and acquisition, there are always cases that end up with non expectable results. Therefore, there do exist huge risks in doing merge and acquisition. However, the probability of making a successful merge and acquisition could be improved by applying for appropriate strategic concerns. Finally, it is essential for managerial implications to find out the key factors of successful merge and acquisition. The thesis tried to find out factors that affect the process, and the outcome of merge and acquisition. By interviewing these key persons of W Company, we concluded with problems including culture, leadership, organization process, and human resources management that do have significant influence on the merge and acquisition progress. Furthermore, we try conclude and making hypotheses according to our interview. The purpose of our thesis was to discuss factors that affect the performance of merge and acquisition, such as corporate culture, leadership, operation process, and organization. According to the conclusions made from Narrative Method, it showed that these factors to some extent did have significant influence on the performance of post merge and acquisition. Therefore, anyone who wants to have splendid performance of merge and acquisition could not ignore these ones. According to the results, as we defined that whenever the performance ¡§turns from loss to profit,¡¨ it means that the merger is getting into success. Therefore, as the case is making huge profit many years after the action of merger, this is really a ¡§success¡¨ case. Therefore, the propositions and survey records are really precious and referral literatures for practical and academic.

Denna kandidatuppsats söker att förklara vilken typ av effekter en fusion kan ha på en organisationskultur. För att genomföra en analys av fusionens effekter krävs att organisationskulturen sonderas och därmed kan användas som grund. Vi har valt att arbeta med Fläkt Woods eftersom de genomgick en fusion 2002 då det svensk-brittiska företaget föd-des. Arbetet fullföljdes genom en kvalitativ vinkel i form av en fallstudie. Sex djupgående intervjuer genomfördes med chefer och chefsassistenter på Fläkt Woods enheter i Enköping, Jönköping och Växjö. För att kunna blottlägga paradigmen, och därigenom skapa en förståelse för de underliggande värderingar som utgör en kultur, användes Cultural Web. Vi valde sedan att applicera Results of Cultural Integration (RCI)-modellen för att vidare förklara effekterna av fusionen. Som stöd för dessa modeller har vi använt oss av teorier om den kulturella integrationsprocessen och hur man, genom tre instrument, stödjer denna process. Resultatet av vår undersökning av paradigmen, som är representativt för organisationskulturen, pekar mot en atmosfär som omfattar positiva attityder, demokratiska beslutsförfarande, framtidsfokus och trygghet. Fusionen påverkade organisationskulturen genom att starta en pågående transformationsprocess. Detta är synligt då Enköping, Jönköping och Växjö för tillfället befinner sig i olika faser i denna process. Växjö utövar mycket samarbete med den brittiska delen av företaget och upplever därför kulturen som mer enhetlig än vad Enköping gör, där samverkan med Colchester är närmast obefintlig. Enheten i Jönköping har nått ett mellanliggande stadium eftersom de dels håller kvar sin egen kultur, men genom den ökande interaktionen med Woods utsätts för nya aspekter av organisationskulturen. Vi tror att Fläkt Woods organisationskultur kommer att fortsätta att förändras till de olika enheterna är mer synkroniserade. Förvandlingen mot en ny Fläkt Woods-kultur kommer inte att avstanna förrän Enköping och Jönköping har nått det stadium som Växjö befinner sig i för tillfället, och därmed börjar anamma den nya kulturen i en större utsträckning. Det ska dock noteras att eftersom ägarna till Fläkt Woods, Compass Holdings, inte har pressat högsta ledningen att medvetet arbeta med frågor som rör organisationskulturen så kommer integrationsprocessen att ta längre tid än om frågan hade varit av högre prioritet / This bachelor thesis aims to explain the area of how a merger can affect a corporate culture. In order to do this, the corporate culture needs to be explored to found a basis for the analysis of the merger effects. We have chosen to work with Fläkt Woodsas they took part of a merger in 2002 where the Swedish-British company was founded. The work was carried out with a qualitative approach, in the form of a case study. We performed six in depth interviews, with managers and managers’ assistants at Fläkt Woodssites in Enköping, Jönköping and Växjö. In order to uncover the paradigm, and thus understand the underlying assumptions of the culture, we used the Cultural Web. To further explain the effects of the merger, an application of the Results of Cultural Integration (RCI)-model was performed. To support the analysis we used theories on the cultural integration process as well as on how to support the integration process through three instruments. The results of our investigations of the cultural paradigm, which we hold as representative for the corporate culture, pointed toward an atmosphere which comprised positivism, democracy, focus on the future and safety. The merger affected the corporate culture by starting off an ongoing transformation process. This is visible as Växjö, Jönköping and Enköping are currently in different phases in the process. Växjö cooperate the most with the British unit situated in Colchester and thus experiences the culture as more unified than Enköping does where no interaction with England takes place. The site in Jönköping has reached an intermediate stage as they are partly clinging on to their own culture but at the same time, through the increasing interaction with Woods, are exposed to new aspects of the corporate culture. We believe that the corporate culture of Fläkt Woodswill continually change until the sites are more in tune with each other. The transformation towards a new Fläkt Woodsculture will not stop until Enköping and Jönköping have reached the stage that Växjö is currently in, and thus start to embrace the new culture to a larger extent. However, as the owner of Fläkt Woods, Compass Holdings, has not put any pressure on the top management to consciously work with the issues of corporate culture, the integration process will take longer than if the matter was of higher priority.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate what cultural changes can be observed in an acquired company’s corporate culture in one unit that is integrated in the acquiring company’s routines - but not physically integrated. This research aims to contribute to the understanding of post-acquisition situations in the long-term. To fulfill this purpose, the following questions were to be answered: how do the employees at the acquired (but not physically integrated) company unit experience the corporate culture seven years after the acquisition, and how do they feel knowing their unit will be transferred to the same location as the acquirer company? Answering these questions, an exploratory qualitative case study of GEHC in Uppsala was implemented with fourteen employees interviewed at GEHC Boländerna and the unit in Fyrislund. The results revealed that the culture at the acquired unit today is partly changed and the core values are no longer prominent to the same extent, despite being deliberately maintained by the employees. There is also a partly negative attitude towards the physical integration, as the last parts of the acquired company´s culture will entirely disappear as the employees will be divided into different departments once they move to Boländerna.

This paper explores the interrelationships among corporate culture, capital structure, firm performance, and fiduciary duties. Chaos theory, nonlinear dynamics, complex systems theory, and socio-cultural studies of firms’ organizational ecosystems, and enabling infrastructure suggest that the BCE rule is: (i) a superior fiduciary principle to shareholder primacy; and (ii) more likely to enhance firm value in proportion to the importance of intangible assets in its production process. The existence of “epistatic costs” rooted in the non-linear negative feedback effects of perverse agency theory-driven cost cutting is hypothesized. A theoretical model is developed to empirically test for the existence of epistatic costs and optimal levels of organizational tension or “slack.” Broader implications of the model for fiduciary rules, financing decisions, and the current posture of Canadian securities regulation in the takeover context are explored.

This paper explores the interrelationships among corporate culture, capital structure, firm performance, and fiduciary duties. Chaos theory, nonlinear dynamics, complex systems theory, and socio-cultural studies of firms’ organizational ecosystems, and enabling infrastructure suggest that the BCE rule is: (i) a superior fiduciary principle to shareholder primacy; and (ii) more likely to enhance firm value in proportion to the importance of intangible assets in its production process. The existence of “epistatic costs” rooted in the non-linear negative feedback effects of perverse agency theory-driven cost cutting is hypothesized. A theoretical model is developed to empirically test for the existence of epistatic costs and optimal levels of organizational tension or “slack.” Broader implications of the model for fiduciary rules, financing decisions, and the current posture of Canadian securities regulation in the takeover context are explored.

The mounting environmental problems cause the strict international environmental regulations, arouse the customers¡¦ environmental awareness, and changing the patterns of business competition around the world. Green management, which is highly connected to sustainable development, is bringing to light and the curtain of corporate greening lifts. This study aims to probe the relationship between green strategy and competitive advantage- what strategies enterprises take under the green trend and what competitive advantages are achieved. The role green corporate culture plays is also discussed. The findings show that the practice of green strategy which differs from firm¡¦s resources and industrial characters generates different competitive advantages. The strength of green corporate culture is positively related to companies¡¦ ¡§age¡¨. Firms with strong green corporate culture can efficiently execute the green strategy and bring out strong competitive advantages. Otherwise, TMT should make efforts on conveying green vision to drive the practice of green strategy and secure competitive advantages.

ABSTRACT All companies want to make profits and will be globalized, but how do they get it? Human resource management must be the key point. Corporate cultures and business strategies try to catch changing environment. How do they affect human resource systems especial in staffing strategies and organization performances? We have 106 effective samples from 1.Taiwan¡¦s 5000 Top manufacture corporations surveyed by CHINA CREDIT INFORMATION SERVICE, LTD. in 2002. 2. Association of Taichung Human Resource Managers. The effective recover rate was 19.2% and then used the SPSS & LISREL software to analyze our questionnaire. The main conclusions of our research are¡G 1.The different corporate culture firms can be classified four types by the two dimensions of flexibility and external focus. Each of the four types has significant deviation. 2.The different business strategy firms can be classified four types by the two dimensions of innovation and market range. Each of the four types has significant deviation. 3.The corporate cultures and business strategies affect organization performances through the staffing strategies

Interfirm collaboration has long been deemed as a fast strategy to obtain organizational competitiveness. The ability of organizations to obtain information from and disseminate knowledge signifies the importance of whether a firm can achieve knowledge creation among the networked firms and firms therefore can gain competitive advantages. The research was conducted using a qualitative approach; case details were collected from firms involving international strategic alliance. The research aims to investigate the influences of boundary spanners, information technology and corporate cultures on organizational competitiveness in strategic alliances. Findings reveal that boundary spanners, cultural issues and information technology are positively related to organizational competitiveness.