The purpose of this study is to examine perceptions and experiences of fairness amongst Muslim post-secondary students in order to gain insights for internationalization policy making in post-secondary education. This study is a mixed methods study. A triangulation design was employed to collect data. The participants, 189 Muslim students, were reached via student organizations, national and local Muslim organizations, and Muslim student groups organized on Facebook. Following use of these initial contact points, snowball sampling was also utilized. The quantitative and qualitative data were gathered simultaneously by using a web survey. The survey included 12 open-ended and 19 closed questions. The quantitative data were analyzed by using descriptive and inferential statistical analysis techniques. The qualitative data were analyzed by employing thematic analysis. Selected results from the study are as follows: When interpolated from perceptions of Muslim students, their collective definition of fairness is: using one standard for everybody in the same context. For Muslim students, their university is the most fair setting, followed by Canada, and the country that Muslim students culturally identified with. The World is perceived as the most unfair setting for responding Muslims. Except the country Muslim students culturally identified with, all settings are perceived to be more fair for non-Muslims than for Muslims. The majority of Muslim students reported that they had encountered, observed, or experienced unfairness at least once in their university during the previous academic year and that they had been impacted by that unfairness. The most commonly reported type of unfairness was interactional unfairness, followed by distributive unfairness. The most frequently reported violated rules causing to interactional unfairness were those related to respect, propriety, and consistency. For distributive unfairness the most frequently reported violated rules were those associated with equity, equality, and need. Participants generally blame violators for unfairness; criticizing them for being biased, ignorant, and intolerant to differences. More than 90 percent of participants reported that they experienced negative feelings because of the unfairness they had experienced. Participants’ most commonly reported reactions to the unfairness involved passive behaviours, followed by assertive behaviours. Gender, age, the amount of time Muslim students spent in Canada, legal status, the country where Muslim students had spent the majority of their life, nationality, the country Muslim students culturally identified with, and religious commitment level indicated difference in some dependent variables which reflect the participants’ fairness perceptions or experiences.

Purpose This study explores the internationalization pathway of the Born Global, The Company, when entering the Mexican market. Background Companies have recently started realizing the importance of “being green” for their customers. Market demand shifts towards more natural and renewable materials that can prevent damage and enhance the well-being of individuals and societies.  Therefore, the market for biodegradable materials is growing and is full of possibilities. Today, many additives suppliers operate globally. Born Global firms stand out with their approach to the internationalization process. It is interesting to find out the uniqueness of the Born Global firm’s internationalization pathway, their motivation and behavior. Method  Qualitative data was collected through two in-depth semi-structured interviews with two top management team members of The Company behind the case study. Before the two main interviews, 4 pre-interviews took place, which helped the authors to become familiar with the environment and operations of the company.  This data was complemented with secondary data obtained though literature reviews.   Conclusion The authors were able to find several gaps in the Integrative Model of Small Firms Internationalization, by Bell et al. (2003). Firstly, they found that not all Born Global firms have a Home market to return to. Secondly, it was clear that the model was too rigid in its segmentation of types of Born Global firms. According to the research done by the authors, a firm can act as both an innovator and adopter, as a “Knowledge-intensive” and “Knowledge-based” firm, and can target both a niche and a mass market simultaneously.

Over the last two decades, the Born Global phenomenon has grown into a fascinating field of internationalization studies. Several perspectives have been studied to enrich this rather new area of business research, however little has been studied in context of the types of economies from where these firms emerge. More especially, insufficient amounts of literature cover the Born Global phenomenon from the emerging market context.   Therefore, the purpose of this thesis is to gain a deeper understanding of this phenomenon from the emerging market context by investigating the factors that influence these born global firms to succeed in their international markets.   We conducted a case study of two companies one from Mexico and another from Ghana. We adopted a qualitative approach for the literature review, data collection and analysis during the course of the study. We also utilized theoretical concepts to build a conceptualized framework to guide our study. Both primary and secondary data sources were used in this research.   Our study revealed five main factors that influence born global firms from emerging economies to succeed in the international scene. These factors are both internal and external and are as follows; strategic management of the firm, networks, product differentiation, technology and markets. We found that the significance of each of the factors’ influence on the companies was specific to type of industry and product/service offering.

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The purpose of this thesis is to gain a deeper understanding in the internationalization process that Swedish banks go through. This will be achieved by evaluating Nordea and SEB and their internationalization to Poland and Germany. The concept of internationalization is constantly being explored, leading to different forms of results and theories within this area of research. Nordea is one of the largest providers of financial services in the Nordic and Baltic Sea region. Nordea has a strong focus on expanding their internationalization. SEB’s biggest markets are the Nordic countries, the Baltic’s and Germany. SEB has diverse strategies and structures in the different countries that the bank operates in. The methodology for this thesis is of a deductive approach performed with qualitative and quantitative data. A case study on Nordea and SEB is performed. To complement the case study results, a CAMEL rating is conducted on Nordea and SEB to assess the risk and earnings performance on each bank and and their specific internationalization locations. Evidence from this thesis confirms that the amount of knowledge and experience put in by the bank to the location is essential for the success of internationalization. This research found Nordea’s incentives towards Poland were the higher potential in growth in emerging markets. For SEB the incentive was mainly to follow customers which confirm that SEB has a strong commitment to the home market which leads the bank to new activities. The authors found the CAMEL rating to be a valuable tool for evaluating foreign operations. The authors believe an external CAMEL rating should be assigned each parent company along with their internationalization locations. Both banks obtained very low ratings according to these measures which indicates good and solid performance with little need for supervision. Nordea and SEB are both stable banks in Sweden as well as abroad. The international operations assess a slightly higher CAMEL rating for both banks which shows that the banks have a more stable business in the domestic countries. The CAMEL rating showed that Nordea and SEB’s parent companies are well prepared for the new Basel regulations which will be implemented in 2013 while the acquisitions in Poland and Germany must make adoptions to the new set of requirements.

When SMEs have decided to internationalize their business, several different ways can be chosen to enable that process. In this research, trade shows exemplify an aid for internationalization at the same time as trade shows are portrayed as a good networking tool. Motives for participating in trade shows tend to vary; some companies see trade shows as an opportunity to launch new products and conduct sales whereas others consider trade shows as a good occasion to find new customers at the same time as they can maintain current customer relationships. Trade shows are furthermore a great opening to establish new business contacts, which consequently can provide an inroad into foreign markets. The aim with this dissertation is to analyze how SMEs use trade shows as a trigger or first step to internationalize and to investigate which role networking plays in a trade show context. Furthermore the aim of the study is to examine how SMEs’ networks affect their internationalization process. This research was carried out by conducting multiple-case studies of six companies from the region of Kalmar, Sweden. The results gained by the case studies confirmed that trade shows play an important role for SMEs when aiming to internationalize and expand the business network. Further, the case studies indicated that network connections are crucial for enabling the internationalization of SMEs.

In recent years, Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises (hereafter called SMEs) have emerged to become an important factor for Vietnam¡¦s rapid economic growth. The environments in which these SMEs operate are speedily changing with the internationalization of the Vietnamese economy. Prompt changes have brought both opportunities and threats for the fragile SMEs section in Vietnamese economy. The purpose of this research is to answer ¡§What are the solutions for Vietnamese SMEs after going in the globalization process?¡¨ This paper indicates solutions (chiefly financial solutions) for challenges lie ahead if the plans for further trade liberalization and internationalization are realized. The basis of this paper¡¦s analysis is a database on the activities of some Vietnamese SMEs in a period of 2007-2009, with quantitative data about various aspects of company operations, as well as qualitative information about the entrepreneurs¡¦ perceptions of the current business environment and expectations about the future. In the survey¡¦s results, I have found a model of the internationalization of SMEs has been created which includes some elements: financial keys, governmental role, and other supporting organization. In which, access in finance has appealed as a key element for small and medium enterprise regarding the scope research of the survey. I believe they are main considerations for the Vietnamese SMEs to maintain, survive and develop their business operation after going globalization. Optimize financial solutions as suitable way to entry foreign market, government support; determine own Competitive advantage, positioning, decision-making and controlling.

Abstract With the trend of globalization and the pricing competition caused by China¡¦s manufacturing business, the quality of products is not the only issue that companies are facing now. There are some external as well as internal challenges that companies must face. External challenges include the competitive trend caused by the dynamic environmental movements and the operation pressure caused by facing competitors; internal operation issues concern the integration of the value chain and the continuous improvements in innovative managing skills. The case of research is the largest company professionally specialized in manufacturing drain cleaners in Taiwan. The company¡¦s sales are entirely dedicated to exporting to the international market; and OEM and ODM are its main type of business. Since drain cleaners are categorized as part of the hand tools industry, we must study the trends and activities in such industry. The business opportunities in the hand tools industry mainly depend on consumer¡¦s demand, providing different services to different individual buyers, and the opportunities derived from the rise of the home improvement market. Therefore, in the hand tools market, drain cleaner manufacturers should take into consideration that products which suit the new generation¡¦s need better and are with high economic values are more likely to satisfy the consumer needs. For the main thesis of this paper, we will be looking at discussions about the innovative and competitive strategies from literatures related, and the research will be based on J. Barney¡¦s resource base theory. Through the individual case analysis and roots study in grounded theory, I hope to achieve the following research purposes in this paper: 1. To analyze the operating state and the competitive advantages in the drain cleaner market in hand tools industry in Taiwan. 2. How the company in case study responds to the external challenges and which competitive advantages and strategies the company should take when facing such challenges. The conclusions to the company competitiveness in the case study based on relevant researches are as follows: 1. Regarding the case company¡¦s competitiveness against foreign markets, cost competitiveness is not recommended as the main business strategy, but rather to develop and strengthen the high-price, high quality markets as the recommended strategy. 2. Facing the competitions that the rise of the Asian market and the emergence of the Chinese consumer market brought, I suggest that the company in the case study, with its regional economic advantage, should consider a strategic alliance with European or American buyers or strategically to consider a joint venture with them. 3. Regarding providing useful information about the competitive market for the company, cost accounting standard procedures and other statistics related forms are strongly recommended to be established within the company in the case study, in order to provide critical information for managing department. 4. With the coming of the era of internationalization, the company in the case study should design an international personnel training system as well as a strategic human resource department to face the related incoming issues that internationalization may bring. Keyword¡Gstrategy, core competence, dynamic competition, internationalization

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Vietnam has officially completed the bilateral negotiations with members of WTO on May 31, 2006. One of the commitments was to open the national financial market. In recent years, Vietnam has become the most popular market for Taiwanese banking to internationalize and expand their business due to the following reasons: the unopened financial market in China, the close relations between the financial industries in Taiwan and Vietnam, and the mission of ¡§Passing Experiences¡¨ by the officials of the Financial Supervisory Commission in Taiwan. Many Taiwanese banks have already set up branches or offices in Vietnam. Moreover, Cathay United Bank has cooperated with the national Incom Bank in Vietnam to establish the Indovina Bank. Vietnam has become one of the main profit-making overseas countries beyond Hong Kong, in the banking industry. According to the statistics, from 1988 to 2006, the investment of Taiwanese companies in Vietnam exceeded eight billion USD. Taiwan was the biggest foreign investment country in Vietnam. Vietnam has opened the flotation of foreign investment in recent years, and Taiwanese investment is the major source. Vietnam has become another main market for Taiwanese companies. On the other hand, these companies are the basic clients for Taiwanese banks in Vietnam. The study has taken Taiwanese banking as the main theme to discuss and analyze the entry models into the Vietnamese market to determine the possible problems and difficulties. Chapter II discusses the related theories and models of multinational companies in overseas markets. It also explains the internationalization process of banking, product lifespan and marketing strategies. Chapter III explains the recent economic development and investment environment as well as the present financial situation and banking regulations in Vietnam. Chapter IV discusses the banking business in Taiwan and investment in Vietnam. Chapter V analyzes all of the collected information and summarizes which models should be followed when entering the Vietnamese market, based on different competition advantages and entry timing of banks. Marketing strategies are also discussed. Chapter six is the conclusion and provides suggestions.