Vale, a Brazilian-based, multinational mining company is used as a case study to investigate the impact of institutions on company strategy in dynamic markets. The research focuses on Vale’s exploration and development of the coal deposits of Mozambique, a country in which the institutional environment was decimated by war between 1964 and 1992.The objective of the research is to investigate how using the theory of institutions, as articulated in international business and corporate strategy literature, could be useful in understanding how firms make strategic choices and seek to gain competitive advantage in dynamic markets. In addition, the research provides a case study based in an African market, which will add to the material available for teaching general management principles in dynamic markets.The research demonstrates the importance of the link between Brazil’s foreign policy between 2000 and 2010, and Vale’s expansion strategies in Africa at that time. It highlights the institutional deficiencies in Mozambique at the time of Vale’s entrance, such as the limited rail infrastructure and weakly developed mineral rights legislation; and shows how Vale has been able to turn these deficiencies into competitive advantage, and has developed a dominant position in an internationally significant coalfield.In this way, the research supports the “institutional-view” of strategy, as articulated by Peng, Wang and Jiang (2008) and positions the role of institutions as being at least as important as industry and company resource factors in determining company strategy in dynamic markets.The challenge presented to readers of the case is to describe the institutional landscape in Mozambique and assess Vale’s response to it, using Khanna, Palepu and Sinha’s (2005) framework; to assess the merit of Peng et al.’s (2008) “strategy-tripod” when considering dynamic market strategy; and to consider the economic, political and social context facing Vale in trying to maintain and grow their competitive position. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

According to Saville (1993), the economic growth of less developed countries is impeded due to the presence of four “gaps” in these economies. However, Saville (1993), states that, by filling these gaps, developing economies are able to achieve economic growth and development. The main objective of this research is to update the study of Saville (1993) in order to determine the impact of the multinational corporation on the host economy in reference to the drivers of exogenous and endogenous growth in contribution to filling these gaps.This is a quantitative study which makes use of secondary data obtained from JSE listed firms operating in the mining sector in South Africa. Statistical regression analysis was conducted and results are compared to the previous Saville (1993) study.In summary, the results of the study are mixed however in terms of informing government policy, this study confirms the importance of FDI in emerging markets. The caveat however, firstly, is to inform policy to attract the right kinds of FDI to contribute to filling specific gaps in to achieve the required economic growth. Secondly, policy should require collaboration between MNC’s, private firms as well as public sector firms in order to share knowledge and profits in having a positive effect on social welfare and economic growth in the domestic economy. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

Cette thèse, intégrée dans le projet Cosmet’eau et la phase 4 du programme OPUR, apporte de nouveaux éclairages sur la dynamique des parabènes, du triclosan et du triclocarban en milieu urbain sous forte pression anthropique. Ces molécules sont des biocides couramment utilisés en tant que conservateur dans de très nombreux produits de consommation courante comme les cosmétiques, les produits alimentaires ou pharmaceutiques, les textiles, les produits d’entretien. En dépit de leur toxicité, ces molécules ne font l’objet d’aucun suivi réglementaire dans l’environnement. Aussi, ce travail porte sur la dynamique de ces micropolluants en milieu urbain : de leurs sources (à savoir les eaux grises et eaux vannes) jusqu’au milieu récepteur (amont-aval de l’agglomération parisienne par échantillonnage ponctuel et passif) en intégrant leur comportement en station d’épuration à l’échelle de l’ouvrage.Au niveau des sources, cinq types d’eau grise issus de douche, lavabo, lave-linge, lave-vaisselle et vaisselle manuelle ont été considérés. Une variabilité importante des concentrations au sein de chacune des eaux grises et entre les différents types d’eau grise a été observée. Cette variabilité est le reflet des pratiques de consommation des différents volontaires. Au final, les eaux des lave-linge et douche sont les plus contaminées. Pour les parabènes, le linge est la source majoritaire de contamination des eaux de lave-linge, dans le cas des eaux de douche, les personnes et les produits de soins corporels sont les principales sources de contamination.Depuis 2010, les flux quotidiens par habitant de ces molécules ont diminué significativement (d’un facteur compris entre 2 et 7 suivant la molécule). Cette diminution s’explique par (i) les changements de formulation des produits cosmétiques et (ii) l’apparition de nouvelles réglementations plus contraignantes.Le suivi du devenir en station d’épuration (sur Seine Centre), à l’échelle de l’ouvrage, a montré que le traitement primaire (décantation physico-chimique lamellaire) permet un abattement quasi-total du triclosan, les parabènes sont majoritairement éliminés lors de la biofiltration notamment au niveau du premier étage (Biofor). La généralisation d’un traitement tertiaire (du type Carboplus® suivi lors de ce travail) permettrait de réduire ces rejets.Les rejets urbains par temps de pluie (ici les déversoirs d’orage) constituent une source importante de contamination pour le milieu récepteur au regard des niveaux que nous avons observé. La combinaison des rejets des stations d’épuration, par temps sec et par temps de pluie, et des déversoirs d’orage contribue à augmenter les niveaux en parabènes, triclosan et triclocarban de la Seine comme le suivi de deux stations de mesure en amont et aval de l’agglomération parisienne l’a mis en évidence. Les échantillonneurs passifs sont des outils prometteurs pour déterminer la fraction biodisponible du TCS et du TCC. En effet, la méthode développée dans le cadre du projet Cosmet’eau a été appliquée avec succès à la Seine. / This Phd thesis is part of both the Cosmet’Eau project and the OPUR programme. It provides new insights into the dynamics of parabens, triclosan and triclocarban in urban areas under strong human pressure. These molecules are biocides commonly used as preservatives in a wide range of consumer products, such as cosmetics, food and pharmaceutical products, textiles and cleaning products. Despite their toxicity, these molecules are not subject to any regulatory monitoring in the environment. Also, this work deals with the dynamics of these micropollutants in urban areas: from their sources (namely gray water and sewage) to the receiving environment (upstream-downstream of the Parisian conurbation with punctual and passive sampling) along with their behavior at different stages of a wastewater treatment plant.At the source level, five types of greywater from shower, washbasin, washing machine, dishwasher and manual dish washing were considered. Significant variability in concentrations within each greywater and between different types of greywater was observed. This variability reflects the consumption practices of the different volunteers. Besides, the waters from washing machines and showers are the most contaminated. For parabens, clothes are the main source of contamination of washing machine waters, while in shower waters, people and personal care products are the main sources of contamination.Since 2010, per capita daily flows of these molecules have decreased significantly (by a factor between 2 and 7 depending on the molecule). This decrease can be explained by (i) changes in the formulation of cosmetic products and (ii) the emergence of new, more restrictive regulations. The monitoring of the fate in wastewater treatment plant (Seine Centre), at the scale of the device, showed that primary treatment (lamellar physico-chemical decantation) allows a quasi-total removal of triclosan, while parabens are predominantly eliminated during the biofiltration, at the level of the first stage (Biofor). The general use of a tertiary treatment (like Carboplus®, studied during this work) would reduce discharges to receiving waters of parabens, triclosan and triclocarban.Urban discharges during wet weather period (here combined sewer overfows) constitute a major source of contamination for the receiving waters with respect to the measured levels. The combination of sewage treatment plant discharges, during dry and wet weather periods, and combined sewer overfows contributes to increasing levels of parabens, triclosan and triclocarban in the Seine River, as the monitoring of two sites, upstream and downstream of the Paris conurbation, has highlighted it. Passive samplers are promising tools for determining the bioavailable fraction of TCS and TCC. Indeed, the method developed within the framework of the Cosmet'eau project has been successfully applied to the Seine

Les deux dernières décennies ont été marquées par la montée en puissance des économies émergentes et l’émergence de startups et PME technologiques à forte croissance internationale. Cette tendance a donné naissance à un nouveau domaine de recherche, l’entrepreneuriat international dans les économies émergentes. L’objet de cette recherche qualitative est d’étudier les facteurs qui influencent le processus d’identification des opportunités internationales chez les PME technologiques issues d’une économie émergente, la Tunisie. A cet effet, nous étudions le processus d’internationalisation de sept PME technologiques tunisiennes du secteur des technologies de l’information et des communications. Les résultats de l’analyse intra et inter cas identifient les traits de personnalité de l’entrepreneur, les capacités entrepreneuriales internationales et les réseaux relationnels de l’entrepreneur comme les trois principales catégories de facteurs qui influencent l’identification des opportunités internationales. Notre recherche aboutit à la formulation et la discussion de huit propositions qui permettent de schématiser un modèle explicatif de l’internationalisation des PME technologiques issues des économies émergentes. / The last two decades have been marked by the rise of emerging economies and the emergence of start-ups and Hi-Tech SMEs with high international growth. This trend has spawned a new area of research, international entrepreneurship in emerging economies. The purpose of this qualitative research is to study the factors that influence the process of identifying international opportunities in technological SMEs from an emerging economy, Tunisia. To this end, we are studying the process of internationalization of seven Tunisian technological SMEs in the information and communications technology sector. The results of the intra- and inter-case analysis identify entrepreneurial personality traits, international entrepreneurial capabilities and relational networks as the three main categories of factors that influence the identification of international opportunities. Our research results in the formulation and discussion of eight proposals that make it possible to schematize an explanatory model of the internationalization of technological SMEs emerging from emerging economies.

This thesis examines reactions of German manufacturing firms to emerging market competitors while operating in the institutional conditions of the Russian market. Although the literature on internationalization of emerging market firms is rapidly growing, research in the Russian institutional context remains scarce. At the same time, rivals from emerging economies already hold strong positions in this major market, especially in the mature manufacturing industries. Against this background, the theoretical framework of this dissertation stems from theories of industrial organization, strategic management, marketing, and international business. To address the novelty and complexity of this inquiry, the thesis adopts interpretivism paradigm, primary inductive logic, and qualitative research strategy. The study was conducted in two stages among 34 managers representing 28 German automotive and mobile machinery suppliers operating in Russia. The process of data collection and analysis was enhanced by combining key procedures of the grounded theory with several other common qualitative techniques. The analysis showed that despite hostile activities of emerging market firms, the German managers primarily focused on competition with rivals from other developed countries. The emerging market competitors were perceived as benefiting from cost-leadership strategy and local market proximity. Consequently, the managers frequently ignored their activities and considered that their firms were protected from competition by several entry barriers. Those companies, which responded to these competitors, mainly combined strategies of differentiation, localization, retreat, and a narrow set of tactical retaliations. This study also determined the direct and mostly deteriorative influence of the Russian institutional environment on the competitive advantage of the German companies. Furthermore, the longitudinal research design revealed a largely adverse impact, which the occurred institutional changes had on the competitiveness of the German firms. The findings provide a novel synthesis of competitive reactions to entrants from emerging markets. Moreover, this research is the first one to describe an aggregated impact of Russian institutional environment on the competitiveness of Western firms related to emerging market companies. In this way, it supports the institution-based view of strategy, and synthesizes a practically applicable decision framework for competitive reaction. Considering the importance of the Russian market and increasing competitiveness of emerging market firms, this thesis makes an important contribution to competition research in emerging economies.

The provision of an adequate liability regime for ADAS technologies is an essential prerequisite for its roll out over the coming decade. Facing to the challenge of future highly automated vehicles, this paper proposed a Human-Machine Transition (HMT) approach as a common conceptual framework for considering Human Machine Interaction (HMI), liability and ethical issues in a unified way. The issues that arise are interrogated from a legal perspective, more specifically liability regimes and that of applied ethics. The paper highlights the issue of the handover/takeover. Potential consequences for insurance companies are then identified accordingly, with the aim to progress towards the sustainable deployment of automated vehicles on public roads.

The current study examined how multiple dimensions of ethnic-racial identity (ERI) were associated with alcohol use and alcohol use disorder (AUD) symptoms and how these relations varied by individuals’ ethnic-racial group among 1850 diverse emerging adults (M = 18.46, SD = .38). Further, measurement invariance of the Ethnic Identity Scale-Brief (EIS-B) was tested across Latinx, White, Black, Asian, and Multiracial students. Additionally, alternative models were examined that tested whether family factors (i.e., parent education and family history of alcohol problems) moderated the relations between ERI and alcohol problems to further examine nuances in these relations. Results indicated that the EIS-B functioned differently across White students and students of color; therefore, all research questions were tested separately for White students. Findings indicated that there were significant differences by race/ethnicity. ERI affirmation was negatively associated with AUD symptoms for Asian individuals and Black individuals. ERI exploration was positively associated with AUD symptoms among Black individuals. ERI resolution was negatively associated with alcohol use for Latinx individuals and positively associated with alcohol use for Multiracial individuals. For White individuals, ERI exploration was negatively associated with alcohol use and ERI affirmation was negatively associated with AUD symptoms. Regarding the alternative models, parent education was a significant moderator, such that at high parent education, ERI resolution predicted more alcohol use among White students and less AUD symptoms among Minority students. Family history of alcohol problems was not a significant moderator of any relations between ERI dimensions and alcohol problems. Overall, continued research and finding ways to translate findings into interventions with college students that incorporate these nuanced mechanisms underlying alcohol problems is a fruitful and important endeavor.

This dissertation examines the ecclesiology of the Emerging Church from a feminist perspective. I focus on the theological critiques raised by early feminist theologians regarding the patriarchal habits of sexism and God-talk, systemic erasure and exclusion, and the interconnection of clericalism and hierarchical power embedded within the church. These critiques reveal areas within the Emerging Church where it has failed to embody its stated vision of being an organic, relational, and inclusive form of church. Constructive engagement with the challenges and contributions of feminist theology presses the Emerging Church to more radically embody its stated vision. An analysis of the literature on the Emerging Church reveals its commitment to form a church that reflects organicity, relationality, and inclusivity in a variety of creative forms. At the same time, the literature and public conversations on blogs, social media, and in conferences raise questions about the Emerging Church’s predominantly white and predominantly male public presentation, and about practices of exclusion and marginalization within it. This dissertation provides a thick description of the Emerging Church’s lived ecclesiology on the basis of a qualitative research study conducted on twelve Emerging Church congregations in the United States. The work of early feminist theologians such as Mary Daly, Nelle Morton, Rosemary Radford Ruether, and Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza, discloses the theological scaffolding that make the embedding of patriarchal and sexist structures and habits in the church possible in the first place. Their feminist vision of church as radical participation in Christ challenges the Emerging Church to keep re-visioning itself in light of the systemic marginalization persons continue to experience in the church. The dissertation concludes by arguing for the need to incorporate emancipatory language, God-talk, and symbolic systems into the theology and practices of Emerging Church in order to counter the deep-seated patriarchal habits and patterns within it. I conclude that to take itself seriously and achieve the substantive theological and structural changes for which its own vision calls as a living, participatory, and inclusive body of Christ, the Emerging Church must be willing to practice an explicitly feminist critique and take into account the contributions of early feminist theologians.

Background: The phenomenon of CSR has become an increasingly adopted strategy among companies, as a result of the frequent discussion on climate change. At the same time, consumers have attained further awareness regarding sustainability and how consumption impacts the environment. Further, the fast fashion industry has been highlighted as one of the most harmful and unethical industries that negatively impacts the environment and lives of all. Thus, it is interesting to explore which factors influence consumers’ purchase decisions, and determine whether sustainability and CSR are taken into consideration. Purpose: This thesis aims to explore millennial consumers’ attitudes toward Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), as well as which factors consumers take into consideration when they are making purchase decisions. Method: In order to meet the research objectives, data has been collected with exploratory and qualitative methods. The research philosophy follows interpretivism, and adopts an abductive approach. Furthermore, 13 semi- structured interviews were conducted, which aim to explore and provide and understanding for consumers’ attitudes and perception. Interview participants were selected based on a purposive sampling method, with two identified criteria. Additionally, a coding system was constructed based on the literature review, which was used to analyse the data collected from the interviews. Conclusion: The results, extracted from the empirical data and analysis, suggest that there are two categories with factors influencing millennial consumers’ purchase decisions. The first category includes product related factors, whereas the other category includes a number of consumer related factors. The empirical results further conclude that the participants generally experience positive attitudes toward sustainability and CSR, while product related factors are more influential in the decision-making process.

This report investigates research opportunities in manned suborbital flights and gives future recommendations for relevant parties to seize such opportunities. The objective is to make a summary of the current state and elaborate on possible future steps to take. The study uses a research- and analysis-based approach, with stakeholder interviews being an important contribution to the analysis, as well as open-source mate-rials such as market analyses and research papers. Emerging suborbital flight vehicle developers are studied, as well as the future demand for suborbital flights. Major space research areas are investigated in terms of current experiments conducted, platforms used for experiments and their drivers and drawbacks, and future goals and dreams.The demand for suborbital flights is expected to grow up to 40% in coming years, out of which space research will account for 24%. Key characteristics of currently used platforms are microgravity time and level, payload capacity, flight and re-flight opportunities, launch flex-ibility and cost. The cost per kg of payload for suborbital flights is a competitive k€0.5-5. Suborbital flights can fill a gap in research in biology, physiology and human research, astrobiology/exobiolgy, atmo-spheric physics, space technology, and education. There are also fu-ture opportunities for satellite launch, with a growing demand for small-satellite launches. Future recommendations for Sweden are to develop institutional support for suborbital flights on an EU level, and to initi-ate collaborations for a suborbital flights program with a vehicle concept that provides better microgravity time and level than parabolic flights, and offers the possibility to have a human operator.