Topic:When an MNC seeks to enter a foreign country, it must choose the most appropriate entry mode for that specific market, such as exporting, licensing, a turnkey project, franchising, joint ventures or wholly-owned subsidiaries. There are many factors which affect the choice of entry modes. Influential factors contributing to the entry mode decision can have different degrees of impact for each particular country. As a consequence, an MNC has to use different entry modes in order to adapt to the specific situations it faces in its international expansion strategy. Research Problem: Our research problem is to find the answer to two specific research questions while investigating in a particular MNC: Starbucks. The relevant questions are: (1.) What factors affected Starbucks’ entry mode decisions? (2.) Which entry mode strategies did Starbucks use foreign markets and why? Method: We collected data through a qualitative method. We regarded that a qualitative research method would provide us the necessary data to understand entry mode decisions. We collected data through literature, books, journals, and Internet resources. We have decided to focus our qualitative research on exploring Starbucks’ entry mode decision in some specific markets. In particular, we have concentrated on Spain, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Conclusions: The choice of entry mode is a critical decision made by MNCs. The choice is influenced by several factors; we have divided these into internal and external factors. We have found both groups are important in the decisions made by Starbucks. However, the degree of influence is different in each case. Moreover, it is possible that some influential factors in the choice of entry mode can differ by case. Finally, we have found external factors have been critical in affecting Starbucks’ choice of entry modes. Starbucks has sought to adapt to those external factors and local needs and requirements by using different entry modes.

SUMMARY Rasa Kairienė Improvement of Entrepreneurship of Small Sales Businesses Master’s studies final thesis, 67 pages, 10 figures, 11 tables, 47 references, 2 appendices, in Lithuanian. KEY Words: businessman, entrepreneurship, human capital, small sales companies, external factors, internal factors. Object of investigation: businessmen of Radviliškis District small sales companies in 2003–2005. Subject of investigation: businessmen entrepreneurship. Aim of the work: to analyse entrepreneurship of small sales companies, to show ways of its improvement and to prepare entrepreneurship pattern. Tasks: 1) To ground entrepreneurship and related concepts. 2) To find out the entrepreneurship of the small sales companies of Radviliškis District. 3) To disclose reasons, creating obstacles for entrepreneurship of small sales companies, and to provide entrepreneurship improvement measures. 3) After having performed analysis, to prepare entrepreneurship pattern. Methods of investigation: synthesis and analysis of economic literature, sociologic questioning and interviewing methods, logical and graphical modelling methods. By studying literature about businessmen entrepreneurship and performing practical investigation, entrepreneurship of small sales companies’ businessmen was established, factors, impeding the entrepreneurship, stated, ways to improve entrepreneurship shown, entrepreneurship improvement patterns suggested.

Användandet av en kontoplan är frivilligt i Sverige, vilket betyder att det saknas reglering kring hur en kontoplan bör användas. Avsaknaden av reglering öppnar upp valmöjligheter kring de redovisningsval företag gör. Trots detta väljer 95% av företagen i Sverige att använda BAS-kontoplanen. Eftersom alla företag strävar efter att presentera en så bra redovisning som möjligt bestående av önskvärd information kan det dock vara svårt att avgöra vad som ligger bakom företagens val i redovisningen. Redovisningen utformas olika efter företagets intresse och vilka som efterfrågar informationen varierar. Motiven till redovisningsval kan därav delas upp i interna och externa faktorer. Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur BAS-kontoplanen används rent praktiskt av företag samt granska motiven till dess val av redovisningsmetod på en övergripande nivå. Frågorna studien avser besvara är: “Varför använder företagen kontoplanen som de gör?”, “Vad är företagens syfte med redovisningen?” och “Vilka faktorer påverkar utformandet av redovisningen?”. Studien har en kvalitativ forskningsstrategi bestående av två delar. Första delen är framtagandet av teorier i den teoretiska referensramen som används för att identifiera interna och externa faktorer som påverkar företags redovisningsval. Den andra delen är att ta fram empiriskt material vilket genomförts via sex semistrukturerade intervjuer till redovisningsansvariga på varierande företag. Resultatet av studien visar att redovisningsval i företag påverkas av olika faktorer samt beror på den motivation som finns inom företaget vid det specifika tillfället. Motivationen påverkar vilka faktorer som företagen tar hänsyn till när de upprättar sin redovisning. Företagens val påverkas både av interna faktorer som finns i förhållanden mellan olika parter inom företaget och externa faktorer som främst påverkas av företagets förhållande till sin omgivning. Studien visar även att BAS-kontoplanen uppfattas som lättanvänd och anpassningsbar. Studiens slutsatser ger en indikation till hur företag motiverar de val de gör inom redovisning och identifierar flera faktorer som påverkar dessa val. Dessa faktorer ger en överblick till varför de väljer att använda sig utav BAS-kontoplanen. Tillsammans med motivationen lägger detta en grund till hur fortsatt forskning kan utformas. / The use of an account plan is voluntary in Sweden, which means that there is no regulation about how an account plan should be used. The lack of regulation opens up choices about the accounting companies are doing. Nevertheless, 95% of companies in Sweden choose to use the BAS account plan. Since all companies strive to present a report with desirable information that is as good as possible, it may be difficult to determine what lies behind the companies choice in the accounting. The accounts are designed differently according to the company's interest, and those who request the information vary. The motives for accounting choices can therefore be divided into internal and external factors. The purpose of the study is to investigate how the BAS account plan is used by companies practically and to examine the reasons for its choice of accounting method at an overall level. The questions the study relates to is: "Why do companies use the accounting plan as they do?", "What are the business purpose of accounting?" And "What factors affect the design of the account?". The study has a qualitative research strategy consisting of two parts. The first part is the development of theories in the theoretical frame of reference used to identify internal and external factors that affect the company's accounting choices. The second part is to produce empirical material, which was carried out through six semistructured interviews to accounting officers of various companies. The result of the study shows that accounting choices in companies are affected by different factors and depend on the motivation that exists within the company at the specific moment. The motivation influences the factors that companies take into account when preparing their accounts. The choice of companies is influenced by internal factors that are found in relationships between different parties within the company and external factors that are primarily influenced by the company's relationship with its environment. The study also shows that the BAS account plan is perceived as easy-to-use and adaptable. The study's conclusions provide an indication of how companies motivate the choices they make in accounting and identify several factors that affect these choices. These factors give an overview of why they choose to use the BAS account plan. Together with the motivation, this puts a foundation on how continued research can be developed.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:26:51Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2010-05-04Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:15:53Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 silva_nfc_me_arafcl.pdf: 1154273 bytes, checksum: 26e554cbf406c339b1aad4cab18e552b (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / Nossa pesquisa de mestrado procura apontar as relações entre a literatura e o seu condicionamento social em À sombra do cipreste (1999) e A coleira no pescoço (2006), livros de contos de Menalton Braff, autor brasileiro contemporâneo. A análise de orientação sociológica surgiu porque os contos de Menalton, ao mesmo tempo em que proporcionam uma leitura de cunho intimista pelas crises das personagens, linguagem poética, fluxo de consciência, emprego da técnica impressionista e expressionista, entre outros aspectos, integram em sua estrutura as formas com que as relações sociais, valores e orientações ideológicas interferem nas personagens e contribuem para a economia do texto. Para mostrar as imbricações entre texto e contexto, recorremos ao método analítico de Antonio Candido, a crítica sociológica, baseado nas obras Literatura e Sociedade (1965) e Formação da literatura brasileira (1997). Além disso, nosso embasamento teórico está centrado em outros autores que dialogam, direta ou indiretamente, com a crítica sociológica de Candido, como João Alexandre Barbosa, (A leitura do intervalo. Ensaios de crítica, 1990, e Alguma crítica, 2002), René Wellek e Austin Warren, (Teoria da literatura, 1965), Luiz Costa Lima (Teoria da literatura em suas fontes, 2002) e Octavio Paz, (O arco e a lira, 1982). Propusemos uma divisão do corpus em quatro frentes temáticas, Morte/Memória, Relações familiares, Abandono/Solidão e Embate social como método que auxiliasse a leitura dos contos analisados (treze no total). Essa divisão, contudo, buscou apontar o tema sobressalente em cada conto e não propor uma leitura estanque das temáticas, uma vez que, de modo geral, cada narrativa transita entre os quatro grupos. Para essa divisão utilizamos Tomachevski (“Temática”, 1973) e o Dicionário de termos literários, de Massaud Moisés, 1974... / Our research tries to indicate the relationship between literature and society in the short stories of À sombra do cipreste (1999) and A coleira no pescoço (2006) by Menalton Braff, contemporary Brazilian author. The sociological reading arose because Menalton’s short stories, while providing an intimate reading because of the characters’ crises, poetic language, stream of consciousness, use of impressionist and expressionist technique in writing, among others characteristics, also make implicit the ways in which social relations, values and ideological orientations interfere with the characters and contribute to the economy of the text. To show the connections between text and context, we’ve used the analytical method of Antonio Candido, the sociological critic, based on the books Literatura e sociedade (1965) and Formação da literature brasileira (1997). Our theoretical framework also focuses on other authors that interact, directly or indirectly, with Candido’s sociological critic, as João Alexandre Barbosa (A leitura do intervalo. Ensaios de crítica, 1990, e Alguma crítica, 2002), René Wellek and Austin Warren, (Teoria da literatura, 1965), Luiz Costa Lima (Teoria da literatura em suas fontes, 2002) and Octavio Paz, (O arco e a lira, 1982). We have also proposed a division of the corpus into four thematic fronts, Death/Memory, Family Relationship, Abandonment/Loneliness and Social strike, as method which would help the reading of the short stories (thirteen in total). This division, however, sought to point the main theme in each story, but did not propose a reading of each theme tight, because each narrative moves among the four groups. To accomplish this division we’ve used Tomachevski (“Temática”, 1973) and the Dicionário de termos literários, by Massaud Moisés, 1974. From these theoretical assumptions, we sought to ascertain which social... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)

As variáveis que exercem influência em um setor podem torná-lo complexo e imprevisível. A complexidade de um setor, quando existente, é uma característica intrínseca e não pode ser evitada, sendo necessário que a empresa primeiramente compreenda e se adapte a essa complexidade a fim de obter vantagem competitiva frente a seus competidores. A imprevisibilidade também não pode ser evitada, entretanto pode ser também compreendida e atenuada. O setor de aviação é influenciado por diversas variáveis, sejam elas internas ou externas, o que o torna complexo e imprevisível. Principal exemplo de influência interna, a estratégia deve servir como um direcionador a todos dentro de uma organização, para que os objetivos delineados pelos executivos sejam alcançados. A definição da estratégia deve ser seguida de uma exaustiva análise da influência dos agentes externos ao setor, com o objetivo de compreendê-los e assim fazer com que os seus efeitos, quando negativos para a empresa, sejam os menores possíveis. Invariavelmente afetados pelas influências internas ou externas, sejam elas quais forem, estão os custos das companhias, que ao longo dos últimos 90 anos, passaram de um ordinário indicador de controle a uma ferramenta de auxílio às decisões estratégias, por meio da gestão estratégica de custos. No setor aéreo brasileiro, mais especificamente na aviação comercial, os custos passaram a ter maior importância a partir dos primeiros movimentos de desregulamentação do setor, iniciado em novembro de 1991, até a entrada no setor da companhia GOL, que trouxe um novo conceito para o país de gestão de custos, graças à retirada das últimas regulamentações ao controle das tarifas. Esse novo foco em custos iniciou uma nova etapa na competição das companhias aéreas no Brasil e introduziu a experiência de voar a novos passageiros, antes restritos ao transporte rodoviário por causa dos altos custos das passagens aéreas nos anos anteriores. A busca por custos mais baixos é comprovada com os resultados das análises, assim como a existência da diferenciação, principalmente no segmento internacional. O período de 2000 a 2010 foi marcado por diversos acontecimentos no mundo, como guerras, atentados terroristas, crises econômicas mundiais, todos esses com influência nos custos das companhias aéreas brasileiras. As análises de custo unitário demonstram a influência desses fatores, principalmente no custo de combustível, principal componente dos custos das companhias. / The variables that influence a sector can make it complex and unpredictable. The complexity of a sector, where it exists, is an intrinsic feature and cannot be avoided, being necessary for the company to first understand it and adapt it in order to gain competitive advantage against its competitors. The unpredictability cannot be avoided; however it can also be understood and mitigated. The aviation industry is influenced by several variables, whether internal or external, which makes it complex and unpredictable. Prime example of internal influence, the strategy should serve as a guide to all within an organization, so that the goals outlined by the executives are achieved. The definition of the strategy should be followed by an exhaustive analysis of the influence of external agents to the sector, in order to understand them and thus make their effects, while negative for the company, are as small as possible. Invariably affected by internal or external influences, whatever they are, are the costs of companies, which over the past 90 years, went from an ordinary control indicator to a tool to help decision strategies to be made, through strategic cost management. In the Brazilian airline industry, specifically in commercial aviation, the costs have been given greater importance from the first movement of deregulation, initiated in November 1991 until the entry into the industry the company GOL, which brought a new concept for country of management costs, mostly because of the withdrawal of the last regulations to control rates. This new focus on costs started a new stage in the competition of the airlines in Brazil and introduced the experience of flying to new passengers, previously restricted to road transport, because of the high cost of airline tickets in previous years. The constant search for lower costs is evidenced by the analyzes, as well as the existence of differentiation, more specifically in the international segment. The period from 2000 to 2010 was marked by several events in the world such as wars, terrorist attacks, global economic crisis, all of those with influence in the cost of Brazilian airlines. The unit cost analyzes demonstrate the influence of these factors, specially the cost of fuel, the main component of airlines costs.

Denna studie syftade till att bidra med kunskap om hur olika faktorer påverkar anställdas motivation i arbetet. Syftet preciserades med frågeställningarna “Hur påverkar yttre faktorer anställdas arbetsmotivation vid ett svenskt företag?” och “Hur påverkar inre faktorer anställdas arbetsmotivation vid ett svenskt företag?” En kvalitativ metod användes i form av semistrukturerade intervjuer. Intervjudeltagarna var tio anställda på ett större svenskt företag inom banksektorn. Intervjuerna kodades i sin helhet och presenterades i flertalet teman under kategorierna yttre och inre faktorer. Analysen utgick från Herzbergs motivation-hygienteori, vilket var det teoretiska ramverk som valts. De yttre faktorerna som diskuterades i studien var: förmåner, anställningstrygghet och ersättning. De inre faktorer som togs upp var: utmaning och utveckling, intressanta arbetsuppgifter, meningsfullt arbete, återkoppling i form av uppmärksamhet och bekräftelse samt frihet under ansvar. Resultatet visade att medan inre faktorer upplevdes ha en direkt påverkan på motivation, så upplevdes yttre faktorer inte i någon större utsträckning påverka motivation. Däremot när yttre faktorer hade en nära sammankoppling med inre faktorer, upplevdes även yttre faktorer ha en påverkan på motivation. / The aim of this study was to add to the existing knowledge about how employees’ work motivation is influenced by a number of factors. The study was guided by the following two research questions: How does external factors affect employees work motivation at a Swedish company? and How does internal factors affect employees work motivation at a Swedish company? A qualitative method was applied. The empirical basis consisted of semi-structured interviews with ten employees at a larger Swedish company within the banking sector. The interviews were coded into several themes of external and internal factors. The analysis was based on Herzberg’s motivation-hygiene theory. The external factors were: benefits, job security, and compensation. The internal factors were: challenge and development, interesting work tasks, meaningful work, feedback through attention and confirmation, as well as freedom and responsibility. The findings showed that while internal factors were perceived to have a direct influence on motivation, external factors were not perceived as having a particularly large influence on motivation. However, when combined with internal factors, also external factors were perceived to influence motivation.

På grund av pandemin COVID-19 råder det en extern kris i samhället, detta har påverkat många människor men inte minst organisationer. Myndigheter har utfärdat särskilda restriktioner vilket gör att organisationer måste anpassa sin verksamhet efter dessa. Detta har lett till att organisationer måste anamma de åtgärder som myndigheter utfärdat då de inte kan bedriva sin verksamhet på samma sätt. Detta har lett till att organisationerna måste arbeta internt med att hantera den externa krisen. Denna kvalitativa studie ämnar att undersöka hur den interna krishanteringen samt kriskommunikationen ser ut i idrottsorganisationer under en extern kris. Vilka åtgärder som vidtagits och hur organisationens interna kommunikation ser ut. För att få svar på hur idrottsorganisationer blivit påverkade av den externa krisen har semistrukturerade intervjuer genomförts med beslutsfattande personer inom IK Sävehof och Önnereds HK, två elithandbollsorganisationer baserade i Göteborgsområdet. Dessa intervjuer har stått för grund till empiriinsamlingen. Det resultat och slutsats som kommit fram genom att analysera empirin är att pandemin COVID-19 har haft en stor påverkan på den interna organisationen i handbollsklubbarna. Båda klubbar står inför liknande hot då de återfinns inom samma bransch samt att båda arrangerar stora arrangemang i form av ungdomsturneringar där Sävehof har fått ställa in och Önnered hotas av att ställa in på grund av COVID-19. Detta är de mest inkomstbringande källorna för respektive förening och det är en stor ekonomisk förlust. Ingen av organisationerna hade en tydlig bearbetat krishantering innan COVID-19, vilket är något som hade varit gynnsamt att ha då det kan ge en fördel när en kris väl inträffar. / Due to COVID-19 pandemic, there is an external crisis in society which has affected many people, as well as organizations. Authorities have issued special restrictions due to COVID-19. Hence organizations must adapt their activity to these restrictions and embrace measures that the authorities have issued. The organizations cannot continue their activities in the same way as before the COVID-19 pandemic. Hence there has been a major impact in society which has led organizations to work internally to deal with the external crisis. This qualitative study aims to investigate what the internal crisis management and crisis communication look like in sports organizations during an external crisis. What actions have been taken and how the organization’s internal communications looks like. In order to get answers to how the sports organizations have been affected by the external crisis, semi-structured interviews have been conducted with decision-making people within IK Sävehof and Önnereds HK, which are two elite handball organizations based in the Gothenburg area in Sweden. These interviews have provided the basis for the empirical data collection. The results and conclusion reached by analyzing the empirical data is that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a major impact on the internal organizations of the handball clubs. Both clubs face the same threat as they are found in the same industry, both have major events in form of youth tournaments where Sävehof has had to cancel and Önnered is threatened to cancel due to COVID-19. These events are the most generating sources of income for each organization which means that it is a great financial loss. Sävehof is a larger organization than Önnered, which can be studied in the way they handle the crisis internally as Sävehof has larger resources. None of the organizations had a clearly processed crisis management. This is something that would have been beneficial to have when an external crisis strikes. The essay is written in Swedish.

Thesis (M.COM. (Business Management)) -- University of Limpopo, 2021 / Increasing consumer demand, customer expectations, and change in technology compel industrial corporations, governments and small medium enterprises (SMEs) to adopt Enterprise Application Architecture (EAA). EAA is a system where the applications and software are connected to each other in such a way that new components can easily be integrated with existing components. This study focused on how internal and external factors impact the adoption of EAA for Supply Chain Management (SCM) in SMEs, located in the Capricorn District Municipality. Data is analysed through a statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS version 25). A quantitative methodology with self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from SMEs (SMEs owners and managers). In total, 480 questionnaires were distributed and 310 useable were returned. Cronbach’s Alpha was used to measure reliability. Data validity is obtained through the use of Kolmogorov-Sminorv-Test to ensuring that the questionnaire was based on assumptions from accepted theories as set out in the literature review. From the research findings, it was concluded that the adoption of EAA for SCM in SMEs depends on internal factors, external factors and perceived attitudes towards the adoption of EAA. The managerial implications of the study is based on actual results such as; (a) Internal factors on owners’ characteristics were described as assessment of interior dynamics affecting the enterprise, of which the management have a full control over them, such as employees, business culture, norms and ethics, processes and overall functional activities, (b) The Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) revealed that behavioural measures on Enterprise Resources that depends on speculations about the intensions towards the adoption of EAA for SCM, (c) Compatibility in Diffusion Theory of Innovation ascertains that Technology Acceptance Models need to be linked with relevant Information System Components to have a functional EAA for SCM, (d) The Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) encourages apparent behaviour on control for supplementary forecaster on intentions of employees towards the adoption of EAA for SCM in SMEs, (e) The TPB encourages apparent behaviour on control for supplementary forecaster on intentions of employees towards the adoption of EAA for SCM in SMEs, (f) Consultations with government parastatals or legal representatives of the enterprise would save the SMEs against any unforeseen challenges such as product liabilities, legal costs on lawsuit, tax evasion or avoidance penalties so forth, (g) The Diffusion Theory of Innovation (DTI) proposes that the Perceived Attitudes towards the Adoption of EAA have is affected by behaviour challenges from employees’ personal conduct that affect SCM activities within the SMEs, and (h) The DTI on the intention towards the adoption of EAA for SCM provides the competence in limiting some negative thoughts about the integrative phases or steps limiting the adoption of EAA for SCM. Keywords: Enterprise Application Architecture; Supply Chain Management; Internal and External Factors Affecting Adoption; and Technology Acceptance Models

Presented Master’s thesis characterizes, analyzes and assesses the current situation of Holba’s brewery, Ltd. The thesis includes theoretical resources, company analyses, mainly internal and external analyses. As a result of outside and inside analyses there are formulated opportunities and Threats, Strengths and Weaknesses. On the basis of findings, the thesis includes comprehensive proposal of strategy, development and improvement of company position, which should help to fix it’s position on market and take a step forward in today’s mobile world.

The subject of this master's thesis is to analyze the current business strategy of the company JANTA s.r.o. and perform the optimization, that will improve business strategy. The work includes theoretical aspects, analysis of the company, specifically external and internal analysis, SWOT analysis and financial analysis, then contains recommendations and instructions, which lead up within the proposed strategy to set goals in order to improve the competitiveness of the company. The author is managing director of the company.