The purpose of this thesis is to study how international Swedish plastics manufacturing companies have responded to covid-19 in terms of changes regarding corporate and business unit strategy and global sourcing. As research type a case study consisting of three case companies was applied. Mainly qualitative data using interviews were collected. The conclusions are that a regionalisation of the location of business units of a corporate group and a regionalisation of corporate strategies may take place and that covid-19 may enhance the process of regionalisation of sourcing of the case companies, which may lead to somewhat safer deliveries from suppliers, but higher prices for the case companies. It is suggested that in times of crisis, two types of SWOT-analyses should be made. One SWOT-analysis should cover strategic issues and thus be part of a strategy formulation process and lead to contingency strategies. The second SWOT-analysis should cover global sourcing issues and lead to contingency plan from a sourcing perspective. / Syftet med uppsatsen var att studera hur internationella svenska företag inom plastbranschen har svarat på covid-19, vad gäller förändring i företags- och affärsenhetsstrategi och globala inköp. Som forskningstyp valdes en fallstudie med tre fallföretag. Huvudsakligen kvalitativa data samlades in, genom intervjuer. Slutsatserna är att regionalisering avseende lokalisering av en koncerns affärsenheter och regionalisering av företagsstrategier kan ske och att covid-19 kan förstärka processen med regionalisering av fallföretagens inköp, vilket kan leda till något säkrare leveranser från leverantörer, men högre priser för fallföretagen. Det föreslås att det i kristider bör upprättas två typer av SWOT-analyser. En SWOT-analys bör avse strategiska frågor och vara del av strategiformuleringsprocess och leda till eventualitetsstrategier. Den andra SWOT-analysen bör avse globala inköpsfrågor och leda till en eventualitetsplan utifrån ett inköpsperspektiv.

Purchasing has gone from an administrative task to a strategic activity. As such, firms adopt purchasing as a corporate function to set up rules and processes in order to standardize how purchasing is to be carried out by business units. This has the benefit of consolidating spend towards a fewer number of suppliers to be used throughout the entire organization and achieve great cost savings on a corporate level. Not complying to these rules and processes, however, will offset the benefits associated with strategic purchasing. A consequence of non-compliance is a large supply base which should not be the case if established processes are followed. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the procurement process of a Swedish multinational organization in a case study setting, which applies strategic purchasing whilst reporting a large supply base. Hence, the authors aim to identify the main challenge in the procurement process. Additionally, this thesis seeks to find an explanation to the challenge by identifying the underlying contributing factors. The main challenge was discovered to be Maverick Buying, a phenomenon limited in research. Maverick Buying is the off-contract purchasing of goods and services and therefore bypass established processes, rules, and selected suppliers. At the case company four forms of Maverick Buying was found where the underlying factors contributing to them were communication, structures, purchasing tools, involvement, control mechanisms, and lack of understanding the procurement process. This thesis contributes to a greater understanding of the phenomenon and what causes its existence. / Inköp har gått från att vara en administrativ uppgift till att vara en strategisk uppgift. Därför inkluderas numera inköp som en funktion på koncernnivå hos företag för att utveckla och implementera en standardiserad process för hur inköp skall utföras genom hela företaget. Standardisering av inköp medför fördelen av att inköpskostnader konsolideras mot ett få antal leverantörer och därmed leder till stora kostnadsbesparingar på koncernnivå. Däremot, om inköp sker utanför den standardiserade inköpsprocessen kan fördelarna med strategiskt inköp aldrig att realiseras. Konsekvenserna blir därmed en större bas av leverantörer, vilket är motsatsen till om den tänkta inköpsprocessen hade följts. Syftet med denna uppsats är att, genom en fallstudie, undersöka inköpsprocessen hos ett svenskt multinationellt företag som utövar strategiskt inköp men samtidigt redovisar en stor bas av leverantörer. Författarnas mål är därmed att identifiera det huvudsakliga problemet i inköpsprocessen. Uppsatsen försöker även att finna förklaringar för varför problemet existerar samt de underliggande anledningarna till dessa förklaringarna. Författarna fann att det största problemet med inköpsprocessen var Maverick Buying, ett fenomen med begränsad forskning. Maverick Buying innebär att inköp av varor och tjänster sker utanför förhandlade leverantörskontrakt och etablerade inköpsprocesser. Specifikt hittade författarna fyra olika former av Maverick Buying, där de underliggande anledningarna var kommunikation, kontrollmekanismer och bristande förståelse för inköpsprocessen. Uppsatsen adderar till samt utvecklar förståelsen av fenomenet Maverick Buying och vad som orsakar det.

Purpose - The purpose of this study is to investigate potential for and cost related impact of internal lead time reduction through coordination between materials supply and a production activity of customer-order-unique products. In order to achieve the purpose two questions are answered; 1. How can with respect to sourcing strategy, coordination between materials supply and production activity of customer-order-unique products be achieved? 2. How does a coordination affect cost items in related areas of the business? Method – Based on literature in the area of materials supply a theoretical framework for the study was established. The company JELD-WEN, an industrial manufacturer with customer-order-unique-production of fire- and safety-doors was used for a case study. Data collection was performed through interviews, observations and document studies. A comparison between the theoretical framework and empirical data generated the final results. Findings – Using a hybrid sourcing strategy, changes in materials supply through an internal call-off together with the materials feeding method kitting proves potential to reduce the internal lead time in the manufacturing process. An economic impact of such coordination with a production activity has been found for three cost items; handling cost (increase), administrative order cost (increase/decrease) and inventory carrying cost (increase/decrease). Implications – The study does not contribute to new theory in the field. Instead existing theory and relations defined in the theoretical framework have been verified by the case study. Internal lead time reduction identified in the study may be used in other ways than by the means of an improved customer offer. This can be done through sharing time to other time-exposed activities in the manufacturing process or as an additional safety time for finished products to secure company's delivery accuracy. Therefore, in a decision situation for change affected cost items should be assessed in contrast to the more indirect value of a lead time reduction. Limitations – Modifications of materials supply occurs in a context where conditions outside the unit of analysis plays a crucial role and thereby limits the possible usage of the potential lead time reduction. The study handles impact of cost items in a general direction (increase or decrease). Absolute terms contribute to more precise consequences and are probably necessary to support a company's final financial decision of using an alternative approach in materials supply.

This research study elaborates on one of the most important features of the modern International Business (IB) area; the multinational R&D subsidiary. Taking into consideration the strategic importance and the particular role the R&D subsidiary plays, this study sheds light on the multiple forms of knowledge networks in which the R&D subsidiary is embedded. Accordingly, based on the two already known dichotomies of subsidiary knowledge networks (external home vs. external host and external host vs. internal) this thesis draws on the existing theory and empirical evidence and proposes a triangular view (i.e. external home, external host and internal) between the R&D subsidiary and its embeddedness within the surrounding knowledge networks. Accordingly, based on three major theories of the management in the IB area, Social Network Theory (SNT), Resource Dependency Theory (RDT) and Agency Theory (AT), this study provides answers on a number of under researched questions. First, what are the determinants of each type of R&D subsidiary embeddedness in each of the three available knowledge networks? Second, considering the relative costs influencing R&D subsidiaries to rely more or less on one form of embeddedness compared to another, what sort of relationship exists (i.e. complementary or substitutive) between the aforementioned forms of R&D subsidiary embeddedness? Finally, considering the contextual- and HQ-specific factors that impact the overall functioning of the R&D subsidiary, what sort of effect do the multiple forms of R&D subsidiary embeddedness have on the latter’s innovative performance? This study adopts a quantitative approach and employs appropriate econometric methods in order to provide answers to the aforementioned research questions. Furthermore, data from three different sources are amalgamated. First, a unique survey questionnaire is utilised. This instrument was originally developed in the University of Reading and corresponds to both subsidiaries and the HQ. The sample covers Fortune 500 Multinational Enterprises (MNEs). Second, and in order to augment the information derived from the survey, supplementary information on patent characteristics is sourced from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) database. Third, a range of aggregate-level (secondary) data enriches the existing dataset. The findings reveal that each form of R&D subsidiary embeddedness is determined by a set of different predictors. Precisely, it is found that host location’s macroeconomic uncertainty positively influences subsidiary’s embeddedness in the home location’s knowledge network. Being an R&D subsidiary and having an adaptation and support-oriented profile, as well as being highly centralised to the HQ, negatively influences the R&D subsidiary’s embeddedness in the host location’s knowledge network. On the other hand, having a more research intensive and internationally integrated R&D role positively influences the R&D subsidiary’s embeddedness in the internal knowledge network of the MNE. The findings also indicate that a complementary relationship exists between external home and external host, as well as among external host and internal knowledge networks. On the contrary, a substitutive relationship is indicated between external home and internal networks under which the R&D subsidiary is embedded. Finally, as regards the last research question the results indicate that only internal embeddedness has a positive and significant impact on innovative performance, while scientific and research endowment of the host locations is also found to positively influence the innovative output of the R&D subsidiary. Implications for academics and practitioners (both managers and policy makers) are widely discussed and suggest that the three-dimensional view of embeddedness is useful in understanding and explaining the way MNEs’ foreign R&D subsidiaries operate.

Optimization of materials supply and inbound logistic operations has become increasingly important as firms have continued to pursue outsourcing options. Further, the proliferation of products and advances in information technology have greatly impacted retailers’ marketing strategies in the past decade. In this dissertation, we address how to optimally develop integrated sourcing and delivery planning, and how to optimally offer vertically differentiated products and bundles. In the first essay, we address a combined sourcing and delivery planning optimization problem, which is motivated by a practical problem facing materials and supply planners for construction projects in a leading corporation. We develop a decision support model and an effective solution approach for integrated sourcing and delivery planning for bulk materials. This approach, implemented and currently in use at the company to support material delivery planning for track maintenance projects, has yielded significant savings of millions of dollars annually. In the second essay, we study the problem of a retailer managing a category of vertically differentiated products. We consider two settings: the exogenous prices case and the endogenous prices case. In the former case, the selling prices are exogenously determined and the retailer’s only decision is to determine the set of products to offer. In the latter case, the retailer also determines the selling prices. We develop efficient methods to identify the optimal solutions for both cases and provide valuable insights and guidelines for practitioners. In the third essay, we study how to choose the optimal bundling strategy for a retailer offering vertically differentiated information goods. We characterize conditions under which pure bundling and mixed bundling strategies are optimal respectively. We provide efficient methods to identify which individual components to offer, whether or not to offer a bundle containing all the components and how to price the offered individual components and the bundle in order to maximize the retailer’s profit. / text

<p>Global software development has been a phenomenon of growing interest for almost past decade or so; and its adoption trend continues to gain momentum. Globally distributed work istaken up as an alternative to single-site mainly because of the economic and strategic benefits itoffers. Software development at geographically distributed environment is not a straightforwardtask and entails numerous challenges which are unique to this form of development.</p><p>Requirements change management is considered challenging even in the best of conditions andit becomes even harder when performed at geographically distributed development locations.There is no existing model for managing requirements change in globally distributed softwaredevelopment context.</p><p>This study uses qualitative research method to explore requirements change managementprocess and investigates the underlying causes of requirements change in geographicallydistributed software development. The research work proposes a model for requirementschange management for global software development. This model tries to incorporate the roles,activities and artifacts identified in the change management models.</p>

Newly emerging information technology and business process outsourcing (IT-BPO) models are not just about business . Some of these models are also guided by a strong underlying social mission to do good and create social value . Collectively they are now being referred to as impact sourcing (ImS) models. In brief, ImS is a social innovation in outsourcing that aims to bring digitally-enabled outsourcing jobs to marginalized individuals. The ImS model of outsourcing consciously provides employment opportunities to communities and groups whose life chances are deemed poor. In this thesis we study ImS companies, i.e., IT-BPO vendor firms, which aim to create a significant impact (hence the term impact sourcing ) on the lives of hitherto disadvantaged and deprived communities by giving them gainful employment and thereby improving their material conditions. Using qualitative methods, the thesis takes multiple approaches to study the ImS model. The thesis is comprised of three empirical chapters, each exploring a different aspect of the ImS model. Chapter 2, using a multiple case-study approach, draws on concepts from social entrepreneurship to study the triggers of ImS entrepreneurship and the process through which ImS entrepreneurs build and operate ImS companies. The chapter also looks into the institutional influences that have shaped the ImS model. Most importantly, the findings demonstrate the inherent difficulty of scaling and sustaining the ImS model, as it is the individual entrepreneurs intense personal experiences, not market-based considerations, which play a crucial role in launching new ImS companies. Drawing on the initial findings of Chapter 2, Chapter 3 explores the challenges of operating ImS companies in marginalized communities. Specifically, the chapter analyzes how ImS companies frame their ventures to the local community, drawing on frame alignment literature. The findings from this chapter suggest that local communities are not passive recipients of ImS companies framing work and may indeed resist ImS company activities for reasons such as the perceived incompatibility of the ImS model with local norms and belief systems and perceptions of inequality stemming from the merit-based recruitment strategies underpinning the model. The chapter finds that deployment of progress, family, material-benefit and egalitarianism frames may help ImS companies to overcome resistance, and gain the acceptance of local communities. While Chapters 2 and 3 focus on the ImS companies and their founders, Chapter 4 analyzes the challenges faced by marginalized individuals as they transition into the ImS workplace from their relatively traditional community spaces. The findings suggest that the distinct norms and values embodied in the community space and the ImS workplace create challenges for ImS employees. In response to these challenges, the findings show that ImS employees craft a variety of coping strategies such as integration and compartmentalization to manage work and non-work boundaries. ImS employees were also found to create fictive kinships, experiment with provisional selves and craft jobs to cope with the socioculturally alien environment of ImS workplaces. Overall, the thesis makes theoretical and practical contributions to the small but growing business and management literature on the ImS phenomenon. The thesis also makes theoretical contributions to the literatures on social entrepreneurship, frame alignment and organizational studies.

[pt] Com a atual complexidade do mercado globalizado e competitivo, é necessário que as empresas busquem otimizar processos, reduzir custos e obter ganhos de escala, não só na produção, como também em áreas de apoio como Compras e Logística. Spekman et al (1999) afirmam que o valor de compras de bens e serviços em uma empresa estaria entre 50% e 70% do volume financeiro gerido pela organização. Dada a crescente importância estratégica da função Compras, surgiram modelos de gestão para a área e, dentre eles, o modelo de Kraljic (1993). O modelo estabelece estratégias de Compras de acordo com o gasto financeiro, o mercado fornecedor e a importância do material para a organização. Esta dissertação apresenta o estudo de caso de uma empresa multinacional de cosméticos, situada no Brasil, que utilizou a matriz de portfólio de Kraljic para redesenhar o processo de compra de um insumo crítico para o seu processo produtivo: o álcool cetoestearílico. O resultado da pesquisa mostra que a empresa conseguiu obter não só um ganho financeiro, como também encontrou uma alternativa para reduzir o risco de desabastecimento, sem incorrer em aumento do nível de estoque. / [en] The current complexity of the global and competitive market is forcing companies to optimize their processes, reduce costs and increase the benefits of economies of scale not only in production but also in areas such as Purchasing and Logistics. Spekman et al (1999) reveal that the purchasing value of goods and services range from 50% to 70% of the whole financial volume managed by a corporation. Due to this increasing strategic position of Purchasing, some business management models have been developed to support the area as the Kraljic´s analysis. This model establish purchasing strategies according to the financial expenses, supplier market complexity and the importance of the goods for the production. This research presents a case study on a cosmetic global company settled in Brazil that has applied these models to rebuild its purchasing process of a critical input: the alcohol cetostearylic. It reveals that this company not only saved costs but also reduced the risk of being out of stock, without incurring in an increase of inventory level.

[pt] Compradores de todo o mundo estão cada vez mais informados e conscientes de como exigir dos vendedores que assumam maiores riscos, para ganhar o valorizado negócio do comprador. A integração de produtos, serviços e soluções crescem a uma taxa exponencial em transações comerciais. Assim, os contratos são cada vez mais complicados para planejar, negociar e administrar. Globalmente, as empresas têm aumentado exponencialmente o número de terceirizações para bens e serviços, com a intenção específica de se concentrar mais em seu negócio principal. Este estudo tem em vista ampliar os conhecimentos da gestão estratégica de transportes, com foco na contratação de fretes, analisando o relacionamento das organizações com seus fornecedores, integrados em um cenário de rápidas mudanças. Qualquer empresa deseja ser rápida e ter efetiva e contínua integração interna, com seus clientes e fornecedores, construindo, assim, parcerias duradouras e de sucesso. A vantagem competitiva que pode surgir a partir das estratégias de compra, é evidenciada, considerando-se os tipos de relações adotadas com os fornecedores. No estudo de caso, procurou-se mostrar a efetiva aplicação do planejamento estratégico no moderno gerenciamento da logística de transportes, importância do relacionamento com fornecedores, não somente na negociação de preços, prazos e qualidade, mas na adição do valor em toda a cadeia. A forma de gerenciamento, que uma organização pratica hoje, irá afetar significativamente seus resultados no mercado do futuro. / [en] Buyers worldwide are becoming more informed and demanding as they require sellers to assume greater business risks to win the buyer’s valued business. The integration of products, services and solutions is growing at an exponential rate in business transactions. Thus, contracts are becoming more complicated to plan, negotiate and administer. Globally, companies have increased their contracts for goods and services at an exponential rate, with the specific intend of focusing more on their core business. The objective of this study is to broaden the knowledge about transport logistics strategy, focused on contracting freight, analyzing the relationship between companies and their suppliers, integrated into a scenario of rapid change. What every company wants is a fast, effective, and seamless integration between itself, each customer and its supply chain, building successful and long business partnerships. The competitive advantage that can arise from the purchase strategies has been evidenced considering the types of relations adopted with the suppliers. In the case study it was attempted to evidence the effective implementation of the modern transport logistics management actions, analyzing the evolution of the purchasing activity, giving emphasis to the relevance of the relation with suppliers not only negotiating price, terms and quality but also attaching higher value to the supply chain. Likewise, the contracts an organization negotiates today and performs tomorrow will significantly affect its profitability and reputation in the market place of the future.

Event sourcing has caught the interest of many developers due to desirable features such as an implicit audit log and a simplified database design. This thesis presents a case study with a focus on managing the challenges of versioning and correcting incorrect states. The techniques upcasting and support multiple versions are investigated for handling versioning within event sourcing. Partial and full reversal techniques are applied to investigate the correction of incorrect states. The techniques will be implemented within an event sourcing prototype written in F# to demonstrate how the techniques behave in practice, which can be of use for developers that want to endeavor into event sourcing projects. The results of the study show that all investigated techniques can handle the associated challenges. The comparison of techniques shows the advantages and disadvantages associated with the techniques when implemented in the prototype.