The research in natural & organic cosmetics field is particularly scant, and especially in Sweden, no research has been done on the industry of natural & organic cosmetics. In consideration of the global eco-trend and also in order to overcome this research gap, this current thesis is focused on studying Swedish natural & organic cosmetics industry, which nowadays appears to be competitive and challenging as never before. Sweden is one of the most environmentally conscious countries where the consumption of cosmetics reached 15 billion SEK in 2011. There are number of companies and brands which categorize them as natural, and continuously look for ways to attract new and keep existing customers. The increased consumer demand for natural & organic products can be observed, consumer awareness coupled with willingness to purchase products that fit their principles and values, as well as consumer price-sensitivity as a result of global recession and their pursuit of making the best value of money. The requirement of natural beauty products are increasing and are available on environmentally-conscious Swedish market. The motivation behind this study is to enhance understanding about the natural & organic cosmetics industry in Sweden, and take a deeper look by over viewing some companies which are presented on this market. Understanding the industry structure is particularly important. Modified Porter’s five forces model has been used in this thesis in order to make the industry analysis.

國際合資對臺灣企業邁向國際化，提升產業競爭力具有策略上的含義，但 完整性地探討合資績效影響因素之文獻付之闕如。本研究的目的即在於了 解在臺國際合資事業的特性，並研究合資公司特性、母公司與合資公司的 關係、母公司間的關係及產業環境等因素對在臺國際合資事業績效之影響 。本研究的研究對象為截至民國82年11底止，經濟部投資審議委員會登記 有案之外商來臺投資，與本國廠商共同出資所成立之合資公司，符合本研 究條件者計有 186家公司。本研究選用之統計方法有描述性統計、因素分 析、集群分析、多變項變異數分析、Fisher的正準檢定、 t檢定及羅吉斯 迴歸。本研究的結論如下：一、在臺中外合資事業的特性樣本公司外資來 源以日本高居首位，成立年數多在十年以內，股權配置以５０－５０最多 ，大多數股權配置未曾變動過，且規模遍及於大、中及小型企業。樣本公 司產品出口比例多在10％以內，母公司個數以二個居多，大多數樣本公司 和母公司間有水平相關，且獨立運作合資最多，來自外國母公司之高階主 管佔全部高階主管的比例多在25％以內。約一半樣本公司之母公司間，在 合資前並無任何關係，且母公司的貢獻幾乎都屬於互補長短型。二、影響 在臺中外合資事業績效之因素經由羅吉斯迴歸分析結果，發現在臺中外合 資事業高低績效滿意程度之因素，計有母公司數目、母公司規模差異及產 業環境等。當母公司個數為二、母公司規模差異愈大及產業愈具吸引力時 ，合資公司高績效的可能性就愈高。

<p><p>Gradually, Swedish SMEs are expanding into emerging markets in order to seize superior opportunities of growth. Within these internationalization efforts, identifying and selecting the most promising foreign target markets is regarded to be a critical success factor. The external business environment, the attractiveness of the targeted market segment in terms of the competitive situation, and the match between the customers’ needs and a company’s resources and capabilities are major factors which determine the prospects of success of establishing business in an emerging market. By applying an abductive research approach, the authors conducted a holistic single-case study of a typical case for Swedish SMEs internationalizing into emerging markets. Through that, the authors were able to answer the research questions of the paper. A theoretical framework was synthesized, combining latest research on emerging country markets with classical models. The framework guided the authors through the entire research process. Several propelling, as well as hampering factors for the case company’s prospects of success in the targeted market segment were identified. Based on the analysis of the empirical findings, the authors found that there are clear opportunities for the case company to increase its business. This conclusion is due to a weak threat of competitors in a broader context, which were regarded to not being able to satisfy the customers’ needs of key importance sufficiently. Competitors in a narrower context were regarded to not have a significant competitive advantage compared with the case company.</p></p>

Gradually, Swedish SMEs are expanding into emerging markets in order to seize superior opportunities of growth. Within these internationalization efforts, identifying and selecting the most promising foreign target markets is regarded to be a critical success factor. The external business environment, the attractiveness of the targeted market segment in terms of the competitive situation, and the match between the customers’ needs and a company’s resources and capabilities are major factors which determine the prospects of success of establishing business in an emerging market. By applying an abductive research approach, the authors conducted a holistic single-case study of a typical case for Swedish SMEs internationalizing into emerging markets. Through that, the authors were able to answer the research questions of the paper. A theoretical framework was synthesized, combining latest research on emerging country markets with classical models. The framework guided the authors through the entire research process. Several propelling, as well as hampering factors for the case company’s prospects of success in the targeted market segment were identified. Based on the analysis of the empirical findings, the authors found that there are clear opportunities for the case company to increase its business. This conclusion is due to a weak threat of competitors in a broader context, which were regarded to not being able to satisfy the customers’ needs of key importance sufficiently. Competitors in a narrower context were regarded to not have a significant competitive advantage compared with the case company.