Στην παρούσα διπλωματική γίνεται μία παρουσίαση διεθνών ερευνών που αφορούν μελέτες περιπτώσεων μικρομεσαίων αγροτικών επιχειρήσεων στην Ευρώπη. Πιο συγκεκριμένα, αφορούν την επίδραση των στρατηγικών συμμαχιών για επιτυχημένη διεθνοποίηση των μικρομεσαίων αγροτικών επιχειρήσεων. Επίσης, παρουσιάζονται οι σημαντικότεροι παράγοντες που καθιστούν τις συμμαχίες αυτές βιώσιμες. Τέλος, όσον αφορά την Ελλάδα, αναφέρονται τα σημαντικότερα προβλήματα που υφίστανται στις συνεργασίες μεταξύ αγροτικών μικρομεσαίων επιχειρήσεων και εμποδίζουν τις εταιρίες να αποκομίσουν το μέγιστο όφελος από της συνέργιες αυτές. Συγκεκριμένα, στη διπλωματική εργασία παρουσιάζονται τα παρακάτω τρία άρθρα: 1. Does Network Matter in International Expansion? Evidence from Italian SMEs (Luca Petruzzellis and Antonia Rosa Gurrieri, NOTA DI LAVORO 65.2008, JULY 2008) 2. Determinants of sustainable business relationships in selected German agri-food chains (Nikolai Reynolds, Christian Fischer, Monika Hartmann) 3. Agrifood SMEs in Greece: the role of collective action (Chrysoula Lamprinopoulou and Angela Tregear, Mitchell Ness). / -

This case study uses post-colonial and dependency theoretical lenses to investigate the forces influencing policy, procedures, and participation in international activity in the post-colonial African university environment of Kenya’s first national public university—the University of Nairobi (UoN). The research addresses (1) the approaches and strategies adopted by UoN to engage in international activity; (2) the changes that have taken place over time in international activity engagement at UoN since the attainment of political independence by the Republic of Kenya; and (3) the rationales driving participation in international activity. This investigation included library research, document analysis, multiple campus visits, and 20 formal interviews with the faculty and administrators of the University of Nairobi, Kenya. I argue that even though the University of Nairobi now exhibits some degree of agency in her international engagement as an independent post-colonial African University, limitations to this agency are evident given her colonial genesis as a university college linked to the University of London. Despite the fact that greater control has been realized in curricula issues, institutional level governance, income generating projects, and joint research collaboration and international partnerships, the road to independence in international engagement in a post-colonial university environment is still under construction. The University of Nairobi faces many challenges in her efforts to find a place in the global community of higher education. These challenges include, but are not limited to, lack of resources for human capacity building, shortage of faculty and staff, heavy teaching load, bureaucracy, loss of faculty control in setting their research agendas, commercialization of higher education, intellectual property rights violations, and brain drain. Rationales driving internationalization at the University of Nairobi are a consequence of contextual factors, some of which are external to the university and others internal and individual in nature. For example, whereas the academic rationales for participation, including research outlet, professional development, and networking are commonly cited as key motivators for international engagement, equally powerful economic motivators drive participation. I conclude this investigation by questioning the assumption that there can be balanced interdependence between marginalized African institutions of higher education (IHEs) and the developed world, as internationalization proponents suggest, arguing that these institutions are yet to break away from the colonial mold that led to their creation. KEYWORDS: African Higher Education, Internationalization, Post-colonialism, Dependency, Agency

<p>With the conditions of new economy such tendencies as internationalization of firms, mi-gration of high skilled workers, growing importance of the knowledge and others become relevant. Having these contextual matters in mind, the authors of this thesis identify the beneficial aspects that are related to Diasporas' inclusion into the process of internationali-zation. In broad outline, this thesis is about the competitive advantage achieved by a firm which employs foreigners to work with the process of business expansion to foreigners' countries of origin. This competitive advantage is proved to manifest itself through the knowledge and competences embedded in those employed foreigners.</p><p>The purpose of this thesis is to answer 'in what ways can Swedish SMEs benefit from Di-asporas' inclusion into the process of internationalization?' and thus fill the theoretical gap in the existent studies. In order to address the purpose of the research, a theoretical model which merges the research field of internationalization and Diaspora studies, considered the conditions of new economy, was constructed. With the help of this model, the role of Diasporas in the process of internationalization has been explored and explained.</p><p>For the empirical study, the qualitative method was applied and semi-structured interviews were conducted in five different Swedish SMEs. The interview guide, which was based on the theoretical model and on the main research objectives, was used when conducting in-terviews with a number of management positions fulfilling participants, as well as Diaspora.</p><p>The results of an empirical study showed that Diasporas can be efficiently used for compa-ny's expansion strategies and significantly benefit due to several reasons. First of all, fo-reigners, or Diasporas, can be considered as holding relevant knowledge base in regards to their home countries, such as language, culture, personal contacts, etc. At the same time, while staying in Sweden, they get to familiarize with the Swedish culture, social structures, and business opportunities, and establish diversified contacts. With regards to international business expansion, this knowledge of two-fold nature is proved to be highly valuable.</p>

<p><strong>Introduction:</strong> Research has shown that family firms play an important role in modern economies and that they maintain special characteristics and features in comparison to non-family businesses. Furthermore, it is evident in literature and practice that internationalization is a crucial process and strategy in the present global business environment.</p><p><strong>Problem:</strong> These findings however, have not led to a family business internationalization strategy. Only some studies have been conducted concerning the influence of the special features of family firms on the process of internationalization. This means that there is a gap between theory and practice.</p><p><strong>Purpose:</strong> To increase the academic understanding of the phenomenon internationalization of family businesses, through the use of both theoretical and empirical findings.</p><p><strong>Research questions:</strong> This study attempted to fulfill the purpose by providing answers to several research questions. The main research questions are: What is the current state of knowledge about internationalization, family business features and previous research in internationalization of family firms? How do the family business features theoretically influence the internationalization process? How do the family business features empirically influence the internationalization process? What are the theoretical contributions and practical managerial implications of these findings?</p><p><strong>Method:</strong> A solid literature research has been conducted in order to determine the theoretical influences of family business features on internationalization. The empirical testing of the expectations was conducted through a qualitative approach by taking personal interviews at eight companies, four in The Netherlands and four in Sweden, and studying secondary documentation.</p><p><strong>Findings:</strong> The study shows that it is difficult to decisively determine the either facilitating or constraining influence of family business features on internationalization. The results show that the 23 features which have been studied in the sample are facilitating or constraining under certain conditions (see table 5, p. 108). This implies that managers, researchers and consultants will be required to study these conditions first in order to determine the facilitating or constraining effects in a company. In addition, a model has been constructed illustrating the empirical findings concerning the internationalization process (see figure 8, p.112). Finally, concerning internationalization theories, it is determined that family businesses tend to use the Network approach in starting their internationalization process, the Stage approaches in further developing the international operations and support their process through the Resource-based view and the Knowledge-based view.</p>

近年來，科技的發展與法規的變革為銀行傳統的經營帶來挑戰，再加上全球銀行業的制度改善，帶動了金融的全球化，對銀行業的傳統經營方式帶來很大的衝擊。順應總體環境的變動，許多國際性的大銀行趁此趨勢成為全球性的金融機構，因而為金融業帶來了一場購併風潮，且購併金額越來越大，而購併區域，也漸漸由國內購併走向以跨國購併。 / 本論文以最大的德國銀行－德意志銀行為研究的標的，主要分析其國際化的行為。德意志銀行從1870年設立至今已有138年歷史，在這長時期的發展中，總體環境及德意志銀行自身條件的改變，影響了其對外擴展的策略及途徑。 / 面對總體的衝擊，德意志銀行因應銀行中介角色的轉變，在收入結構上由以利息收入為主調整為以非利息收入為主，這也和其併投資銀行的國際化策略有關。另一方面，從德意志銀行的發展軌跡中，也可以發現德意志銀行在國際化的拓展上採用的是先成為一區域性的銀行，成為一個歐洲區域的大銀行，再逐步成為全球性的金融機構。

In the master thesis there are analysed the methods and strategies of coffee houses‘ business internationalization, theories of business worldwide expansion, theorie of international business networks, opportunities and barriers of business evolution and development across countries. There are presented, examined and compared entry modes of business internationalization process of coffee houses. There is made micro- and macro-environment‘s factors affecting habits, traditions and preferences of coffee consumption. Moreover, there are distinguished trends in coffee house business according changing situation in world market. There are made market researches of the international business expansion of coffee houses and performed market survey about coffee drinking tranditions in coffee house. After investigation of theoretical and practical issues of coffee houses‘ business internationalization there was created model for coffee house business expansion across the world. There are introduced conclusions and suggestions for business crossnational development. Master thesis consists of four main parts: problematic, theoretic, practical and project part. Moreover, there are displayed introduction, conclusions, reccomendations and references. Volume of master thesis – 87 pg. without appendixes, figures, charts and tables, bibliography. Appendixes are attached separately. / Baigiamajame magistro darbe nagrinėjamos kavos namų verslo internacionalizavimo strategijos, metodai, problemos, verslo internacionalizavimo teorijos, tarptautinių verslo tinklų teorijos, globalaus verslo plėtimosi galimybės ir sunkumai. Pateikti yra kavos namų verslo internacionalizavimo modeliai, jų analizė ir palyginimas. Yra išanalizuoti mikro ir makro aplinkos faktoriai įtakojantys kavos gėrimo tradicijas ir poreikius o taip pat pokyčius kavos namų versle. Darbo eigoje yra atlikti tarptautinių kavos namų verslo internacionalizavimo proceso tyrimai bei atlikta kavos namų rinkos apklausa. Išnagrinėjus teorinius ir praktinius kavos namų verslo internacionalizavimo aspektus yra sukurtas kavos namų tarptautinio plėtimosi modelis ir suformuluotos išvados ir pasiūlymai verslui. Darbą sudaro keturios pagrindinės dalys: probleminė, teorinė, praktinė ir projektinė, o taip pat įvadas, išvados ir pasiūlymai, literatūros sąrašas. Darbo apimtis –87 p. teksto be priedų, iliustracijos, lentelės, grafikai, bibliografiniai šaltiniai. Atskirai pridedami darbo priedai.

Social entrepreneurship, defined as entrepreneurial activities with a clear mission to create social value, is gaining increased influence and importance in the economy. Through combining a for-profit mindset with social objectives, social enterprises provide groundbreaking solutions to societal needs. The global presence and impact of social enterprises raise the importance of internationalization of this specific kind of enterprise. This is an area of inquiry that has gained limited attention in academia and empirical studies have been few. The purpose of the study is to investigate motives for internationalization of social enterprises and how these enterprises establish in foreign markets. The study consists of an empirical investigation based on a survey sample of 65 respondents and one background interview. The result shows that the main motive for internationalization of social enterprises is to alleviate social problems. Social enterprises have a distinct international character, show patterns of early and rapid internationalization and can be characterized as international new ventures with a distinct social mission. Networks affect motives as well as choice of entry mode of social enterprises. The most common mode of entry of social enterprises is to establish alliances or partnerships with foreign actors and the main target market is less developed economies.

Internationalization of small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the healthcare industryhas experienced rapid growth in the recent decade. Although research on understanding thisprocess and what drives it has been conducted, previous studies are limited in recognizing thefull influence of both domestic and foreign institutional environments. This study investigatesthe internationalization of four Swedish SMEs operating in healthcare markets through aninstitutional-based perspective, asking how and why SMEs internationalize and how theymanage different institutional environments. By analyzing the empirical case findings in thelight of a theoretical framework based on internationalization theory, institutional theory andinstitutional entrepreneurship we attempt to answer our research questions mentioned above.The thesis concludes that internationalizing SMEs experience a large range of barriers ofwhich most can be effectively overcome by cooperation and access to networks with keyopinion leaders. Findings on managing the institutional environment pointed to that thedomestic institutional environment can act as a driver for internationalization, while theability to influence and change foreign institutional environments were found to be nearimpossible for a single firm. However, our study shows that attempts at institutional changecan be achieved through cooperation together with other firms, organizations and mostimportantly influential networks with key opinion leaders. Internationalizing SMEs within thehealthcare industry might not be institutional entrepreneurs in its true sense; however theyhave the possibility of getting there.

The main objective of the research described in this thesis was to investigate and understand the origins of culturally-determined usability problems in the context of Human Computer Interaction (HCI) to develop a method for treating this issue, when designing systems intended to be shared by culturally-heterogeneous user groups, such as Computer Supported Co-operative Work (CSCW) systems and the Internet. The resulting approach supports HCI designers by providing an alternative to internationalisation and localisation guidelines, which are inappropriate for tackling culturally-determined usability problems in the context of shared-systems. The research also sought to apply and test the developed approach in order to assess its efficacy and to modify or improve it accordingly.

BACKGROUND. The relaxation of the global conditions, mainly but not reduced to the introduction of the Internet, and the demanding competitive pressures have triggered the expansionary phenomenon of startups that seek to compete internationally right after its birth. This urge for a mechanism to facilitate the internationalisation process, namely the business model. In this regard, there is a need to elaborate on the field of the business model in combination to the internationalization literature, which has tended to develop in isolation. PURPOSE. The purpose of this master thesis is to expand the knowledge about the process of designing the business model of a new international venture and how the drivers of internationalisation affect this process. METHODOLOGY. The research problem was identified by exploring two major streams of theory, the business model and the internationalisation, which were developed jointly in a visual representation. In the next step, from two Sweden-based international new ventures, named Againity AB and MIMSI Materials AB, empirical information was collected from diverse stakeholders. The technique was qualitative research method, which was scrutinized following a process model approach. Finally, a model proposition was constructed by analysing the realities of the practical and theoretical phenomenon to serve the purpose of enhancing knowledge. RESULT. The BMD process is composed by three stages, namely initiating, generating and refining, of iterative and interdependent nature. Each driver of internationalization, when scrutinized using the empirical realities of the INVs, tends to have different influential roles at different stages of the business model. This is integrated into a conceptual model of the key internationalization drivers and BMD stages, which reflects the strategic fit from which new ventures benefit.