Introduction: The part of introduction is presented to help readers give insight into the setting of our thesis. Firstly, we present the background of Volvo CE and Lingong. With the rapid economy growth and large amount of infrastructure construction projects, the large demand for CE push Volvo to accelerate its pace into Chinese market, the situation of the Chinese market and the importance are introduced continuously. We are aimed to analyze the dual - brand strategy implemented by Volvo and Lingong, and what synergies produced. We will also face two major limitations such as limited materials and hard access to interviewees. Lastly, we also have brief introduction for the outlet of the thesis.   Theory Framework: This part includes three related theoretical fields. First one is global strategic marketing, as a MNE, Volvo CE entered China, which is one member of BRICs, and took acquisition of Lingong. The following is cross - boundaries culture and customer behavior, if one company wants to gain success in an overseas market, a good adaption to the local culture is essential. The last one is brand management field, brand is a intangible asset, however, in order to avoid cross - boundaries problems, Volvo CE decide to implement a dual - brand strategy, so we can use brand alliance theories to analyze.   Methodology: Because of the special characteristics, we decide to adopt the quantitative method, case study, because it is impossible for us to gather a large sample of survey on the CE. We analyze two cases, one is " Danone & Wahaha" and the other is "Shanghai Automotive", the current situation of two cases are totally different, Danone and Wahaha got divorce in 2007, because of the brand conflict, while Shanghai have been making it to become the largest motor manufacturer in China, the experiences behind are very precious for us to analyze the brand alliance of Volvo and Lingong.   Complementary cases study and analysis We will have a detailed introduction on how Danone and Wahaha deal with the brand conflicts and the process of a series of arbitrations and lawsuits. Then presenting how successful Shanghai Automotive integrates with VW and GM. Then we use the corresponding theories to analyze the two cases, why brand conflicts happened between Danone and Wahaha, why Shanghai Automotive can successfully integrate with VW and GM   Findings In this part, we use the cases analysis and corresponding theories to form the finding. Finding is focused on the dual - brand strategy implemented by Volvo and Lingong, and we analyze its feasibility and the synergies.   Conclusions In this part, we come out with three conclusions. Firstly, global strategy management helps us to have a macro view over the dual-brand topic in China. Secondly, the dual-brand strategy can make Volvo gain goodwill from the consumers. Thirdly, Lingong and Volvo can benefit each other and get win-win by using dual-brand strategy.

In this study the aim was to investigate and nuance how the Volvo Construction Equipment (VCE) production Hub can evolve their environmental work, at Chinese wheel loader producer Shandong Lingong (SDLG), to reach Volvo standard. The study also aimed to investigate what international companies in China should take into consideration in their environmental work. The work was carried out by answering the following research questions; In which way or ways can the VCE Hub at SDLG evolve their environmental work to reach Volvo standard? What should international companies take into consideration in their environmental work when establishing on the Chinese market, and why? A lot of the information in this Thesis is based on empirical data, i.e. interviews. Three interviews with Swedish companies have been carried out. They are all highly valuing Environmental work but use different methods, their situations are unlike and they produce diverse products. Several interviews with people working with environmental issues in different ways have also been done, as well as with the SGS; a Chinese certification body. Three different companies with production in or around Shanghai were chosen; Volvo CE, SKF, and Sandvik. All three companies are originally Swedish but with production in China. Environmental work is highly prioritized in Sweden and the companies have global environmental policies and goals. The three companies were chosen because they are in different production areas but they are striving in the same direction with environmental issues in China. They are working differently and their situations are of various kinds. In 2006 Volvo CE invested in a Chinese wheel loader producer named Shandong Lingong. Volvo CE has a Hub, at the plant, which runs independently. SDLG are still not ISO 14001 certified and do not have an environmental management system (EMS) that is conformably with the Volvo demands. The most important to take into consideration when doing business in China is according to the study; top management support, to do training for the employees, mediate the importance of awareness, and to have knowledge about Chinese regulations. These are some of the issues International companies have to deal with when doing business in China. A well established EMS is a necessity for a good environmental work. To implement an EMS in the Hub as a pilot project is the best solution according to the information gathered in this thesis. SDLG could be a part-, they can evaluate-, and later it could be possible to implement the process in the whole SDLG. Due to this methodology they will learn how to work according to Volvo requirements and obtain benefits of an implementation. There are three different alternatives for the ISO 14001 certification of the Hub according to this work. For the Hub to be ISO 14001 certified together with another Volvo plant seems to be the best alternative thought it reduces the amount of work with legal authorities. VCE’s EMS will also not be compared with SDLG and it will be moneysaving. The policies and Environmental aspects (EA) though have to be rewritten to be suitable for both the factories.