This paper identifies, analyzes and interprets key challenges that e-retailers face when they decide to expand their e-business into a new market. The main topics are the cross-border factors and e-commerce strategies based on theories from previous studies to drive profitable growth. The paper illustrates the case study of an e-retail company, Dateks, in expansion in the Baltic countries. The findings show that the localization strategy in e-retail companies is more highly used when expanding to a new market. The challenge for an e-retailer in expansion is to be cost-effective.

abstract: This thesis aims to investigate the impacts of foreign banks’ management model on their degree of localization and operating efficiency. I decompose their management model into five major factors, including two formative factors and three reflective factors. The two formative factors are (1) strategic orientation and (2) target customers, and the three reflective factors are (1) top management team composition, (2) organizational structure, and (3) managerial authority and incentives. I propose that the formative factors influence foreign banks’ degree of localization, as demonstrated by the reflective factors, which subsequently influence foreign banks’ operating efficiency in China. To test the above proposition, I conduct the empirical analysis in three steps. In the first step, I investigate foreign banks’ management model by surveying 13 major foreign banks locally incorporated in Mainland China. The results suggest that these 13 foreign banks can be categorized into three distinct groups based on their management model: intergrators, customer-followers, and parent-followers. The results also indicate that intergrators have the highest level of localization while parent-followers have the lowest level of localization. In the second step, I conduct DEA (Data Envelope Analysis) and CAMEL (Capital Adequacy, Asset Quality, Management, Earnings, Liquidity Analysis) to assess the operating efficiency of these 13 foreign banks. The assessment is conducted in two ways: 1) the inter-group comparison between foreign banks and local Chinese banks; 2) the intra-group comparison between the three distinct groups of foreign banks identified in the first step. The results indicates that the principal factor driving the operating efficiency of both local Chinese banks and foreign banks is the comprehensive technical efficiency, which includes both the quality of management and the quality of technical elements. I also find the uptrend of technical efficiency of the integrators is more stable than that of the other two groups of foreign banks. Finally, I integrate the results from step one and step two to assess the relevance between foreign banks’ localization level and operating efficiency. I find that foreign banks that score higher in localization tend to have a higher level of operating efficiency. Although this finding is not conclusive about the causal relationship between localization and operating efficiency, it nevertheless suggests that the management model of the higher performing integrators can serve as references for the other foreign banks attempting to enhance their localization and operating efficiency. I also discuss the future trends of development in the banking industry in China and what foreign banks can learn from local Chinese banks to improve their market positions. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Business Administration 2016

本論文では、急成長を遂げているインド家電市場を取り上げ、同市場に進出した多国籍企業の競争戦略について多国籍企業論の視点から理論的かつ実証的に考察を行った。主にLG電子インド法人が行った市場参入戦略はじめ、各戦略行動について明らかにした。多国籍企業の現地化とグローバル統合化戦略は多次元的な要素を持っており、現地国の環境要素、産業の特性及び、企業の状況に合わせて現地化のレベルを決定する必要があるという含意が得られた。 / In this paper I have taken up the India consumer electronics market, which has achieved rapid growth, and theoretically and empirically examined the competitive strategies of multinational corporations, which have advanced into said market from the point of view of multinational corporation theory. I have expounded upon various strategic activities centrally including the market entry strategy conducted by LG Electronics India Pvt. Ltd. The localization and global integration strategies of multinational corporations include many multidimensional factors, and I have established the implication that it is necessary to establish the level of localization to fit the environmental factors of the country in question as well as the features of the industry and state of the company. / 博士(商学) / Doctor of Commerce / 同志社大学 / Doshisha University