La tesi analizza le strategie di internazionalizzazione delle imprese agroalimentari di piccole e medie dimensioni, con particolare riferimento al caso italiano. In particolare, vengono prese in esame diverse forme di alleanze strategiche interorganizzative che tali imprese possono adottare per incrementare l'espansione internazionale e l'ingresso in nuovi mercati. A questo proposito, la tesi è essenzialmente articolata in due studi, uno riguardante il lato "a monte" della catena del valore (ossia il mercato di fornitura), e l'altro il versante "a valle", ossia il mercato del cliente finale. / The thesis analyzes agrifood SMEs internationalization strategies, with specific reference to the Italian case. In particular, the study focuses on the different forms of interorganizational strategic networks to foster geographic expansion and foreign market entry. Regarding this matter, moreover, the thesis is basically articulated in two studies, one concerning the upstream side of the value creation system (i.e. the supply market), while the other the downstream side (i.e. customer market).

Laut dem Weltklimarat ist es zweifelsfrei, dass sich das Klima global ändert. Ein sich veränderndes Klima wirkt sich jedoch nicht nur auf die Umwelt, sondern auch auf Unternehmen aus. Diese Auswirkungen können sowohl positiver als auch negativer Art sein. Um auf diese Auswirkungen adäquat zu reagieren, ist es zunächst von Bedeutung, die positiven als auch negativen Effekte zu identifizieren und diese entsprechend zu interpretieren. Ziel der Befragung ist es daher, zu erfassen, wie sich Unternehmen vom Klimawandel betroffen fühlen und wie diese darauf reagieren. Des Weiteren wird untersucht, welche Faktoren einen Einfluss auf den Anpassungsprozess haben. Für die Befragung wurden im Juni 2012 über 2.000 Handwerksbetriebe angeschrieben, wovon insgesamt 207 Unternehmen antworteten. Zwei Drittel dieser Unternehmen nimmt den Klimawandel wahr. Allerdings fühlte sich in der Vergangenheit die Mehrheit der Unternehmen von Extremwetterereignissen nicht betroffen. Die größten negativen Einflüsse werden gegenwärtig als auch in der Zukunft bei den Kältewellen gesehen. Innerhalb des Unternehmens sind insbesondere die Logistik und der Einkauf in Zukunft negativ betroffen; positive Wirkungen werden sich hingegen beim Absatz erhofft. Insgesamt erwarten die Unternehmen eher negative als positive Effekte aus dem Klimawandel, wobei insbesondere das Nahrungsmittelgewerbe und das KFZ-Gewerbe mit negativen Auswirkungen auf ihren Betrieb rechnen. Da sich nur wenige Unternehmen von Extremwetterereignissen bzw. dem Klimawandel betroffen fühlen, verwundert es nicht, dass fast drei Viertel der Unternehmen keine Anpassungsmaßnahmen planen und der Teil, der Anpassungsmaßnahmen umsetzt(e) bzw. beabsichtigt umzusetzen, eher einen geringen Anteil ausmacht. Dies könnte darauf zurückgeführt werden, dass in etwa jedes zweite Unternehmen die Auswirkungen des Klimawandels gegenwärtig nicht finanziell spürt. Darüber hinaus fehlen finanzielle Eigenmittel, private Finanzierungsmöglichkeiten und öffentliche Fördermöglichkeiten. Des Weiteren besteht eine hohe Unsicherheit, ob Extremwettereignisse überhaupt auftreten, und welche Anpassungsmaßnahmen möglich wären. Basierend auf den Befragungsergebnissen ist zu empfehlen, Unternehmen mit Informationen zur Thematik Klimawandelfolgen und Anpassungsoptionen zu versorgen, Unternehmen zu Risikoanalysen zu motivieren und mögliche finanzielle Unterstützung im Rahmen der Anpassung an die Auswirkungen des Klimawandels anzubieten.

Much research has been conducted within Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), and it is currently a highly debated topic. Today, CSR is not only pursued in response to public pressure, but is also seen as a source of competitive advantage and differentiation. The problem that this thesis deals with is that many SMEs do not use CSR as a proactive competitive tool in a strategic manner. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis is to develop an evaluation framework for SME‟s CSR projects, and to use this framework to analyze Casall‟s CSR projects in order to provide recommendations for Casall regarding strategic CSR. CSR as a concept is first discussed with the use of previous literature. This leads to the development of an evaluation framework for SME‟s CSR projects. The methodology is carefully considered, and a qualitative case study is chosen to be conducted at Casall. The results and analysis are presented in accordance with the theoretical framework and method. An in-depth analysis is conducted with the help of the evaluation framework. This leads to recommendations on Casall‟s existing and future engagement in CSR projects. The five recommendations are to simplify the guidelines for producers, adapt the guidelines for producers, get engaged in the local community, implement an internal code of conduct, and raise customer awareness of their engagement in CSR. This thesis contributes to the academic society by combining theories into a practical framework for evaluating SMEs‟ CSR projects. More specifically, the framework is used to guide Casall in their future CSR involvement. The framework can also be useful for other SMEs to evaluate and integrate suitable CSR projects into corporate strategy.

During the past decade, advances in information technology have facilitated the rapid international expansion of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Cloud computing has enabled a new wave of firms to offer services on the web regardless of geographic distances. The aim of this study is to explore how cloud computing affect the external variables network and culture in the internationalization process of an SME. In order to explore the impact on these external variables, a qualitative case study is carried out on a business-to-business SME offering cloud services within small and open economies. The findings explain why closeness was important and why the cloud service firm was limited to a gradual internationalization process although the technology has the potential to break this pattern or accelerate it. The results from this study are valuable for scholars since the internationalization process of cloud service firms is an under-researched area. It is also useful for cloud service SMEs when making strategic decisions in the internationalization process.

The world market has during recent decades become an increasingly globalized arena, in which lowered trade barriers, enhanced technology, worldwide communication and containerization have made internationalization an easily obtainable option for companies. The once dominating multinational enterprises are present day challenged by small- and medium sized enterprises as global actors, and competitiveness is an ever-increasing factor, making the pursuit and exploitation of opportunities essential.   The International Entrepreneurship Theory has during the last two decades emerged as a theory explaining the phenomena of small- and medium sized enterprises internationalizing their operations at an early age; a theory comprehending entrepreneurial behavior, the ability to explore and take advantage of opportunities overlooked by others in order to create value in the organization.   The purpose of this thesis is to create an understanding of the emergence, definition and theoretical framework of the International Entrepreneurship Theory. By implementing a deductive research approach and a quantitative research method, empirical data is collected in order to confront the theoretical framework in the analysis. The analysis will further be the basis for conclusions and recommendations that will conclude our thesis.

The most dominating type of company in Sweden is the small-sized business and it usually lacks its own marketing department. The purpose of this paper was to analyze several small Swedish businesses which are specialized in different sectors of the Mechanic/Technology industry but they are similar in terms of having niched products and they are leading companies in the world. The objective was to do research about how small businesses work with marketing despite its lack of resources and capital. This survey has shown that customer contacts, customer relationships and especially for those investigated companies, it was very important to focus on globalization and product development in order to build a Point of Difference.

The increasing impact of mass production and consumption behaviours have made sustainable product design an important issue in design literature in the last two decades. Studies in the early period focussed on research projects carried out in collaboration with multinational large-sized enterprises, owing to pressures from non-governmental organizations. However, recent studies about sustainable development have pointed out that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) rather than multinationals have a greater share of manufacturing and employment in both industrialized and industrializing countries. Unfortunately, in spite of the important role of SMEs, there is inadequate data and literature relating sustainable design practices to these firms. A lack of information and collaboration, caused partially by communication problems, has resulted in an absence of proper sustainable product design tools for these companies. Furniture enterprises in Ankara are the focus of this study because of the impact of product design in market possibilities and the spread of employment of product designers in the sector. Attitudes of staff and consultants of furniture SMEs regarding barriers and opportunities of sustainable product design are explored, and contrasted with overlapping points of existing product development methods and strategies in the literature. This work is intended to contribute to improved understanding and application of sustainable product design among furniture sector SMEs. To this end, interviews were conducted with 16 furniture manufacturing enterprises from the furniture industry, based in Ankara region and 5 freelance furniture designers cooperating with these enterprises. According to the results of the study, furniture sector SMEs are interested more in economic opportunities of sustainable product design rather than environmental and social aspects. Furthermore, a lack of information about environmental issues is observed in micro and small-sized enterprises / to overcome this situation, it is recommended that training sessions are organized to bring together researchers and practitioners.

In Paper [I], we theoretically assess green public procurement (GPP) as an environmental policy instrument and its ability to lead to the achievement of environmental objectives. Central to our analysis is the extent to which polluting firms choose to adapt to the public sector's environmental requirements and to invest in greener technologies. Our main finding is that the potential of GPP to function as an objective-effective instrument of environmental policy is limited and can actually be counterproductive. From an environmental policy point of view, it is crucial that GPP aims for environmental standards beyond just the technology of the polluting firms and that it is designed with reference to defined environmental objectives. In Paper [II], we use data on Swedish public procurement auctions for internal regular cleaning service contracts to provide novel empirical evidence regarding GPP and its effect on the potential suppliers' decision to submit a bid and their probability of being qualified for supplier selection. We find only a weak effect on supplier behavior, and this suggests that GPP, as used in practice, does not live up to its political expectations. However, several environmental criteria appear to be associated with increased complexity, as indicated by the reduced probability of a bid being qualified in the post-qualification process. As such, GPP appears to have limited or no potential to function as an environmental policy instrument. In Paper [III], I examine how GPP is organized in Sweden and how the potential suppliers respond to varying buyer market shares using data on Swedish public procurement auctions for internal regular cleaning service contracts. The level of GPP stringency is found to vary systematically across authority types, buyer market share, and political coalition in the relevant council or in Parliament. The results also indicate quite a substantial dispersion in GPP stringency, suggesting a low degree of coordination among contracting authorities when implementing the policy. After controlling for GPP stringency and other covariates, increased buyer market share is associated with a significant increase in the probability of potential suppliers submitting a bid. The European Commission encourages public authorities to split procurement contracts into multiple contracts in order to increase the competiveness of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). In Paper [IV], I use data from Swedish public procurement auctions for internal regular cleaning service contracts to study the effect of contract size and number of contracts on SME participation and probability of winning. The results indicate that SME participation is negatively related to both contract size and the number of contracts in the procurement. A possible interpretation is that reduced contract size in order to stimulate SME participation is counteracted by reduced incentives for them to enter into procurements with multiple contracts. Medium-sized firms are also more successful when bidding for smaller contracts relative to large firms. Nevertheless, the results indicate that the award rate for SMEs is positively correlated with the number of contracts in the procurement. / Green Public Procurement: An Efficient Environmental Policy Tool?

Bakgrund Under de senaste åren har inköp uppmärksammats allt mer. Ökade kravfrån kunder och högre konkurrens har lett till att företag ser fördelar mednära affärsrelationer. Däremot har medelstora företag influenser frånbåde stora och små företag och det är därmed svårt att veta vad de har förutgångspunkt i affärsrelationer. Litteraturgenomgången visar att detsaknas forskning för enbart medelstora företags inköpsprocess. Av denanledningen är det intressant att undersöka medelstora företagsinköpsarbete inriktat på affärsrelationer med en större leverantör, för attse hur båda parter upplever affärsrelationen samt om medelstora företagoch små företag kan klassas in i samma definition. Syfte Syftet med den här studien är att öka förståelsen för medelstora företagsinköpsarbete, där fokus ligger på deras affärsrelationer med en störreleverantör. Studien avser att öka förståelsen för hur en kund och dessleverantör upplever och hanterar affärsrelationen. Metod Studien har en kvalitativ ansats och bygger på en flerfallstudie medintervjuer från ett leverantörsföretag samt tre kundföretag, för att ökaförståelsen för kundföretagens inköpsarbete samt för att se hur respektivepart upplever affärsrelationen. Slutsats Studiens resultat visar att medelstora företag arbetar mycket med atteffektivisera inköp och ser inköp som en värdeskapande funktion. Därförbör de inte klassas in i samma definition som små företag. För att enaffärsrelation ska fungera bra krävs framförallt förtroende mellanparterna och att makt inte utövas. / Background Purchasing has been more acknowledged during the last couple of years.Higher demands from customers have led to companies seeingadvantages with close business relationships. However, medium-sizedenterprises have influences from both big and small enterprises and it istherefore hard to know what starting position they have in businessrelationships. The literature review shows that research is lacking foronly medium-sized enterprise’s buying process. Therefore it isinteresting to study purchasing in medium-sized enterprises with focuson their business relationship with a larger supplier, to be able to see howboth parties perceive the business relationship and if medium-sizedenterprises can be classified in the same definition. Aim The aim with this study is to gain a greater insight of purchasing inmedium-sized enterprises, with a focus on their business relationshipwith a larger supplier. The study aims to gain a bigger insight of how acustomer and its supplier perceive and manage the business relationship. Methodology The study has a qualitative approach and is built on a case-study withinterviews from one supplier and three customers, to gain a biggerinsight of purchasing and to be able to see how each party perceive thebusiness relationship. Conclusion The results of the study show that medium-sized enterprises work a lot tomake purchasing more efficient and they all believe that purchasing is avalue adding function. Therefore they should not be classified in thesame definition as small-sized enterprises. One of the most importantcomponents in a business relationship is trust and power should not beused.

Despite significant research output in recent decades on international new ventures (INVs),little attention has been paid to understanding the processes and conditions under whichthe entrepreneur identifies and exploits an opportunity and subsequently creates valuewithin the firm. As a result, the dynamics involved in the role of the entrepreneur during theestablishment and internationalization of INVs remain in a black box. In order to understandthe context, interaction among players and other dynamics involved before, during, and afterthe establishment of the INV’s creation and development, a different approach is needed. Theaim of this dissertation is to describe and understand the role of entrepreneurs in the processof establishment and internationalization of international new ventures. Three longitudinal case studies were conducted between 1999 and 2008 with a total of 108interviews using snowball sampling. In addition, comprehensive secondary data have beencollected to enrich the empirical cases with thick descriptions, and to enhance content validityas well as the reliability of the research. This study offers a more nuanced picture of how entrepreneurs’ characteristics influencethe international development of their firms. For example, it appears that it was neitherthe previous foreign experience, the education, nor the previously developed internationalnetwork (as suggested by previous literature) that can be credited for the rapid and vastinternationalization of the case firms. Instead, it is suggested that an entrepreneur’schildhood and prior life story directly influences their behaviour in the INV. We proposethat different types of entrepreneurs are important factors to understanding firms’ differentinternationalization patterns. Depending on the backgrounds of the entrepreneurs, theydeveloped preferences, skills, and especially desires that would come to affect the totalbehaviour of their future organizations. This study also develops the notion of psychicdistance into three separate spaces - the physical, the mental and the social space. Forexample, the context and experience during childhood creates the foundations for theentrepreneurs’ mental and social space, which can separately, but also in relation toeach other, offer a more accurate and deeper understanding of the actions taken by theentrepreneurs in the INV. Furthermore, this study has shown that the role and characteristicsof the entrepreneur do change over time, which also determines the individual’s sensitivity toopportunities and the international behaviour of the company.