In this master thesis, the knowledge exploitation factors in multinational enterprises are studied. Hereby, the researchers analyse the perspective of subsidiary middle managers to understand their influence on knowledge exploitation and to understand the factors that influence middle managers in subsidiaries to share their knowledge. The aim is to provide practical implications for multinational enterprises on how to enhance knowledge exploitation from the subsidiaries and to contribute to the existing theory on knowledge exploitation factors in the light of middle managers. Thereby, the chosen qualitative research approach is abductive grounded theory, including interviews with middle managers from mostly European subsidiaries of multinational enterprises. The findings present which factors impact middle managers to share knowledge with the headquarters. Additionally, influencing factors of middle managers on knowledge exploitation are described. Hereby, the master thesis shows the interdependency between multiple factors of knowledge exploitation, resulting in a model to provide an overview. Furthermore, implications to the theory and practical implications are given on how multinational enterprises can enhance knowledge exploitation within the organisation.

Corporate social responsibility is a well-discussed phenomenon where existing researchers within the field of MNEs have found an increased interest in the CSR topic. Existing research between the two topics is still at an early stage where the main reason is the complexity of defining the CSR concept, as well as the MNEs cross-border operations in multiple contexts. Further, the fast fashion industry is generally characterized by frequent production and squeezed margins to maximize profit. CSR is significantly important for MNEs operating in the fast fashion industry due to their environmental and social impact, where they have to reconsider the impact of their actions. This thesis will examine two MNEs originated from Sweden and Spain to understand the differences and similarities of the selected MNEs strategic CSR focus and actions. Further, a qualitative research method has been conducted in order to fulfill the purpose of this thesis, where the empirical data has been conducted through secondary data. The common findings of this thesis indicate that both MNEs engage in multiple CSR activities, where the strategy mainly focus on environmental and social aspects. Further, the findings illustrated a clear connection to Carroll’s Pyramid of CSR where all responsibilities were included in the strategies. The outcome of the thesis indicates that both MNEs strategies involves actions to take responsibility for global and local issues.

Culture is a social phenomenon that affects the daily lives of individuals. How we view the world is often reflected by our national culture forming our values, beliefs, and assumptions about what reality looks like. Since the globalization trend has paved the way for organizations to broaden their horizons, and because markets are no longer bound to geographical locations, culture plays a bigger role than ever before. For organizations being introduced to an increased number of cultures, the requirements of flexibility and adaptability drastically increase for both management and individuals working within these organizations. The organization further creates its own organizational culture, which is present alongside the different national cultures, and guides employees in their daily operations. Further, culture, to a great extent, determines the behaviors of individuals, and thus how one chooses to communicate and collaborate. In previous research, the emphasis on culture is extensive. The influences culture has had on large, international organizations have been widely debated in the academic world, and many practices in global organizations make use of the findings of such research. In addition to cultural research, communication and collaboration have been debated as correlated with culture in separate ways. Since the emphasis on culture has been great, additions have been made of how culture determines how one communicates or collaborates but not enough focus has been on the two and their relationship, and the combination of the three topics. There have also been calls within the academic world for more research on the phenomenon of culture. The authors of this thesis aimed to contribute to research with an attempt to fill this gap, increasing the existing knowledge on culture, communication and collaboration, which individuals and organizations can find useful. This thesis contributes with interesting results that confirmed, added to, and contradicted existing theory. The findings suggest culture as significantly impacting the multinational enterprise through its paradoxical influences, simultaneously affecting the organization in both positive and negative ways. Within the topics affected, communication and collaboration, four central themes were identified. These themes were decision-making, hierarchical and power structures, managing emotions, and managing change. In combination with the theoretical framework of this thesis, a conceptual model of the influences of culture on the topics of communication and collaboration, and on the four themes, was created. In the model, whether the paradoxical influences of culture are primarily positive or negative, is determined by the management of such influencess. This thesis further hints at directions for future research, as interesting findings can benefit from being further researched in detail. The findings of this thesis can be utilized in several ways, applying to an individual as well as an organizational level. By bringing cultural differences to light, one can overcome barriers and benefit from insights and different perspectives in operations, resulting in an increase of effectiveness and reproduction of positive emotions in the workplace. As understandings of culture could diminish barriers and increase humbleness towards individuals' dissimilarities, one seeking development could be greatly enlightened through such understandings.

Background: The outbreak of COVID-19 caused widespread economic distress with waves of business failures among several industries. Literature suggests that businesses can acknowledge opportunities and profit from shifts in the external environment through strategic management. However, the link between actual strategic practices and beneficial outcomes is poorly tackled.  Problem: Given the presence and sensitivity of crisis, the importance of investigating strategic decision-making in turbulent markets has never been more noticeable. Recent events have shown that society at large is hugely exposed to unexpected events, and the gap in knowledge makes it nearly impossible for executives to prepare to master the situation efficiently.  Purpose: This study aims to explore how crises affect the strategic decision-making of Swedish multinational manufacturing firms. The focus is set on examining how and why these decisions are implemented and what the outcome generalizes to business performance.  Method: This research is qualitative and based on an inductive approach. It follows a multiple case study research design with an internal-realism ontology and a positivist epistemology. Primary data was collected through five open-ended semi-structured interviews with Swedish multinational manufacturing firm executives. Conclusion: The results show that drivers of competitive decision-making are controlled by macroeconomic factors, drastically changing market behaviors. Businesses that could adapt their strategies to current situations identified favorable opportunities that strengthened rather than harmed the firm. Four key enabling strategies to master a crisis are identified: (1) Awareness of market behavior, (2) Tied-up capital, (3) Dual-sourcing, and (4) Managing both internal and external relations.

Successful companies that are founded and established in Sweden are likely to at some point look to expand outside of Sweden. When they do so they will need to adapt the company to the environment and circumstances that are present in the local market they are expanding to. The main purpose of this thesis is to investigate Swedish companies’ use of control mechanisms when running a subsidiary in Australia. Applying the theoretical framework by Malmi and Brown (2008), four Swedish companies operating in the Australian market were selected. Ikea using culture as an asset make them an interesting comparison to three highly reputable tech-companies that both differ from Ikea in age and size. It was found that cultural control mechanisms were heavily featured among the respondents' respective companies, and reward and compensation control mechanisms were altered the most when operating in Australia compared to Sweden. / Framgångsrika bolag grundade och etablerade i Sverige kommer sannolikt att någon gång expandera utanför Sverige. När de gör det kommer de att behöva anpassa företaget till den miljö och de omständigheter som råder på den lokala marknaden de expanderar till. Huvudsyftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka hur svenska bolag styr sina kontrollmekanismer när de driver en filial i Australien. Fyra svenska företag på den australienska marknaden har valts att studeras utifrån det teoretiska ramverket av Malmi and Brown (2008). Ikeas användning av svensk kultur som en tillgång gör det till en intressant jämförelse med tre välrenommerade teknikföretag, som både skiljer sig från Ikea när det gäller ålder och storlek. Det visade sig att kulturella kontrollmekanismer var flitigt förekommande bland respondenternas respektive företag, och belönings- och kompensations-kontrollmekanismerna förändrades mest när man verkade i Australien i jämförelse med Sverige.

This exploratory study examined the different tourism market development strategies that tourism Multinational Corporations (MNCs) implement in their operations in African host countries. It empirically investigated the existence of any relationships between tourism MNCs’ market development strategies and the “Needs and Expectations of African host countries.” Also, it investigated the influences of external environmental factors on tourism MNCs’ tourism market strategic choice. Its sample population were top management executives of tourism MNCs‘ with operations in the African market. The unit of analysis was the corporation. The sample frame was an exhaustive list of tourism MNCs with operations in the African region. The initial sample size was 106 tourism MNCs’ executives. Thirty-seven of them responded to a mail in survey questionnaire. Two of the questionnaires were discarded due to numerous missing data. Thus, there were 35 usable questionnaires for data analysis, which is a response rate of 33%. The study results identified relationships between the integration of Multinational Corporations’ (MNCs) tourism market development strategies with the needs and expectations of developing African host countries, and their successful performance in those host countries in terms of growth in operations and profitability. It revealed that significant differences exist among the market development strategies on the factors of needs and expectations of African host countries. The significant factors were community participation, local entrepreneurship, and job and national security. Also, the economic development factor was observed to be partially significant. This study also identified free trade economy in the African host countries as a significant factor on the influence of external environment. The framework of this study is embedded in the underlying theories of international strategic management, international business, international development, and needs and expectations. The study’s final conceptual model depicts the significant factors of African host countries’ needs and expectations, the tourism market development strategies, an integration of the two concepts and the resultant tourism MNCs successful performance. This research study investigated MNCs in all sectors of the tourism industry. And the findings have shown that for the tourism MNCs to be successful in their African host countries, they should be sensitive to the identified sectors, namely economic development, community participation, local entrepreneurship, and job and national security measures. Also, they should exert more efforts in exploring African free trade economies for their business locations in the region. / Ph. D.

Economic development is seen as the best means of accomplishing the goal of eradicating extreme poverty, and at the heart of this development are for-profit companies, especially multinational corporations. The specific problem examined in this study was whether levels of poverty in South Africa had been significantly impacted by the activities of multinational corporations and the level of entrepreneurship in its 9 provinces. To build upon empirical research on the sources of poverty alleviation and the impact of large global enterprises, the purpose of this study was to examine the impact of entrepreneurship and multinational corporation presence on the change in poverty levels in the 9 provinces of South Africa. The theoretical framework of the study was based on the theories of economic development and market-based solutions to poverty alleviation that are created through entrepreneurship and the engagement of multinational firms. This quantitative longitudinal study used mixed method linear regression and trend analysis to assess the impact of multinational corporation presence, and the number of new businesses started in the regions of South Africa between 2002 and 2015 on poverty. A significant inverse relationship between poverty and entrepreneurship was identified. As new business registrations increased, poverty declined. There was not a consistently significant relationship for the impact of multinational corporation locations on poverty. Trends in the data were identified that supported economic development as an element in poverty reduction. Those provinces with lower poverty levels had more new businesses and multinational corporation locations. This study may promote positive social change by supporting economic development and market-based solutions in conjunction with other social welfare elements to engage multinational corporations and reduce poverty.

La thèse traite de la manière dont des firmes multinationales (FMNs) historiquement occidentales, pilotent la dynamique de constitution des compétences nécessaires pour supporter leur stratégie de croissance et d’innovation, lorsque leur marché bascule depuis l’Europe vers l’Asie.La littérature sur le management de l’innovation dans les FMNs propose différents modèles d’organisation globale des processus d’innovation mais n’aborde pas la question de la dynamique de constitution de ces modèles, à partir d’une situation historique et d’une stratégie d’internationalisation spécifique.La thèse traite de cette question de la dynamique à partir d’une recherche interactive menée au sein de l’équipementier automobile mondial Valeo. Elle montre (i) que l’internationalisation en Chine constitue une triple rupture de vitesse, de volume ainsi que de contexte pour la FMN occidentale historique, (ii) que la stratégie mise en œuvre par la FMN en Chine depuis l’Europe permet de gérer la situation à court terme, mais n’est pas particulièrement propice à la constitution des compétences nécessaires aux équipes locales pour devenir progressivement autonomes.A partir d’un diagnostic des difficultés rencontrées, la thèse propose alors (i) au niveau micro, un modèle de reconception des dispositifs de formation dispensés, de manière à optimiser les apprentissages des collaborateurs chinois et favoriser le développement de leurs compétences, (ii) au niveau macro, une trajectoire d’optimisation du développement des compétences de R-I-D (Recherche, Innovation, Développement) dans la firme-réseau global, d’une part en Chine via la formation de formateurs locaux et la constitution de communautés de pratiques, d’autre part globalement via la constitution d’un véhicule organisationnel de type Université d’Entreprise, qui permettrait d’adresser, ensemble, les problématiques d’identification et d’attrait des talents, de montée en compétence, ainsi que d’engagement et de fidélisation. / This thesis focuses on the way multinational corporations (MNCs) develop and manage the required competences to sustain their innovation strategy when their market dynamism is shifting towards Asia.The literature presents various models to organize innovation processes globally but does not answer the question of their dynamic constitution based on a given situation.Drawing upon an interactive research conducted within Valeo – a worldwide automotive supplier – this thesis focuses on that dynamic dimension. It sheds light on how (i) China constitutes a disruptive experience for the Western MNC because of the speed and scale of the phenomenon, as well as the context, (ii) the strategy implemented by the MNC in China from Europe has helped to deal with the difficult situation in the short term, but is not the best way to develop the necessary competences locally to enable the local teams to become autonomous.We thus suggest: (i) at the micro level, a new way of designing training programs that involves shifting from a teaching-centered approach to a learning-centered approach, (ii) at the macro level, a trajectory to improve the constitution of R-I-D (Research, Innovation, Development) competences in the global firm, on the one hand in China via the coaching of local trainers and the development of communities of practice, and on the other hand globally via the constitution of an organizational vehicle such as a Corporate University, to address simultaneously learning and talent management issues – both individually & collectively, locally & globally, in-house & in link with the outside world.

京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(経済学) / 甲第20652号 / 経博第552号 / 新制||経||282(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院経済学研究科経済学専攻 / (主査)教授 黒澤 隆文, 教授 渡辺 純子, 准教授 COLPAN Meziyet Asli / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Economics / Kyoto University / DFAM

Thesis (M.Com. (Taxation))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, School of Accountancy, 2015. / Could not copy abstract