This research project, which is limited to German SMEs, deals with the development of a holistic early warning system (EWS) integrating both a quality management system (QMS) and controlling (CO). Most of the concepts designed to identify company risks/crises are focused either on quantitative (operative) or qualitative (strategic) factors. Several authors point out the need for a more holistic approach including both quantitative and qualitative factors. This research, therefore, sought to explore controlling and quality management tools for EWSs in the food production industry, which are appropriate for recognizing risk factors of company failure, outlined by interview and literature review. Concepts and relations were generated with the help of turnaround-, controlling-, and quality management-experts and then confirmed/refined and analyzed by considering how they can be implemented in practice through the application of case study research. This research makes a contribution in the following areas: identification of requirements for an EWS; the exploration of appropriate QM and CO tools for EWS; the proposal of a holistic approach. The EWS, developed during this work, enables companies in the food production industry to tailor the framework for the specific needs of the company. Such a comprehensive, systematic approach (CO + QM) is currently unknown, both in research and also practice. Therefore, the work represents a new, innovative and implementable practical model.

Succession effectiveness in family wineries is considered critical for the incumbents and the owning families looking forward to assure winery success and trans-generational continuity, as this endeavour requires substantial commitment, social skills, financial health, and idiosyncratic considerations that are more often than not unstable. Therefore, this thesis provides a platform of critical reflection and theoretical development upon the findings of a doctoral research on the topic of effective succession in family wineries for bringing further and closer theory and professional practice. Systematic literature review of the best available sources of knowledge served as a starting point. It was shown that there is a plethora of academic research on effective family business succession that makes available useful insights into this important process. The review has identified the major theories, models, and frameworks, and provided information on different factors and variables that are believed appropriate to foster succession process further. However, the review findings are often fragmented and subjective which makes it difficult to draw valid conclusions that can be representative for family wineries. Moreover, the review revealed certain gaps and uncertainties in the research that this thesis has aimed to bridge, and allowed the development of a preliminary conceptual framework (version one) with the testable research hypotheses. A primary research that followed in the organizational context of Cypriot family wineries made use of both quantitative and qualitative approaches, at a greater and lesser extent, respectively. These approaches were put forward based on the researcher’s ontological, epistemological and axiological assumptions. The numeric data were largely generated from a self-completed questionnaire survey that was comprehensive with an open aspect. The questionnaire was mailed to the entire population of fifty-four family wineries inclusive with hundred participants. The statistical analysis was undertaken using SPSS software. Pearson correlation analysis was the foremost statistical device used in the direction of establishment significant relationships among different succession factors. In order to enrich the meaning of statistical analysis with wine-specific insights, the researcher made further use of illustrative evidence collected from the survey open aspect.

This study explores the factors that affect the corporate sustainability behaviour of UK manufacturing small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). To date, SMEs have been reported as being generally reluctant to engage in corporate sustainability activities. However, due to their significant negative environmental impacts, volume, and the contributions they make to economic growth and stability, no meaningful progress can be made towards corporate sustainability without SMEs’ involvement. As extant literature has focused more on the corporate sustainability activities of large or multinational companies with limited focus on SMEs, this study contributes to addressing this gap by adopting an SME perspective to exploring the factors affecting their corporate sustainability behaviour. The study was conducted as a qualitative study and data was collected through semi-structured interviews with a total of forty SME owner-managers from manufacturing companies in the South-East region of the UK and a focus group conducted with an additional twelve SME owner-managers from the same sector and region. Based on the study’s findings and an elaboration of the Responsible Environmental Behaviour (REB) framework, a framework for exploring the factors affecting SMEs’ corporate sustainability behaviour was developed. This framework suggests that SME Capacity Building in the form of information on corporate sustainability issues as they relate to SMEs, action strategies they can employ for corporate sustainability and transparency of the corporate sustainability business case, as well as Organisational Attitude, Stakeholder Influence and Resource Constraints are the main factors affecting UK manufacturing SMEs’ corporate sustainability behaviour.

This research aims at understanding how business networks influence the commercialization of emerging technologies. It focuses on small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in the field of nanotechnology in the UK and aims to identify what types of networks they use for commercialization. It also examines how different types of networks can explain success or otherwise in commercialization with respect to the position of the SME in the value chain and the type of resulting innovation. Various streams of literature including debates on SMEs and innovation, open innovation, the innovation systems literature, and the industrial networks approach are used to develop a conceptual framework that guides this research. Using a case study approach, 23 Nanotech SMEs in the UK are investigated. Secondary data on firms are gathered from various sources including company websites and the FAME database. Primary data are collected through 40 semi-structured interviews with SMEs’ senior managers and key informants. Data analysis is based upon thematic analysis. The findings present a typology of networks based on a combination of network structure and actor roles, including six network types: incumbent-oriented network with reactive SME, incumbent-oriented network with proactive SME, SME-oriented network, broker-oriented networks, hybrid networks and interrupted networks. The findings indicate that a reactive approach towards networking is less conducive to commercialization, regardless of the innovation type or value chain position. SMEs can proactively create incumbent-oriented, SME-oriented or broker-oriented networks to facilitate commercialization. Incumbent-oriented networks with proactive SMEs are conducive to commercialization of both nanomaterials and nano-intermediate products and can facilitate commercialization of moderately and highly radical nanotechnology. SME-oriented networks are also conducive to commercialization of moderately and highly radical nanotechnology, but have been used for commercialization of nano-enabled products. Broker-oriented networks can facilitate commercialization of technologies or products developed in the upstream part of the value chain and are more influential in the commercialization of moderately or highly radical nanotechnology. Some Nanotech SMEs are simultaneously involved in more than one network type, i.e. have hybrid networks, pursuing multiple strategies for commercialization. All SMEs with hybrid networks have broker-oriented networks in common and in some cases the broker-oriented network has caused formation of other network types. Finally, the findings show how interrupted networks pose the biggest challenge for commercialization. The thesis contributes to the debates on SMEs and innovation and the gap on how open innovation is implemented within the context of SMEs and emerging technologies. This research also informs SME managers' strategies and choices related to participation in business networks. It provides further insights for policy makers regarding the networking behaviour of SMEs and contribution of various network actors to commercialization and in this way assists with devising policies for encouraging and facilitating collaboration for commercialization.

Background: The number of small and medium-sized enterprises has been increasing and has gradually become the main part of economic development over years. However, it is challenging for them to compete in the fast-changing business environment, especially with the changing demands of their stakeholders. In order to control and improve business processes, Management Control System is important for monitoring each process while Performance Measurement System, as an essential part, is a good way of managing goals and targets and help companies improve. Since the business process is closely related to stakeholders, it is necessary to study how small and medium-sized enterprises manage their stakeholders’ expectations to improve their use of performance measurements and control business processes. Findings: We have selected two small and medium-sized enterprises in Kronoberg County in Sweden for our case study. We have found that our research model based on literature is well explained more in detail in practice. Based on the literature, we identify that key stakeholders for small and medium-sized enterprises are basically primary stakeholders, including customers, suppliers, employees, owners/shareholders and community. Performance Measurement System can be used and developed by managing these stakeholders’ expectations. After collecting empirical data, we have discovered that competitors or other companies have an impact on the use of Performance Measurement System as well. Small and medium-sized enterprises also have several important stakeholders to consider and they try to develop and improve Performance Measurement System by managing their stakeholders’ expectations from different perspectives. Results: It is important for small and medium-sized enterprises to find out what their main stakeholders are first before they can manage their expectations. After identifying key stakeholders, different aspects of these stakeholders need to be considered. For instance, employees’ capability of working need to be measured and they have a big impact on Performance Measurement System use and development, especially in small and medium-sized enterprises. Suppliers and customers situations need to be considered since they may come from different regions or countries where there are political issues. Therefore, risks of doing business require enterprises to be flexible and react quickly. Managing these aspects regarding stakeholders is crucial for developing and improving Performance Measurement System in small and mediumsized enterprises.

Many small/medium-sized businesses to business companies today struggle withdeciding what marketing strategy to adopt since they do not have the same resources aslarger companies have. Large businesses have certain inherent advantages over smallercompanies. They are usually more established on the market, they have moreestablished customers and they have greater amounts of funds and resources in terms offor example, personnel. Yet, SMEs play a crucial role in the European economy wherethey represent an overwhelming majority of 99.8% of enterprises active within EU ́snon-financial business economy. The research that has been made regarding the socialmedia marketing usage and adoption also points to that there is lack of research withinthe B2B sector comparing to the B2C sector. Yet, the research that has been madeindicates that there are several potential benefits of utilizing social media, it has thepotential to generate higher brand awareness, exposure, increased traffic and higherpurchase intentions than what, for example, traditional marketing has and it is alsoknown to be more cost effective. Still, many businesses have still not fully understoodthe potential benefits of utilizing social media as a marketing communication tool,especially SMEs within the B2B sector. Something that they do seem to adopt isrelationship marketing which is not a new phenomenon, it has been one of the majorparadigms in the marketing literature the last decades and is also known to be costeffective and beneficial in many areas. Therefore, the authors in this study chose tomake a comparison between relationship marketing and digital marketing, to see whatstrategy is the most effective one in terms of awareness, purchase intentions and returnof investment. So, the authors carried out a qualitative and multiple case study withseven SMEs in the B2B sector in Sweden. The result show that for creating awarenessdigital marketing seems to be more effective and for creating purchase intentions.Regarding ROI, it was challenging for the authors to draw any connections or to makean overall conclusion about it. It was also found that the companies utilize social mediamarketing mostly for relationship marketing purposes and not as sales channels and thatmost of the companies lack resources both in terms of personnel, time and funding’swhen it comes to social media marketing.

Com maior acesso à informação, disponível em múltiplos meios de comunicação, o comportamento do consumidor vem sofrendo uma acelerada transformação. O cliente, neste trabalho denominado de shopper, que realiza compras em um ponto de venda, está cada vez mais consciente e exigente com relação a o quê, quando, como e onde comprar. Diante deste desafio, a presente dissertação se propõe a definir um sequenciamento de etapas e ferramentas para operacionalização do gerenciamento por categorias (GC) em varejos de pequeno e médio porte, de forma a auxiliar o gestor no processo de tomada de decisão, visando atender às necessidades dos seus clientes. Desta forma, primeiramente, foi desenvolvido e aplicado um método para a identificação e priorização de atributos de compra que influenciam o shopper. Com base nestes atributos, em um segundo momento, foi desenvolvida uma sistemática para implantação de GC em varejo de pequeno e médio portes. Esta sistemática está baseada em um conjunto de ferramentas e de indicadores de desempenho que permitem às organizações melhorar a gestão dos seus departamentos. Por fim, a sistemática foi aplicada a um supermercado de médio porte, em seu departamento de hortifrutigranjeiros, sendo apresentados os resultados oriundos desta aplicação. / Considering the easier access to information, available in different types of media, the customer’s behavior is changing and very fast. The customer, so called shopper, who makes purchases in a selling point, is increasingly aware of what, when, how and where to buy things. Based on this challenge, this thesis aims to define a sequence of steps and tools for implementation of category management (CM) in small and medium-sized retailers, to help managers in the decision-making process, to meet the customer needs. Thus, first, it has developed and implemented a method for identification and prioritization of purchase attributes which influence the shopper. Based on these attributes, in a second moment, it was developed a systematic of CM applied to small and medium-sized retail. This systematic is based on a set of tools and performance indicators that enable organizations to improve their departments’ management. In the end, the systematic developed was applied to a medium-sized supermarket, in their fresh produce department, and the results arising from this application were presented.

Esta tese investiga a relação entre recursos do país e desempenho internacional de Pequenas e Médias Empresas (PMEs) brasileiras. Com a abertura dos mercados globais, PMEs de países emergentes enfrentam novos entrantes no mercado doméstico, se tornam multinacionais com expansão internacional tardia e características distintivas, e passam a lidar com recursos que devem ser adequados para estratégias voltadas ao mercado interno e externo, sendo a exportação o nível menos complexo e mais adotado de internacionalização dessas empresas. Compreender a internacionalização a partir das características da firma e da localização em um país de origem emergente mostra-se um desafio gerencial e teórico. A Visão Baseada em Recursos (VBR) é apropriada para esse tópico de pesquisa, pois permite abordar os recursos da firma e do país na geração de vantagem competitiva sob a lógica da internacionalização. Recursos do país são externos à firma e disponíveis a qualquer empresa localizada em um país (FAHY, 2002) e ainda não foram investigados quanto ao seu uso e relação com o desempenho na internacionalização de PMEs de países emergentes. Para suprir esta lacuna teórica, esta pesquisa se dividiu em duas fases: a etapa qualitativa e exploratória identificou recursos para internacionalização de PMEs de países emergentes. Adotaram-se técnicas de revisão sistemática de literatura, seguida de entrevistas com especialistas, instituições e PMEs no contexto brasileiro. Identificaram-se 11 recursos do país por meio de análise de conteúdo com apoio do software Nvivo. O grau de utilização e a relação dos recursos do país com o desempenho internacional das empresas foram verificados empiricamente na etapa quantitativa e descritiva da pesquisa, em uma Survey com 222 PMEs brasileiras. O desempenho internacional foi medido de modo subjetivo, por um construto de satisfação com atividades internacionais nos últimos três anos, e de modo objetivo, baseado na intensidade exportadora da empresa. A análise dos dados foi feita com técnicas estatísticas paramétricas e apoio do software SPSS. Os principais resultados apontam que os recursos do país mais utilizados são os de acesso à informação, infraestrutura logística e cadeias produtivas bem desenvolvidas, os quais explicam 9,4% do desempenho internacional subjetivo das PMEs brasileiras. Por outro lado, não há relação entre recursos do país e intensidade exportadora das empresas. Houve diferenças no uso de recursos do país quanto às características da empresa exportadora, como idade, escopo geográfico, intensidade tecnológica e tipo de gestão, o que não ocorreu quanto à experiência internacional. Embora os recursos do país sejam utilizados pelas PMEs brasileiras, destaca-se que não são determinantes para sua vantagem competitiva no mercado externo. As PMEs brasileiras estão otimistas em relação ao crescimento nas exportações. Os recursos do país associados à satisfação com atividades internacionais devem embasar políticas e projetos setoriais para internacionalização dessas empresas. Os resultados desta pesquisa cobriram lacunas teóricas sobre o tema de internacionalização de PMEs de países emergentes sob a Visão Baseada em Recursos e abriram novos caminhos de investigação. Pesquisas futuras podem comparar estes resultados com o contexto de empresas de diferentes portes e países emergentes. Possivelmente, os recursos do país menos estratégicos para PMEs brasileiras sejam estratégicos em outros contextos, o que deve ser verificado empiricamente. Por fim, sugere-se verificar quais recursos da firma estão associados ao uso de recursos do país e demais fatores determinantes no desempenho internacional de PMEs de países emergentes. / This thesis investigates the relationship between country resources and the international performance of Brazilian Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). With the opening of global markets, emerging market SMEs face new entrants in the domestic market, become multinationals with late international expansion and distinctive characteristics, and begin to deal with resources that should be adequate for strategies aimed at the domestic and foreign market. Export is the less complex and more used mode of entry of SMEs in foreign markets. Understanding the internationalization through the characteristics of the firm and its location in an emerging country of origin is a managerial and theoretical challenge. The Resource Based View (VBR) is appropriate for this research topic because it allows an approach to the country and the firm resources to create competitive advantage in internationalization. Country resources are external to the firm and available to any company located in a country (FAHY, 2002). There are no researches about the use and relation of country resources to internationalization performance of SMEs in emerging countries. To fill this theoretical gap, this research was divided into two phases: the qualitative and exploratory stage identified resources for internationalization of SMEs from emerging countries. Techniques of systematic literature review were adopted, followed by interviews with specialists, institutions and SMEs in the Brazilian context. Eleven country resources were identified through content analysis supported by Nvivo software. The use and the relation of country resources to the international performance of the SMEs were verified empirically in the quantitative and descriptive stage of the research, in a Survey with 222 Brazilian SMEs International performance was measured subjectively by a construct of satisfaction with international activities in the last three years, and in an objective way, based on the export intensity of the company. Data analysis was performed using parametric statistical techniques with SPSS software support. The main results indicate that the most used country resources are information access, logistics infrastructure and well-developed production chains, which are responsible for 9.4% of the subjective international performance of Brazilian SMEs. On the other hand, there is no relation between resources of the country and export intensity SMEs. There were differences in the use of country resources regarding the characteristics of the exporting SMEs, such as age, geographic scope, technological intensity and type of management. There were no differences regarding international experience of firms. Although country resources are used by Brazilian SMEs, it is highlighted that they do not generate competitive advantage in the foreign market. Brazilian SMEs are optimistic about the growth in exports. Country resources associated to the satisfaction with international activities should support policies and sectoral projects for the internationalization of these firms. The results of this research covered theoretical gaps on the theme of internationalization of SMEs from emerging countries under the Resource Based View and opened new avenues of research. Future research can compare these results with other firms with different sizes and from other emerging countries. Possibly, the less strategic country resources for Brazilian SMEs are strategic in other contexts, which should be verified empirically. Finally, it is suggested to verify which firm resources are associated to the use of country resources, as well as other determining factors to the international performance of SMEs in emerging countries.

abstract: This thesis starts with an analysis of the current situation of the pharmaceutical industry in China, and discusses the strategic mergers and acquisitions (M&A) by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the pharmaceutical industry in China. It elaborates on the rationale for the development of the mergers and acquisitions of the pharmaceutical SMEs. Then a literature review is provided on the causes of corporate mergers and acquisitions such as the economies of scale, synergistic effect, transaction costs, market power, and strategic diversification.Next,the thesis analyzes the underlying rationale for the M&A transactions in the pharmaceutical industry in China, and explores the likely path of successful value creation for pharmaceutical SMEs in China. Specifically, with five in-depth case studies of M&A transactions of pharmaceutical firms, this thesis reveals the critical success factors leading to value creation and growth in the practice of mergers and acquisitions of the pharmaceutical SMEs in China. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Business Administration 2015

Business Process Management (BPM) has become a popular concept inbusiness development in recent years. Traditionally, however, researchsurrounding BPM initiatives have centered on large organizations,meaning that little is known about the effects of BPM, both positive andnegative, on a Small- and Medium sized Organization (SMO).This research identifies problems that a SMO can face when workingtoward higher process orientation and provides an explanation as to whyefforts have failed in the past. Furthermore, the requirements forimplementing BPM from a process-execution perspective wereinvestigated. The issues that arise to limit success of the BPM initiativehave been identified and discussed in relation to existing literature onBPM implementation, particularly those issues that are unique to SMOs.Through better understanding of the requirements for a successful BPMinitiative, the SMO is able to identify the areas that it need to beaddressed specifically before the organization is able to reach higherprocess orientation.