Many small businesses in the United States declare bankruptcy within the first 5 years of starting operations. Small business leaders may avoid bankruptcy if they would take advantage of the financial benefits associated with entering the business process outsourcing (BPO) market as service providers. BPO service providers in the United States have experienced significant revenue increases since entering this growing market. This multicase study was an exploration of the strategies small business leaders use to enter the BPO market as service providers to increase revenue and reduce the likelihood of bankruptcy in the metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia, area. The multicase population consisted of 4 small business leaders from 3 companies who successfully entered the BPO market as service providers and increased revenue. The conceptual framework for this study was the resource-based view theory. The data collection process included semistructured interviews, interview notes, and company records. Data were compiled and organized, disassembled into fragments, reassembled into sequence of groups, and interpreted for meaning. Methodological triangulation and member checking validated the trustworthiness of those interpretations. Three themes emerged from the data collected: using professional resources and personal skills to enter the BPO market; entering into trade contracts with BPO clients; and establishing and building on relationships with BPO clients. The implications for positive social change include the potential to increase the success rate of small businesses, improve and revitalize the economic and social conditions of the local community by providing jobs.

The collapse of construction companies in the Nigerian housing sector continues unabated, even in the face of 17 million housing deficits. Many construction company leaders believe that lack of business opportunities and the recent world economic decline have been responsible for the collapse. This situation has resulted in limited business activities for 80% of the Nigerian construction companies. This multiple case study explored the strategies used by leaders to maximize profitability in the Nigerian housing sector. The RBV and Porter's model of competition provided the conceptual framework for the study. Findings were based on detailed reviews of the policies and procedures of the companies, coupled with semi-structured face-to-face interviews with 5 leaders of construction companies that have successfully completed and currently involved in several housing projects in 2 southwestern states in Nigeria. The research question examined the strategies construction company leaders used to maximize profitability in the Nigerian housing sector. Four themes representing strategy categories emerged from thematic analysis: planning, human capital development, leadership factor, and organizational location. The key outcomes from the findings include the need to plan with the available resources, employ and invest in competent staff, increase leadership influence, and improve knowledge of the business environment. The implication for social change includes a potential reduction in unemployment in Nigeria. Profitable organizations will construct more affordable housing through collaboration with public authority, and more low-income earners will be able to afford to live in a decent environment, thus reducing the populations of slum dwellers in the country.

For the past three decades, export manufacturing has played an important role in Thailand's economic success. Among the exporters, the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) have increasingly taken part. As a result, export performance at both micro and macro level has become of interest to academics, exporting firms, intermediaries and Thai government policy makers. Thus, extensive studies concerning determinants of export performance are reported in literature on export marketing. However, despite the significance of resources in implementing marketing strategies and performance, the Resource-Based View (RBV) has not been explicitly and fully explored in this literature. Moreover, the vital role of intermediary resources in export performance has been also largely ignored. Hence, the applicability of RBV should be examined to investigate the effects of firm resources and export intermediary resources on export performance. Similarly, marketing control, in spite of its importance, used by manufacturing exporters in relation to their intermediaries, has not been substantially explored. The availability of firm and export intermediary resources provides flexibility for manufacturing exporters in maintaining marketing control over their intermediaries, which in turn, influences export performance. Hence, the aim of the study is to investigate the applicability of RBV and marketing control theory in determining export performance. Moreover, in the export marketing literature, there are very few studies in developing countries, particularly in Southeast Asia: this study, therefore focusses on export performance of SMEs in an export-driven, developing economy, Thailand. During the course of its investigation, this study used the 'drop-in questionnaire' method of delivering and collecting the questionnaires in person with the purpose of enhancing responses from export managers. With respect to their individual export ventures, they were asked to provide answers regarding the availability of firm resources, their perception of the availability of export intermediary resources, and the use of marketing control mechanisms on export intermediaries. Preliminary data analysis used Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and was followed by the development of a structural model, which was then tested with AMOS 4.0 Package. ix The results from the above analyses substantiate the empirical link between resources, firm and export intermediary resources, and strategic export performance, and also between the availability of resources and the use of marketing controls. The findings show that production and marketing capabilities (firm resources) and good relationships and cooperation with exporters (export intermediary resources) have an important direct effect on export performance. Hence, the study confirms the applicability of RBV in export literature. The results also indicate that firm's marketing capabilities, export intermediary's relationship and cooperation, and knowledge and experience, influence the use of marketing control, thereby supporting the hypotheses that the availability of firm and export intermediary resources facilitates the use of marketing control.

<p><strong>Abstract</strong><strong></strong></p><p>    In global arena there exists a trend to engage in strategic alliances.  The alliances are assumed to be addressing the existing resource gaps that various organizations have. Not only for-profit organizations have a need to fill in the gap, but also non-profit organizations. Various types of alliances are formed to satisfy various needs. One particular form of alliances will be discussed in this thesis is the learning alliance, which is organized in a way to facilitate the knowledge transfer between the partners involved. More specifically, the learning alliance between the university and service companies will be discussed. Even though there has been done studies examining university – industry cooperations, yet they have focused on Natural Science faculties and industry cooperations, while Business Schools did not receive much attention from the researchers. Thus, this thesis will attempt to fill in this research gap by conducting a research on Umeå School of Business and service companies to be able to produce a model for a successful learning alliance</p><p> </p><p>   In order to pursue the targeted aim, a qualitative study with semi-structured interviews was conducted. Moreover, a mix of deductive and inductive approach was adopted to facilitate the research.</p><p> </p><p>   The analysis indicated that in order to facilitate a successful learning alliance between the Umeå School of Business and service companies, certain requirements should be fulfilled. In particular, the rationale for alliance engagement should be knowledge sharing and knowledge types should create a collective strength. Moreover, the structure of the actual co-operations should satisfy the needs of all the actors involved and there should be adopted practices or experiential and organizational learning to benefit from the learning alliance. In addition, it was identified that the alliance organizers should consider the problems as well, which might affect the performance of the alliance. Finally, the result of the study is presented in the model designed by the authors based on prior theories and the analysis of the respondent’s comments.</p>

<p>The purpose of this thesis is to describe and analyse the role of logistics in the strategy of the firm. Leading to this purpose are empirical observations of firms that manage to grow under sustained profitability, by the means of logistics.</p><p>The clothing retailers H&M and Inditex manage to pursue strategies of growth under sustained profitability. Both H&M and Inditex acknowledge that logistics is used in achieving these strategic goals. The competitive environments are similar for the two retailers. However, the strategy content, i.e. the what of strategy, differs greatly between H&M and its Spanish competitor. H&M focuses on economies of scale in their operations to allow for low logistics costs and a cost-efficient geographical expansion. Inditex focuses on flexibility and speed, being able to quickly respond to changes in demand, which calls for a more agile logistics platform.</p><p>From this background, two cases are studied as regards the role of logistics in the strategy. The case companies Ahlsell and Bergman & Beving, two wholesalers of industrial goods, display growth under sustained profitability and have an outspoken focus on logistics in their strategies. The cases are described in terms of the content and the context of logistics in the strategy of the firm. The content is the what of strategy whereas the context is the where of strategy. The context is further divided into inner and outer context, where inner context is the firm and outer context is its environment.</p><p>The theoretical basis of this research is found in logistics and in strategy: Logistics research on the relation between logistics and strategy from a logistics perspective, and strategy theory ranging from the resource-based view of the firm, or the inside-out perspective, to positioning theory, or the outside-in perspective. A pattern-matching methodology is used to establish an appropriate description of the logistics content and context in the strategy of the firm. In the content-dimension, the opposing views of the resource-based view and positioning theory are tested on the cases. In the context-dimension, the cases and their environment are described with a stance taken in the contingency approach to the organisation of logistics.</p><p>The research shows that the role of logistics in the strategy of the firms in the scope of this study is most appropriately described using a resource-based view of the firm. Further, the two firms under study serve as examples of two different ways to use logistics in the strategy:</p><p>- Bergman & Beving manages to integrate a decentralised group of product companies in one logistics platform.</p><p>- Ahlsell achieves synergies in acquisitions by moving logistics and administration of the acquired firms into their centralised logistics platform.</p><p>The cases also serve as examples of that the logistics solutions need not be optimal in terms of the lowest cost and the highest service level to be used successfully in the strategy of the firm to reach growth under sustained profitability. The firms in the scope of this research act in similar outer contexts but interpret these contexts in different ways depending on their manner to use logistics in the strategy. The research shows that similar outer contexts can be approached successfully with strategies with different logistics content.</p><p>The logistics organisations in the firms in the scope of this thesis display robustness towards changes in the outer context of the firm, i.e. the logistics organisations can encounter considerable changes in the environment without altering their position in the firm. It is concluded that in order to make the role of logistics in the strategy more comprehensible, a bridge between the abstract strategy theory and the role of logistics needs to be established. A possibility to attain this can be found in the application of a business model framework to the relation between logistics and strategy, which is suggested as an area for further research.</p> / ISRN/Report code: LiU-Tek-Lic 2005:34

Introduction:The current economic crisis started in 2007 warned many business pro-fessions how important it is to react to the crisis quickly and properly. Many studies have been conducted on family businesses about their special resources environment, succession, governance etc. There are barely literature has ever mentioned about how family business cope with economic crisis. Thus, the author conducted such a study on this topic to explore more in family business study.Purpose:To enhance the understanding of economic crisis management in fam-ily business, this thesis will analyze the actions of family firms during the economic crisis. This research aims to investigate how unique fam-ily firm resources influence the way they cope with the economic crisis.Method:A qualitative research has been conducted in this study. In-depth inter-views were conducted in two family business firms with the business owners and other high level position staff who have clear picture about the management during economic crisis. Tele-interview was adopted due to the distance limit.Conclusions:During economic crisis, family firms do not use layoff as a major means to cost down. They keep relative stable relationship with their employ-ees as well as other business partners. They seek financial and other help from the family members or in the family network rather than other external resources such as bank etc. The governance also con-cerns more on employee benefits.

Abstract     In global arena there exists a trend to engage in strategic alliances.  The alliances are assumed to be addressing the existing resource gaps that various organizations have. Not only for-profit organizations have a need to fill in the gap, but also non-profit organizations. Various types of alliances are formed to satisfy various needs. One particular form of alliances will be discussed in this thesis is the learning alliance, which is organized in a way to facilitate the knowledge transfer between the partners involved. More specifically, the learning alliance between the university and service companies will be discussed. Even though there has been done studies examining university – industry cooperations, yet they have focused on Natural Science faculties and industry cooperations, while Business Schools did not receive much attention from the researchers. Thus, this thesis will attempt to fill in this research gap by conducting a research on Umeå School of Business and service companies to be able to produce a model for a successful learning alliance      In order to pursue the targeted aim, a qualitative study with semi-structured interviews was conducted. Moreover, a mix of deductive and inductive approach was adopted to facilitate the research.      The analysis indicated that in order to facilitate a successful learning alliance between the Umeå School of Business and service companies, certain requirements should be fulfilled. In particular, the rationale for alliance engagement should be knowledge sharing and knowledge types should create a collective strength. Moreover, the structure of the actual co-operations should satisfy the needs of all the actors involved and there should be adopted practices or experiential and organizational learning to benefit from the learning alliance. In addition, it was identified that the alliance organizers should consider the problems as well, which might affect the performance of the alliance. Finally, the result of the study is presented in the model designed by the authors based on prior theories and the analysis of the respondent’s comments.

The purpose of this study is to examine how the internationalization process in small firms impacts their resource base renewal. The relationships between organizational learning, dynamic capabilities, operational capabilities and resources are empirically examined to determine the impact of internationalization on changes to the firm’s resource base. The empirical analysis follows a multiple case study research methodology and is based on in depth case studies of four internationalized professional service firms in Ontario. Cases include born-global and born-again global firms, exemplifying both location-based and knowledge-based services. The study finds evidence supporting the relationships between internationalization, organizational learning and planned change via dynamic capabilities, as well as internationalization, organizational learning and ad hoc problem solving. Findings also suggest that the firms’ repetitive use of ad hoc problem solving when faced with similar situations leads to the creation of dynamic capabilities. This research adds to the existing body of literature on services, international entrepreneurship and strategy by responding to a call for empirical examination of organizational learning within the RBV and DC constructs. Furthermore, it also applies a novel theoretical framework with which to examine the impact of small firm internationalization and their strategic renewal. By doing so, this thesis extends the RBV and DC perspectives to small service firms. Findings demonstrate a need to further continue this research path to gain greater understanding of the change processes that occur during the evolution of the firm’s resource base, as pertains to small knowledge-intensive service firms.

Titel: Internationalisering med entry mode i fokus – en fallstudie av Zero Belysningar Kurs: 2FE03E ‐ 15 hp. Kandidatuppsats Författare: David Gustafsson 870926, Emmie Thurn 880909, Jasenko Arsenovic 890119 Bakgrund: Globalisering och inträde på internationella marknader har för SME blivit en trend. Åtskilliga företag väljer att konkurrera på en internationell nivå och internationaliseringen sker snabbare och på flera olika sätt än någonsin tidigare. Att välja rätt entry mode har en stor påverkan på om företaget kommer att nå framgång eller ej på den nya marknaden. Syfte: Syftet med studien är att undersöka olika faktorer som påverkar småföretag val av entry mode vid expansion. För att kunna svara på problemformuleringen har författarna valt att använda ett fallföretag, där deras situation kommer att användas för att undersöka ett svenskt småföretags val av entry mode vid expansion till Norge. Metod: Denna kvalitativa studie har utgått ifrån hermeneutiska antaganden och utförts ut efter en induktiv forskningsansats. En har applicerats där olika intervjuer och granskningar av dokument har agerat datainsamlingsmetoder. Slutsats: Undersökningen visade att ett flertal faktorer påverkar beslutet. Författarna har funnit att faktorerna attraktionskraft, externa påtryckningar och kulturella skillnader, politik och lagar, tidigare erfarenheter, målmarknad och målgrupp, konkurrens och nya aktörer, substitut, kundernas och leverantörernas kraft, företagets storlek och kompetens och resurser har en inverkan på svenska småföretags val av entry mode. Vilket entry mode ett svenskt småföretag bör välja vid expansion beror till stor del på vilka resurser och kompetenser företaget innehar och hur värdlandets struktur ser ut. Författarna finner därför att det inte finns något generellt entry mode för samtliga småföretag. Undersökningen visar på att betydande styrkor för ett småföretag är hög servicekvalitet, differentierade kvalitetsprodukter, unik internkompetens och flexibilitet. Dess betydande svagheter är att de ej utvecklats inom LED‐teknik, skev bild av marknaden, hög prisnivå och långa leveranstider. Eventuella möligheter är delmarknaders tillvätpotential, småkulturella skillnader och lagliga restriktioner och utveckling inom LED‐teknik. Det finns hot i form av nya aktöer, liten aktö, priskäslig marknad och differens i språ och konsumentbeteende. Nyckelord: Entry mode, SME, Porters Five Forces, Resource Based View, SWOT‐analys / Title: Internationalization with entry mode in focus ‐ a case study of Zero Belysningar Course/course code: 2FE03E ‐15 hp. Bachelor thesis Authors: David Gustafsson 870926, Emmie Thurn 880909, Jasenko Arsenovic 890119 Purpose: The purpose with this study is to examine various factors that affect small businesses in the choice of entry mode. In order to answer the problem formulation, the authors have chosen to use an case company, where its situation will be used to investigate a Swedish small firms' choice of entry mode for expansion into Norway. Method: This qualitative study was based upon hermeneutical assumptions and carried out by an inductive research approach. Various interviews and reviews of documents have been used to collect data. Conclusion: The investigation revealed that several factors influence the choice of entry mode. The authors have found that factors of attractiveness, external pressures and cultural differences, politics and laws, past experience, target market and target audience, competition and new entrants, substitutes, customers' and suppliers' power, its size and expertise and resources have an impact on Swedish small firms' choice of entry mode. Which entry mode a Swedish small business should choose depends largely on the resources and competences it holds and how the host‐country’ structure looks like. The authors find that there is no general entry mode for all small businesses. The survey also reveals that significant strengths for a small business is high service quality, differentiated quality products, unique internal competence and flexibility. Its major weakness is that they are not developed in LED technology, distorted picture of the market, high prices and long delivery times. Possible opportunities are submarkets growth potential, small cultural differences and legal restrictions and development in LED technology. There are threats from new entrants, small player, price sensitive market and the difference in language and consumer behavior. Keywords: Entry mode, SME, Porters Five Forces, Resource Based View, SWOT‐analysis.

ABSTRACT Title: Influence of Internal and External Factors on Expansion Strategy-Swedish Cleantech Subsidiaries in the US Authors: Jungmin Choi, Maria Mogyoro Purpose The purpose is to contribute to the knowledge regarding internal and external factors‟ influence on the expansion strategy of a foreign subsidiary in a growing market. Design/Methodology/Approach Originating from the resource-based view and industrial organization view literature, an analysis model is developed. The model shows influences of internal and external factors on a subsidiary‟s expansion strategy. Propositions were formulated based on the analysis model and five case studies of Swedish clean technology subsidiaries operating in the US were compiled. Findings This study found that high business relatedness between a subsidiary and parent firm are positively associated with a broad market scope and differentiation strategy. Secondly, international experience is positively associated with a differentiation strategy. The study also found that perceived competition is positively associated with a broad market scope and perceived low competition influences a narrow product/market scope. Finally, perceived barriers positively impact a differentiation strategy. Implications This study provides evidence that both internal and external factors have an influence on a subsidiary‟s expansion strategy. The study also showed that there were linkages among factors. For example there were indications that external factor such as competition affects business relatedness. Hence, a revised model was developed demonstrating those relationships. For managers this research has importance since it has been shown that managers need to consider both the external and internal factors when they formulate strategy. Originality/value By integrating insights from the resource-based view and industrial organization view literature, this thesis develops a unique analysis model where factors from both schools are used to study expansion strategies of subsidiary firms in a growing market.