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| 2. |
- Ekman, Peter, et al.
(författare)
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Drivers and obstacles for global IT in the embedded multinational : A multiple case study
- 2011
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Multinational companies (MNCs) have been actively pursuing globally integrated information technology (IT) as a mechanism for better coordination and control of business processes. This paper presents a multiple case study of five MNCs’ experiences with global IT initiatives and explores the drivers and obstacles they encountered. We conceptualize the MNC as being embedded in internal and external business relationships. The analysis shows that the MNCs’ main motives for global IT can be found in the headquarter-subsidiary relationship where global IT enables the firm to obtain economies of scale and increased control which in turn enables the MNC to become international or global oriented. The external embeddedness, i.e. the subsidiary-partner relationships as well as other connected business relationships in the local business networks, is one of the major obstacles for global IT as it requires a level of adaptability not inherent in the context of global IT standards.
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| 3. |
- Ekman, Peter, 1969-, et al.
(författare)
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ERP selection through business relationships : adaptations or connections
- 2011
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Ingår i: International Journal of Entrepreneural Venturing. - 1742-5360. ; 3:1, s. 63-83
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This article analyses how a generic form of information technology (IT), enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, can be selected by companies to enhance their business. ERP systems are a means of becoming more efficient through predefined standard functions called 'best practices'. Following the theory that markets are made up of business relationships in a network context, managerial advice would be to assess the vendor's existing business relationships. A company can harvest the inherent functions that an ERP system has from the vendor's prior interaction with other customers. This paper discusses how a company benefits from engaging in a new business relationship with an ERP vendor to become more competitive. However, this relationship is double-edged. A lesson is that the functions developed by the ERP vendor and the customer only offer a temporal competitive advantage, given that it can be used later in the ERP vendor's other connected business relationships.
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| 4. |
- Ekman, Peter, 1969-, et al.
(författare)
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Extending the ERP system : considering the business relationship portfolio
- 2014
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Ingår i: Business Process Management Journal. - : Emerald Group Publishing Limited. - 1463-7154 .- 1758-4116. ; 20:3, s. 480-501
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose – Research has shown that companies focus their internal processes when they adopt enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. However, the ERP systems need to expand their functionality to include customers and suppliers (with e-commerce functionality) to reach their full potential. The purpose of this paper is to consider business relationships as a resource but also a limitation when companies strive to get an extended ERP system.Design/Methodology/approach – The paper presents an illustrative case study of an industrial company’s process of developing an extended ERP and how the company’s portfolio of business relationships has affected the solution. The analysis is supported by the markets-as-networks theory.Findings – The process of developing an extended ERP system needs to incorporate the company’s business partners (customers and suppliers). It is a simultaneously bottom-up and top-down process given that the operative frontline staff hold the knowledge about the company’s business relationships while the corporate management has the means of extending the ERP system functionality and align it with the focal company’s strategy.Research implications – Companies need to consider the fact that the technological and financial status of their customers and suppliers differ. Thus, an effective and flexible extended ERP system needs to include both a high-end and low-end solution as well as understand that a full interorganizational integration might not be realistic.Originality/value – The paper puts forth business relationship portfolios as an important factor to consider when extending the ERP system functionality in the supply chain and towards customers.
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| 5. |
- Ekman, Peter, et al.
(författare)
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Information technology utilization for practical marketing activities : The IT-marketing gap
- 2013
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Ingår i: BUILDING AND MANAGING RELATIONSHIPS IN A GLOBAL NETWORK.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study investigates how industrial companies’ IT infrastructure match their applied marketing approach. The supporting theoretical framework is based upon the contemporary marketing practice (CMP) model that depicts companies as spanning from transactional to more relational and networked. This is supported by theories on the logic of IT systems and how users in industrial companies adopt them. The study is based upon two longitudinal subsequent case studies of a multinational company’s business with influential customers. The analysis shows that the utilized IT systems mainly follow efficiency logic that is useful for individual business transactions. However, the form of complex industrial business that industrial companies carries out are often relationship based and sometimes even incorporating the adjacent business network. Thus, there is a IT-marketing gap given that contemporary IT does not match the need the marketing practice of a modern industrial company.
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| 6. |
- Ekman, Peter, et al.
(författare)
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Tit for tat and big steps : The case of Swedish banks' internationalization 1961-2010
- 2014
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Ingår i: International Business Review. - : Elsevier BV. - 0969-5931 .- 1873-6149. ; 23:6, s. 1049-1063
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study examines four major Swedish banks' internationalization process patterns during the period 1961-2010. The study complements earlier studies by also considering the banks' levels of market commitment. One objective is to determine if 'Tit for tat'-behaviour seen in earlier studies of Swedish banks still prevails after the deregulation. Adding to earlier studies, this study also considers the level of market activities and commitments. A secondary purpose is to examine how the financial crisis has affected the banks with reference to the banks' internationalization patterns. The empirical study is based on archival data on the studied banks' foreign operations. The results show that the banks' behaviour follows 'Tit for tat'-behaviour but that the internationalization has accelerated after the deregulation, hence being carried out with 'big steps' rather than small steps. The analysis also shows that the mimetic behaviour is complemented by other types of internationalization behaviours. The differences in bank internationalization also mean that the effect of a financial crisis varies depending on how the banks have internationalized.
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| 7. |
- Erixon, Cecilia
(författare)
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Information System Providers and Business Relationships : A Study on the Impact of Connections
- 2012
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Information systems are integrated in the daily business of companies, to support the exchanges with its counterparts. To manage these information systems, companies often turn to third parties: information system providers (IS-providers). IS-providers have competences that the companies become dependent on and they are therefore important for maintaining the company’s business performance. The companies develop dependencies on their information systems and thereby also on their IS-providers. This thesis studies the connection between a company’s relationships with IS-providers and its other business relationships.A single case study of how a focal company’s IS-providers impact the company’s customer relationships is conducted. The applied analytical framework combines an information system’s perspective and a business relationship perspective. The analytical level is guided by the concept of connection, which has its origin in the business relationship perspective. The information system’s perspective illustrates the characteristics of the information systems that the IS-providers manage. The business relationship perspective studies each business relationship as unique, originating in different exchanges and behaviour.The single case study involves five customer relationships and four IS-provider relationships, creating twenty within-cases. The results show that IS-providers impact differently on the business relationships of companies. The impact on companies is contingent on the information exchanges with the IS-providers, which integrate the information systems in their customer business relationships. The impact is explained by the strength of the connection and the degree of continuity of the connection. The strength of the connection depends on how the information system is used and which of the IS-providers are connected. The impact from one IS-provider can be described as a homogenous impact on all the connected business relationships. However, different IS-providers have different types of impacts, meaning that when a company has several IS-providers, the impact is heterogeneous. The study shows that the impact is most commonly positive.The thesis is of interest for researchers who wish to understand the interconnectedness between business relationships, and of value for business professionals, who wish to increase their understanding of the complex situation of using IS-providers for management of their information systems and the impact they have on their other business relationships.
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| 8. |
- Erixon, Cecilia, 1977-, et al.
(författare)
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Studying information system provider relationships impact on business relationships
- 2013
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Ingår i: BUILDNING AND MANAGING RELATIONSHIPS IN A GLOBAL NETWORK.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Information systems are used for managing and supporting companies’ business relationships and have become an important part of companies’ exchanges with their customers. Information systems are usually managed by a third party, an information system provider (IS-provider). Companies are dependent on their information systems to maintain their business performances and are therefore also dependent on the IS-provider's competence. This paper studies the impact that a company’s IS-provider relationships have on its customer business relationships. By using the concept of connection and studying its degree of continuity and strength, the study offers insight on the impact of the IS-providers' relationships on a company's customer relationships. The study consists of a case study involving five customer relationships and four IS-provider relationships, creating twenty within-cases. The result shows that the companies' relationships are dependent on the exchanges with the IS-providers. This impact and the characteristic of the connection may vary over time, making the concept of continuity important to consider when evaluating a company's relationship with IS-providers. The study shows that it is important for companies to consider these two business relationships in relation to one another when managing the IS-provider relationship and the information systems that are used in customer relationships. Important management aspects can be missed in the evaluation of an IS-provider, if the connection between the relationships is left out of the analysis.
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| 9. |
- Hadjikhani, Annoch, 1985-
(författare)
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Expectations in the internationalization process – The case of two Swedish banks’ foreign activities 1995-2010
- 2013
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Studies of banks’ internationalization are few, particularly of Swedish banks’ and studies holding a process view of internationalization. This is surprising considering the fact that banks’ have an incredibly important role in our societies. Furthermore, the Swedish banks have until recently been restricted from internationalizing. However today the four largest Swedish banks have all become multinational. The purpose of this thesis is to describe and analyze the two Swedish banks Handelsbanken and Swedbank’s internationalization process between the years 1995-2010. This achieved by covering all relevant foreign markets that the banks are active in during their internationalization process in a longitudinal cross-case study based on archival sources (i.e. newspaper articles, press releases and annual reports). The analytical framework is constructed from behavioral theories and follows a process view of firms’ internationalization by applying the concepts of market commitment, market knowledge and expectation. Latterly firms’ expectation is included to take the future dimension into account in understanding firms’ internationalization behavior.Conclusions made in this thesis show that the banks internationalization process has some semblances but otherwise they show completely different internationalization behaviors. The study shows that firms’ internationalization process is bound to what the firm will expect of the future and that this expectation is very different based on what knowledge the firm has and its experience. Furthermore the study evidences through empirical findings that the internationalization process of firms’ is also strongly related to the state of the market, i.e. stable or unstable.
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| 10. |
- Hadjikhani, Annoch Isa, 1985-, et al.
(författare)
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Internationalization of Swedish Banks in Russia and the Impact of Political Environment
- 2012. - 28
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Ingår i: International Business and Management. - : Emerald Group Publishing Limited. - 1876-066X. - 9781780529905 ; 28, s. 173-193
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this chapter one of few studies made of banks’ internationalization process in emerging markets, focusing on behaviour relating to the political environment is presented. Aiming to understand banks’ behaviour in the Russia, an analytical framework built on the internationalization process model incorporating the impact of political environment is developed. The empirical data in the chapter concern Sweden’s four largest banks’ expansion into the Russian market and is presented in form of an long- itudinal cross-case study with secondary data between years 1990 and 2010, collected retrospectively. The secondary data consist of newspaper articles, annual reports and press releases. Findings show that in stable periods, Swedish banks have followed the pattern of the internationalization process model when expanding into the Russian market. In periods of instability, the banks’ behaviour is heterogenic and can be opportunistic or cautious.
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