| 1. |
- Ljung, Anna
(författare)
-
The Multinational Company and Society : A Study of Business Network Relationships in Latin America
- 2014
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The role of society for the development of multinational companies’ (MNC) business has so far not attracted much scholarly attention in international marketing. Responding to recent calls for further research relating MNCs with society, the aim of this thesis is to enhance the understanding of the MNC relationship with society. Standing on the business network perspective, the theoretical view includes society in the network. Apart from business actors, the view incorporates public actors (such as governments) and civil society actors (such as Non-Governmental Organizations). Thus, contrary to earlier business network studies, the MNC relationships with non-business actors are explicitly handled as part of the business network in this thesis.For the fulfillment of the aim - understanding the MNC relationship with society - the study applies the four relationship elements knowledge, commitment, trust and legitimacy. In further developing the theoretical view, the results from the empirical and theoretical findings in the papers, along with others’ contributions in this field, have inspired the development of interdependence in relationships. Consequently, the main emphasis in the ‘Thesis Summary’ is put on a deeper theoretical discussion of the concept of interdependence. The interdependence framework maps different relationship types with business and non-business actors in business networks. The implications on the management of the different types of relationships are also further developed.The empirical study, which inspired the theoretical development, concerns a qualitative and abductive case study of a Swedish MNC’s relationships with actors from the business, public and civil society sectors in Argentina and Brazil. The study is based on 51 interviews, observations and documentation as its main data sources. It resulted in four papers, which were developed in the areas of crisis, subsidiary strategy, radical innovation and expansion to the rural ‘Base of the Pyramid’, all applying a relational perspective.The thesis has both empirical and theoretical contributions. The major empirical contribution concerns the behavior of MNCs in emerging economies in relation to society. The theoretical development contributes deeper exploration of business relationships and network perspectives in the context of society, adding a novel employment of the same.
|
|
| 2. |
- Pourmand, Firouze, 1981-
(författare)
-
How do Small Firms Manage their Political Environment? : - A Network Perspective
- 2011
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- To this point research on firms’ political behavior has contributed knowledge concerning large firms’ relationships and strategies with political actors and their surrounding environment. Less is known about small firms’ behavior towards political organizations. As a matter of fact, the fields of international marketing, international business and corporate political science have left the political behavior of small firms almost untouched. Therefore, extant literature assumes that small firms due to their resource constraints are passive receivers of political initiatives. About 99 percent of all firms within the European Union are small firms, and it is therefore questioned whether all these firms are passive receivers of political initiatives. The intention with this thesis is to challenge some assumptions regarding how small firms manage their relationships with political actors concerning EU related rules and regulations. Consequently, the study raises the overarching research question; how do small firms manage their political environment? Theoretically, the study takes a network perspective on business political interaction to examine both individual and/or collective political behavior of small firms. It develops a theoretical view constituted of knowledge, commitment and legitimacy. Methodologically, two sequential stages are followed: first an in-depth qualitative case study of three successful cases is presented and second, the in-depth understanding is broadened to a wider population of firms based on a quantitative survey. A central contribution of this thesis is to aid research on the political behavior of small firms. It is found that small firms, in contrast to prevailing assumptions, do possess political resources. They are not passive receivers of political initiatives. Instead, the findings show that small firms are active and can exercise influence. This, however, is shown to be dependent on the firm’s political commitment, political knowledge and competency and business-political legitimacy. It is also shown that small firms mobilize these critical resources not only directly, but also indirectly through various intermediating actors. Besides the theoretical contributions, these conclusions are important not just because of the managerial implications but also, and perhaps more importantly, for the policy implications that can be drawn from the study. Being exploratory and opening up the black box of small firm’s political behavior, the thesis ends with a number of future research directions.
|
|
| 3. |
- Ivarsson, Magnus, et al.
(författare)
-
Introducing palaeolithobiology
- 2021
-
Ingår i: GFF. - London : Taylor & Francis. - 1103-5897 .- 2000-0863. ; 143:2-3, s. 305-319
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A growing literature of deep but also surficial fossilized remains of lithobiological life, often associated with igneous rocks, necessitates the unfolding of a sub-discipline within paleobiology. Here, we introduce the term paleolithobiology as the new auxiliary sub-discipline under which fossilized lithobiology should be handled. We present key criteria that distinguish the paleolithobiological archive from the traditional one and discuss sample strategies as well as scientific perspectives. A majority of paleolithobiological material consists of deep biosphere fossils, and in order to highlight the relevance of these, we present new data on fungal fossils from the Lockne impact crater. Fungal fossils in the Lockne drill cores have been described previously but here we provide new insights into the presence of reproductive structures that indicate the fungi to be indigenous. We also show that these fungi frequently dissolve and penetrate secondary calcite, delineating the role lithobionts plays in geobiological cycles. We hope that the formalization of the sub-discipline paleolithobiology will not only highlight an overlooked area of paleobiology as well as simplify future studies of endo- and epilithic fossil material, but also improve our understanding of the history of the deep biosphere.
|
|
| 4. |
- Ivarsson, Magnus, et al.
(författare)
-
The fossil record of igneous rock
- 2020
-
Ingår i: Earth-Science Reviews. - : Elsevier. - 0012-8252 .- 1872-6828. ; 210, s. 1-20
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A growing awareness of life in deep igneous crust expands our appreciation for life's distribution in the upper geosphere through time and space, and extends the known inhabitable realm of Earth and possibly beyond. For most of life's history, until plants colonized land in the Ordovician, the deep biosphere was the largest reservoir of living biomass. This suggests that deep crustal habitats played an important role in the evolution and development of the biosphere. Paradoxically, the paleo-perspective of deep life has been largely neglected in the exploration of the deep biosphere as well as in paleontology as a whole. Here, we review the collective understanding of the fossil record in igneous crust with the aim to highlight a rising research field with great potential for substantial findings and progress in the near future. We include new results that emphasize the importance of direct or indirect dating of fossils and introduction of new techniques into the field. Currently, an incoherent record of morphological fossils- and chemofossils stretching from present to ~2.4 Ga implies the presence of an abundant and rich, yet largely unexplored, fossil record. Further investigations of deep paleo-environments will most certainly result in substantial insights into the distribution and development of biospheres throughout life's history, the early evolution of prokaryotes and eukaryotes, and Earth's early biogeochemical cycles. We emphasize the fossil record of igneous rock to give it the same status as the fossil record in sedimentary rocks, and to implement fossil investigations as standard procedures in future international drilling campaigns.
|
|
| 5. |
- Åberg, Susanne, 1971-
(författare)
-
Science in Business Interaction : A Study of the Collaboration between CERN and Swedish Companies
- 2013
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The aim of this thesis is twofold; to gain and understanding of how CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, interacts with industry; and to gain an understanding of how CERN can become a resource for industry. Both parts of the purpose also have implications for the issue of CERN’s usefulness to industry.Starting from the popular argument that scientific research can be useful for society through its potential benefits for industry; the thesis investigates the interaction between CERN and Swedish industry. As a complex research organisation is not a homogenous entity, CERN is regarded as a collection of heterogeneous resources which companies can relate to, and benefit from, in different ways. It is argued that, in order to understand how CERN can be useful for industry, it is important to understand what CERN is. A substantial part of the thesis is therefore dedicated to describing CERN and its context. Apart from a description of CERN’s activities, structures, and history; the case specifically describes two of the main contact points between CERN and industry; technology transfer and procurement. Of the 15 Swedish companies that constitute the industry part of the study, two of the CERN-industry relationships are elaborated on (Ericsson and ABB).The case is primarily based on interviews with over 90 people carried out at CERN and in Sweden, as well as informal conversations and observations during extended visits at CERN.The findings suggest that companies can gain knowledge (and technologies) from CERN, but that it is through interaction rather than through specialised structures that these resources are acquired. The interaction between CERN and industry is restricted by CERN’s procurement rules, which affects what interaction is possible. The increased focus at CERN on knowledge transfer issues may result in increased transfer, but the study indicates that for this to happen an increased focus on interaction is necessary.
|
|
