| 1. |
- Hallström, Vivi
(author)
-
Samhällsentreprenörskap i teori och praktik : Exemplet Överenskommelsen mellan ideell sektor och en svensk kommun
- 2015
-
Licentiate thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Syftet med uppsatsen är att beskriva och analysera samhällsentreprenörskap mellan ideell och offentlig sektor på lokal nivå, och att berika den teoretiska förståelsen om entreprenörskap. Den teoretiska referensram som används inkluderar samhällentreprenörskap och institutionell logik. Förutsättningarna för samhällsentreprenörskap varierar inom och mellan sektorer och det krävs ett alldeles särskilt entreprenörskap för att gemensamt utveckla organisering över sektorsgränser.I föreliggande uppsats ges ett konkret exempel på samhällsentreprenörskap över gränser mellan sektorer. En ”dialogprocess” mellan Norrköpings kommun och ideell sektor följdes i realtid. Datainsamling utfördes genom deltagande observationer, enskilda intervjuer, gruppintervjuer, offentliga handlingar, samt e-postkorrespondens och arbetsmaterial från aktörer från båda sektorer. Organiseringen bestod av sju ”dialogmöten” och en ceremoni, där ett gemensamt värdegrundsdokument firades. Sociala ändamål präglade i huvudsak organiseringen och även inslag av ekonomiska intressen visade sig. Individuellt- såväl som kollektivt samhällsentreprenörskap utkristalliserades.Samhällsentreprenörskapet skedde även genom sektoriellt sammanvävande processer över gränser mellan sektorerna, på minst fem sätt, 1) individuellt sammanvävande processer skedde då offentlig sektors aktörer använde sina resurser från båda sektorer, 2) organisatoriskt sammanvävande processer skedde vid dialogmöten då gemensamma intressen upptäcktes inom och mellan organisationerna, 3) organisatoriskt sammanvävande skedde genom koordinatorn från offentlig sektor som agerade mäklare, 4) institutionellt sammanvävande skedde genom att aktörernas roller och ansvar gentemot varandra synliggjordes i skapandet av ett värdegrundsdokument, samt 5) institutionellt sammanvävande skedde även då aktörer från offentlig sektor tillämpade ”föreningskulturkompetens” då de kände till sektorers skilda institutionella logiker och tillämpade sin kunskap i syfte att knyta aktörer närmare varandra.
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| 2. |
- Andersson, Annika, 1961-
(author)
-
Affärssystemsprojekt : konsekvenser av att vara sluten eller öppen för förändringar
- 2016
-
Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Affärssystemsprojekt är en väsentlig företeelse i organisationer. Allt ifrån små till större nationella och internationella företag har ett affärssystem som stöd för sina affärsprocesser. Införande och byte av affärssystem betraktas inom affärsvärlden som en av de mest krävande och riskfyllda förändringarna ett företag kan genomföra. Att studera affärssystemsprojekt är av intresse ur ett organisationsperspektiv eftersom resultatet får långvariga konsekvenser för organisationen. Interorganisatoriska affärssystemsprojekt består dessutom av parter från två organisationer, vilka har skilda typer av kompetenser och roller. I ett affärssystemsprojekt är begrepp som projektmål, tidsdimension, och interorganisatoriska team av vikt att diskutera. Kommunikation, funktionen som översättare mellan parterna och ledarnas delaktighet för att integrera informationsstrategier och affärsstrategier är, enligt tidigare forskning inom både informationssystems och projektforskning, av vikt att diskutera.Det finns olika synsätt på förändring och sambanden som råder vid genomförandet av affärssystemprojekt. Det ena är att projektdeltagarna bör vara slutna för förändring och det andra är att de bör vara öppna för förändring av projektmål, tid och team beroende på den kunskap som utvecklas. Studier som fokuserar på konsekvenser för organisationer av det ena eller andra synsättet är däremot begränsade. Studiens övergripande problem är att studera vilka konsekvenser det kan få för leverantörs respektive beställarorganisationerna om parterna är slutna respektive öppna för förändring.Avhandlingen avser att bidra till både näringsliv och affärssystemsforskningen genom att beskriva konsekvenser för leverantörs och beställarorganisationer av om parterna är slutna eller öppna för förändringar inom affärssystemsprojekt.Multipla och longitudinella fallstudier har genomförts för att uppmärksamma organisatoriska konsekvenser över tid. Studien har genomförts indelad i tre faser (1) en retrospektiv fas, (2) en observationsfas och (3) en longitudinell fas. Datainsamlingsmetoder som använts är intervjuer, observationer och dokumentgranskning för att beskriva konsekvenser för både leverantörs och beställarorganisationer som genomför affärssystemsprojekt.Resultaten visar att en öppenhet och en slutenhet för förändringar av projektmål, tid och team fick konsekvenser för de båda organisationerna. När båda parter var slutna för förändring blev det svårt att använda kunskap inom projekten. Leverantören identifierade strategiska lärandeprojekt innan de beslutade sig för att vara öppna för förändring. När beställarna var öppna för förändring och leverantören sluten för förändring genomförde beställarna lärande och förändringsprojekt utanför projekten och de gemensamma projekten sekventiellt. När båda parter var öppna för förändringar blev konsekvenserna varken system eller organisationsutveckling, vilket hade kunnat förväntas. Istället ledde det till kommunikationsbarriärer.I denna sammanläggningsavhandling sammanställs och beskrivs resultaten från studien av affärsystemsprojekt via fyra publicerade artiklar.
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| 3. |
- Dalborg, Cecilia, 1966-
(author)
-
GAMLA VILLFARELSER och NYA VERKLIGHETER? : En studie om föreställningar och förutsättningar för entreprenörskap
- 2014
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- In most countries around the world, women owned businesses form an important and significant part of the overall entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship is fundamental for the prosperity of a country and for that reason there are constant efforts in order to create a favourable and equal business condition. The knowledge about entrepreneurship is continuously increasing and has, among other things, resulted in perceptions of who is an entrepreneur, what constitutes growth, and strategies for how gender equality in entrepreneurship should be promoted. The increased knowledge, and the specific strategies and targeted measures designed to increase women's share in the business world seem, however, not to have resulted in a more equal entrepreneurship. The purpose of the present study is to identify and analyze factors that are considered to affect start-up and growth decisions of women and men, and, to propose a conceptual model that shows how gender-linked beliefs (i.e. fallacies) about entrepreneurship growth and support systems can be obstacles for gender equality in entrepreneurship. Respondents in the thesis are entrepreneurs, women and men, in the county of Jämtland. The results from the five papers in the thesis show that women and men have a high passion and a strong self-efficacy to start businesses but that women's passion is negatively affected because of a higher risk perception. Another important result is that growth can be considered from a qualitative perspective where growth involves both a quest for survival and personal development. Women entrepreneurs do want employment growth but the condition for that is that they need access to a fair support system already in the previous lifecycle phases. The results further show that the current support system comprises a narrow definition of growth and that gender questions do not seem to have had an impact when allocating government funds. Together, the above results help to dispel some of the existing conceptions of reality. The thesis concludes: Women, as well as men, possess the passion and the self-efficacy to start and growth a business, but women are not perceived as potential growth entrepreneurs, and therefore they only receive a fraction of the total business support. This leads to a higher risk perception which cancels out the influence of passion on women’s start-up decision. Previous strategies for business equality in Sweden do not seem to have been successful. Instead strategies must be reshaped and based on a conception of reality where both women and men are considered growth entrepreneurs.Keywords: entrepreneurship, women entrepreneurs, risk, passion, self-efficacy, gender equality, business life cycle, business support system.
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| 4. |
- Thorning, Anna
(author)
-
Sustainable Development in Forest Owner Associations – Stakeholder Roles
- 2024
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Licentiate thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Forest owner associations are co-operative organisations with democratic foundations based on one member -one vote. The members are forest owners who are organised in the associations as owners and also have the roles of suppliers of forest raw materials and customers of forest services. Generally, forest owners are changing from a homogenous to a more heterogeneous group based on socioeconomic and demographic transitions. Therefore, forest owners can be said to have increasingly diverse interests and values. This leads to different ways of viewing their forest ownership in relationship to sustainable development. These changes are also affecting their willingness and motives for participating in the governance of the co-operative organisation. An important aspect of sustainability management in forest co-operatives, is including the forest owners in the process. This thesis aims to increase understanding of how forest owners view sustainability management by analysing their various stakeholder roles in forest co-operatives. The studies compilated in this thesis consist of different perspectives of forest owners in their relation to the association. Study I focus on forest management certification as a sustainability management activity in forest owner associations. Forest owners are here seen as suppliers of sustainability-certified raw materials and customers of a sustainable service offering. Study II takes on the perspective of forest owners as members and owners of the association and how they are viewed to participate in sustainable development in the association. The findings suggest that the stakeholder roles that forest owners have need to be taken into consideration by forest co-operatives in sustainability transitions.
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| 5. |
- Bogren, Maria, 1962-
(author)
-
Socialt kapital - relationer och tillit - för utveckling av kvinnors företagande
- 2015
-
Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Kvinnors företag ses som en resurs i regioners och länders utveckling. Tidigare forskning har dock visat att kvinnors företag inte växer i lika stor utsträckning som mäns företag. Frågan är då vilka problem och hinder som företagande kvinnor stöter på och som påverkar att deras företag inte utvecklas, samt hur stödjande insatser på bästa sätt kan utformas? Tidigare studier har visat att bristande tillgång till finansiellt kapital varit ett betydande hinder för utveckling av kvinnors företag liksom att företagandet varit manligt kodat, med mannen som företagare som norm i samhället. Dessutom har tidigare studier visat att företagande kvinnor har begränsade nätverksrelationer och inte använder dem så effektivt samt att de saknar förebilder. Med ett utvecklat socialt kapital ges möjlighet att få tillgång till resurser som kan utveckla kvinnors företag. Tidigare studier om socialt kapital, som ett bidrag till företagsutveckling, fokuserar ofta antingen på relationer eller på tillit och det efterfrågas ytterligare studier om processer där socialt kapital utvecklas. Syftet med avhandlingen är att öka kunskapen om hur utveckling av socialt kapital kan förstås genom att belysa och analysera vad som utmärker relationer och tillit samt att ge exempel på hur detta kan stimuleras i utvecklingsprogram för företagande kvinnor.Avhandlingen utgår ifrån tre genomförda studier. En fallstudie genomfördes under två års tid i ett utvecklingsprogram med företagande kvinnor från Norge och Sverige. En enkätstudie riktades till företagande kvinnor i Norge och Sverige och en annan till projektledare av utvecklingsprojekt för att stimulera kvinnors företagande i Sverige.Avhandlingens resultatet, som presenteras i fyra artiklar, visar att personliga nätverk, familj och släktingar samt vänner uppfattas som stödjande relationer för företagande kvinnor. De som har ett heterogent nätverk uppvisar en större villighet att ingå i nya relationer jämfört med dem som inte har det och graden av tillit påverkar villigheten att utveckla relationer i utvecklingsprogram. Homogenitet i deltagargruppen visar sig vara viktigt inledningsvis, medan heterogenitet blir betydelsefullare efter en tid. När företagaridentiteten utvecklas uppvisas en ökad professionalisering av företagarens nätverk. Social aktivitet, med nedlagd tid och engagemang i utvecklingsprogram, bidrar till utveckling av både relationer och tillit, och tidsaspekten är viktig när det gäller tillit till programorganisatörer.Utifrån avhandlingens resultat synliggörs flera aspekter av relationer och tillit som kan stimuleras i utvecklingsprogram. Uppvisad villighet hos kvinnorna för att utveckla sina företag kan avspegla hur motiverade och intresserade de är för att medverka i utvecklingsprogram. Vid sammansättning av deltagargrupper, i utvecklingsprogram, bör homogenitet och heterogenitet beaktas. Social aktivitet, genom nedlagd tid och visat engagemang, är något som stärker utvecklingsprocessen av relationer och tillit. Ett symboliskt dokument, sekretessavtalet, bidrar till ökad tillit. Programorganisatörernas sociala meriter, kompetens och organisationstillhörighet är sådant som kan uppmärksammas för institutionell tillit liksom även deras sociala aktivitet i programmet. För att stimulera utveckling av både relationer och tillit finns det anledning att se över programmets upplägg och innehåll.Slutsatserna från avhandlingen visar att företagande kvinnor med ett heterogent nätverk är villiga att ingå i nya relationer, att både relationsbyggande och tillitsprocesser har betydelse för utvecklingen av socialt kapital samt att kontexten behöver beaktas vid utformandet av utvecklingsprogram.
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| 6. |
- Sabel, Kristin
(author)
-
Competence Management in Rural Family SMEs : An Exploration of Challenges and Strategies
- 2024
-
Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Regardless of firm size, governance structure, and ownership form, all firms depend on competencies, i.e., skills, knowledge, and qualifications, as a vital resource for business prosperity. However, previous research has shown that access to crucial competencies varies depending on the context in which the firm operates. It has previously been suggested that firms operating in rural contexts are substantial contributors to local and national economy, although these firms are generally small and have limited access to crucial resources that enable business prosperity. Simultaneously, in recent decades, the rural context has proved to offer limited competencies that match the competence needs of the firms operating in this context because individuals with specialised competencies have extensively ‘emigrated’ from rural areas to seek more advantageous job opportunities and access to crucial infrastructure in urban areas. This has left rural areas with low population density and, as a result, downshifted infrastructure. Most of these small firms operating in the rural context have a family ownership structure, which is associated with specific familiness traits in their governance. These familiness traits produce an even narrower selection of competencies than other firms have. Small, family-owned firms operating in rural contexts thus have limited access to matching competencies due to the extensive rural competence scarcity, and simultaneously, they ‘block’ the few potential competencies available by preserving familiness and long-term firm heritage. This downward rural spiral creates challenges for rural family firms and affects the competence management strategies they apply to navigate this situation.The purpose of this dissertation is to deepen the understanding of challenges and strategies in rural family SMEs’ (small and medium-sized enterprises) competence management and examine how industry affiliation, location, competence diversity, and business disruptions affect these firms’ challenges and strategies. Three research questions guided the empirical studies of this dissertation: RQ1) How do industry affiliation and location affect the prerequisites and strategies for competence management in rural family SMEs? RQ2) In which ways and why does familiness affect competence diversity in rural family SMEs in terms of finding, attracting, and retaining competencies? RQ3) Which competence management strategies do rural family SMEs apply to enhance entrepreneurial endurance during business disruptions and why?Three studies were conducted that applied both qualitative and quantitative as well as a mixed-methods approach. Two industries were investigated in different geographical areas: the manufacturing industry and the tourism industry in southern and northern Sweden. The resource-based view (RBV) was used to understand how rural family SMEs find, attract, and retain competencies, while socio-emotional wealth theory (SEW) was applied to delve deeper into the how values, norms, and behaviours of the family SME-owners guide the management of competencies. SEW theory was also applied to understand how familiness traits affect the strategies of rural family SMEs. Previous studies have not thoroughly outlined this allocation of competencies in rural family SMEs, nor has the perspective of how familiness affects competence management strategies in rural family SMEs been investigated. These two perspectives can deepen the understanding of which competence management challenges rural family SMEs face and how they develop their strategies.This dissertation finds that rural family SMEs use short-term competence management strategies rather than long-term prospects to navigate rural competence scarcity; this finding contradicts previous research indicating that family firms act with a long-term perspective. Rural competence scarcity, in combination with unique familiness traits, pushes rural family SMEs towards short-term strategies rather than long-term prospects to fill their immediate competence needs. The rural location is proved to affect the competence management extensively, as rural family SMEs find that they cannot compete with the salaries offered in urban areas. The two industries examined here use strategies with some similarities to manage their competencies by prioritising family members in positions within the firm and by recruiting individuals from their closest networks. While the manufacturing industry, for instance, uses coopetition as a competence management strategy, the tourism industry uses seasonal staff. This study further reveals that rural family SMEs use network coopetition as an advantageous competence management strategy to navigate business disruptions, such as crises. There is an extensive need for rural family SMEs to exchange knowledge when competencies are scarce during business disruptions, which makes them seek competitors for collaboration. The use of the network coopetition strategy enhances robustness for rural family SMEs, which helps them endure business disruptions better than other firms. The small size of their firms makes network coopetition a successful competence strategy to use during business disruptions. An important contribution is that familiness causes reluctance towards competence diversity – such as bringing competencies from outside into the network – in rural family SMEs, and thus, they have a rather ambiguous attitude towards bringing diverse competencies into their firms. As previous research has established that competence diversity enhances business performance and growth, rural family SMEs' ambiguous attitude towards it sheds light on a rather ‘closed’ working environment that does not properly use potentially available external competencies at hand, despite the need to do so.An important theoretical implication is that, complementing prior research, the findings of this dissertation show that rural family SMEs do not solely rely on internal resources, as RBV suggests, to make ends meet, but also on external resources. Another implication is that the few competencies available in rural areas must be better matched with the competence needs of the family SMEs operating there. The findings suggest that more attention must focus on addressing the extensive difficulties that rural family SMEs face in meeting their competence needs due to rural competence scarcity. Sufficient, functioning infrastructure is a crucial aspect that could prevent rural competencies from being lost. Starting educational programmes that nurture necessary competencies in rural areas to match competence needs could also increase the attractiveness of working and living in those areas.
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| 7. |
- Nordström, Carin, 1971-
(author)
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The Passionate Combining Entrepreneurs
- 2015
-
Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Entrepreneurs are portrayed as salient drivers of regional development and for a number of years nascent entrepreneurs have been studied in a large number of countries as part of the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor project and the Panel Study of Entrepreneurial Dynamics. Scholars have devoted much effort to investigating factors that determine how individuals engage in entrepreneurial activities, with most of the discussion limited to business start-ups. However, since this type of project does not follow identical nascent entrepreneurs over time, limited knowledge exists about their development and whether they stay in this nascent phase for a long time. In practice, it is common for entrepreneurs to run a business and at the same time work in wage work, so-called combining entrepreneurs. In Sweden, almost half of all business owners combine wage work with a business. However, not all combining entrepreneurs will eventually decide to leave the wage work and invest fully in the business. Consequently, much research has focused on the first step of entering entrepreneurship full time, but less has focused on the second step, the transition from the combining phase to full-time self-employment. The aim of this thesis is therefore to contribute to the theory of entrepreneurship by gaining a deeper understanding of combining entrepreneurs and their motives and intentions. In the context of combining entrepreneurs, the theory of identity, resources and choice overload has been used to examine how entrepreneurs’ age (when starting the business), entrepreneurial tenure (the length of engagement in the side-business), hours spent (weekly involvement in the side-business), involvement in entrepreneurial teams (leading the business with one or more partners) and involvement in networks (business networks) influence their passion for engaging in entrepreneurship while sustaining wage work. Different categories of combining entrepreneurs and their intentions have also been examined. A survey was administered to 1457 entrepreneurs within the creative sector in two counties in Sweden (Gävleborgs County and Jämtlands County). Since there were no separate mailing lists to only combining entrepreneurs, the survey was sent to all entrepreneurs within the chosen industry and counties. The total response rate was 33.5 percent and of them 57.6 percent combined, yielding 262 combining entrepreneurs who answered the questionnaire. The survey was then followed up with eight focus group interviews and two single interviews to validate the answers from the questionnaire. The results indicate three types of combining entrepreneurs: nascent – with the intention to leave the combining phase for a transition into full-time self-employment, lifestyle – with the intention to stay in the combining phase, and occasional – with the intention to leave the combining phase for full-time wage work and close down the business. Transitioning fully to self-employment increases with the individual’s age. Also, a positive interactive effect exists with involvement in entrepreneurial networks. The results also indicate that the ability to work with something one is passionate about is the top motive for combining wage work with a side-business. Passion is also more likely to be the main motive behind the combining form among individuals who are older at business start-up, but passion is less likely to be the main motive behind the combining form among individuals who spend more time on the business. The longer the individual has had the side-business, the less likely passion is the main motive behind the combining form, and passion is less likely to be the main motive among those who are part of an entrepreneurial team.
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| 8. |
- Pierre, Anne, 1974-
(author)
-
The influence of wicked problems on community-based entrepreneurship in rural Sweden
- 2017
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Entrepreneurship research has, since the 1930’s, mainly focused on so-called traditional entrepreneurship and studies have to a large part discussed management processes. During the past 40 years social entrepreneurship research and research into community-based entrepreneurship and practice has emerged, as a response to changes in society due to global, regional and local events that affect local development. Such changes often affect rural areas severely, for instance depopulation, which often leads to a decrease in small business development, a decrease in social services such as healthcare, schools, banks and road maintenance, and a decrease in local and regional economic health. These structural changes are usually due to political decisions taken at a governmental level, which trickle down through society and affect local economic development and, indirectly, small business development. Local enthusiasts, business associations and in particular entrepreneurs often try to meet these structural changes through community-based entrepreneurship, which involves processes through which new businesses are created and can operate within the existing social structure of the local community. However, the practical problem is that there are factors influencing communitybased entrepreneurship and hence the establishment of small businesses and local development, such as wicked problems, which in the rural context in this thesis refers to structural changes and complex relations. The theoretical and practical research gap is found in that there is a lack of studies exploring how wicked problems influence community-based entrepreneurship in rural contexts. Complex relations can be found in the three pillars of institutions based on regulative, normative and cultural-cognitive elements, where the same person can have many different roles, hence influencing local rural development. For this thesis, the theories of community-based entrepreneurship, state-society synergy, and small business development have been used to explore how wicked problems (structural changes and complex relations) influence community-based entrepreneurship in rural Sweden. Two literature studies were made on social entrepreneurship and community-based entrepreneurship, followed by three case-studies. The context of the first case-study was rural areas in the county of Jämtland and is based on results from the findings in the cross-disciplinary project on societal entrepreneurship in sparsely populated areas (SESPA). The context of the second case-study is the municipalities of Berg, Krokom and Östersund in the county of Jämtland, where a total of 23 interviews were conducted with farm owners, participants in the service social farming and municipal officials and politicians. The context of the third casestudy is the municipality of Sorsele in the county of Västerbotten and the municipality of Berg in the county of Jämtland, which are both situated in rural areas, where a total of 39 interviews were conducted with owners of small businesses, municipal officials and politicians. Results show that the development of community-based entrepreneurship research has furthered the possibilities to better understand the processes of entrepreneurship in local rural contexts. Furthermore, results indicate that the complex relations influencing communitybased entrepreneurship that appear in this thesis call for caution. The structural changes that are interrelated with community-based entrepreneurship are, in spite of facilitating increased interest, not necessarily positive for local rural development. It was also seen that the rural context studied is a semi-stable institution, indicating that local rural development, and thereby small business development, is incoherent. If a municipality and the owners of small businesses are well in tune with the regulative, normative and cultural-cognitive elements in their rural context, have an understanding of what wicked problems are, and if they are properly understood and dealt with, then there is a chance that, although experiencing a semistable institution, local rural development can be attained. The theoretical contributions of this thesis pertain to entrepreneurship in rural contexts, community-based entrepreneurship, and wicked problems. This thesis concludes that wicked problems, in the shape of structural changes and complex relations, are present in the rural contexts studied. These wicked problems influence communitybased entrepreneurship by being disruptive factors, affecting policy creation and implementation by the municipality. A flow-chart model has been created in order to show how wicked problems influence community-based entrepreneurship and hence local rural development.
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| 9. |
- von Friedrichs Grängsjö, Yvonne
(author)
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Destinationsmarknadsföring : en studie av turism ur ett producentperspektiv
- 2001
-
Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- The analysis of the marketing of a tourist destination brings into question quite different issues than those that apply to a single company. The marketing of a tourist destination demands the participation of many stakeholders, because of the complexity of the tourist product and the fact that the production and the consumption of the product both take place at the destination. It has often proved difficult to engage the various entrepreneurs in the co-operative marketing of the destination. Entrepreneurs differ with regard to how they see the importance of their company to the way a tourist experiences the destination as a unified tourist product. The inter-organisational processes are therefore of great significance in the organisation of co-operative marketing strategies. It is often difficult to achieve a balance between co-operation and competition between the companies involved, as the tourist destination comprises a geographically limited area and a number of stakeholders, each with their own individual aims, goals and motives. This study examines companies that interact in the production and marketing of tourist products at a tourist destination.The aim of this thesis is to describe how actors operating in spatial fixity work with marketing a destination, and to interpret the motives behind their behaviour. The research aims to generate new theoretical perspectives. It will examine and develop a new understanding of marketing in the field of tourism and its organisation, from the perspective of the supplier. The focus of the study is principally on the inter-organisational relations between the companies at the destination and the relationship between the individual companies and the local co-operative organisation. The thesis is based on inductive methodology and uses a social contructionist approach to analyse the processes involved in the marketing of a tourist destination. The destination studied is Åre, one of the largest winter sports destinations in northern Europe. The theoretical framework has been constructed from the results of empirical research, which include a number of quantitative and qualitative studies of companies and the local co-operative organisation. The results of the research have been interpreted in terms of base, concepts and discourse, using a multi-dimensional model to clarify the important role that norms play in determining the behaviour of the various actors involved in marketing the destination. The two norms that can be identified as dominant within the destination are "the company serves the destination's interests" and "the destination serves the company's interests". One of the conclusions of the thesis is that, in order for individual entrepreneurs to feel involved in the co-operative marketing of the destination, a dialectic relationship between these two norms is essential.
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| 10. |
- Weimer-Löfvenberg, Maria, 1964-
(author)
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Projektet Björntanden : Om beslutsprocesser, entreprenörskap och politik
- 2008
-
Licentiate thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- The present licentiate thesis deals with decision processes, entrepreneurship, and politics in a local context. The study focuses on the local project Björntanden in Östersund, an entrepreneurial idea aiming at regional development. The purpose of the thesis is to understand the decision processes that enable or hinder the realization of entrepreneurial ideas in a local context. The background of the study is the notion that regional development often is considered a condition for economic growth. Concepts such as local and entrepreneurial processes are commonly used in this context. These processes are seldom run in isolation by single actors but normally in cooperation with others. It is not uncommon that actors such as politicians and other representatives of local government and state agencies play an important role in influencing the conditions for local entrepreneurship. As decision processes in the private and public sector are different, this creates coordination problems. Cooperation between many actors also tends to create coordination problems when actors with different organisational principles and organisational cultures meet in a joint arena. This is further accentuated when business people, civil servants, politicians and others are to cooperate in decision-making on entrepreneurial ideas that often are inherently unclear. I followed the project Björntanden for four years by observations, interviews and studies of published and unpublished documents. On the basis of the experiences of the actors involved I have interpreted the meaning of their actions, i.e., what they have said and what they have done, in order to form the concepts used in the study. Through an interactive process between received theory and the gradually evolving results of the empirical study I have attempted to reach an understanding of the decision processes by linking local conditions, i.e. points of departure for entrepreneurial ideas in a local context, with different types of decision processes. The analysis indicates aspects that may create possibilities and space as well as obstacles for successful decision-making when entrepreneurship and politics are to act in cooperation.
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