Developing Global Sourcing

Global Sourcing has gained popularity among Multinational Corporations as a method to achieve competitive advantage in increasingly competitive international environment. However, the companies pursuing coordinated global sourcing strategies in many cases tend to overlook many potential synergies from global sourcing. The objective of this research is to identify development areas in which the case company can further improve its conduct regarding global sourcing. This thesis was done as a case study for a MNC with business units across the world. The data used to analyse the case company is based on personal observations of the researcher, company’s material regarding its global sourcing, and on themed interviews and discussions with the company’s purchasing personnel. The analyses of this research are qualitative in nature, relying on subjective observations of the researcher. The research revealed that the case company has room for improvement in many of the identified success factors of global sourcing. One main recommendation of the thesis is to introduce portfolio-tool to identify synergy areas from global sourcing in a more systematic manner. In addition, the thesis proposes that information-processing framework can help the case company design more effective integration mechanisms that are required to process complex information emerging when sourcing globally.

The Role Of Social Networks In New Venture Internationalization: Case Of Russian And Finnish Firms

The purpose of current master thesis research is to investigate the role of social networks in internationalization of Russian and Finnish firms. Literature review of existing empirical researches on the topic is conducted in order to identify the gap, which is fulfilled by empirical research of 4 Russian and 1 Finnish firm that have established international operations no later than 8 years since their foundation. In-depth semi-structured interviews have shown that business network has been an influencing factor in firms’ internationalization and that even if social network is not the driver of internationalization, it becomes important when a company has established international presence and is working on its enlargement. The study has both theoretical and practical contribution by contributing to research of Russian and Finnish firms’ internationalization and by showing examples of successful foreign market entry of companies from different industries. General practical implication of current thesis is that it shows the efficient ways of entrepreneurs’ social network usage in business development in international scope.