Acquisition Failure: The case of a multinational enterprise from an emerging market failing in Indonesia.

The escalation in the number of mergers and acquisition transactions involving emerging market firms is a relatively recent phenomenon; as a consequence academic research in such topic is rather limited. The purpose of this research study was to discuss the possible reasons that led the acquisition failure of an emerging multinational firm and an Indonesian player. Extensive theoretical research was performed and it had been achieved, based on this, the finding of a framework that facilitated to understand the way in which the concepts of cultural distances and relate liabilities of foreignness in the process of acquisitions of foreign companies in emerging markets. The theoretical background collects literature related to acquisitions, models of cultural studies between nations and liabilities of foreignness. It has been generated a variety of frameworks that aid to understand the way that the institutional distance and cultural factors together with the concept of liabilities of foreignness can affect the process of market entry of an emerging multinational company to the extent that the best way to stop losing money is to abandon the project. The empirical research consisted of selective semi-structured interviews and an extensive research in available public data on the chosen study case of this research. There were several factors that were identified as the cause of the failure in the market entry of a Mexican multinational firm in Indonesia. The weakness shown by the local government authorities was used by the local community leaders who rioted because of discomfort. These groups were the ones who made the government submit to the extent that the agreements reached at the beginning of the deal were either canceled or modified in a way that favored always the local community. The contributions of this study fall into the knowledge field of emerging multinational firms and market entry process.

Ship Leases under IAS 17, case Fortum Shipping

International accounting standards will be applied from the1st of January 2005 in accounting of member states of the EU with a view of harmonizing the accounting practices in Europe, and on the long term even more widely. The purpose of adopting IAS accounting standards is to make the financial statements and financial information received from companies more comparable and more transparent for investors and other interest groups. IAS 17 introduces the treatment of a lease agreement in the light of the new accounting standards. Finnish companies have used finance leases widely as an alternative, off-balance sheet form of financing capital investments consistently with Finnish GAAP. Along with the appliance of IAS 17 the off-balance-sheet financing possibility of leases classified as finance leases will no longer exist. IAS 17 states that finance leases are going to be recognized in the balance sheet as both assets, in form of fixed assets, and loans in liabilities classified as long and short term loans. IAS 17 will make two major changes to the income statement. Firstly, the lease payments formerly treated as variable costs are moved below the operating profit level to finance costs. Secondly, the depreciations from the leased assets are also introduced. The effects to the case company's, Fortum Shipping's, income statement and balance sheet are remarkable. Along with the appliance of IAS Fortum Shipping's net assets are somewhat going to be doubled, the amount of liabilities increases significantly and the earnings before interests and taxes increases moderately. The preceding factors have a big effect on the case company's financial key figures. So, the IAS originated effects on balance sheet and income statement have essential impacts on a company's key financial indicators. Most significant changes can be found in key ratios measuring profitability, capital structure, and efficiency. This means that when comparing the IAS calculated profits of companies with the profits calculated prior with Finnish GAAP, the analysis should be made with prudence because the figures are not comparable on straight-forward basis.

Suomessa toimivien kiinteistösijoitusyritysten menestyminen 2007–2014

Tämän kandidaatintutkielman tavoitteena on tutkia Suomessa toimivien kiinteistösijoitusyritysten menestymistä aikavälillä 2007–2014. Tutkimuksen keskiössä ovat erityisesti toimialan suurimpien yritysten suoriutuminen suhteessa pienempiin yrityksiin. Yritysten menestymistä arvioidaan valittujen tunnuslukujen avulla. Tutkimus ajoittuu finanssikriisin, eurokriisin ja taantuman aikaan, jolloin taloudessa tapahtui merkittäviä muutoksia. Kiinteistömarkkinoiden voidaan ajatella olevan paikallisia, jolloin maailmantalouden muutokset eivät ole välttämättä paikallisesti näyttäytyneet yhtä suurina. Tutkielman teoriaosuus esittelee tunnuslukuanalyysimenetelmää sekä valitut neljä tunnuslukua: voittoprosentin, oman pääoman tuottoprosentin, omavaraisuusasteen ja current ration. Lisäksi teoriaosuudessa esitellään mittakaavaedun käsite ja luodaan pohjaa, mittakaavaetujen aiempien tutkimusten perusteella, tutkimuskysymyksen tarkasteluun. Tutkimuksen aineisto kerättiin Amadeus-tietokannasta, tutkimus toteutettiin kvantitatiivisena tutkimuksena SAS-ohjelmistolla käyttäen Mann-Whitney U-testi -menetelmää ja 5 prosentin merkitsevyystasoa. Valitut yritykset jaettiin liikevaihdon perusteella suuriin ja pieniin yrityksiin (rajana 10 miljoonaa euroa), joita vuosittain verrattiin tunnusluvuittain. Tutkimustulosten perusteella voidaan todeta, että toimiala ei reagoinut ajanjaksolla voimakkaasti maailmantalouden muutoksiin. Voittoprosentit sekä omavaraisuusasteet olivat vuosina 2007–2014 pienillä yrityksillä tilastollisesti parempia, sekä oman pääoman tuottoprosentit parempia vuosina 2008 ja 2009. Current ration arvoissa ei ryhmien välillä havaittu tilastollisesti eroja. Voittoprosentin tulosten perusteella voidaan todeta suurilla yrityksillä mittakaavahaittojen esiintymisen mahdollisuus heikomman tuloksentekokyvyn vuoksi. Omavaraisuusasteen ja oman pääoman tuoton tulosten perusteella voidaan päätellä mittakaavaetujen esiintymisen mahdollisuus mahdollisesti vieraan pääoman saatavuudessa, kustannuksissa ja vieraan pääoman vipuvaikutuksen myötä. Tutkimustulokset osoittavat lisäksi suurten yritysten olleen pieniä yrityksiä herkempiä talouden heilahteluille.

The effectiveness of financial innovation support tools. Comparative study of Latvia and Finland

In the Innovation Union Scoreboard of 2011, Latvia ranked last amongst the EU countries in innovation performance. Even though there is sufficient scientific and technological basis, the results remain modest or low in most of the indicators concerning innovations. Several aspects influence the performance a national innovation system. In Latvia, the low effectiveness is often attributed to lack of financial support tools. As a comparison, Finland was chosen because of its well-established and documented innovation system. The aim of this study is to research the efficiency and effectiveness of the current financial innovation support tool system in Latvia from the point of view of an innovating company. It also attempts to analyze the support tool system of Latvia and compare to the relevant parts of the Finnish system. The study found that it is problematic for innovative companies in Latvia to receive the necessary funding especially for start-ups and SMEs due to the low number of grant programs, funds and lacking offer from banks, venture capital and business angels. To improve the situation, the Latvian government should restructure the funding mechanisms putting a bigger emphasis on innovative start-ups and SMEs. That would lay a foundation for future growth and boost research and scientific activities in Latvia.