Post-transaction brand and model line-up integration in the automotive industry: Case studies of European companies as target of acquisitions by Chinese and Indian multinational corporations

Corporations practice company acquisitions in order to create shareholder’s value. During the last few decades, the companies in emerging markets have become active in the acquisition business. During the last decade, large and significant acquisitions have occurred especially in automotive industry. While domestic markets have become too competitive and companies are lacking required capabilities, they seek possibilities to expand into Western markets by attaining valuable assets through acquisitions of developed country corporations. This study discusses the issues and characteristics of these acquisitions through case studies. The purpose of this study was to identify the acquisition motives and strategies for post-transaction brand and product integration as well as analyze the effect of the motives to the integration strategy. The cases chosen for the research were Chinese Geely acquiring Swedish Volvo in 2010 and Indian Tata Motors buying British Jaguar Land Rover in 2008. The main topics were chosen according to their significance for companies in automotive industry as well as those are most visible parts for consumers. The study is based on qualitative case study methods, analyzing secondary data from academic papers and news articles as well as companies’ own announcements e.g. stock exchange and press releases. The study finds that the companies in the cases mainly possessed asset-seeking and market-seeking motives. In addition, the findings refer to rather minimal post-acquisition brand and product integration strategies. Mainly the parent companies left the target company autonomous to make their own business strategies and decisions. The most noticeable integrations were in the product development and production processes. Through restructuring the product architectures, the companies were able to share components and technology between product families and brands, which results in cutting down costs and in increase of profitability and efficiency. In the Geely- Volvo case, the strategy focused more on component sharing and product development know-how, whereas in Tata Motors-Jaguar Land Rover case, the main actions were to cut down costs through component sharing and combine production and distribution networks especially in Asian markets. However, it was evident that in both cases the integration and technology sharing were executed cautiously to prevent on harming the valuable image of the luxury brand. This study has concluded that the asset-seeking motives have significant influence on the posttransaction brand and model line-up integration strategies. By taking a cautious approach in acquiring assets, such as luxury brand, the companies in the cases have implemented a successful post-acquisition strategy and managed to create value for the shareholders at least in short-term. Yritykset harjoittavat yritysostoja luodakseen osakkeenomistajille lisäarvoa. Viimeisten muutamien vuosikymmenien aikana yritykset kehittyvissä maissa ovat myös aktivoituneet yritysostoissa. Viimeisen vuosikymmenen aikana erityisesti autoteollisuudessa on esiintynyt suuria ja merkittäviä yritysostoja. Koska kilpailu kotimaan markkinoilla on kiristynyt ja yritykset ovat vailla vaadittavia valmiuksia, ne etsivät mahdollisuuksiaan laajentaa länsimaisiin markkinoihin hankkimalla arvokkaita etuja kehittyneiden maiden yrityksistä yritysostojen avulla. Tämä tutkimus pohtii näiden yritysostojen olennaisia kysymyksiä ja ominaisuuksia casetutkimuksien kautta. Tutkimuksen tarkoitus oli tunnistaa sekä yritysostojen motiiveja ja brändi- ja mallisto-integraation strategioita että analysoida kyseisten motiivien vaikutusta integraatiostrategiaan. Tapaus-tutkimuksiksi valittiin kiinalaisen Geelyn yritysosto ruotsalaisesta Volvosta vuonna 2010 ja intialaisen Tata Motorsin yritysosto englantilaisesta Jaguar Land Roverista vuonna 2008. Tutkimus on kvalitatiivinen case-tutkimus ja siinä analysoidaan toissijaista tietoa sekä akateemisten ja uutisartikkeleiden että yritysten omien ilmoitusten, kuten pörssi- ja lehdistötiedotteiden, kautta. Tutkimuksen tulokset osoittavat, että tutkittujen yritysten toiminnat perustuivat motiiveihin, joita ajoivat etujen and uusien markkinoiden tarve. Sen lisäksi tutkimustulokset osoittivat, että yritysoston jälkeinen brändi- ja mallisto-integraatio pidettiin minimaalisena. Pääasiallisesti kohdeyrityksille jätettiin autonomia tehdä omat liikkeenjohdolliset päätökset yritysstrategioihin liittyen. Huomattavimmat integraatiot koskivat tuotekehityksellisiä ja tuotannollisia prosesseja. Kehittämällä uudelleen tuotearkkitehtuureja, yritykset pystyivät jakamaan komponentteja ja teknologiaa tuoteperheiden ja brändien välillä. Tämä mahdollisti kustannusleikkauksia sekä kannattavuuden ja tehokkuuden parantamista. Geely-Volvo –tapauksessa integraatiostrategia keskittyi komponenttien jakamiseen yhteisten tuotearkkitehtuurien avulla ja tuotekehityksen ammattitaitoon, kun taas Tata Motors-JLR –tapauksessa päätoiminnat olivat kustannuksien leikkaus sekä tuotannon ja jakeluverkoston yhdistäminen erityisesti Aasian maissa. Yhteistä yrityskaupoissa oli, että brändi- ja mallisto-integraatio sekä teknologian jakaminen suoritettiin varoen ehkäistäkseen arvokkaiden luksus-brändien tuotekuvan vahingoittamista. Tutkimuksen lopputulokset osoittavat, että yrityskaupan motiiveilla on huomattava vaikutus brändija mallisto-integraation strategiaan. Toteuttamalla varovaista lähestymistapaa luksus-brändin hankinnassa ja integraatiossa, yritykset ovat onnistuneet luomaan lisäarvoa osakkeenomistajille vähintään lyhyellä aikavälillä.

Value Creation Through Sustainability Within The Housing Industry - A Company’s View

The economy, under the condition of scarcity is meanwhile aiming at more rational economic activities that are efficient and effective. Companies need to know how to make use of new possibilities towards a more sustainable business. The right balance between risk and opportunity implies a sustainable growth and competitive advantage. Managers need to navigate companies across the globalization, as the global economy is constantly in motion. Further, companies have to face trends since the business world is changing radically. In order to keep up with those changes, companies have to recognize new trends early and respond quickly, efficiently and smart. To gain a competitive edge is without a doubt a critical aspect of a comprehensive value creation economy that withstands the demand for value capture and sustainability. Expectations towards a responsible economy are growing steadily. Therefore, companies have increasingly an obligation to economize more sustainable and to communicate their social and environmental commitment externally. Sustainability can live through the entire structure of value creation of a company. By reducing environmental and social risks companies can create values. This value creation thus represents a proper performance of a company and the accomplished added value through companies’ activities.

Project charter, scope, and time management in the movie industry

This thesis explores how the project charter development, project scope management, and project time management are executed in a Finnish movie production. The deviations and analogies between a case movie production and best practices suggested in PMBOK are presented. Empirical material from the case is gathered with two semi-structured interviews with a producer and a line producer. The interview data is categorized according to PMBOK knowledge areas. The analysis is complemented with movie industry specific norms found in popular movie production guides. The described and observed methods are linked together and the relationship between them is discussed. The project charter development, which is referred as a green light process in the movie industry, is mostly analogous between all areas. The deviations are in the level of formality. The green lighting in the case movie was accomplished without bureaucratic reports described in movie production guides. The empirical material shows that project management conventions and movie industry employ similar methods especially in scope management. Project management practices introduce a work breakdown structure (WBS) method, and movie production accomplishes the same task by developing a shooting script. Time management of the case movie deviates on most parts from the methods suggested in PMBOK. The major deviation is resource management. PMBOK suggests creating a resource breakdown structure. The case movie production accomplished this through budgeting process. Furthermore the popular movie production guides also disregard resource management as sovereign process. However the activity listing is quite analogous between the case movie and PMBOK. The final key observation is that although there is a broad set of effective and detailed movie industry specific methods, a comprehensive methodology that would cover the whole production process, such as Prince2 or Scrum, seems to be missing from the movie industry.

The advancement of innovations in communications industry: A case study of Russian Post company

The purpose of this study is to provide a project aimed on solving the problem of advancement of innovations for Russian Post company that is the main actor on the Russian postal service market. This project is constructed through gathering and scrutinizing two essential informational packages, with first being precise information about Russian Post business processes and structure in order to find out the weak spots and hindering forces, and the second being benchmarking analysis of product and service portfolio of company's peers in Europe and Australia in order to evaluate existing experience and gather additional sources that can facilitate the advancement of innovations. These informational packages are studied and sent through the matrix analysis that must highlight customer and technical requirements which emphasize the innovativeness and problem-solving purpose of the project and lay stress on the assuring characteristics that must to be met in order to advance the project. The project itself is aimed on providing Russian Post company with several solutions, both managerial and engineering, which are aimed on easing problem-solving processes and lay the foundation for continuous innovation and value increase for Russian Post company, its partners and its customers. Project's payback period is been calculated as well.

Entry mode choice of Finnish startups entering Chinese market in tablet industry

Since the implement of opening policy, the overall economy of China has maintained rapid and stable development, which has now makes China become the world's second largest economy. China, it is to become the largest overseas market for many large global enterprises from various industries, this naturally also includes the Tablet PC industry that raised in recent years. The purpose of this thesis is to analyze different internal and external factors that influence the entry mode choices of Finnish SMEs in tablet industry entering Chinese market. The goal is to find out the suitable entry modes for the Finnish tablet or other relevant SMEs entering Chinese market. Qualitative analysis is the main research method in empirical part of this study. The interviews were carried out with the case company and other two Finnish business organizations in China. The result of the study indicated that the internal resource and external business environment affect the entry modes choices much more than other factors for SMES. The exporting mode and sales subsidiary could be a better choice for SMEs entering Chinese market. Furthermore, firms should fully learn the Chinese market combine with its own background before making decisions.

Optimization of Transportation System by Tailored Logistics Network: A Case Study in Automotive Industry

This thesis aims to redesign the supply chain system in an automotive industry in order to obtain space reduction in the inventory by using tailored logistics network. The redesigning process by tailored supply chain will combine all possible shipment methods including direct shipment, milk-run, milk-run via distribution center and Kanban delivery. The current supply chain system in Nissan goes rather well when the production volume is in moderate level. However, when the production volume is high, there is a capacity problem in the warehouse to accommodate all delivered parts from suppliers. Hence, the optimization of supply chain system is needed in order to obtain efficient logistics process and effective inventory consumption. The study will use primary data for both qualitative and quantitative approach as the research methods. Qualitative data will be collected by conducting interviews with people related to procurement and inventory control. Quantitative data consists of list of suppliers with their condition in several parameters which will be evaluated and analyzed by using scoring method to assign the most suitable transportation network to each suppliers for improvement of inventory reduction in a cost efficient manner.

How Is Credit Risk Estimated? Discussion and Evidence based on Cross-Industry Sample Utilizing the KMV Model

The purpose of this thesis is to focus on credit risk estimation. Different credit risk estimation methods and characteristics of credit risk are discussed. The study is twofold, including an interview of a credit risk specialist and a quantitative section. Quantitative section applies the KMV model to estimate credit risk of 12 sample companies from three different industries: automobile, banking and financial sector and technology. Timeframe of the estimation is one year. On the basis of the KMV model and the interview, implications for analysis of credit risk are discussed. The KMV model yields consistent results with the existing credit ratings. However, banking and financial sector requires calibration of the model due to high leverage of the industry. Credit risk is considerably driven by leverage, value and volatility of assets. Credit risk models produce useful information on credit worthiness of a business. Yet, quantitative models often require qualitative support in the decision-making situation.

The Impact of Event Marketing on Brand Awareness in eSport Industry

The purpose of this qualitative research is to study what is the impact of event marketing on brand awareness in the context of electronic sport industry. Based on the research questions, the theoretical framework will be developed. This research will analyze earlier theories, and also searching more fresh literature to explain the current phenomenon in the eSport industry. In the empirical part, there were total of five case companies interviewed. The context of this research is eSport, which has its own chapter. The theoretical part of the thesis focuses on event marketing and brand awareness. In this research, event marketing is analyzed from the event organizers perspective. In some occasions, event exhibitors’ perspective is also analyzed. In brand awareness, the focus is how to create a brand recognizable, recalled and from there top of mind in consumers’ minds. The results of this research revealed that many companies’ struggles on getting their brand recognizable. Some of the case companies lacks a strategy and don’t exactly know the core values of their customers. However some of the case companies were opposite. One reason behind this is that some of them has experience on the field and the companies have resources that covers them. Also the current strong brand has clearly a positive affect on their business.

Utilization of Statistical Methods for Management in the Forest Industry

The strongest wish of the customer concerning chemical pulp features is consistent, uniform quality. Variation may be controlled and reduced by using statistical methods. However, studies addressing the application and benefits of statistical methods in forest product sector are scarce. Thus, the customer wish is the root cause of the motivation behind this dissertation. The research problem addressed by this dissertation is that companies in the chemical forest product sector require new knowledge for improving their utilization of statistical methods. To gain this new knowledge, the research problem is studied from five complementary viewpoints – challenges and success factors, organizational learning, problem solving, economic benefit, and statistical methods as management tools. The five research questions generated on the basis of these viewpoints are answered in four research papers, which are case studies based on empirical data collection. This research as a whole complements the literature dealing with the use of statistical methods in the forest products industry. Practical examples of the application of statistical process control, case-based reasoning, the cross-industry standard process for data mining, and performance measurement methods in the context of chemical forest products manufacturing are brought to the public knowledge of the scientific community. The benefit of the application of these methods is estimated or demonstrated. The purpose of this dissertation is to find pragmatic ideas for companies in the chemical forest product sector in order for them to improve their utilization of statistical methods. The main practical implications of this doctoral dissertation can be summarized in four points: 1. It is beneficial to reduce variation in chemical forest product manufacturing processes 2. Statistical tools can be used to reduce this variation 3. Problem-solving in chemical forest product manufacturing processes can be intensified through the use of statistical methods 4. There are certain success factors and challenges that need to be addressed when implementing statistical methods

The role of product features on buyer-supplier collaboration in packaging industry

The thesis presents the study relative to the collaboration between suppliers and buyers in packaging industry with the impact of product features. The main purpose of this study is to examine the importance of product characteristics on collaboration to develop better packaging and to figure out how buyer-supplier collaboration in the supply chain perspectives is conducted and managed in packaging industry. The theoretical part reviewed some basic frameworks of collaboration including the scopes and levels of collaboration, risks as well as powers of collaboration, relationship and some key factors for successful collaboration. Followed by the overviews of packaging industry with the main issues related to product characteristics in packaging. By using the qualitative method, secondary data consisting of articles, reports, websites and primary data through interviewing some well-known packaging companies and case companies are collected in the thesis. The empirical result emphasized the importance of product features’ analysis in packaging industry since it plays a central role in the materials, design process, production and innovation with the role of collaboration. Collaboration in packaging is vital for packaging companies to survive and grow in the competitive environment. Finally, some key factors for effective collaboration were summarized based on the perspectives of packaging companies. It is highly recommend building a long-run collaboration with their customers due to undeniable benefits With increasingly importance of collaboration in packaging industry, further studies may be conducted.

Successful new venturing process implemented by the founding entrepreneur: A case of Finnish sawmill industry

The fundamental purpose of this research is to emphasise a founding entrepreneur’s own role in the construction of a successful business story, with the focus being on the analysis of the entrepreneur’s activities. The theoretical section sheds light on the heterogeneous nature of existing performance research and, thereby, opens the way for the behavioural approach research of entrepreneurs in the field of new venture performance research. This research can be seen to be in line with the latest trends in entrepreneurship research, which question the applicability of different organisational theories in entrepreneurship research. For this reason, the founding entrepreneur has been chosen, instead of the company, to be the unit of analysis in this research in order to lighten the link in question while developing and refining new knowledge in the field of entrepreneurship. The empirical section of this research focuses on the entrepreneur’s own actions or behaviours that can be seen to be associated with the company’s success. Although some of these actions may resemble the strategic actions of a company as defined in strategic management literature, these actions taken by the entrepreneur themselves must be distinguished from the different organisational actions. Usually, an entrepreneur makes decisions rather independently, mainly on basis of their own intuition and prevailing market conditions, whereas organisational actions are very systematic, and each decision involves many different people. For this reason, an entrepreneur’s actions must be distinguished from organisational actions. In additional to different action paths, the empirical data collected for this research also offers almost unambiguous proof that the actions taken by an entrepreneur at the different stages of a company’s development do play a crucial role in the success of the companies studied in this research. In this way, it is possible to identify a significant link between the behavioural approach research of entrepreneurs and new venture performance research. Due to a lack of behavioural research into founding entrepreneurs, this research has utilised a qualitative (hermeneutic) research approach. The researcher strove to establish a particularly close connection with the entrepreneurs that were studied here and, thus, understand the actions taken at the different stages of their companies’ development as well as the motives and fundamental purposes of these actions. It would not have been possible to manage such profound data that focuses on causalities by using quantitative methods. In addition to interviews, this research used corporate histories of the companies for collecting some of the research data. These corporate histories can be considered excellent tools for the researcher to obtain a preliminary understanding and can, thereby, be seen to have laid the ground for more in-depth and diverse analyses.

The Formation Of Internationalization Strategies Within The Construction Industry:Vision and Strategy

Internationalization represents a complex topic that has been researched for quite some time. However, since it continues to be extremely current a topic, its significance has not diminished, but maybe even increased in importance. Companies today face extreme pressure to enter new markets in the hope of growing, becoming more profitable, increasing market share, attracting new customers and meeting the requirements of its share- and stakeholders. In the increasingly global business environment of today, companies are facing both challenges and possible advantages of internationalization. Few companies are not operating internationally and it is becoming the question of ‘Why not?’ rather than ‘Why?’ to internationalize business operations. Internationalization and the importance of strategy are discussed in this research from the viewpoint of three case companies that were interviewed about internationalization strategies. This research project is a qualitative study that answers the research question of How is a business strategy constructed for entering a new market? The sub-questions are • How are goals set and what indicators are used to monitor the achievement of these goals? • What are the key characteristics of a strategy implementation process? The research method chosen for this study is a multiple-case study. Three case companies were chosen for the interviews in order to gain in-depth data of internationalization strategies within the construction industry.

Industry specific lifecycle services for process critical motors

This Master’s Thesis examines industrial service business and studies how Global Technical Support Center Finland, part of ABB Oy, can develop its lifecycle services based on availability related customer needs. Focus is in three most business critical industry segments OGP (Oil, Gas and Petrochemical), Power and Metals. The research was conducted as a qualitative case study, including literature review and empirical part. The literature review explores industrial service business, product lifecycle services and related customer needs, product effectiveness and maintenance. This study contains also characteristics of constructive research. Primary material was gathered through internal and external interviews. Both theme and semi-structured interviews were performed. This research has shown that customers have different needs depending of the industry segment where they operate. Most remarkable differences are related to maintenance schedules. The main outcomes of the study are the industry specific lifecycle service models that combine company recommendations with customer specific needs. Other development needs were related to proactivity, condition based monitoring, information sharing and lifecycle estimations.