The purpose of the essay has been to clarify why and how small companies, whose major resource is knowledge, establish strategic alliances and which opportunities it brings. We have increased our understanding for the concept of strategic alliances through empirical search and through well-known scientist work. The method, which has been used in the essay, is principally qualitative interviews and gathering secondary data from articles from well-known authors. Our study has given that we have found that entering strategic alliances can make growth and by that way create competitive advantages for the company in question. We also found that there are risks with strategic alliances and the company can protect themselves by legal actions.

The common literature about strategic alliances offers a very fragmented picture. This thesis gives a theoretical overview on strategic alliances and builds the basis for the following examination of the different dimensions most strategic alliances have. The examination of the different dimensions is the crucial point of this thesis. Here the reader gets a detailed insight into the different dimensions and the implications they have on the design of a particular strategic alliance. This examination leads in the end to a more differentiated view on strategic alliances and the insight that no simple models exist, which give a sufficient basis for decision-making and understanding strategic alliances, today.

The common literature about strategic alliances offers a very fragmented picture. This thesis gives a theoretical overview on strategic alliances and builds the basis for the following examination of the different dimensions most strategic alliances have. The examination of the different dimensions is the crucial point of this thesis. Here the reader gets a detailed insight into the different dimensions and the implications they have on the design of a particular strategic alliance. This examination leads in the end to a more differentiated view on strategic alliances and the insight that no simple models exist, which give a sufficient basis for decision-making and understanding strategic alliances, today.

This study examines how management consulting firms work with business- and functional strategy and how these strategies are interrelated. More specifically we focus on business strategy (business unit level) and knowledge strategy (functional level) and whether these are aligned or not, i.e. whether strategic congruence exists.A number of recent studies have examined the importance of business strategy and knowledge strategy in management consulting firms separately, but few have pointed out the importance of the alignment between them. With this study we contribute to the strategic field of research with a model that describes how management consulting firms should work with their knowledge strategy given their business strategy. The model is developed through a synthesis between theories in the field of strategic congruence, business- and functional strategies and thereafter tested by an empirical case study of six management consulting firms.

A comparison of strategic alliances and mergers & acquisitions and their impact on shareholder value has been done. By using an event study methodology, the announcements of these strategic approaches has been analysed in order to understand which strategic approach affect shareholder value most favourably..

Aim: The overall aim of this survey was to show whether, and possibly how, Stockholm?s three biggest football clubs (in supporter counts) works strategically with their communication regarding to supporter violence. A further goal of this paper is to contribute with knowledge that could be used by football clubs in their efforts against supporter violence. From this purpose two questions were constructed: 1) Do football clubs work strategically with their communications with regard to supporter violence? In that case, how? 2) Can work with strategic communication in terms of supporter violence improve? In such cases, how?Material and Method: The method used in this studie is of a qualitative character.

This study puts emphasis on an international discourse describing how cities frequently compete against each other, and also describing factors that cities should enhance to make themselves more competitive. The discourse in this study has therefore been used to seek understanding how three different municipalities Borlänge, Karlstad and Malmö strive for growth by applying central factors from the discourse on the municipalities strategic documents. What the study shows is that the central factors from the discourse strongly imprints the strategic documents, but the presence of the factors varies between the municipalities and also to what meaning that lies behind the strategic goals..

Kommer senare...

The companies? managements acknowledge personal relations and trust, through good communication and predefined responsibilities and goals, as key factors to succeed in strategic alliance. These factors did not always exist according to the employees? involved. This research, in contrast, suggests that these factors are subordinate to the correlation between the company?s vision and the alliance objectives, hence level of priority, which indicates that management has hidden motives for entering the strategic alliance.

Strategic development is something that concerns all companies, regardless of which industry they?re in. There is extensive research on this topic but one can question if the same theory also applies to E-businesses. Using case studies, this paper looks at strategic development in E-businesses and tries to answer whether strategic development in internet based companies is unique or if existing theory can still be applied. The predominant approach is to look into if E-businesses, due to a turbulent environment, rely less on market research and focus more on internal resources than would be expected by companies in more stable environments.

The purpose of the study is to investigate methods and work procedures that aim to motivate people to leave a cult and/or supporting them after a cult exit. The study was limited to investigate how Sweden?s, within the area, three premier voluntary organizations Föreningen Rädda Individen, Rådgivning Om Sekter and Hjälpkällan work with present -, ex ? and relatives to cult members. In addition to the mentioned organizations we have also investigated the work procedures and methods used by Åke Wiman. The study has got a qualitative approach and includes semi-structured interviews.

The thesis tries to answer how a combination of financial metrics and marketing metrics can improve strategic decision making. The purpose is to develop a strategic working method for general dealers. The method is based on the two theoretical frameworks "The strategic resource model" and "The importance-performance matrix". The suggested method is being tested in a small retail store environment on the Swedish market. The result of the test shows that a better suited strategy can be developed when this strategic method, which combines financial metrics with marketing metrics, is being used.

Talented people are recognised as being the most important corporate resource over the next twenty years and a competitive compensation system is an important tool in attracting and retaining talent. Traditional pay systems are recognised as being neither cost effective nor motivating people to do more. Often these systems do not contribute to strategic objectives. This study outlines what constitutes an intelligent remuneration system that will enhance the mind value added by knowledge workers, reward knowledge creation, and contribute to organisational strategies..

The BSC is a widely used management tool that is turning the vision and strategy into operational goals. However, after analyzing the criticism received by the BSC, it seems as if its internal focus, rigidity, static-ism and mechanical mindset limits the company?s ability to create a strategy that takes important external factors into account. As we see it, the BSC?s limitations can create a risk for strategic inertia.

Many researchers emphasize the increasing strategic importance of supply chain management, but there is still a lack of concrete guidance for managers faced with strategic decisions in supply chain. Within decision-making theories, the rational decision-making model is the most commonly used. This because of its suitable foundation, enabling a structure to the complex decision process. The rational decision-making model is today not developed to include the aspects of strategic decision-making made in supply chain. The purpose of this research is to adjust a structured rational decision-making model, making it applicable for strategic decision-making in supply chain.