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Despite China’s rapid outward foreign direct investment growth, existing international business research has largely focused on capital-intensive, goods-producing sectors, leaving the internationalization of service industries, particularly catering, comparatively underexplored. This study examines why and how Chinese catering firms adapt their business models and operations when entering the Euro
Industrial control systems must ensure reliable operation while respecting physical and operational constraints. In practice, PID controllers dominate industrial control, often cited as covering over 95% of control loops. PID controllers are reliable, well understood, and easy to maintain, but they cannot explicitly handle constraints. In contrast, model predictive control (MPC) can enforce constr
Existing research on organisational transformation is heavily anchored in crisis and competitive pressures as drivers of change. This study looks past this and aims to examine how organisational transformation can be sustained past the initial disruption and how companies make sense of, frame, and communicate transformation within the organisation, with a focus on monopoly-heritage companies. Neo-
This study explores how gender stereotypes shape employees’ and managers’ perceptions of managerial behaviour within a Swedish organisational context. Although Sweden is often regarded as highly gender equal, previous research shows that gendered expectations remain stable and may continue to influence how leadership is interpreted. Using a qualitative research design, six semi‑structured intervi
This thesis investigates the control of stamping speed in a hydraulic extrusion press at Alleima, with the aim of reducing oscillations at the start of the process and achieving faster stabilisation. A simplified digital model of the press was developed in Simulink to capture the key system dynamics and enable simulation-based evaluation of control strategies. Initial work focused on the existing
This thesis examines how middle managers construct, enact, and navigate organizational values in everyday managerial practice. While organizational values are often presented as stable principles intended to guide behavior and create cohesion, the everyday realities of managerial work are more ambiguous and relational than such representations suggest, particularly for middle managers positioned b
Lean-oriented manufacturing depends not only on routines, standards and improvement systems, but also on employees who are willing to engage with these practices in daily work. This thesis explores how employees in Swedish Lean-oriented manufacturing companies experience leadership in relation to their work motivation, using transformational leadership as an interpretive lens. The study takes a qu
Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly integrated into knowledge-intensive work, shaping how employees seek information, develop knowledge, and collaborate. While existing research has primarily focused on human-AI collaboration, technological capabilities, and performance outcomes, less attention has been paid to how AI becomes embedded in the interpersonal learning processes through which
International professional mobility has increased significantly in recent years, yet the workplace integration experiences of self-initiated expatriates remain underexplored in academic literature. While Scandinavian workplaces are characterized by formally inclusive organizational cultures, equitable policies and strong DEI commitments, international professionals sometimes perceive the gap b
Private equity (PE) investment changes not only who owns firms but also how they are governed. In founder-led firms, this transition is particularly complex because authority, decision-making, and organizational identity are closely tied to the founder. Existing research explains private equity governance primarily through monitoring and value-creation mechanisms, but less is known about how the i
Workplace social activities are commonly used by organisations to strengthen connection and belonging among employees, yet how employees actually interpret and make sense of these activities remains underexplored. This study explores how employees make sense of workplace social activities and how these interpretations shape their sense of belonging and organisational identification. A qualitative
As artificial intelligence increasingly plays a role in modern startups and further mediates how entrepreneurs interpret their markets, founders no longer primarily use their own exploration of the markets but rely on pre-structured lists made by algorithmic tools. Whilst the tool has largely presented this reality to augment the capabilities of entrepreneurs, it has paid less attention to what go
This study explores how newly graduated employees experience assigned mentorship in relation to other workplace support during their transition from higher education into professional roles. Drawing on organizational socialization, mentorship, and developmental network perspectives, the study examines how support is navigated, assessed and used during organizational entry. The study adopts a qual
This study examines how psychological contract violations (PCV) affect organizational identification (OID) in the context of reconstructing strategic change, specifically acquisitions. While existing literature has established the relationship between psychological contract breach (PCB) and OID, the emotional dimension of violation remains relatively unexplored. Drawing on a qualitative, abductive
Previous research on Trust-Based Management (TBM) is fragmented without a cohesive understanding of what it entails while TBM at the same time has been widely adopted throughout the public sector in the Nordics. This raises the question of how this post-NPM management reform can be studied by bridging the gap between the fragmented field of study and practical applications through developing a com
This thesis examines how contrasting corporate digital strategies shape frontline hotel employees’ ability to balance chain-level systems with local service responsiveness. The study treats chain-level digital systems as contemporary fixed elements of hotel formats by applying and building up on the Integration-Responsiveness framework, Flexible Replication, and sociotechnical perspectives, in par
The military and defense industry is a historically stigmatized industry, but many argue that public opinion has changed since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Organizational stigma, the widespread negative perception of firms due to their activities or the industries they operate in, affects a firm's relationships with external partners. While previous research has discussed its influence on bra
Customer data has become increasingly important in international fashion retail. However, existing research provides limited understanding of how CRM supported customer knowledge becomes strategically relevant in physical store market-entry decisions. This is particularly important in multinational fashion subsidiaries where customer knowledge is not generated through CRM alone. It is also shaped
This study examines how geopolitical events impact the strategies of Swedish industrial MNEs in strategic sectors, and which ownership advantages underpin those strategies. It draws on nine semi-structured interviews, eight with senior representatives from four Swedish firms across defence and aerospace, oil, mining, and automotive, and one with a government trade institution representative. Dunni
