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A Swedish Presence ”A case study of Swedish companies in Japan”

Rahiminejad, Sara and Zaborowska, Nicole (2019) MIOM05
Production Management
Abstract
As one of the largest economies in the world, Japan obtains great potential for foreign investors.
Nonetheless, the Japanese market has been known to be difficult to penetrate for
foreign companies. Research areas of adjustment regarding Swedish companies’ market
presence in Japan were identified as; forming the organisation characteristics, culture and
leadership approach, acquiring skills, managing networks and relationships and adapting
to the market demand. There exists limited literature involving Swedish companies’ market
presence in Japan. Thus, the purpose of this study was to identify patterns of, and describe,
how Swedish companies in Japan have chosen to establish themselves, how they have managed
to sustain their market... (More)
As one of the largest economies in the world, Japan obtains great potential for foreign investors.
Nonetheless, the Japanese market has been known to be difficult to penetrate for
foreign companies. Research areas of adjustment regarding Swedish companies’ market
presence in Japan were identified as; forming the organisation characteristics, culture and
leadership approach, acquiring skills, managing networks and relationships and adapting
to the market demand. There exists limited literature involving Swedish companies’ market
presence in Japan. Thus, the purpose of this study was to identify patterns of, and describe,
how Swedish companies in Japan have chosen to establish themselves, how they have managed
to sustain their market presence and if the presence in return has contributed to the
Swedish company. This was accomplished by conducting six case studies of Swedish companies
active in Japan. The study found that the Swedish companies have market-seeking
motives when entering the Japanese market. However, these evolve to non-marketable asset
seeking motives during the market presence. The majority of these companies currently
manage wholly owned subsidiaries, which were established through transitional phases with
distributors or by risk-averse actions. It was also found that Swedish companies do experience
difficulties when being active on the Japanese market, in particularly regarding managing
the acquirement of new skills and adapting to Japanese market demand. Other areas of
market presence such as organisation characteristics, leadership and culture were managed
to a limited extent as they where also seen to be affected by local factors. Networks and
partnerships were managed according to the business model or overall industry standards,
rather than adjusted to local conditions. Furthermore, the study also found that the Japanese
market offers valuable insights for multinational organisations, applicable to several markets
internationally. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Rahiminejad, Sara and Zaborowska, Nicole
supervisor
organization
course
MIOM05
year
type
M1 - University Diploma
subject
keywords
Case Study, Contributions to the Multinational Organisation, Establishment, Japan, Market Presence, Swedish Subsidiaries i
other publication id
19/5612
language
English
id
8972098
date added to LUP
2019-02-27 13:44:04
date last changed
2019-02-27 13:44:04
@misc{8972098,
  abstract     = {{As one of the largest economies in the world, Japan obtains great potential for foreign investors.
Nonetheless, the Japanese market has been known to be difficult to penetrate for
foreign companies. Research areas of adjustment regarding Swedish companies’ market
presence in Japan were identified as; forming the organisation characteristics, culture and
leadership approach, acquiring skills, managing networks and relationships and adapting
to the market demand. There exists limited literature involving Swedish companies’ market
presence in Japan. Thus, the purpose of this study was to identify patterns of, and describe,
how Swedish companies in Japan have chosen to establish themselves, how they have managed
to sustain their market presence and if the presence in return has contributed to the
Swedish company. This was accomplished by conducting six case studies of Swedish companies
active in Japan. The study found that the Swedish companies have market-seeking
motives when entering the Japanese market. However, these evolve to non-marketable asset
seeking motives during the market presence. The majority of these companies currently
manage wholly owned subsidiaries, which were established through transitional phases with
distributors or by risk-averse actions. It was also found that Swedish companies do experience
difficulties when being active on the Japanese market, in particularly regarding managing
the acquirement of new skills and adapting to Japanese market demand. Other areas of
market presence such as organisation characteristics, leadership and culture were managed
to a limited extent as they where also seen to be affected by local factors. Networks and
partnerships were managed according to the business model or overall industry standards,
rather than adjusted to local conditions. Furthermore, the study also found that the Japanese
market offers valuable insights for multinational organisations, applicable to several markets
internationally.}},
  author       = {{Rahiminejad, Sara and Zaborowska, Nicole}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{A Swedish Presence ”A case study of Swedish companies in Japan”}},
  year         = {{2019}},
}