AUTHOR
Stenström, Mark H.

DATE
2002-12-12

DEPARTMENT
Business Administration and Social Sciences / Industrial marketing and e-commerce

SUMMARY
The purpose of this thesis is to gain a better understanding of the creation and success of Swedish-Polish joint ventures. In order to achieve the purpose of this study, a multiple case study of the companies Thermod, Scania, Sjöding Sendoline and Intercellulosa was conducted. The method of data collection consisted of telephone interviews.

The findings in this study indicate that joint ventures are chosen as the mode of market entry due to the following motives: risk sharing, conforming to host government policy, facilitating international expansion, synergy and control. The local joint venture partners are selected according to the following task-related criteria: access to knowledge of local market and culture, regulatory permits and labor. Partner-related criteria are also applied when choosing partner, i.e. trust between the top management teams, the partner’s company size experience in technology applications and the partner’s ability to negotiate with the Polish government. The sources of recruitment in Swedish-Polish joint ventures are: host country nationals, foreign and host headquarters executives. The factors of success of joint venture success are: depth of analysis, performance of the partner and integration of the joint venture.

ISSN 1404-5508 / ISRN LTU-SHU-EX--03/003--SE / NR 2003:003