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In this chapter, the authors provide an overview of the results of their research on the subject of strategic alliances until 2001. Specifically, they summarize their findings published in Strategic Alliances in Eastern and Central Europe (2003). The authors conducted 20 case studies of Swedish firms involved in strategic alliances with firms in Eastern and Central Europe. This chapter also presents a brief account of the authors' other research on the same phenomenon which resulted in several conference papers and journal articles. The theoretical framework developed and applied in the 2003 book is also briefly presented in this summary chapter. The method applied in writing the book and the justification for applying this specific method are also discussed. Following this, an updated review of the literature of strategic alliances is conducted to discuss the research work covered and the issues examined after 2003. The overview of the authors' strategic alliances studies and the updated review of the literature together highlight the overall logic behind this new book, Transformation of Strategic Alliances in Eastern and Central Europe.

This chapter illustrates the theoretical foundation of the study. Several issues such as motives, resources, learning, networking, and institutional and environmental impacts are elaborately discussed to point out why strategic alliances are formed and how the firms attempt to fulfill different goals by collaborating with partners. Furthermore, it is taken up how the issues are intertwined and jointly contribute to strengthen the alliance activity. From a longitudinal perspective, a theoretical framework has been drawn not only to show the links but also to highlight the dynamism in the relationship over time. This theoretical framework is used to collect, organize, and analyze the data to finally draw conclusions of the study.

In this chapter, the main research outcomes are discussed and analyzed in connection with relevant studies in the field. The ambition has been to focus on whether the result matches with the present body of the literature or not, and what new thoughts and ideas can be generated by comparing and matching the literature and the results of the underlying study. Emphasis is on the changes that have taken place during the operation of the ventures over a longer period. In the cases, the business operations have been discussed in three phases and sometimes in two phases. But for the purpose of the literature linkage, changes are analyzed in two steps. Step one discusses major changes in the beginning (mainly phase one), while step two covers changes that have taken place in the other two phases.

This paper aims to deal with international marketing of products, analyzing how adaptation/standardization and network development are achieved when marketing products in Bangladesh.

By applying a qualitative method, the study was conducted at four multinationals, British American Tobacco, Perfetti Van Melle, Tetrapak and Reckitt Benckiser, operating in Bangladesh. Data were collected through semistructured interviews, direct observation and official documents. The analysis was conducted through construction of themes that were identified from the data set.

The study demonstrates that business relationships related to a local market should be adapted to customer preferences. The research suggests that a balanced combination of product quality and development of new, innovative products adapted to the needs of the market and the customers establishes trust and networks. Cultural and market context were found to influence multinational companies (MNCs)s to standardize the quality of the products and adapt marketing mix components to the needs of consumers.

The paper contributes to international marketing literature with a model of product marketing based on context, trust, networks and adaptation/standardization. The model introduces the cultural dimension of femininity/ masculinity and the innovation of products and market structure. The study is limited to one emerging market. Further studies should explore other emerging market economies and MNCs.

The results suggest that to meet the challenges of emerging market economies and achieve success, managers should take people and market needs into consideration.

This paper extends product marketing literature by presenting a context-based model for MNCs’ product marketing.

This chapter presents a description of transition economies of Europe focusing different aspects related to the economic development of this area. First, the transition economies are introduced. Later on, political conditions, cultural factors affecting these countries, and economic situation are presented. Referring earlier studies and different factors, a new classification of transition economies is offered.

To have critical perspective, some of the performances of transition economies are compared with BRICS countries, which have been particularly focused as major economies of the emerging markets. Finally, the case countries are presented.

This chapter highlights and examines the journey of strategic alliances, how alliances lead to the creation of new alliances, and whether alliances succeed or precede firms' market networks. Moreover, the chapter attempts to identify the market and environmental factors which impact the journey and the end result of alliances. The findings show that before the alliance and in the early strategic alliance phase, firms can have direct and indirect relationships/networks which can lead to the formation of strategic alliances. The other finding is that one of the main factors which determines the journey of strategic alliances is the degree of internationalization of the firm and the market. The journey of alliances was also found to be different in the various groups of Eastern and Central Europe (ECE) countries depending on the pace or degree of adaptation of those countries. It was also found that well-developed networks have a positive impact on the alliance results. Moreover, the chapter also provides evidence that alliances enable firms to defend and strengthen existing networks to build new networks and to penetrate partners' networks. It is finally observed that it is difficult to determine whether alliances succeed or precede networks.

This chapter gives an understanding on how consideration of institutional factors can be important in establishing alliances in emerging markets. There is a huge difference between developed and emerging markets on different issues starting from government and financial institutions to culture and infrastructure. Although these factors have impact on business relationships, they can affect differently from case to case and on the experience of the partners involved in relationships. Further, the extent of difference is not always negative for all firms as it can give some MNEs, who are experts in doing business with emerging market partners, specific advantage over their competitors.

The method applied to carry out the study of the transformation of strategic alliances in emerging markets is discussed in this chapter. Specifically, this chapter discusses how the whole study is conducted, i.e. the identification and development of the research issues, the research aim and problem, the development of the conceptual framework, the development of the research method, how the empirical study is analyzed and conclusions are drawn. The specific research strategy applied to conduct the current study is a longitudinal research approach. A short discussion on how the ECE countries are classified into various groups is conducted in the current chapter and a detailed discussion on the classification of ECE countries into different groups is also conducted in chapter eight. Moreover, the logic for adopting a longitudinal research strategy to conduct the current study of the transformation of strategic alliances is also justified. The identification and choice of the case companies, the logic followed in the development of the questionnaire and how much and to what extent the questionnaire is modified are also discussed in detail. The identification of the interviewees, the execution of the interviews and the transcription of the interview materials and the structuring of the cases are also discussed in detail.

The purpose of this chapter is to introduce emerging markets (EMs) and then European transition economies in which alliance transformation takes place. Considering the complexity of EMs, researchers and academics feel pressure in recent years to seek comprehensive understanding of the EM context (Kumar and Srivastava, 2019). Transition economies are a special category of EMs, which have attracted many multinational firms to invest after the fall of Berlin wall in the beginning of 1990s. This region constitutes of former soviet bloc, located in central and eastern Europe. After a short introduction and discussion on the importance on EMs, development process within EMs is taken up. Transition economies are then introduced, particularly in relation to their link with the European Union. Aims and research questions are outlined to display the objective and direction of the study. The next section discusses major contributions, followed by limitations of the study describing what issues are left out to concentrate on the research object. Finally, it is shortly described what other chapters are coming and what they deal with.

The aim of this study is to develop and evaluate a market-oriented business model (MOBM) and analyze how it contributes to internationalization of SMEs' disruptive innovation.

Based on market orientation literature, an MOBM is developed and assessed through collaboration among companies, researchers and networking partners. For the evaluation of the model, qualitative data was collected through workshops, interviews and participatory observations at four case SMEs. Methodologically, the implementation of the MOBM consists of a systematic knowledge development process by following four work packages to support the companies' market-oriented internationalization.

The results show that SMEs face internal barriers to developing innovativeness that hinder them from creating effective disruptive innovation for the international buyer chain. The study finds that SMEs need to work with an MOBM for developing market intelligence within the organization and seek external support for entering the international market.

The methodological strength allows application, evaluation and modification of the MOBM in close collaboration with the SMEs that directly benefit from its implementation. Modifying the principles of market orientation by practical application, SMEs can apply the MOBM to analyze their internationalization capacity for high-tech disruptive innovations.

This article contributes to new thinking by introducing market orientation to SMEs' internationalization of disruptive innovation. The study highlights the less researched field of disruptive innovation by developing the MOBM to deal with SMEs' internationalization.