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There has been a constant evolution over the past two decades in the banking business portfolio, due to economic globalisation, deregulation, and the advent of new technologies. This trend continues today and is even more marked by the emergence of production businesses which have traditionally been included in the value chain of banking services.

An examination of this phenomenon is made possible by value chain analysis. This concept has been adapted to banking. The notions of organisational competencies and value chain have been linked to detect value-adding activities in the various bank services and identify opportunities for new conditions for value production.

This paper proposes a holistic, resource-based strategy framework for design-oriented industries consisting mainly of small firms. It consists of three main concepts: (1) sources of competitive advantage, especially core competencies, (2) competitive advantage, and (3) competitive strategy. The idea behind the framework is that sources of competitive advantage form the competitive advantages of firms, and these together influence the choice of competitive strategies. The proposed framework was developed on the basis of interview results from the jewellery industry in Finland. A total of 44 small firms each employing less than 25 people were interviewed. Respondents felt that the two most important core competencies were in the area of manufacturing. They were the abilities to design and manufacture products of high technical quality and to offer a broad range of products and attractive models. For the jewellery industry, competitive advantage was largely achieved through various aspects of design. The competitive strategy type most employed was the differentiation-based strategy. The proposed framework should be of value in integrating some of the diverse research in this area and suggesting specific relationships that might be the focus of future empirical studies.

Our focus on external growth and related competence development as a process required observing and jointly examining a large number of variables that influence growth processes and, in particular, the complex relationships among them (Huber & Van de Ven, 1995). The heterogeneity of the phenomenon requires rich and deep descriptions aimed at assessing the abstractions and generalizations that can be meaningfully attempted (Davidsson, 2005, p. 56).

This chapter focuses on the role played by both companies and universities on the dissemination of services and courses related to Business Diplomacy (BD). Special attention is given to the partnerships between companies and universities and to how BD is taught by universities around the world.

With an exploratory analysis technique, we have surveyed the websites of 22 companies and 20 universities and institutions, belonging to various countries, engaged in activities related to BD (i.e. services supply, courses at different stages of the academic curricula, workshops, seminars, training etc.).

The objective of the analysis was twofold: first, to give a better understanding of the concept of BD and of the various meanings associated with it; the results indicate that in both cases the practiced concept of BD is converging to the canonical set of diplomatic functions; second, to offer useful insights to practitioners in the field of BD by looking at the type of BD courses covered by the academic curricula of various universities and BD services offered by market companies.

This chapter presents a comprehensive analysis of the BD issue, going beyond its treatment as a mere auxiliary activity. It also offers a detailed overview of diplomacy’s main functions and adjuvant activities, with the purpose of advancing organisational charts’ structures inside companies, and academic syllabi offerings by universities.

Purpose – The main aim of this chapter is to identify the factors that motivate outward Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) from Turkey to EU countries, looking into the problem at the firm level with a marketing focus, trying to understand whether or not there are any Turkey-specific prevailing marketing-related drivers.

Design/methodology/approach – With a distinction between developed and emerging/developing countries and their MNCs’ role in world trade and FDI, the literature review focuses on micro-view motives, particularly marketing-related ones, rather than macro-view motives which are mostly studied in the literature. Based on the literature review, the importance of Turkish MNCs and their increasing role in the world trade is briefly summarized.

Looking into the problem at the firm level with a marketing focus, a series of in-depth interviews with top executives were conducted as an exploratory study in order to explore and understand the role of marketing-related motives in Outward Foreign Direct Investment (OFDI) decisions of Turkish MNCs. For this purpose, 10 in-depth interviews with 13 top executives were conducted with tailor-made questionnaires.

Findings – The analysis of interviews revealed some different OFDI drivers and motivations for the Turkish MNCs compared to the factors mentioned in the literature, as well as iterating some common motives with the OFDI literature. Parallel to the FDI literature, it is observed that the Turkish MNCs mainly started their internationalization attempts by taking somewhat less risky and smaller steps.

As a result of qualitative research, the support is provided for the theoretical perspective that micro variables are more important than macro variables for Emerging Multinationals (EMNCs), particularly for Turkish MNCs; therefore, some Turkey-specific motives were also identified.

Originality/value of chapter – Although there is a consensus in recent literature on the most persistent group of motives influencing OFDI activities of EMNCs in developed countries, the underlying marketing-related objectives which are crucial to sustain competitive advantage have not been analysed and investigated sufficiently. This study is an attempt to fill this gap by identifying the most persistent marketing-related motives and give important insights about country-specific ones encouraging Turkish EMNCs to carry out OFDI in EU.

There is little doubt that both leaders and leadership matters. Individual leaders shape strategy, execute decision, manage talent, develop future talent, and act with personal proficiency. Being a successful leader requires knowing what is expected and doing it. But, organizational leadership matters more. Leadership occurs when the organization builds a cadre of future leaders who have the capacity to shape an organization's culture and create patterns of success. In this chapter, we answer the question “what is leadership” by focusing on an outside/in view of leadership that draws on business values more than psychological principles. We identify four key principles and questions that shape the definition of effective leadership.1.Clarify why leadership matters: What are the outcomes of good leadership?2.Nail the basics: What must every leader know, do, and be?3.Create leadership brand: How do we develop leadership (not just leaders) from the outside/in?4.Ensure leadership sustainability: How do leaders make long-term change really happen?

By mastering these four principles, leaders can build leadership that lasts over time.