Claude Littner Business School

PepsiCo is a business which has its wings spread all over the globe. Also it owns a widespread global supply chain which had been analysed in this report.
There are three main strategies of PepsiCo identified, from procurement, production and distribution areas of the supply chain.

E-invoicing is a rapidly growing e-service in Europe as well as in the world. It is identified as a substantially significant element in progressing towards the goals of Digital Economy in the European Union. This thesis focuses on identifying inefficiencies in e-invoicing systems currently in use and the opportunities to apply emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and robotic process automation, in order to increase efficiency and level of automatization. The study incorporates expert opinions and users perceptions in e-invoicing systems on the status quo and the necessities for higher automation. We focus on e-invoicing systems in the Baltic region consisting of the countries Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Based on the conducted research, the drawbacks in e-invoicing systems were identified related to operational, technological and information security related. Furthermore, the automation opportunities and general requirements for automation were identified. The fu...

This report provides an analytical strategic review of the global pharmaceutical industry. In the first part, it covers the external environment of the global pharmaceutical industry using PESTEL analysis and outlines the Key drivers for change. It then uses the Five Forces analysis to demonstrate the industry attractiveness. In the second part, we illustrate the strategic capabilities of Novartis using the Value chain to discuss Novartis’ activities and identify its core competences, strengths and weaknesses. We then attempt to highlights its financial performance, position and culture.

This report attempts to critically analyse the research paper:
Dunn, P., & Sainty, B. (2009) The relationship among board of director characteristics, corporate social performance and corporate financial performance, International Journal of Managerial, Finance, Vol. 5 No. 4, 2009 pp. 407-423

In light of the recent financial crisis, the practices of CSR have come to the fore in media reports and academic debates. In this context, the goal of this research is, first, to examine the impact of the financial crisis on the implications of CSR activities in relation to stakeholders’ expectations in the financial services industry and, second, to help banking managers to understand what should be done for the benefit of their stakeholders and their own business sustainability.

This report presents a thumbnail sketch of how the entrepreneurship’s mind map was produced. In this respect, it provides an explanation of the links between the various concepts and ideas which are in the designed mind map. Drawing from this context, this report depicts how the mind map is set out to capture the interrelations between its constituents to create a successful model for a new business venture. The conclusion highlights the vital importance of entrepreneurship that is fuelled by a widespread recognition for its crucial economic and social roles. Consequently, the world is demanding more entrepreneurs to cultivate innovation and drive change.

Despite the importance of entrepreneurship in changing the economic landscape of many countries, the identification of the entrepreneurial opportunity is still in its early stages. So far, the researches that have been done are full of dichotomous interpretations. These differences could be due, in part, to the fact that there is no unitary conceptualisation and functional definitions of the construct. Nevertheless, the prevalent interpretations are that entrepreneurial opportunities are either stemming from discovery or deliberate search. To reveal the nature of these opportunities, the entrepreneur's traits and personality have been analysed. Evaluation strategies have also been elaborated. Finally, mapping the entrepreneurial processes has emerged to shape these opportunities (Gaglio, 2001).
This report is intended to contribute to the development of the entrepreneurial opportunities identification by addressing the role of two pillars of entrepreneurship – creativity and innovation – as the sources of these entrepreneurial opportunities.

Seven years on from the tumultuous events of 2007 financial crisis (FC), yet, many aspects of the banking industry are unrecognisable when compared to the pre-crisis era despite the growth in the UK economy that seems finally to be gaining traction. One consequence of the
ethical violations and corporate excess malfeasance of many banks that brought UK banking industry into the firing line (Herzig & Moon, 2011; Bouvain et al, 2013) has been the call for reforms concerning its responsibilities towards the society (Williams & Elliott, 2010; Sun et
al, 2010).
This study attempts to get to the heart of much of the debate about CSR development in light of that FC. It is concerned with the perception of CSR activities in the post FC, the likelihood of the convergence between banks CSR activities and its customer-stakeholder needs and the implications of CSR on their attitudes as well as on Corporate Reputation (CR).
The study reviews various works of literature concerning the topic at hand. The hypothesised relationships between CSR and respectively customer satisfaction, customer purchasing decision and CR were evaluated using a quantitative method based on a positivist research paradigm. Primary data was sourced from 92 usable questionnaires
(response rate 46%) from UK banks customers.
Drawing from the analysis, it was found that there is a significant positive relationship between perceived CSR activities and customer-stakeholder satisfaction in the post FC which is in line with literature of stakeholder model and supports the views of Luo & Bhattacharya (2006). With reference to CSR practices and customer purchasing decision, the results revealed a positive significant relationship between them, also consistent with the results of the study of Klein & Dawar (2004).
Moreover, the analysis of this relation contributed to CSR literature by investigating the multidisciplinary domain of CSR on customer purchasing intention. CSR was also found to have a significant positive relationship with Corporate Reputation which shares the view of
Reputation Institute (2009, cited in Trotta et al, 2011). Remarkably, the findings indicated a partial mediation effect of CSR on the relationship between CR and customer behavioural intention. Concluding remarks highlight further theoretical development of CSR and managerial implications as well as limitations for future research.