Modell för att identifiera kritiska framgångsfaktorer vid expansion : En fallstudie på Infranord AB

Business expansion and critical success factors are two subjects researchers have studied diligently. It exists several methods and analytical tools to explore these topics in more detail, however, separated from each other. Furthermore, it exists today no established model that has empirical support to identify the critical success factors in business expansion. The purpose of this paper is therefore to develop a general model for the identification and ranking of critical success factors for business expansion, which is also applicable for many different industries. This master thesis answers which the critical success factors are for project-based companies during business expansion in a resource-dependent market. In order to collect empirical data, a case study on Infranord AB has been conducted, which is a Swedish railway contractor that operates in a resource-dependent market. Infranord AB's home market is in Sweden and this master thesis has studied their expansion to the Norwegian railway market. The collection of data has been done through a literature study, seventeen interviews with employees at Infranord AB and a questionnaire, which was sent out to carefully selected individuals within the company. This master thesis presents a theoretical framework that builds on existing research, and is complemented by a resource dependency perspective. Furthermore, this master thesis consists of three levels of analysis: firm, industry and macro level. The framework further describes how the collection of empirical data has been done and also how the developed general model considers how empirical data should be collected in order to enable the identification of critical success factors in business expansion. This master thesis’s conclusions are that the developed general model is practically useful in other industries. It is also the first model produced that combines the areas of business expansion and critical success factors. The implication of this is particularly important when current research has not dealt with this. Finally, the paper presents a proposal for future work, which is to carry out more case studies according to the presented general model on other companies that are expanding in a resource-dependent market in order to strengthen the level of the model’s universal applicability. This master thesis is delimited is business expansion in a home region.