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In his dissertation, Doctoral Researcher Khoa Nguyen analyses changes in the competitive dynamics of the global pulp and paper industry and the emergence of new business models.

“All big firms were forced to respond in some way to the drastic changes in their business environment: first when China opened its market in the 1990s, and then in the 2000s when the demand for printing papers shifted to packaging materials,” Nguyen says.

In his multi-article dissertation, Nguyen analyses how the world’s largest firms in the pulp and paper industry have balanced shutting down paper mills, searching for new business areas, and continuing their existing profitable business.

“Only a few firms were able to cope successfully with multiple changes without losing their profitability. Some firms responded to changes in the environment by modifying their business so that they compromised their revenues, and many ended up either in mergers or exited the market.”

Finnish firms do not stand out positively in the data. According to Nguyen, the innovative companies that adapted early to the changes were found in the United States and in South America.

“Concentrating on consumer products, in particular, led to a profitable change, just as early investment in packaging products did. A controlled increase in multisectoral activities was also a key to profitable strategic change. Finnish firms had streamlined their operations in the 1990s and, in comparison to their peer group, were not the quickest to understand the need for a radical change.”

Despite the Finnish companies’ slow strategic response, which came only at the start of the 2000s, the new generation of leaders understood the significance of strategic decisions and related communication.

Nguyen explains: “The theoretical models presented in the dissertation help understand, on the one hand, Finnish companies’ slow response to the global changes in the 1990s and, on the other hand, the fast pace of changes in the 2000s.

“Finding a balance between shutting down production and developing new business activities, as well as communicating these to investors and other stakeholders, is a challenging process, which some companies failed to accomplish at the global level even after others had succeeded in doing so.”

M.Sc. (Econ.) Nguyen Ngoc Duy Khoa defends his doctoral dissertation on strategy and entrepreneurship Adding Context into Competitive Dynamics Research: Strategy and Evolution in the Global Paper and Pulp Industry at the Ģ��ֱ�� on 27 October 2021. The opponent is Professor Robin Gustafsson (Aalto University) and the custos is Professor Juha-Antti Lamberg (Ģ��ֱ��).

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The public examination event can be attended . The audience can ask questions at the end of the event by calling the custos at +358 50 577 1698.