State’s Image as Future Capital : A study of China’s cooperation with Russia on developments in the Arctic

China’s influence on the global stage is constantly expanding. Recently, a considerable amount of attention has been paid by the Chinese officials to the developments in the Arctic region. Majority of scientific works which have focused on the underlying rationale behind Chinese presence in the Arctic used theoretical tools provided by either liberal institutionalism or realism. Consequently, the picture painted by them is rather pale and does not allow for a sufficient understanding of the Chinese grand international strategy. Chinese actions are presented in one dimension only – either as a threat or being in line with international law. This thesis aims to broaden theoretical scope by using the tools of post-structuralism for analyzing and comparing two radically different discourses on the Arctic – Chinese and Russian. This study’s main argument is that China uses its Arctic presence and cooperation with Russia as a tool for building and projecting its amiable, yet assertive international image, which essentially becomes China’s future capital and a basis for even stronger international position in the years to come

Establishing and Developing B2B Partnerships in Healthcare Services Industry: A case study of a Swedish healthcare provider

This study’s purpose is to find out in what ways do healthcare providers in Sweden establish their B2B partnerships. This study seeks understanding of the practical deployment of relationship marketing as a process. To fulfill this purpose, in this study two theories are used – network theory and commitment-trust theory. It follows the qualitative research analytical design and the main tool for gathering empirical data are semi-structured interviews conducted with the representatives of Skåne Care, Swecare and the University Hospital in Lund and Malmö. The object of this study is Skåne Care and its B2B partnerships with the aforementioned healthcare organizations operating in the Swedish healthcare market. The purpose of this research was accomplished and led to new findings on the importance of personal encounters in the beginning of the relationship establishment and lack of power plays in the relationships under study. These findings were followed by a couple of theoretical and practical implications