Cross-Country Collaboration: A study of synergies and their effects on the sustainability of competitive advantage

Abstract: The purpose of this thesis is to identify and discuss synergy creation in an international context and the effect that these cross-country synergies have on the sustainability of a company’s competitive advantage. This link has previously not been subject to any extensive research. Using an abductive approach, a qualitative study has been conducted on a professional service firm, which is in the final stages of integrating the Nordic countries into one entity. As a basis for the analysis, a theoretical framework consisting of literature regarding international synergy creation, organizational theory, knowledge management, management control, and the resource based view of the firm has been used. The study shows that the reorganization into a Nordic organization instead of separate countries created several synergies and that numerous organizational factors contributed to these synergies being created. These synergies in turn had a positive impact on the determinants, namely durability, transparency, transferability, and replicability, of the sustainability of competitive advantage.