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Since the expansion of globalization, and the opening up of the Chinese market in particular, over the last 15 years or so, Swedish SMEs have had to face increasing international competition for market share of their products and skills. In order to compete successfully, Swedish SMEs are increasingly looking to establish manufacturing units in Asian and other countries, which offer the prospect of lowering production costs and thereby increased profits. This study wishes to shed light on the differences and similarities in perceptions of SMEs exporting to China and those Swedish SMEs who have already established production in the Chinese market. This study of perceptions and realities regarding the institutional environment and the impact on production costs may help those Swedish SMEs who are considering establishing production in China. By being more aware of the realities of the institutional environment in China, they may be better equipped to select the best entry mode. The literature has focused on the institutional theory, internationalization process and more specifically, entry modes and production costs. What makes this study even more interesting is the aspect of perception between Swedish SMEs who only differed in their level of experience in the Chinese market. For this reason, major concepts of perception were also reviewed. This was used a qualitative research strategy with a case study design that approached respondents via online qualitative surveys. There were five Swedish exporting SMEs and four Swedish SMEs who had established production in China. There was a need for these two sets of respondents in order to fulfil the prupose of this study. The main findings of this thesis revealed that there are clear differences in perception of exporters and producers about the influence from the institutional environment on SME production costs, and that these differences in perception may influence SME entry mode choice into the Chinese market.

Since the expansion of globalization, and the opening up of the Chinese market in particular, over the last 15 years or so, Swedish SMEs have had to face increasing international competition for market share of their products and skills. In order to compete successfully, Swedish SMEs are increasingly looking to establish manufacturing units in Asian and other countries, which offer the prospect of lowering production costs and thereby increased profits. This study wishes to shed light on the differences and similarities in perceptions of SMEs exporting to China and those Swedish SMEs who have already established production in the Chinese market. This study of perceptions and realities regarding the institutional environment and the impact on production costs may help those Swedish SMEs who are considering establishing production in China. By being more aware of the realities of the institutional environment in China, they may be better equipped to select the best entry mode. The literature has focused on the institutional theory, internationalization process and more specifically, entry modes and production costs. What makes this study even more interesting is the aspect of perception between Swedish SMEs who only differed in their level of experience in the Chinese market. For this reason, major concepts of perception were also reviewed. This was used a qualitative research strategy with a case study design that approached respondents via online qualitative surveys. There were five Swedish exporting SMEs and four Swedish SMEs who had established production in China. There was a need for these two sets of respondents in order to fulfil the prupose of this study. The main findings of this thesis revealed that there are clear differences in perception of exporters and producers about the influence from the institutional environment on SME production costs, and that these differences in perception may influence SME entry mode choice into the Chinese market.

This is the second of two studies to investigate prisoners' willingness to approach prison officers for support, the first of which surveyed the views of prisoners (Hobbs & Dear, 2000). Data from 111 prison officers surveyed in this study were largely consistent with the results of the previous study. First, both prisoners and officers reported that prisoners would be more likely to approach officers for practical assistance than for emotional support. Second, both prisoners and officers reported the same types of problem as being those that prisoners would most likely discuss with officers. The main difference was that officers rated prisoners as being more likely to approach them for support than prisoners reported themselves as being. The types of problem that both officers and prisoners thought prisoners would be least likely to discuss with officers were, for the most part, the types of problem that officers (1) rated themselves as being least competent in responding to and (2) rated as least appropriate for prisoners to discuss with officers. The consistency between the two studies lends credence to Hobbs and Dear's main conclusion: that prison authorities need to provide prisoners with direct avenues to supportive assistance other than prison officers.