Harmonizing Business Processes Across Borders: The Aspiag Service S.r.l. Case

With a more dynamic world economy, international business activities have become an essential strategic path to competitive advantage, diversification of markets, and long-term growth for companies. This thesis examines international expansion dynamics from international business theoretical perspectives and their implications in informing process design and standardization in practice. The initial part of the chapter addresses ground and modern international business conduct theories, such as those from Hymer, Vernon, Dunning, and the Uppsala School, and more recent events such as Born Global firms and international entrepreneurship. The second part turns to business process theory and administration and addresses the lifecycle of business processes, their classification, and their strategic value. Special attention is paid to business process standardization, both highlighting its potential benefits, e.g., operational efficiency, risk reduction, and global synchronization. Its intrinsic pitfalls, like inflexibility losses and cultural incompatibility, are also addressed. The final chapter places all the requirements into a practical context using the example of ASPIAG Service S.r.l., a multinational company that is a part of the SPAR group. Grounded on a detailed case study of the Store Process Harmonization (SPH) programme, this book illustrates how process standardization requirements are managed in a multinational retail environment. By blending theoretical underpinnings with organizational practices, the thesis provides insightful observations as to how firms can achieve a balance between global process consistency and local responsiveness of the market, ensuring sustainable performance and strategic consistency.