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The overall purpose of this research was to make a realistic and meaningful scholarship contribution towards finding a solution to an apparently unending debate involving international commercial contract interpretation namely, whether a uniform approach to interpretation was achievable in view of the diversity and plurality of legal systems. The search for a solution to this problem became ever important considering the centrality of contract interpretation in the international commercial contracting and often consequent litigation. This has become even more topical firstly, in view of the globalisation which has seen national boundaries as constituting a barrier to free flow of goods, services and finance; secondly, there is a need to promote international trade aimed at global economic development; and thirdly, there is the need to reduce transaction costs in international commercial contracting. This research is structured into 6 chapters starting with introduction and literature review, understanding commercial contract interpretation; principles and practices in the approach to interpretation across legal systems; origin and factors promoting divergent approach to interpretation; international efforts and drive towards uniform approach. From the exploration and analyses of some interpretation scholarship contributions, it was found that efforts towards achieving uniform approach across legal systems which were mainly in the creation and use of unification and harmonisation instruments seem to be failing to yield the desired results. This failure was mainly attributed to fact that their application has been left in the hands of national judges whose backgrounds such as education, training, practice and experience are embedded in their differing legal systems and cultures. This may be contributing to the homeward attitude of the judges of national courts and arbitrators when presented with the task of interpreting international commercial contracts. It is believed that this is likely to result in the divergent approach to interpretation and possibly leading to divergent outcome of the same or similar contractual text when moved across legal systems. The findings point to the conclusion that probably uniform approach to interpretation of international contracts was achievable, however not without having an independent institution such as an international commercial court. This became the subject of chapter 6 where some steps considered to be practical and realistic towards the establishment of the proposed court are suggested.

Purpose: In the past decade, product customisation has developed globally, across a wide range of product categories, particularly in the context of gifting. While customisation provides experiential benefits to consumers and increased opportunities for retailers, the trade-offs between the experiential benefits and the 'costs' of customisation are not well understood, especially in the context of gifting. This thesis investigates the relationship between perceived customisation complexity, anxiety and self-perceived design skill and their impact on the value provided by customisation in the context of gift-giving and self-gifting. The effect of these relationships on purchase intention of the customised gift is also examined. Design/methodology/approach: Using a real customisation webpage of a luxury brand, a scenario-based experiment was conducted involving two manipulations: the complexity of the customisation task (high complexity vs. low complexity) and the nature of the recipient: self-giving vs. gift giving. The data were collected via an online self-completion questionnaire administered via a reputed market research agency. Respondents were randomly allocated to the four experimental groups. The conceptual framework of the thesis was tested by using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) and ANOVA. Findings: Results show that self-perceived design skill decreases anxiety and has a positive effect on all value dimensions provided by the customisation experience, except uniqueness value. Apart from creative achievement value, all other value dimensions have a positive impact on the purchase intention of the customised bag. As for the negative aspects of gift customisation, the findings confirm that perceived complexity increases anxiety which in turns decreases the perceived value conferred by customisation. However, contrary to expectations, the nature of the recipient, self vs. other, does not affect the relationships hypothesised in the model. Originality/value- This thesis extends knowledge in the domains of consumer value, customisation and gifting. Firstly, by increasing our understanding of the dimensions of consumer value in the context of gift customisation, the study extends the application of Theory of Consumption Values relating to the values influencing consumer choice behaviour. Further, this research contributes to Benefit Theory by demonstrating that gift customisation offers not only functional benefits but also social and psychological benefits to consumers. Practical implications: This research is of value to managers willing to ensure an optimal gift customisation experience and increase online sales. The findings provide useful insights for companies for the development or adaptation of appropriate customisation programs to maximise the value consumers gain from gift customisation and decrease any anxiety they may experience.

Queue is regarded as the central aspect of service organisations. Effective queue management in businesses has a high impact on customer behaviour and service operations. Understanding the behaviour of people when they look at the length of the physical queue is vital for the managers of service organisations on how to keep the queue at the optimum length to attract customers. It also helps the operations managers to determine the number of servers and staff in each period by minimising costs and making more profit. This thesis empirically investigates the impact of physical queue on the customer and the optimum length of the physical queue in service organisations to send a positive signal for customers to join the queue. In doing so, this research aims to understand the effect of queue on service variables and the optimum length of the queue in restaurants.

Research context: The over-arching aim of this Alternative Format Thesis, undertaken in the form of three linked research studies, is to investigate the relationship between multichannel/omnichannel shopping and shopping well-being. To date, shopping well-being has only been studied in the context of single-channel, store-based shopping. The advent of multichannel and omnichannel shopping, and the increased control and flexibility which these provide to the shopper, could be expected to mitigate against the aspects of shopping which diminish well-being, and therefore lead to greater satisfaction and positive affect for the shopper. Aim and objectives: Study 1: To develop understanding of shopping well-being by examining all types of shopping activity rather than recreational/discretionary shopping and by examining shopping activities and shopping well-being from a multichannel rather than single channel perspective (Study 1). Study 2: To examine the types of multichannel shopper journeys which shoppers undertake, evaluate the extent to which multichannel shopper journeys are configured homogeneously over time and shopping context, and assess the applicability of motivation theory as an explanatory framework for multichannel shopper journey configuration (Study 2). Study 3: To develop a means of capturing shopper journey configurations in detail, and examine whether the shopper's style of decision making has an effect on multichannel shopper journey configuration, subsequent affect and well-being (Study 3). Research design: A multiple-methods research design is used, comprising interpretivist qualitative and positivist quantitative research. Studies 1 and 2 used qualitative data in the form of narratives generated via depth interviews with multichannel shoppers. Thematic data analysis was conducted using NVivo 10. Study 3 used a survey instrument to collect data on multichannel shopper journeys. Smart PLS 3 was used to test the conceptual model. Findings: While the flexibility of multichannel shopping can deliver enhanced well-being, its inherent complexity often results in diminished well-being. Contrary to what would be expected, given the dominant view of shopping motivation as fixed, stable and enduring, a multichannel shopper's journey configuration is heterogeneous across, and even within, product category. Goal theory is proposed as a more suitable theoretical basis upon which to examine contemporary multichannel shopping behaviour. The shopper's decision making style is found to affect mutlichannel shopper journey configuration. Shoppers engaging in maximization as a strategy in their decision making configure longer and more complex shopper journeys in their quest for perfection, but experience greater maladaptive affect. Thus, the quest for perfection in shopping can have a detrimental effect on the shopper's well-being.

The daily commute is a significant part of the working day in terms of its potential impact on people's health, well-being, and performance. Commuting by motorised transport associated with adverse effects on congestion, air-pollution, poor public health, and environmental harm. Encouraging more people to switch to modes of commuting that minimise harm and promote benefits should be the goal of employers, communities, and governments wanting to tackle the problems associated with commuting by car, bus, or train. This research focuses on cycle commuting as both a solution for contemporary problems caused by prevailing commuting habits and a source of significant benefits for people at work, employers, and communities. A systematic literature review was conducted to establish the scope of previous research investigating the determinants of cycle commuting. The review identified studies across a range of disciplines including transport planning, facilities management, and environmental science. The studies explored physical/objective determinants of cycle commuting rates such as infrastructure, terrain, trip qualities, facilities, and incentives. Psychological determinants of people's decision to ride to work were only included in a small minority of the studies identified by the review. The conclusions of the systematic review informed the subsequent stage of research, which specifically examined the psychological determinants of cycle commuting. The focus of the study was to understand why people adopt this mode choice while many do not, even in the context of access to the same infrastructure, facilities, terrain, and incentives. The research adopted an exploratory approach in order to establish a model of psychological determinants and their interaction with physical/objective determinants. A thematic analysis of data from research interviews with regular cycle commuters articulated three themes, which were used as a basis of a psychological model using the Theory of Planned Behaviour to describe the process by which people adopt cycle commuting as a sustained behaviour. The research contributes to our understanding of the psychological factors within commuting behaviours and provides a model which can be tested empirically as a means for encouraging behaviour change within interventions at the personal, organisational, and policy level.

In the short-run, there is not enough time for systemic feedback to organise and become a force. In this instance, it is appropriate to use models and theory underpinned by observed systemic causal links, such as supply and demand determining price. On the other hand, where there is enough time for complexity to become influential, the system might be best explored using complexity science. This work explores the fundamental forces arising from trade in the long-run, where there is enough time for complexity forces to become influential. The complexity research tool used was agent-based modelling. A simple trade model was created that can be fully explained in just a few lines of prose. Three areas of the economy were explored using this model with the following results: 1) In complex systems, long-run prices are shaped by the system's definition of evolutionary fitness regardless of supply and demand. 2) Econophysicists are condtionally correct in their hypothesis that money in a closed system maintains a Boltzmann-Gibbs distribution (0.5 Gini coefficient). 3) Experimentation with trade models support the Rand/Stonedahl experiments indicating that agent computational ability inversely correlates with efficiency. In addition to a simple trade model, a far more complex model was built that includes an environment with raw resources, agents who are labourers, business owners, and consumers. This model requires agents to successfully reproduce in order to avoid extinction. Almost all agent behaviour is governed by evolutionary variables. Using this model, it is also established that: 4) The behaviours established in simple trade model are maintained in a more complex model. 5) Long-term outcomes of economic models change as the nature of the population changes. 6) The nature of the economy can change the nature of the population. These last two points suggest that economic models using representative or eternal populations are not suitable for making conclusions concerning long-term economic theory or recommending policy. However, the most important finding is likely that price can be delinked from supply and demand in the long-run. Explanations for this result lie in the results of the other experiments that, together, build up our understanding of the foundational forces of trade in a complex system.

The need to tap private capital and expertise for the public-sector to concentrate on policy making are the chief reasons why governments across the globe are increasingly adopting the public-private partnership (PPP) model of infrastructure procurement. This research investigated the investment climate for PPP in Nigeria by examining the legal, institutional and regulatory structure in place for participation of the private sector in the procurement of infrastructure in the country to determine how the framework for PPP in the country stimulates or mars the success of PPP arrangements. The rational for the study is to develop mechanisms to enhance the interest of both local and foreign investors given the wide infrastructure gap in the country. The spate of project failures, mistrust by community stakeholders and disputes indicates that there is a lack of proper understanding of how PPPs can work in the country. To provide a workable framework, the study draws lessons from two other developing economies with similar federal structures like Nigeria. It is expected that the lessons derived from this research will form an instrument for Nigerian PPP policy framers to fashion a holistic framework to arouse private sector interest in PPP projects as well as assist government in the management of such arrangements in the country. Consequent upon the foregoing, this research supports community involvement in all PPP projects, respect for contracts by the public sector, reduction of the gestation period for contracts, limiting unnecessary bureaucracy as well as the encouragement of the growth of a local financial market base for private funding of infrastructure by means of PPP model of procurement.

Key Account Management (KAM) has become one of the most widely used strategies for companies willing to develop relationships with their customers. KAM has evolved from a sales strategy to a relationship marketing strategy, involving people and resources beyond the sales or marketing domains in the organisation. This increase in complexity has made companies and academia question the effectiveness of implementing KAM and the payoffs that should be expected. The answers provided by researchers have failed to provide answers to two important aspects, (a) the sequence of the variables affecting KAM effectiveness and (b) the impact of the industrial environment. To address the above, this study proposes and empirically tests a framework grounded on extent KAM literature. The framework is a notable departure from published frameworks in terms of, (a) being the first to conceptualise KAM related constructs as an ordered set of activities that sequentially represent strategic, organisational and operational levels, (b) accommodating the often mentioned but not examined construct of Account Selection Process in the organisational level, and (c) considering, drawing on market orientation literature, the effects of industrial environment. Functional relationship between the variables are expressed as hypotheses and are tested with data from a survey of KAM executives in Spain, through the Partial Least Squares structural modelling statistical technique. The results of this study make a number of important contributions to the study and practice of KAM. In terms of theoretical contributions, the overarching finding is the need to study KAM as comprising a sequential set of activities that, although they are performed by different parts of the organisation, are interlinked in delivering KAM effectiveness. In addition, results provide new insights into the importance of top management in the implementation of KAM, the differential behaviour of diverse modes of KAM implementation, and the manner in which a market orientated implementation of KAM can minimise the impact of economic and market conditions. The developed operationalisation of the Account Selection Process, Activity Intensity and Activity Proactiveness as higher order constructs represent methodological contributions. As for managerial contributions, the framework provides managers with a blueprint that acts as a guide to the implementation of KAM and provides a mechanism for identifying and remedying failure points.

This thesis is comprised of three papers: a systematic review of the factors influencing the appointment of women to public company boards, an empirical study of the factors that influence these appointments and a process review. Efforts made in recent decades to increase women's representation at the top of business have shown slow and inconsistent progress. The first paper examines existing literature about female board appointments. Findings show that countries have introduced regulation to encourage organisations to appoint women to their boards with differing degrees of success. Enforced quotas have been the most successful way of increasing progress, while authors propose that selection processes need improvement. The paper also offers some albeit mixed evidence that increasing the number of women on boards can improve organisational performance. The empirical paper builds on work by the Female FTSE Board Report (Vinnicombe, Doldor & Sealy, 2018) which highlighted the increase in women appointed to FTSE boards as non-executive directors and the lack of progress in increasing the number of women as executive directors. It makes a unique contribution by providing a detailed analysis of the views and experiences of appointing female directors of 12 top executives from some of the UK's most prominent companies. Analysis identified four main themes: diversity, barriers, facilitators and conditions for change. Findings showed that while the idea of women on boards as non-executive directors is well embedded and efforts have been made to select women to these posts, there are many remaining barriers to increasing the numbers of women in executive director roles. External focus now needs to be applied to galvanise efforts in public companies to develop their female talent pipeline and increase the number of executive directors on their boards. The process review provides reflections on the doctoral research process.

Classical perspectives on problem solving are embedded in computational models of insight problem solving, such as the information-processing model (e.g., Newell & Simon, 1972). Problem-solving activity is viewed as a product of information-processing in which people see or hear problem information, think about the solution, then produce the solution: see or hear, think, then act. More recently, Ohlsson (2011) suggested people solve problems by mentally restructuring the problem information. Hence, insight comes about as a consequence of restructuring (Weisberg, 2014). As such, the origin of insight is commonly understood as a mental experience. However, the traditional frameworks explaining the insight experience commonly overlook the influence of reasoners' immediate environment. Systemic cognition frameworks such as the Extended Mind Thesis (Clark & Chalmers, 1998), Distributed Cognition (Hollan, Hutchins, & Kirsh, 2000) and the Systemic Thinking Model (Vallée-Tourangeau, Abadie, & Vallée-Tourangeau, 2015; Vallée-Tourangeau & Vallée-Tourangeau, 2017) assume information-processing is augmented when spread across mental and physical resources. When presented with a physical representation of a task, making changes to that physical representation, even arbitrary ones, may offer cues to new strategies, enabling better planning and efficiency in progressing towards a goal. Accordingly, the opportunity to interact and coordinate with the immediate environment enhances insight performance. This thesis sought to explore insight performance from a systemic cognition perspective. The research program investigated how the level of interactivity influenced solution rate in the Cheap Necklace Problem (de Bono, 1967; Silveira, 1971). Across four experiments, participants attempted to solve the problem either in a low interactivity condition, using only pen-and-paper and relying heavily on mental restructuring, or in a high interactivity condition, with a physical model of the problem with constituent elements they could manipulate while attempting to find a solution. The results across the experiments confirmed that increasing the level of interactivity resulted in enhanced insight performance. Incubation and transfer are often upheld as key determinants for insight performance. Thus, in addition to exploring the impact of interactivity, the experiments investigated how interactivity may interact with incubation and transfer to promote insight. To measure incubation effects, participants in the first two experiments reattempted the same problem after a two-week break. There was evidence of an incubation effect as performance substantially improved on the subsequent attempt. To explore transfer, a new Cheap Necklace Problem variant was introduced, which participants in the final two experiments attempted following the original version of the problem. Transfer was evident as participants were able to successfully transfer their solution to solve the new variant. Moreover, overall performance improved on the subsequent problem. Across the four experiments, the level of interactivity offered on the second problem attempt was important: When the problem presentation changed (low interactivity to high interactivity or high interactivity to low interactivity) performance only improved when working in a highly interactive task environment second. Thus, insight through interactivity fosters stronger performance on both the initial and subsequent task. This thesis further explored how interactivity prompts insight in a dynamic agent-environment by recording and analysing participants' actions. One important finding from these behavioural analyses was the fact that those who spent the largest proportion of their time reconfiguring the task environment, thus making the most of the malleability of the artefacts available, were also most likely to reach insight.

English local government exists in a turbulent financial environment with increasing customer demands but tighter finances. It has a history of metrics benchmarking and was required to benchmark as part of the Best Value regime. Literature suggests that the public sector undertakes benchmarking both as a tool for improving performance and to gain legitimacy. The local government legitimacy paradigm is not a constant and has changed from New Public Management (NPM), with its expectations of competition and a private sector ethos, towards a new paradigm of New Public Governance (NPG). This thesis questions the approach to benchmarking as a tool for performance improvement, and the factors driving the way in which it is delivered in the public sector. Literature about performance measurement in the public sector is reviewed together with historical analysis on the theory of benchmarking. The research is informed by Neo-institutional theory as a framework for studying organisational change. The concept of legitimacy is probed on the conforming elements of compliance and convergence of structures, cultures, and strategies. The research questions are investigated using an exploratory case study employing 19 semi structured interviews with council officers, supported by documentary evidence, in a purposive sample of 18 district councils in England. The research took place during the administration of the Coalition government (2010-2015). The aim of the research being to provide a rich analysis of the methods used and the influences of coercive, mimetic, and normative forces on benchmarking practice. The thesis details the public sector environment and ascertains the detailed factors which constitute the isomorphic pressures on the councils. The research finds that metrics benchmarking, as a tool of efficiency, relates to directly provided services during the legitimacy paradigm of NPM, but observes that the coercive pressures of that time have sedimented into the current organisational culture. The case study shows that isomorphic forces are present, but their influence is mitigated by benchmarking and organisational cultures, and the pressures to comply with coercive and normative forces is stronger than for mimetic forces. Evidence shows that councils are not converging in their structures and their benchmarking practices show some regional variations. The study is exploratory and further research could be undertaken into the ways the wider public sector undertakes the measurement and assessment of performance improvement and how it manages the delivery of legitimacy under the new NPG paradigm.

Increased Internet access and consequent use of electronic word of mouth (eWOM) has redefined the word of mouth (WOM) landscape with communication coming increasingly from weak tie sources, as consumers share verbal (written reviews) and visual (photos) content. This online information exchange is frequent but lacks the physical cues usually found in face-to-face interactions. As a result, the process of evaluation of the perceived helpfulness of pre-and post-purchase eWOM differs from that of its traditional offline sibling. This thesis researches how consumers interact with eWOM relating to hotel choice before and after a booking is made. It investigates consumers' eWOM processing of, both verbal and visual; the development of consumers' perceptions of helpfulness of eWOM over time, and consumers' eWOM communication behaviour in a three-study staged process. The concepts underpinning this research are related to functional and hedonic aspects of information processing; and approach-avoidance theory. A multi-method approach is adopted in which consumers' interactions with pre-and post-purchase eWOM are examined qualitatively (Studies 1 and 2); with post-purchase interactions also studied quantitatively (Study 3). Thematic analysis of Study I indicates multiple roles of the aspects of eWOM (i.e. valence, volume, temporal cue, consensus, homophily, fairness, completeness, relevance and accuracy). Consumers might use them to: (1) perceive trustworthiness; (2) to save-time; and (3)to interpret the helpfulness of eWOM. Their interpretation of helpfulness is informed by their perceived fairness and relevance of verbal and visual eWOM. The longitudinal element of Study 2 subsequently identifies the fluid and complex development of these perceptions (i.e. fairness and relevance) over time (between pre-and post-consumption) for verbal and visual eWOM. Study 2 also untangles the different meanings given to motivators of eWOM communication and identifies a number of elements discouraging eWOM production. Study 3 develops specific measures of these inhibitors using a well-accepted methodology. This research makes several distinct contributions: Study 1 advances knowledge by combining functional and hedonic elements of information processing and develops the previously understudied concepts of fairness and subjective aspects of homophily. It also explores the roles of visual eWOM on information processing. The major contributions of Study 2 are identifying changes in perceptions of eWOM over time and to expand understanding of the positive and negative issues affecting eWOM production post-purchase. Previous research has focused on motivators; inhibitors by contrast have received little attention. Study 3 addresses this omission by developing specific measures to assess the effects of inhibitors since no scales currently exist. If marketers more fully understand the reasons why consumers fail to produce WOM, they can develop strategies to reduce the imbalance between widespread eWOM use and its restricted production.

This research aims to investigate the role of interorganisational networks in foreign market identification and exploitation by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Thailand. This research was undertaken because of the role of SMEs and exports in the Thai economy, coupled with a poor understanding in the literature regarding the extent to which Thai SMEs engage in export-led trade facilitated by interorganisational networks and shared resources. The research focuses on interorganisational networks of food industry SMEs. The theoretical basis of the research was established in models of internationalisation for SMEs and knowledge about the role of interorganisational networks in foreign market exploitation. The methodology involves longitudinal case studies, based on multiple interviews with 15 SMEs and two network partners. The cases analyse their current export situation, the role of network partners, including government institutions and programmes, changes in their trade position and role of interorganisational partners. Theoretically the research showed no single pattern of SME exporting. For example, while about 53% of firms seemed to follow the 'Uppsala model' of learning and gradual internationalisation, the other 47% were new exporting firms or so-called 'born global' firms. However, firms did share a number of similarities. For example, many were, at least initially, dependent on the Department of International Trade Promotion (DITP) and their trade fairs and other subsidised promotional activities to make initial contact with customers. Customers and commercial banks were also highly important network trade partners, although government banks such as EXIM Bank were less important. Most firms showed a reduction in reliance on government partners over time, as their customer base grew and relationships developed. The conclusion of this study is that the pattern of SME's foreign market identification and exploitation is dependent on the assistance of interorganisational network partners. These partners provide different types of assistance depending on the stage of export development, from offering initial assistance with international market entry through trade shows and expos to assisting with technical development and quality control for firms refining and expanding their export markets. Ultimately, however, the analysis shows that SME export success is dependent on both their own efforts and their effective use of available partner assistance.

This study aims to expand the existing knowledge of the role of networking in innovation. It focuses on Russia, a country with a transition economy. On the governmental level, the lack of understanding of the networking mechanisms that Russian start-ups use to support their innovation creates a barrier to effective decision making related to the development of the national innovation system. On the start-up level, this lack of understanding hampers the ability to select effective networking strategies aimed at ensuring that companies can achieve their aims in each stage of their development. In order to determine the scope of opportunities for companies to establish external relationships and to set the context for the interpretation of the primary data, the author conducts a detailed analysis of the evolution of Russia's national innovation system. The investigation is based on secondary data, including official government documents, articles, and publications in the scientific literature and newspapers. To gain a deeper understanding of the interrelationship between networking and innovation, the study investigates the networking behaviour of Russian SMEs, represented by a sample of 59 companies that launched business activities in Moscow between 2009 and 2017. To collect primary data, in-depth interviews were carried out with the founders of these companies. To conduct a comparative analysis of networking behaviour of companies with different degrees of innovativeness, entrepreneurial ventures in the sample are grouped into four innovativeness categories: very low, low, medium and high. The findings confirm the key proposition that innovative start-ups are more actively engaged in networking and have wider networks. In addition, the study shows that more innovative start-ups build and govern their networks of business contacts differently than less innovative start-ups. Finally, the author discusses implications for the development of theory and practice, reflects on the limitations of the research, and makes suggestions for future research on innovative networking that might build upon this study. A key contribution of this DBA thesis to practice emerged in the sphere of the author’s teaching and administrative activities at the Lomonosov Moscow State University Business School. The results of this study were utilised in the construction and implementation of an educational project (February-April 2018) in which students worked closely with technological start-ups to help them establish vital contacts in their business and market environments. Therefore, the knowledge obtained from this study was taught to students and applied in practice in the implementation of a systematic approach to the search for and expansion of contact networks conducive to innovation. As such, it helped students develop networking skills and assisted start-ups in successfully solving tasks related to the commercialisation of innovative products and services.

This thesis addresses the laws which typically affect the financial outcome for the trade creditor claimant in the insolvency of a corporate buyer. This outcome is only partially determined by the requirements of insolvency law itself, as pre-insolvency laws, in particular those relating to security, will typically play an important part in the outcome. The key laws addressed in this thesis (together with related principles, rights and policies) in so far as they determine the financial outcome for the unsecured trade creditor in insolvency are: the 'pari passu' principle together with the insolvency collective process; the priority rights obtained with security; the floating charge and, to a lesser extent, the fixed charge; the prescribed part levy and the policy of redistribution to unsecured creditors; the assignment of trade receivables and circumstances in which law implied trusts may be created (1). Collectively they will be referred to as the extended insolvency process. Whilst the laws do not constitute one process, as each has its own individual existence and authority, the laws will, nevertheless, be referred to as the extended insolvency process in order that the laws can be considered collectively. They are addressed in terms of the effects and outcomes they generate in insolvency and whether they can be considered fair and appropriate for the trade creditor, in particular the small and medium sized corporate trade creditor ("SME"). The thesis will contend that the operation of the extended insolvency process overall is unfair to trade creditors and that a policy of law reform should be implemented which will result in increased insolvency creditors. Proposals for law reform are raised. The author's contribution to knowledge is in his assessment of key company, trust and insolvency laws constituting the extended insolvency process, and their application from the perspective of the trade creditor claiming in insolvency, in particular the SME trade creditor; and in the provision of SME empirical data. 1. The expression law implied trusts is used distinction to express trusts, See Alistair Hudson, Equity and Trusts. Palgrave Great Debates in Law (Palgrave 2014) 29. The term law implied trusts will be applied elsewhere in this thesis.

An integrated fraework of Park and Ghauri (2011) of developing technological capabilities will be replicated and examined from Multinationals to subsidiaries doing business in Morocco. This research identifies the key elements that affect the ability of subsidiaried in Morocco to cultivate technological capabilities through imported technology. The main objective of this research is to investigate the role of Multinationals in contributing technological capabilities to subsidiaries established in target markets. It will replicate the same conceptual framework used by PArk and Ghauri (2011), and take into consideration the external factors, government support, the recipient technology infrastructure, and the technology transfer mode. It will be relevant to investigate how these external factors are crucial to Moroccan industries for the development of their technological capabilities. They argue that three fundamental constructs influence technology acquisition in SMLFS: firm-specific resources of knowledge acquirers that include human capital, intent to learn and international experience; trust and organizational compatibility (trust, compatible organizational culture, and business relatedness); and collaborative support by knowledge transferors that included active assistance of foreign acquiring firms in technology management, and the participation of foreign expatriate experts. Not only endogenous factors can contribute to the development of technological capability of the firms established in Morocco, but external factors can also play a significant role in determining the development of technological capability of SMLFs. A review of existing literature shows that no previous study has replicated the Park & Ghauri's model of technological capabilities in Morocco. This model was only replicated in Indonesia, India and South Korea but not in Morocco. In terms of North African countries, an academic research focusing on the Egyptian can industry has been done but not in Morocco, so that is why it is interesting to conduct this study. The main objective of this research is to investigate whether Multinationals contribute towards the enhancement of technological capabilities of subsidiaries established in foreign markets, especially in Morocco. Given that drivers promoting technology acquisitions from acquiring firms have been largely neglected in the literature, this research attempts to identify key factors influenceing this phenomenon. Although many studies have discussed knowledge exchange through international acquisitions (IAs), little attention has been given to small and medium sized local acquired firms (SMLFs). Park and Ghauri (2011) have used a list of all Korean firms acquired by foreign MNEs from Foreign Direct Investment published by the Ministry of Knowledge and Economy (2008).

This research investigates why some individuals make better decisions in risky investments than others and what individual/socio-demographic characteristics influence in making these decisions. Three research questions with nineteen hypotheses were developed for the investigation. The first research question was (RQ1) Which demographic factors (gender, age, ethnicity, education, and investment experience), decision making styles and personality traits affect financial risk tolerance, financial literacy and risky decision making? Second research questionw as (RQ2) Is there any significant relationship between financial risk tolerance, financial literacy and risky decision making? And the third and last research question was (RQ3) Which combination of demographic factors (gender, age, ethnicity, education, and investment experience), decision making styles and personality traits predict financial risk tolerance score and financial literacy score? The investigation included two risk decisions making experimental tasks i.e. Iowa gambling task (IGT) and the balloon analogue risk task (BART) and an online questionnaire in which 244 UK respondents participated. The participants included professional (71%) and nonprofessional (29%) investors. Mixed factor ANOVA, one way ANOVA, Pearson correlation and multiple regression were used to analyse the data. (RQ1) There were no significant differences in the gambling task performance based on financial knowledge, investment experience, personality traits and demographics. There were significant differences in basic and advances financial literacy based on gender, age and investment experience. (RQ2) The results of the mixed factor ANOVA showed that there was no significant main effect of financial risk tolerance on the Iowa gambling task performance but a significant interaction was found to be present. Thus, financial risk tolerance high or low does not affect the risky decision-making task performance. The results of mixed factor ANOVA results show that same level of perceived financial knowledge and actual financial literacy was significantly related to better performance on the Iowa gambling task. Therefore, overconfidence or under confidence about one's level of financial understanding affects performance on risky decision-making tasks. (RQ3) 28% variability in the financial risk tolerance score is explained by the predictors gender, financial literacy score, spontaneous decision style, extraversion and investment experience. The regression model showed that gender, financial risk tolerance score, rational decision making, intuitive decision making and investment experience cause 38% variability in financial literacy score. The participants did learn to make better selections in the gambling task but still majority 56% of them displayed impaired performance. Based on the findings of the research it is recommended that the importance of financial literacy and investment experience should be considered when the financial consultants prepare the investors profile. It is also recommended that the assumptions for measuring healthy performance on the Iowa gambling task should be evaluated carefully when applied to healthy participants in such a way that the individual differences are also incorporated.

The discovery of oil has been identified as both a blessing and a curse for Nigeria. While oil revenue has been a blessing to the country, the failure of oil companies to be socially responsible to their host communities has been a source of numerous crises in the Niger-Delta region of Nigeria. Earlier studies have enriched our knowledge on how corporate social responsibility (CSR) can be used to benefit host communities, but how corporate social responsibility and the stakeholder approach can be used to prevent these crises have received little attention in the literature. Thus, this study contributes to knowledge by investigating the effect of corporate social responsibility and stakeholder management on corporate social performance. This research adopted a quantitative approach method, and survey was developed based on the existing scales of corporate social responsibility measurement. Two different sets of questionnaires were administered to 160 employees of the big four multinational oil companies in Nigeria and 225 members of the host communities in the Niger-Delta area. A hundred and forty-six questionnaires were returned from each of the two sets of respondents. These questionnaires were analysed using Partial Least Square and descriptive statistics. The results of the analyses revealed that a strong relationship exists between compliance to industry standards and environmental performance evidence from employees of multinational oil companies. While the results showed that a weak relationship exists between compliance to industry standards and environmental performance based on the response from the host communities. The results also showed that a strong relationship exists between corporate legitimacy and community relations from both the employees of multinational oil companies and host communities. Furthermore, the results revealed that a strong relationship exists between corporate legitimacy and community perception from both stakeholders. In addition, there is also a strong relationship between regulatory infractions and environmental performance from the results of the two main stakeholders. The results also indicated that a strong relationship exists between CSR initiatives and community relations for the two main stakeholders. However, the results revealed that a weak relationship exists between CSR initiatives and community perception from both groups of stakeholders. Another contribution of this stufy to knowledge is the corporate social responsibility and corporate social performance measures used in this research. While existing measurements of corporate social responsibility in the literature have combined all the variables, this study separated them into various dimensions, to ensure easier adaptability for other studies. This study is a set of possible ideals, practicable and feasible concerns corporate social responsibility (CSR) measures. In addition, this study is a response to a prolonged and contested problem of appropriate measurement of corporate social responsibility (CSR). However, this gap in the literature led to development of a more robust conceptual model of a reflective construct of corporate social responsibility and corporate social performance that in some respects differ from existing conceptual model of corporate social responsibility. Therefore, this research recognised the attempt by previous studies on development of corporate social responsibility measurement model. Still, this study proposed agenda and scope of corporate social responsibility, as well as the measures used to implement corporate social responsibility via the reflective construct for the oil companies' operationalisation in Nigeria.

Brand alliance, or co-branding, is a strategic brand management strategy involving short-term and or long-term cooperative marketing activities between two or more individual brands. Research on brand alliances demonstrates that co-branding creates an interdependent relationship that is beneficial to the individual brands in the partnership. Although brand alliances represent a viable business opportunity for both brands, it is an inherently risky strategy. In a brand partnership, a negative event involving one brand can potentially spill over to the partner brand, as well to the co-branded product. There are several illustrations of the above in the industry - Ford was boycotted following Firestone's tyre recall crisis. Lego received negative publicity amidst Shell's controversial plans to drill in the Artic, and more recently Visa was drawn into the corruption scandal involving FIFA. Even though such controversies are increasingly common and create undesirable media attention for the brands in an alliance, knowledge on the risks associated with co-branding is sparse. The lack of knowledge is due to the paucity of empirical research in the area. The literature overlooks crises facing corporate brands in an alliance. Moreover, existing knowledge does not go beyond investigating the impact on negative events on consumers' attitudes toward the partner brands in an alliance. In particular, the literature is silent on how one partner's transgression can impact consumers' evaluations of the co-branding initiative jointly created by two corporate brands. Little is also known about the factors that could diminish negative spill over effects in co-branding crises. Aiming to address the above gaps in the literature, the thesis examines the impact of brand crises on consumers' evaluations of corporate brands in alliances. Consistent with a positivism philosophical orientation, the thesis draws on well-established theories in order to develop a set of research hypotheses. The overarching theoretical underpinning of the thesis is provided by Balance theory, well-established in the domain of social psychology. The theory elucidates how consumers' motivations for consistency influence their post-crises responses. The research is also informed by other theories emanating from social psychology. For instance, Negativity Effect explains that negativity looms larger than positivity, thus, consumers are liely to attach significant weight to negative brand information when evaluating a brand following a crisis. In addition, Attribution theory suggests that consumers will make inferences about crisis responsibility by evaluating available information about the crisis, and Social Judgement theory elucidates the bias underlying the way consumers are likely to process such information following a crisis. The thesis employs a quantitative research design to test the research hypotheses. For generalisability purposes, a scenario-based experiment was conducted across three brand crisis types - Accidental, Preventable and Victim. In a preventable crisis, the inappropriate actions of the corporate brand result in a breach of law, whereas in an accidental crisis, the unintentional actions of the corporate brand create a crisis. In a victim crisis, however, the organisation itself is also perceived as a victim of the crisis. The data were collected via a self-administered online questionnaire embedding three real-life crisis scenarios, representing each crisis type. Respondents were recruited from a reputed online consumer panel representative of the UK population. The research hypotheses were tested employing Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA). Three phases of pre-testing (n=420) and a pilot study (n=83) established the ecological validity of the findings and the psychometric properties of the measures. In the main study, altogether 1,235 valid responses were obtained (Accidental context n=379; Preventable context n=422; Victim context n=414). The results show that brand crises in corporate brand alliances negatively impact consumers' attitudes toward the culpable brand which, in turn, spills over to the co-branded product. Attitudes toward the non-culpable brand, however, are not negatively affected by the crisis. The findings also suggest that spill over effects are contingent upon perceived attribution; that is, consumers who perceive the culpable brand as being responsible for the crisis (i.e. internal attribution) evaluate the culpable brand and the co-branding initiative more negatively that consumers who perceive the cause to be outside the brand's control (i.e. external attribution). The findings also suggest that consumers with a higher level of commitment to the culpable brand are less likely to make internal attributions. Finally, the thesis shows that consumers' post crisis attitudes toward the culpable brand and the co-branded product can be enhanced if they are exposed to recovery information that attempts to diminish the culpable brand's role in the crisis. The thesis offers a multi-domain understanding of consumer responses to corporate brand alliances in crisis. It extends knowledge in the domains of consumer behaviour, brand management, organisational crisis and social psychology. The thesis pushes the boundaries of knowledge by making three main theoretical contributions. First, it introduces a novel approach to understanding consumer motivations for processing information in brand alliances. Through the lens of Balance theory, the study shows that consumers' perceptions of alliances are contingent upon how the evaluation of each brand fits together. Second, drawing upon Attribution and Social Judgement theories, the study demonstrates the role of brand crisis attribution and brand commitment in explaining consumers' evaluations of crises in corporate bran alliances. Third, the thesis advances the understanding of negative spill over effects in brand alliances by providing empirical evidence that crises in corporate brand alliances lead to negative signals about the culpable partner brand which, in turn, spill over to the co-branded product. Further, the thesis informs managerial understanding of the risks associated with brand alliance strategies, and offers empirically-grounded recommendations for marketing practice. First, the thesis provides insights and useful benchmarks to marketers seeking to design effective brand communication strategies following a crisis. Second, it demonstrates that investing in brand commitment is crucial for mitigating the impact of a crisis. Third, it provides actionable guidelines to managers with regard to partner selection, and planning for occurrences of crises in corporate brand alliances. The thesis investigated consumer responses to corporate brand alliances, while accounting for the focal role of attribution. Several other variables that could influence the phenomenon under investigation are identified. For example, the severity of a crisis and the media's interest and coverage of a crisis might explain why perceptions and attitudes toward the alliance are altered following a crisis. Moreover, while the use of three crisis types enhance the generalisability of the thesis' findings, generalisations can be further enhanced by replicating the present research across different countries, products or service contexts. Further, the thesis employs cross-sectional data to investigate the impact of brand crises on consumers' perceptions of brand alliances. In the real world, however, brand crises can extend over a period. Future research could employ longitudinal data to investigate how consumers' post crisis perceptions of the culpable brand, the partner brand and the co-branded product, change over time. The above present fruitful avenues for further research.

In recent years, there has been significant interest in communication on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) (Tehemar, 2012; Bortree, 2014). Yet, it is impractical to assume a onesize- fits-all definition for CSR (Crane and Matten, 2007; Walter, 2014). Therefore, this becomes an important area for research as CSR communications play a vital role in any CSR strategy in the business world, more especially in Ghana. Consequently, a good CSR communication can address the increasing cynicism about CSR when it is done effectively (Du et al., 2010; Kim and Ferguson, 2014). While a body of research exists about CSR communication at a theoretical level (Brugger, 2010; Schmeltz, 2012), there is a lack of empirical research investigating the topic in a particular policy and cultural content (Emel et al., 2012). The aim of this study was to address the limited research on CSR communication in Ghana. It empirically investigated whether the CSR dimensions (Triple Bottom Line) and effective CSR message components are positively linked with CSR stakeholder’ approval. The effects of individual characteristics including education and gender were also tested on the relationships. The study integrates insights from stakeholder theory (Vaaland et al., 2008; Wang, 2008) supported by both legitimacy theory (Perk et al., 2013) and institutional theory (Suddaby, 2013) to explain the planned base for CSR communication. A cross-sectional survey with 817 responses was used. This consisted of government-local-authority officials, mining company employees and host community officials from multinational mining companies (AngloGold Ashanti Limited, Ghana Bauxite Company Limited and Ghana Manganese Company Limited) operating in areas of southern Ghana. A quantitative survey analysis was employed to test the relationships through multiple regression analysis. One of the contributions pertains to the introduction of constructs of social, environmental and economic bottom lines to form a new, easy-to-remember acronym, the ‘SEE’ element in the CSR message contents. The results also make a contribution to knowledge by indicating that CSR message dimensions positively affect the way stakeholders approve mining companies’ CSR communications. Additionally, there were clear education and gender differences amongst stakeholders in accepting and approving companies’ CSR messages in Ghana. Furthermore, divergent stakeholders prefer different CSR message channels, and that certain CSR message contents are important for a particular stakeholder group.

This study examines how disabled people become entrepreneurs, using the concept of ‘entrepreneurial identity’ as a theoretical lens for explaining the effects of disability on venture creation. The original theoretical contribution is a novel conceptualisation of entrepreneurial identity, one that applies to all entrepreneurs whilst including the experiences of disabled people and people with long-term impairments and health conditions. Drawing on a critical realist philosophy, and a stratified, emergent ontology, entrepreneurial identity is defined as a personal power to create a new venture that succeeds in the marketplace. Entrepreneurial identity, as a causal power, is a tendency that may be possessed unexercised, exercised unrealised and realised unperceived. Although most people have the potential to become an entrepreneur, not everyone can, or is motivated to, exercise that power because of other countervailing powers – personal, material and social. Theorising identity as a causal power can account for both stability and change in identity formation, in contrast to studies that define entrepreneurial identity in terms of fixed characteristics determining behaviour, or as a dynamic process encompassing narrative performances. The empirical material comprises entrepreneur and stakeholder interview data, online visual data and shadowing field notes. The analysis reveals that the emergence of entrepreneurial identity presupposes three lower-level personal powers that must be exercised simultaneously: (1) the power to conceive of a new venture idea; (2) the power to commit to venture creation; and (3) the power to acquire new venture legitimacy. Depending on circumstances, disability can both enable and constrain individual capacity to realise the three powers, with implications for venture creation. The findings highlight the role of human relations with nature and the material culture of artefacts as well as society in the emergence of entrepreneurial identity. This novel theoretical framework is more inclusive in terms of the multiplicity of mechanisms at different identity strata and levels of reality that it can examine whilst accommodating the alternative approaches.

The study of engagement concepts is intended to enhance our understanding of its nature and solve engagement enactment problem in organisations. Key proponents suggest that benefits from engaging accrue to both individuals and organisations (Kahn, 1990; Schaufeli, Salanova, Gonzalez_Roma and Bakker, 2002). And yet, little research has looked at the individuals’ perspectives. As Shuck (2011) highlighted, the preference of individuals needs to be uncovered before it can be acted upon. However, a separation of the two prominent theoretical perspectives used to describe and explain its dynamics has always been an important preference in the literature. From an opposite direction, Sonnentag’s (2011) suggestion for the integration of the work engagement and the personal engagement concepts raises the question of a method for orientating this integration. Hence, gaps exist as to how an acceptable multiple perspectives driven model can be established. To bridge these gaps, this study followed suggestions by Whetten (2009) to develop a combined personal-work engagement concept, empirically tested this consolidated framework and examined the perspectives of 24 self-employed and employed Nigerians. The findings provide evidence on some aspects of the successful application of the combined personal-work engagement framework. The conclusions reached assert that at the individual level, engagement patterns occurring among the individuals’ reasoning reflects an underlying dimension: a distinction made between the regard and disregard for hindering factors that seems to affect the engagement level. At higher levels of engagement, individuals regard helping factors and disregard hindering factors and this pattern seemed to have a degree of support that is not found at lower levels. At lower levels individuals regard helpful factors and regard hindering factors. A limitation is that the findings only offers guarantees that more often than not, the relationship is an expression of engaging, more work needs to be done to follow-on from this study.

From a theoretical perspective, Islamic banking and finance is different from conventional banking and finance because interest (riba) is prohibited in Islam. The unique feature of Islamic banking and finance is its profit-and-loss sharing (PLS) paradigm. As such, the equity stock market mechanism follows this unique PLS paradigm without the involvement of riba, gharar and maysir, allowing Shari’a sensitive investors’ access to the stock market. But the problem is to identify the Shari’a compliant equity stocks (that are both Shari’a compliant in the capital structure as well as the underlying business) within the equity stock market. In order to assist the Shari’a sensitive investors, the Dow Jones Islamic Market Index (DJIMI) for the first time in history issued the first Shari’a screening methodology in 1999 that facilitated access to the stock market. Subsequently, a number of other Shari’a screening methodologies have been developed by other index providers, banks and regulators; all of them are derivatives of the DJIMI. The rules used in the screening process have not originated from the Holy Quran or the traditions of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), and accordingly are not considered absolute rules. These screening methodologies have been criticised in the literature for being imprecise, inconsistent, lacking credibility and on the use of Shari’a screening thresholds restricting the Shari’a non-compliant activities. The study is designed to address two main areas: 1) to examine the historical development of Shari’a screening methodologies to date, and 2) to investigate how the existing Shari’a screening methodologies can be enhanced for the benefit of the Islamic banking and finance (IBF) industry. A qualitative analysis is carried out in the first part of the study. A statistical technique of exploratory factor analysis (EFA) is carried out in the second part of the study. The examination of the first part of the study shows that the fundamental variables underlying existing screening methodologies should be based on actual interest income and interest expense as it’s the actual interest received or paid that is Shari’a non-compliant instead of on the basis of source of funds (debt, receivables). This part of the study also finds that the Shari’a screening methodologies were introduced as a need of the time under Maslahah (public interest and rule of exception). It was expected that scholars and practitioners would review and revise the screening methodologies over time to ensure adherence to Shari’a. However, they have remained the same while the Islamic banking and finance industry has developed significantly. Further examination of current practices, suggested Shari’a screening thresholds to be dynamic and ones based on the growth and development in Islamic banking and finance. Based on findings of the first part, the study conducted an exploratory analysis in the second part using different portfolios and screened them based on interest income and interest expense and compared with existing practices. It is recommended that Shari'a screening methodologies incorporate these screening filters in addition to the existing filters to ensure that the portfolio remains Shari'a compliant. Further, the study in the second part developed an IBF index using exploratory factor analysis to quantify the development in IBF industry in 41 countries. These countries were placed in five groups (leaders, developed countries, developing countries, emerging markets and least developed countries) and it was concluded that Shari’a screening thresholds for countries based in groups “leaders” and “developed countries” can be lowered to 20% and 25% respectively as the IBF industry in the underlying countries have developed significantly and there are sufficient Shari’a compliant stocks to provide the investor a diversified portfolio, while for other countries the existing thresholds should continue as the IBF industry in the country is still in early growth period and Islamic financing availability in the country is not adequate. In this way, the Shari’a compliant equity investments can go forward in a more effective manner and thus a move towards more dynamic and progressive screening methodologies, rather than the existing static ones.

This thesis investigates the relationship between Employee Working Life (EWL), Job Satisfaction (JS) and restaurant performance in United Kingdom Bangladeshi Restaurants (UKBRs). The UKBR sector consists of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) operated by entrepreneurs of Bangladeshi origin. EWL, JS and performance amongst enterprises in this sector have not previously been investigated in spite of their significance as employers. The study is based on semi-structured, face-to-face interviews with employees in UKBRs. Some 40 participants working in 20 BRs were interviewed. The restaurants were chosen using convenience sampling, and the participants were invited on the basis of their work responsibility and availability. The research used a thematic analytical technique, with the help of QSR N10, to develop nine key themes related to EWL, JS and performance. These themes highlight several unique aspects of the relationship between EWL, JS and performance. Primary research also involved reviewing 509 online customer Google and TripAdvisor reviews of the 20 BRs in the sample. The research findings highlight that the three factors of EWL, JS and performance, especially non-financial performance, are indeed linked. A close examination of these links reveals several key aspects. First, EWL is 'beyond' the UK tradition since employers show a domineering attitude. However, employees continue to work due to lack of skills and competence. Second, employees perceive of, and present themselves as satisfied. However, this satisfaction is not reflected in the business performance of BRs, which is experiencing downturn. This reflects the fact that employees' satisfaction is based on unethical dealings between owners and employees, according to which the act of employment is misused by both parties for what is seen as their mutual benefit, although in fact, it enables the exploitation of employees by the owners. Finally, the analysis shows that the kind of 'trap strategy' preferred by owners constrains employees to develop their skills for mobility to other industries. This is also underpinned with a visa system that helps employers to retain staff. Hence, employees' express satisfaction with their employment circumstances on the basis that it is the best they can hope for, given their poor transferability of skills and competence that defines the sector, and given their need to feel secure in the UK. As a result, this thesis proposes a new framework called 'The Employees' Working Life Improvement Model', which demonstrates how employment circumstances in this sector can be improved to the benefit of both employees and owners. Finally, the thesis makes recommendations for further research, including an examination of the applicability of the findings to SMEs operated by other ethnic groups in the UK.

Access to finance is a necessity for the start-up, growth, innovation and survival of any organisation. As a result, access to finance has become an important theme in small business research. Although there is overwhelming research evidence on access to finance, there are still research gaps in the knowledge base of different forms of access to finance, especially in times of uncertainty and economic distress. Specifically, more research is needed on the identification of relevant theories of access to finance, the role of venture capital and crowdfunding, the effect of financial education and self-confidence on access to micro finance and the role of institutions in small firms financial liquidity. The thesis aims to fill these gaps and provide comprehensive reviews and new empirical evidence related to the above issues. Reviewing the academic literature, this research supports the view that venture capital and crowdfunding are both relevant in access to funding for firms as they represent worthy alternatives for different types of firms. Venture capital firms (VCF) have targeted their investment on later-stage, management buy-out and buy-in to limit their risks and increase returns. Although VCF traditionally have huge appetite for high risk and high returns, research show that they concentrate their funding on older innovative firms. In their risk aversion, VCF have become more stringent in their entrepreneurial project selection and monitoring with reduced funding of seed and early stage of projects. Turning to empirical parts of the thesis, a series of interesting and new findings have emerged. First, this thesis supports the view that financial self-confidence of the owner manager contributes to successful access to finance for UK firms whereas financial education is found to have weak explanatory power. However, financial education is found to increase financial self-confidence, and thus can be used as a means of improving access to micro-finance for SMEs. Self-confidence is also found to be affected by past poor performance of the owners’ credit outcomes stressing the importance of building a successful credit history and experience with the financial sector. Finally, at international level this thesis stresses the importance of regulation and institutions in Baltic States and South Caucasus countries in SME access to finance. The analysis points also towards some gender differences which add to the existing debate on differences between males and females.

Organisations use projects to manage customised, one-off events across a wide range of functions. Project management is an essential operational tool and process that is utilised to effectively and efficiently manage resources, tasks and activities, and associated timelines. Since each project is considered unique, it is essential to control the project's outcome parameters to minimise the chances of failure and the likely major financial and managerial ramifications for the organisation. As a consequence, project management literature has been dominated by discussions on the various critical success factors that are used to maximise the probability of a project's success. However, there is no single formula for success. In a recent report, it was found that 19% of completed projects fail and 52% were challenged in terms of meeting the time, cost, and quality constraints. The purpose of this study was to investigate the possibility that failure is a result of different interpretations of the criteria and factors used for success (termed 'success dimensions' within this study) by multiple stakeholder groups. Currently, there is no recorded theory to determine project success within the project management literature, which includes both the perspective of multiple stakeholder groups and shared use of success dimensions for a given project. This omission is the basis of the current work, which explores the impact of using all stakeholder views as opposed to a selected few to define project success. The research outcomes are important for informed managerial decision making that enables the minimisation of major financial losses. This study drew on previous research undertaken on project success and combined technological solutions (in the form of software packages, such as the Web of Science database, Bibexcel, NVivo, and Excel) to facilitate the identification, selection, and analysis of data sources relating to the success dimensions for project management. The results of the systematic literature review identified the 'diagnostic behavioural instrument' as the most frequently recognised measure of project success. This broadly argues that there are ten success factors that must be considered for successful project implementation. The literature also highlights the limitations of the 'diagnostic behavioural instrument', which forms part of the current gap in the literature regarding project success. These limitations were used to design a qualitative study to identify the additional attributes regarding project success as perceived across different stakeholder groups (i.e., senior management, project core team, and project recipients), as well as identifying which stakeholder perspectives are considered important in judging project success and which ones are being ignored. The findings of the qualitative study were extended to a quantitative study to confirm whether the initial findings were similar across a larger sample of stakeholders. The results from both studies were used to create an idealised, multiple stakeholder model, considering all the critical attributes to measure project success. This model was tested with a focus group to identify the extent of ease and the barriers that adopting this new perspective would present in practice. The results of the qualitative and quantitative studies showed clear differences between the project performance attributes that were considered important across the different stakeholder groups. The focus group results demonstrated a clear difference in opinion within and among the stakeholder groups, indicating their potential use for project managers to align stakeholders' views to increase project success. There is some indication that the model could be applied to projects from any field, but testing this assumption is beyond the scope of the current work. However, the preliminary results would support its use to increase the shared, multiple stakeholder perception of project success. Through use of the model, organisations can be more precise in their choice of success dimensions used to judge project success, leading to more informed decision making and subsequent motivation of employees and hence a more productive organisational culture.

This study investigates the association between earnings management and executive compensation by examining evidence from firms in the FTSE350 Index. It questions whether CEOs manipulate earnings, particularly with regard to bonus entitlement and discusses the possible reasons for their actions. It explores whther earnings are manipulated in self-interest to reach pre-specified bonus levels and increase compensation. It also examines the extent of manipulation when bonuses are deffered or when long-term compensation is offered, The effect of non-financial measures in assessing performance is also examined, when they are used alongisde financial meaures and when giving equal or more weight. There are many studies concerning earnings management (hereafter, EM) and executive compensation, particularly in the US, but accruals management has mostly been used to determine the extent of manipulation and real activities management has received comparatively little attention. The present study uses both discretionary accruals (hereafter, DAC) and real activities management (hereafter, RAM) which gives wider understanding of the issue. The findings reveal that executives indulge in income-increasing earnings management through DAC and adjusting sales when company earnings approach their pre-specified minimum and target bonus levels. It is also found that executives employ income-decreasing earnings management by adjusting DAC and sales when earnings approach their pre-specified maximum bonus levels. When a deferred bonus is equal to or greater than the annual bonus, results reveal that firms engage in less income-increasing manipulation than those with less deffered bonus. In a situation where the proportion of long-term bonus is greater than short-term bonus, less income-increasing earnings management are exhibited in terms of both DAC and RAM. The use of non-financial performance measures in bonus contracts also can have a significant effect on constraining EM. The results of the present study reveal that when both financial and non-financial performance measures are used together, less income-increasing manipulation by DAC and expenses takes place. If equal or more weight is given to non-financial performance measure compared with financial measures, minimal EM takes place both in DAC and RAM. This study cotnrols for corporate governance variables particularly related to executive compensation to assess their influence on EM. Despit increasing regulation designed to restrict manipulation of company results, the results show that stronger corporate governance rules have a minimal effect in controlling earnings management. A major contribution of this study is that it concludes that although RAM is not widely used it has great importance in relation to executive compensation. DAC is relatively easily identified and executives may avoid detection by adopting RAM. This suggests that tests for RAM should be more extensively used. Another unique feature of this study is that the effectiveness of deferred bonus in controlling EM has not to the best of my knowledge been previously examined. Whilst other researchers have concentrated on the relationship between stock options and EM, this research additionally takes into account other forms of long-term incentive such as share incentive plan, company incentive plan etc. Another important consideration, largely unexplored by previous researchers, is the advantage of using non-financial performance measures as well as financial performance measures and the degree of weighting given to both when determining pay and bonuses. Shareholders and other stakeholders expect pay to be limked to performance by incentives relating reward to increased company earnings and the choice of performance measures is important to achieve this. The findings of this study will be of interest to shareholders and regulators because it will assis them in undertanding how compensation characteristics are related to EM.

This thesis addresses the commercialization decisions of academic scientists. Although there is a great deal of research on environmental, university and individual determinants of the formal technology transfer mechanisms, this thesis addresses a gap in the literature by studying how technology characteristics affect the selection of university technology transfer mechanisms. For this purpose the insights from main theoretical sources were combined: a) the economics of technological change and b) the diffusion of innovations theory and a conceptual framework that considers eight characteristics of technology was developed. The technology characteristics derived from the two theoretical sources are: pervasiveness, tacitness, complexity, system dependence, relative advantage, compatibility, trialability and observability. These characteristics were then related to the choice of four technology transfer mechanisms by academic scientists. The study covers UK university scientists who have been involved in commercialization between 2005 and 2015. In the first stage, qualitative data were collected through 14 semi-structured interviews. The qualitative data analysis confirmed the predictive power of most factors in the conceptual framework and six new variables were also as potential predictors: patentability, inimitability, effectiveness of patents for the technology, capital intensity, independence, and technology dynamism. In the second phase, a questionnaire was developed and the quantitative data from 331 academic inventors were used to verify the result of the qualitative study. The quantitative data analysis suggests that the technologies that lead to the formation of a new company (either through formal or informal spin-offs) are complex and academics perceive higher profitability resulting from the commercialization of the technology. More novel or more system dependent technologies lead to the formation of formal university spin-offs and the technologies that are less novel or less system dependent are more likely to be transferred to a new company via informal spin-offs or to an existing company via licensing or consulting activity. In addition, when technologies are more capital intensive or patents are more effective for protection of them from imitation, they are more likely to be transferred formally via licensing or formal university spin-offs. The data analysis also confirms that higher dynamism associated with a technology leads to the creation of informal spin-offs and less patentability of a technology significantly predicts the engagement of academics in consulting activity. The thesis concludes with implication for theory and practices.

Societies in the world have been struggling to redefine ways to general prosperity, although a general interest in a more human world order is constant. At the same time, cooperatives operate as privately owned for-profit enterprises having social purpose as their primary objective. The aim of this research is to investigate the potential of achieving sustainable development in enterprises operating under the cooperative principles to bring about human development and environmental improvement. The paradigm suggests interactions among environmental performance, economic results, social benefits and the ethical cooperative principles. Information on more than 1,500 coops was gathered in the EU countries of Croatia and Slovenia, and in one non-EU country Bosnia-Herzegovina and a survey was carried out among coops that were commercially active over a 12-year period from 2002-2013. After deploying the survey via email and through structured telephone interviews, statistical analysis was completed on randomly chosen 100 coops. The results support the main research hypotheses. First, the union of environmental performance and cooperative principles (EP&CP) confirm the existence of a relationship with the economic results. Secondly, the combination of environmental performance and cooperative principles (EP&CP) also indicate a relationship with social benefits. Above all, it is concluded that better results in economic and social benefits are gained in the group having positive Environmental Performance and Cooperative Principles (positive EP&CP) compared to the group where positive only EP was observed. This generally indicates the important contribution of Cooperative Principles to Sustainable Development. Using the survey data an innovative Cooperative Sustainability Index (CSI) has been produced as composite indicator measuring the success in applying ethical elements within two dimensions: the cooperative principles dimension and the environmental. Slovenia has the highest ranking score; Croatia shows less success at the second position; Bosnia Herzegovina has the weakest results. Sustainable development conditions across the Eastern Adriatic region demonstrate an interesting diversity in the environmental sustainability results among the states, but to a certain extent there are similarities as far as social and economic conditions are concerned. Paradoxically, socialism damaged social enterprises like coops in the post-WWII period in the Eastern Adriatic. This occurred not only because the socialist governments misinterpreted cooperative principles, but above all because democratic organisations like coops in a non-democratic society challenge the ethical orthodoxy. In the last few decades, the recovery of coops has varied according to their geographical location. As demonstrated, coops mostly positively prevent contemporary environmental degradation of the world’s resources but also positively contribute to economic and social issues; this puts them in an important position to reduce the inequalities produced by contemporary authoritarian capitalism across the world. In this sense, the first Cooperative Sustainability Index will find its future application and usefulness.

This thesis is a paper-based thesis. Using a large-scale matched employee-employer dataset, three empirical studies were undertaken to empirically examine: 1) the relationship between employee attitudes, human resource management practices and firm performance in SMEs; 2) the effect of the firm size on firms’ and employees’ experience during the recent financial crisis, particularly firm’s employment related responses to the economic hardship; and 3) the impact of firm size on employee’s experience of work stress during economic recession. The findings of the first study suggest a direct relationship between HRM practices and SME firm performance, but this relationship is moderated by high employee job satisfaction. The results suggest that HR policies and practices may improve small firm performance, especially within firms with low levels of commitment and satisfaction. The estimation results presented in the second study show that SMEs are more vulnerable during times of economic hardship than larger firms, but those with HR practices have shown more resilience to the downturn. There is a significant firm-size effect on the choice of specific HRM measures in response to the recession, and having HR practices increases the likelihood of the firm to adopt organizational measures. Also, the results indicate that the differences in workers’ job experience are moderated by high management formality. For the final empirical research, employees in SMEs experience lower level of overall job stress than those in large enterprise, although the effect disappears once the employee-level and firm-level characteristics are taken into consideration. Finally, the findings suggest that the association and magnitude of estimated effects of the work stressor presented in the Cooper and Marshall’s work stress model differ significantly by firm size. Overall, the thesis has made significant contribution to the employee relations in SMEs literature and provide interesting academic and policy oriented findings.

This study proposes the implementation of a Strategic Ontological Police Force Knowledge Management Framework with the Dubai Police Force. Recent research in knowledge management has reiterated the potential benefits of effective knowledge management in both public and private sector organisations. Effective knowledge management allows organisations to accrue rewards such as increased productivity, enhanced performance, and competitive advantage. However, the process of transitioning to new models and frameworks of knowledge management can pose a number of difficulties, particularly within organisations that have entrenched managerial practices. This study posits that the implementation of an effective knowledge management strategy must take into account the cultural and administrative specificity of the organisation, and the wider socio-cultural context in which it operates, in order to ensure that an appropriate framework is devised. The core characteristics of the proposed Knowledge Management framework of the Dubai Police Force must be one where the organisational structure first and foremost permits transparency and an avenue stream for sharing knowledge. This framework must enhance common understanding within the organisation hence ontology is utilised to capture this. New technology must be shared amongst all levels within the organisation and training at all levels is required to be homogenous. The thesis finds that knowledge sharing within the Dubai Police Force to be largely absent with a degree of apathy amongst staff members. Further, the findings show the staff to be unaware of the nature to which knowledge sharing could benefit the police force in the long run. There was also an attitude whereby staff members concentrated on their own particular tasks, goals and achievements and not those of other individuals, which if noted, would be to the benefit of the organisation. The thesis found that the entire infrastructure lacked cooperation at all levels to the detriment of the entire police force. In light of the knowledge framework and contribution, the recommendations serve to consider how people, cultures and technology interact to create a strategy for knowledge transfer within the institution rather than an environment consisting of workers the knowledge management technologies should ensure a process that includes personal development contributing to the overall organisation and training programmes.

There is a deficit in the literature of research evaluating the impact of contemporary theories of leadership and followership on follower work outcomes in developing countries in the Middle East (Metcalfe & Murfin, 2011). This research examines the relationships between the three variables pertaining to follower work outcomes (job satisfaction, organisational commitment, and work engagement) and the full range of leadership styles (transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire) (Avolio & Bass, 1995), and associated followership performance and relationship characteristics (Potter III & Rosenbach, 2006) in Libya. It explores to what extent the full range of leadership styles predicts follower work outcomes; to what degree follower characteristics predict follower work outcomes; and to what extent follower relationship and performance characteristics moderate the relationship between each of the transformational and transactional leadership styles and follower work outcomes. A deductive approach is employed, using a questionnaire to collect data from 667 participants, from 141 work groups, from across 24 Libyan public sector organisations (LPSOs). The data was analysed using multi-level modelling analysis to investigate the relationships between dependent and independent variables; moderation analysis was then used to examine the impact of followership on leadership performance. The findings inform the literature in various ways. Primarily, these suggest that transformational leadership induces positive levels of job satisfaction, organisational commitment and work engagement among LPSOs employees. This is consistent with existing literature (Griffith, 2004; Judge & Piccolo, 2004; Emery & Barker, 2007; Akeel & Subramaniam; 2013). The findings support ongoing, cross-cultural leadership research (House et al., 2014) that advocates a universal positive performance of transformational leadership across nations. The findings suggest that transactional leadership is linked with positive job satisfaction and work engagement, which supports current research (Breevaart et al., 2014). Laissez-faire leaders do not seem to influence their followers’ work outcomes, which concurs with Bass (1997). The study also suggests that followers with high levels of performance characteristics demonstrate positive attitudes of job satisfaction and work engagement, while those who have strong relationship characteristics are associated with positive levels of work engagement. This is in line with the emerging literature on followership (Potter III & Rosenbach, 2006; Judge et al., 1998; Kelley, 1988) that suggests positive links between followers’ characteristics and work outcomes. It also suggests that followers’ relationship characteristics alongside transformational leadership predict follower organisational commitment, expanding the research in this field (Zhu et al., 2009). These results might serve as a basis for future cross-cultural studies to compare LPSOs’ leaders’ and followers’ effectiveness with those in similar regional or international organisations. The study also has several practical recommendations. Firstly, it suggests that organisations should invest in leadership development to improve employee work outcomes and that organisations such as LPSOs, should capitalise on the existing strength of their transactional managers in order to build a wider base of transformational leaders, enhancing organisational effectiveness. Secondly, organisations should recruit managers with the suitable leadership style for projects with certain desired follower work outcomes. Managers should adopt an appropriate leadership style to achieve the desired follower work outcomes and organisations would benefit from investing in followership development to enhance these work outcomes. Specifically, followers should be educated on how their characteristics might affect not only their own performance, but also that of their leader. Finally, organisations should recruit employees who exhibit positive characteristics that enable them to be more engaged in their work when this behaviour is desired for achieving the job task.

This thesis explores the impact of leadership, structure, process and systems investments on operational, financial and competitiveness performance in service organisations over time. In doing so, the research presented here aims to understand two questions. Firstly, how does investment impact business performance in different markets and, secondly, how does this relationship vary over time? These questions address a number of gaps within the service operations literature, as previous research has only looked at one type of investment and not understood how impact changes over time. Although some studies have looked at the relationship between investment and performance, none look at the impact on operational and financial performance. As a result, this research helps service organisations better understand how and where to make investments given their performance objectives and the nature of the market they serve. Schools were selected as examples of service organisations because they provide a similar service to each other and are measured using nationally regulated performance metrics, but operate in different ways (using different leaders, structures, processes and systems) in different markets (which vary in size and student type) with different access to resources (which vary in access to staff, students and money) and levels of competition (number, type and concentration of competitors). By studying the investments made in different schools over a five year period, this research was able to explore how different types of investment (leadership, structure, process and systems) affected impact business performance (operational, financial and competitiveness) in service organisations competing in different markets (size, customer type and competition).

Social Networking Sites (SNS) differ from other online media in a number of aspects including the quality of content published, reach and audience, interaction frequency, accessibility, usability and immediacy. In our analysis of social commerce, we have taken into account these unique attributes of SNS and argue that social commerce differ from classical e-business models. We further maintain that the said distinctions of SNS have led to the misuse of user-generated content and abuse of users trust resulting in information security and privacy violations. Recent unfortunate incidents of security and privacy breaches have shown the negative repercussions on online businesses. In this thesis, we argue that security and privacy issues on SNS are a major barrier hindering the success of the emerging social commerce applications and preventing businesses from gaining the full economic benefit of SNS. Hence, following a deductive strategy and taking a positivist stance, the current research explores the issues of information security, privacy, and related constructs in the context of social commerce (B2C interactions) with emphasis on how they affect purchase intention. Using a systematic review of prior literature, we have identified the key concepts and related constructs of information security and privacy and the relationships between the constructs. Based on this understanding, the current study proposes to test a number of hypotheses. Data was collected using a Web-based survey administered to a sample of SNS users. The hypotheses were tested using PLS-SEM for a dataset of 514 respondents. Based on the findings of the current research, we can come to the following conclusions: (1) 'Perceived security', 'Trustworthiness', and 'Perception towards usage of information' have a direct impact on SNS users 'Purchase intention', (2) SNS users 'Perception towards privacy notices' positively affects 'Perceived privacy' and 'Perceived security', (3) 'Trustworthiness' negatively affects SNS users 'Risk perception' and 'Perceived privacy', and (4) 'Trustworthiness' of a SNS site is positively influenced by the 'perceived ability to control submitted information' and by 'Perceived privacy'. This research contributes to the body of knowledge on information security, privacy, and related constructs in a number of ways. For instance, the proposed research model which was empirically tested in the current research is the most valuable contribution. To test the proposed model, we have validated new and existing factors measuring information security constructs and purchase intention, thereby contributing to theory building. This provides a better understanding of privacy, security and related issues on SNS and explains some of the possible reasons for the slow adaptation of social commerce compared to 'classical' e-business models. From a practical and managerial point of view, this research help social media vendors to comprehend the fundamental features necessary to attract customers to their business such as building trust by enhancing security and privacy practices. Further, we suggest the use of ethical data gathering and transparent, easily accessible and readable security/privacy notices on social commerce shopping portals to help customers overcome their psychological barriers to purchase from SNS.

The BRICS (Brazil, the Russian Federation, India, China and South Africa) economies, as the major emerging markets, continue to influence the transformation of the global structure. Their role within the global governance and global economy is increasing day by day. This study is an analysis of the determinants of foreign direct investment (FDI) in a panel of bilateral FOI data from thirty-two the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (DECO) countries in the BRICS countries for the period of 1992 to 2010. Applying the extended gravity model with the home country push factors and the host country pull factors, the empirical findings of this study confirms that market size, distance, common culture, trade openness, privatisation, relative labor cost, research and development (R&D), relative exchange rate, infrastructure and institutional factors are the key determinants of FDI in the BRICS countries. Furthermore, bilateral investment treaties (BITs) are significant at 10% level for FDI flows. The home country corporate tax rate and bilateral export are inconclusive. In this aspect, there are evidences to accept that the motive of FDI in the BRICS economies is principally are market seeking, natural resource seeking and partly efficiency seeking type of FDI. Employing a standard gravity model, within limited scope this study also attempts to examine the impact of the 2008 global financial crisis on the BRICS countries' exports. The author use a panel data of BRICS countries' bilateral exports to the top ten major destination countries for the period of 2000 to 2011 by including a dummy variable to measure the impact of the global financial crisis. The result confirms that the coefficient estimate for the crisis dummy variable is positive and statistically significant at 1% level for fixed effects (FE) model. The result specifies that during the global financial crisis periods, the BRICS countries' exports growth rate increased relative to the non-financial crisis period. Furthermore, model approves that GOP growth rate and population are an also important factor that affects the value of the BRICS countries' exports.

Previous research indicates that social norms interventions provide a promising avenue to encourage behaviour change. This study examined the efficacy of a social norms intervention, with the inclusion of personalised individual feedback, to encourage pro-environmental behaviour change. A qualitative approach was used to gain an in-depth understanding of how people respond to social norms feedback and personalised individual feedback on environmental behaviours. Central to this research was an innovative Facebook app called iGreen, which was designed specifically by the author and a number of colleagues to provide a seven-week social norms intervention. This app comprised environmentally themed games, a quiz on aspects of everyday domestic behaviours that impact on the environment, and the ability to provide feedback on respondents’ previous quiz answers. Respondents were randomly allocated to either a no feedback group, a personalised individual feedback group, or a group in which feedback also included the average quiz answer of other iGreen users (social norms feedback group). A sample of fifty-one people who used iGreen completed all quizzes, forty-four of these respondents completed a post-intervention questionnaire, and thirty respondents were interviewed. Drawing on elements of a discourse analysis approach to analyse the interviews enabled an in-depth understanding of why a social norms intervention might, or might not encourage pro-environmental behaviour and how people respond to personalised individual feedback and social norms feedback. The major finding in this research is that the quiz encouraged behaviour change because the questions increased the salience of injunctive norms and personal norms. This supports the focus theory of normative conduct and norm activation theory, which both state that increasing the salience of norms influences behaviour. Another finding is that environmental behaviour change can be constrained due to people associating some behaviours with the stigmatisation of environmental activists. Lastly, respondents in all three intervention groups claimed to have changed some behaviour and there were no apparent differences between the groups. This suggests that increased salience (in this case induced by answering repeated quiz questions) encouraged behaviour change. This raises the question of whether increased salience, rather than feedback, may account for some of the behaviour change found in previous social norms research. This research identifies key elements of an intervention that can increase its potential to encourage pro-environmental behaviour which has potential practical application in the design of innovative social norms interventions. The main contribution of this research is the discovery that making people’s everyday behaviours more salient can encourage pro-environmental behaviour. A digital quiz is a simple, cost-effective and engaging method for increasing salience and encouraging behaviour change, and this should be explored in future research.

The engagement of employees has been a 'hot topic' among business and organizational behaviour researchers, consultants and human resource practitioners in recent years. Engagement is a motivational concept. In this study employee engagement (or job engagement) has been defined as an employee's full investment of oneself in one's work activities. The study nevertheless accepts that the field of engagement has been plagued with numerous terms, definitions, measures and theories. Although engagement research originated in the early 1990s, there is today a lack of consensus and consistency about important conceptual issues, such as definition and dimensionality. The current scholarly work sought to bring some clarity to the field by firstly recognising two broad streams for which the conceptualizing, theorising and operationalizing of engagement have differed markedly. The self-investment and anti-burnout engagement streams were named. Next, a domain for research focus was selected. The self-investment engagement stream, which offers the most unique, objective and encompassing meaning and theory of engagement, was identified. This stream recognises Kahn's 1990 work as the foundation of engagement study. The conceptualization of engagement as the full-investment of oneself, physically, cognitively and emotionally in one's work has been derived from this early contribution. The theory of engagement found within the self-investment stream, proposes that several antecedents influence three psychological conditions, which in turn predict engagement. in the current study, task-relevant job resources, socially relevant job resources and job demand characteristic were incorporated in the theoretical framework for evaluation. The job characteristic antecedents are task significance, skill variety, autonomy, feedback, internal interaction, work overload, friendship opportunity and managerial support. The psychological conditions of engagement are known as psychological meaningfulness, availability and safety. The study's results have supported the hypotheses that task significance and internal interaction are direct predictors of meaningfulness; autonomy, feedback, internal interaction and work overload are predictors of psychological availability; while, friendship opportunity and managerial support are significantly associated with psychological safety. The three psychological conditions were positively associated with engagement. It was found that psychological meaningfulness mediated the associations between the other two conditions and engagement. Then, skill variety showed a direct positive association with engagement, rather than an indirect association via one of the psychological conditions.

Over the last decade, researchers have been increasingly interested in exploring the nature and potential benefits of an organisation's corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities. CSR refers to "actions that appear to further some social good, beyond the interests of the firm and that which is required by law" (McWilliams and Siegel, 2001, p.117). The majority of research to date has focused on an organisational perspective and demonstrated that engaging in CSR activities results in positive organisational outcomes such as a reduced firm risk (McWilliams and Siegel 2001), increased attractiveness for investors (Aguilera, Rupp, Williams and Ganapathi 2007) and prospective employees (Bhattacharya et al. 2008) and reduced employee turnover (Galbreath 2009). More recently, researchers have turned their attention towards exploring how and organisation's employees respond to CSR activities. Corporate volunteering (CV) is emerging as an important tool through which organisations demonstrate their CSR. A focus on CV answers the call for an employee-centered understanding of CSR. This thesis explores the drivers and consequences of CV for employees and the employing organisation. This study integrates research on functional motivation and organisational support with CV to demonstrate that emploees' integral and external motives offer a perspective towards the CV initiatives in their organisations. This research also contributes to CV literature by examining the consequences of CV for the employee as well as the organisation. As CV involves volunteers who are also regular employees, the researcher expects that participating in CV will have an impact on how employees behave during their regular employment and also for the employing organisation, who in this case are the facilitators of the CV programme. Drawing on social exchange theory and intrinsic motivation theory, the study focuses on organisational outcomes of organisational commitment and work engagement and employee outcomes of job satisfaction and employee health and well-being as a result of CV participation. This study also examined the process through which CV activities influence the above mentioned outcomes. Inconsistencies in findings on research in CV have elicited calls for mediation mechanisms to be identified that will clarify relationships between CV and its outcomes. By focusing on social identity theory, this study suggests that pride and organisational identification (OI) mediates the relationship between employees' attitudes to CV and the consequences. Electronic questionnaires were distributed to employees in organisations that had corporate volunteering initiatives from Malaysia and Singapore. The final sample size after deleting for missing data incomplete questionnaires was 160 respondents. On average, participants were 38 years old with a SD on 9.1 years. 58.2 percent were female and 41.8 percent were male. Partial Least Squares (PLS) was used to analyse the data. The findings suggest that employees participate in CV for a variety of motives, the most significant of which is a desire to experience new learning experiences and to have the opportunity to use these knowledge, skills and abilities that they might not use in their regular jobs. Participating to express altruism, improving relationships with others, protecting the ego from negative features and enhancing positive strivings of the ego proved to be less important. Another important finding is that employees are driven by the support shown by their employers in terms of paid leave and time off. In terms of consequences, the findings suggest that all the dependent variables have a positive relationship with employees' attitudes towards corporate volunteering when mediated by both pride and organisational identification. By conceptualising and examining the relationships in this model, this study makes the following contributions. First, this research integrates several underpinning theories to develop a new theoretical framework that explains the drivers, consequences and mediators of CV. Second, by adopting Clary et al.'s (1998) functional theory and organisational support, this study contributes towards a perspective to explain individuals' attitudes towards their organisations' CV initiatives. It also contributes towards healthy debate on similarities and differences between general volunteering and CV. Third, this study integrates social exchange theory and intrinsic-extrinsic motivation to contribute to the literature on the outcomes of CV by incorporating organisational commitment, work engagement, job satisfaction and health and well-being in one model. Fourth, this study integrates social identity theory and intrinsic-extrinsic motivation theory to examine how pride and organisational identification mediate the processes through which CV activities influence employee outcomes of job satisfaction and health and well-being as well as employer outcomes of organisational commitment and work engagement.

Entrepreneurs use their network tools to access resources and information vital to the business’s survival. Despite a vast amount of research not all topics have been explored in this area, especially regarding women entrepreneurs and their networking activities, more specifically women entrepreneurs in the Arab context. With respect to this, it is necessary to recognize and to explore how women entrepreneurs get access to monetary and non-monetary resources (e.g. capital, employees, information, and customers) to execute their business practices and activities. Gender inequality exists in the entrepreneurial market; especially in developing countries. It has been noticed that in all industrial sectors, women tend to run and manage less firms than their male counterparts. The motive behind this study is to bridge the gender gap, inequality, and inequity in entrepreneurship in the Middle East region, in particular in Saudi Arabia. This is to be achieved by giving the floor to the silenced women to tell their stories. Eleven Saudi women entrepreneurs have been narratively interviewed in order to learn from their experiences, their networking interactions and activities. The study investigates the factors that influence their entrepreneurial network, the intersection between their gender identities and other dimensions of the social divisions such as religion, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic class, the problems they faced during the establishment of their businesses and the strategies that they have employed to overcome those problems. Based upon the collected narratives and using thematic and structural analysis approach, five emergent themes affirm that entrepreneurial networks of women in Saudi Arabia is profoundly based on family members and widely affected by their social-cultural context. The intersection between their gender identity and the other social structural dimensions, e. g. Religion, class and tribal culture, in their daily life brings the complexity to their entrepreneurship, networking and resources acquisition. Gender segregation, social perceptions of women, severe traditions and rules, they all work as network constraints. As a result, many Saudi women have failed to run their business effectively and they have suffered from their networking abilities due to gender inequality in the Saudi culture and society. However, some Saudi women have privileged from new technology and online social networking websites as means to interact with and form new contacts as well as to expand their business ventures to reach new markets. However, other forms of entrepreneurial networking like funding and loans are not very common as female entrepreneurs in Saudi Arabia heavily depend on their families for monetary support. Nevertheless in addition to common resources that are required by any entrepreneurs, there is a different type of resources rather than finance that is necessary for them to start up and run their business and this will be provided by their networks. The findings of the study suggest that growing numbers of women in Saudi Arabia, who are actively challenging the status, governmental reforms and social-cultural changes, urgently require the promotion of women entrepreneurship as being affected by the economy and social aspiration of the country. Thus, the policy makers should take a more strategic approach on a national and international level to empower the Saudi women entrepreneurs and to strengthen their role in Saudi Arabia and provide ample entrepreneurial networking platforms for these women.

Family businesses make significant contributions to gross national product, employment and wealth creation in countries around the globe. In the UK, a third of businesses are regarded as family businesses. Yet despite their economic importance, much of the current legislation on boards (eg Companies Act 2006) fails to recognize the uniqueness of family businesses and their boards. This study explores the diverse approaches to governance within small and medium-sized family businesses (SMFBs) in the UK. It draws on original evidence gathered from 8 case companies by means of longitudinal study and semi-structured interviews. It employs rich narrative, thematic case and cross case analysis to identify similarities and differences between boards using a spectrum of boards and investigates the influence of board roles and show internal dynamics affect directors and their roles during the decision-making process. Building on prior literature, which suggests that boards significantly influence the behaviour of SMFBs, this thesis identifies the importance of family, business and family business aims and stage of the business. It also identifies the importance of, education and skills and relationship using dyads while highlighting the nuances and shifting dynamics of director’s relationships. The findings are used to develop a family business board model which adds to our understanding of how SMFBs function. Finally, it suggests how the new framework might be developed to support SMFBs identify and implement governance structures, and examines the policy and praxis implications of the findings. The thesis demonstrates that family businesses set up their governance around the aims of their business and that informal roles impact on the running of the board which is currently ignored in legislation and ’best practice’ suggestions which tries to suggest ’one size fits all’.

Building on behavioural theory with dynamic capabilities, I have studied how firms create competitive advantage through innovation over time after multiple mergers and acquisitions. This research is focused on the acquirer’s ability towards obtaining performance from product integration and set within the context of highly acquisitive software-houses, those organisations involved in the sales and manufacture of business software products. Within high technology industries, resources are at the heart of the firm and constitute the largest cost. Dynamic capabilities are a more recently extended RBV of the firm to incorporate dynamic markets, I,e, firms in situations of rapid change. In these markets, where the competitive landscape is shifting, the dynamic capabilities by which firm managers integrate, build, and reconfigure internal and external competencies to address rapidly changing environments. To this end, I test the dynamic capabilities theory in the high tech software industry in times of change. In 2012, software firms completed over $66 billion of mergers and acquisitions (Berkery Noyes, 2013). However research suggests that synergies are often left unrealised (Barkema and Schijven, 2008; Léger and Quach, 2009). In addition, the software industry is maturing and the mergers and acquisition activity in the industry has intensified (Léger and Quach, 2009). The highly acquisitive company - seeking rapid growth and using acquisitions as the means to achieve this, is using a recognised route to growth (Damodaran, 2004). In a report from PwC (2014) Rob Fisher, the PwC US technology industry leader notes that With software embedded in virtually everything, software and Internet sector [mergers and acquisitions] deal activity continues to flourish, offsetting declines in other subsectors.” (PWC, 2013): In this longitudinal research I describe, explain and account for the impacts of mergers and acquisitions on innovation, expressed through product integration; - the reconfiguring and combination of the product portfolios within software firms. Concerning the acquiring firm's endogenous growth (the creation of value through internal resource capability), I explain the relationship between organisation capabilities and the innovation outcome as well as the innovation effect on revenue. I find that the dynamic capabilities framework is a suitable for complex empirical study. In addition I find that while the measures including the measured capabilities directly effect product integration and revenues. By using mediation techniques, I also find that revenues are indirectly affected by product integration. Interestingly product integration, negatively impacts the financial performance of the firm. These findings are important for managerial decision making and imply a high level of orchestration requirement. According to the Business Software Alliance, BSA (2008), the software sector has enjoyed meteoric growth. In 2007, the software and related services sector experienced a real annual growth rate of 14%, while the business sector was considerably less. This is reflected by the business, SunGard (2009) who grew endogenously by only 1%. In light of the business problem, I concentrate on highly acquisitive software firms, i.e. those firms seeking growth through acquisition. I conceptualise product integration innovation as a second stage process of organisation integration. I have tested my theory using panel data of highly acquisitive firms, which have undertaken in excess of 900 events over a ten-year period.

Marketing academics and practitioners consider brand positioning to be a key element of modern marketing management, branding, and strategy, given today's increasingly competitive marketplace. By way of its position, an offering seeks to take possession of a unique place in the minds of the targeted consumers, and in so doing, differentiates itself from the competition. Extant research confirms the importance of brand positioning, demonstrating that it positively affects, among other key factors, brand equity and value; consumer loyalty; and customer willingness to search and pay premium for a brand. market share, and the overall financial performance of the firm. Throughout the literature, various positioning typologies have been developed and used in the management and application of positioning. In addition, both firm-centred and customer-centred approaches have been adopted to evaluate the effectiveness and success of positioning strategies. Although considerable amounts of research have been devoted to the management of positioning, these efforts have focussed primarily on the positioning new offerings, re-positioning existing offerings to new target markets. However, despite the accorded importance of an offering's position in the long run, the review fails to identify research devoted to strengthening the already-established position of offerings over time. Consequently, the aim of this study is to empirically examine positioning strategies to strengthen the perceptions of the positions of existing offerings, hereby offering a proactive and deliberate approach to positioning, beyond the scope of extant research on positioning strategies. The lack of suitable theory withing the positioning literature led to a search and eventual use of the decoy effect, a phenomenon explained by theories within social and consumer psychology. In addressing the research aim, the decoy effect provides a theoretically-grounded conceptual framework to underpin the research. This framework proposes that the consumers' perception of the position of an existing offering (denoted in the study as, the Focal offering), is enhanced by the introduction of a new offering that is positioned similar yet inferior to the focal, i.e. an asymmetrically-dominated decoy (denoted as a decoy-positioned offering). This framework is empirically tested within the consumer product domain of washing detergents, and with this use of a field experiment. A 2 x 2 between-subjects design is applied to test the impact of two types of decoys (frequency and range) across two types of positioning bases (feature-, and benefit-oriented positioning). Data, collected using an electronic self-completion questionnaire from a random sample (n = 1200) of adult (18 and above) UK consumers, are analysed using analysis of covariance. The results confirm that the introduction of a decoy-positioned offering enhances the position of the focal offering across the four dimensions of perceived positioning - i.e., favourabilty, differentiation, credibility, and uniqueness. Of these dimensions, the decoy is most influential in enhancing perceived differentiation and uniqueness of the focal offering on the introduction of the decoy. Comparing the two decoys, the results show that the frequency decoy exerts a stronger impact than the range decoy on positioning perceptions. In terms of positioning bases, decoys are found more effective in the context of benefit-oriented positioning as compared to feature-oriented positioning. This study advances the literature in several ways; primarily as the first theoretically-grounded effort to examine how a brand can strengthen the position of existing offerings, thus addressing the calls for a theoretical foundation to investigate the calls for a theoretical foundation to investigate the concept of positioning. The study also demonstrates the prudence of taking into account both the specific dimension of the positioning concept, and the perceived-importance of the attributes on which an offering is positioned. To practitioners, the study provided guidance as to how the firm can strengthen the position of its existing offering amidst the competitive dynamics of today's marketplace.

This research explores how a firm in the electronics industry may achieve competitive advantage through the relationship created with a manufacturing partner when outsourcing manufacturing operations. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with senior decision makers with responsibility for outsourcing in a cross section of companies in the European electronics industry, and with senior executives in contract manufacturing companies based in South-East Asia, to investigate the decision making process and the amount of strategic choice available, and then to investigate what benefits were perceived to have been achieved by the outsourcing firm. The research questions what extent do decision makers consider competitive advantage when deciding to outsource, what competitive advantages, or partnership value, can be created by and can be attributed to the outsourcing partnership and to what degree competitive advantage has been achieved through outsourcing and how sustainable is it likely to be. The research found that the decision to outsource was normally made in order to save costs and/or to enable a firm to focus on core competencies. It was also found that expected cost savings were often not achieved and that some key capabilities were irretrievably lost. What some firms did find, however, was that they achieved some level of competitive advantage from working with their manufacturing partner that they did not expect when they made the decision to outsource, these advantages evolved over time and are grouped into three areas, classified as ‘values’: - Sourcing value - Technology value - Market value Collectively the researcher has termed these as ‘Partnership Value’. Partnership value is the competitive advantage a firm achieves in the marketplace through outsourcing manufacturing and working with its manufacturing partner. The research concludes with a framework that can assist decision makers considering to outsource manufacturing so that they may achieve greater value from the relationship with their chosen manufacturing partner by evaluating factors related to the external and competitive environment and achieving Partnership Value.

This submission provides more than 25 years of historical context to the concept of reward strategy and its evolution in the UK context, isolating and describing my own part in it, supported by my 16 publications referenced on this subject. As well as researching and re-conceptualising ideas of reward strategy and their importance in the UK context, three other key dimensions which my research has highlighted, have been about: focusing more on reward strategy application and securing line manager and employee engagement; the importance of researching and assessing the effectiveness of reward policies and how this can be done; and the need to adopt an organisation-specific, total rewards perspective on reward strategy. I have adapted the concept and my research in response to economic, social and political developments over that period and, uniquely, integrated academic and practitioner perspectives on this area to promote both the creation and application of new knowledge and evidence-based practice. As I have worked on the cusp of academic enquiry and professional practice, a PhD by Publication is a particularly relevant format in which to submit my work. I have in the process created new knowledge at the forefront of the discipline, for example in redefining the concepts of reward strategy and total rewards in an innovative and more effective manner; demonstrated the acquisition and understanding of knowledge in the field, for example in summarising and relating research literature in the formerly relatively distinct areas of reward management and employee engagement; conceptualised and run major research projects, for example investigating reward effectiveness; and displayed a full range of research methods in my work, including quantitative, qualitative, cross-sectional and longitudinal studies. Collectively, my work through the publications listed has offered a detailed exploration of the concept and application of reward strategy in the UK context, bringing together academic and practitioner perspectives and informed by and influencing leading academics and practitioners in the field. This sustained and coherent body of work makes a significant and original contribution to the present state of knowledge on reward thinking and practice and in related HR and management areas.

Firms frequently experience service failures, wherein performance is below customer expectations. Seeking to address service failures, firms deliver service recovery. Extant research suggests that service recovery leads to customer satisfaction and repatronage when perceived to be fair (or just). Prior studies emphasise the role played by employees in delivering fair service recovery. By contrast, the literature overlooks situations where organisational policies such as service guarantees pose a constraint to employee recovery efforts. Service guarantees are widely used across several service sectors, and these policies are invoked when services fail. Hence, service guarantees can be employed as recovery strategies along with employee behaviour, both influencing customer perceptions of fairness, post-recovery attitudes and behaviour. Empirical research that explores customer perceptions of service guarantee and employee behaviour used as recovery strategies is, therefore, topical. This thesis examines the impact of two guarantee terms – payout and ease of invocation – and two types of employee behaviour – concern and communication – on customer post-recovery trust in the firm and in the employee, and in turn, commitment and loyalty. The thesis is theoretically underpinned by three well-established theories – Justice and Attribution Theories from social psychology, and Signaling Theory from information economics. Justice Theory explains how service guarantee and employee behaviour elicit perceptions of recovery fairness. Signaling Theory elucidates how fair service guarantee and employee behaviour influence post-recovery trust, by signaling the trustworthiness of the firm and of employees. The dual lens of Signaling and Attribution Theories explains how a firm’s characteristic of reputation for fairness, and customer attribution of inferred motive influence perceptions of service guarantee and employee behaviour employed as recovery strategies. A scenario-based experiment was conducted in two service contexts – banking and car repair. The data were collected via an online self-completion questionnaire embedding hypothetical scenarios of service failure and recovery. The sample was randomly selected from a consumer panel owned by a reputed UK-based market research agency. The conceptual framework of the thesis was tested by using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The moderating effects of firm reputation for fairness and inferred motive were tested by using the product indicator approach in PLS-SEM. Two pre-tests and a pilot study established the ecological validity of findings and the psychometric properties of the measures. In the main study, 658 valid responses were obtained. Results show that procedural fairness elicited by the ease of invoking the guarantee leads to post-recovery trust in the firm, but distributive fairness elicited by guarantee payout does not. Further, the effects of guarantee payout and ease of invocation are contingent upon the firm’s reputation for fairness. Interpersonal and informational fairness elicited by employee concern and communication at the recovery stage lead to post-recovery trust in the employee. The effects of employee treatment and communication on post-recovery trust are contingent upon inferred motive. Post-recovery trust in the firm and in the employee, in turn, impact customer commitment and loyalty. Consistency of results across banking and car repair enhances the generalizability of findings. This thesis extends knowledge in the domain of service recovery research and broadens understanding of the employed theoretical precepts. First, the thesis establishes that service guarantees employed as recovery strategies elicit perceptions of recovery fairness. Such knowledge offers conceptual development of the Justice Theory framework by enhancing understanding of what fair service recovery constitutes. Second, the thesis introduces a new perspective to signaling research that considers how service guarantee and employee behaviour, with related interplay with firm reputation for fairness, signal the trustworthiness of the firm and of employees, and thus influence customer trust. Third, the thesis contributes to the understanding of the impact of perceived recovery fairness on trust by distinguishing between two trust referents - firm and employee. Fourth, the thesis demonstrates how customer perceptions of service recovery are contingent upon the firm’s reputation and inferred motive.