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Globalisation, increasing competition, turbulent economic environments, and technological changes have shifted the significance of traditional assets as primary resources in sustaining competitive advantage for organisations. Whilst traditional assets remain valuable, knowledge sharing has become increasingly recognised as another critically important factor. Arguably, the use of knowledge sharing mechanisms (personal socialisation and electronic socialisation) and structural capital dimensions such as network ties, network configuration, network stability, and centrality will impact organisational performance. Thus hypothetically, knowledge sharing mechanisms are likely to affect organisational performance through the mediating role of structural capital dimensions. However, the existing literature has largely overlooked the association between knowledge sharing mechanisms, structural capital and organisational performance. Subsequently, the holistic integration of the above constructs remains under-explored. As a result, this study examines the direct and indirect effects between knowledge sharing mechanisms and structural capital on organisational performance. In addition, it validates a conceptual framework and tests a range of research hypotheses. Using a hypothetic-deductive approach, a research instrument was developed based on the existing literature. The piloted research instrument was administered to a census of the UK Top 500 companies listed in the FAME database. A useable response from 167 chief executives, chief operating officers and top managers surveyed resulted in a 33.4% response rate. Multivariate analysis results indicate the internal reliability (total Cronbach Alpha values) of retained factors ranging from .72 to .90. Structural equation modelling (SEM) show adequate goodness of fit indices: CMIN/DF=1.11, NFI=.97, GFI=.91, CFI=.98, TLI=.99, and RMSEA=.03. Results demonstrate that structural capital mediates the relationship between knowledge sharing mechanisms and organisational performance: the hypotheses were confirmed. Moreover, electronic socialisation was shown to have a positive significant effect on operations performance. This study successfully validated the conceptual framework derived from a range of relevant theories. The study provides unique insights into how knowledge sharing mechanisms interacted with structural capital which leads to organisational performance: In integrating the aforementioned research constructs this study fills theoretical gaps by broadening the conceptualisation of the structural capital dimensionality and organisational performance facets. As a result, this study advances our understanding of organisational performance determinants. Accordingly, it provides managerial implications based on the results obtained. Limitations of the methodological approach and avenues for further studies are discussed.

This research studied the influence of leader-member exchange (LMX) relationships on employee job performance, organizational citizenship behaviors, and turnover intention. Mediation effects of self-efficacy and social loafing are also examined. Leader-member relationships were examined from the two different perspectives of social LMX and economic LMX proposed by Kuvaas, Buch, Dysvik and Haeram (2012) and results compared with Scandura and Graen’s (1984) traditional LMX-7 construct. Temporal effects of LMX relationship building were also investigated by considering the influence of dyad tenure on both the quality of economic and social LMX relationships and other study variables. The framework for the research adopted a hypothetico-deductive methodology. The sampling frame comprised 227 leader-subordinate dyads drawn from Omani Higher Education Institutions. Subjects completed the following instruments: Kuvaas et al’s,. (2012) economic and social leader-member exchange relationship scale; Scandura and Graen’s (1984) LMX-7 scale; Williams and Anderson’s (1991) employee job performance; Van Dyne and LePine’s (1998) organizational citizenship behavior; Cammann, Fichman, Jenkiins, and Klesh’s (1979) employee turnover intention; Riggs, Warka, Babasa, Betancourt, and Hooker’s (1994) employee self-efficacy scale; and George’s (1992) social loafing scale. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling and analysis of variance. Findings support the use of the two distinct economic and social LMX scales proposed by Kuvaas et al., (2012). Results revealed that ELMX was negatively associated with work performance and positively associated with employee turnover intention. Results also revealed that SLMX was positively associated with work performance and negatively associated with employee turnover intention. Social loafing and self-efficacy were found to mediate the relationships between SLMX/ELMX exchanges and employee job performance and turnover intention. These results provide further support for the two-dimensional SLMX/ELMX model. The study has also revealed that the quality of SLMX and ELMX relationships differed as dyad tenure increased. Those whose tenure ranged from 13 to 24 months produced the highest scores of ELMX and social loafing, and the lowest scores on job performance. Dyads whose tenure was in the highest category had the highest job performance and the lowest ELMX relationships. This study provides further empirical evidence that LMX relationships have consequential effects on employee outcomes in the workplace, and new evidence of the influence of dyad tenure on the development of LMX relationship over time. Findings also provide a cross-cultural comparison of LMX research by conducting the field study in a non-western culture. It also brings new evidence to the LMX differentiation literature by explaining how a leader can respond to different employees’ needs and requirements. Human resource implications for practice are highlighted. Considering the economic aspect of the relationship would likely assist managers to restructure rewarding systems/compensation and benefits packages that would further enhance subordinates positive outcomes. Managerial training programs seem a worthwhile for supervisors to enable them respond to both aspects of the relationship. Recommendations for future research are also discussed.

This study examined Chinese workers' interpretations of the key psychological contract concepts of 'obligation', 'promise' and 'the other party'. It also explored how Chinese workers described their implicit employment terms. Although the findings of this thesis may be context-constrained, the related discussions and implications provide general and useful insights for the psychological contract and its literature. A qualitative methodology was adopted for the research. The sampling frame comprised 61 Chinese workers in Xiamen and Fushun, recruited by a variety maximisation strategy. Data were collected primarily through semi-structured interviews, whose duration (recording time) was between 22 and 98 minutes (with a mode of 30-45 minutes), and analysed with the general guidance provided by the template analysis (King, 2004). It was found that 'obligation' was an ambiguous term in the Chinese employment context, suggesting a possibility that 'obligation' may not be unambiguous in other contexts either. The findings on the notion of 'promise' in China revealed that it carried strong moral significance and had emotional importance, leading to a reflection that the theoretical specifications of promise (Rousseau, 1995) had not been appropriately reflected in prior empirical research. It was also found that the immediate supervisors were very powerful 'the other party' in the Chinese employment context, implying that empirical psychological contract studies may not appropriately reflect the theory or phenomena, especially in light of the revealed complexities of Chinese employment arrangements. The Chinese workers' employment experiences revealed that their perceived implicit employment terms were below the terms specified in their legal contract, if a contract was existent. This finding was found to relate to perceived significant power gaps between employment parties by participants, which were embedded in the complex relationships between the zone of negotiability, the societal context of employment and the powerful leader positions in China. The discussion, and reflection, of these findings at an integrated level suggests that the existing theory lacks adequate theoretical clarity to appropriately inform deductive studies. It also suggests that the majority of empirical results, consequently, may need to be re-examined. This thesis concludes that the psychological contract is a useful concept to make sense of events, beliefs and experiences at work, but there are urgent needs for further theoretical developments, especially with regard to power and morality, and thus more grounded research in order to make it an adequately testable theory.

Motivation and its effect on employees’ performance is a broad, interesting, and important issue particularly for Human Resources Management (HRM). Motivation is the power behind individuals’ actions. For organisations’ high performance and maximum productivity motivation, programmes should be efficiently utilized. Leader Member Exchange (LMX) which is employed as a mediator in this empirical study between employees' motivation and job performance has also its influence on employees' job performance. Researchers have investigated motivation and its effect on job performance and developed theories which indicate and reflect the importance of these topics to organisations. The General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) is the organization of concern in this study. GACA is a public sector organisation which is located in Saudi Arabia. It has about 2500 employees. A quantitative methodology was employed to collect data from GACA's employees where 480 questionnaires were administered to all sectors of GACA in the headquarters in Jeddah, of which 319 were usable to be analysed. Exploratory factor analysis was employed to purify the refine factors of the main constructs, followed by confirmatory factor analysis to verify the factors and determine the constructs' psychometric properties. The hypothesised relationships were tested by employing structural equation modelling based on partial least square procedures. Mediation effects were examined using the Sobel test. The findings indicate that factors were reliable, valid and consistent with the employed motivation and LMX theories. Details of the nineteen factors produced from the five constructs and four dimensions of the conceptual model Figure 3.2 are presented in chapters five and six. All but two hypotheses of this study were supported, the exceptions being (H4: Job security and LMX are positively related, and H8, Work environment and LMX are positively related) which were rejected, as the relationships were not significant. This implies that employees' motivation in its all different forms has strong influence on employees' job performance when properly implemented and utilized. However in regard to GACA, which is a public sector organisation, the respondents' responses suggest that employees are not influenced by the motivation system as there is strong concern about, for example, the opportunities for training and development courses, rewards, incentives, allowances, promotion, HRM practices, etc., which imply that reform is needed and consequently job performance is not high. In reform of the motivation system, the administration or top management should take a strategic approach that is factual, effective and efficient, which would reflect on HRM practices, human resource development, LMX and all related parties. This would structure and constitute a much better and more constructive work environment, conductive to high job performance.

The present research examines how emotional intelligence, cognitive styles and leader-member exchange influence Organisational Citizenship Behaviours (OCB) on different levels (individual level and group level). There is increasing evidence to indicate that individuals’ perceptions and abilities play an essential role in explaining and predicting organisational citizenship behaviours (e.g. Van Dyne and Butler Ellis, 2004; Morrison and Phelps, 1999). The focus of this study is building on this body of research by examining the influence of cognitive style theory, leader-member exchange (LMX) and emotional intelligence (EI) on OCB. Although cognitive style preferences are known to influence one’s attitudes and behaviours toward others (e.g. Kirton, 2003; Charbonneau and Nicol, 2002), no study has previously focused on the relationship between cognitive styles and OCB. Another growing body of literature indicates that emotional intelligence (EI) and cognitive styles can be considered as predictors of the quality of leader member exchange relationships (LMX) (e.g. Allinson et al, 2001; Charbonneau and Nicol, 2002), which positively relate to OCB (e.g. Ilies et al. 2007). However, no previous studies have considered the mediating role of LMX in the relationship between EI, cognitive styles and OCB. Furthermore, no study has yet examined the effects of group level emotional intelligence and group composition in relation to cognitive style diversity on OCB. These are the areas where the present study attempts to make a significant contribution to new knowledge in the field of organisational citizenship behaviour research. Based on the extant literature, a research framework has been developed to identify the relationship between the three factors of cognitive styles, EI and LMX on organisational citizenship behaviours. The overarching purpose of the research is to enhance our understanding of how to cultivate employees’ organisational citizenship behaviours and how to better organize group members into more effective working groups. The research is conducted in the context of Chinese manufacturing firms and employs a quantitative approach using a range of reliable and valid instruments. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) and multilevel modelling (MLWIN) are then applied to analyze the relationship between the independent variables (cognitive styles, EI and LMX) and the dependent variable (organisational citizenship behaviours). Results from a final sample size of 865 individuals comprising supervisors and their immediate subordinates are reported. The study successfully determines the relationship between emotional intelligence, LMX, cognitive style and organisational citizenship behaviour. As expected, high level of emotional intelligence leads to higher quality organisational citizenship behaviours at both individual and group levels. Moreover, as hypothesised, the quality of LMX plays a mediating role in the relationship between both leaders’ emotional intelligence and intuitive style and followers’ organisational citizenship behaviours. Practical implications are given and recommendation made for future research.

An increasing number of organisations are attempting to enhance their pool of available talent as there has been a shrinking pool of potential effective key leaders. Organisations are interested in developing and further enhancing their leaders to boost their efficiency and effectiveness in order to retain a competitive edge. Therefore, this thesis seeks to identify the extent of the capacity gap in leadership, determine the key competencies required in leaders that are influenced by personality and recommendations for averting a capacity gap in the banking industry in Malaysia. Prior research has demonstrated the beneficial consequences of leadership attributes. However, with the recent financial turbulence and economic meltdown, the subject of leadership has become an intense area of discussion in many fields, such as business, industry, government and even education. As a result, major changes in the way leadership is perceived, sustained and developed are required to understand leadership complexity. The emergence of such leadership, in contrast, has received less scholarly attention, particularly in the banking industry in Malaysia. To address these issues, the personality traits (Big Five Personality Model), Competencies (Great Eight Competency Model) and Leadership Styles (Multi-Factor Leadership Questionnaire) to transform average leaders to good/effective leaders in the banking industry of Malaysia are examined. This study, with a sample of 150 leaders, first revealed that the personality of introverted leaders who prefer to be modest, silent and approachable is more appropriate than that of extroverted leaders. These introverted leaders tend allow followers to be more open to discuss issues and bring about changes. Secondly, in terms of competencies, it was found that important competencies such as ‘leading and deciding’; ‘supporting and cooperating’; and ‘interacting and presenting’ are lacking in leaders. Thirdly, transformational leadership style appears to be positively related to personality but transactional leadership style did not show any relationship with personality. More specifically, the transformational leadership style was shown to make a major contribution, in contrast with previous studies, where it favoured females rather than males gender. In addition, sub-attributes of transformational leadership style showed that males are more effective than females in terms of ‘idealised influence’ and ‘intellectual stimulation’, while the reverse is the case for the sub-attributes of inspirational motivation’ and ‘intellectual consideration’. Importantly, the study reveals that in order for females to be visible and successful in senior level management or as CEOs, these sub-attributes of ‘idealised influence’ and ‘intellectual stimulation’ have to be enhanced in order for them to be seen as role models, to outshine males’ gender, and to be effective leaders. These findings confirm the crucial role of minimising the leadership capacity gap in building, maintaining effective leaders and developing a pool of potential leaders within the banking industry. In sum, this thesis provides empirical evidence for minimising the leadership capacity gap. It also builds new theory to further advance these areas of research. Thus, the thesis contributes to a better understanding of the development of effective leadership for the banking industry in Malaysia. It indicates important directions for future research and outlines practical recommendations on how to nurture personality traits, competencies and leadership styles.

This research examines how Western expatriate managers adapt, learn, acquire tacit knowledge, and develop when working in China. The research draws on literature associated with expatriate studies, experiential learning theory, and knowledge acquisition in order to develop an expatriate learning process model. Following on from this, the study then examines expatriate learning outcomes from four perspectives: learning style transition, adaptive flexibility, global mindsets, and managerial tacit knowledge. Moreover, our model positions learning style as a mediator that affects the likelihood that expatriate managers will actively engage in their international assignment experiential learning, which in turn leads to global manager development. In particular, the study adopts a pseudo longitudinal research method that examines Western expatriate managers with different lengths of assignment tenure to better understand how expatriates learn and develop over time. Finally, the study investigates how Western expatriate managers with substantial work experience in China differ from host Chinese managers in terms of learning styles and levels of accumulated managerial tacit knowledge to provide deeper insights into expatriate learning. Data were collected in Western MNCs’ subsidiaries in China. The survey includes self-administered questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. The target populations comprise Western expatriate managers and host Chinese managers. The research seeks to understand more fully the kinds of learning strategies successful expatriates adopt in order to quickly adapt to intercultural business contexts. The study also contributes to understanding of expatriates’ learning outcomes from international assignments leading to recommendations for more effective expatriate training prior to international assignments. The study also draws comparisons between Western expatriate managers with differing levels of work experience in China (upto 1 year; 1 - 3 years; 3 - 5 years; > 5yrs) and host Chinese managers to better understand temporal aspects of expatriate adjustment and expatriate learning during their international assignments.

In recent years, the concept of Authentic Leadership has become an important area of interest and study, encompassing, as it does, personal beliefs and values and how they are aligned and lived in one’s everyday leadership experience, (Cooper et al. 2005; Avolio & Gardner, 2005; Luthans & Avolio, 2003). However, whilst the literature surrounding it is ever-increasing, the concept and construct of Authentic Leadership is fragmented; complicated by different theorists’ perspectives and compounded by a lack of empirical research, particularly within the UK, (Gardner et al. 2011). Based on Novicevic et al.’s (2006) conceptualization, differentiating Authentic Leadership between its psychological and philosophical components, this research presents a new theoretical model of Authentic Leadership. A 4-factor model was developed and empirically tested using a classic psychometric approach, (Nunnally, 1978; Kline, 1979), and a 360° feedback design, as leaders have been shown to over-estimate their self-reported scores compared to subordinate and peer feedback ratings, (Atkins & Wood, 2002). Critically, the model was developed and tested using real leaders rather than students, who are generally more accessible to researchers, (Lagan, 2007). It is hypothesized that the resulting model and statistical data may therefore have greater validity and applied relevance than other comparative research in the field completed utilizing student populations with little or no, real-world leadership experience. Three UK leadership populations were employed: two business leader samples and, for the validation study, senior serving Royal Air Force officers. A 3-factor model emerged which both simplifies and unifies previous theoretical conceptualisations of Authentic Leadership. Whilst not a direct part of the research study, the author suggests that potentially, all modern leadership failures may be traced back to a deficiency in any one of these 3 ‘Pillars’ of Authentic Leadership: Self-Awareness, Self-Regulation or Ethics. Implications for Authentic Leadership Development are identified and some suggestions for future research into the field made.

This thesis investigates the relationship between emotional intelligence (EI), leadership styles and outcomes of leadership, within the workplace environment of the National Health Service (NHS) in the UK; which is endemic with change (Allen, 2009; Iles & Cranfield, 2004). The broad question posited is: Within the context of change, what is the nature of the association between EI, leadership styles and leadership outcomes, from the perspective of both leaders and their followers? There is a dearth of published research on EI and leadership within the context of change which makes this study particularly timely. The study employs two different models of EI that have evolved from ‘ability-based’ (Palmer & Stough, 2001; Mayer & Salovey, 1997) and ‘personality-based’ (Bar-On, 1997; Higgs & Dulewicz, 2002) theoretical perspectives. This is the first substantive study to have embraced both models and the intention here was to identify similarities and differences between the two perspectives in the context of organisational change leadership. Although there is extensive research on leadership, there still exists an acute need for EI and leadership research based on follower perspectives (Lindebaum & Cartwright, 2010; Notgrass, 2010). This study addresses this gap by investigating both leader self-perceptions and follower-perceptions of their leaders. This study has been conducted in two phases. Phase 1 focuses on leader self-perceptions. Phase 2 focuses on the combination of leader self-perceptions and follower-perceptions of their leaders. In Phase 1, this thesis postulates that within dynamic environments such as the NHS, different types of linkages can be argued between EI and the different leadership styles (Transformational Leadership, Transactional Leadership and Laissez Leadership) while suggesting that EI will predict Transformational Leadership. Furthermore, this thesis postulates that EI and Transformational Leadership will have a positive impact on leadership outcomes. In Phase 2, this thesis considers both leader and follower perspectives and identifies leaders who overestimate, underestimate or are in-agreement with followers, in evaluating their own Transformational Leadership capabilities. Based on this, the leaders are classified into self-other-agreement categories of overestimators, underestimators, in-agreement/good and in-agreement/poor leaders. Thereafter, this thesis postulates varying levels of leader EI and Outcomes of Leadership (depending upon their self-other-agreement categories) as adjudged by their followers. Similar differences across the self-other-agreement categories of the leaders are predicted in terms of the linkage between EI and Transformational Leadership as perceived by the followers. The ontology of this research is realist and the epistemology is positivist (Burrell & Morgan, 1979). Data has been collected in two phases - from leaders in the NHS and then their reporting staff. Phase 1 target population was identified as NHS staff in leadership positions involved in implementing change management initiatives. Phase 2, target population was identified as the direct reports of phase 1 participants. Phase 1 entailed purposive judgment sampling followed by random sampling. Phase 2 adopted convenience sampling. Both phases were completed through surveys. In phase 1, leaders completed a self-report of the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire, the Swinburne University Emotional Intelligence Test (SUEIT) and the Higgs & Dulewicz Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire (EIQ). The Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale has been employed to check for possible response bias. Self developed research items were employed to obtain information regarding the extent and nature of the respondents’ involvement with change. Leaders, who consented to participate in phase 2, identified 3 to 5 reporting staff for participation. In phase 2, reporting staff completed rater-forms of the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire and the EI 360 degree questionnaires. A number of qualitative interviews have been conducted with leaders to obtain contextual data regarding the nature of the changes, impacting upon the lives of NHS staff. Phase 1 findings based on self-ratings of leaders indicated a strong positive relationship between EI and Transformational Leadership, and between EI and one factor of Transactional Leadership (contingent reward). Contrary to the hypothesis, a negative relationship was found between EI and Laissez Faire Leadership. Regression analysis revealed that both the EI models significantly predicted Transformational Leadership. Furthermore, both EI and Transformational Leadership demonstrated a strong positive relation with Outcomes of Leadership. This study also reports higher Transformational Leadership scores for females and higher EI scores for females according to one of the Swinburne University EI model. Supplementary findings showed that; while predicting Transformational Leadership, the Higgs and Dulewicz EI model had incremental predictive validity over the Swinburne University EI model. Phase 2 findings based on follower perceptions confirmed the postulation that overestimators demonstrate lower EI and Outcomes of Leadership than other leader categories. Underestimators were perceived as manifesting higher EI and higher Outcomes of Leadership. The link between leader self-ratings of EI and follower-ratings of their leaders’ Transformational Leadership across the self-other-agreement categories was also examined. Findings supported arguments that EI and Transformational Leadership will be significantly associated for overestimators but not for underestimators. Some contradictory results were generated for the in-agreement/good/poor categories in terms of EI and Transformational Leadership correlations. These contradictory findings may be attributable to the difference in the factorial constitution and psychometric properties of the two EI models. More research is also recommended on the in-agreement sub-categorisation of focal leaders as good/poor. This study provides empirical evidence suggesting that EI predicts Transformational Leadership, effective in the context of change. EI also positively correlated with aspects of Transactional Leadership, helpful in successfully leading change. Therefore, investing in training and development of leaders’ EI has the strong potential improve the ability of change leaders. Underestimators were rated by followers as the highest on EI and Outcomes of Leadership, while overestimators were adjudged as the lowest on EI and Outcomes of Leadership. Therefore, underestimating leaders are arguably most suited to effectively lead dynamic change, as in the NHS. Female leaders manifested higher Transformational Leadership and also higher EI on one of the EI models. This provides some justification to enhance leadership responsibilities of women within transformational environments like the NHS. The clear indication that high EI predicts Transformational Leadership and high EI relates to lower Laissez-Faire Leadership can have recruitment and selection implications favouring the appointment of individuals with high EI in the NHS facing endemic change. However, there is a need to exercise caution and not simply use EI measures alone for placements and recruitment/selection. Nonetheless these results and the measures of EI and leadership could be beneficial in self development, career counselling and other social contexts in the National Health Services.

The ability of an organisation to transfer knowledge is one of the key sources of competitive advantage for many of today’s organisations (Argote, 2000). New knowledge is created through interactions between explicit and tacit knowledge (Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995). From the distinction between explicit and tacit knowledge made by Polanyi’s (1966), it is clear that the former can be transferred with relative ease, particularly using recent advances in information technology. Transfer of tacit knowledge on the other hand, requires social interactions with peers, colleagues, mentors and supervisor (Lahti et al, 2002; Cavusgil et al, 2003). Difficulties associated with this have been referred to as ‘internal stickiness’ (Szulanski, 1996) and is believed to be due to several factors. This study examines difficulties associated with the transfer of managerial tacit knowledge in the relationships involving supervisor and subordinates who work as managers in the Malaysian public sector. After examining previous literature in the field it is hypothesised that the stickiness of knowledge transfer may be associated with the quality of leader member exchange relationships, especially between leaders and their ‘in-group’ versus ‘out-group’ members. For example, in-group relationships are associated with higher levels of trust, respect and obligation compared with out-group relations. Another construct known to be associated with the quality of dyadic relationships is cognitive style (Armstrong, 1999). Cognitive style refers to individual differences in ways of perceiving, organising and processing information and differences in ways in which individuals solve problems, take decisions and relate to others. The research employed a quantitative approach using survey methods. Instruments used in the study included a measure of knowledge transfer stickiness (Szulanski, 1996), Leader Member Exchange (LMX7) (Graen and Uhl-Bien, 1995), Tacit Knowledge Inventory for Managers (TKIM) (Wagner and Sternberg, 1989) and the Cognitive Style Index (CSI) (Allinson and Hayes, 1996). The survey was administered to 1200 managers in the Malaysian Public Sector and 344 completed surveys were returned representing a response rate of 28.7%. Results from a final sample size of 300 managers comprising supervisors and their immediate subordinates are reported. The study successfully determined the relationship between knowledge transfer stickiness, LMX, cognitive style and managerial tacit knowledge. As expected, high-quality LMX leads to higher quality exchanges and concomitant improvements in the transfer of managerial tacit knowledge. Moreover, as hypothesised, individual differences and similarities in cognitive style also influence the transfer of tacit knowledge between supervisor and subordinate. Practical implications are given and recommendation made for future research.

There have been recent calls for further research into the sharing of managerial tacit knowledge to enhance individual and organisational performance. This, due to a lack of knowledge of current practices of knowledge sharing, especially in developing countries, has been the motivation behind this research. The study examines the roles of personality traits in facilitating knowledge sharing practices and managerial tacit knowledge transfer among managers working in high and low performance local governments. Specifically, the study examines the direct relationship between knowledge sharing practices and tacit knowledge among 308 managers working in local governments. Secondly, this study explores the differences between knowledge sharing practices, tacit knowledge and individual performance among managers working in high and low performance local governments. Thirdly, this study also explores the role of personality traits as moderators of the relationship between knowledge sharing practices and tacit knowledge with individual performance. A triangulation approach combining questionnaire and interviews was used in the study. The questionnaire was distributed to middle managers of 35 Malaysian local government engaged in a Star Rating System. There were 358 completed questionnaires returned, but only 308 were useable. To support the results from the quantitative data, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 8 managers from Malaysian Local Governments of high and low levels of performance representing 4 main categories: City Hall, City Council, Municipal Council, and District Council. The results provided general support the majority of hypotheses of the study. Specifically, mentoring programme (competence), individual codification, institutional personalization and institutional codification were related to managerial tacit knowledge transfer. Tacit knowledge associated with managing oneself, managing tasks and managing others were significantly related to knowledge sharing practices. Unexpectedly, there were no significant differences in knowledge sharing practices, levels of accumulated managerial tacit knowledge, or individual performance between high and low performance local governments. Finally, results indicated that the agreeableness dimension of individual personality interacted with mentoring programmes in a way that predicted individual performance. Furthermore, agreeableness and conscientiousness dimensions of personality interacted with tacit knowledge associated managing self and managing tasks to influence individual performance. The openness dimension interacted with tacit knowledge associated with managing others to influence individual performance. This study adds to the limited body of empirical research in knowledge management, particularly within the Malaysian public sector. It represents a comprehensive survey and explanation of knowledge management in Malaysia. The relationship between knowledge sharing practices and tacit knowledge variables and their interaction with sub traits of personality in terms of individual performance suggests that it would be beneficial to the Ministry of Housing and Local Government in Malaysia to manage tacit knowledge as a way of enhancing individual performance. Contributions to the theory and practice, limitations and implications of the study are discussed.

This thesis aims to investigate nascent entrepreneurship. Developing a new business is a complex and uncertain process. Different types of individuals react to this uncertainty in different ways. It is argued that cognitive factors play a critical role in the venture creation process and that the cognitive milieu of the individual nascent entrepreneur will impact on the founding process and survival chances of new small businesses. In particular this study investigates how cognitive style impacts on the ability of nascent entrepreneurs to recognise opportunities and develop trading businesses. The research was conducted assuming a realist ontology and positivist epistemology. A range of validated and reliable psychometric instruments were administered to nascent entrepreneurs from research sites across the UK. A major strength of this research is that it was conducted within the nascent stage reducing the risk of hindsight bias. Following an extensive review of the literature a range of hypotheses were developed and tested. Principally located within the psychological domain the thesis also acknowledges the impact of behavioural dispositions on the founding process. The findings indicated that cognitive style was not a predictor of nascent entrepreneurship but that it was highly influential on the process of founding new businesses. Both intuitive and analytic nascent entrepreneurs started businesses. There was no difference in the survival rates of the businesses they founded. However the research identified that the process of business formation and survival developed in different ways. Cognitive factors such as self-efficacy and behavioural dispositions such as proactive personality were identified as significant moderators within this process.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the antecedents and consequences of commitment in the developing nation of Qatar. Specifically, the influence of personal variables, job characteristics, organizational characteristics, and facets of job satisfaction of employees were investigated in relation to affective, continuance, and normative commitment. A survey questionnaire was used to collect data from a random sample of 780 employees from government, public, and private sector companies and completed questionnaires were received from 544 employees representing a response rate of 69.7%. Research data were tested using Pearson's correlation, Analysis of variance, and T-Tests. Statistically significant relationships were found between affective/normative commitment and almost all of the personal characteristics. However, only two demographic variables were statistically related to continuance commitment. Results indicated that employees with a high level of education, who were male, married with dependents, with long tenure and contract employment, reported higher levels of commitment than others. Interestingly, non Qatari employees showed higher levels of commitment than Qatari employees. Relationships between job and organizational characteristics and components of organizational commitment were found to be significant, although the relationships were only weak to moderate. Generally, the results indicated that the lack of equity, inefficient personal growth, lack of job security, lack of autonomy, lack of task identity, and insufficient feedback on performance were stated as possible reasons for low commitment in this study. Relationships were also found between job satisfaction variables and affective and normative commitment. However, relationships between continuance commitment and job satisfaction variables were weak. Regarding consequences of OC, the research found that increasing organizational commitment among employees led to lower turnover intentions and more acceptance of organizational changes.

This study explored the broad learning patterns associated with the acquisition of managerial tacit knowledge. The study then proceeded to examine whether levels of accumulated managerial tacit knowledge (LAMTK) may be associated with managers' learning styles and/or the extent to which a person's style is consonant with the context of their work environment. The possibility that deliberate learning strategies normally associated with formal rather than informal learning would be unrelated to LAMTK was also examined. The research employed a cross-sectional, mixed-method approach incorporating both qualitative interview and survey data collection. For the qualitative element, interviews were conducted with 14 public sector managers based on a method developed by Nestor-Baker (1999). For the quantitative element, survey data were collected from 356 public sector managers attending management development training courses at the Malaysian National Institute of Public Administration. Respondents completed a questionnaire designed to measure tacit knowledge based on Stemberg et al's (2000) Tacit Knowledge Inventory for Managers, learning styles based on Geiger et al's (1993) normative version of Kolb's Learning Style Inventory, learning strategy based on Warr & Downing's (2000) Learning Strategies Questionnaire, and a range of other self developed items. The interviews revealed that most managers were unaware of the learning associated with the acquisition of tacit knowledge, as it occurs in an unplanned and unintentional manner. Several adult learning principles such as reflection and learning from experience emerged from the analyses. While learning styles were found to be significant in predicting LAMTK, a rather surprising finding was that learning strategies, believed to be associated with declarative as opposed to tacit knowledge, were also related to LAMTK. Based on these findings it was concluded that the process of tacit knowledge acquisition involves the interaction of learning that takes place in both formal and informal settings. Outcomes of the research suggest that in management development initiatives, formal approaches should be blended with informal approaches in order to achieve effective learning.

The conceptual focus of this thesis is equal employment opportunity (EEO) when applied to a public personnel management system. In particular it fills a void in evaluating the concepts of Representative Bureaucracy and Management Diversity in both principle and practice, and in comprehending the extent to which their objectives can be translated into practical recruitment procedures. Moreover, the importance of organisational context is crucial. The study investigates how the merit principle can be sustained in a work environment where culture adversely affects organisational efficiency and EEO issues. The Omani public bureaucracy was taken as a case study. The study evaluates whether merit recruitment is embedded into the HRM system as demanded by the country's 1996 Basic Law. Oman faces serious challenges that necessitate efficient recruitment policy that can lead to an effective workforce. On the economic front, while population is rising, oil reserves are decreasing. Thus, the hiring of qualified civil servants is now essential for the country's future development. Politically, the governing elite gather public institutions under their command and operate on informal, personalistic and tribally-oriented work values. The result is a personnel and administrative system where public posts are filled based on nepotism, favouritism and ascriptive criteria, rather than on the basis of achievement and merit. The study argues that the time for reform has arrived to deal with challenges efficiently. After building a generic model of merit-based HRM, analysing the context of the public bureaucracy in Oman, examining the functions of personnel laws and institutions, and evaluating current recruitment activity in both policy and practice, a field study was undertaken to answer the study's questions and to test its hypotheses. The findings suggest that a Weberian type of rational-legal bureaucracy needs to be established. Despite the argument of the collapse of this approach in some western liberal democracies public personnel systems, the research shows that the basic concept of merit still survives in professional practice in other parts of the world where cultural values and social norms are preserved in the work-place. It particularly 'fits' the Omani context and provides an efficient EEO approach. The study confirms that blind imitation of western approaches may not be applicable or useful in developing states. Finally, the theoretical implications of the research are highlighted, with specific recommendations to ensure responsiveness to the merit-based recruitment model adopted by the study. The thesis should be of interest to both students and practitioners of public administration in the Arab Gulf region in particular, and developing countries in general.