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Corporate strategy has gained a lot of traction in academic discourse as a critical field that ensures organisational success and the role of informal structures in achieving this success has also gained a lot of focus. However, several scholars have pointed out that most of the studies on informal structures have used western and Asian socioecological narratives to contextualise informal structures. The contextual gap identified by the study and the assumptions by scholars that African, Asian and Western contexts have huge variances prompted the study to explore the contextual gap in South Africa. After defining the contextual gap, the critical question that the study sought to answer was; How are informal structures responding to corporate strategy within a South African context? To answer this question the study used an interpretive approach and a single case study to draw from the subjective experiences of 30 employees using in depth interviews. To ensure the abstraction of high-quality data the study utilised heterogeneous purposive sampling to draw insights from informed participants which in turn enabled the study to explore diversified perspectives. The study established that the socio ecological context of the organisation had both positive and negative influence on the employee's desire to accept or reject corporate strategy. The study established that the positive influence enabled smooth flow of information, flexibility, fulfilment of social needs and sharing of ideas. However, the study also established that the negative influence which manifested in resistance to corporate strategy, social fragmentation, conflict and political bickering outweighed the positive influence. The study concluded by adopting a strategic management model and extending it to contain the negative attributes of the socio-cultural environment with the hope that the model may enable the organisation to positively influence informal structures.

Entrepreneurship research has begun to recognise the role of people's lived experiences and significant life events prior to their venturing. Still, little is known about how adverse events shape founder identities and entrepreneurial motivation. My study uses an identity theoretical lens to consider the influence of founders' adverse life experiences on their venturing efforts. I asked the research question: How do adverse life events shape entrepreneurs' identity construction efforts and their venturing motives? Using a qualitative, grounded theory approach and life course methodology, I collected and analysed in-depth life story data of nine founders over the course of three years. These founders came into venturing under exceptionally adverse conditions in an informal economy context in Cape Town, South Africa. I found that adverse life experiences prior to venturing intentions or activities led to disconfirmed identities. The interplay between these disconfirmed identities and salient social identities played an integral role in founders' self-esteem and identity construction strategies in their efforts to restore a sense of coherence in their lives. These identity dynamics gave rise to distinct pathways resulting in different motives for establishing their ventures. My study enriches the literature on founder identity by detailing the significance of multiple forms of adversity on founders' identity construction and behavioural responses. By illuminating the relationship between the sources of adversity and salient social identities, I demonstrate the far-reaching consequences of adverse life events prior to venturing on founders' identities and entrepreneurial motives. It challenges the widely-held notion that founders in contexts of poverty are a homogenous group of entrepreneurs motivated by their basic needs. My study offers novel insights into the lived experiences of township entrepreneurs and contributes to scholarly knowledge on entrepreneurial adversity, identity and motivation in an under-researched context of poverty.

The global workforce that has been experiencing greater challenges in the past two decades specifically related to commitments required to transform gender inequality (ILO, 2016). With the increase of women in the labour market over the past thirty years, research interest grew on understanding the underrepresentation of women in key managerial position largely driven by scholarship in Europe and the West (Omar & Davidson,2001). Consequently knowledge production on women in management have grown exponentially in the West but to a lesser extent in Africa (Nkomo & Ngambi, 2009). Albeit a complex challenge of producing management theory and knowledge in Africa (Nkomo, 2017). Therefore, further research is required in understanding the underrepresentation of women in senior management in Africa (Zama, N. 2016). The objective for this research is to expand our understanding of the exclusionary practices in the management ranks that perpetuate the underrepresentation of women in management. This study addressed several research questions to uncover the subtle and overt practices of exclusion in the management ranks. A phenomenographic research method was followed with a study sample size of 40 to understand the impact of these exclusionary practices on the lived experiences of women in senior management whilst exploring concepts perpetuating the phenomenon (Ajjawi & Higgs, 2007). The chosen research methodology allowed the researcher to make it meaningful for people living the experience and scientifically rigorous for theorizing. It is in uncovering these exclusionary practices that meaningful theories are developed that guide the direction of future research as it is the collective wisdom of scholarship that a deeper understanding of this phenomenon will emerge.

Den här studien fokuserar på vilken påverkan tillgänglighet, bekvämlighet och tid har på konsumenters köpintention vid köp av skönhetsprodukter via q-commerce. Undersökningen baseras på teorier utifrån konsumentbeteende, köpintention och konsumentens köpprocess som har föranlett utvecklingen av q-commerce. Tillsammans med tidigare forskning gällande digitalutveckling, mobilshopping och leveransservice presenteras teorier för att skapa en förståelseför vad som påverkar konsumenter till köp via q-commerce. Studien genomfördes med hjälp aven webbaserad enkätundersökning via sociala medier samt ett allmänt anslag via en lärplattform i Högskolan i Borås. Det som framgår av studiens resultat är att samtliga hypoteser kan accepteras gällande att ju högre konsumenter värdesätter tillgänglighet, bekvämlighet och snabb leveranstid, desto större är sannolikheten att de väljer att genomföra köp av skönhetsprodukter via q-commerce. Det kan förklaras av att respondenterna värdesätter en lättillgänglig, bekväm och snabb köpprocess, vilket har påverkat utvecklingen av q-commerce samtidigt som skönhetsprodukter anses vara en produktkategori som är efterfrågad i kontext till q-commerce. Resultatet som presenteras i den här studien går inte att generalisera till en större population. Dock ger resultatet en indikation på ett konsumentbeteende som fördelaktigt kan ligga till grund för framtida forskning gällande utvecklingen av q-commerce inom skönhetsbranschen men även för applicering på andra branscher med liknande attribut. Då qcommerce är ett nytt forskningsområde finns det relativt lite forskning om ämnet, vilket gör att framtida forskning bör ta hänsyn till en större population samt kontrollera konsumenters faktiska beteende. Vidare bör framtida studier förslagsvis använda sig av andratillvägagångssätt genom att granska utifrån ett företagsperspektiv samt bredda avgränsningen och inte bara fokusera på köp av skönhetsprodukter. / The focus of this study is if availability, convenience and time have an impact on consumers’ purchase intentions when purchasing beauty products through q-commerce. The survey is based on theories that describe consumer behavior, purchase intention and the consumer's buying process that have influenced the development of q-commerce. Together with previous research regarding digital development, mobile shopping and delivery service, theories are presented to create an understanding of what influences consumers to buy through q-commerce. The study was conducted with a web-based survey through social media and the platform of University of Borås. The results of the study emerge that all hypotheses can be accepted regarding the fact that the more customers value availability, convenience and fast delivery, the greater the probability that they choose to make purchases of beauty products through q-commerce. This can be explained by the fact that the respondents value a buying process that is accessible, convenient and fast which has affected the development of q-commerce and that beauty products are considered a product category that is in demand in the context of q-commerce. The results that are presented in this study cannot be generalized to a larger population due to the sampling method that has been used. However, the results give an indication of consumer behavior that can advantageously be used in the beauty industry for future research regarding the development of q-commerce, but also in other similar industries. Since q-commerce is a new research area, there is minimal existing research on the subject, which means that future research should take a larger population into account and control consumers' actual behavior. Furthermore, future studies should suggest using other approaches by examining from a company perspective and broadening the boundaries and not just focusing on the purchase of beauty products.

Since the first time that internet was introduced to the world many things about it has changed. E-bay, Amazon, Facebook, Google, Ytube, Expedia are just a few examples that superimpose the obvious sense that almost all aspects of doing business has already emerged with or it is about to adopt the futures that the World Wide Web offers. Moreover now days with the use o Facebook, Jommla!, Drupal the use o internet come up to the level of users and as a result we have the increase of many Self Generated Brands. There is no doubt about it; the Internet and e- commerce has changed the way the world does business. The evolution in food commerce is inevitable. It started from the personal farming to local green grocers and Super Markets. It is a matter of time that internet will emerge with the food commerce. E-commerce and internet in general, however, is not a perfect system. The ambiguity of the Internet makes it easy for sites to appear credible, even when such credibility is not warranted. The Internet and e-commerce have the ability to revolutionize the world of agriculture, livestock, fishing , bakery etc . When everything runs smoothly, the system works great. However, what happens when the Achaia potato you bought turns out to be Egyptian? Or you find out the person you were chatting with lied about their yields? How exactly do you know you can trust the person or company that you are dealing with online? Not everything on the Internet is secure and not everything is credible. Furthermore it should be clearly stated to all of us that internet is not(yet) the one that produces ,delivers, consumes the products. It is just an audio visual mediator. / Από την πρώτη στιγμή που εισήχθη στο internet στον κόσμο πολλά πράγματα γι 'αυτό έχει αλλάξει. E-bay, Amazon, Facebook, Google, Ytube, Expedia είναι μερικά μόνο παραδείγματα που υπερέχουν την προφανή αίσθηση ότι σχεδόν όλες οι πτυχές της επιχειρηματικής δραστηριότητας έχει ήδη προκύψει με ή πρόκειται να λάβει τα futures ότι το World Wide Web προσφορές. Επιπλέον, τώρα ημέρες με τη χρήση o Facebook, Jommla!, Η χρήση του Drupal o internet έρχονται μέχρι το επίπεδο των χρηστών και ως αποτέλεσμα έχουμε την αύξηση του πολλά εμπορικά σήματα που δημιουργούνται Εαυτό. Δεν υπάρχει καμία αμφιβολία γι 'αυτό? Το Διαδίκτυο και το ηλεκτρονικό εμπόριο έχει αλλάξει τον τρόπο που ο κόσμος κάνει τις επιχειρήσεις. Η εξέλιξη στο εμπόριο τροφίμων είναι αναπόφευκτη. Ξεκίνησε από την προσωπική καλλιέργεια στις τοπικές πράσινο παντοπωλεία και σούπερ μάρκετ. Είναι θέμα χρόνου ότι το Διαδίκτυο θα προκύψει με το εμπόριο τροφίμων. E-commerce και internet σε γενικές γραμμές, ωστόσο, δεν είναι ένα τέλειο σύστημα. Η ασάφεια του Internet το καθιστά εύκολο για τους χώρους να φαίνονται αξιόπιστες, ακόμη και όταν η αξιοπιστία δεν είναι δικαιολογημένη. Το Διαδίκτυο και το ηλεκτρονικό εμπόριο έχει τη δυνατότητα να φέρει επανάσταση στον κόσμο της γεωργίας, της κτηνοτροφίας, της αλιείας, κλπ αρτοποιείο. Όταν όλα δουλεύουν ρολόι, το σύστημα λειτουργεί μεγάλο. Ωστόσο, τι συμβαίνει όταν η πατάτα Αχαΐας που αγοράσατε αποδειχθεί ότι είναι Αιγύπτιος; Ή μπορείτε να μάθετε το πρόσωπο με το οποίο συζητούσατε είπε ψέματα σχετικά με τις αποδόσεις τους; Πώς ακριβώς δεν ξέρετε ότι μπορείτε να εμπιστευθείτε το πρόσωπο ή εταιρεία που ασχολούνται με online; Δεν είναι όλα στο διαδίκτυο είναι ασφαλής και δεν είναι όλα αξιόπιστα. Επιπλέον, θα πρέπει να αναφέρεται σαφώς σε όλους μας ότι το Διαδίκτυο δεν είναι (ακόμη) το ένα που παράγει, προσφέρει, καταναλώνει τα προϊόντα. Είναι απλώς ένα οπτικοακουστικό μεσολαβητή.

博士(商学) / Doctor of Commerce / 同志社大学 / Doshisha University

博士(商学) / Doctor of Commerce / 同志社大学 / Doshisha University

博士(商学) / Doctor of Commerce / 同志社大学 / Doshisha University

博士(商学) / Doctor of Commerce / 同志社大学 / Doshisha University