This study explores the role of managers and manager-owners in decisions to engage the community and select particular social causes. This exploratory study aims to investigate why and how individuals impact on corporate community involvement (CCI) in their organisations. This is of significance in New Zealand as corporate philanthropic funding to the non-profit sector accounts for only three percent, which is low by international comparisons (Tennant, O’Brien & Sanders, 2008). The role of managers and their influence on CCI has been vociferously debated, with some arguing that personal impact should be limited and CCI decisions should be made solely according to profit maximisation. This perspective has used a rational and cognitive model of decision making paired with the Expectancy or reward/reinforcement theory in motivation to argue that management rationally considers the firm and then selects the best strategic option. This study turns to contemporary psychology to propose that managers may use ‘hot’ mental processing, including making CCI decisions based on values, emotions, ideologies and their own sense of identity. This study utilises a two-stage mixed method approach. The first stage investigated six respondents utilising a phenomenology approach to give a detailed description of each manager’s frame of reference and how this frame of reference impacted CCI outcomes. The second stage of this study progressed from a description to offering a theoretical explanation of the phenomenon, investigating the variables influencing how managers expressed their personal frame of reference in behaviour and the consequential impact on CCI decision making. This study found that managers and manager-owners held a strong sense of values, well defined ideologies, emotions, preferences and opinions regarding social issues which constructed the frame of reference surrounding their organisations community involvement. However, the existence of the personal frame of reference did not consistently impact the visible behaviour of individuals or their organisation’s corporate community involvement. Cold or rational thinking was shown to mitigate the impact of hot processing or alternatively post-justify decisions based on hot mental processing to validate the initial decision or alter how it was communicated within the organisation. Whether the personal frame of reference impacted CCI decision-making was influenced by the depth of the frame of reference, the internal mental dialogue regarding the acceptability of effectiveness of hot or cold decision making and task, organisational, and personal variables. This study offers a critique of extant research based on rational cognitive models and offers an alternative explanation for why and how managers champion CCI in their organisations. Further, through providing a deeper understanding of the roles of managers this thesis provides recommendations for non-profit organisations strategising to target the corporate sector for funding and provides some insights into how to mitigate or encourages the use of hot mental processing within CCI decision making.

Brands, and the process of branding, are of considerable importance in both marketing academia and practice. Although most research has focussed on the positive attitudes and behaviours that consumers have toward brands, there is a growing interest in anti-consumption. This thesis contributes to anti-consumption research by exploring the phenomenon of brand avoidance. Earlier studies investigating the avoidance of brands have been one-dimensional, failing to account for the wide range of reasons underlying brand avoidance. Therefore, this thesis addresses the limitations of existing models by providing an integrative and comprehensive approach to understanding brand avoidance. As an anti-consumption phenomenon, brand avoidance concerns the negative interaction between consumers, as social actors, and brands, as meaningful objects, within a social and historical context. Therefore, this thesis adopts an interpretive approach, a social constructionist epistemology, and historical realist ontology. Since research in the immediate area of brand avoidance is limited, this thesis employs a grounded theory methodology to analyse, code, and generate theory from the qualitative data gathered through 23 in-depth interviews. Four main types of brand avoidance (experiential, identity, deficit-value, and moral) and the circumstances in which brand avoidance may be restricted or alleviated (avoidance antidotes) emerge from the data. Existing literatures are used to further inform these findings and an original negative brand promises framework is developed to help increase understanding of the brand avoidance phenomenon. The main components of this research are then integrated into an emergent theoretical model of brand avoidance. This model offers a synopsis of how the various brand avoidance constructs may relate to one another and to other pertinent branding concepts within a consumption system. Combined, the findings of this thesis provide a comprehensive appreciation of why consumers avoid certain brands in addition to potential insights that may be used in the management of brand avoidance. Overall, this thesis contributes knowledge to the growing field of anti-consumption research by providing an innovative overview and an integrative understanding of an under-explored domain, brand avoidance. / Foundation for Research Science and Technology (Project number UOWX0227). The University of Auckland Graduate Research Fund. The Business School Post Graduate Research Grant.

There are many issues involved in implementing Information and Communications Technology (ICT) projects in general, and infrastructure (ICT/I) projects in particular. Failures are still common despite advances in project management tools, and increased ICT sophistication. Executive sponsorship and support is acknowledged to make a difference to the success or failure of these kinds of projects. Little has been written on the views of non-ICT executives about the issues they have with ICT/I projects, which have particular challenges because of their highly technical nature. This research sought to develop a theory not only about what the issues are, from the non-ICT executive perspective, but also how these issues appear in, and may affect the outcomes of, such projects. An interpretive study using single units of analysis within multiple cases, to build an inductively derived theory, was the approach chosen for this research. An adapted grounded theory analysis, following the original Glaser and Strauss (1967) philosophy, was used to analyse data extracted from interviews with fifteen chief executives or equivalents. Three themes arose out of this process: Executive Perceptions of ICT/I; Strategic Alignment of ICT/I projects;ICT/I Project Outcomes The themes had quite strong connections between them. Jargon Barriers between ICT staff and these executives, affected the executives perceptions of ICT/I and were strong contributing factors for a poor strategic alignment between ICT/I projects and business goals. The poor alignment was primarily caused as a result of low levels of executive engagement with these projects, because they couldn’t understand the “techno-speak” of their ICT people. The consequence was consistently low satisfaction with ICT/I project life cycle outcomes. There was a very real difference between the satisfaction levels of executives who had made definite efforts to overcome, or deal with, the ICT/I jargon barriers, and those who hadn’t. there was a very real difference between the satisfaction levels of executives who had made definite efforts to overcome, or deal with, the ICT/I jargon barriers, and those who hadn’t. The substantive theory developed from this work is that: Jargon barriers created by ICT staff generate poor relationships between ICT staff and their executives, which in turn can cause low levels of executive engagement with their infrastructure projects, and consequently affect executive perceptions about the outcomes of these projects.

There are many issues involved in implementing Information and Communications Technology (ICT) projects in general, and infrastructure (ICT/I) projects in particular. Failures are still common despite advances in project management tools, and increased ICT sophistication. Executive sponsorship and support is acknowledged to make a difference to the success or failure of these kinds of projects. Little has been written on the views of non-ICT executives about the issues they have with ICT/I projects, which have particular challenges because of their highly technical nature. This research sought to develop a theory not only about what the issues are, from the non-ICT executive perspective, but also how these issues appear in, and may affect the outcomes of, such projects. An interpretive study using single units of analysis within multiple cases, to build an inductively derived theory, was the approach chosen for this research. An adapted grounded theory analysis, following the original Glaser and Strauss (1967) philosophy, was used to analyse data extracted from interviews with fifteen chief executives or equivalents. Three themes arose out of this process: Executive Perceptions of ICT/I; Strategic Alignment of ICT/I projects;ICT/I Project Outcomes The themes had quite strong connections between them. Jargon Barriers between ICT staff and these executives, affected the executives perceptions of ICT/I and were strong contributing factors for a poor strategic alignment between ICT/I projects and business goals. The poor alignment was primarily caused as a result of low levels of executive engagement with these projects, because they couldn’t understand the “techno-speak” of their ICT people. The consequence was consistently low satisfaction with ICT/I project life cycle outcomes. There was a very real difference between the satisfaction levels of executives who had made definite efforts to overcome, or deal with, the ICT/I jargon barriers, and those who hadn’t. there was a very real difference between the satisfaction levels of executives who had made definite efforts to overcome, or deal with, the ICT/I jargon barriers, and those who hadn’t. The substantive theory developed from this work is that: Jargon barriers created by ICT staff generate poor relationships between ICT staff and their executives, which in turn can cause low levels of executive engagement with their infrastructure projects, and consequently affect executive perceptions about the outcomes of these projects.

Brands, and the process of branding, are of considerable importance in both marketing academia and practice. Although most research has focussed on the positive attitudes and behaviours that consumers have toward brands, there is a growing interest in anti-consumption. This thesis contributes to anti-consumption research by exploring the phenomenon of brand avoidance. Earlier studies investigating the avoidance of brands have been one-dimensional, failing to account for the wide range of reasons underlying brand avoidance. Therefore, this thesis addresses the limitations of existing models by providing an integrative and comprehensive approach to understanding brand avoidance. As an anti-consumption phenomenon, brand avoidance concerns the negative interaction between consumers, as social actors, and brands, as meaningful objects, within a social and historical context. Therefore, this thesis adopts an interpretive approach, a social constructionist epistemology, and historical realist ontology. Since research in the immediate area of brand avoidance is limited, this thesis employs a grounded theory methodology to analyse, code, and generate theory from the qualitative data gathered through 23 in-depth interviews. Four main types of brand avoidance (experiential, identity, deficit-value, and moral) and the circumstances in which brand avoidance may be restricted or alleviated (avoidance antidotes) emerge from the data. Existing literatures are used to further inform these findings and an original negative brand promises framework is developed to help increase understanding of the brand avoidance phenomenon. The main components of this research are then integrated into an emergent theoretical model of brand avoidance. This model offers a synopsis of how the various brand avoidance constructs may relate to one another and to other pertinent branding concepts within a consumption system. Combined, the findings of this thesis provide a comprehensive appreciation of why consumers avoid certain brands in addition to potential insights that may be used in the management of brand avoidance. Overall, this thesis contributes knowledge to the growing field of anti-consumption research by providing an innovative overview and an integrative understanding of an under-explored domain, brand avoidance. / Foundation for Research Science and Technology (Project number UOWX0227). The University of Auckland Graduate Research Fund. The Business School Post Graduate Research Grant.

There are many issues involved in implementing Information and Communications Technology (ICT) projects in general, and infrastructure (ICT/I) projects in particular. Failures are still common despite advances in project management tools, and increased ICT sophistication. Executive sponsorship and support is acknowledged to make a difference to the success or failure of these kinds of projects. Little has been written on the views of non-ICT executives about the issues they have with ICT/I projects, which have particular challenges because of their highly technical nature. This research sought to develop a theory not only about what the issues are, from the non-ICT executive perspective, but also how these issues appear in, and may affect the outcomes of, such projects. An interpretive study using single units of analysis within multiple cases, to build an inductively derived theory, was the approach chosen for this research. An adapted grounded theory analysis, following the original Glaser and Strauss (1967) philosophy, was used to analyse data extracted from interviews with fifteen chief executives or equivalents. Three themes arose out of this process: Executive Perceptions of ICT/I; Strategic Alignment of ICT/I projects;ICT/I Project Outcomes The themes had quite strong connections between them. Jargon Barriers between ICT staff and these executives, affected the executives perceptions of ICT/I and were strong contributing factors for a poor strategic alignment between ICT/I projects and business goals. The poor alignment was primarily caused as a result of low levels of executive engagement with these projects, because they couldn’t understand the “techno-speak” of their ICT people. The consequence was consistently low satisfaction with ICT/I project life cycle outcomes. There was a very real difference between the satisfaction levels of executives who had made definite efforts to overcome, or deal with, the ICT/I jargon barriers, and those who hadn’t. there was a very real difference between the satisfaction levels of executives who had made definite efforts to overcome, or deal with, the ICT/I jargon barriers, and those who hadn’t. The substantive theory developed from this work is that: Jargon barriers created by ICT staff generate poor relationships between ICT staff and their executives, which in turn can cause low levels of executive engagement with their infrastructure projects, and consequently affect executive perceptions about the outcomes of these projects.

Brands, and the process of branding, are of considerable importance in both marketing academia and practice. Although most research has focussed on the positive attitudes and behaviours that consumers have toward brands, there is a growing interest in anti-consumption. This thesis contributes to anti-consumption research by exploring the phenomenon of brand avoidance. Earlier studies investigating the avoidance of brands have been one-dimensional, failing to account for the wide range of reasons underlying brand avoidance. Therefore, this thesis addresses the limitations of existing models by providing an integrative and comprehensive approach to understanding brand avoidance. As an anti-consumption phenomenon, brand avoidance concerns the negative interaction between consumers, as social actors, and brands, as meaningful objects, within a social and historical context. Therefore, this thesis adopts an interpretive approach, a social constructionist epistemology, and historical realist ontology. Since research in the immediate area of brand avoidance is limited, this thesis employs a grounded theory methodology to analyse, code, and generate theory from the qualitative data gathered through 23 in-depth interviews. Four main types of brand avoidance (experiential, identity, deficit-value, and moral) and the circumstances in which brand avoidance may be restricted or alleviated (avoidance antidotes) emerge from the data. Existing literatures are used to further inform these findings and an original negative brand promises framework is developed to help increase understanding of the brand avoidance phenomenon. The main components of this research are then integrated into an emergent theoretical model of brand avoidance. This model offers a synopsis of how the various brand avoidance constructs may relate to one another and to other pertinent branding concepts within a consumption system. Combined, the findings of this thesis provide a comprehensive appreciation of why consumers avoid certain brands in addition to potential insights that may be used in the management of brand avoidance. Overall, this thesis contributes knowledge to the growing field of anti-consumption research by providing an innovative overview and an integrative understanding of an under-explored domain, brand avoidance. / Foundation for Research Science and Technology (Project number UOWX0227). The University of Auckland Graduate Research Fund. The Business School Post Graduate Research Grant.

Current New Zealand health policy encourages collaborative health promotion in all sectors of health service delivery. The integrated approach to the acute management of coronary heart disease in a coronary care unit, combining medical therapy and lifestyle change, supports clinical health promotion. The aim of this study was to use the grounded theory approach to discover the main concerns of nurses' promoting health in an acute coronary care setting and to explain the processes that nurses used to integrate health promotional activities into their practice. Seventeen registered nurses from three coronary care units within a large metropolitan city in New Zealand were interviewed. Data were constantly compared and analysed using Glaser's emergent approach to grounded theory.The main concern for nurses promoting health within coronary care was ritualistic practice. In this study, ritualistic practice concerns the medically-based protocols, routines, language and technology that drives nursing practice in coronary care. This concern was resolved via the socio-cultural process of attitudinal shifting that occurs over time involving three stages. The three conceptual categories, environmental pressures, practice reality and responsive action are the main components of the theory of attitudinal shifting. In environmental pressures nurses experience a tension between specialist medically-dominated nursing practice and the generalist nursing role of promoting health. In practice reality, nurses become aware that the individual needs of patients are not being met. This causes role conflict until the nurse observes colleagues who role model possibilities for practice, working with patients to promote health. Responsive action sees the nurse engaging in self-development, also focusing on the nurse-patient relationship, thereby enabling active patient involvement in individual health-promoting decisions.The findings from this research have implications for nursing practice and education. With the increasing specialisation in nursing practice, these findings may be of interest to nurses working in delegated medical roles where the reality of everyday practice precludes nurses from undertaking their essential nursing role. Health care facilities also need to ensure that there are opportunities for the personal and professional development of nursing staff. The place of health promotion within nursing undergraduate curricula needs to be examined, as many nurses found that they were ill prepared for undertaking health promotional activities.

Education is development. It helps to create choices and opportunities for people, reduce the twin burdens of poverty and diseases, and give a stronger voice in society. For nations it creates a dynamic workforce and well-informed citizens able to compete and cooperate globally - opening doors to economic and social prosperity.This study examines how a small group of students coped under conditions of adversity. It follows in the tradition of a wide body of qualitative work that has investigated ethnic minorities and their educational experiences. Much of the existing work, however, focuses on merely describing thematically and/or conceptually, what goes on. This study aims to construct an integrated conceptual understanding of how a minority group engaged in the coping process. More specifically, this study seeks to develop a substantive theory that can help explain and predict human behaviour. Grounded theory methodology was used in aid of the theory development process (Glasser and Strauss, 1967). Put simply, grounded theory is an inductive methodology that attempts to understand action from the perspective of social actors (Brooks, 1998).To uncover the coping process, the Turangitukua students and their Hapu (sub tribe) in New Zealand are used as the main data source. Two other student groups were used for comparative purposes. Data was obtained by a number of means; including interviewing, focus groups, hui (meetings), and documentary analysis. The collected data was summarised and analysed over a two- year period.This study contributes to three areas of research. First, it adds to the small but growing body of work relating to Turangitukua hapu (sub-tribe) in New Zealand. Second, it contributes to research in the area of Maori and non-Maori relationships, especially work that focuses on interaction. And finally, it adds to the formal theoretical literature on indigenous educational settings and its management.

Little is known about how employees in New Zealand companies view their organisation’s involvement in community-based initiatives that attempt to address areas of social needs. Understanding what people and organisations think from their frame of reference (Taylor & Bodgan, 1998) on ways of contributing to enhance community wellbeing is of high importance within a nation growing in diversity, and where everyone needs to fully participate in building a harmonious society (Ministry of Social Development, 2005; Swanson, 2002). Despite abundant extant research and many models already developed, frameworks in this area are fragmented. A case study approach has been adopted using one New Zealand Company to test a preliminary framework, Stakeholders and Organisational Enablers Relationship (SOER) Model, that analyses “the nature of relationships in terms of processes and outcomes for the business and its stakeholders” (Jones & Wicks, 1999, p. 207). From investigating the company’s community involvement from the employees’ perspective, results indicate that this particular company is engaging with the community, supporting and empowering employees to participate in the company’s community programme and thereby making a difference in the community by giving to the community. However, in general terms, solving recurring social, economic, political and psychological issues that influence social wellbeing requires cooperation between public, private, and voluntary sectors of the community (New Zealand Ministry of Economic Development, New Zealand Ministry of Social Development, New Zealand Dept of Labour, & New Zealand Dept of Statistics, 2003; Roberts & King, 1989; Steane, 1999). While the results from the case company reported in this study demonstrate that community engagement is being taken seriously by exemplary private sector companies, generalisation of these findings would require further cross-sectional research across industries and organisations from all sectors: private, public and voluntary.