In an organisation, escalation of commitment represents behaviour of decision makers who become committed to failing courses of action. This behaviour usually derives from the decision makers’ reluctance to acknowledge their failed action in the initial allotment of time and resources, and thus taking actions to manifest their prior decision were correct and they will be achieving the planned goal.   In a single day of 1996 during a climbing expedition destined to summit Mt Everest, eight people lost their lives, including the climbing team leaders, in part due to the decision made that led to the teams to engage in escalation behaviour.  The climbing teams in the 1996 Mt Everest expedition serve as examples of temporary organisations in an extreme setting. The purpose of the research is to explore insights on the aspects promoting escalation on the Mt Everest tragedy and shed some light into how escalation manifests in temporary organisations. The factors that might be found will be applicable only to this particular case; nevertheless they might contribute on the overall development of how escalation comes about in temporary organisations. The research question of this study is how aspects promoting escalation where present in the 1996 Mt. Everest expedition?   For many years different theories attempted to explain the factors that promote escalation behaviour. The most important theories were combined together into a theoretical framework developed by Staw and Ross (1987a), which contains four major determinants of commitment in escalation: project, psychological, social and organisational. This framework is applied in this qualitative study based on the 1996 Mt Everest case. The study was executed through the analysis of the firsthand accounts of the survivors and observers present on the mountain that year as well as mass media outputs, the framework of escalation was used as an assistance tool for making sense of the findings the research may produce.   The results of the study managed to place the line of events in the determinants framework and identified all four types of determinants of commitment taking place through the progress of the expedition. A new organisational determinant of commitment was found (pursuit of enterprise growth) which yielded significant practical implications and might also lead the way for future research on escalation of commitment in temporary organisations.

For many years, the development of an Emissions Trading Scheme to mitigate against climate change has been one of the most controversial political issues in New Zealand, particularly since the obligation for emission reduction is placed on some of New Zealand‘s most productive organisations. This thesis explores the variation in corporate responses to climate change and searches for the underlying drivers which motivate and/or inhibit action. A sample of organisations obligated to reduce emissions under the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme was selected, and interviews were conducted with senior managers with designated responsibility for the issue. A narrative analysis of interview transcripts was used as the methodology. The Bansal and Roth (2000) Model of Corporate Ecological Responsiveness was selected as a framework to consider the motivating logics (including competitiveness, legitimacy, and social responsibility) emerging from the narratives, and insights from other theoretical models applied. In some cases, the findings were explained in ways anticipated by the literature. But in other cases, the results diverged from expected outcomes. Competitiveness was the most commonly attributed motivation influencing corporate responses to climate change, followed by legitimation seeking and, least frequently, social responsibility. However, it was clear that most responses, and actions, were informed by mixed motives, rendering the Bansal and Roth model insufficient for capturing the complexity of organisational motivations underlying their responses to environmental issues. Factors of influence, particularly issue salience of consumers, played an important role in determining similarities and divergence of response to climate change issues. Where there were synergies between the factors, it encouraged proactive organisational actions. The results showed a range in managerial attitudes and organisational responses to climate change, in relation to risks and opportunities. Some results suggested that organisations respond in similar ways to climate change based on a convergence of institutional pressures, whereas in other cases organisations seemed to be driven to seek a competitive advantage in being as different as legitimately possible, leading to a divergence in responses. This research revealed that political and market uncertainties were seen as a barrier to corporate response. Where synergies existed between economic, institutional and market forces, it was attractive for firms to innovate and differentiate. Overall, the insights gained from this study may provide a greater understanding of the concerns of the business community towards climate change and what conditions will be most conductive to encouraging corporate climate change action.

Festivals and other events are often seen as important means for contributing to the positive image of a place and for increasing visitor numbers, for involving the local community and for creating job opportunities. Organising an event involves the temporary coordination of performers, an audience, volunteers, sponsors and other partners, and in the end an event is simultaneously produced and consumed. When the music has stopped or the actors have come off stage, when the audience has gone home and the premises have been cleared of rubbish, there might be few signs of an event having ever taken place. However, the value of an event is seen to extend beyond its immediate boundaries. This dissertation looks at event organising from a resources perspective. Which resources are engaged, and how do they contribute? Key questions that emerge concern the event’s connection to the place where it is held, how different actors are included or excluded and finally how the aesthetic aspects of an event attract resources. The study draws on observations of five cultural events and interviews with artistic directors, managers and collaboration partners. / <p>Diss. Stockholm : Handelshögskolan, 2008</p>

This thesis investigates why British Asians are under-represented as professional footballers proportionally to their numbers in the overall population. Fundamentally, it is both an account of how young, male, British Asian footballers interpret and explain their under-representation in the professional game, and a critical analysis of the strategies and policies employed by the anti-racist football movement to overcome this phenomenon. The central problematic is that anti-racist football organisations are often out of touch with contemporary manifestations of "Asianness" and so the ideologies that underpin their schemes and initiatives are often in direct conflict with the attitudes and aspirations of young, male, British Asian footballers themselves. Using ethnographic research methods - namely semi- structured interviews with large numbers of professional and amateur British Asian footballers, professional football coaches and members of anti-racist football organisations, together with observations of matches, training sessions and social occasions involving British Asian players - this thesis seeks to overcome the previous "silencing" of British Asian footballers. It places their oral testimonies at the centre of the analysis of exclusion. Theoretically, this thesis examines how football interacts with issues of `race', ethnicity, nation, class, locality, family, generation, religion, style and consumption to construct new articulations and experiences of "Asianness". Consequently, the analysis calls for sociological frameworks that no longer essentialise and dichotomise "South Asian" and "British" cultures but that, instead, appreciate how, in the twenty-first century, these elements are actively fused to create specifically British Asian identities and lifestyles. In this regard, this thesis provides a sensitive and timely contribution to the fields of ethnic and racial studies, football and young people.

This thesis examines the National Confederation of Employers' Organisations (N.C.E.O.), and its attitude towards the unemployment problem between the Wars. Chapter 1 deals with the origins and the development of the Confederation. Founded in 1919, the N.C.E.O. specialised in employers' labour and social interests, and on both subjects, it emerged as a recognised political force. For the Confederation, however, unemployment provided a meeting place for the politics of work and the politics of social welfare. Chapter 2 examines the N.C.E.O.'s attitude towards the prevention and reduction of unemployment between the Wars. Although it was prepared initially to collaborate with the Government and the trade unions in backing direct measures to tackle unemployment, the N.C.E.O. eventually lost interest. From 1925 until the mid 1930's it argued that unemployment was mainly a function of a rigid wage structure and high standards of State social welfare. In particular, it directed criticism against Government spending on the maintenance of the unemployed. Chapters 3 and 4 deal with the N.C.E.O.'s attitude towards the unemployment insurance scheme during the 1920's. The Confederation wanted a low-benefit, low-cost scheme, which would preserve the distinctions between wage-earners and the unemployed and minimise the financial responsibilities of employers. This objective was pursued in politics, but with limited success. Chapter 5 examines the N.C.E.O.'s attitude towards the Poor Law and public assistance during the same period. The Confederation wanted to separate the insured unemployed and transfer the long-term workless to the public assistance authorities, and it argued that this should be done in conjunction with a general reorganisation of poor law relief. Chapter 6 deals with the N.C.E.O.'s role in the debate on the unemployed after 1929. It played a prominent part in the controversy over the unemployment insurance scheme in 1931, and it was actively involved in the political debate which preceded the introduction of the Unemployment Act in 1934. During these years political opinion favoured the N.C.E.O.'s views on the unemployed, and to some extent, these views were recognised by the 1934 Act. The thesis concludes that the N.C.E.O. was an important employers' organisation. Although it exercised little direct influence over Government unemployment policy, it helped to translate ideas about unemployment and the unemployed and shape the political context in which certain policies were devised and implemented.

Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) are major strategic initiatives undertaken by many organisations. Within the construction context, these have been used, amongst others, to accelerate growth, reduce the effects of the construction cycle, enter into new markets, and spread risk. During the last decade, M&A were recognised as the preferred vehicle for expansion into the global construction market. Major European and international construction organisations use mergers or acquisitions to increase their geographical coverage and business portfolio. Mergers and Acquisitions impact on a number of organisational dimensions ranging from `soft' issues such as organisational culture to `hard' issues such as IT integration. Four specific aspects of mergers and acquisitions are investigated within this thesis. These are as follows: Strategy, Business Portfolio and Performance Measurement of construction organisations and the impact of M&A on subsequent performance; the Acquisition Strategy adopted for entering emerging markets such as Central and Eastern Europe; the Impact of Mergers and Acquisitions on construction companies' Information Systems and Information Technology (IS/IT); and an Investigation of Knowledge Management Strategies for organisations that have undergone mergers and acquisitions. The thesis adopts a qualitative research methodology. An extensive literature review was conducted on mergers and acquisitions with particular emphasis on its use within the construction sector. The literature review provided a sound basis for theory development and identified areas in which further understanding was requiired. A multiple case study approach was selected for each of the four aspects studied and the data was obtained using semi-structured interviews. Based on the case study data, analysis and discussion were conducted resulting in conclusions for each of the four aspects investigated. The research concluded that Mergers and Acquisitions were an important vehicle for construction organisations to achieve growth, and expand geographically into new markets and new sectors. However,. the implications of mergers and acquisitions need to be understood and the processes . before, during and after the merger or acquisition is finalised need to be carefully planned and communicated to the relevant parties. Mergers and Acquisitions'- can offer' tremendous advantage to an organisation and several recommendations are made regarditig how the process may be improved within the construction context.

The voluntary sector is growing in importance; in fundraising turnover, number of players and marketing professionalism. This study explores the process by which the fundraising organisations define and develop their propositions to the market. Starting with an observation that organisations with very different history and tradition present themselves to the market in similar ways, it investigates how three leading Swedish organisations create the basis for their propositions to the market of donors, which in fundraising practice jargon is called the Case for Support. Drawing upon research in philanthropic giving and organisational identity, the author suggests a theoretical framework for such a fundraising Case for Support. It recognises two main sources of influence, an external market source driven by donors, consumer image and behavioural trends and an internal mission driven source, defined by organisational history, values and programme track record. In the playing field between Market and Mission an organisation can reflect, develop and communicate their Case for Support – and their own "selves".

Charities are important in modern Australian society because they provide a substantial proportion of the health, community welfare, education and religious services available in the community (Australian Bureau of Statistics 2002). Yet despite their social and economic importance, charities are often characterised in the media as being less accountable than either for-profit entities or government sector organisations. Annual reports are widely regarded as an important means of acquitting accountability in the corporate and government sectors and may be one of the means by which charities can improve stakeholders' perceptions of their accountability. Yet little is known of the annual reporting behaviours of charities or whether annual reports have the potential for improving perceptions of accountability among their stakeholders and the wider community. This research focuses on a class of charities termed &quotpublic fundraising charities" (those that raise funds from the public rather than just their members), and the role that annual reports play in acquitting accountability and improving perceptions. The research uses a new combination of theories that have previously been used separately to explain accountability and annual reports in other sectors, and using the insights from these theories, examines the role of annual reports in a population of public fundraising charities in Queensland. The major findings of this research are that annual reports have both functional and symbolic roles in the system of accountability of public fundraising charities. Functionally, annual reports are a useful and generally valued means by which public fundraising charities communicate a wide range of types of information about their activities and their performance to interested parties. Symbolically, annual reports also serve as an important signal of assurance to those who receive them. For those who prepare them, annual reports serve as useful signals of managerial and governance competence to those whose opinion is salient to preparers. Annual reports also have a role in the system of accountability for the maintenance of the mission of these organisations, in ways that statutory reports and returns do not. This research makes three original contributions to the literature. First, it provides for the first time a detailed analysis of the role of annual reports in a system of accountability for public fundraising charities in Australia. Second, a new theoretical lens is proposed and tested for its descriptive and explanatory power in the examination the accountability of nonprofit organisations. Third, it makes an original contribution to accountability theory by identifying the importance of the annual report as a quality signaling device. The results of this research will be of use to public fundraising charities, regulators and policy makers, as they respond to the calls for charities to demonstrate that they are accountable.

This project is concerned with developing an understanding of systems of regional renewal (defined as where a restructuring of regional industries or technologies takes place or where new firms or industries emerge). The framework used for the study was an adapted version of the Holmen-McKelvey analytical tool designed for the systematic study of regional renewal. This included analysing social capital, organisations, and path dependency. As the study was concerned with understanding the operation of regions which by nature are complex systems, the study made use of a qualitative case study method. Four case studies were analysed in depth, two each from Germany and Australia: Dresden, Freiberg, Adelaide, and the Barossa. The conclusions from the research are twofold. The thesis argues that the Holmen and McKelvey framework varies across regions and that that the variation can be explained by the ‘varieties of capitalism’ literature. That is, regional renewal systems work differently in different regions because regions are part of a national political-institutional context (or variety of capitalism). First, the paths to regional renewal vary across regions. There are many and varied contributing factors to regional renewal and a holistic approach is needed in analysing the sources of regional renewal as well as in formulating regional policy. Social capital and path dependency in particular were important across all four cases, suggesting that social capital can enable the mobilisation of regional attributes and that historical and context specific aspects of a region need to be considered in regional direction setting. While some contribution by these factors was consistent across all four cases, their apparent strength and the nature of their contributions varied. The roles of universities, government bodies, multinational corporations, small-and-medium-sized enterprises, technology parks, non-university research bodies, and industry associations displayed even more variation amongst the cases suggesting that there can be no ‘cut and paste’ or one-size-fits-all approach to regional renewal. Before policy is formulated and implemented, there needs to be a systemic analysis of regional assets and deficiencies. Second, the thesis suggests that renewal systems work differently in different regions because regions are part of a national political-institutional context. Different paths to regional renewal can be explained in terms of different institutional capacities for state-led coordination and governance of the regional institutional environment. The thesis puts forward the proposition that we might expect national structures to impact on the functioning of systems of regional renewal. The case analysis suggests that we might expect coordinated attempts at regional renewal involving several actors to be more successful in coordinated market economies than in uncoordinated market economies. The four cases in this research indicate the national business system impacts on the local level. Five key differences between the German and Australian cases were: the approach of the state at a regional level, social capital, the education and training system, policy continuity, and multinational embeddedness. National policies provide a critical role of strategic planning at the local level. How can an uncoordinated market environment at the national level which includes a focus on competition and anti-trust facilitate cooperation between firms and other actors at the local level which is seen as critical for coordinated attempts at regional renewal? Thus a key lesson from this research is that to achieve regional renewal, different regions require locally appropriate policies supported by national directions.

Loneliness in the workplace has received relatively little attention in the literature. The research surrounding loneliness tends to focus almost exclusively on personal characteristics as the primary determinant of the experience, and largely ignores the workplace as a potential trigger of loneliness. As such, personality tends to be overestimated as the reason for loneliness, whilst only modest emphasis is given to environmental factors, such as organisational environments. Therefore, the overall aim of this thesis was to explore the notion of loneliness in the workplace, with a particular emphasis on examining the antecedents and outcomes of its development in work contexts. The first stage of the research included the development and empirical examination of a scale measuring work-related loneliness. A 16-item scale was constructed and tested for its reliability and factor structure on a sample of 514 employees from various organisations. Exploratory factor analysis indicated two factors best represent the data, namely Social Companionship and Emotional Deprivation at Work. For the main study, a theoretical model was constructed whereby various antecedents (personal characteristics, social support, job characteristics, and emotional climate) were hypothesised to influence the development of work-related loneliness, which in turn was thought to affect employee attitudes and wellbeing. Employees from various organisations were invited to participate in the online research via email, which generated 362 submissions from diverse occupational groups. Structural equation modelling techniques were used to assess the hypothesised model, which was evaluated against a number of fit criteria. The initial results provided limited support for the Loneliness at Work Model. Consequently, a number of adjustments were necessary to obtain sufficient fit. The modified model suggests that organisational climate (comprising climate of fear, community spirit at work, and organisational fit) serves to simultaneously predict the emotional deprivation factor of loneliness (made up of seven items) and employee attitude and wellbeing. The results indicate that environmental factors such as fear, lack of community spirit, and value congruence play a role in the experience of work-related loneliness and have an overall negative effect on employee withdrawal behaviours and job satisfaction. The findings from this study offer insight into possible areas for organisational intervention and future research.