Scientific knowledge is often relied upon for informing crucial societal decisions. Where this knowledge is uncertain, and/or where these decision are made amidst a contexted political landscape, science tends to become the focus of intense scrutiny, as has been evident throughout the history of climate change politics. One consequence is that instead of "scientising" decision-making, science itself becomes more explicitly politicised. This thesis argues that in order to contribute to contemporary debates about the governance of science, it is essential to move beyond the question of whether or not policy-relevant scientific knowledge is credibly and to examine how scientific knowledge is made to be credible. Drawing upon the concept of co-production and other insights from Science & Technology Studies (STS), this thesis presents a detailed examination of how research into the health impacts of climate change (infectious diseases especially) gradually gained in prominence in both public health and climate change circles. Particular analytical attention is paid to an epistemic community of climate change and health (CCH) researchers, following the ways in which they interacted with global political entities such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change (IPCC). Based upon in-depth interviews with actors intimately involved in CCH research, this thesis documents how the rise of CCH research influenced and was influenced by particular scientific and political contexts related to the governance of climate change as well as emerging infectious disease. The examination of a longstanding controversy surrounding CCH research reveals many socio-economic and political assumptions embedded in it, further demonstrating its contingency. However, despite that CCH research is both uncertain and contested, actors in the political world often need to know what the state-of-the-art of the field is. To examine the implications of this, the CCH controversy as treated by the assessment reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPPC) is explored. Although IPCC follows a complicated set of procedures aimed at ensuring scientific and political legitimacy, this thesis demonstrates that values and normative judgements are important components of scientific assessments, helping to co-construct particular science-policy orderings at the expense of alternative ones. Amidst ongoing debates about how to shore-up the credibility of climate change science and politics, this thesis argues that the way in which IPCC assessments are currently performed, as well as their tendency to present findings as "consensus", may undermine their political and scientific credibility.

This thesis examines the effect of a responsible investment index (FTSE4Good) on corporate social responsibility (CSR). In the first study I investigate the impact of the FTSE engagement reinforced by the threat of exclusion from the index on companies’ improvements in environmental management. The results show that FTSE involvement doubles the probability that a company will meet stricter environmental management requirements within the three-year period 2002 to 2005. Both the dialogue and the exclusion threat stimulate compliance but the dialogue appears to be more effective where the perceived threat of exclusion is higher. The engagement effect persists for at least five years and is positively related to low concentrated ownership and to domicile in a coordinated market economy. In the second study I examine FTSE4Good’s effect on the probability that a company will implement strong countering bribery practices within the two-year time period 2007 to 2009. The results demonstrate that the combined effect of engagement and exclusion threat is significant in promoting compliance and the two act independently. Stronger anti-bribery provisions are positively associated with companies based in liberal market economies, with better internal governance and higher reputational concerns related to ethical controversies. In the third study I investigate FTSE4Good’s impact on companies’ compliance with climate change criteria. The results show that the index is able to stimulate compliance and the dialogue appears to contribute more than the exclusion threat. I also find that the likelihood of the company adopting the required practices is negatively associated with concentrated ownership and with strong internal governance. Finally, the results offer some evidence that compliance is related to subsequent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. These studies contribute to the understanding as to how different CSR areas are promoted or discouraged by the managers and the owners, and how the institutional environment influences this. The results are consistent with engagement via a responsible investment index being an effective means of large-scale collective monitoring by institutional investors. The findings are also relevant for policy makers who wish to promote active ownership.

Bangladesh reformed its corporate governance by adopting Bangladesh Corporate Governance Guidelines-2006 (the BCGG-2006 hereafter) due to pressures from international financial institutions (IFIs). However, there is huge controversy in prior literature regarding the IFIs’ suggested reform initiatives. The thesis asks specific research questions: RQ1. Do institutional investors and bankers in Bangladesh perceive that the level of compliance with the BCGG-2006 by the investee or borrowing company influences the investment and lending decisions respectively? RQ2.1. To what extent is the BCGG-2006 implemented in form rather than in substance? RQ2.2 Is there a relationship between the nature of compliance with the BCGC-2006 and firm performance? RQ3.1. To what extent does reported compliance with the BCGG-2006, as reported in annual reports, overstate underlying compliance with the BCGC-2006? RQ3.2 Does the overstatement of compliance reported in annual reports lead to a different relative ranking of a firm’s corporate governance structure? RQ3.3 What factors influence the overstatement of compliance with the BCG-2006 in annual reports? To investigate RQ1, an inductive approach is taken and data are collected by using semi-structured interviews of investment managers and credit rating analysts. In order to examine the remaining RQs, a deductive approach is taken and data are collected: (1) by using a structured survey questionnaire addressed to company secretaries or CFOs; and (2) from annual reports and stock exchanges. With respect to RQ1, this study finds (1) strong evidence that institutional investors and bankers perceive limited impact of corporate governance mechanisms recommended by the BCGG-2006 on investment and lending decisions respectively. In order to theorise the above findings, two theories: agency theory and the theory of path dependence are contrasted. Using a grounded theory coding, this study finds that (1) companies are locked in the path of control by sponsor families and sponsor families then impede the implementation of the BCGG-2006 and (2) institutional investors and bankers lock themselves in the path of name-based and relationship-based investment and lending practices which deters consideration of corporate governance mechanisms introduced by the BCGG-2006. Very few interviewees provide an explanation consistent with the agency theory. This evidence thus points more to the theory of path dependence than to agency theory. In relation to RQ2.1, this study finds that local privately-owned companies and government-owned companies either do not comply or comply in form but not in substance with the BCGG-2006, while subsidiaries of foreign multinational companies comply in form and in substance with the BCGG-2006. The relative strength of path dependence in local privately-owned companies and government-owned companies and subsidiaries of foreign multinational companies explains these results better than agency theory. The evidence with respect to RQ2.2 provides an indication that the nature of compliance with separation of the chairman and CEO, board independence and audit committee does not have an association with firm performance in case of local privately-owned companies. However, the evidence in relation to RQ2.2 provides an indication that the nature of compliance with the corporate governance mechanisms introduced by the BCGG-2006 makes a difference in firm performance in subsidiaries of foreign multinational companies. With respect to RQ3.1, it is found that companies overstate compliance with the BCGG-2006 in annual reports. With respect to RQ3.2, this study finds that the rank of a firm’s corporate governance is different when comparing compliance with the BCGG-2006 as reported in annual reports with compliance with the BCGG-2006 as stated in the survey. With respect to RQ3.3, it is found that overstatement of compliance is more pronounced with respect to less-observable provisions of the BCGG-2006, is positively associated with control by sponsor families and is negatively associated with control by institutional investors. This evidence is again more consistent with the theory of path dependence and institutional logic than agency theory. The findings of this thesis suggest that corporate governance researchers in developing countries should consider the role of path dependence rather than agency theory exclusively. This thesis also makes a methodological contribution by investigating overstatement of compliance with the BCGG-2006. The findings of this study may also assist regulators in developing countries and the IFIs in formulating future governance guidelines for developing countries.

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Corporate governance codes such as King III are focussing on IT governance due to the strategic nature of IT systems and the impact security breaches or failure of IT systems can have on a company’s sustainability. The convergence of Operational Technology (OT) and IT brings about both risks and opportunities for OT systems, while further entrenching their strategic nature within organisations. These systems are therefore key to the sustainability of an organisation and this necessitates the extension of sound governance not only to IT but also to OT. In many organisations, due to the previously closed or proprietary nature of OT systems, no governance controls or frameworks have traditionally been needed or put in place for OT systems. The aim of this research was to explore whether the lack of OT governance controls or framework within OT reliant organisations could be addressed by adapting and implementing leading IT governance models for OT systems due to the convergence between traditional IT and OT. The research methodology employed was a literature review followed by the selection and adaptation of a leading IT governance framework for OT governance. Additional data regarding OT incidents was gathered from the author’s own organisation and documented as mini case studies to determine if OT governance could have mitigated or minimised the impact of the documented OT incidents. The research showed that IT and OT are converging on two fronts, firstly due to integration between IT and OT and secondly due to the sharing of common technologies at a hardware, software and network layer. The research also indicated that the security risks facing IT continue to grow in number and sophistication. By extension, due to the technology convergence, these risks are now extending to OT systems, adding to the risks already facing OT systems. Leading corporate governance codes are espousing holistic governance to ensure the sustainability of an enterprise. Certain codes such as King III from South Africa have specifically called out IT governance as a key element of a holistic governance practice. Due to the convergence between IT and OT as well as the increasing risk, the lack of governance in OT can have a material impact on the sustainability of an OT reliant enterprise, necessitating the extending of governance to cover not only IT but OT as well. The research showed that a leading IT governance framework such as COBIT 5 can be applied to OT with little or no adaptation firstly due to the closeness between IT and OT brought about by the convergence between IT and OT, and secondly due to the way that COBIT 5 has been developed to serve as an overarching governance framework that can be adapted and applied by Enterprises to suit their unique requirements, one of which could be OT governance.

This thesis has sought to investigate the nature of the governance system relating to basketball in Taiwanese society with emphasis on the development of basketball against the backdrop of societal development in Taiwan and in the broader political-cultural environment. Two complementary theoretical approaches are adopted in this study: those of governance theory at the meso level of analysis; and a strategic-relational approach at the macro level to explain the ways in which governance decisions are taken in strategically selective contexts which facilitate and constrain certain actions and thus outcomes. The empirical analysis draws on a qualitative case-study approach, which was based on documentary materials and semi-structured interviews. Three major cases, namely, the collapse of the Chinese Basketball Alliance, the emergence of the Super Basketball League and the sporting links with China, were selected on the basis of their significance in the operational governance of basketball. The first is a specific event, the second focuses on a particular process, and the third on the impact of context. The perceptions of the stakeholders in the specific groups were reviewed in order to compose insights into their account of the principal interests and forces in the governance system. Interview transcripts and government reports were subject to coding employing Nvivo 9 qualitative data analysis software, and coding and analysis were undertaken employing an ethnographic content analysis approach. While governance theory provides an explanatory framework at the meso-level of analysis, the thesis argues for embedding this within a wider strategic relational meta-theoretical account. This emphasises the dialectic relationship between strategic, reflexive actors and the strategic selectivity of the context of decision-making which privileges certain strategies and tactics, and explains the structural coherence (and/or patterns of incoherence) which have emerged in the evolving nature of the governance of basketball in Taiwan. By focusing on these three inter-related studies, we provided linked spatio-temporal forms of explanation of how the collapse of the CBA provided the strategic context and strategic resources for the emergence of the SBL and the Sina Basketball Club s migration to China. Subsequently the case of the SBL and Sina provided the strategic context and strategic resources for Taiwanese players migration to China as individual sportsmen. The thesis has thus produced explanations of how the outcomes of one case provide the strategically inscribed selectivity of the next which with recursively selected strategies and tactics on the part of stakeholders produces the structured coherence/pattern (and / or incoherence) of the Taiwanese (male) prospective-professional basketball system.

published_or_final_version / abstract / Economics and Finance / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Law / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Economics and Finance / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Business / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Samhällets styrformer har genomgått en förändring och kännetecknas idag av en komplexitet som innebär att flera olika aktörer är inblandade, där samarbeten över de privatoffentliga gränserna har blivit allt vanligare för att lösa samhällsproblem som traditionellt sett ålegat staten. År 2013 tog Kommunfullmäktige i Karlstad beslut att genomföra en arbetsmarknadspolitisk åtgärd i form av satsningen ”100 nya Karlstadjobb”. Beslutet innebar att kommunen tillsammans med det privata näringslivet skulle ta fram 100 nya jobb till personer som stod långt ifrån arbetsmarknaden. Den 31 december 2014 avslutades satsnigen och utvärderades av en samordnare på kommunen. Utvärderingen visade att den interna satsningen uppnått ett bättre resultat än den externa, och det är mot bakgrund av resultatet i den genomförda utvärderingen som denna uppsats tar sitt avstamp. Syftet med studien har varit att förklara varför den interna satsningen uppnådde ett bättre resultat än vad som åstadkoms externt. För att besvara syftet har tre rimliga hypoteser med influenser från teorityperna governance, policyanalys och privatoffentliga partnerskap tagits fram. Det empiriska materialet har grundats ifrån intervjuer av respondentkaraktär med personer som har varit involverade i satsningen, och analysen av materialet har vidare realiserats utifrån de framtagna hypoteserna.  Analysen påvisade att båda satsningarna initialt präglats av otydliga riktlinjer, och inom den externa satsningen påverkades det fortlöpande arbetet negativt av det faktumet, vilket försvårade hela arbetsprocessen.  Den interna satsningen kunde däremot återhämta sig från de otydligheter som funnits inledningsvis genom bland annat kontinuerlig dialog samt god samverkan, vilket kan ses som en förklaring till den interna satsningens framgång. Nyckelord: governance, policyanalys, privatoffentliga partnerskap, kommun, näringsliv, samverkan.