This thesis concerns companies that have traditionally built their businesses by selling products that are using services to augment or replace sales of these products, in a business-to-business (b2b) environment. These companies have been termed productcentric businesses or PCBs. The objectives of the research were as follows; to assess how PCBs measure the success of their services; to determine which factors are most important in creating success; to understand the drivers that cause PCBs to enhance their focus on services; to identify possible service strategies to find out which ones create success; to investigate how PCBs can best organise their businesses to achieve success through services. A literature review was carried out on articles that addressed each objective. Most previous research was exploratory in nature, based on case studies or interviews with a limited number of company managers. There have been calls for academics to carry out quantitative research in this area to provide more of a confirmatory approach. This is the major gap in the literature that this research sought to fill. The author adopted a postpositivist theoretical position to address this research. A mixed methodology was used to answer the research questions, using both qualitative (the exploratory phase) and quantitative (the confirmatory phase) methods. The qualitative phase involved interviewing 40 managers in 25 organisations across 11 sectors. This data was analysed using template analysis and was used (together with the literature) to create a survey, to which managers in 155 organisations responded. Quantitative data was analysed using a number of techniques; exploratory factor analysis (EFA), multivariate analysis of variance (Manova), discriminant analysis, independent samples t-test and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Two factors were identified that PCBs use to measure the success of their services: 'Corporate success' and 'Satisfaction & delivery', with the former being the primary measure. Five factors were identified that create success, with the order of importance as follows: 'Industry standing', 'Personnel', 'Team working', 'Services methods & infrastructure' and 'Solution approach'. The main drivers on PCBs to enhance their focus on services were categorised as 'Strategic options', 'Customer demands' and 'Product characteristics'. A new service strategy typology was proposed based on two dimensions: whether services are closely linked to a company's own products or its own and those of third parties; whether services are closely aligned to products or more aligned to customers' operational activities. Each of the four strategic positions from this typology was tested to determine which created 'Corporate success', with the only one that did being 'Product-attached services on own products' (e.g. product installation, training, technical support) when these products create market differentiation. Post-hoc analysis also showed that high levels of 'Corporate success' lead to increased product sales. Whether an independent service organisation creates 'Corporate success' was also tested, with the results showing that for the population as a whole this was not the case, but for PCBs in the Complex Products & Systems (CoPS) sectors it was. This research made a methodological contribution since it is one of the first studies to address the topic using quantitative methods. A number of theoretical contributions have also been made, e.g. those factors used to measure and create success were identified; a new service typology was proposed and used to test which strategy created services success, with services success shown to lead to product success; the significance of an independent service organisation was shown for companies in the CoPS sectors.

This thesis is about the project-specific application of intra-company innovation networks to enable leadership of German technology corporations in the global race for innovation. It analyses the influence of market- and technology-related complexity on knowledge and technology transfers between German headquarters and foreign subsidiaries. So far, neither the public nor the academic domain have applied this perspective when discussing R&D internationalisation and the role of foreign subsidiaries for innovation competence. However, both complexity dimensions provide important insights regarding the potentials and limitations of R&D internationalisation by German technology corporations. Firstly, a conceptual framework of dynamic intra-company innovation networks is developed: From an organisational point of view, it combines existing concepts of R&D internationalisation, exploration and exploitation of knowledge and technology, and corporate innovation competence. From a strategic point of view, it introduces the dynamics of innovation along technology lifecycles (i. e. from system to product to process and service-related innovation) as explanation for market- and technology-related complexity. Both complexity dimensions are seen as potential contingency factors for the structure of intra-company innovation networks. Secondly, the conceptual model is applied to ten case studies in three German corporations from the automotive, semiconductor and electronics industries. Each case study represents a different strategic setting - i. e. technology lifecycle position and complexity profile. This perspective is matched with a description of the respective network approaches. Thus, the dynamic distribution of roles, responsibilities and innovation competence between the German headquarters and peripheral entities for various innovation project settings is explained. 50 additional expert interviews are drawn upon for further detail. In essence, it is found that the changing foci of innovation along the underlying technology lifecycles (from system to product to process to service-related innovation) give rise to different market- and technology-related complexity settings. These influence the application of centralised, integrated or decentralised innovation networks with different knowledge and technology transfer modi. A shift of innovation competence from central to peripheral entities is recognised over time: Competence for radical, architectural and systemic innovation largely continues to reside in German headquarters while incremental, component- and service-oriented innovation is becoming a domain of foreign subsidiaries. Additionally, the continued growth of the emerging economies gives rise to increasing innovation capability in the periphery. It nurtures stronger roles of subsidiaries from these high-growth markets for corporate innovation in the future. In summary, single corporations turn to simultaneously orchestrating multiple innovation networks as the diffusion of technology quickens and new peripheral centres of innovation competence evolve. Herein, actively recognising where the respectively needed innovation competences are located and consciously managing international knowledge and technology transfers within firms can be expected to become a key challenge to maintain the `Global Innovation Leadership' claim of German TNCs in the future.

Much has been made in recent times about the increase in the use of strategic alliances as a means of improving business effectiveness, efficiency and responsiveness. Indeed, the role played by strategic alliances within contemporary business management research can be argued to have supplanted the flrm as the dominant area ofresearch for academicians. The prevailing paradigm for analysis of the shifting boundaries between flrms and markets has been that of economic rationality, where efficiency is the guiding principle. Within the formalisation of Transaction Cost Economics under Williamson (1975), inter-flrm collaboration has been viewed as an intermediate organisational form that in certain circumstances can be superior to either internal governance or market transactions. However an alternative approach; that of Social Exchange Theory, builds upon foundations of reciprocity and trust and in so doing, shines an alternative light upon the exchange process. It is the purpose of this research to bring together the theories of Transaction Cost Economics and Social Exchange Theory in a discussion of strategic alliance performance. This research suggests that it is the presence of a social contract and the development of trust between alliance partners that will lead to the enhancement of alliance performance. This research also builds upon the knowledge-based view of the frrm and seeks to provide a bifurcation of the constituent elements of knowledge within alliances. Adopting structural equation modelling as the means of analysis, this research fmds evidence for the positive role played by the relational elements of a social contract and trust upon alliance performance, whilst fInding support for the hypothesis that certain structural elements of knowledge have a retarding effect on said performance. Interestingly, knowledge integration is found to have no signiflcant relationship with alliance performance. The implications of these flndings are discussed and future research directions are considered

This study of corporate turnaround was conducted for three reasons. Firstly, from a long-run social welfare perspective, we began in the belief that efforts to rescue ailing firms are, in general, worthwhile as the economic and social benefits outweigh the costs. Secondly, the significant and increasing incidence of firms that find themselves in situations of sustained performance decline indicates the growing importance of the problem. Thirdly, the notable absence of a theoretical framework of corporate turnaround. The principal objective of this study was the generation of a theoretical framework of corporate turnaround. The methodology employed to meet this objective was the style of qualitative research known as the grounded theory approach and since our units of data were cases of turnaround, aspects of the case study method were incorporated. In operationalising the chosen methodology, two lesser auxiliary objectives were defined. Firstly, to assess the utility of on-line computerised databases as a primary source of data for this type of research; and secondly, to assess the utility of computer-based qualitative data analysis software packages in this type of research. Through the analysis of the three case studies (the 'literature' case study and the two 'empirical' cases) a rich theoretical framework of corporate turnaround was generated and tested. Appropriate recovery strategies were found to be contingent upon six sets of contextual factors: the causes of decline; the severity of the crisis; the attitude of stakeholders; industry characteristics; changes in the macroeconomic environment; and, the firm's historical strategy. The content of recovery strategies was usefully decomposed into operational level actions (management change; improved controls; restructuring finances; decentralisation; reduction in production costs; investment in plant and machinery; and, improved marketing) and strategic level actions (asset reduction/divestiture; product/market reorientation; vertical integration; and, joint-ventures). A temporal or implementation dimension was also discovered. Successful actions to effect recovery fell into four distinct (but overlapping) stages (the management change stage; the retrenchment stage; the stabilisation stage; and, the growth stage). Finally, 53 propositions linking the concepts and categories within the framework were generated. In chapter eight, the theoretical framework was assessed in the wider context of the literature on strategy formation. The framework was found to ultimately belong to the rationalistic school of thought but also was argued to provide a means of integrating that school with the supposed alternative incremental school of thought. This integration was suggested on the basis of context. With respect to the two lesser auxiliary objectives of this study, we found firstly, that the data available from the on-line databases Reuters Textline and Predicasts PROMT to be extremely appropriate for this type of research. The hundreds of articles extracted provided a rich and diverse source of information for the two 'empirical' cases. Our second auxiliary objective was to assess the utility of computer-based qualitative data analysis software packages when used in conjunction with on-line data in grounded theory research. In general, we found the packages to be of limited use (rather than easing the process they tend to overcomplicate it) with much development required before they can make a significant impact on the conduct and quality of qualitative research. However, we found the package that we used (ATLAS) to be very much the exception to the rule.

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When compared with the sea fishing industry in the country as a whole, that of the south of England is seen to consist of a disproportionately large number of small operational units; part-time fishermen play relatively a greater part in the south than nationally and much fishing by the owners of small boats continues only because of the support provided by tourists in the summer and the "dole" in the winter. The largest landings of both wet and shellfish have been made consistently in Devon and Cornwall and, although most plaice have been taken in Rye and Hythe Bays by boats from south Kent and Sussex, there are few other important grounds in the eastern part of the area and even the oyster production of Whitstable has declined almost to insignificance. In general terms, the post-war period has witnessed an overall reduction of activities despite a recent revival in some sections. Fortunately, the economic vulnerability of the contracted industry has been lessened by improved fishing techniques, an increasing degree of rationalisation, particularly in marketing, the demise of many uneconomic operating units, the recruitment of younger fishermen and, possibly, improved stocks of some fish. It is to be expected that in the future the industry will show some limited expansion, although no revolutionary changes can be foreseen unless they are based on the exploitation of fisheries well outside the areas at present worked.

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