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This study develops a holistic framework for the control system of supply networks (CSSN) from the perspectives of control processes, control mechanisms and variations of the control systems. It structures and integrates existing knowledge on supply chain management, production operations and network governance, updates cybernetics control concepts for the environment of supply networks, and provides guidance for practitioners to design and evaluate the control systems for their supply networks. Recently, the increasingly tight cooperation of companies and supply networks has called for effective ways to manage the network. Traditional management control has focused on organizational control, based on hierarchical and authoritative motivations. However, in network organization, classic control methods fail to deliver desirable results. Theories on networks and supply chains also lack in-depth discussion of an integrated solution package. This research fills the gap of literature and practice by proposing a loop model embedded with control mechanisms which link all the elements in the supply networks. This research also proposes a new classification for supply networks which matches corresponding control systems. The primary findings of this study are that: The basic components of CSSN are the “control procedures”, i.e. planning – feedback – adjustment; The crucial components of CSSN are the “control mechanisms” that support and complement control procedures. They include operational mechanisms (amplifiers, collectors, filters and action selectors) and configurational mechanisms (transformers); and The four types of supply networks, i.e. organic, parental, bureaucratic and mechanistic networks, correspond to their own control systems, which are the variations of the generic CSSN model.

This dissertation provides a synthesis of the academic research in international business with the key areas of overlap in entrepreneurship research. The geographical application is to Taiwan. The key objectives of the research are twofold. Firstly, to show the importance of creating an interdisciplinary analysis combining international business and entrepreneurship; there has been very little academic research done in the area seeing entrepreneurship through the frameworks of international business research. Secondly, to show that the business success of Taiwanese entrepreneurs and companies can provide many insights for researchers in the fields of international business and entrepreneurship; a key driver of this success is the Hsinchu Science-based Industrial Park (HSIP), which is a technology district, cluster created by the Taiwanese government in collaboration with banking and industries in 1980. Relative to Japan and Korean business research, Taiwan has been relatively neglected in international business research. Chapter1 provides an introduction to the key research to the key research objectives of the dissertation. Chapter 2 provides an academic literature review of entrepreneurship, showing the key strands of research from economics, management and organisation theory. Chapters 3 and 4 are the key theoretical synthesis chapters: they focus on the issues of technology and knowledge assets, and how they help to combine the academic research of international business and entrepreneurship. Chapter 5 is an analysis of the Taiwanese business system, and how it was conducive to entrepreneurship and the creation of successful global businesses. Chapter 6 is an analysis of the Hsinchu Science-based Industrial Park and its role in Taiwanese technology and entrepreneurship. Chapter 7 is an analysis of 3 case studies of successful Taiwanese technology entrepreneurs. Chapter 8 is a conclusion to the dissertation.

It is commonly accepted that competition whittles down transient rents enjoyed by any firm, and hence firm level profitability tends to what may be called a normal rate. Various econometric models have been developed to evaluate profitability convergence, or its absence. We analyse this question for China and India. We examine the extent to which deviations from expected values of profitability tend to be corrected among Chinese and Indian companies. Developing and applying the Fama-MacBeth approach, we find that the dynamics of profitability in the two emerging economies are characterised by a significant degree of mean reversion. In recent decades competitive environments around the world have changed, driven by waves of privatisation, liberalisation, and globalisation. On the one hand these changes are expected to have increased the intensity of competition, and this changing intensity should be reflected in the dynamics of profitability across firms through higher degrees of convergence. On the other hand, another important aspect of globalisation is the attendant increase in the volatility of business environment – shocks of various types which impact on firms and affect their performance grow in numbers and frequency, while firms are less sheltered than before. In such environments, firms would be less inclined to sink investment, and thus convergence to normal returns can conceivably slow down and even reverse. To examine the dynamics in the evolution of profitability distributions under such conditions, we use China’s WTO accession (in 2001) and India’s liberalisation reform (since 1991) as natural points to shed light on the long-term profitability prospects. Has liberalisation in a globalising world led to the convergence in profitability; or has the volatility led to divergence in profitability in these countries? Results suggest that integration into the global market has increased the dispersion of the long run (ergodic) distribution of (expected) profitability and there are more firms operating at the extreme tails of the long run profitability distribution.

This dissertation is concerned with measuring the business value created by individual knowledge management initiatives at an intra-organizational context. This research is motivated by the fact that hitherto there has been no integrated and sound framework to explain how organisations benefit from individual KM initiatives. It is also motivated by the need for a practical tool for measuring and reporting the business value of KM initiatives, which has been identified as one the most important and challenging responsibilities for KM practitioners. In tackling these barriers, this research was carried out in two phases. First, the concept of <i>Organizational Knowledge Sharing Capability </i>(OKSC) is proposed as the inter-medium outcome of KM initiatives. Based on previous research and empirical data, a framework for OKSC is developed and refined. A preliminary process was then developed as a step-by-step guide for the measurement. The second phase of this research focused on applying the process in three in-depth case studies using action research. Feedback and learning points from the case studies were collected and changes were made to the framework and the process accordingly. Three main sources for the evaluation and refinement of the process were the evaluation form, the feedback discussions and the reflection from observation, which provided comprehensive feedback for further improving the process. The feasibility, usability and the utility of the process were demonstrated. The primary outcomes of this research have been: A theoretical framework, which conceptualizes the linkages between an individual KM initiative and its business value creation, and a process that operationalizes the framework to conduct the measurement.

This research examines the future relationship between sustainability issues (Environmental Protection, Social Capital and Economic Growth) and the reputation of large Multi-National Corporations (MNCs). The thesis begins by taking a detailed look at both the academic and practical realms of corporate sustainability and corporate reputation management. This examination results in the generation of a series of hypotheses. These hypotheses are then tested using an innovative scenario based survey instrument. This survey placed the respondent in three different scenarios of the future business climate and asked them to consider the respective importance of <i>seven elements of reputation</i> to the preservation of a positive corporate reputation (within their own company). The survey was mailed to the CEOs of the worlds largest 500 companies - The slightly modified use of Dillman’s <i>Total Design Method</i> (TDM) resulted in a usable response rate of 34%. The results suggest that when placed in an environment where they have to take the long-view CEOs are perfectly placed to acknowledge the importance of sustainability issues to the maintenance and generation of reputational value. When this long-term business case for sustainability is coupled with the already quite robust short-term business case the benefits of corporate engagement, both tangible and intangible, become very clear. The challenge is clearly to facilitate long-term thinking within the boardroom. With this in mind I present three key strategic directions for business; I argue that only one of them, engagement, will result in a growth in intangible value. The thesis concludes by highlighting six transitions that I argue business will need to negotiate to fully capitalise on the - now acknowledged - intangible, reputational opportunities that sustainability presents.

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The institutions on which this project focuses are state institutions, namely, the organisation of power of the state and the governing regime and social institutions, namely the shared social meanings and perceptions. The main research question is how such state-society relations impact on the development trajectory of the IT industry of a place. It introduces a combined use of the historical and sociological institutional approaches to analyse the findings from two empirical case studies, namely, the development of the IT industry of Hong Kong and Singapore. These two city-states are chosen owing to their similarities in cultural and colonial backgrounds and their stark differences in political and social institutions.106 in-depth interviews with IT policy makers, firm owners, practitioners and other important IT players have been conducted in Hong Kong and Singapore in order to gauge the interaction between institutions and actors in the state and society. My case studies illustrate how social and state actors respond to the state and social institutions; and illuminates how such responses can affect their attitudes at work. The findings of these case studies suggest these actors’ attitudes can directly impact on the making of IT policy and influence the development path of the IT industry. This dissertation proposes the following argument. State institutions can directly determine the state autonomy and capacity to reallocate financial and human resources in industrial development and the effectiveness of the IT industrial policy. These state institutions also engender certain kinds of social institutional environments and shape the nature of the state-society relations. Such state-society relations influence actors’ innovative behaviour at work which ultimately conditions the development trajectory of the IT industry of a place.

Assuming entrepreneurship to be embedded in the endeavours of those individual and organisation agents who create a new industry, this interdisciplinary study aims to explore such endeavours. In order to do this, the emergence of the wind energy industry in Britain and Spain has been investigated and a theoretical framework for its creation has been constructed. Historical data from the 1970s to the 1990s have been collected and analysed in a comparative manner. This comparative analysis shows how different ‘entrepreneurial’ actions led to varying degrees of success in two early wind industries. In the pioneering phase, the Spanish government’s deployment-oriented technology strategy led to the formation of a wider industrial community, whereas the newly established British wind firms suffered from the non-existence of an initial market. In the commercialising phase, the Spanish actors created stable and predictable market conditions, helping new firms’ entry and making substantial investments. In Britain, sudden changes in market conditions and the price competition-oriented renewable policy led to the emergence of a developers group only at the cost of the fledgling manufacturing sector. In the stabilising phase, the sensitising strategy pursued by the Spanish developers established a broad social consensus on the use of wind power, while in Britain frequent opposition to planning permission for windfarms set back the growth of the market. It can be argued that in addition to ‘proprietary entrepreneurship’ in creating new ventures, ‘communal entrepreneurship’, collective activities creating new market space, contributes to industrial success. This ‘communal entrepreneurship’ is collaborative and social in nature because it involves many interlinked ideas and creative activities of those concerned.

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