Competitive advantage and stakeholder management are two important research streams that have attracted much attention during the past two decades. Although competitive advantage is the core issue of strategic management in which stakeholder management is rooted, the two topics have developed seemingly independently in the literature. The main purpose of this thesis is to explore how stakeholder management influences competitive advantage. The research is guided by a theoretical framework that employs a stakeholder perspective, linking three perspectives of competitive advantage—the resource-based view, the relational view, and the activity-position view. The general research approach chosen is a qualitative, multiple-case study. Ten cases were selected, from leading firms of several industries in Taiwan, and in-depth interviews were conducted. Results showed that a firm’s competitive advantage comes from its resource capacity (superior resources, unique capabilities, and solid relationships) and a mix of activities that respond to the competitive context. Competitive advantage, too, can be analysed in terms of two components: resource advantage and positional advantage. Stakeholder management can have significant influences on resource advantages as stakeholders play important roles in the process of value creation. They are the providers who supply valued resources to the firm and, as such, can act as catalysts or hindrances that either facilitate or impede the generation of valued resources. Successful stakeholder management strengthens a firm’s resource profile and thus enhances its resource advantages. Stakeholder management also has considerable influences on positional advantages, as stakeholders are relevant to activities and drivers that determine cost and differentiation. Moreover, stakeholders are key players in the competitive context, who help to shape the competitiveness of the firm. The study reported that stakeholder management helps to sustain competitive advantage through advancing a firm’s resource capacity—resource commitment, developing capabilities, and building relationships. Stakeholder management also generates several isolating mechanisms that preserve competitive advantage, including time compression diseconomies, causal ambiguity, social complexity, and transaction costs. However, in the face of ever-changing situations, managers need to adopt different strategies for managing stakeholder relations. To achieve sustained competitive advantage in a dynamic context, firms not only have to strengthen the capacity of resource advantage to fit the competitive strategy, but also need to use innovative and entrepreneurial approaches for managing their stakeholder relations.

Content removed due to copyright restriction; Donaghey, S. (2000). A fading landscape: strategies for managing the cultural heritage resource. Archaeology in New Zealand, 43(4), 270-282. Donaghey, S. (2001). What is aught,but as 'tis valued? An analysis of strategies for the assessment of cultural heritage significance in New Zealand. International Journal of Heritage Studies, 7(4), 365-380. / This thesis argues that considerations of value and significance are fundamental to sustainable heritage management practice. It explores critical issues relating to the valorisation of historic heritage in New Zealand and considers whether existing frameworks for evaluation and assessment are effective and appropriate. The rationale for the research proposes that achievable and effective outcomes for historic heritage only occur in the context of rigorous evaluation and assessment frameworks. Theoretical and pragmatic frames of reference drive key lines of reasoning. The two frames of reference comprise: firstly, theoretical principles relating to the nature and qualities of heritage value and secondly, operational strategies relating to the process of assessment. The thesis integrates current policy and practice within existing epistemology with primary research data using a mixed methodology. A review of international policy and practice contrasts the various approaches used in Australia, Canada, England and the United States of America, and identifies effective system characteristics. Existing understandings and practice within New Zealand are considered and analogies made between particular elements of the primary research drawn from surveys of professional and non-professional opinion of the heritage assessment process. The New Zealand findings are then set against the review of international evidence and the literature to identify significant strengths and shortcomings. It is argued that New Zealand currently lacks suitable frameworks within which appropriate concepts of value and effective strategies for significance assessment are meaningfully integrated. Expressions of the nature and qualities of historic heritage must be reformulated in ways that afford greater recognition to principles of social value and the holistic, multivalent properties of the resource. Moreover, identified deficiencies in matters of community engagement, consistency, resourcing, local authority process and the recognition of indigenous rights, undermine the effectiveness of operational strategies for assessment and require attention.

While the change literature is currently dominated by the punctuated equilibrium paradigm, anomalies have appeared to the paradigm in the form of high velocity change and hypercompetition. D'Aveni (1999) reconciles these anomalies with the punctuated equilibrium paradigm by suggesting that the frequency of change experienced affects the change experienced. This research considered whether the presence of increasing returns in an industry is correlated with the frequency of change experienced by the industry and the types of change that appear, thus providing an explanation for the differing forms of change. A second observation in the literature is that an industry experiences a period of instability after a discontinuity. This research considered whether the temporal proximity or type of a preceding discontinuity influenced the likelihood or type of later discontinuities. A longitudinal study identified discontinuities in nine industries throughout the industries' histories. The industries were categorised as: increasing returns, derived from external network effects (Airlines, Data Communications, Electricity and Shipping Lines), complementarity (Information Storage) or information content (Software), respectively; or as constant returns (Aircraft Manufacturing, Telecommunications Manufacturing and Shipbuilding). A comparison of discontinuities has been made between pairs of industries with a common end-user of the industry outputs, where one industry exhibits increasing returns and the companion industry has constant returns, using Binomial Distribution, Fisher's Exact Test and Generalised Linear Modelling techniques. Further Generalised Linear Models tested the interactions of discontinuities. Industries with increasing returns were found to have greater frequency of change. The types of change experienced were found to affect subsequent change, with both types of discontinuities being correlated with increased proportions of competency-enhancing change for ten years, while competency-destroying and competency-enhancing discontinuities were associated with increased frequency of change for twenty and ten years, respectively. The evidence associating increasing returns with competency type was unreliable. Consequently, increasing returns industries may experience a greater variation of frequency of change, with industries entering and leaving periods of enhanced frequencies of change. Thus, industries with increasing returns are more likely to experience change consistent with hypercompetition and high velocity conditions, compared with the punctuated equilibrium style change experienced by constant returns industries.

While there is significant interest in the area of learning organisations, research in this field has been fragmented. There is a need for an holistic model of learning organisations and a measurement system that can be used by both researchers and practitioners. This thesis applies Dilemma Theory as a means of meeting this need. An holistic model was developed based on a definition of learning organisations as ones that consciously seek to balance capacities with demands. In seeking this balance, an organisation will undertake a learning journey in which it encounters a variety of learning dilemmas: points where it must choose between alternative approaches to learning, each of which is attractive. In making these choices, learning-related values are established in the organisation. These values are the basis for a "learning culture" which shapes the way learning is understood and approached by the organisational community. Presenting people within an organisation with learning-related dilemmas allows learning cultures to be charted, thus providing the basis for a measurement system. Fifteen learning-related dilemmas were identified using three processes. Firstly, literature on learning organisations was reviewed to identify conflicts between metaphors used to explain the learning organisation. Secondly, a group of New Zealand consultants took part in a Delphi Technique process, in which they established criteria for identifying learning organisations and surfaced dilemmas embedded in the criteria. Finally, 'Culture Exploration Workshops' were conducted in three organisations to surface dilemmas experienced by business practitioners engaged in learning journeys. The 15 dilemmas identified were used to chart differences between 5 organisations. The measurement system was successful in identifying differences between organisations. Results were also consistent with values that might be expected from sub-cultures represented in the sample. The study concluded by outlining a programme of research aimed at refining the measurement system and applying it to the study of learning organisations.

While there is significant interest in the area of learning organisations, research in this field has been fragmented. There is a need for an holistic model of learning organisations and a measurement system that can be used by both researchers and practitioners. This thesis applies Dilemma Theory as a means of meeting this need. An holistic model was developed based on a definition of learning organisations as ones that consciously seek to balance capacities with demands. In seeking this balance, an organisation will undertake a learning journey in which it encounters a variety of learning dilemmas: points where it must choose between alternative approaches to learning, each of which is attractive. In making these choices, learning-related values are established in the organisation. These values are the basis for a "learning culture" which shapes the way learning is understood and approached by the organisational community. Presenting people within an organisation with learning-related dilemmas allows learning cultures to be charted, thus providing the basis for a measurement system. Fifteen learning-related dilemmas were identified using three processes. Firstly, literature on learning organisations was reviewed to identify conflicts between metaphors used to explain the learning organisation. Secondly, a group of New Zealand consultants took part in a Delphi Technique process, in which they established criteria for identifying learning organisations and surfaced dilemmas embedded in the criteria. Finally, 'Culture Exploration Workshops' were conducted in three organisations to surface dilemmas experienced by business practitioners engaged in learning journeys. The 15 dilemmas identified were used to chart differences between 5 organisations. The measurement system was successful in identifying differences between organisations. Results were also consistent with values that might be expected from sub-cultures represented in the sample. The study concluded by outlining a programme of research aimed at refining the measurement system and applying it to the study of learning organisations.

Content removed due to copyright restrictions: Saunders, M & Mann, R. (2002) Organisational performance measurement and improvement: Recent developments and the New Zealand context. Official Newsletter of the New Zealand Organisation for Quality, 19 (9), 5-11 / This qualitative research addressed the question of how managers in organizations implement strategy in a performance excellence (quality management) environment. The work included identification of several strategy deployment constructs, and verification of the constructs from case studies of seven diverse organizations via in-depth, semi-structured interviews, observations and documentation analysis. The unit of analysis for each case study was a strategic initiative the organization was implementing. The constructs are titled: communicating the initiative: achieving buy-in; aligning implementation; learning; creating the infrastructure for deployment; understanding the business drivers; and identifying deployment options. By working with participants from a network of benchmarking organizations, leading practices in deployment were identified from the case studies, literature and Quality Award winners' applications. The constructs were corroborated by a review of the strategy deployment literature and from functional management disciplines that relate to the constructs. Linkages were found between the constructs, and a strategy deployment framework was developed that incorporates the constructs and the linkages between them. The proposed framework has a greater range of applications than previous strategy deployment models. It is relevant to organizations independent of their structure or ownership (public or private sector), their industry sector or the type of technology employed. It reflects the complex and dynamic processes that occur during the implementation of a strategic initiative. While many previous models of strategy deployment were linear (sequential) in nature, the research has developed a non-linear framework approach by which these complexities may he better understood by both researchers and practitioners, as well as presenting practical implications for managers.

Why do carefully considered and reasoned decisions in organisational settings so often produce unintended and sub-optimal outcomes? This is an on-going and vexing question for those charged with the governance of organisations. This research focuses on one potential contributory factor - the institutionalised logics of a particular field. Taking an historical perspective, the research examines the nature of taken-for-granted ideas and understandings that might be seen to have existed amongst the communities involved in New Zealand rugby in 1985 and in 2005. It is proposed that these taken-for-granted ideas and understandings might have an impact upon the success, or failure, of initiatives and decisions made by those charged with the governance of the game. Utilising ideas emerging from institutional theory (Freidland & Alford, 1991; Meyer & Rowan, 1977; Oliver, 1992; Thornton & Ocasio, 1999; Tolbert & Zucker, 1999), and following the work of Phillips, Lawrence and Hardy (2004), these ideas and understandings are offered, conceptually, as institutionalised logics, simultaneously facilitating and constraining action in the field. Given that these understandings might be inchoate and hidden, an interpretive model of discourse analysis is employed to examine their nature. The data comes from texts created in 1985 and 2005. and from 32 in-depth interviews that were used to develop an insider's interpretation of the context. The analysis uses data from the interviews and the texts to build an interpretation of the nature of twenty such logics that might be seen to have existed in the chosen years. The results are presented as discrete understandings, explained in the context of the environment at the time. Examples of the institutionalised logics uncovered include. "The clubs are history', 'Central control is the way to go!' and 'The coach is king'. The research presents an interpretation of evolving institutionalised logics which might impact on the way decisions of the New Zealand Rugby Union are interpreted by the communities affected. The discussion highlights the implications that these understandings might have for decisions made about the game in New Zealand. It is argued that these taken-for-granted ideas and understandings, and their changing and contradictory nature, should be explicitly considered by those charged with governance of New Zealand rugby. An analysis of the institutionalised logics might contribute towards improved organisational performance, by providing another piece in the puzzle of governance.

The concept of strategy-making in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) has been the source of much debate. Received wisdom suggests that strategy-making does not take place in SMEs. or is at best limited, often only for the purpose of attaining finance. Moreover, there is mixed evidence regarding the relationship between strategy-making in SMEs and firm performance. This thesis empirically addresses these hotly contested issues by asking: What are the strategy-making processes of SMEs in New Zealand and how are these related to firm performance? In order to answer this question the thesis uses the general literature on strategy-making processes and builds a framework tailored for SMEs drawing from the literature on strategic planning by SME scholars. Propositions derived from the framework are then empirically tested in a cross-industry sample of 477 SMEs in New Zealand. Several important conclusions are drawn in this study. First, through confirmatory factor analysis, four modes of strategy-making process emerge as relevant to SMEs, namely the simplistic, adaptive, participative, and intrapreneurial modes. Second, these modes are related to firm performance. Causal modelling indicates that adaptive and participative strategy-making contribute to firm performance, while simplistic strategy-making results from firm performance. The intrapreneurial mode shows little relation with firm performance, unless it is used in combination with a differentiation strategy. Third, firms with capabilities in several modes of strategy-making outperform firms that are only good at one or no modes of strategy-making. Fourth, the relationships between firm performance and the modes of strategy-making employed are influenced by a variety of context factors such as the firm's structure and competitive environment as well as the business strategics used. Fifth, and most fundamentally, the study demonstrates that SMEs do make strategy.

The lack of empirical studies on board process represents a serious knowledge gap in the governance literature. To date there has been little research on how boards actually make decisions, the factors that contribute to effective board decision-making, and what tools and techniques may be used to improve board decision-making. Effective board processes are identified as leading to effective board outputs, and subsequently more effective organisational outcomes. This study explored the internal factors under the control of the board (or those selecting board members) that contribute to effective board decision-making processes. The perspective of small group decision-making research was applied to explore board decision-making processes. The three aims of the study were to investigate those factors that directors thought contributed to their board's successful and unsuccessful decision-making, to observe how a board actually makes decisions; and to determine whether training and usage of a normative decision-making methodology (including the use of a reminder role) might improve that board's decision-making process. Data collection included direct, in situ, observation of a board; semi-structured interviews with all board directors, the CEO and four executive team members; three surveys; and emotional intelligence testing (MSCEIT). The board was found to use normative decision-making procedures. These decision making procedures appeared to contribute to better decision-making processes and consequently better decision-making outputs. The task intent of acting in the best interest of the company and the relationship intent of trust were found to permeate the board inputs and processes examined during this research. Other input and process variables observed to influence board decision-making were classified as being task (structure, process, communication) and/or relational (relationships, director attributes and emotions) factors. Task factors included rational decision-making procedures; clarity of goals and roles; use of external advisors as critical evaluators; quantity and quality of information; consensus decision-making; post-decision evaluation and learning. Relational factors included homogeneity of directors through careful selection; socialising with management; board norms of a safe environment, supporting the doubtful director and the obligation to share contrary views; adequate business knowledge; emotional intelligence; and commitment. The results of emotional intelligence testing revealed levels sufficient to assist in positive board dynamics. The study results support the application of small group decision making research to aid in board process research, and further empirical exploration of board inputs using psychometric measures.

The aim of this research is to investigate the use of third party logistics in New Zealand companies from the users’ perspective and to identify the improvement opportunities in the New Zealand environment. The empirical research is used to investigate the reasons for undertaking or not outsourcing logistics activities in New Zealand companies; to investigate the extent of use of third party logistics services in New Zealand and the influence of firm sizes and different industries on different aspects of 3PL (third party logistics) practices; to investigate critical success factors and attributes of selecting and evaluating 3PL service providers by users of 3PL in New Zealand; to establish the impact of usage of 3PL providers on New Zealand companies; to evaluate the satisfaction level of New Zealand 3PL services; to investigate the future plans of current 3PL users in New Zealand. The results showed that 3PL has been accepted by New Zealand organizations; with more than half of the respondents using 3PL. Current users accepted that 3PL allows them to gain a number of benefits and believe that 3PL has more positive impacts than negative. With a high level of satisfaction, a large number of user firms are likely to maintain and moderately increase the use of 3PL in the near future. The results of this study provide useful information for both 3PL providers and users. Providers should be aware of the most frequently used services, the potential trend, and develop their capabilities accordingly in terms of these future requirements. The experience of the firms in this study also provides insights as to the benefits of outsourcing logistics activities and how to plan for implementation for 3PL users.