This thesis builds on the previous work of Fox (1987) who investigated the experiences of managers in a British university's business school. It extends the previous work, however, by moving to the industry's arena to investigate the experiences of participants in five bank training programmes. This work uses ethnographic methods to understand the experiences of the different participants and links the experiences of the learner-managers to those of the instructors in the same programmes in a model of strategies. Presenting how both learners and instructors coped with their situations in the same thesis was thought to be important in order to present a more complete picture of how both parties influence each other and how they are both influenced by the different contexts the training programmes were embedded in. The results point to the factors which influenced importance of the contextual how the participants (both learners and instructors) approached their different tasks of learning and/or instructing. They also acknowledge the importance of the latent functions of training programmes. These observed training programmes could be perceived as 'institutional learning events' which did not only serve as 'learning events', they also served other functions for the individual, the organisation, and the wider society.

This is a case study of a company on which a new system of key performance indicators was imposed by its parent company. The members of the organisation did not formally and overtly oppose the new system. However, the way they implemented the new system was in line with their existing ways of doing things. Therefore, the focus of this research is to understand and explain why there is resistance to management accounting change and how this resistance is manifested. This study aims to provide a processual view of the resistance to change, that is to trace the historical and contingent characteristics that gave rise to such resistance. An interpretive case study approach is used in this research in which theory and case observations were essential in interpreting the research findings. Burns and Scapens's (1998,1999) institutionalist framework of management accounting change is utilised in order to answer the research questions and provides explanation of the case. Burns and Scapens argue that change is a complex process and it is inherently path dependent. They also argue that change that is consistent with the existing routines and institutions can be easier to implement than change which challenges existing institutions. Hence, resistance to change could be the result of the conflict between the values underlying the new system and the existing institutions in the organisations. The new KPIs system that was imposed on the company challenged its existing institutions. The new system required an economic mindset. In addition, in the new system, the employees' performance was made more transparent. The existing institutions in the company were characterised by a dominant production orientation, in part due to its absolute monopolistic position and the specific nature of its revenues and also the lack of use of financial targets. The budget is an institutionalised routine in the organisation, but used in a ceremonial manner. The managers used budgets mostly as a means to obtain resources. The accountants in the company had a traditional role and did not play an active part in assisting the other managers in their day to day decisions. The task of implementing the new system fell upon the accountants, but, the formulation of KPIs was by specific managers. However, what happened was that the organisational members subverted the change in line with what was acceptable to them. As such, the revolutionary change that was imposed on the company has followed an evolutionary path dependent process. There were new activities associated with the new KPIs system, however, the values underpinning those activities remained the same, and consequently, the ways in which the new system was used were in line with the existing institutions. There was formal change, but ways of thinking were still the same. As Burns and Scapens (1999) maintain, formal change without change in ways of thinking can result in resistance and failure of implementation.

This thesis uses the work of Michel Foucault to analyse the three main knowledges around sex at work - scientific modernism, liberal feminist sexual harassment knowledge and re-eroticization knowledge. The main argument is that such knowledges can be identified as generating subjectifying power effects; that is to say. this thesis argues that modern human subjects are produced through the operations of prevailing power/ knowledge regimes such as those around sex at work. It is further suggested that the subject positions which these knowledges generate can, in line with Foucault's argument that 'everything is dangerous', be identified to have particular implications. A program of semi-structured interviews has been completed in a university and in a financial services company in order to assess how powerful each knowledge around sex at work has been with regard to subjects in the respondent group. Resistances to the knowledges were also catalogued. Acknowledgement is also made where appropriate of power effects of and resistances to these knowledges with regard to subjects in the wider social. Importantly, analysis is also offered of the implications of the subject positions identified; that is to say, of what it might mean for these men and women to understand themselves in these ways. This thesis therefore conforms to Foucault's recommendation that intellectual work should be used to subvert claims to truth and to reveal the effects of power so that subjects may begin the 'critical ontology' of themselves. This project of self rests on an awareness on the part of individual subjects that what that they know of themselves is nothing more, and nothing less, than the power effects of particular knowledges. Foucault suggests that this kind of relationship with self allows for a certain degree of self-fashioning - that we can come to be able to choose the ways in which we know ourselves. The concluding part of the thesis addresses the criticisms that have been made of this vision of a new form of subjectivity and, in so doing, clarifies the ethicopolitical contribution of the kind of Foucauldian analysis that has been attempted here.

The aim of the research presented in this thesis was to explore the impact of transformational organisational change on the psychological contracts of a group of 101 managers working in a single UK public sector organisation. The research comprised a three stage, longitudinal study, undertaken over a period of two years. The research findings suggested that the group of public sector managers in the sample shared a" core psychological contract", which was still essentially relational in nature and stable over time. No significant differences were found in the type of psychological contracts held by different categories of employee. The fulfilment of the "core psychological contract" was found to be positively associated with self-rated performance, appraisal ratings, job satisfaction and affective and normative commitment, and negatively associated with continuance commitment and intention to quit. This relationship between contract fulfilment and work- related attitudes and behaviours was found to be relatively stable over time. Psychological contract fulfilment was found to positively predict job satisfaction, organisational commitment and appraisal ratings. Job satisfaction was found to positively predict self-rated performance and affective commitment and normative commitment. Job satisfaction was also found to negatively predict intention to quit scores. This suggests that psychological contract fulfilment may have a more direct relationship with work related attitudes than with work related behaviours. The research findings suggest that transformational organisational change has significantly threatened the key elements of the "core psychological contract" however. The managers in the sample reported a high level of dissatisfaction with the "current deaf', as they perceive a significant "mismatch" in "wants" and "offers" in the current psychological contract between the organisation and its employees. Fifty nine percent of the sample, reported examples of psychological contract violation. Those reporting contract violation report lower appraisal ratings and job satisfaction, and affective and normative commitment scores and higher continuance commitment and intention to quit scores than those not reporting violations. The, longitudinal research findings suggest a clear causal relationship between the experience of contract violation, a decline in perceived contract fulfilment and a higher intention to quit. They also suggest that if contract violation is repeated over time, this may lead to a further deterioration in performance, job satisfaction and commitment and a significantly higher intention to quit. If no further violations are experienced however, performance, job satisfaction and organisational commitment appear to begin to recover. The research findings suggest that it may be possible for the organisation to negotiate a `new deaf' (a more realistic psychological contract) with its employees. This will involve "re-balancing" the contract to achieve better balance between the "wants" and offers" of each party. The research findings suggest that the process of agreeing and implementing the "new deaf' will involve the full commitment and involvement of Top management, HRM staff, line managers and employees if it is to be successful.

This thesis was initiated from the idea that the current static linking between learning resources imposes a limitation on e-learning applications, in particular, those applications that involve increasing resources and a diversity of learners. This situation may cause two concerns. The first concern is that learners lose the opportunity to benefit from the dynamism of available resources. Static linking limits different learners who must follow a personalised path of learning over relevant content provided by increasing and dynamic resources. The second concern involves problems of scalability in learning resource management. Statically linked resources increase the difficulty in incorporating a growing number and variety of new relevant resources. The concept of dynamic linking between learning resources is introduced to potentially overcome this limitation. The overall aim of this thesis is to develop an understanding of the requirements for producing a conceptual framework for dynamic linking between relevant resources. This framework has the two main purposes; facilitating learners in following their individual learning path over relevant resources and providing resource authors with a scalable mechanism for resource management. An iterative research approach was used during this study comprising four interrelated activities, including literature study, construction of conceptual models of human activity systems, development of a conceptual framework for dynamic linking, and prototype development and evaluation. The main outcome from this work is a conceptual framework of dynamic linking of relevant learning resources. This framework consists of high-level mechanisms that reflect the framework's functionalities. A prototype with limited functionalities was built and evaluated to demonstrate the key ideas of the framework. The conceptual framework and the prototype, along with the understanding of framework's requirements and knowledge of the system development, constitute the main contribution of this thesis.

Faculty members of universities are vital resources because their performance, behaviour, aspiration and talents will affect the productivity of universities. The top management of universities must realise the genuine value of faculty members to higher education. Higher education plays a major role in contributing to the economic development of any country especially in a developing country like Palestine where there has never been a greater need for competent professionals that are able to contribute to the development process of Palestine in these turbulent times. Performance appraisals of faculty members should be conducted and· managed effectively in order to contribute to the development of faculty members and their institutions in a way that is consistent with the future goals of higher education in Palestine. Performance appraisals should play a major role in performance management, which involves more than evaluating employees' performance at regular intervals. This thesis utilises a triangulation approach of research thereby combining the personal observation method, literature review, survey and interview questionnaire methods in the data collection process. The current research is a descriptive, evaluative and empirical study, which examines the management of full time faculty members' performance appraisal process at five Palestinian public universities in the West Bank. The main purpose is to assess the perception of faculty members towards the effectiveness of the performance appraisal management process and to evaluate its impact on faculty members' development, satisfaction and motivation. A proposed model of faculty members' performance appraisal management entitled (SOFIA) emerges based on reviewing and drawing similarities among various performance management models and analysis of the data collected. However, the study identifies the obstacles influencing the application of the SOFIA model including cultural, political and financial constraints. The empirical data is gathered based on a sample of 265 faculty members participating in the survey including 25 interviews with staff and faculty members at the five Palestinian public universities. The results of the study provide empirical evidence of the negative perception that faculty members have of their performance appraisal management process. Also, the results demonstrate that the current appraisal process is highly inadequate to meet the needs of faculty members for continuous development and growth.

This study investigated the impact of the. introduction of multiskilled semi - autonomous work groups on individuals in two UK plants of a global automotive manufacturer. The first plant had introduced the work group concept almost ten years prior to the study. The researcher interviewed 26 shopfloor employees and two managers from two production lines at one point in time. One of these lines, the 'functional' line, had been in operation for only three months and was chosen for the study because managers and unions considered the work group concept to be working effectively on the line. The other line, the 'dysfunctional' line, had been established for almost ten years and was chosen because managers considered the work groups not to be operating effectively on the line. The findings indicated that participants from the 'functional' line were engaged with their work and collectively made decisions about the running of the line. In contrast, the work groups on the 'dysfunctional' line were disengaged with their work and tended not to make decisions about the running of their line. The level of 'disengagement' on the 'dysfunctional' line was attributed to the failure of management to meet the work groups' expectations of greater autonomy. On the 'functional' line maintenance and production indicated that they worked closely together whereas on the 'dysfunctional' line their was considerable conflict between the two groups as a result of the two groups trying to protect their group identities. The differences between the experiences of participants on the two lines has been explained in terms of differences in the backgrounds of the individuals, differences in the behaviour of the supervisors and managers and differences in how the work groups were established. At the second plant the researcher investigated the impact of the introduction of autonomous work groups on groups and individuals in a UK foundry over an twenty four month period. The researcher interviewed shopfloor employees and managers at three stages of the intervention: six months prior to the changes (n = 19), 6 months after the start of the changes (n = 11) and 18 months after the start of the changes (n = 15). Prior to the changes participants indicated that strong divisions existed between maintenance and production. These divisions were further highlighted by maintenance participants' concerns that the proposed changes to their roles would result in a loss of status for them. Six months following the introduction of autonomous work groups maintenance participants appeared to have overcome their concerns. Participants from all groups also indicated that the introduction of autonomous work groups had increased both the level of engagement of the work groups with their work and co-operation between production and maintenance groups. Twelve months later, however, participants' experiences had changed dramatically. Shopfloor participants indicated that they were now disillusioned with the changes because their expectations of greater autonomy had not been met. Participants, from all groups, also indicated a reduction in the availability of weekend overtime had resulted in a deterioration of the relationship between maintenance and production. The two groups now operated independently of each other and competed with each other for overtime. These findings highlight that organisations should not assume that autonomous work groups will necessarily result in positive outcomes for individuals and groups. It also highlights the importance of considering the impact of the existing social context and process of change when implementing autonomous work groups.

The objective of this research was to explore the psychological elements of workplace coaching. Specifically, the research aimed to consider the practices and processes of workplace coaching as an occupational psychological intervention. Using a mixed methods approach the two studies were conducted in parallel. The qualitative study focused on deepening our understanding of coaching as a process experienced by the coachee (the person receiving coaching). A grounded theory methodology was used based on a critical realist epistemology. The objective of the quantitative element of the study was to explore the reported behaviours used by coaches in their coaching practice. This study used a survey method to assess the variability in coaching styles between different reported coaching methodologies, psychologists and non-psychologists, gender and personality preferences as measured by MBTI. The themes extracted from the grounded theory study included the coachee expectations, properties of the session, attributes of the coach, behaviour's of the coach, behaviours of the coachee and outcomes. The statistical analysis produced largely non-significant results, with the exception of results relating to differences between coaches, the UK population and counsellors, based on the Myers Briggs Type Indicator. The findings were triangulated and used to inform the development of a framework for coaching which helps bring together the otherwise disparate aspects of workplace coaching into a single conceptual framework and which can constructively contribute towards an evidence based debate on coaching training and development

In the highly competitive business world performance measurement is important for all businesses to the extent that performance measurement is developing into an industry (Moullin, 2007). This is also true within the electricity supply sector where the added restriction of regulation and legislation from the UK and EU create additional pressures on performance measurement. These external pressures impact on strategic planning by limiting or introducing additional competition to drive or focus attention on some areas. This research will investigate evolving performance measurement to address environmental change in service utilities at multiple organisational levels. It will help expose what utility organisations measure and how measures cascaded throughout the business. The aim of the research is to explore how organisational performance models, methods and measurements within utility organisations evolve at all management levels, in line with the rapidly changing environment conditions. The research will adopt both an inductive and deductive theory building approach, leading to the development of a conceptual model and recommendations. The study will be based within the Northern Ireland electricity utility and will examine cases throughout the electricity supply chain. This research will explore the evolution of performance measurement within regulated multilevel organisations. It will examine performance measurement systems employed, and determine if these systems can evolve as the external environment changes. The research will examine how regulation affects the strategic making process. Internally strategic objectives have to be dissected and translated into divisional and individual performance measures. The research will expose enablers and inhibitors to performance measurement, cascade measures, strategy formulation and performance goals.

Foreign-owned multinationals are a dominant feature of the Irish economy. Over the years, there has been an on-going debate about whether or not the subsidiaries of these multinationals conform to established 'Irish' approaches to the management of the employment relationship. One influential view is that non union multinationals, particularly those of American origin, have transplanted a range of innovative HRM practices into the country, with the effect of helping to fragment the traditional industrial relations system in the country. Remarkably, little comprehensive evidence exists to support or bring into question this view. To address this shortcoming, this thesis reports the findings of research that investigates the conflict management strategies of 83 non union multinationals and a second stage research phase that explores the reasons behind. the approaches adopted in relation to conflict management systems. The main finding of this research is that most non union multinationals are not transplanting innovative conflict management strategies into Ireland. It is suggested that the longstanding tendency of categorising multinationals mainly into 'ethnocentric' and 'polycentric' (and sometimes geo-centric and regional- centric) organisations is not keeping pace with the growing sophistication of international strategic human resource management: multinationals can simultaneously pursue 'ethnocentric' and 'polycentric' HRM polices. Keywords: international human resource management; Irish industrial relations; the theory of multinationals; non union organisations; voluntarism; workplace conflict management.