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Learning in organisations was examined using the concept of Absorptive capacity (AC) in circumstances where new knowledge enters a public organisation. AC is investigated using notions of exploratory, transformative and exploitative learning to study how new knowledge is mobilised. This builds on existing literature of AC which explores the same phenomena in private sector organisations. This investigation provides a deeper understanding of how scarce organisational resources can be effectively deployed, in a Caribbean setting. This is pursued through exploring the behaviors, processes and structures that influence the implementation of new knowledge in an educational institution, named Aquacon, based at two sites in the Caribbean. Using a Critical Realist perspective, this study has adopted a structured sampling approach, where evidence was gathered using semi-structured interviews, observation and documents. The data analysis has included both within and cross case analyses. The findings show that AC processes do not always follow a sequential path. Prescriptive and emergent forms of learning were used to provide a novel perspective of organisational learning. The propensity for innovation to occur was found more likely when the distinctions between the dimensions of AC were blurred, and critical reflection extended throughout the entire process. The results suggest that power and politics can be a negative influence on the extent of knowledge absorption. This investigation contributes to theoretical and practical understanding of organisational learning processes associated with new knowledge and change or innovation. This has implications for managers and the ways in which power and politics can be perceived to encourage a richer technological learning experience for employees in a Caribbean context. 3

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This thesis describes the role played by management accounting in environmental management initiatives within UK manufacturing operations. According to many authors, management accounting has the potential to contribute towards the generation and management of environmental information by modifying, developing and extending its practices and techniques towards an 'environment-related' form of accounting. However, there is little existing evidence of the widespread involvement of management accounting within UK environmental management. UK manufacturing organizations are generating internal information flows specifically targeted towards dealing with 'environmental'-induced uncertainty, and are also developing environmental management systems (EMS) to reduce their impact on the natural environment. Empirical research to date indicates that such 'environmental' information differs in its generation, uses and level of integration with traditional management information systems, such as management accounting. This thesis adds to this existing knowledge by contributing case study evidence of the role of management accounting within environmental management at three manufacturing sites in the UK. In order to explore the role of management accounting within corporate 'greening', the thesis describes the processes by which environmental ('green') issues permeate organizational boundaries and either become part of, or excluded from, organizational action and consciousness. Within this, the primary focus is to describe how 'green' issues may be rendered 'visible' and 'invisible' by existing management information and accounting systems. The thesis uses a 'middle-range' thinking research paradigm, and critically reviews a diverse range of theoretical and empirical literature in order to construct a number of 'skeletal' theoretical models that describe how organizational 'greening' change arises from specific interactions within social and organizational contexts. Management accounting systems are specifically located within these models, and further 'skeletal' theoretical generalisations are provided for describing the types and uses of environmental information within the firm. The aim of the 'skeletal' models of corporate greening and environmental information is to provide a general framework within which the study can be completed. Whilst a number of general hypothesises are developed from the models, the models require empirical data to give them meaning. To provide this, evidence is collected from three case studies of manufacturing operations in UK locations, together with supplemental empirical evidence from a range of sources. The findings from the empirical data is that management accountants and accounting are not involved in the generation of environmental information, envisage no compelling need to use environment-related accounting and are happy to allow environmental managers to control the EMS. However, management accountants do appear to be knowledgeable about the environmental impacts of the organization, and have an 'awareness' of how environmental costs and impacts can affect the efficiency of business operations.

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