The role of regional clusters in the development and growth of firms has been a key research theme within the management and entrepreneurship literature over the past two decades. The main focus of this research has been to consider issues relating to economic externalities: economies of scale or scope and the effects of knowledge diffusion or, as Krugman (1991) defined them, knowledge spillovers. While the idea of firm-level marketing externalities has been mooted as a potential benefit arising from geographic agglomeration (Bell and Brown, 2001), there has been, as yet, little research undertaken which can support such claims. This thesis investigates the benefits from regional industry clusters by exploring the role of geographic co-location and the influence of social networks in the development of firm-level marketing externalities. Specifically, the following research propositions were examined: Proposition 1: Social networking has a greater influence than geographic pro ximity in facilitating inter-firm cooperation in marketing activities. Proposition 2: The social elements of networking are positively correlated to the development of inter-firm cooperation in marketing activities. Proposition 3: Compared to formal relationships, informal networks are positively correlated with the development of inter-firm cooperation in marketing activities. Proposition 4: Multinational Enterprises positively influence the development of inter-firm co-operation in marketing activities within regional clusters. Proposition 5: Countries and regions in which there is a high level of social collectivism will demonstrate higher levels of inter-firm cooperation in marketing activities. Data for this thesis was collected in two main stages. Stage one entailed semistructured personal interviews (during July 2003 and January 2004), based on a purposive sample of twenty-two companies in two regions in Scotland (Northwest Scotland and Shetland Isles) and two regions in Chile (IX and X regions). The firms were drawn from a single industry, salmon farming, a sector that makes substantial contribution to the remote rural and regional economies of both Scotland and Chile. Stage two involved a postal questionairre survey and follow-up process during 2004, to the total population of companies (N=229) involved in the main value chain activities of this industry in the two participant counties. The results reveal that `close proximity' is not a key issue for the development of inter-firm cooperation in marketing. Co-location is, however, beneficial for the development of `social glue' (Porter, 1998), building trust among entrepreneurs within the specific industry and building a common knowledge base and culture. Close proximity also enhances face-to-face communication, helping the development of relational ties that are special for inter-firm interactions. In addition, co-location is generally perceived to be useful for sharing general ideas with other people, rather than for sharing strategic information. The results also suggest that elements of networking are important for inter-firm cooperation. They highlight the potential role of `communication and social networks' (Szarka, 1990; Johannisson, 1995; Mackinnonn et al., 2004) as well as `extra local networks' (Mackinnon et al., 2004) as relevant in providing information to firms in local and regional clusters. Thus, the concept of `proximity' needs to be considered as being not only spatial but also social, assuming organisational and relational forms in which firms and entrepreneurs relate to each other. The evidence also emphasizes the use of electronic communication as a mechanism to facilitate inter-firm collaboration with partners irrespective of location, being an effective means of transmitting technical knowledge including marketing information. The marketing collaboration process apears to be led by small innovative companies. As smaller companies increase in size and stronger competition for similar markets and customers becomes an increasingly important factor, the creation of individualistic-competitive strategies becomes the norm. Multinational companies were not found to influence marketing collaboration activities. Inter-firm cooperation in marketing activities is not only affected by company size or company structure. Both the general business culture of the country and the `special' characteristics of specific regions within countries affect cooperative behaviour. In the Shetland Isles, for example, the local culture appeared to emphasize more cohesive - collectivistic behaviour, an embedded part of the `local industrial atmosphere' (Marshall, 1919), creating a special environment which manifested a complex mix of cooperation and competition within the industry.

When brand objects attract a number of consumers who exhibit strong loyalty to that object, and who communicate such loyalties with each other, brand communities form. Studies of such communities have hitherto focused on the individual relationships between their members in order to explain the dynamics driving such groups. This study aims to explore the wider universe in which such groups operate, and to establish the interconnecting relationships between the various actors associated with the brand object, including marketer-consumer, consumer-society and community-subculture. Positivist research methods are inappropriate to such a study, because of their basic assumption that people can be studied in the same manner as the physical world. Instead, the interpretivist paradigm has been used for this research, because the researcher believes that the meaning of brands can only be fully understood when the subjective experiences of those who use them are taken into consideration. A case study of the Mini brand community has been chosen as a vehicle for this study. The results are inductive rather than deductive, allowing theories of social phenomena to emerge from the data, thus ensuring that they are grounded in observation and experience. The case study method has also enabled the researcher to become fully involved in the phenomenon under investigation. Analysis was conducted on data collected from a wide range of online and offline sources relating to this community. This data revealed that marketers abandoned the Mini when production of the car ceased, leaving the brand community to maintain the remaining vehicles and perpetuate the meanings that surround the brand. Community members became solely responsible for preserving the values of “small-is-beautiful”, “fun” and “Britishness” with which the Mini has come to be associated. They maintained the cultural meanings of the Mini so successfully that the Mini’s successor, the BMW MINI, was able to reclaim these meanings to maximize its launch and development. In this way, brand meaning can be shown to be the result of a complex process of interaction between all the actors concerned at every level, rather than being created and sustained only by marketers. This study proposes a conceptual framework by which consumer behavior within brand communities can be studied, and which takes account of all those actors and levels concerned with creating the cultural meaning(s) attached to a given brand object.

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The aim of this thesis was to examine the changes in decision-making, strategy and marketing activities in small firms over time and also to examine the key factors which have contributed to these changes. The work presents the findings from a longitudinal research study conducted covering a 15-year time period. It is this longitudinal dimension which arguably provides the greatest value of the thesis and the aspect which makes the greatest contribution to increasing knowledge of the subject area. No other study has examined these phenomena over such an extended time period. Qualitative research by means of a case study approach was undertaken. The primary source of data collection was a series of depth interviews conducted with the owner/managers of the case firms at various points over the time period. This was supplemented by observation and document analysis. Analysis was conducted on a firm-by-firm and cross-case basis. The overall conclusion is that there have been fundamental changes in the decision-making, strategy and marketing activities of small firms over time. These changes have been driven by both external factors (primarily the growth of the Internet and economic circumstances) and internal factors (the development of firms’ competencies and resources). Age and stage of the firm is also important; as firms develop and move through their life cycle, and as owner/managers develop their competencies over time, they change the way they do business generally and how they approach decision-making, strategy and marketing specifically. These, and other, key findings are discussed and presented in the conclusions chapter. While this thesis makes a significant contribution to the advancement of knowledge in this area (especially to educators and policy makers), there is further scope and opportunity to develop and build on this research in the future.

This dissertation refines a newly developed concept in the literature of institutional theory, institutional duality, focusing on its primary assumption - institutional distance and its essence of conflict. In so doing, it aims to better understand the interaction between MNC subsidiaries and the fragmented contextual environments they face.

This thesis addresses the performance and delivery of professional legal services. Previous research has focused on the shape of professional services and the organisation of professional service firms. This study extends the scope of research into professional services and provides understanding on how opportunities to shape and deliver professional services in new, creative and innovative ways are identified. The empirical research examined the management and delivery of professional legal services across private law firms and in-house legal groups in the UK. Across the UK radical measures proposed for the provision of legal services under new business models suggest a transition towards dual activity and services across the professional institutions and organisational settings providing legal services. As lawyers face demands to deliver services that are increasingly driven by commercially focused strategic aims the professional dimension to their services is being subjected to increased scrutiny. Lawyers are facing demands to strategise and introduce innovation across their services that are diminishing the professionalism of their role and services but not significantly so. Increasing heterogeneity across the legal profession and the consequences for the professionalism of lawyers has seen lawyers diversifying their services and introducing innovation to their role both by adapting their existing skills and acquiring new skills A theoretical framework draws on three theoretical approaches to inform this research. The co-existence of firms and professions and the interdependencies between and interconnections across these two structures are examined. Resource theory (in the tradition of Penrose 1959) is used to understand not only the relationship between resources and services but also the level of strategic interaction across the processes combining resources. A resource approach to the strategic management of firms (Foss and Ishikawa 2007) is developed by explaining the management of the complex interconnections between firms and professions in the delivery of professional legal services. This research examines the influence of processes across these two social structures in driving innovation across the delivery of professional legal services. Specifically, process theory (Langley 1999, Van de Ven and Poole 2005) is used to develop ideas about the relationship between resources and services and to explain the relationship between the dual contexts of professions and organisations in order to understand how the processes of combining resources are influential in driving innovation in the delivery of a service. This exploratory research study was inductive in its approach and used a grounded theory methodology to address the research aims. The ontological, interpretivist view of grounded theory is appropriate to understand the complex social phenomena of this research.

Tourism destination market is competitive due to the increase of the number of world-wide international arrivals and more holiday destination players. Maintaining repeated tourist numbers is as important as attracting potential first-timers. Previous research has suggested that the majority of the destination loyalty research follows the framework of general brand loyalty theories. These studies tend to be positivist employing quantitative research designs. Moreover, they focus on causal analyses amongst image, satisfaction and revisit intention, which perceive loyalty as an ultimate goal. However, the current study identifies that the conceptual definition of loyalty conflicts with the constructs of loyalty. Additionally, the study aims to explain the dynamic rotation of actual revisits and place endearment by integrating theories of place attachment, existential authenticity and development of destination loyalty. The current study employs interpretivism as research philosophy and interpretive as paradigm. It obtained data from focus groups and semi-structured interviews under the exploratory-purposed research design. The data is then analysed by means of the thematic analysis technique. Focus groups serve as the preliminary study; they allow examination of destination loyalty from real practices. Interviews generate information to fulfil the research aims by explaining the formation and development of destination loyalty with the integration of the theories of place attachment and existential authenticity. The current results indicate that intention is hardly actuality and tourists are behaviourally loyal to multiple holiday destinations. Destination features fulfil tourists’ physiological needs and bring satisfaction and excitement. However, they do not deepen tourists’ attachment to the holiday destination. They are longer residence experience, local involvement, and memory which make tourists feel the destination like home to them. They are taken in as members of the local community. In addition, travel experiences are self-learning process and tourists dialogue with themselves during their journeys and then they were promoted knowledgably and spiritually. Tourists gain sense of belongingness and self-actualisation from holiday experiences. This study suggests that destination loyalty is a dynamic process rather than a terminal status of behavioural consumption. With the integration of self-realisation, destination loyalty can be seen to be more than habitual and occasional revisits and fulfilments and satisfaction of physiological needs. This study unhooks the causal analyses on attributes; instead, it proposes a new perspective of explaining the development and enhancement of destination loyalty. The results can be beneficial for destination management and marketing research. Maintaining and branding are just the initial process. A tourist destination must utilise its characteristics to create more irreplaceable experiences for tourists, which enable tourists to build up profound emotional associations with the place.

Radical corporate innovation ventures (RCV) can be engines of renewal and profitable growth. However, their outcome is highly unpredictable. This research explored, how industrial and knowledge intensive RCVs confront reality, deal with uncertainty and how they control their destiny. In essence, this research project has empirically investigated during the early time-into-market, the market and business development (MBD) of RCVs, through a capabilities (CAP) and dynamic capabilities (DCAP) evolutionary lens; a neglected research space. At the end of this report, a glossary and an overview of the abbreviations are included. Due to the multi-disciplinary, multi-dimensionality and complexity of the research scope, this study conducted during 3 years, longitudinal field research, studied in-depth 6 cases, involved through face-to-face interviews and focus group sessions, more than 100 managers, applied the triangulation method and analysed extensively the related literature. This research suggests that MBD or developing a market (MD) and developing a business (BD), can be operationalized, as an entrepreneurial market orientation (EMO) CAP (1). During a prospecting and trial phase, an aligned Schumpeterian and driving EMO combination is the better fit (2). In the next phase, defined as acceleration phase, a Kirznerian and driven EMO combination is the better fit (3). This approach can result in a more effective time-into-market, a better MBD learning curve, generate faster recurring revenues and lead to a first prover advantage (FPA) (4). Concurrently, MBD can also be operationalized as a bridging or DCAP with sensing, scaling, collaborating, capturing and leading as dominant DCAPs (5). Moreover, a MBD lead framework could be identified. Basically, lead organisations orchestrate seven interdependent lead elements: lead offerings, lead users, lead customers, lead partners, lead experts, lead markets and lead champions. An optimal lead mix is dependent on external dynamics, organizational DNA and strategic options (6). This research also suggests that MBD CAPs and DCAPs are hardly on the management agenda, are mostly ignored, and are avoided, because they are invisible and perceived as difficult to implement (7). Furthermore, both need to be de-averaged, integrated and dynamically synchronised (8). Finally, limitations have been discussed and avenues for further research determined (9).