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The accountability of marketing investments continues to be a key area of concern for researchers and practitioners (MSI Research Priorities, 2008). In particular, market-based assets, specifically customer relationships, and their potential impact on firm performance are a significant source of interest. Though research in this area continues to grow, little is understood about how investments in human capital and the acquisition of alliance partners through factor markets relate to customer relationship management and the impact of customer relationships on performance. This dissertation presents two studies which, together, investigate how investments in market-based assets influence on abnormal stock returns. In the first study, the resource-based view of the firm (Barney 1991) is used to posit several hypotheses related to investments in human capital. The hypotheses are tested using ten years of data from the U.S. airline industry and analyzed using a mixed-effects methodology. Results indicate that investments in customer service personnel impact abnormal stock returns through their impact on customer relationships. Moreover, these investments tend to have decreasing returns in terms of their impact on customer relationships, and the relative strength of this relationship is shown to be contingent upon a firm's service delivery capabilities, advertising expenditures, and operating focus. This study helps clarify how market-based assets are managed, how investments in specific resources used to manage them relate to stock returns, and why the same dollar invested in human capital by different firms can lead to different levels of returns. The second study also takes a resource-based view of the firm and the management of market-based assets. From this perspective, alliances are considered as external resources acquired in strategic factor markets (Barney 1986) for the purpose of complimenting a focal firm's strategy and performance. This study investigates the long-term impact of alternative types of alliances and the potential impact of alliance partners' customer relationship management capabilities on a focal firms' performance. Just as in study one, ten years of U.S. airline data are used, and a mixed-effects methodology is implemented to test hypotheses. Results indicate that the direct benefits of horizontal marketing alliances tend to be positive, but dependent upon the extensiveness of the alliance. Furthermore, it is revealed that the impact of a partner's customer relationship management capabilities on a focal firm's performance is contingent upon whether the partner's capabilities are similar or dissimilar relative to the focal firm. In short, results indicate that when differences exist, the positive impact of a focal firm's customer relationship management capabilities can be reduced to almost zero if that firm allies with a less competent partner. Taken together, these studies tend to suggest that firms which learn to successfully manage investments in customer relationships may risk nullifying expected positive returns if they simultaneously select alliance partners which are less successful at managing such investments. Similarly, firms which are not able to improve their own management of customer relationships can potentially limit the potential negative consequences by allying with more able firms. In all, this dissertation helps address the accountability issue for marketers.

The aim of this report is to explain the effect and the outcome of the Swedish-Finnish military cooperation and propose political courses of action to improve its deterrent qualities. It gives an extensive background on the defense policies in Sweden and Finland after the breakdown of the Soviet Union and the Treaty of Warsaw with a focus on the two countries reactions to Russian aggression in Georgia and the Ukraine. The report establishes that the cooperation is in fact a military alliance and analyzes the cooperation from a realistic perspective with elements based on social constructivism. Official documents, laws and legal documents are examined and an interview with a senior ranking Swedish military officer is made to provide the necessary factual base and input for the analysis. The analysis is performed with a view to both a short term and a long-term perspective. This report concludes that there is need for a binding treaty between the two countries concerning military assistance in case of an armed conflict with Russia. That there is urgent need especially for Sweden to increase defense spending. But also, that a military alliance between the two countries is a rational and politically sound idea. The cooperation should focus on mutual defense plans to increase military effectiveness, economic efficiency, and political resolve in the alliance.

As developed throughout the dissertation¿s chapters, I combined a number of different and interconnected agendas with the overall goal being to strengthen and revitalize the field of conflict resolution and peacebuilding research in a number of ways. First, I critiqued the past and current peacebuilding literature in order to present its theoretical, methodological and substantive gaps and inadequacies. Second, I argued for a recognition of the interconnectedness of methodology, reflexivity and knowledge/power in general, and more specifically within the peacebuilding literature. Third, my theoretical and methodological framework constituted a distinctive exemplar for conflict resolution and peacebuilding that begins to ground our research questions, methodologies and discourses as situated knowledges within relations of power. Fourth, I argued academic peacebuilding discourses and practices are not neutral but inherently involved in larger social relations. Fifth, I presented the critical narratives from the locality of Indigenous and non-Indigenous grassroots activists in order to shift the spotlight of peacebuilding discourses and practices onto the transformative possibilities of grassroots community-based peace building. I continued with a reformulated theorization of grassroots community peacebuilding as alternative geographies of knowledge, place-based practices and counter-narratives, important in themselves, and as part of a glocality of bottom-up transformative change. Finally, I conclude with a call for a renewing of the field of Conflict resolution and Peacebuilding based on social justice and community-based praxis.

<p>How do firms decide which corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative to take on and when? The extant research has not been able to give definitive answers to these questions. As a result, despite CSR being an integral part of doing business today, many executives remain unsure about integrating CSR considerations into core strategy and decision makings. CSR is often considered in silos and not in conjunction with core corporate activities.  The three empirical essays in this dissertation seek to understand the role of CSR in corporate strategy, particularly in strategic alliance and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) contexts, and identify means through which CSR can be integrated into core strategic decision making. </p> <p><br></p> <p>The first essay, titled “Honor by Association: Does a Partner’s CSR Matter in Strategic Alliances?” investigates the role of partner’s CSR in strategic alliances, i.e. whether CSR of a partner affects the focal firm’s value creation from the alliance. Drawing on the stakeholders-based view of strategic alliances and advancing relational capabilities perspective on CSR, I argue and provide evidence that, faced with information asymmetry and collaborative challenges, a focal firm can rely on CSR performance of the partner to make judgements about value creation potentials from the alliance.</p> <p><br></p> <p>The second essay, titled “CSR Learning: Does a Firm’s CSR Influence Its Partner’s CSR?”, extends my first essay and puts forth the notion of CSR-learning through CSR knowledge and capabilities transfer in strategic alliances. A central argument is that the extent of CSR engagements and practices of a firm has an impact on those of its partner(s) in an on-going alliance. </p> <p><br></p> <p>Last but not least, the third essay is co-authored with Professor Ozmel and is titled “CSR in M&A: Does Relativity Matter?" This study examines the impact of relative CSR, <em>defined as the extent to which a target’s CSR resources and capabilities are superior to those of the acquirer</em>, on an acquiring firm’s value creation from M&A.  We contend that relative CSR matters in M&A as acquiring firms can gain access to superior CSR resources and capabilities to unlock relational and non-market synergies, resulting in additional value creation.</p>

What is NATO? This diplomatic history reveals that NATO and its meaning were contingent and never static. Instead, NATO was a machine the allies sought to adapt and use to achieve their national interests. NATO was shrouded in an "Atlantic mystique," the suggestion that the allies practiced a unique and exceptional type of cooperation based on shared values and common heritage. But this mystique did not define or ensure NATO's longevity; in fact NATO was thought necessary because of differences between the allies. The allies' national interests did converge on fundamental points, like the need for security. But they rarely agreed on specifics. And when they disagreed on basic questions, like NATO's relationship to the rest of the world, the role of Europe in NATO, and the American commitment to the continent, sparks flew. But because NATO was not static, it could adapt. And the hope held by each ally that they could convince their allies to change NATO to meet their needs - the hope inherent in a dynamic NATO machine - kept the allies working together. From 1955 to 1968, both the allies and the world situation changed dramatically. So to did the allies' plans and uses they saw for NATO. The primary interest of allies was protection from the Soviet Union. But the allies - even some in the Federal Republic of Germany - also believed NATO protected them from a resurgent Germany. Just how to defend against either threat was never agreed. But the allies believed that NATO, by keeping the Cold War cold, and by fostering cooperation between the western European states, established a Pax Atlantica. In this Atlantic peace the allies prospered. They cooperated and they competed, but peacefully. By the end of the 1960s, the allies believed NATO was necessary to maintaining the Pax Atlantica, even if - especially if - the Soviet empire collapsed. Amidst the crises of the 1950s and 1960s, the allies came to believe NATO was guaranteed a long future. / History

Recent years have witnessed a growing concern for the ability of firms to effectively manage their new product innovation in the face of disruptive technological changes, increased global competition, and rising costs of research and development. These concerns notwithstanding, firms are additionally required to launch radical new products to the market, as incremental new products provide their developers with only short-term sales and profitability. In response to these challenges, firms have entered into collaborative alliances to share the risks and costs involved in the new product development (NPD) process and to enhance their product innovation performance. Turning research discoveries into marketable radical new products through collaborative alliances is even more important for relatively small firms operating in technologically intensive industries. Such firms are often underfunded and unable to undertake a full NPD cycle internally due to an inability of assembling the right mix of internal capabilities. The inevitable need to access capabilities from alliance partners may lead some small firms to form collaborative alliances under unfavourable situations, which make alliances prone to failure (70% by some estimates) to reach new product innovation goals. The substantial rate of alliance failure is embedded in a clash between the logic of radical new product innovation management (the need for flexibility between alliance partners), and recommendations for alliance management (the need to determine the responsibilities of each partner from the onset of the alliance). Despite the benefits of alliances in providing required resources, alliances can impose substantial transaction costs to focal small firms. Thus, it is crucial to investigate how firms, particularly small firms, can make a balance between the benefits and costs involved in alliances, to mitigate alliance risks and increase the probability of new product radicalness. In this thesis, I introduce a new typology and demonstrate its application to product performance. The typology categorizes alliance partnerships along two dimensions of partnership timing (the stage of the NPD process during which alliance is formed) and partnership type (the role of alliance partner during the NPD process). I use this this typology to determine the interaction effects of partnership timing and type on the probability of product innovativeness (radicalness). To this end, I rely on insights from Transaction Cost Economics (TCE) and Resource Based View of the firm (RBV) theories as well as the absorptive capacity concept to develop testable hypotheses. I use a sample of 230 drugs developed by 85 biotechnology firms in collaborative alliances with 384 alliances in 1982-2016 with universities and research institutes, other biotechnology firms, and pharmaceutical firms formed during discovery, development, and prelaunch stages of the new drug development process. I find that the probability of drug radicalness increases when alliances with universities and research institutes, as well as other biotech firms, are formed during the discovery or development stages of the new drug development. However, results indicate that partnership with pharma firms during the discovery or development stages reduces the likelihood of drug radicalness. During the prelaunch stage, except for negative relation between alliances with other biotech and drug radicalness, results failed to find a significant relationship between university as well as pharmaceutical partnership and drug radicalness. By disintegrating alliances along two dimensions of partnership type and timing, this thesis substantially increases the understanding of the benefits and costs of each partnership type and during each stage of the NPD process. This helps relatively small firms to better understand when and with whom during the process of NPD they need to initiate alliances to increase their likelihood of product radicalness. This thesis also contributes to the current theoretical insights of TCE and RBV theories by considering costs and benefits of each partnership type variant along different stages of the NPD process. Methodologically, instead of focusing on analysis using firm level outcome variables (count number of new products), this thesis turns the unit of analysis to product level (innovativeness of the product) and links each product to its designated alliance attributes (timing and type) to provide more subtle and fine-grained implications. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

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To ensure an educational opportunity for every child that passes through America's schoolhouse doors, it is imperative that non-heterosexual students' educational needs are not ignored in the educational milieu (Zirkel, 2006). In the last decade or so, the desire of non-heterosexual students to organize Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) clubs on high school campuses have been met with angst by school leaders (Duncan & Rogers, 2008). Despite the passage of the Equal Access Act (EAA) in 1984, school leaders have often denied non-heterosexual students the right to establish GSA clubs on campus, consequently resulting in these students utilizing the judicial system as the venue to assert their rights under the law (Essex, 2005). As it is imperative that educational leaders understand the legal rights of all students under their care, and make informed decisions in order to avoid costly litigation, this research focused on analyzing the Equal Access Act of 1984, federal case law, legal commentary, and historical documents, in order to track the developments of non-heterosexual students' ability to utilize the EAA to establish GSA clubs in the public schools in the United States. The study employed a traditional legal research methodology as described by Alder (1993) and Russo (1993), relying on electronic data bases and traditional legal finding tools to carry out the research. From the resulting legislation, case law, scholarly commentary, and other relevant documents reviewed and analyzed, an accurate historical perspective on the EAA as it relates to the formation of GSA clubs was constructed. In addition, the significant themes that arose from the findings were synthesized in order to offer guidance to educational leaders and policymakers when facing requests from students to establish GSA clubs on school property. Recommendations for school leaders when considering such requests from students to form GSA clubs under the EAA are provided. / Ed. D.

No / Purpose - The aim of this paper is to gain a better understanding of how small technology start-ups learn about a key customer in the context of B2B relationships, and to propose a model of interfirm learning with customers. Design/methodology/approach - Using a qualitative case-based approach, the authors immerse themselves in the development of three learning alliances between technology startups and industry leaders, two successes and one failure, to gain an in-depth understanding of the dynamics involved. Data were collected on both sides of the alliance dyad. Findings - The paper delineates four learning cycles: alliance inception, joint-learning, specialization and discovery. These learning cycles constitute sequences of increasing understanding, cooperation, and higher order learning between the partners; evolving from an exchange of existing knowledge to the joint development of new knowledge. Originality/value - This study contributes to an integration of the alliance and marketing literatures by offering empirical evidence of a different type of alliance, namely the reciprocal learning alliance. It also contributes to broadening our understanding of market orientation in inter-organizational settings. In the context of business-to-business relationships, the study has identified four critical dimensions of learning alliance success, and proposed how they could be measured: Learn about customers; Interact with customers; Customer-specific investments; and Co-develop breakthrough innovations. Finally, the study demonstrates the significant role played by 'committed champions'.