One neglected yet very important feature of family business is its internal homogeneity. Different from heterogeneity which focuses on differences across family firms, homogeneity here refers to the continuity and similarity of decision-making patterns either over time or across business units in a single family firm. This dissertation attempts to explore homogeneity in family businesses as well as its antecedents and performance consequences. To distinguish different types of homogeneity, strategic persistence is defined as homogeneity of strategic patterns over time and the pursuit of a dominant strategy as the homogeneity across related business units. Based upon S&P 1500 manufacturing firms from 1996 to 2013, it is found that family firms have a higher level of strategic persistence and a more consistent dominant strategy than nonamily firms. In addition, it appears that being older, with less organizational slack and having higher family involvement in ownership and management tends to strengthen the two kinds of homogeneity in family businesses. Finally, it is found that high homogeneity in decision-making can result in better performance in family business compared to nonamily firms, especially for those with high family involvement in management. Theoretical implications and limitations are discussed.

BACKGROUND: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the fourth most common and second most deadly cancer in the United States. However, it is highly preventable and treatable if detected at the precancerous or local stage of development. There exists multiple screening methods each with varying sensitivity, required effort, and recommended frequency of use. Complete adherence to screening guidelines by the recommended, at-risk population would halve the current mortality rate. Unfortunately, screening adherence remains the lowest of all screened cancers with a median state screening adherence rate of about 65%. To understand what individual-level factors influence an individual’s decision to be screened, health behavior theory is used. However, few studies have evaluated the performance of entire behavioral theories in their ability to explain CRC screening intentions and behaviors. METHOD: Health Belief Model, Theory of Reasoned Action, Theory of Planned Behavior, and Attribution Theory were evaluated within the context of colorectal cancer screening using an online national sample (N=403) of at-risk individuals age 50 and older. Confirmatory factor analyses were performed for each evaluated construct of the theory. Structural equation models were created using the estimated constructs for each theory. Each theory was evaluated for the following screening use: colonoscopy, sigmoidoscopy, fecal occult blood test (FOBT), and general screening use. Fit statistics were estimated for each model. Models with acceptable fit were examined for significant pathways within the model as well as consistency of the model with the behavioral theory. RESULTS: All models displayed adequate fit statistics. While not all pathways were significant in each model, no estimate was the inverse in directionality to that hypothesized. This provides support that each theory lends some explanatory power and none of the theories evaluated detract from understanding CRC screening intentions and behaviors. Comparison of the models illustrates advantages to each theory and suggests potential integration of theories. CONCLUSION: The constructs of the Health Belief Model, Theory of Planned Behavior, and Attribution Theory all provide adequate explanations of individual-level CRC screening behavior influences. Although, further review and refinement of the theories is warranted and recommended.

<p>Organizational Capital Budgeting Model (OCBM) is a general theory of capital budgeting that incorporates traditional capital budgeting theories and the consideration about firm's information/ organization structure. The traditional financial capital budgeting model is a special case of OCBM. Therefore, OCBM not only broadens the traditional model, but also explains the heterogeneous behaviors of firms using quasi/non-financial version of capital budgeting. I demonstrate the validity of OCBM with multiple research methods. The field studies about Asian conglomerates are carefully constructed. The conglomerates are important dataset to study organizational decision making because of their size, scope, controversial behaviors and global presence.</p> / Dissertation

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Title: M&amp;A activity and the macroeconomic environment - a quantitative study on the impact of the macroeconomic environment on aggregate merger and acquisition activity in the US Background: There is a lack of established theories on what drives M&amp;A activity. A subject that has received much attention in literature but produced few compelling results. The full explanation of the dynamics of aggregate M&amp;A activity has yet to be captured. An explanation which could provide useful insights for central banks, corporate managers and any other parties affected by this prominent feature of the US economy which have come to shape and dominate the corporate landscape. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the relationship between the dynamics of aggregate M&amp;A activity and macroeconomic variables representing the state of the economy in the US. Method: The methodology that is used in the thesis is based on a deductive research approach with a quantitative research design. In addition, the thesis has also made use of a longitudinal panel research. The thesis hypotheses have been formulated using earlier research and existing theories about the subject of mergers and acquisitions as well as macroeconomic factors. Further on, the data set that has been analyzed consisted of 73137 transactions during the time period January 1, 1980 - January 1, 2020. Conclusion: The study finds that there are signs of relationships between macroeconomic variables and aggregate M&amp;A activity, although the precise characteristics of these relationships has not been established. The result of the study indicates that the macroeconomic environment as a whole affects aggregate M&amp;A activity and that it can be an important part of the explanation for the dynamics of aggregate M&amp;A activity. It cannot be established that macroeconomic variables can be used to predict M&amp;A activity, however there are interesting indications suggesting this might be the case.

Det kommunala fastighetsbolaget Gavlegårdarna har problem med att hyresgäster lämnar grovavfall i förrådsutrymmen, korridorer och andra allmänna utrymmen. Fastighetsägare ansvarar för att hyresgästerna har möjlighet att sortera ut det avfallsom kommunen ställer krav på, medan hyresgästerna kan hänvisas till återvinningscentralen för att lämna sitt grovavfall. Tillsammans med Gavlegårdarna valdes mångfaldsområdet Öster ut som studieobjekt. Syftet med arbetet är att undersöka psykologiska beteendeteorier som kan förklara människors avfallshantering generellt och avfallshantering i mångfaldsområden specifikt. Enligt the Theory of Planned Behavior formas avsikten till ett beteende av attityder, subjektiva normer och upplevd kontroll. Genom beskrivande information i form av bilder och videomaterial kan den upplevda kontrollen öka, och genom utbildning och moraliska budskap kan de miljövänliga attityderna öka. Genom att öka hyresgästernas miljövänliga attityder minskar beteendekostnaden, som utgörs av en persons attityder gentemot en handling, vägt mot handlingens upplevda kostnad eller ansträngning. För människor nya i det svenska samhället kan bristande kommunikation om hur det nya samhället fungerar bidra till normbrytande beteenden. Samhället behöver därför informera och utbilda, inte bara nysvenskar, utan människor generellt, inom exempelvis avfallshantering. Samtidigt finns stor kunskap hos den nysvenska befolkningen om hur det svenska avfallssystemet upplevs av någon som nyligen behövt anpassa sig till detta. Bostadsområdet Öster ligger 3,2 kilometer från närmaste återvinningscentral, vilket försvårar transporten för de boende i området. Bilinnehavet bland hushållen i området är 37 procent och det är inte tillåtet att ta med sig grovavfall på lokalbussarna. Avståndet utgör en utmaning och därmed bör framtida insamlingsmetod för grovavfall vara fastighetsnära. Då det finns en språkbarriär i Öster bör bild- och videomaterial användas i så stor utsträckning som möjligt, samt muntlig kommunikation när det är möjligt. Av Gavlegårdarnas kundundersökningar framgår att det finns ett engagemang bland hyresgästerna när det kommer till avfallsfrågan. För att involvera hyresgästerna i förändringsprocessen kan Community-based social marketing användas som ramverk. Hyresgästernas upplevda utmaningar och möjligheter gällande grovavfallshantering är viktiga kunskaper i förändringsprocessen och i utformandet av strategier och åtgärder. Oavsett insamlingsmetod bör återbruk ingå, detta för att flytta avfallshanteringen ett steg upp på avfallshierarkin. / The municipal property company Gavlegårdarna is grappling with issues related to tenants improperly disposing of bulky waste in storage areas, corridors, and other public spaces. Property owners are responsible for ensuring that their tenants have the opportunity to sort out the waste that the municipality requires, whilst bulky waste can be directed for the tenants to leave at a recycling center. Together with Gavlegårdarna the diverse neighbourhood Öster was selected as a study object. The work aims to investigate psychological behavioral theories that can explain human waste management in general and waste management in diverse areas specifically. According to the Theory of Planned Behavior, the intention is shaped by attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavior control. Through descriptive information in the form of images and video material, the perceived control can increase, and through education and moral messages, environmentally friendly attitudes can increase. By increasing tenants' environmentally friendly attitudes, the behavioral cost is reduced, which consists of a person's attitudes towards an action weighed against the perceived cost or effort of the action. For people new to Swedish society, the lack of knowledge of how the new society works can contribute to norm breaking behaviors. Society, therefore, needs to inform and educate new Swedes in, for example, waste management and at the same time learn from the experiences of the multicultural population. Previous studies have shown that oral communication is common in many cultures and that it can be used as a method to reach out to people new to Sweden. The neighbourhood Öster is 3.2 kilometers away from the nearest recycling center, which makes transport difficult for the residents in the area. Car ownership among households in the area is 37 percent and it is not allowed to bring heavy waste on local buses. The distance poses a challenge and thus the future collection method for bulky waste should be close to the property. As there is a language barrier in Öster, image and video material should be used as much as possible, as well as oral communication whenever possible. Gavlegårdarna's customer surveys show that there is a commitment among tenants when it comes to the waste issue. To involve tenants in the change process, Community-based social marketing can be used as a framework. The tenants' perceived challenges and opportunities regarding bulky waste management are important knowledge in the process of change and the design of strategies and measures. Regardless of the collection method, reuse should be included, to move waste management one step up the waste hierarchy.

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Purpose: Firm innovation is relevant in the fast paced business world. Recent years, research on board diversity has found that demographic and cognitive diversity have an impact on innovation, however this research is still inconclusive. To contribute to the research this thesis introduces informal hierarchy as a moderating variable to investigate if this can explain the previous contradictory findings.  Theoretical perspective: By using concepts from resource dependence theory, upper echelons theory, and behavioral theory, five hypotheses were formulated and tested.  Method: For board diversity Blau’s index was used, innovation was defined as an index of strategic change and informal hierarchy was measured as the dispersion of rank within the board, through the gini coefficient. 186 Swedish publicly listed limited liability firms were analyzed. Findings: The results provided evidence that neither demographic nor cognitive board diversity impacts innovation and informal hierarchy does not have a moderating role on that relationship. However, the findings suggest a direct relationship between informal hierarchy and innovation. Another finding suggests that board size and informal hierarchy separately has a negative impact on innovation, however when both board size and informal hierarchy is present there is a slightly positive effect on innovation.

The prevailing discourse of “resistance vs. acceptance” in IT implementation research mostly personalizes the issue as “users” versus IT implementers (e.g., managers, CIOs, CMIOs, etc.). This kind of discourse has created an IT-implementer-centric attitude among IS scholars and practitioners. The IT-implementer-centric attitude, while embraces “acceptance” as a desirable reaction almost unconditionally, frequently holds for minimizing or more conservatively suppressing “resistance” to IT implementation. In other words, the mainstream IT implementation research, almost completely, treats “users” as passive recipients whose choices, as they face pre-developed/pre-designed/pre-rolled-out technology being implemented, can only be defined on a spectrum from “acceptance” to “resistance.” The current research study, however, offers an alternative perspective that views the “resistance vs. acceptance” duality “from the other side,” i.e., from the perspective of the supposed “resistors” or “acceptors” themselves. Through a review of the literature, this study first identifies major drawbacks of the extant theories and models of IT implementation research. Next, drawing on an interpretive paradigm of research (more specifically, phenomenological sociology), this study investigates a real world case of healthcare IT implementation. The results of the aforementioned literature review and case investigation subsequently form the basis for the study’s proposed theoretical account, which provides an unprecedented understanding and explanation of how actors representing different stakeholder groups, among which people who are routinely called “users” are but one group, experience IT implementation as they live their everyday lives. The proposed theoretical account is lastly used as a guide for crafting both practical and research prescriptions with respect to managing IT-involved change occasions.