published_or_final_version / Business Administration / Master / Master of Business Administration

published_or_final_version / Business Administration / Master / Master of Business Administration

published_or_final_version / Comparative Asian Studies / Master / Master of Arts

published_or_final_version / Chinese Historical Studies / Master / Master of Arts

The previous research on the relationship between demographic similarity and organizational outcomes has been based on the similarity-attraction arguments. In this dissertation, I argue that demographic similarity (or presence of people with similar attributes in a group) is associated not only with social integration but also with competition. The discussion leads to a new model for the effect of demographic similarity on turnover. More specifically, the model posits that structural characteristics such as the absence of a strong Internal Labor Market (ILM), and individual characteristics such as age and tenure moderate the relationship between demographic similarity and turnover. Using a sample of fifty-one top management groups, I attempted to validate the proposed model in the empirical analysis. I found that, among other things, in groups without a strong ILM, or when the individuals are young or brief in tenure, age similarity was positively associated with likelihood of turnover, confirming the presence of competition effects. Tenure similarity, and main effects of tenure, however, were not found to affect the turnover process in any significant way. Implications for future research are discussed.

This paper consists of the study of three of the most successful and widely known authors of Chicano Literature: Miguel Mendez, Rolando Hinojosa-Smith and Rudolfo Anaya. The theoretical principles on which this analysis is based correspond to the fields of linguistics and narratology. The first part of the study deals with the language choice process related to each of the three writers. The second part of the analysis was carried out by transferring results obtained from the study of live speech to the literary texts. These two different levels of language were confronted in order to verify if any correspondence among them exists.

Inter-organisational knowledge transfer is of central interest both as an academic topic and in business practice. However, despite the attention given to the importance of this subject from different perspectives in various contexts, little is known about how knowledge is transferred from vendors to clients in information systems (IS) outsourcing. This research attempts to address this apparent theoretical and empirical deficiency by providing a deeper understanding and more holistic analysis of the key factors which facilitate or inhibit knowledge transfer success in IS outsourcing. This study employed a qualitative, multiple case study approach in the interpretive paradigm. Data was collected mainly from the IS departments of three public sector organisations in Oman. Oman was chosen as the context for the study due to its rapid growth in recent years and the opportunity to consider the many major IS outsourcing projects which have been undertaken by its public sector. Through semi-structured interviews, this study explored the perspectives of the internal IS staff on their experience of knowledge transfer and learning from vendors through various IS outsourcing projects. Written and electronic documentations as well as non-participant observations also served as important triangulation and complementary sources in understanding the phenomenon being studied and as means of gaining additional perspectives and further insights on key issues. The empirical evidence demonstrated that there are five sets of factors which facilitate or inhibit knowledge transfer success in IS outsourcing. These are: knowledge (knowledge tacitness and knowledge complexity), client (learning intent, absorptive capacity and motivation), vendor (vendor capability, vendor credibility and vendor openness), relationship (relationship quality, relationship duration, relationship governance and organisational distance) and knowledge transfer mechanisms (formal and informal). The findings of this study contributed and extended the growing body of research on IS outsourcing by developing a novel, holistic conceptual framework which examined five sets of factors that impact knowledge transfer success. Additionally, it provided prescriptive value for practitioners seeking to realise efficient and effective knowledge transfer in IS outsourcing.

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University of Macau / Faculty of Arts and Humanities. / Department of English

W.M. Yim. / Thesis (M. Ph.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1979. / Bibliography: leaf 54.