Individual shortcomings and the need for resources stimulates organizations desire to establish collaborative relations with each other. An organization tends to prefer to collaborate with other familiar organizations. The information available to an organization about its peers is necessary for its ability to appreciate the suitability of potential partners as well as their capabilities and ability to contribute to a successful collaborative relation. In a three stage analytical process, social network analysis and statistical network modelling is applied to investigate the correlation between patterns of communication and the extent to which organizations establish collaborative relationships. With a theoretical framework of resource dependence theory and social capital, data on information exchanges, resource exchanges and common advocacy among humanitarian 55 organizations is mapped. The first analytical stage explicates the structures of the collected information exchanges and evaluates the prevalence of coordination facilitating communication structures. The second stage appreciates the extent of inter-organizational involvement in collaborative relationships. The third step combines these results to demonstrate the covariance between the prevalence of coordination facilitating structures and extent of collaborative relations. The results indicate that the collected information exchanges exhibit few coordination facilitating structures and the organizations are only to a very limited extent engaged in collaborative relationships with each other. While consistent with previous research on the importance of communication for coordination, these observations illustrate the negative consequences of lacking communication. This analysis contributes with added empirical experiences to solidify our understanding of organizational behavior in inter-organizational interaction and tendencies to establish collaborative relations.

This is the first research to empirically study the congruity in supply chain operations strategies. The tests show that the congruity in supply chain operations strategies are related to performance and also moderate the association between performance and the types of supply chain relationships. 308 manufacturing firms were studied for empirical tests. Various methods including multiple regressions, cluster analyses, and logistic regressions are applied in this study. Based on the tests, five hypotheses are supported and only one hypothesis is inconclusive. This dissertation contributes in different thresholds. First, by studying operations strategies through a different angle (the supply chain instead of a firm) this study reconciles results in the relationships between performance and operations strategies and between performance and supply chain relationships. Therefore, this study contributes to reconciling two long-term puzzles in both operations strategies and supply chain management literatures. Second, this research draws on three different disciplines, operations strategies, supply chain management and organization theory (resource dependence theory). This interdisciplinary approach provides a broader perspective in operations management research. Third, through this research, guidelines are provided for not only powerful firms but also the weak ones on how to improve their performance through developing different types of supply chain relationships and integrating their operations strategies with their supply chain members.

BAKGRUND: Sedan revisionsplikten avskaffades 2010 har inte fastställts hur den ekonomiska brottsligheten påverkats av att små svenska aktiebolag inte längre revideras. Trots att Ekobrottsmyndigheten varnat för att avsaknaden av revisor kan vara en riskfaktor för ökad ekonomisk brottslighet pågår en utredning om att utöka gränsvärdena för revisionsplikten för svenska aktiebolag. SYFTE: Studien syftar till att förklara sambandet mellan revision och förekomsten av ekonomisk brottslighet i små svenska aktiebolag. METOD: Denna kvantitativa studie har ett deduktivt angreppssätt. Utifrån agentteori, resursberoendeteori och beslutsteori har en hypotes formulerats. En tvär-snittsdesign har använts och sekundärdata, främst bestående av räkenskaps-information, har analyserats med Chi2-test och logistisk regression. SLUTSATS: Studiens analys visar på ett svagt negativt samband mellan revisor och ekonomisk brottslighet, vilket innebär att resultatet indikerar att ekonomisk brottslighet är mer förekommande i bolag som väljer bort revisorn. Vidare minskar revisorn risken för att ekonomisk brottslighet förekommer inom små aktiebolag med 10,35 procentenheter. / INTRODUCTION: Since voluntary audit was introduced in 2010, it has not been established how the economic crime in Swedish SMEs has been affected by no longer being revised. Although the Swedish Economic Crime Authority has warned that the absence of an auditor may affect the risk of increased economic crime, a debate about whether to increase the limit of voluntary audit has arisen. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to explain the relationship between audit and economic crime in Swedish SMEs. METHOD: This quantitative study is based on a deductive approach. Based on agency theory, resource dependence theory and decision theory a hypothesis has been developed. A cross-sectional design has been used and secondary data, mainly from financial statements, has been analysed using Chi2-test and logistic regression. CONCLUSION: In the analysis, a weak negative correlation between auditor and economic crime is presented. I.e. the results indicate that the risk of economic crime is more prevalent in companies without an auditor. Further, the auditor reduces the risk of economic crime in Swedish SMEs with 10,35 percentage points.

This dissertation examines whether managers influence corporate boards of directors in their auditor selection, change, and compensation decisions. This topic is important because it addresses concerns that the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) is not effective in eliminating managerial influence over auditor engagement decisions and that it may provide a false sense of security to investors. These concerns are based on the implicit assumption that managers prefer weaker governance oversight and lower audit quality. However, empirical research testing associations between managerial influence and audit-related decisions post-SOX is scarce and generally guided by agency theory. Incorporating agency, stewardship, and resource dependence perspectives, I find that managerial preferences for auditor selection are not aligned. Specifically, CEOs positively influence the selection of higher quality auditors, whereas CFOs have the opposite effect. Further, CEOs who hold powerful roles as chairs of their companies' boards of directors appear to mitigate the negative influence of CFOs and inside directors on audit quality. CEOs serving in dual roles also oppose auditor turnover when lower earnings quality prompt higher demand for audit effort. Finally, my study provides some evidence that management exercises downward pressures on audit fees, suggesting that managers utilize their authority beyond the regulations established by SOX to negotiate auditor compensation.

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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.

Bakgrund: Molntjänster har ansetts vara den största tekniska trenden de senaste åren. På grund av den snabba utvecklingen av molntjänster har möjligheten till molnbaserad redovisning öppnats upp. Användningen av molnbaserad redovisning ökar allt mer hos företag, särskilt i Sverige. Tidigare forskning har till stor del fokuserat på de för- och nackdelar som molnbaserad redovisning för med sig, samt olika faktorer till adoption och implementering av molnbaserad redovisning. Det finns dock begränsad forskning om molnbaserad redovisning och dess användning kopplat till den beroendeställning som skapas hos företag vid användning av molnbaserad redovisning. Syfte: Syftet med studien är att beskriva hur användning av molnbaserad redovisning ser ut, genom att beskriva hur företags beroende till leverantörerna av de molnbaserade systemen ser ut, samt beroendet av andra resurser. Metod: Studien har genomförts med hjälp av en kvalitativ metod. Det empiriska materialet har samlats in genom semi-strukturerade intervjuer, tillsammans med 12 respondenter från 11 företag i Sverige som använder molnbaserad redovisning. Slutsatser: Utifrån vår studie kan vi beskriva hur beroendeställningen mellan företag och leverantör ser ut och vad användandet i sin tur har för inverkan på beroendet till andra resurser. Ansvaret för redovisningssystemet ligger på leverantörerna av de molnbaserade redovisningssystemen. Det innebär att företag som använder sig av molnbaserad redovisning är beroende av olika resurser som behövs för att utföra redovisningsarbetet i systemen. Studien indikerar att företag som använder molnbaserad redovisning blir mindre beroende av interna resurser samtidigt som beroendet av externa resurser ökar. Många företag kan inte längre utnyttja sin interna kompetens i redovisningssystemet. Det kan ses som en möjlighet att få tillgång till användbara och kritiska resurser från leverantören, men också som en risk på lång sikt, om företag gör sig av med sin intern kompetens. / Background: Cloud services have been considered the biggest technology trends in recent years. Due to the rapid development of cloud services, the opportunity for cloud accounting has emerged. The use of cloud accounting is increasing among companies, especially in Sweden. Previous research has largely focused on the pros and cons of cloud accounting, as well as various factors influencing the adoption and implementation of cloud accounting. However, there is limited research about cloud accounting and its usage in relation to the dependency created within companies when using cloud accounting. Purpose: The purpose of the study is to describe the use of cloud accounting by examining how companies' dependency on the providers of these cloud-based systems manifests, as well as their dependency on other resources. Method: The study was conducted using a qualitative method. The empirical data was gathered through semi-structured interviews, together with 12 respondents from 11 companies in Sweden utilizing cloud accounting. Conclusions: Based on our study, we can describe the dependency relationship between the company and the supplier, and how the usage in turn impacts the dependency on other resources. The responsibility for the accounting system lies with the providers of the cloud-based accounting systems. This means that companies using cloud accounting are dependent on various resources needed to perform accounting tasks within the systems. The study indicates that companies using cloud accounting become less dependent on internal resources, while the dependence on external resources increases. Many companies can no longer utilize their internal competence in the accounting system. This can be seen as an opportunity to gain access to useful and critical resources from the provider, but also as a long-term risk if companies get rid of their internal competence.

In Sweden all limited liability companies are required to have a board of directors. The board of directors’ task is to manage the business of the firm, but in recent years boards have been subjected to critical review in the media, questioning the tasks and structure of the board. Further, there are differences in the regulations regarding limited liability companies, depending on whether they are private or public companies. Moreover, a majority of the research within the area of corporate governance has been conducted on public companies. However, corporate governance in small and medium sized enterprises (SME) has in the last 30 years become a field of interest. Several scholars and doctorates have used different board roles to explain e.g. the tasks, demographics, and financial performance. The board roles are mainly derived from the agency-, resource dependence-, and stewardship theory. Many papers have come to the conclusion that a board of directors who performs their task, and/or have a certain board demography is beneficial to the firm. Hence, the board and its activity is of importance, however, a general image is conveyed that boards in SMEs rarely are active, but rather are seen as a necessary mean in order to have a firm. Due to this, the research question in this thesis is: What motivates small and medium sized firms to have an active board and are boards in Norr- and Västerbotten active? The criteria for having an active board has been derived from antecedent research and are further recommendations from StyrelseAkademien. Three different board roles have been used with the purpose of explaining the motivation behind having an active board. Further, this thesis has had a quantitative method, and in order to gather data a survey was sent out to board members in Norr- and Västerbotten. The results show that the motivation behind having an active board cannot be explained through the roles network and service of the board. The control role could partly explain the motivation behind having an active board of directors in SMEs in Norr- and Västerbotten, having a negative relationship to board activity. Moreover, due to the opposing results in terms of whether or not boards are active, an unambiguous answer could not be found. However, 49.1 percent of the sample is considered to be active. Lastly, the finding support that in order to have an active board, the firm must recognize a need to include outside directors.

Immediate Breast Reconstruction Surgery (IBRS) is associated with better quality of life among women who undergo a mastectomy. Despite insurance coverage for IBRS, utilization of IBRS remains low. Data from publicly available sources for 2010-2012 are used to examine the association between hospital characteristics receipt of IBRS by patients. Minority-serving status, low bed size, for-profit ownership, non-teaching status, high competition, low density of plastic surgeons in the market and non-metropolitan location are associated with lower likelihood of receipt of IBRS. Racial and ethnic minorities are less likely to receive IBRS. A mixed effects logistic regression model with interactions between Black/Hispanic race/ethnicity and hospital variables is estimated to examine whether certain hospital characteristics are associated with disparately low receipt of IBRS for racial and ethnic minorities. Minority-serving hospitals located in markets with a higher density of plastic surgeons and higher competition characteristics are associated with disparately low receipt of IBRS for racial and ethnic minorities. In order to reduce racial/ ethnic differences in receipt of IBRS, it is important to understand which factors contribute the most to these differences. Fairlie decomposition is used to examine the contribution of multi-level factors to racial and ethnic differences in receipt of IBRS. Racial and ethnic differences in being Medicaid insured, residing in low-income neighborhoods and receiving care at minority-serving hospitals are the three largest contributors to racial and ethnic differences in receipt of IBRS. The results from this study have significant implications for access to IBRS among racial and ethnic minority patients.

Neoliberal ideologies have been adopted through most of the developed world. In North America, they dominate and provide the backdrop for the way decisions are made, organisations are governed, and policies are considered and implemented. Universities have not been exempt from the pressures of neoliberalism and increasingly are becoming what is being referred to as ‘corporatised’. Using a multi-institutional ethnographic case study, drawing on elements of institutional ethnography and using discourse analysis and interviews, this research focused on these topics with four research intensive universities in British Columbia: UBC, UNBC, UVic and SFU. This research sought to answer the question: In what ways is corporatisation visible in the practices and discourses related to university research in British Columbia, and, in turn, what impacts are being felt? The findings from the research indicated that there is, as might be expected, strong support for post-secondary education. The rhetoric in the documents from the universities and governments shows a ‘grand vision’ for education as the cornerstone of a successful society. The findings confirm that universities are viewed internally and externally as important and that, in turn, research and discovery is paramount. However, what the research also showed was that there are differing views among those in power regarding how that vision plays out. Those differences can be summarized as: citizen preparation versus job training; social innovation versus commercial innovation; targeted research (both in the type of research carried out and to what ends); and the level of autonomy of the university. These tensions can be considered through the theoretical frameworks that guided the research: commodification (i.e., of education and research); resource dependence theory; and institutional theory. Universities are increasingly being corporatised and this is visible in: increased oversight and control by governments with regard to the direction of the university, both from an educational and research perspective; an emphasis on the fiscal bottom line; increased accountability requirements (in complexity and frequency) related to funding for educational programs and research; increased demands for, and focus on, demonstrable impacts and quantifiable measures from research; a reduced amount of collegial governance; increased bureaucracy; and pressures to adopt business models, practices, and processes from the private sector. / Graduate