The footwear industry is one of the important examples of late industrial transformation in nineteenth century Britain. The aim here is to investigate shoe manufacturers' reactions to this period of structural and organisational change. The thesis is in three parts:(I) Chapters One-Three explore the character and scope of industrialisation in the industry. The literature on British entrepreneurship, evaluates the shifts in attitude and strategy of dominant groups within each industry; much less attention has been given to the often wide divergence of experience within business communities as a whole. In small master-dominated industries, like shoemaking, there existed a range of business experience - both business success and failure - which has not been the subject of close empirical study. Here, the assumption of an orderly, progressive concentration of capital is challenged. The small shoe masters' role during industrialisation was more complex than the literature allows. Secondly, the chronology and determinants of change are reappraised. And, finally, the size, character and structure of the Northampton footwear business community is studied.(II) Chapters Four-Six take up this theme of business failure. Little previous systematic, empirical investigation of patterns of failure has been carried out by historians. Thus, initially, general issues of methodology and theory are broached. The data presented, not only allows failure trends to be analysed, but is also used to explore small masters' attitudes and reactions to change. Three facets of failure were isolated. Failure linked to business cycle effects (Chapter Four). The high endemic levels of failure linked to normal trading pressures with reference particularly to infant firms. Here questions of credit provision, failure causation and small master motivation are examined (Chapter Five), in addition to normal and hiatus failures amongst mature firms (Chapter Six). Lastly, failures linked to industrialisation are investigated (Chapter Six). There are two features: the contraction of the small master base and the failure of old established firms.(III) As a counterpoint to Section II, Chapters Seven and Eight study those firms that survive to 1914. These included a small, dominant elite group of established firms, whose industrial policies, family business organisation and striving for social acceptance are examined.

This study is concerned with how to account for inflation, in financial reports within the industrial sector. The study aims to recommend an inflation accounting approach which will provide government and managements with information required for decision-making and control. Iraq has been chosen as an example for Arab countries to find out how management reacts to changes in price level in companies' accounts. In order to achieve this object, a field study has been conducted to discover whether inflation accounting systems are well known and used in Iraqi companies. Moreover, the study examines and assesses the different accounting measurements which have been suggested for financial reports during periods of inflation. In the light of an evaluation of different accounting methods advocated for use during inflation times, a system is recommended for use in Iraqi Industrial Companies. This study starts with the assumption that management needs accounting information which takes into account changes in prices; is provided frequently and in enough detail; is provided on time, and is relevant to management information needs. The study is made in several stages. The first deals with the importance and need for study of inflation accounting. The users of accounting are then considered. Measurement methods which are used for inflation accounting in several countries are discussed. The second stage is the case study, which deals with Iraqi industrial companies. The final stage provides an assessment of the findings and draws conclusion for future practice. This work has been carried through and completed during times of wide and great changes in polity, in expectations of national development, in our understanding of inflation and of the purpose and techniques of inflation accounting. Such changes were discussed during the examination.

Thesis (M.Phil.(Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Abstract in English. Includes bibliographical references.

[From the introduction]: The thesis is organised as follows. In Chapters 1 and 2 we present a review of the existing literature. Chapter 1 analyses the role of incentives and human capital attributes as mechanisms for determining performance. Much of the previous literature analyses manager performance using wage equations. What is unique in our approach is that we are able to generate a direct measure of managerial performance. The background to the methodology used is provided in Chapter 2. Here we explore the growing literature on production frontier analysis. We are particularly interested in the available estimation procedures and how previous sports studies have utilised this framework in estimating efficiency. A discussion of the football industry is the focus of Chapter 3, while in Chapter 4 we develop the theoretical model of manager performance. Data and methodological issues are addressed in Chapter 5. Chapters 6 and 7 contain the empirical results. In Chapter 6 we generate managerial efficiency scores and consider how alternative input and output measures and alternative estimation procedures affect these scores. Using the preferred model from Chapter 6, Chapter 7 provides a detailed account of how human capital factors and incentives shape efficiency and some preliminary results as to whether the manager actually matters. Finally, Chapter 8 provides some conclusions and recommendations in the light of the empirical results.

published_or_final_version / Civil Engineering / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Public Private Partnership (PPP) procurement has developed in many countries, as an effective way for governments to allay their financial burden and/or improve the efficiencies of public services. However, PPP has also experienced many ups and downs in its applications. As a collaborative venture between public and private sectors, the quality of the relationship between them has been shown to be a key contributor to the success of a PPP project. However, no study has, as yet, conceptualized and tested an integrative framework for modeling and addressing the relational aspect in PPP projects. This study aims to fill this gap. Moreover, the revamping of PPP in the above direction, would align with what is found to be a much larger trend, in moving from traditional management to relationship approaches in project management in general and on built infrastructure projects in particular. The general purpose of this study is to make an original contribution to relationship research in PPP, by addressing the importance of this intangible side of PPP, through developing a strategic relationship management framework for parties engaged in PPP projects. Having examined relational research in joint ventures, alliancing and inter-organisational collaboration, it is found that game theory, transaction cost analysis and relational contracting have a direct bearing on inter-organisational relationships in infrastructure projects. Consequently, they are adopted as the theoretical foundations for this research. This study first investigates the ‘hard side’ of PPP relationships, analyzing their variables based on semi-structured interviews with PPP experts. Further, the ‘soft side’ of PPP relationships, is found to be influenced mainly by inter-organisational trust and commitment. This is also investigated in this research by intensive literature review of inter-organisational relationships. A relational variables and indicators model for PPP projects is then developed. Quantitative research data was collected from two questionnaire surveys, targeting international experiences. The first survey was aimed to examine the intensifying and/or moderating effects of various relational variables. The second survey was designed to identify the Critical Success Factors of relationship management in PPP context. Qualitative research data was consolidated from a case study and follow-up structured interviews. Findings from surveys, case study and interviews were then triangulated to develop a strategic framework for better relationship management for infrastructure PPP projects. The findings from this research make a specific contribution to relationship management research; while the ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ sides provide lenses for both PPP parties to examine their relationship with their respective partners. The proposed strategic framework consists of a Relationship Management Scheme and Guidelines to be implemented in different PPP phases, through addressing the sustainability of the relationship. It provides an initial scheme or base approach for project parties to manage the relationships proactively rather than reactively. Besides, this research also helps to identify relevant relational components that can be incorporated or directly used in criteria for pre-tender selection. Such screening and special attention to these critical components can also help to develop more sustainable relationships and attain better value for money through PPP procurement in practice. / published_or_final_version / Civil Engineering / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

With a desire to increase the chance of success of major infrastructure and construction (MIC) projects, it is increasingly common to invite the public participating in the planning and design processes. Public participation requires the involvement of individuals and groups who are positively or negatively affected by a proposed intervention (e.g. a project, a program, a plan, a policy). An effective public participation program can be beneficial to the parties involved (i.e. the decision makers and general public) in many ways. As a result, a number of participatory approaches have been developed by various sectors to drive the process of agenda-setting, decision-making, and policy-forming. Many research studies focusing on various aspects of participation in policy-making in general have been conducted, but few have looked into its application in the construction and infrastructure industry in particular. On the other hand, the decision making process of contemporary MIC projects is becoming ever more complicated especially with the increasing number of stakeholders involved and their growing tendency to defend their own interests. Failing to address and meet the concerns and expectations of stakeholders may result in project failures. To avoid this necessitates a systematic participatory approach to facilitate the decision making and evaluation. This research, therefore, aims to develop a multi-stakeholder multi-objective decision making and evaluation model to help resulting in consensus and increasing the satisfaction among various stakeholders (or stakeholder groups) in MIC projects. In this research, an extensive literature review was first carried out to examine the salient elements of public participation in MIC projects and to identify the barriers to effective public participation in project decision making in different countries (e.g. Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, United States, South Africa, etc.). China being a developing country was selected for in-depth case study analysis. Through a series of interviews, the underlying reasons for ineffective participatory practice in China were revealed. A questionnaire survey was then conducted to unveil those stakeholder concerns pertinent to MIC projects at the conceptual stages through the degree of consensus and/or conflict involved. Finally, a multi-stakeholder multi-objective decision model and a multi-factor hierarchical comprehensive evaluation model were developed. These two models were founded on the decision rule approach and the fuzzy techniques respectively. Another round of interview was conducted to investigate the (i) influence of different stakeholder groups in making decisions related to MIC projects during their conceptual stages; and (ii) relationship between the satisfaction of a single stakeholder group and that of the stakeholders overall. The application of the two models was demonstrated by two cases in Hong Kong and their validity was confirmed through validation interviews. The results indicated that the two models are objective, reliable and practical enough to cope with real world problems. The research findings are therefore valuable to the government and construction industry at large for successful implementation of public participation in MIC schemes locally and internationally in future, especially when the construction industry is becoming increasingly globalized and the trend of cultural integration between the East and West is ever growing. / published_or_final_version / Civil Engineering / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Diss. ESCP-EAP Europäische Wirtschaftshochschule Berlin, 2008. / Business and Economics (German Language) (Springer-11775) (GWV). Originaltitel: Markenprofilierung durch produktbegleitende Dienstleistungen - Eine empirische Untersuchung unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Kundenmitwirkung.

Diss. ESCP-EAP Europäische Wirtschaftshochschule Berlin, 2008. / Business and Economics (German Language) (Springer-11775) (GWV). Originaltitel: Markenprofilierung durch produktbegleitende Dienstleistungen - Eine empirische Untersuchung unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Kundenmitwirkung.

Diss. Universität Bremen, 2009. / Business and Economics (German Language) (Springer-11775) (GWV).