Zugl.: Osnabrück, Universiẗat, Diss., 2009.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Florida State University, 2006. / Advisor: William A. Hillison, Florida State University, College of Business, Dept. of Accounting. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed Sept. 14, 2006). Document formatted into pages; contains vii, 90 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.Phil.)--Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 44-53). Also available in electronic version.

Thesis (LL.M.)--University of Toronto, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references.

Proefschrift Universiteit Maastricht. / Met index, lit. opg. - Met samenvatting in het Nederlands.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 1999. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 129-137). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

The existence of complexity, uncertainty and ambiguity in current business environment promotes corporates need to establish good risk governance. Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) has been considered as a way to achieve good risk governance to deal with both upside (e.g. exploit opportunities) and downside (e.g. reduce insolvency) of risk and uncertainty. ERM holistically treats all risk to achieve organisation objective in normal, volatile and crisis situations. The thesis tackles issues in the implementation of ERM and how it has been adopted and implemented in Indian and UK insurance market. Mixed research methods have been employed from a qualitative stand point to explore the research issues, consisting of two surveys in UK and India, over 50 interviews and two case studies in the Indian and UK insurance markets. The research revealed that there is an ambiguity in the understanding of the definitions of ERM and risk appetite across both countries. Major issues in ERM implementation in Indian insurance market are fraud, under-risk reporting and insufficient resources to develop an appropriate risk culture. In the UK insurance market issues are related to customer complaints, fines/penalties, over-risk reporting and lack of capital efficiency. Regulatory risk seen as a major risk in both market, though, in the Indian market lack of regulation is the issue whereas in the UK insurance market lack of clarity in insurance regulation has been emphasised. From intuitional theory and strategic change perspective, the research presents cross-country comparative case studies highlighting four emerging ERM strategies based on the different state of development and maturity of companies: ‘Rudimentary’, ‘Anticipatory’, ‘Resilient’ and ‘Transformatory’ strategies. The case studies highlight the issues within the two insurance companies both internally and externally in a nascent and a mature market. Before companies can adopt a transformatory strategy, both companies require a fundamental understanding of strategic change that eventually can pave the way to good risk governance. Adopting the cognitive lens of strategic change will not only enhance company specific risk-based capabilities but it will improve industry risk-based capabilities through development of professional competence.

Tax avoidance activities are complex, and the effective planning of these activities requires a mix of functional knowledge in business and a good understanding of a firm's operations. Armed with hands-on experience of running their firms' business and experience of other firms through their outside directorship appointments, certified inside directors (CIDs) are able to structure and execute tax avoidance activities for their firms. This study finds that firms with CIDs on their boards avoid more taxes. At the same time, only CIDs with no more than three outside directorships help firm save taxes. This study also supports that CIDs in complex firms and firms with bad environmental corporate social responsibility (CSR) avoid more taxes. This research extends the literature on corporate governance in general and inside directors in particular by examining whether CIDs can help firms save taxes.

Considering its level of sophistication and complexity communication can be understood as a fundamental characteristic of humankind. Since early times humanity has continued to devise novel techniques and tools to enhance the process of communication and governance procedures. This study explores and analyses developments in internet and communication technology (ICT) in relation to governance procedures in Nigeria. It looks at the rapid expansion of ICT and examines levels of assimilation by the population. This study includes an investigation of the challenges and impediments encountered in the process of the integration of ICT into the fabric of Nigeria’s governance. The data and information gained about ICT is then employed towards the development of a theoretical framework to identify and assess good governance. A mixed method and hermeneutical approach were used in the collection and analysis of data. A survey questionnaire was distributed to 100 selected professionals with varied backgrounds as users or experts regarding communication. Those chosen to receive questionnaires were members of the public and individuals from professional and stakeholder groups in the communication industry. Survey questions addressed the frequency of use of ICT in Nigeria in commonly-cited activities as well as areas of success where future improvement may be identified. The questionnaires provided an overview of the benefits of ICT regarding the developments and challenges confronting the communication industry and governance. This overview formed the basis for semi-structured interview questions and focus group sessions. This thesis demonstrates the interconnectivity between communication and governance and how triangulation and hermeneutics were combined to study ICT use in the context of Nigeria. The results also indicated that in certain population groups and in some economic sectors of government ICT use is rapidly growing. However, the study and theoretical framework illustrate that many opportunities and challenges remain for optimal use of ICT for Nigerian governance procedures.

In the scholarly literature on smart city, normative and prescriptive approaches dominate. Most publications with analytic goals focus on transnational corporations, the related global imaginary of a smart city, and on associated new technologies. In comparison, actually existing smart cities have seldom been investigated. This is even more the case for public governance arrangements of smart city policies. Our study compares three EU cities in this regard, which are attempting to take a lead in smart city development. In addition, urban agriculture and citizens' participation are specifically investigated in their relation to smart city policy-making. Based on policy document and media discourse analysis, interviews, and participant observation, three governance arrangements of smart city policies are identified: hierarchical governance by the government in Barcelona between 2011 and 2015, closed co-governance by the city executive and non-governmental actors in Vienna and since 2015 in Barcelona, and open co-governance in Berlin. Citizens' participation is in the center in Barcelona since 2015, and is potentially important in Berlin. The Viennese smart city governance arrangement is characterized by non-hierarchical bargaining within the administration and signals innovative meta-governance, without citizens' participation. In all three cities, international dynamics play a crucial role for engaging with smart city, but it is enacted in particular ways according to place-specific history, social forces, and economic and political conditions. The meaning of smart city varies thus considerably: a comprehensive urban sustainability strategy focused upon climate policy goals in Vienna; a comprehensive internationalization strategy in Barcelona between 2011 and 2015; a limited technology- and business-oriented approach in Berlin; and a limited digital city frame geared to participatory democracy and technological sovereignty in Barcelona since 2015. Contrary to the literature, we highlight the agency of city executives, and the place-specific enactments that global smart city imaginaries undergo. Current smart city policies express more continuity than rupture with regard to urban development policies in our case study cities. / Series: SRE - Discussion Papers