The broad aim of this research has been to employ the various propositions of Humberto Maturana, as derived from his and Francisco Varela's central concept 'Autopoiesis', as a lens or frame through which to critically reflect on both Management Science and major traditions within it. Such reflection has been carried out with both a 'critical' and a 'developmental eye'. From a critical standpoint the research identifies gaps in existing understandings, and suggests ways in which these may be plugged. Used in this mode, the research shows that Autopoietic Theory is a body of knowledge that management scientists, especially inexperienced ones, can turn to as a means of enriching and/or enhancing their practice in distinctive ways, or allowing them to better prepare for it. Used from a developmental standpoint, the research shows how Maturana's epistemological propositions invoke a particular kind of critically reflective Management Science practice, and, how Autopoietic Theory more generally, can stretch the limits of existing practice. In developing these lines of argumentation the main contribution of the work is to remind members of the various Management Science communities that theirs is an activity that is carried out by real human beings first and by impartial scientists second; moreover, that Management Science is an activity that takes place in human, social and organisational contexts. Acknowledgement of this has far reaching ramifications. In that regard, the main contribution of the research can be taken to be an argument in favour of repositioning 'humanity', in all its various facets, much more centrally within the discipline than has been the case hitherto.

This thesis sets out to provide a systematic examination of post-acquisition management in the United Kingdom. In particular we are concerned to know what changes take place in acquired companies after acquisition and to examine whether there are significant and robust differences between post-acquisition styles in terms of the type and volume, of changes made, and their timing. We also examine the patterns exhibited by different types of managing executive taking charge and seek to link executive type, volume and timing of change with different post-acquisition styles. The thesis uses a hybrid method to achieve a cross sectional view of acquisitions in the UK with in-depth explanation. The responding sample from our survey was allocated to the different acquisition types of Haspeslagh and Jemison's (1991) typology and the change data allowed us to test whether the framework is representative and robust. The first Chapter of the thesis observes that many acquisitions fail and that greater attention should be paid to the post-acquisition phase, although, as Chapter two shows, the post-acquisition literature is highly fragmented. Only Haspeslagh and Jemison's (1991) typology attempts a unified view although it has limitations. We draw upon related areas of research to enrich and extend their framework. In Chapter three we show how data was collected and applied to the framework, and Chapter four shows the big picture of acquisition types in the UK and their associations with success. Chapter five uses functional change data to test the framework and interview material to provide a level of explanation for changes made. The reasons for each type of acquisition are explored in Chapter six and in Chapter seven we examine the association between managing executive type and acquisition style. Chapter eight introduces a time component and looks at the patterns of change for each acquisition type. The chapter aims to integrate earlier findings and provide an integrated view of post acquisition change. The final chapter concludes that for acquisitions in the UK, there are significant differences in post acquisition styles, in terms of nature and timing of change, and there are clear associations with different management types.

The thesis presents a study of the process of transfer of management development (MD) practices within multinational companies (MNCs). The study examines the influence of context on the nature of MD processes in MNCs. It considers the influence of institutional context on the ways in which MD practices are transferred and received in MNCs, and identifies further factors shaping MD practices and their transfer process in MNCs. The findings challenge the notion that the transfer and structuring of MD around a system, which aims at the development of a homogeneous management cadre, is possible. The research focuses on the transfer of four MD practices - recruitment, training and development, career management, and rewards and appraisal from two British-based MNCs operating in the fast moving consumer goods sector to their Russian subsidiaries. The study involves qualitative comparative research into the behaviour of managers. The research identifies and analyses the MD models and MD practices being transferred to the subsidiaries and the influence of the institutional context on the structuring of MD practices. Longitudinal research of the Russian subsidiaries' internal dynamics following the transfer of management and MD practices from the parent company analyses the process of transfer and considers the ways in which practices transferred are received, resisted, misunderstood, and sustained in the subsidiaries. The thesis highlights the contextual embeddedness of MD processes and practices, and shows how MD practices in MNCs are structured by their national context. The research identifies how MD practices are also influenced by the business environment and the industrial sector, the history of the company, its organisational culture, and the management philosophy and organisation. The influence of the host country national context on the ways in which the transferred MD practices are received in the Russian subsidiaries is examined and the particular difficulty of transferring training and development and career management strategies is identified. Processes found to facilitate the transfer of practices include those that provide interpretations and create meaning surrounding the practices transferred. The thesis argues that work practices are more than just a series of separate techniques and that they also involve processes related to establishing relations and creating meaning.

This PhD was motivated by the perceived need to assist organisations to be more successful in achieving change in organisational culture. Soft Systems Methodology (S SM) was chosen as the framework for the study because of the researcher's ten years' experience with the approach, and the wealth of literature suggesting its appropriateness for organisational change projects (eg Checkland 1981, Checkland & Scholes 1990). The aim was to achieve a deeper understanding of how SSM can assist cultural change and what other factors are important. Both literature and practice indicate that the participants' views of what happens in an SSM project are vital, since they will be charged with implementing the change, and yet this viewpoint was not represented in the literature of SSM. This research presents the participant perspective. Action research was chosen and two in-depth case studies were carried out. Interviews with other experienced SSM researchers/consultants augmented the data gathered via the case studies. The major contribution of the research was to extent the theoiy of SSM and organisational culture by: • The conclusion that SSM can contribute to cultural change in organisations, where cultural change is understood to involve a change in roles, norms or values relating to the primary purpose of the organisation (ie in SSM terms - a change in Weltanschauungen). This view was validated by the sponsor and participants of the case studies, and tested in real business consultancy projects. • The identification and ranking of what factors had contributed to this changed Weltanschauungen, from the perspective of the sponsor and participants. Considerations impacting on the general applicability of the research findings were identified and explored, ie an organisation's degree of receptiveness to cultural change, the role of the facilitator, and the way SSM is applied. In addition the research: • Tested the use of a mix of Mode 1 and 2 of SSM. • Highlighted that SSM project facilitators and clients tend to select each other based on trust and shared values. This can lead to the SSM project reinforcing the client's values. • Tested an inter-linked group of techniques introduced by the researcher to strengthen the participative approach to using SSM. While acknowledging the limitations of action research and surveys, as well as the researcher's bias, it is considered that in organisations which display a general receptiveness to cultural change, the approach used in the case studies, and the SSM learning described, should prove useful in assisting the process of cultural change.

Part one defines this thesis's research questions: how has Management come to be such a powerful but unquestioned presence in Western life?; and, why does so much 'new' Management knowledge appear to be similar to earlier Management thinking? It outlines the object under investigation and determines the method by which these questions may best be investigated. In Part Two a normative tableau is developed. Three different episteme are presented as a framework against which the specificity of Managements forms, formation and subsequent ways of 'seeing and speaking' can be analysed in Part Three. Part Three examines the way that Managenzent's history encourages the privileging of certain forms and 'visibilities'. These aspects, which are widely regarded as universal, are shown to be specifically Modernist. However, their privilege is maintained by a web of links or formation of institutions that discourages their being questioned. Management is thus a particularly influential subject within Modernism. However, it is limited by appearing unable to speak or see in any manner other than Modernist. Reformulating the historical view of Management may enable it to see differently. Part Four investigates how this might be done and flags up the implications of doing so for Western society in general.

Knowledge has been identified as one of the most important resources that contribute to the competitive advantage of an organisation. The organisational and social issues associated with the development, implementation and use of information technology have increasingly attracted the attention of knowledge management researchers. This study is based on an empirical investigation of knowledge sharing processes from a dispersed international organisation, Buckman Laboratories. Through a socio-technical perspective, this research traces the interactions between knowledge sharing practices and the organisational context. The conditions surrounding the organisation of knowledge sharing as an organisational practice are addressed in the case presented in the dissertation. In particular, the research has closely examined knowledge management initiatives during the period of 1992-1998 implemented by Buckman Laboratories, focusing on the issues of organising knowledge sharing processes. The research traces Buckman Laboratories' experience as a networked, global company organised as a set of linked knowledge-focused communities of practice. Based on the findings of a case study of one unique knowledge-intensive organisation, the research presents a model of organising knowledge sharing. It develops a sociotechnical perspective to grounded field data and suggests that the experience of this organisation can be considered as a particular form of knowledge management - one that utilises various mechanisms for leveraging knowledge sharing towards sustainable competitive advantage. The study concludes that enabling, integrating and co-ordinating mechanisms play a critical role in establishing the multi-level context for the effective assimilation of knowledge sharing practice.

This thesis sheds light on the range of strategies that companies can pursue in order to deal with human rights concerns in countries where the host government is responsible for systematic human rights violations. It does so by the comparative analysis of the policies and activities that four companies carried out in two countries: (i) Total and Premier Oil in Myanmar and (ii) Talisman and Lundin in Sudan. The analysis of the cases shows that human rights issues do not only involve material conditions that prevent people from enjoying human rights or constitute a direct violation of their rights, buy they may also pertain to the way in which stakeholders perceive or view a particular situation. The nature of the human rights issue is important because it affects the way in which the issue can be addressed. The analysis of the cases suggests that the activities carried out by the companies to address human rights issues can be separated into five different strategies: (1) direct strategies involving concrete action that companies take to influence the objective conditions that give rise to human rights issues, (2) indirect strategies pertaining to attempts to persuade other actors to take action over the conditions that give rise to issues, (3) information strategies involving attempts to affect stakeholder views through the provision of information, (4) leveraging strategies aimed at affecting stakeholder views through verification measures or appeals to authority, and (5) stakeholder engagement strategies concerned with attempts to affect stakeholder views by increasing mutual understanding between companies and their stakeholders through two-way communication. The present thesis makes two main contributions. First, it sheds light on the little researched area of corporate approaches to human rights. More specifically, it makes a theoretical and practical contribution by classifying activities that companies have carried out to address human rights issues into five types of human rights strategies and identifying factors that affect the choice between the different strategies. No previous research exists on the action that companies have taken in response to human rights issues. Second, the present research draws on and adds value to literature on issues management and stakeholder management by contributing to a better understanding of the ways in which companies address social issues and stakeholder demands. As Wood (1991) observed, there is a lack of research on the vehicles or methods of corporate response to society's changing conditions and expectations. Previous literature has focussed on the identification of issues and stakeholders rather than the behaviours that companies assume to deal with issues and stakeholder demands (e.g., Andriof & Waddock, 2002; Berman et al., 1999).

This thesis is a critical evaluation of the Management NVQ at level 4. It draws on two principal sources of literature: accounts and analyses of the nature of managerial work; and observations and critiques of Competence Based Education and Training (CBET). The Management NVQ is an attempt to set out, in behavioural terms, the activities managers engage in. These may then be used to assist individual development and assess competent performance in managerial work. This study starts by considering contemporary academic accounts of managerial work. Drawing on these, it argues that management may subsume such a wide variety of tasks, roles and responsibilities that attempts to define it in functional terms are unlikely to succeed. Moreover, such attempts do little to distinguish the peculiarly managerial aspect of management work. By contrast, the writings of more radical theoreticians, which focus on the power and authority that managers exercise, provide a far more resilient basis for distinguishing managers from their non-managerial peers. Clearly, this theoretical construction of managerial work is in marked contrast to the model put forward in the Management NVQ and that conflict is explored here. Since this study sought to focus on the NVQ's educational contribution at an individual level, an ethnographic approach was adopted in the fieldwork. Three exemplary case studies were sought out, since in these, the contribution of a competence-based approach to training and development might better be evaluated, and eighteen candidates followed through the qualification. Throughout the study, in all three organisations, the activities that these candidates engaged in, were driven by the demands of the NVQ. The conduct of the workshops, the increasing levels of paperwork in the candidates' workplaces and the emphasis on systems and procedures were all inspired by the need to supply documentary proof of managerial competence. Ultimately, most of the candidates observed in this study failed to do this successfully and gain their NVQs, and the nature of NVQ assessment, together with its impact on the candidates is considered. Finally, the thesis concludes by arguing that many of the problems noted here stem from the rigid and performance-oriented way NVQs are constructed and, consequently, many of the difficulties reported in this study may be expected elsewhere.

This thesis is concerned with understanding the way in which knowledge creation was sustained over time within a particular type of knowledge intensive firm referred to as an expert consultancy. Expert consultancies are differentiated from generalist management consultancies in terms of their knowledge intensity i.e. the high levels of expertise of the workforce and their focus on the development of highly customised creative and innovative solutions rather than on the diffusion and implementation of pre-packaged 'best practice' solutions. Two longitudinal case studies were conducted in expert consultancies and a critical interpretative approach, characteristic of the constructivist paradigm was adopted for their analysis. Processes of knowledge creation are intrinsically complex and unpredictable. The leaders of such finns then are perpetually seeking ways to manage the fundamental tensions that exist between autonomy and control and efficiency and uncertainty. A retrospective historical analysis was developed of the way in which knowledge creation occurred and the organisational conditions that served to shape the process over time within both firms. The organisational conditions that were considered included not only structural aspects of the firm but also cultural and social conditions. Any changes that had occurred over time with regard to the way in which knowledge creation occurred were considered in relation to the organisational conditions that may have stimulated such changes in order to develop this analysis. The research found that a number of distinctive structural conditions contributed to sustaining processes of knowledge creation over time, including profit satisficing behaviour, an absence of professional management, and a resource rich environment. Critically, a strong yet ambiguous culture was found to be important for sustaining processes of knowledge creation. Organisational ambiguity promoted quasi-normative control, regulating individuals' dual identities as both 'consultant' and 'expert'. Quasi-normative control promoted both creative and selfdisciplining behaviour such that processes of knowledge creation occurred in ways that were ultimately efficient for the finn. These findings represent a new contribution to knowledge with regards to organisational culture and the management of knowledge workers and will hopefully stimulate further research in this area.

This thesis is concerned with the question of how the return to investment in human capital, as represented by the attainment of professional status, has changed over time in Great Britain. In addition it is concerned with differences between different professional groups. Because of data limitations a very simple methodological approach is adopted building upon work by previous researchers. This uses age earnings profiles at a point in time as a guide to the future earnings associated with different career profiles. The main developments to the conventional methodology are concerned with adjustments to' these profiles to reflect differences in the characteristics of different professions. Previous work in this area for Great Britain has been limited in both the time period covered and the types of qualification and profession considered. The major contribution of the present study is to provide a perspective on how rates of return have altered over time and to compare differences between different professions. The main finding is that there has been a dramatic secular decline in rates of return from around 176 per cent in 1955 to 76 per cent by 1975. This has been common to most professions. The explanation for this phenomenon is argued to be in broad changes in the balance of supply and demand for highly qualified persons. Another important finding is that social as opposed to private rates of return show a similar pattern over time although there are some marked differences in rankings between different professions for the two measures of return. It is argued that a regular monitoring of rates of return to entering different professions would provide a valuable guide to important policy decisions regarding the pay of people employed in the public sector and on the identification of restrictive practices in professional labour markets.