This thesis examines the variations of customer relationships across different types of services and it contributes the existing knowledge of service marketing in three main ways. First, it identifies and brings together a coherent and exhaustive set of drivers that can explain repeat purchase behaviours. Second, it identifies the relational bonds which can strengthen or weaken service relationships and repurchase intentions through different service actions. Third, drawing on Theory of Planned Behaviour, it develops a new comprehensive and integrative conceptual framework, applicable to the service variation context. A preliminary qualitative research was conducted based on sixty in-depth interviews in order to explore whether service variations exist and get insights on the key components of the new framework from a customer perspective. The adopted model was then empirically tested through a large-scale quantitative research in a random sample in London, providing new perspectives on services relationships. Through this empirical research the boundary conditions of the proposed framework were tested by accounting for different service types, based on four distinct service typologies. The results suggest that relational bonds can be classified into three categories: 1) universal relational bonds that transcend service categories, 2) service specific relational bonds and 3) inconsequential relational bonds. The findings also suggest that although most of the relationships in the model work universally, their strength is moderated in many cases by the service type. This moderating effect depends on the service typology used and the stage of the relationship. Thus, at the first stage of the relationship which refers to the link between service actions and relational bonds, the customisation and contact levels associated with the service (Bowen’s groups) as well as whether the service is consumed collectively or individually, have a significant moderating effect. At the second stage of the relationship which refers to the link between relational bonds and repurchase intentions, the hedonic or utilitarian nature of the service is very important. Finally, at the third stage of the relationships which refer to the link between repurchase drivers and relationship outcomes, the level of risk associated with the service (search/ experience/ credence services) is important. In addition to its theoretical contribution, the framework provides service providers with specific information and guidance in order to manage long-term customer relationships in a successful and a resourceful manner.

This research aims to understand how Board level Directors engage with information. The study has its roots in Sir Adrian Cadbury’s (1992:4.8) requirement that “directors receive timely, relevant information tailored to their needs”. This research aims to investigate the underlying assumption that Directors actually engage with the information provided. The study uses grounded theory to look within the Board’s processes. The research uses the Board pack’s journey, from creation to the output from the Board, to provide clarity on the engagement processes undertaken by the organisation, the individual Director and the Board as a group. This is then contextualised through looking more widely at perceptions of the Board’s role and the corporate governance environment within which the Board sits. The data collected for the research comprised interviews, observations and technical meetings. The interviewees included nine Board Chairs; eleven Non-Executive Directors; four Board level Executives; five information providers to Boards; one Board advisor and one industry/academic expert. This represented experiences from over 100 Boards including two top FTSE100 companies. Additionally, five Board meetings were attended to observe Directors in context and four technical meetings were undertaken to understand specific issues. The resulting theory identified is that the level of engagement with the information by Directors is determined by ‘Allocating Effort’. This effort is a balance between the level of risk perceived; by, and to, the individual, the Board as a group and the organisation; balanced with the perceived complexity of the issue at each stage of the Board pack’s journey. This balance is constrained by the time available and the understanding of the role of the Board. This theory was further developed by looking at the symbols that externalise the allocation of effort. They are identified as labelling the papers as: ‘For Note’, ‘For Report’ and ‘For Discussion’. Each of these paper types have a risk and complexity element, however, there was no paper type for high risk/complex. This research identified that ‘Ad Hoc Committees’ are used to fill the gap in the process of ‘Allocating Effort’. Furthermore, in relating the symbols back to the theory of ‘Allocating Effort’, it provides a tool for understanding the alignment, or misalignment, within the Board of their shared understanding of their role and risk appetites.

Between 1969 and 1971, I undertook a participant observation study of a firm in the South of England. During this time, data were collected on relationships between trade union and management parties fram the point of view of inter-group conflict and resolution. Of particular note during this period were events leading up to a strike, and the aftermath of this strike. In 1976, I contacted the firm again, and was given per.mission to conduct a brief follow-up study consisting mainly of interviews with those who in 1970, and/or in 1976, held positions central to industrial relations at the firm. The findings from these two studies comprise the empirical content of Parts I and II, contained in Volume I of this thesis. The chapters comprising Part III of the thesis, contained in Volume II, explore some of the theoretical, methodological, and value issues which arise from the empirical study.

The research focuses on NGOs in Africa, a study site previously almost ignored by the literature on OD and leadership development. The research produced a wealth of publications, including peer-refereed articles, monographs, occasional papers and features. The findings resonate with, rather than develop, prevailing thinking in the mainstream management literature (Tannenbaum and Schmidt 1973; Daft and Lengel 1998; Kakabadse and Kakabadse 1999; Quinn 2000; Burnes 2004; Balogun and Hope-Hailey 2008). However, they make an important new contribution to knowledge in the specialist NGO management literature. The message that emerges from the research is that OD and leadership development in NGOs in Africa benefit from being both contextualised and personalised. They need to be contextualised by systematically seeking to understand the local context and culture and adjust the change process accordingly. They need to be personalised by taking into account the personal dimension to both individual and organisational change. The research also makes a contribution to thinking about research methodology by explicitly combining a practice-research engagement. The research was conducted using an 'insider' approach, simultaneously operating as both consultant as well as researcher. This research philosophy, combined with character of the researcher and the length of engagement, built trust with respondents and gave access to sensitive information. It enabled the findings to be quickly and extensively disseminated to a ready audience of practitioners and policy-makers. Though this approach was not without its dangers, it proved sufficiently reflexive, ethical and methodologically rigorous to generate knowledge that was externally validated in peer-refereed academic journals. The practice-research engagement meant that the research did not end with the fieldwork and write-up, but constantly renewed itself with questions for further investigation. To academics, this emphasises the benefit of developing and supporting practitioner led research. To practitioners, it encourages taking an action research, reflexive approach, and documenting experience.

Occupational regulation is a well established, yet largely under researched, labour market institution in the UK. This thesis investigates the prevalence and impact of licensing, certification, accreditation and registration. The results indicate that occupational regulation is present across a large portion of occupations and that it can have a significant impact on wages, skills and quality.

This study explores the influence of CSR on business practice. To succeed in its aim, the dissertation employs International Certifiable Management Standards (ICMS), as proxy-indicators of CSR related practices and draws on an inter-disciplinary approach. In contrast to previous research suffered from narrow analytical insights and lack of empirical evidence, this study contributes to existing knowledge by adopting a more holistic approach and focusing on the breadth, depth and context of ICMS adoption. The research draws on a mixed-methods approach and its analysis is based on 211 responses from small, medium and large companies from services, commerce and manufacture collected through a survey (21.4% response rate), and on eighteen (18) semi-structured interviews. The results reveal that CSR practices fail to influence business practice; firms do not adopt such practices in order to improve their CSR performance but they do it due to competitiveness and legitimacy reasons. The study shows that companies use CSR practices to convince or even mislead stakeholders that the activities of the firm are carried out within the framework set by society. The findings also indicate that the context of implementation of CSR practices is lax failing to secure the integration of these practices in firms’ everyday activities.

This thesis concerns an exploration of Executive Coaching in the leadership development context. The topic is selected for study given the recent rapid increase in uptake and spend on the intervention in the organizational and individual development settings (CIPD, 2011) and that, being a relatively recent intervention, research in this area is required. The context of the coaching process is set in the literature of adult learning and is critically evaluated alongside other dyadic intervention paradigms. The study examines the coaching relationship as a tenet of central importance in the effectiveness of the intervention (Kampa- Kokesch and Anderson, 2001; Kilburg, 2001) and explores two areas: whether the coaching relationship exhibits phases of development, and whether individual coaching relationships fit distinct patterns or types. These areas are explored through an empirical qualitative study from the viewpoint of the participants within the relationship using a range of established and novel research methods (Eastwick and Finkel, 2008) in an overall case study based setting. The findings indicate a number of distinctions between the Executive Coaching relationship and that experienced in other dyadic development activities. The research makes a number of contributions to the existing body of theory on Executive Coaching and, in particular, its role as a leadership development activity. Two frameworks are offered to build up the understanding of the coaching relationship. The first model describes the phases of the coaching relationship, the practical and psychological process that takes place, how each phase evolves to the next and how these phases compare with other dyadic processes. Secondly, a typology of coaching relationships is offered which demonstrates clear attributes distinguishing one relationship from another through two main dimensions-pace and partnership. Both of these models offer clear contributions to the practice of Executive Coaching, generating greater performance through establishment of more effective coaching relationships.

HRM practices have predominantly been seen as means put in place by top management to achieve certain ends. This thesis argues that approaching the HRM phenomenon in this way is limiting because it establishes a divide in HRM activities between those aspects that conform to top management intentions, contribute to consistency of HRM practices, and produce desired effects; and those that are not part of top management design, are a source of variability in HRM practices, and are at best irrelevant, at worst detrimental to the efficacy of HRM practices. Variability in HRM practices within organisations has become an important focus for debate in the strategic human resource management (SHRM) literature. This thesis argues that an alternative view of HRM is required for the field to move forward. Practice perspectives in organisation and management studies provide the basis for an alternative approach to studying HRM. Actor-network theory is particularly well suited for examining patterns of repetitive activity across time and space, and thus constitutes a useful framework for understanding consistency and variability in HRM practices. This thesis presents empirical research that applies actor-network theory to provide a ‘flat’ description of HRM activities in a large UK-based fashion retailer. Through an innovative research design that uses participant narratives of HRM episodes (n=112), HRM activity in the company is characterised as distributed, emergent and patterned. It is distributed in the sense that employment outcomes were produced through assemblies of heterogeneous –human and nonhuman– elements. It is emergent in the sense that the set of associations that were made in order to produce an employment outcome was not predictable, nor was the outcome itself. Both were the result of the associations that became stabilised during the flow of activity. Finally HRM activities were patterned through the standardising actions of central actors and their associated artefacts. In particular members of the HR department found ways to retrieve information from the field, transform it into standards, and deploy these standards back to the field in order to produce repetitive patterns. This alternative view of HRM implies a novel understanding of the nature of HRM practices, the role of variability and consistency, and the ways in which the effects of HRM may be produced. Such understanding acknowledges that effects of HRM are produced as much through variability as through consistency, and that these must not be understood as opposite, mutually exclusive features of HRM systems. The implications for research and practice are wide-ranging. This thesis strongly advocates a case study research programme that provides rich descriptions of HRM activities in diverse settings, as the best way to advance the field and produce practitioner relevant knowledge and advice. Practitioners are advised to pay attention to the processes through which HRM outcomes are produced in their organisation, and to the means by which they themselves deploy their agency to create patterns in those processes.

This document presents a collection of peer reviewed journal articles, book chapters and books which together form the submission for PhD by published work. The document demonstrates that the collection submitted forms a significant contribution to knowledge primarily to the field of operational research (OR) and strategy. The contribution covers four key areas: the practice of tool use by practitioners to support the strategy process and one of its particular activities (visioning); the development and application of two specific tools (visioning and scenario planning); the support of the strategy process through tool use; and, teaching the subject of OR and strategy.

Whereas organizational ambidexterity is increasingly gaining ground in organizational theory, key issues regarding how ambidexterity is conceptualized, achieved and sustained offer partial insights or remain unexplored. Current approaches to ambidexterity so far have followed rather static and single level approaches to ambidexterity, without further exploring the underlying mechanisms of how ambidexterity is pursued in practice and through which mechanism and processes tensions are managed. In order to address this gap, this research adopts a holistic approach to the study of ambidexterity exploring tensions at different organizational levels. Based on a case study research in two organizations in pursuit of ambidexterity this research brings forward a view of ambidexterity that is complex and dynamic, as it involves the co-existence of different tensions and modes of balancing within different organizational groups. Research findings contribute to the study of ambidexterity at two main levels: tension manifestation (which tensions arise at each organizational group) and tension management (the mode of balance pursued in each case). Following a micro-level approach to the research of ambidexterity, findings bring forward the role of organizational actors in the management of tensions: based on how individuals perceived tensions (as complementary, conflicting, or interrelated), their organizational level and their strategic orientation different modes of balancing were pursued. As a result this research contributes to the theory of ambidexterity by identifying a path dependent process of managing tensions based on how individuals perceive the nature of the tensions. As literature on ambidexterity is shifting towards the importance of agency, gaining this understanding is a crucial step towards how ambidexterity is achieved.