Currently corporate scandals are making headlines in the news. Stakeholders are demanding transparency through better information disclosure in order to curtail this problem and to regain trust. Businesses must find better and more effective ways of communicating not only financial but also non-financial information to these stakeholders. Information disclosures in both annual reports and on websites are important but the two media are used differently. Online CSR disclosures provide timely information and will meet stakeholders’ demands for greater speed and volume of information disclosure. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate the current level of online CSR disclosures among public listed companies in Malaysia, with particular reference to the influence of leadership variables. This study seeks to explain any variations in online CSR disclosures by using the following variables as the explanatory factors: ethical leadership behaviours, consisting of people orientation, fairness, power sharing, concern for sustainability, ethical guidance, role clarification and integrity; leadership styles, comprising transactional and transformational leadership styles; and leader roles. In investigating this issue, a quantitative approach was employed using a sample of 100 top Malaysian public listed companies. The data collection started with examining corporate websites using a disclosure index, followed by a questionnaire survey to grasp employees’ opinions on their leaders’ ethical leadership behaviours, leadership styles and leader roles. Due to the limitations of a quantitative approach, seven semi-structured interviews with managers were conducted to give context to the quantitative findings as well as supplement the data. The results show that Malaysian companies’ level of online CSR disclosure was low and the majority of companies did not fully utilise their websites to disseminate CSR information, although all the companies had websites. The results of the multiple regression indicated that ethical guidance, concern for sustainability and integrity contributed to the amount of CSR information disclosed on the Malaysian companies’ websites but interestingly, these were inverse relationships. Consequently, the interview findings revealed that not all leadership variables were perceived by managers to be determinants of online CSR disclosures. The inverse relationships were possibly due to factors such as leader’s confidence, moral recognition, personal recognition, external factors and cultural factors. This research contributes to the understanding of corporate voluntary disclosure strategies through the focus on online CSR disclosure. Prior disclosure studies emphasize financial, accounting and economic related variables as determinants to online CSR disclosures. This study provides a new insight for company leaders, policy makers and academics on how the behaviours of leaders, who are key corporate players, can impact the setting of CSR goals and enhance transparency by disclosing online.

A recent series of scandals hitting the UK financial industry has had a negative impact on consumer confidence in UK insurance companies. After assuming its powers and responsibility under the Financial Services and Market Act 2000, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) becomes the single statutory regulator directly responsible for the regulation of deposit taking, insurance and investment business. Strong legislation was introduced to maintain IFAs' independence, prohibiting insurance companies from exerting or persuading more IFAs to promote their products. Fighting to survive in an increasingly competitive market, several insurance companies have adopted the extranet to improve their communication and relationships with IFAs. Whilst channel relationship literature insists on the important role of communication in the supplier-distributor relationship, the emerging role of the extranet and how it reshapes IFA-insurer communication and relationships has hardly been explored. Accordingly, the research problem investigated in this thesis is: How has the extranet impacted on communication and relationships between the insurer and independent financial advisors (IE4s) in the UK? The research problem was investigated in two stages. In Stage 1, face-to-face interviews were carried out to help identify 5 research issues. RI 1: How does the extranet facilitate insurer-IFA communication? RI 2: How does the extranet impact on the use of other communication media? RI 3: How does the extranet facilitate the insurer-IFA relationship? RI 4: Impact of the extranet on communication, trust, commitment, cooperation, and conflict - How does this facilitate the quality of relationship between insurers and IFAs? RI 5: Does the perceived impact of the extranet on commitment have the strongest impact on the quality of the insurer-IFA relationship? in Stage2 , a mail survey of UK independent financial advisors was conducted to explore the research issues. In answering the research issues,this thesis' findings make the following contributions. Firstly, this research found that the extranet has a positive impact on insurer- IFA communication in general. However, it is still not conclusive that the extranet increases two-way communication between them. Secondly, this research found that it is highly likely that the extranet will decrease the use of certain modes of communication especially, the facsimile and the telephone. Thirdly, this research found that the extranet improves certain aspects of trust. In terms of commitment, although the extranet increases the IFAs' willingness to maintain their relationship with the insurer, it does not have a strong impact on the IFAs' commitment to the insurer. Concerning the co-operation construct, it is still inconclusive whether the communication enhanced by the extranet leads to better co-operation between the insurer and IFAs. Likewise, it is still not conclusive if the extranet-enhanced communication results in less conflict between the insurer and IFAs. Nevertheless, it is clear that the extranet does not intensify existing disagreements between them. Overall, the IFAs felt that the extranet-enhanced communication increased the quality of their relationship with the insurer. Next, this research found that the perceived impact of the extranet on relationship quality is positively related to the perceived impact of the extranet on trust, commitment, and co-operation and negatively related to the perceived impact of the extranet on conflict and, disagreement. Indeed, insurers need to be aware that to enhance the quality of their relationship with the IFA, they need to maintain and increase the IFAs' trust in, and commitment to them. At the same time, they should also try to facilitate co-operation and effectively solve conflicts between them and the IFAs. This research found that the extranet has the potential to help the insurer achieve these goals if it is implemented appropriately and effectively. Finally, the findings also suggest that commitment has the strongest effect on the perceived quality of relationship.

Sustainable development is generally accepted as a policy imperative. However, it can be interpreted in very different ways and is perhaps best regarded as a discourse rather than as a precisely defined term. It is also generally accepted that `sustainable development' requires actions at all spatial scales and by all levels of government, including the local. However, parish and town councils, which are the most local level of local government in rural England, are given no responsibilities in relation to sustainability. This thesis is intended to investigate the potential of parish and town councils to take a leadership role in increasing the sustainability of their communities. A casestudy approach is used, involving the study of five larger local councils in the county of Gloucestershire, in the context of larger-scale sustainable development discourses. Two case-study projects are also analysed to study how different discourses come together at the local level. We find that the concept of `sustainable development' has been adapted by UK government to conform to wider political discourses. However, government interpretations are not necessarily reproduced at the local level, where inherent contradictions become more apparent. Although parish and town councillors may express commitment to `sustainable development', they tend to interpret it in terms of the local and the relatively short- term. A discourse of local council legitimation is identified by which councillors see their role as caring for their parish, with the benefit of local knowledge and holistic thinking. The thesis concludes that if parish and town councils are to contribute to sustainable development, they must be given specific powers encompassing the global and long-term effects of local activities, and other local groups must see the local council as a leader of the community and `sustainability arbiter', rather than as just another interest group.

This thesis explores the research gap on the influence of sustainability as a contribution to long-term success in businesses of German graphic design industry (GDI). It focuses on owner managers’ within the Creative Industries by understanding the use of sustainability and expresses what sustainability means for GDI owner managers’. Sustainability is and will be a relevant and unperfected accessed area of research, precisely because the rearrangement of resource saving and sustainable economic management is believed to be one of the major challenges of the 21st-century. Also the group of well the people with a Lifestyle Of Health And Sustainability continues to increase. Sustainability is a mega trend! It is well documented that sustainability management is especially relevant for big firms and is able to assure companies success for the long-term. This research seeks to explore this for small and medium sized companies. Which options do the mainly small organised German graphic design industry (GDI) have? How does that fit to the creative industry (CI) as a major economic force? The German GDI is rumoured to be very innovative – multiplied effective ideas are a basis for successful sustainability management. GDIs should be at the forefront of sustainability management because they have a wide reach and connections to other industries and are with its creativity services in graphic and communication design important for the growth of the whole German economy. The primary question is: Is the use of sustainability in German GDI a contribution to long-term success? This leads to the title of the thesis “An examination of owner managers’ perception of sustainability as a contribution to long-term success in the German graphic design industry.” The key research question is: Is the use of sustainability in German GDI a contribution to long-term success? The research methodology is based on a number of expert interviews conducted Metje Rocklage II with German graphic design industry owner managers’ implementing sustainability in their daily business. Preparing these semi-structured guideline interviews two pre talks were adapted. Together with reflective presentation of the author in front of an audience of graphic design and sustainability experts, the author developed a constructivist prejudice as a foundation for an Applied Thematic Analysis. The core results of this research are: Sustainability for graphic design industry owner managers’ means a strong inner motivated world improvement with another way of thinking and acting of how to ecologically (with priority), social and (not for all) economically produces good and sustainable results, which means durable and valuable products. The use of sustainability within German graphic design owner managers’ is based on internal motivation and personal core values. Ecologic activities occur more often than economic and social activities. Implementing sustainability to future business requires a creative, alternative, complex, and long-term thought process with consideration to consequences. Sustainability is often seen as a contribution to long-term success (with happiness and satisfaction). Sustainability positive influences the inner motivation, the networking and cooperation, is an added value, provides a unique selling proposition, and is seen as an image-forming factor. The surprising outcome of this research is the high personal inner motivation of the topic sustainability within German graphic design industry. The owner managers’ personal core values are of primary importance; with it the use of sustainability is seen as a contribution to long-term success with happiness and satisfaction. For long-term success, it seems to be optimal for the entrepreneur to act in a sustainable manner on the basis of inner motivation and intrinsic interest. That leads to the assumption, that the integration of sustainability in businesses of German graphic design owner managers’ is established on the basis of inner motivation and personal core values. German graphic designers that implement sustainability are headed in the right direction to be fit for the future, by thinking creative, complex and for the longterm. Further additional research is needed about inner motivation and sustainability as a contribution to small and medium-sized success.

The existing literature on ethical consumption is primarily developed from a Western perspective; those from other parts of the world remain under-represented. This study offers an authentic Chinese perspective of ethical consumption: revealing Chinese consumers’ responses to the Western notion of ethical consumption and describing their interpretations of ethical consumption in a Chinese context. A phenomenological approach was adopted to explore this Chinese perceptive through consumers’ lived life stories and experiences. Four focus groups and fourteen interviews were conducted to ‘make text’, thematic analysis, guided by a hermeneutic approach to interpretation, was then used to produce rich meanings. This study’s findings highlight the significance of traditional Chinese cultural virtues, and in particular, those attached to reconstructionist Confucianism. The outcomes illustrate that these traditional Chinese virtues are still deeply embedded in Chinese consumers, speaking through them and influencing their construction of the meanings of ethical consumption. Virtues such as harmony, thrift, being humble, trustworthiness, humanness and righteousness, loving one’s family and extending this love to others, are particularly relevant. This Chinese perspective of ethical consumption, therefore, can be viewed as ‘a bundle of virtues’. This bundle does not operate in a fixed order, but rather the elements interact with the external environment and thus the virtues used are influenced by specific situations to provide the basis for ‘ethical consumption’ in context. The study findings also indicate the usefulness of virtue ethics in the field of ethical consumption. This leads to the suggestion that future research adopt a virtue ethics lens, rather than falling back on either a principles-based (deontological) or outcomes-based (consequential) perspective. Thus, even though this study considers a Chinese perspective, it offers a response to the Western notion of ethical consumption that underscores the importance of context, environment and situation. This leads to a position where research need to address, appreciate and incorporate the collaboration of governments, organizations and individual consumers in achieving a ‘true’ sense of ethical consumption.

Corporate governance is currently on the agenda of many countries, and is receiving considerable attention in the business world as well as in the area of academic research, which is an indication of its importance for business development and for society as a whole. A large body of the currently available knowledge addresses this phenomenon from the perspective of the developed economies. Although the knowledge base about corporate governance in developing countries appears to be limited, it is growing. The main aim of this study is to investigate current corporate governance practices, perceptions and obstacles within Libya following the introduction of the Libyan Corporate Governance Code (LCGC). To achieve this aim, the study investigates: first, the nature and extent of applying current corporate governance; secondly, the perceptions of listed companies' staff (senior managers and employees in financial positions) and Libyan financial experts (academics and auditors) regarding the introduction of the LCGC; thirdly, the current obstacles facing the application of LCGC; and, finally, the views of the Libyan regulators and officials in relation to the obstacles identified and how they may be reduced. In order to accomplish the research objectives, a mixed research methodology was adopted: This involved using two types of research methods for collecting data: semistructured interviews and a questionnaire survey divided into three sequential stages: firstly, interviews were conducted with board members of the companies surveyed; secondly, a questionnaire was distributed to selected staff of the companies surveyed and Libyan financial experts; thirdly, further interviews were conducted with Libyan regulators and officials. The findings of the study revealed that corporate governance in Libya is in its early stages of development and is characterised by a weak legal environment, lack of knowledge about corporate governance, poor leadership, lack of training among directors and weak investment awareness among investors. Therefore, the influence of social, cultural and economic factors is evident. The results also suggest that urgent action is needed in order to facilitate the implementation of a good corporate governance system in Libya.

Waste management has become one of the major global environmental concerns of our times associated, as it is, with the consumerist tendencies which fuel the engine of economic growth and environmental impacts. Existing policies in the UK have not yet managed to curb the problem of steadily increasing waste generation despite efforts by Central government and the European Union to set inflexible national targets for waste management. A major problem is that while central government sets the overall goals to be achieved, actual waste collection and disposal are functions of 'local government. In many cases local governments lack the resources and capacity to make economically efficient and environmentally effective decisions. Waste management infrastructure must be developed for the long-term, yet economic efficiency considerations often conflict with local political objectives and with a wide range of resource constraints. Local government is not always the most suitable level to deal with problems that often have regional impacts or can be more efficiently organised within larger geographic units. The European Commission is starting to re-consider the application of its rigid waste management hierarchy in light of suggestions that sustainable solutions may vary across regions. Changes in the regulatory environment for solid waste and the regionalisation of disposal infrastructure present economic opportunities which pose the need for institutional change in waste practices. The study examines the institutional arrangements for municipal solid waste management within the South West of England region. Using in-depth key actor interviews, questionnaires, and Force Field Analysis, key actor and stakeholders perceptions on the concept of sustainable waste management are examined, and opportunities and obstacles arising from evolving institutional arrangements are identified. The study finds that there are significant barriers to the development of more sustainable Municipal Solid Waste Management (MSWM) in the South West Region, iii especially in the areas of 'culture' (both public culture and organisational), regional institutional capacity, and related markets. Amongst the issues that need to be addressed are the interrelated issues of public awareness, participation and empowerment, parochialism and the lack of power of regional institutions to deal with Local Authority waste management contracts within an implementable strategy for the region, the (often negative) influence of the markets related to MSWM, the lack of responsibility for funding of programmes aimed at changing public behaviour, and potential conflict of interest amongst stakeholder groups. Central government, Local Authorities and the waste management industry all need to instigate significant changes in institutions and institutional arrangements in order to achieve a move towards more sustainable MSWM.

Financial institutions are becoming increasingly accountable to a broader range of stakeholders, particularly with regard to their lending habits and their subsequent social and environmental footprint. As a consequence, a substantial number of banks, predominantly from the minority world, have voluntarily adopted the Equator Principles, a set of environmentally and socially sound lending guidelines aimed at the project finance industry. It is imperative that Indian banks become signatories; increasingly they are funding national infrastructure growth at the expense of the environment and communities which inhabit areas of development. Previously, Indian bankers have been absent from the Equator dialogue; this research sought to include them and ascertain the future of responsible lending within the Indian context. Across the minority world, responsible lending is entwined with the motivation to become a good corporate citizen. An analysis of Indian corporate social responsibility initiatives demonstrated that a number of financial institutions and corporations are encouraging innovation, sustainable development and independence within their local communities; a positive outcome for the potential of Equator adoption in India. The global financial crisis presently threatens to negate the progress banks have made with their commitment to responsible project finance. However, the reshaping and redefining of the global banking system presents an opportunity for financial institutions worldwide to be more responsible with the allocation of credit on an individual basis and the financing of large-scale development projects. India, at this time of major infrastructure growth, can either develop at the expense of its natural and social environments, or strive towards lifting its population out of poverty within a sustainable, responsible framework.

The implementation of environmental management accounting (EMA) in Mittelstand companies is an uncharted area. Therefore, the aim of this study was to identify the ways, benefits, and disadvantages of implementing EMA in such companies. The choice of the approach and method depended on the following reasons: As the observed phenomena took place inside a company and depended on the attitudes of its members, an interpretivist and qualitative research approach was used that regarded a company as a socially constructed entity. The research was executed with a top-down deductive method starting with a literary review (on Mittelstand-like companies using EMA), and leading to hypotheses concerning the research aim. These assumptions were tested in a qualitative case study using a German Mittelstand company from the printing industry. To this end, the study used the company’s files, personal notes from management meetings, and interviews with experts from the focal company offering the deepest insight in the focal company. The analysis found two different results. Mittelstand companies will have trouble with implementing EMA. However, after having done this, they will only experience benefits and no disadvantages. During the EMA implementation there will probably be delays due to lacking expertise, conservative attitudes, and disturbed channels of information among the staff. However, these obstacles can be overcome with external experts guiding the EMA implementation, and with financial resources to pay them. EMA will then enable a Mittelstand company to track the flows of hazardous and harmless physical entities alike and its associated environmental and conventional costs. With this information the strategic management accounting (SMA) will be able to reduce these costs, to develop eco-friendly products, and to increase its resource efficiency, profits and competitiveness. In a Mittelstand company EMA should therefore be placed at the interface of proper accounting and SMA. FCA, ABC, flow cost accounting, input/output analysis, and EBSC seem to be the optimal methods to track and analyse a company’s physical flows and its related conventional and environmental costs. The former cost type depends on the quantities of the resources, with the latter one depending on the production of waste, the excessive use of water, wood, fuel, electric energy, hazardous chemicals and the process they are used in. To capture these costs it is best to use a set of primary metrics (reflecting the quantities of the resources) and secondary metrics (focussing on the flows and dangers of these resources). Measuring environmental costs of hazardous substances is difficult, since the production processes they are used in depend on chancy circumstances like accidents. Instead, it is also possible to use an EMA that only calculates the amounts of wood, water, waste, fuel, and electric energy needed for the use of hazardous substances. After multiplying these costs with a numerical and empirically obtained factor, the related environmental costs can now be measured both accurately and easily. Such a simplified EMA seems to be a promising method for Mittelstand companies with low technical skills.

This thesis deals with the trend of an ageing population in Germany and the opportunities and challenges that it presents for the consumer goods industry. The goal of the research is to provide a more nuanced understanding of ageing consumers and to suggest strategies to overcome innovation resistance. It departs from the traditional product-oriented research perspective and explores domestic practices of everyday life. Using this approach, it investigates the role of household appliances in facilitating the wish of older adults to age-in-place. Due to the interdisciplinary nature of the research, a synthetic framework was created that melds and extends distinct conceptual elements from separate theories. While previous studies have largely failed to provide a detailed description of user segments, this research applies a novel market segmentation approach that assists in developing more effective innovation strategies. It has extended the Use Diffusion model (Shih & Venkatesh, 2004) by creating a number of novel sub-determinants which direct household technology use in different directions. It posits that different user segments exhibit different levels of interest in future technology acquisition. Based on an advanced understanding of use patterns, the research intends to clarify a possible application of disruptive innovations, which suggest simpler, more familiar and affordable products and services. The research followed a sequential approach to data generation. It begins with interviews conducted during home visits using the task of ‘doing the laundry’ as a focal practice, interviews with care workers, and medical practitioners. It is supplemented with focus groups comprised of the intended product users in order to generate innovation ideas. A final focus group of industry experts followed and centred on the operationalization of those ideas within an established company. Finally, the thesis developed a synthetic model to support innovation management that is not present in current conceptions.