In the last two decades, we have been watching a dramatic change in the nature of buyer-seller relationships. Relationship quality (RQ) is nowadays seen as the source of superior performance and competitive advantage, rather than service quality and/or customer satisfaction. As firms move towards closer, more collaborative relationships, the role of relationship managers as marketers is increasingly vital to organisational success. Despite the crucial role that relationship managers play in building business-to-business (B2B) RQ, very little research has looked at the key constructs of inter-organisational RQ from an interpersonal approach. Using both qualitative and quantitative approaches, this study aims at contributing to a better understanding of the nature, determinants, and dimensions of RQ. Particular attention is paid to developing and testing a B2B RQ model from an interpersonal perspective. In response to a gap identified in the literature, which draws primarily on buyer only perspectives, the exploratory, qualitative phase of this study was conducted from a dyadic perspective, thereby providing a stronger conceptualisation of RQ and its determinants and dimensions. A combination of literature with a series of semi-structured interviews with representatives of hotels operating in Portugal and their corporate clients helped inform the development of a RQ model which was subsequently tested through structural equations modelling. For the main survey, the unit of analysis was the relationship of the dyad, as perceived by the client, and 948 client representatives provided their perceptions of their relationship with their counterparts in hotels, yielding a 40.7 percent response rate. Goodness-of-fit estimates provided strong support for the model. All but one of the suggested research hypotheses were supported and the amount of explained variance by the proposed determinants was acceptable. Three alternative models were analysed and rejected in favour of the proposed model. Findings highlighted the importance of social bonds, which seem to promote contractual bonds and have a positive impact on perceived RQ, likelihood of recommendation and expectation of future contact. If social bonds are able to encourage repeat business and loyalty, then they may influence overall profitability. This research also expanded the empirical research on RQ by submitting its key constructs to a rigorous, quantitative test, this way contributing to narrow another gap in the literature, which refers to the existence of some consensus on building blocks of RQ such as commitment, satisfaction and trust, but not on their connections in the model. In addition, results emphasised customer orientation as a building block of RQ. This, in turn, draws the attention to the importance of including in the design of firms' strategies the careful selection, training, and motivation of (designated) relationship managers, the 'face' of the organisation, in order to maximise the performance of organisations in building B2B RQ. By focusing on relational drivers, this study responds to the lack of research on the interactive characteristic of RQ, i.e. buyer-seller interactions primarily in a person-to-person communication, and suggests theoretical and managerial guidelines regarding the social level in the governance of business relationships.

This thesis is concerned with the subject of ethical decision making. A large number of theoretical models of ethical decision making have been developed in recent years. Apart from a small number of studies, there has been very little empirical testing of the theoretical frameworks. Even fewer studies have examined ethical decision making in a longitudinal framework. This thesis defines and extends a part of one of the models, and tests it longitudinally. The longitudinal context allows dynamic issues in ethical decision making to be explored - how ethical decision making changes over time in response to various individual and situational factors. An important debate in the ethical decision making literature concerns the appropriate conceptual basis for ethical judgement. Most previous studies have focused either on the Cognitive Moral Development construct from psychology or on moral philosophy as the root of ethical judgement. This study develops existing theory to accommodate a third basis, that of personal values. The results of the study show that the personal values construct has significant explanatory power. Further, they suggest that it offers an attractive avenue by which researchers can further explore the relationships between the individual and the organisation. The accountancy profession provides the specific context for this study. Very little is known about how trainee accountants develop a sense of professional ethics. The objective of this study is to examine if and how the ethical decision-making of chartered accountants changes from the time they first join the profession to the end of the three year training period. Previous research has suggested that there may be a possible deficiency in the ethical development of accountants, and that accountancy training may not equip trainees to deal with the ethical conflicts which can arise in their work. Specifically, there is a critical view in the UK accounting literature that professional ethics training tends to focus on rule-following, and does not develop trainees' analytical ethical reasoning abilities. One of the aims of this study is, therefore, to assess the impact of existing professional training programmes as one of a number of individual and situational factors which may influence the ethical judgement of trainee chartered accountants. In order to do this, one group of trainees, a subset of the graduates who joined professional accountancy firms in autumn 1994, were surveyed at different points during their three-year Training Contracts. The study is unique in terms of its context, a large scale survey of UK trainee chartered accountants, and in terms of its longitudinal methodology. The results illustrate the possibility that different standards or sets of values e. g. personal and professional, can be brought to bear on single decisions in the professional context. Further, the experience of professional training and socialisation does not appear to aid trainees in resolving this type of conflict. In this study, personal values are found to be a major influence on ethical judgement across scenarios and across time while organisational values become increasingly important over time. In particular, the results suggest that commercial organisational values affect trainees themselves, not just their decision making, by influencing their personal values over time. Change in trainees' personal values, and correspondingly on their ethical judgement, does not appear to be brought about by specific job-related variables such as ethics training, peer group opinion or external pressures of time. It seems more likely that these specific factors are absorbed by trainees as subconscious indicators of an organisation's values. It makes sense then that the study also shows that the impact of these organisational values on personal values is moderated by organisational commitment, the willingness to believe in an organisation's goals and values.

In the domain of services marketing, the most researched area is in service quality. Since the pioneering stage of service quality research in the early 1980s, most of the studies have been conducted in the context of consumer services and consumer professional services. The purpose of this study is to bridge the gap in the existing literature to measure service quality of a particular business-to-business professional service industry (i.e., Hong Kong consulting engineering industry). In this study, three objectives are to be achieved. The first is to compare the relative superiority between two service quality measurement approaches: gap-based (perception-minus-expectation) approach and perception-only approach. The second is to confirm the direction of relationship between service quality and service satisfaction. The last is to assess the feasibility of synthesising the BU (International/Industrial Marketing and Purchasing Group) interaction model with the existing service quality models in conceptualising business-to-business professional service quality. The hybrid service quality model consists of: (1) transactional quality which is formed through various resource exchanges, (2) relational quality which is established by cooperation and commitment to adaptation, (3) overall atmosphere surrounding the transacting parties, (4) service quality, (5) service satisfaction, and (6) behavioural intention. Having synthesised the results of literature review (i. e., service quality, professional service quality, MP works, relationship quality) and exploratory interviews with the industry participants, seven hypotheses are proposed and tested in the context of Hong Kong consulting engineering service. H1 predicts that there is a positive relationship between transactional quality and service quality. H2 predicts that the impact of transactional quality on service quality is mediated by the overall atmosphere. Similar to H1 and H2, H3 predicts a positive relationship between relational quality and service quality whilst H4 predicts that the impact of relational quality on service quality is mediated by the overall atmosphere. H5 predicts that there is a positive relationship between transactional quality and relational quality. H6 concerns (a) a positive relationship between service quality and service satisfaction and (b) a positive relationship between service quality and behavioural intention. The last hypothesis predicts a positive relationship between service satisfaction and behavioural intention. Based on the results of structural equation modelling on survey data, the gap-based measurement approach is found to outperform the perception-only measurement approach in terms of relative model fits. The applicability of the gap-based measurement approach is considered to be context specific whether it is for organisation-based or consumer-based service. A high degree of unexplained variance in the construct of atmosphere suggests that additional factors which may influence overall atmosphere have not been accounted for in the model. For example, macro-environmental factors suggested in the IMP interaction model may influence or moderate the overall working relationship. In relation to the afore-mentioned hypotheses, four of them are supported, including H4, H5, H6a and 6b, and H7. Directions for future studies are then discussed, including (a) to generalise the findings to the other business-to-business professional service industries, (b) to explore other dimensions of relational quality; (c) to investigate the temporal impact on model variables, (d) to explore other gap-based measurement -approaches (e. g., direct measurement using "worse/better than expected" wording), and (e) to synthesise business-to-business professional service quality model with the concept of buying centre under different buying situations.

This doctoral thesis contributes to a growing strand of literature on the nature and causes of trade liberalisation from a political economy perspective. In three core chapters, I identify distinct and novel features of trade liberalisation. In Chapter 2, I demonstrate that unilateral and cooperative trade policy depend crucially on the degree of natural trade costs, or transport costs, in a model where terms-of-trade and profit-shifting motives for trade policy are important. When trade costs decline, a conflict of interest between unilateral and cooperative trade policy intensifies: unilateral policy aims to optimally exploit a country's monopoly power over its terms of trade, whereas cooperative policy aims to minimise losses in transit. In a framework where cooperative trade policy must be sustained by a reputational mechanism, I demonstrate that import tariffs can be lowered in response to decreases in natural trade costs, provided the long-run cooperative objectives of minimising losses in transit are more important than the short-run temptation of distorting the terms of trade and shifting profits towards the domestic market. These temptations become larger when trade costs decline since when the degree of natural distortions of consumer prices, and the degree of natural profit-shifting are lower, import tariffs are more effective at doing the job. I also demonstrate that a free trade agreement can be supported for a larger range of discount factors when trade costs decline. In Chapter 3, I analyse the sustainability of unilateral and bilateral trade liberalisation by introducing a time-inconsistency problem in addition to standard terms-of-trade manipulations. I find that the government's bargaining power vis-a-vis a politically organised lobby is a key parameter in the determination of the sustainability of trade liberalisation. Unilateral trade liberalisation, which is when the government unilaterally sets the dynamically efficient trade policy, can be sustained for every discount factor if the government has no bargaining power. This is because when the government has no bargaining power, it is only just compensated for the short-run distortion associated with trade policy, and not for the long-run distortions which come about from overinvestment in protected sectors. As the government's bargaining power increases, the level of patience required to sustain unilateral trade liberalisation also increases, and when the bargaining power exceeds a critical threshold, the government is able to extract so much rent that it is better off continuing its implicit contract with the lobby. Bilateral trade liberalisation imposes further sanctions on the part of a deviating country when its trading partner punishes it. This ensures that bilateral trade liberalisation can be sustained for all levels of the government's bargaining power provided the world is sufficiently patient. However, for low bargaining powers unilateral trade liberalisation can be supported for a larger range of discount factors whereas when the bargaining power exceeds a critical level, a trade agreement is needed to sustain trade liberalisation. In the last of the core chapters, Chapter 4, the question I address is one of the nature rather than the causes of trade liberalisation as in the two chapters that preceded it. I carry out an empirical examination of the political-economy model in Maggi and Rodriguez-Clare (2007). The model makes clear predictions regarding the tariff cuts in a trade agreement which can be perfectly enforced internationally. There are two distortions of non-cooperative trade policy: terms-of-trade manipulations, and a dynamic inconsistency. Thus, when two countries come together to sign a trade agreement these are the distortions they solve. The model predicts that tariff cuts should be explained by a terms-of-trade component, which I capture by the value of net imports, and inter-industry capital mobility, which I measure using three different variables: persistence of profits, capital-labour ratios and four-firm concentration ratios. I find that the first two variables capturing capital mobility perform very well at explaining the speed of liberalisation of US import protection on Mexican products. The results on the terms-of-trade component are less convincing although on most econometric specifications I obtain the correct sign.

This thesis examines the role of self-conscious emotions (SCEs) in ethical consumption. The work is primarily psychological and it seeks to add to the generic literature on the role of emotions in consumer behaviour by focusing on SCEs, such as guilt and pride, and analyses their special place in ethical consumption decisions. A mixed method approach was adopted, combining a qualitative study and a quantitative experiment. The qualitative study comprised 31 in-depth semi-structured interviews designed to explore the manifestation of SCEs and the process by which they influence ethical activity, as recounted by the participants themselves. The data analysis showed that SCEs influence the decision making process and arise at different stages in the consumption cycle, guilt and pride being the most salient emotions. SCEs also played a part in a type of compensatory process between ethical and unethical choices in which consumers engage. The findings of the qualitative study suggested that SCEs have the potential to influence consumers’ ethical choices through marketing communications. The qualitative findings are valuable in their own right and they advanced our understanding of the role of emotions in ethical consumption. In addition, by providing evidence about the motivational role of SCEs, the qualitative study was used to inform the design of the experimental study which sought to test the impact of marketing communications inducing these emotions on consumers’ intentions and behaviour. This was tested via recycling video adverts in a laboratory experiment with 90 students, 30 stimulated to feel guilty, 30 to feel proud and 30 with no stimulus. Guilt and pride were both shown not to influence recycling ethical intentions, as stated by the participants, but they were found to increase actual ethical behaviour as measured by a choice of a product with recyclable packaging versus a product with non-recyclable packaging. The results of the present thesis entail a series of theoretical and practical implications. In terms of theoretical implications, it offers evidence that emotions, as non-rational variables, should be considered when seeking to understand individuals’ behaviour in the context of ethical consumption. Consequently, the thesis moves the debate further from the sole examination of cognition-related variables which can only partially explain why consumers behave ethically or unethically. In particular, the findings show that positive and negative SCE have a cyclical influence on the decision making process where immediate or post-decision emotions can be metamorphosed into anticipatory emotions for future decisions and thus regulate consumers’ prospect choices. The results also demonstrate that emotions emerge in different stages of consumption (purchase, use and disposal) and that they have a key role in a compensatory process that consumers engage and by which ethical and unethical decisions are balanced to maintain psychological wellbeing. Final theoretical implications entailed by the qualitative study are the development of a guilt taxonomy and description of the guilt management strategies employed by consumers to overcome this negative feeling. The practical implications are directly related to marketing communications. A part of the managerial implications were tested through the experimental design which showed that adverts inducing pride and guilt, respectively, determine ethical choice. The finding related to the positive influence of the pride advert on ethical behaviour responds to the call of some researchers to investigate positive emotions as an alternative to marketing communications over-dependent on negative emotions. Other anticipated practical implications of the present study are related to the design of adverts that can trigger individual types of guilt or a combination, depending on the context and the desired level of guilt to be induced. Additionally, the guilt management strategies can inform marketers’ counteracting communications aiming at neutralising the techniques used by consumers to justify and sustain their less ethical behaviour.

Consumers often behave in ways that are in apparent contradiction to their expressed ethical concerns (e.g. Carrigan and Attalla, 2001). In light of this, it is imperative that theories of consumer's ethical decision-making explain the ways in which people justify these acts to themselves and others. This thesis advances the concept of neutralisation (Sykes and Matza, 1957) in order to explore how individuals soften or eliminate the impact that counter-attitudinal and norm-contradictive behaviour can have upon their self-concept and social relationships. A mixed method approach was adopted, comprising of two qualitative and two quantitative studies. The first qualitative study examined the applicability of neutralisation in consumers' support for the Fair Trade movement, a context which has been identified as of particular concern in previous research. Subsequently, the role of neutralisation in ethical decision-making was hypothesised within the theoretical framework of the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB; Ajzen, 1985, 1991). A second qualitative study enabled the operationalisation of the TPB and neutralisation constructs and informed the design of the quantitative studies. A survey study and an experiment served to test the main research hypotheses. Results indicated that neutralisation has a significant, negative effect on intention and it precedes actual behaviour. This represents the first successful attempt to integrate neutralisation with an existing account of ethical decision-making. Despite this, there was no conclusive indication that neutralisation moderates the norm-intention, attitude-intention and intention-behaviour relationships. The experimental study did not appear to confirm the causal role of neutralisation but it did suggest possible moderating effects of the personal (rather than social) acceptance of neutralising beliefs. These findings are discussed in the light of previous studies and implications for neutralisation and ethical decision-making research are explored.

This thesis is a Case Study of a professional technical training programme designed for an Executive Agency of a major government department. The purpose was to explore the structure, strengths and weaknesses of the programme and to put forward useful suggestions for improvement. The personnel recruited into the programme are experienced technical specialists, often accustomed to the exercise of considerable responsibility and authority, earlier in their careers. The programme is intended to impart the extra skills required in their new role. There is special emphasis on assessment of student learning and curriculum evaluation and the possible confusion between the two terms. The problem of Outcomes and how the competency of the trainees is to be judged is considered. Also considered are learning styles, content and the teaching environment. Research data is included, collected from three primary and one secondary source. The primary sources consist of two questionnaires, one on Assessment of Student Learning and the other on Curriculum Evaluation. The results from these were analysed and from this data, the questions for the Interview Schedules were developed. They were designed to provide clarification or additional data where this was required. This Interview Schedule was structured as a series of open-ended questions, allowing further investigation as necessary. The data has been presented in an easily understood format, making use of tables and pie charts. Links have been established between the existing theories on adult further education and the research findings. Conclusions and suggestions for future improvement have been made.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) which aims at enabling organisations to realize a customer focus is believed to be useful and has risen to the agenda of many organisational strategies. It can be seen as an approach to marketing that has its origins in Relationship Marketing (RM). In Hong Kong, CRM has been gathering attention from attorneys, accountants, merchants, bankers and financial advisors. However, there are few studies specifically investigating the factors that may influence the adoption of CRM. In order to bridge the gap in understanding, an exploratory study utilising in-depth interviews was conducted. A conceptual model was developed in order to deal with the two major objectives in this research 1) to investigate the factors which lead organisations to adopt CRM; and 2) the impact of CRM on the organisational performance. The conceptual model was tested with the relevant hypotheses, using a survey method by mailing questionnaires to the organisations of services industry in Hong Kong. Important findings from the examination of research objectives were discussed with regard to their implications for researchers and practitioners. Analysis results supported that attributes of innovation proposed by Rogers’ (1995), attitude towards change, market orientation, innovation orientation, perceived accessibility of IT solutions, competition intensity and desire of customer intimacy were the antecedents of CRM adoption. Also, it was discovered that information utilisation would be a possible mediator between CRM adoption and the performance. Finally, customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction and business performance was found to be influenced by CRM adoption. Limitations of study were reported together with recommendations for future research programmes.

This thesis is a study of managerial selves and their possibilities for ethical behaviour within organisations. It explores the risks to managerial ethical behaviour and also the possibilities for doing ethics within organisations. The research investigates managers' ethical reflexivity in their managerial roles and the nature of the ethic they deploy in their daily managerial responsibilities. It also investigates the value they attach to their personal ethical dimension as individuals and the origins of their ethical values or principles. The research adopts an interdisciplinary approach, with a broad range of literature pertaining to issues of managerial ethical and moral behaviour. A review of the literature revealed two significant gaps, which are addressed by this research. First, the need for more empirical research, which specifically focuses on individual managers within organisations rather than on organisations themselves; and secondly, the need to research and to understand the individual's "self' and its ethical dimension - the "ethical self' - as arguably a determining factor for guiding and upholding an individual's ethical stance within organisations. The research is underpinned by a subjectivist ontology, an interpretative epistemology, and a qualitative methodology. This methodology is based on a notion of reciprocity, which implies a "give and take" negotiation between participants and researcher for the generation of rich data. The research is exploratory and inductive with data gathered from two separate sets of semi-structured interviews with executive managers from across a variety of organisations. All the data provide a deeper understanding into the ways managers construct their "ethical selves" and provide an insight into their ethical reflection at their place of work. The data identify as well some of the values and principles managers resort to when seeking to resolve the complexities of their managerial ethical dilemmas. This research has resulted in a range of contributions, which primarily highlights the ethical awareness and sensitivity of managers in executing their daily responsibilities. The thesis provides evidence that ethics is an important dimension of a manager's job and that ethics ultimately emanates from an individual's "self' to reach out in response to a call from an "other". The research also shows the constant danger that managerial ethical behaviour faces by an organization's functional rationality, while on the other hand it also illustrates the possibilities of managers to do ethics. This research contributes to knowledge by providing conceptual and empirical insights into the notion of ethics, as the reflexivity of the "ethical self', and finds expression in the "practical wisdom" of the "good" manager, as a principled yet pragmatic individual, ever mindful not to forfeit ethical responsibility.

China's outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) has increased considerably in the last few decades. The development of China's OFDI has distinct features, in particular the fact that the major investors undertaking large-scale deals are state-owned enterprises. However, they have few competitive advantages compared with their international counterparts. As mainstream theories have difficulty in providing a reasonable explanation of China's OFDI, this thesis analyses the Chinese government's home country measures (HCMs) and their effects on OFDI, contributing to the understanding of the institutional analysis in international business. Based on the analyses of26 key policies and regulations, the Chinese government's role as a supervisor to examine and approve OFDI activities is addressed, as well its role as a promoter to support the Chinese enterprises' investment in the international economy. Regarding the administration, regulations for examining and approving the OFDI projects have been relaxed, which supports the improvement of OFDI. However, the outcomes of post-investment monitoring and extraterritorial controls are under question. The Chinese government supports OFDI largely by means of special funds and preferential loans issued by the institutions and banks. Additionally, China's OFDI information system primarily functions to provide data and information for policy formulation and complement the financial support. Employing data of 50 largest Chinese business groups ranked by overseas assets, their overseas subsidiaries and cross-border mergers and acquisitions, it is understood that their motivation for undertaking OFDI is to address their competitive disadvantages rather than to exploit their competitive advantages. The case studies of Chinalco's investment in Rio Tinto and Geely's acquisition of Volvo provide insights into the relationship between the Chinese government and investors. Rather than fully compromising the government's national planning, the Chinese enterprises take their corporate interests as priority during the OFDI progress. Accordingly, it can be concluded that the convergence between the nation and the enterprises' interests rather than the institutional factor alone has contributed to China's OFDI.