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.

This research strived to enhance our knowledge about the succession phenomenon by investigating the impact of various internal and external factors on the succession process. Specifically, the aim of the research was to explain the variations in succession processes for executive positions in the Bahraini public sector in light of the impact of the influential stakeholders and context-related factors. The researcher adopted a sequential mixed methods research approach to collect data. In the first phase, quantitative data were obtained to detect variations among the succession processes for executive positions in the Bahraini public sector. In the second phase, qualitative data were collected to reveal the influential factors acting upon the succession processes and to explain the detected variations in light of the impact of these factors. However, as the aim of the research was to explain the variations among the succession processes and in order to maintain the focus of the current thesis, only the qualitative part of the research is reported. The research findings highlighted the impact of several influential stakeholders (within and outside the organisational boundaries) and context-related factors (at macro, organisational and positional levels) on the succession process in the Bahraini public sector. Furthermore, the findings identified two factors that influence the stakeholders’ involvement in the succession process (stakeholders’ awareness and perceived importance of their stakes in the process). In addition, two factors were identified as determining the stakeholder’s impact on the process (the stakeholder’s power and the nature of the stakeholder-decision maker relationship). The findings also highlighted five influence mechanisms employed by the stakeholders to further their interests and claims in the succession process. Specifically, these influential mechanisms are intended to influence the availability of successors, overthrow the office incumbent, influence succession decisions, override undesirable decisions and alter the succession process framework. Based on these findings, the researcher proposed two conceptual models. The first model illustrated the influential stakeholders and context-related factors that act upon the succession process. The second model explained the detected variations in the succession processes by linking these variations with the influential mechanisms employed by the stakeholders. In addition, the researcher proposed a categorisation of the mechanisms employed by stakeholders, in general, to further their interests and claims regarding an organisational issue. The value of this research lies, primarily, in its contribution to the theory and literature of the succession phenomenon and to a lesser degree to the Stakeholder Theory; whilst the findings also have practical applications in the field of succession management.

There are three aims to this thesis. First, in chapter I, the record of takeover activity in the U.K. from 1957-69 using a census of U.K. public quoted companies is analysed. This involves an examination of the frequency of takeovers over time, the industrial pattern of take-overs, the characteristics of raiders, differences between the performance of acquired and surviving firms, the payment practices and the bid premium, the distinction between takeovers and mergers, unsuccessful takeover bids and defensive strategies, and finally the timing of the offer with respect to the acquired firm's accounting period. This will set the scene for the second aim of the thesis which is the development, in chapter II, of a theory of the causes of takeovers based on the valuation discrepancy hypothesis suggested by Robin Marris.as well as more directly in terms of the financial characteristics of the acquired firms whose impact should be felt via the stock market valuation of the firm. In chapters III and IV these models of takeovers are tested at the industry level through the use of the linear probability function estimation technique. It was found that the valuation ratio, profits and growth emerged as significant influences On the probability of takeover in a majority of industries but that Size, retentions and liquidity, in general, failed to provide any important contribution to an explanation of the causes of takeover. Attempts to analyse the differences in the industry results in terms of industry characteristics proved unsuccessful. Of primary interest is the market valuation as an explanation of takeovers for it offers not only an explanation of takeovers based on the price of the acquired firm, but also it forms the basis of the operation of the security constraint in Marris's managerial model of firm behaviour. Although demonstrating the existence of the valuation constraint in the form envisaged by Marris, i argued that this provided only a necessary condition of his revision to the theory of the firm and did not provide a basis for choosing between one or other of the posited managerial objectives of the new theories of the firm or the neo-classical formulation of profit maximization. In chapter V an alternative estimational technique is employed on aggregate data ignoring the industry classifications; that of profit analysis. The results for the market valuation and the financial variables of profits, growth and retentions offer greatly improved results over the linear probability function in terms of the proportion of firms taken over at various levels of the explanatory variables. Aside from more fully exposing the nature of the takeover process and its role as a constraint on managerial discretion, little contribution can be made towards the choice of appropriate managerial objective. The third and final aim is to relate the takeover process to the appropriate model of the theory of the firm which has not been possible in the earlier chapters. For this I turned to an analysis of the takeover raiders and attempt to derive mutually exclusive predictions for the raider's performance relative to their industry average performance for the two assumed objectives of growth maximization and profit maximization. Reasonably clear distinctions are drawn on the basis of profits, growth, retentions and valuation ratio and the sign test used to demonstrate that the performance of raiders is better explained by the assumption that they seek to maximize growth rather than profits.

Purpose: To propose an analytical framework for the design of supply chains that are resilient to nonlinear system dynamics. For this purpose, it is necessary to establish clearly elucidated performance criteria that encapsulate the attributes of resilience. Moreover, by reviewing the literature in nonlinear control engineering, this work provides a systematic procedure for the analysis of the impact of nonlinear control structures on systems behaviour. Design/method/approach: The Forrester and APIOBPCS models are used as benchmark supply chain systems. Simpli�cation and nonlinear control theory techniques, such as low order modelling, small perturbation theory and describing functions, are applied for the mathematical analysis of the models. System dynamics simulations are also undertaken for cross-checking results and experimentation. Findings: Optimum solutions for resilience yield increased production on-costs. Inventory redundancy has been identi�ed as a resilience building strategy but there is a maximum resilience level that can be achieved. A methodological contribution has also been provided. By using nonlinear control theory more accurate linear approximations were found for reproducing nonlinear models, enhancing the understanding of the system dynamics and actual transient responses. Research limitations/implications: This research is limited to the dynamics of single-echelon supply chain systems and focus has been given on the analysis of individual nonlinearities. Practical Implications: Since that the resilience performance trades-o� with production, inventory and transportation on-costs, companies may consider to adjust the control parameters to the resilience `mode' only when needed. Moreover, if companies want to invest in additional capacity in order to become more resilient, manufacturing processes should be prioritised. Originality/value: This research developed a framework to quantitatively assess supply chain resilience. Moreover, due consideration of capacity constraint has been given by conducting in-depth analyses of systems nonlinearities.