Abstract Some gender scholars who have studied Western welfare regimes have argued that dominant cultural assumptions about women (ideational forces) should be examined in order to understand the development of these regimes. On the other hand, gender scholars working on Iran’s social policy argue that religious assumptions and institutions have shaped the position of women in Iran’s welfare regime. However, none of these researchers have thoroughly and explicitly examined the role of ideas in the development of Iran’s social policy. In contrast, this thesis studies the role of ideational forces in the formation of the only Iranian social assistance program designed exclusively for women, Empowering Women Without Guardians (EWWG). It also examines the connection of these forces to non-ideational factors in order to further elucidate their impact on policymaking. As argued, multiple cultural assumptions influence policymaking on women’s issues in Iran. Traditional cultural assumptions reinforce and legitimize the unequal position of women in society, whereas reformist and secularist ideas assume that men and women are equal. As claimed, the interaction of these assumptions with institutional and structural forces empowers some of these ideas over others at different stages of policymaking regarding the formation of EWWG: Iran’s laws (institutional forces) have reinforced previously dominant traditional assumptions about women (ideational forces) in the problem stream; in contrast, reformist interpretations of structural factors challenged previously prevailing traditional ideas and resulted in the adoption of a policy, which is more consistent with reformist and secularist ideas. The relative power of these assumptions helps explain both policy continuity and change in Iran’s context of policymaking on women’s issues.

The global ICT revolution is adding a new stream of waste, known as electronic waste or ‘e-waste’: electrical and electronic equipment that has ceased to be of value to its owners. The recyclability of e-waste together with the presence of pollutants poses a waste management challenge. Developed countries have systems in place to address this challenge, but developing countries have only recently recognised the need to develop appropriate systems for e-waste management. ICT consumers are key stakeholders in e-waste: it is they who decide whether and when an item is e-waste, and they form the link between producers and recyclers. Yet not much attention has been paid to their role. The limited research to date has focused on household consumers in developed countries, leaving a knowledge gap around bulk, organisational consumers in developing countries, despite their often being the largest single contributor to e-waste. Acknowledging the growing challenge of e-waste management in developing countries and lack of research on bulk consumer response to this challenge, the present research aimed to understand e-waste material flows, management strategies and determinants relating to bulk consumers of IT in India. It focused on bulk consumers in India’s IT service sector because that sector depends on electronic equipment for its operation and has been recognised to generate nearly 30% of the total e-waste in the country. The data for this research was collected between 2010 and 2011, at a time when preparations were underway for implementation of separate e-waste regulations in the country. Therefore, the findings of the research here draw attention to the practice for e-waste management in India before implementation of the new regulations. In order to achieve the overall aims, a qualitative research approach based on multiple case studies was adopted. In all, 20 IT service organisations belonging to three different groups based on size namely, very large (VL), large (L) and small and medium (SM) were studied via multiple semi-structured interviews, direct observations and document analysis. Further source triangulation was achieved through interviews with representatives from other stakeholder groups: IT equipment producers, formal recyclers, regulators, industry association representatives, and representatives of various national and international organisations working on e-waste management. A complex chain of material flow was identified, involving a significant number of stakeholders. Two further models – of e-waste strategy and e-waste strategy determinants – were developed through literature review and pilot fieldwork, and then verified via the main fieldwork. Three distinct types of e-waste management strategy were observed among the stakeholders. While the VLIT organisations and IT producers exhibited a proactive approach to e-waste management, the LIT organisations and formal recyclers exhibited a reactive approach to its management. The SMIT organisations ignored the challenge of e-waste and were indifferent to the management of generated e-waste. Various external (regulation, clients, peer pressure, brand and corporate reputation) and internal (corporate culture and leadership, financial benefits and corporate social responsibility) factors were found to play a role in determining the different types of e-waste management practiced by the stakeholders. Except for direct financial benefits all the identified factors had a strong determining role in the proactive approach to e-waste management. The reactive approach was chiefly driven by regulation and financial benefits associated with e-waste management. The indifferent approach was driven only by the financial benefits associated with disposal of e-waste. A key determinant that was shaping the factors among the IT bulk consumers was institutional pressures mainly driven by the requirement of some clients for green practices; that requirement itself deriving from the nature of the value chains within which consumer organisations were located. Alongside the determinants, a set of enabling factors was identified (awareness, environmental management systems, and access and availability of formal recyclers) which helped explain the implementation of e-waste management practices. When the levels of these enablers were high the implementation of organisational e-waste management was proactive and when they were low, the approach to e-waste management was reactive. These enablers were absent in the organisations that were indifferent to e-waste management. From these findings, various challenges in the current system for e-waste management could be identified including: value expectation at the time of disposal of e-waste; patchy awareness about e-waste; lack of collection mechanisms; and regulatory shortcomings. Recommendations have been made about opportunities to incentivise and facilitate collection, enhance awareness, and offer regulatory support.

Purpose: While research on state-owned enterprises (SOEs) have been lagging, even less can be found on municipally-owned enterprises (MOEs). The authors intend to use literature covering SOEs and apply them on MOEs in an analogue fashion. This study aims to uncover similarities and differences between the two aforementioned types of public ownership and contribute to the field of MOEs. This would allow for future researchers of MOEs to know in what way previous findings on SOEs is accurate and where extra caution must be placed. The authors will also consider the implications of institutional theory and how this can be used to understand the reality MOEs find themselves in. Design/methodology/approach: The authors has employed a qualitative approach where eleven MOEs have been interviewed. All of the eleven enterprises were located in the Swedish province of Värmland. The interviews were conducted in a semi-structured fashion and the analysis was achieved through a mix of selective and open coding. Findings: Enterprises matched expectations from stakeholders, where higher demands were met with greater social care and lower expectations facilitated a business approach. Furthermore, enterprises viewed their owners as the most important stakeholders and were willing to make decisions that favored them, even if other stakeholder groups disbenefit from this. Furthermore, a combination of actively searching for legitimacy and relying on institutional theory was employed by the MOEs, which could possibly contribute to institutional theory. Research limitations/implications for future research: Further research into these matters are of interest to build on the understanding of SOEs and apply them to MOEs. It is suggested to conduct a study including MOEs of greater size, as most organizations included in this study were too small to ‘successfully’ implement non-acquiescence matters such as decoupling and mission drift. Furthermore, a case-study of a single organization would perhaps shed some light on this matter, as this study’s focus on eleven enterprises has a bit of a tendency to only scratch the surface.

This Ph.D. thesis seeks to better understand how change occurs within a group of organisations. Aiming to make a contribution to institutional theory, it brings together three main schools, namely: old, new and neoinstitutionalism, in an integrative approach for understanding organisational field change. The study seeks to examine and explore a community of organisations who have come together to form an organisational field. More specifically, the object is to better understand how an organisational field is formed and developed and how change is driven, at an organisational and organisational field level, as a consequence of this field formation. Moreover, the study investigates the impact of triggers for change upon the field, and the role that institutional forces and individuals play in the process of organisational field change.The theoretical chapters, as discussed, integrate the concepts of change from three schools developing a comprehensive framework of organisational field change with which the empirical material can be analysed, in order to make the theoretical contribution. The empirical work is based on a case study, incorporating two rounds of interviews and secondary data collection, undertaken from 2007 - 2011. The case study examines the development of the Biofuel Region, a collection of organisations based, principally, in Ornskoldsvik,  Northern Sweden, that have worked together to develop a public and private biofuel transportation infrastructure. Besides being a fascinating case of regional development and having the reassuring object of creating an eco-efficient fuel the Biofuel Region, regarded as an organisational field, provided good access to respondents and useful insights into the way that fields form and change.The contributions of this thesis offer an insight into the manner with which the formation of an organisational field can begin with a drive for a legitimisation of the field's endeavours.Underscored is how the field can restructure continuously as a consequence of triggers for change, and that consequently fields are dynamic and not static and are thus changing frequently. Furthermore, it highlights that given the correct conditions individuals can play a key role in the management of an organisational field. The overarching contribution is that change occurs in a plethora of different ways within a field as a consequence of its formation,development, triggers for change, individual's contributions and institutional forces. / Denna doktorsavhandling syftar till att öka förståelsen avseende hur förändring sker inom grupper av organisationer. Med syftet att ge ett bidrag till institutionell teori sammanförs tre skolor, nämligen gammal-, ny- och neoinstitutionalism, i en integrerad strategi för att förstå förändring av organisatoriska fält. Studien syftar till att undersöka och utforska en samling av organisationer som gått samman för att bilda ett organisatoriskt fält. Mer specifikt är ändamålet att bättre förstå hur ett organisatoriskt fält bildas och utvecklas, och hur förändring drivs, både på en organisatorisk- och organisatorisk fältnivå. Dessutom undersöker studien speciella ”utlösares” effekter för förändring av fältet, och den roll som institutionella krafter och individer spelar i denna förändringsprocess. De teoretiska kapitlen integrerar begreppen förändring utifrån de tre skolorna i utvecklandet av ett övergripande ramverk, med vilket det empiriska materialet analyseras; resulterande i ett teoretiskt bidrag. Det empiriska arbetet utgår från en fallstudie, som omfattar två omgångar av intervjuer och sekundär data, insamlat mellan 2007 och 2011. Fallstudien undersöker utvecklingen av BioFuel Region, en samling av organisationer, baserade huvudsakligen i Örnsköldsvik i norra Sverige, som har arbetat tillsammans för att utveckla en offentlig och privat transportinfrastruktur för biobränsle. Förutom att vara ett fascinerande fall av regional utveckling, med den lovvärda avsikten att skapa ett eko-effektivt bränsle, innebar Biofuel Region, såsom exempel på ett organisatoriskt fält, god tillgång till respondenter och användbara insikter i hur fält formas och förändras. Bidragen i denna avhandling ger en inblick i hur bildandet av ett organisatoriskt fält kan börja med en strävan efter att legitimerera fältets aktiviteter. Betoningen ligger på hur fältet kan omstruktureras kontinuerligt som en följd av ”utlösare” för förändring, och att fält därför är dynamiska och inte statiska. Dessutom framhålls, att givet de rätta förhållandena kan individer spela en viktig roll i ledningen av ett organisatoriskt fält. Det övergripande bidraget är insikten att förändring inom ett fält sker på en uppsjö olika sätt; som en följd av dess bildande, utveckling, ”utlösare” för förändring, individuella insatser och institutionella krafter.

This study examines power factors (resource dependence, attraction of relationship maintenance, and institutional forces) in relation to actors' behaviors and ties of varying strength between them within a network of business and sociopolitical spheres. The focus is on Samsung Electronics and Asahi Breweries in the context of the ROK-Japan trade dispute (2019-2023). An analysis model, incorporating perspectives from network theory, resource dependency theory, relationship marketing, and institutional theory, is operationalized and applied to the empirical data. A qualitative content analysis of primarily two Japanese and ROK-based newspapers, along with quantitative data, reveals a domino effect of events impacting the two focal firms, highlighting their interconnected networks. The study also demonstrates how layering of relevant spheres in a given context shapes the perception and impact of power factors, influencing actors' behavior and their ties. Additionally, it emphasizes the benefits of diversifying ties and the importance of distinguishing between short-term and long-term. / Denna studie undersöker maktfaktorer (resursberoende, attraktion att upprätthålla relationer och institutionella tryck) i relation till aktörers beteenden, samt förbindelser sinsemellan i varierande styrka, inom nätverk bestående av affärsmässiga och sociopolitiska sfärer. Fokus ligger på Samsung Electronics och Asahi Breweries i samband med handelskonflikten mellan ROK och Japan (2019-2023). En analysmodell som bygger på perspektiv från nätverksteori, resursberoendeteori, relationsmarknadsföring och institutionell teori har operationaliserats och tillämpats på empirin. En kvalitativ innehållsanalys av främst två japanska respektive ROK-baserade tidningar, kombinerat med kvalitativa data, påvisar en dominoeffekt av händelser som påverkar de två fokala företagen och framhäver deras integrerade nätverk. Studien visar också hur skiktningar av relevanta sfärer i en given kontext formar perception och inverkan av maktfaktorer, vilket påverkar aktörers beteende och deras förbindelser.  Dessutom betonar studien fördelen med diversifiering av förbindelserna och vikten av att skilja mellan långsiktighet  och kortsiktighet.