This thesis is an investigation of the Buy Local food movement which has become a motivating factor for producers, consumers, and community organizations. The growth of this sector has taken place in the context of a differentiated food system, one in which alternative rural food economies are intertwined with industrial “placeless” agriculture. Producers operating in the food system are exploring local food economies as part of their enterprise development trajectories. Although there are many perceived benefits to a local food system, producers often face challenges in managing multiple aspects of production and marketing. Numerous organizations have stepped in to act as intermediaries, providing producers with resources and promoting local food with media campaigns, local food maps, and special events. Intermediary organizations have varying levels of capacity that often changes as the organization evolves to adapt to available funding, community support, and stakeholder involvement. This work expands the theoretical and empirical work on local food systems in two ways. First, it incorporates work by Quinn and Cameron (1983) and Jawahar and McLaughlin (2001) on organizational lifecycle stages with current work on local food organizations. This provides a unique way of understanding the capacity of an organization to meet identified goals and work well within their communities. Second, the work expands upon the notion of hybridity in the food system, introduced by Ilbery and Maye (2006), and provides empirical evidence of such activity. The research draws upon interviews with 32 producers and 18 organizing members to examine the characteristics, structure, and relations of two local food organizations and producers using the Buy Local Buy Fresh brand in Southern Ontario to examine the characteristics and relations of local food organizations and producers and further to explore the marketing and enterprise strategies of producers participating in the local food initiatives supported by the two organizations. Findings from this study indicate several key factors that are important for building a strong local food organization capable of meeting the needs of its stakeholders. Producers are showing an increased interest in garnering support from regional intermediary organizations, therefore there is a strong interest in strengthening the capacity to grow and support the diverse local food economy.

Through an empirical comparison between U.S and Canadian copyright law, this paper examines how lawmakers in both countries should deal with copyright liability issues in the cloud while maintaining a proper balance between content owners and Internet intermediaries. This paper proposes to answer this question throughout the study of the liability of Internet intermediaries. Drawing on copyright statutory provisions, case law and scholars articles, this paper examines the issue of online piracy, defines cloud computing and identifies the copyright liability issues posed by the cloud. It then compares U.S and Canadian copyright laws and discusses the new reform proposed in both countries in relation with the liability of Internet intermediaries. It concludes that new statutory reform might not be necessary except for clarification purposes. Indeed current copyright laws deal efficiently with copyright liability issues in the cloud while maintaining a proper balance between content owners and Internet intermediaries.

While many organizational actors, including firms, governments, universities, and non-profit organizations may have an impact on the innovative capacity of the firms with which they engage, we have little knowledge of their relative importance. The literature on innovation intermediaries reports on the impact of specific types of organizations, but has not considered the relative importance of different types of organizations. While the studies using Community Innovation Survey (CIS) data are able to consider relative effects, data on the nature of those effects are limited. In the interests of a better understanding of the relative nature and degree of the innovation enabling contributions of a range of organizational actors, I conduct a comparative examination of the contributions of firms, governments, universities, industry associations, and research institutes. Using survey data from a sample of 499 firms, I identify the actors that are most strongly associated with each of ten innovation intermediation activities.

Governments of the G7 have relied primarily on two strategies to develop their respective economies, the commercialization of research using licensing models and new venture creation. Yet, they have acknowledged no specific approach to achieving commercialization success. In fact, the results of the methods used for the commercialization of results are generally viewed as not satisfactory, thus creating room for new approaches to be proposed. One of the strategies used to assist the commercialization process has been recently instituted through social actors called innovation intermediaries. Their involvement in the commercialization process has the potential not only to facilitate the process but also to diffuse knowledge and foster innovation. To date, their practices are still under development, motivating academics in various disciplines to originate research studies aimed at gaining a better understanding of them. The literature has proposed definitions and attributed functions to innovation intermediaries, but it has not arrived at a definitive description of these actors or their activities. In practice, innovation intermediaries do not have a standard operational structure, established methods, or metrics to report their results; they have yet to, establish their own practices or use evidence to inform their activities. The objective of this study is to clarify their practices and challenge their current modus operandi with a view to improvement. To explain the activities of innovation intermediaries (their practice), to expose the role of evidence, and to represent the main concerns of innovation intermediaries, a framework based on distinctive attributes of the practice was produced using insights gained from a systematic literature review, an exploratory study, and literature stressing the importance of evidence. The framework was tested using a confirmatory study in the form of an online survey with the participation of 55 innovation intermediaries from around the world. The results show that innovation intermediaries have a predisposition to focus their practice on strategic concerns, finding a fit for the venture offering in the market while neglecting to oversee the mechanisms required for developing a viable venture offering. They tend to support their decisions anecdotally, referencing their previous experiences without the support of systematic methods to corroborate their conclusions. Their prioritized goals are first, to persuade investors and sponsors to collaborate with their clients; second, to help their clients occupy a leading position in their markets, and third, to support their clients to refine the venture offering and transform it into a commercial success. The emergent framework has characterized the practice of innovation intermediaries, identified particular gaps in their activities and their use of evidence, and suggested that the current focus in the practice of innovation intermediaries may not be contributing all that it could to the commercialization process. This framework may be of significant value to advance this field of knowledge and hopefully contribute to professionalize the practice of these social actors. Ultimately, this research could form the foundation for strengthening evidence-based best practices for innovation intermediaries.

While many organizational actors, including firms, governments, universities, and non-profit organizations may have an impact on the innovative capacity of the firms with which they engage, we have little knowledge of their relative importance. The literature on innovation intermediaries reports on the impact of specific types of organizations, but has not considered the relative importance of different types of organizations. While the studies using Community Innovation Survey (CIS) data are able to consider relative effects, data on the nature of those effects are limited. In the interests of a better understanding of the relative nature and degree of the innovation enabling contributions of a range of organizational actors, I conduct a comparative examination of the contributions of firms, governments, universities, industry associations, and research institutes. Using survey data from a sample of 499 firms, I identify the actors that are most strongly associated with each of ten innovation intermediation activities.

Yes / Against a background of the low engagement of SMEs in e-business this paper investigates the emergence of, and potential for, critical e-applications defined as `an e-business application, promoted by a trusted third party, which engages a significant number of SMEs by addressing an important shared business concern within an aggregation.¿ By a review of secondary data and empirical investigation with service providers and other intermediaries the research shows that such applications can facilitate the e-business engagement of SMEs. There are three key findings, namely: the emergence of aggregation specific e-business applications; the emergence of collaboratively based `one to many¿ business models; and the importance of trusted third parties in the adoption of higher complexity e-business applications by SMEs. Significantly this work takes a deliberately provider perspective and complements the already considerable literature on SME IT adoption from a user and network perspective. In terms of future research the importance of a better conceptual understanding of the impact of complexity on the adoption of IT by SMEs is highlighted.

Open government data, concerned with the opening and publishing of government data in a free, accessible, and machine-readable format, aims to encourage public participation in government affairs, increasing government transparency and accountability. It is also posited that open government data will inspire businesses, the public and government agencies to use it and contribute to economic growth and value creation. The Canadian federal, provincial, and local governments have been actively opening and releasing open datasets about multiple subjects of interest to the public. However, evidence of the benefits of using open government datasets by Canadian businesses is scant, with no empirical research undertaken in Canada to understand how the data are used and what value is being created. Based on a qualitative approach, this thesis focuses on the works and experiences of 17 professed open data intermediary firms in Canada. It aims to discover patterns and themes that provide insights into how open government data were used, the challenges facing open data intermediaries, the state of open government data, and the economic value created. The data collection is based on semi-structured interviews conducted virtually with the founder or company's executives. In addition, the findings highlight the key similarities and differences in the activities open data intermediaries performed and the importance of resources and capabilities in developing products/services that contribute to economic value creation. Finally, five critical challenges impacting the use of open government data are identified: awareness, quality of open government data, competencies of users, data standards, and value creation.

Open Government Data, an initiative of the open government movement, is believed to have the potential to increase government transparency, accountability, and citizens' participation in government affairs. It is also posited that they will contribute to economic growth and value creation. The Canadian federal, provincial, and local governments have been actively opening and releasing open datasets about multiple subjects of interest to the public. However, evidence of the benefits of using open datasets is scant, with no empirical research undertaken to understand how the data are used and what value is being created. This study, based on a qualitative, grounded theory method, focuses on the works and experiences of 17 Canadian open data intermediary firms to discover patterns and themes that explain how the data were used, what resources were needed, the value created, and the challenges faced. The data collection is based on semi-structured interviews conducted virtually with the founder or company's executives. The data analysis provided insights into how open government data were used, the organizational challenges the open data intermediaries faced, the state of open government data, and the economic value created. The findings highlighted the key similarities and differences in the activities the open data intermediaries performed and the importance of resources and capabilities in developing products/services that contribute to economic value creation. The study concluded by listing five challenges impacting the use of open government data: (a) awareness, (b) quality of open government data, (c) competencies of users, (d) data standards, and (e) value creation.

La recherche a pour objet l'étude du statut juridique et social des intermédiaires en matière immobilière, afin d'envisager des perspectives d'évolutions concrètes. Les intermédiaires jouent un rôle essentiel dans les opérations immobilières et l'accompagnement des usagers profanes, mais le statut de ces professionnels est encore flou et souffre d'une image dégradée en France. L'intermédiaire, professionnel œuvrant activement pour la réalisation d'opérations portant sur les biens immobiliers d'autrui, se trouve aujourd'hui confronté à une crise législative et à une concurrence nationale et internationale de plus en plus présente. Face à ces éléments, l'intermédiaire français est entré dans une période de remise en question et de réflexions sur son orientation juridique et professionnelle. Cette recherche permet de dresser le constat du statut juridique et social des intermédiaires en France, dont il ressort de nombreuses problématiques qui limitent l'exercice même de l'activité. Avec la prise en compte du droit positif, des récentes évolutions législatives, mais également par une approche de droit comparé et des influences socio-économiques pragmatiques, l'étude offre des perspectives d'évolutions en faveur des intermédiaires pour faire face aux problématiques rencontrées. L'étude propose plusieurs pistes de réflexions et des solutions concrètes en vue de faire évoluer le statut des intermédiaires et de leur donner des outils juridiques suffisamment efficaces, en adéquation avec les besoins des contemporains en matière immobilière. / The aim of this research is to study the social and legal status of intermediaries in the real estate sector in order to envisage perspectives for real change. Intermediaries play an essential role in real estate operations and the accompaniment of uninitiated users, but the status of these professionals is still vague and suffers from a poor image in France. Intermediaries are professionals who work actively to carry out operations on the real estate property of third parties. Today, they are faced with a legislative crisis and increasingly present national and international competition. In light of this, French intermediaries have entered a period of questioning and reflection with regard to their legal and professional orientation. This research makes it possible to review the social and legal status of intermediaries in France, for whom there are a number of issues that limit the very exercise of their profession. Taking into account positive law and recent legislative changes, as well as a comparative law approach and pragmatic social and economic influences, this research proposes perspectives for change in favour of the intermediaries to help them face up to the problems they encounter. The study proposes several avenues for reflection, as well as practical solutions for bringing about change in the status of intermediaries, giving them sufficiently effective legal tools that are adapted to contemporary needs in terms of real estate.

My thesis describes possible methods of distributing insurance products, especially the insurance intermediaries, who are the most important distribution channel in Czech Republic. The work analyses current legislation and its future development. At the conclusion there are investigated specific requirements of insurance clients.