University Knowledge Commercialisation‘ (UKC) has come to be seen as a stimulant for developing economic performance. Regardless of the increasing body of literature in the UKC, it is revealed to be undertheorized, whilst existing theories are the result of inductive theorizing based on successful KC stories within the western context. Moreover, the literature provides modest practical directions and pay insufficient attention to the role of mechanisms, such as power, mimetic isomorphism, and intermediation, in bridging differences in institutional logics between actors. These gaps inspired the study aim, which is to explore the implication of such mechanisms in bridging differences in logics within UKC institutionally emerging context, Oman. Through a qualitative, multiple case-study approach, data was collected from four contract research projects through semi-structured interviews. The first three interviews served as a pilot study, the results of which were then used to formulate the second stage which was interviews with participants from academia, industry, and government. This approach improves the internal validity of the research, and provides a rich picture of the Omani UKC emerging institutional environment. The findings suggest that the influences of power, mimetic isomorphism, and intermediation have significantly shaped bridging, though not always positively, in logics in the Omani UKC context. The findings show that adverse influences in this process included: asymmetric power relationships, mimetic isomorphism‘s simplistic view of logics convergence and negligence of institutional fragmentation, and insufficient intermediation activities. The novelty of introducing the concept of power adds a new theoretical dimension into the UKC and ILP theories. Additionally, the novelty of using case of Oman as an empirical study added new contribution into the field. In addition, this study contributes to a better understanding of the Omani policy actions with regard to shift to an effective UKC approach.

To this point research on firms’ political behavior has contributed knowledge concerning large firms’ relationships and strategies with political actors and their surrounding environment. Less is known about small firms’ behavior towards political organizations. As a matter of fact, the fields of international marketing, international business and corporate political science have left the political behavior of small firms almost untouched. Therefore, extant literature assumes that small firms due to their resource constraints are passive receivers of political initiatives. About 99 percent of all firms within the European Union are small firms, and it is therefore questioned whether all these firms are passive receivers of political initiatives. The intention with this thesis is to challenge some assumptions regarding how small firms manage their relationships with political actors concerning EU related rules and regulations. Consequently, the study raises the overarching research question; how do small firms manage their political environment? Theoretically, the study takes a network perspective on business political interaction to examine both individual and/or collective political behavior of small firms. It develops a theoretical view constituted of knowledge, commitment and legitimacy. Methodologically, two sequential stages are followed: first an in-depth qualitative case study of three successful cases is presented and second, the in-depth understanding is broadened to a wider population of firms based on a quantitative survey. A central contribution of this thesis is to aid research on the political behavior of small firms. It is found that small firms, in contrast to prevailing assumptions, do possess political resources. They are not passive receivers of political initiatives. Instead, the findings show that small firms are active and can exercise influence. This, however, is shown to be dependent on the firm’s political commitment, political knowledge and competency and business-political legitimacy. It is also shown that small firms mobilize these critical resources not only directly, but also indirectly through various intermediating actors. Besides the theoretical contributions, these conclusions are important not just because of the managerial implications but also, and perhaps more importantly, for the policy implications that can be drawn from the study. Being exploratory and opening up the black box of small firm’s political behavior, the thesis ends with a number of future research directions.

To this point research on firms’ political behavior has contributed knowledge concerning large firms’ relationships and strategies with political actors and their surrounding environment. Less is known about small firms’ behavior towards political organizations. As a matter of fact, the fields of international marketing, international business and corporate political science have left the political behavior of small firms almost untouched. Therefore, extant literature assumes that small firms due to their resource constraints are passive receivers of political initiatives. About 99 percent of all firms within the European Union are small firms, and it is therefore questioned whether all these firms are passive receivers of political initiatives. The intention with this thesis is to challenge some assumptions regarding how small firms manage their relationships with political actors concerning EU related rules and regulations. Consequently, the study raises the overarching research question; how do small firms manage their political environment? Theoretically, the study takes a network perspective on business political interaction to examine both individual and/or collective political behavior of small firms. It develops a theoretical view constituted of knowledge, commitment and legitimacy. Methodologically, two sequential stages are followed: first an in-depth qualitative case study of three successful cases is presented and second, the in-depth understanding is broadened to a wider population of firms based on a quantitative survey. A central contribution of this thesis is to aid research on the political behavior of small firms. It is found that small firms, in contrast to prevailing assumptions, do possess political resources. They are not passive receivers of political initiatives. Instead, the findings show that small firms are active and can exercise influence. This, however, is shown to be dependent on the firm’s political commitment, political knowledge and competency and business-political legitimacy. It is also shown that small firms mobilize these critical resources not only directly, but also indirectly through various intermediating actors. Besides the theoretical contributions, these conclusions are important not just because of the managerial implications but also, and perhaps more importantly, for the policy implications that can be drawn from the study. Being exploratory and opening up the black box of small firm’s political behavior, the thesis ends with a number of future research directions.

This diploma thesis deals with the issue of intermediation of abstract art in gallery education programs for primary school students. Its theoretical part outlines the process from figurative to non-figurative imaging through the theory and history of art. The term of abstraction is further expounded by general and developmental psychology. The final theoretical part deals with the intermediation of art and all its connections, including potential difficulties which can occur. The empirical part contains a research with gallery lecturers, which brings and analyzes their attitude to the process of gallery-educational programs providing intermediation of non-figurative art to pupils of younger school age.