In organisational theory, there is increased concern over how a particular context affects the operations of firms, especially in multinational organizations. As these firms operate in different contexts, there is growing interest in learning how social institutions from these contexts may influence the operations of these firms. MNC subsidiaries, principally, have attracted the attention of academics because they move in different spaces that are interrelated (e.g. country of origin, industry and country of operations), which may have different institutional settings. The implementation of control mechanisms in MNC subsidiaries represents an organizational area that is significantly influenced by these forces. This thesis develops a theoretical framework to explain the presence of control devices in MNC subsidiaries. The framework encompasses different levels of analysis: country of origin, country of operations, industry and the organization itself. The aim is to explain the presence of control mechanism in MNC subsidiaries by examining features that might affect the implementation of these devices. The framework places particular emphasis on two areas. First, understanding the effect of institutions based in the country of origin on the implementation of control mechanisms in MNCs. And second, appreciating the effect of institutions in the country of operations on the implementation of these devices in subsidiaries.

International technical assistance today supports pro-poor intervention managed and implemented by a number of organisations working in partnership together located in several countries. They may include funding organisations, governments, non-governmental organisations and community groups. This thesis explores the meaning of aid sector partnership and some of the ways in which they work to support community development in Africa. The study is of the ways in which partners interact and learn from each other, the contextual issues that influence the process and the implication of this for what is achieved. Believed to be the first of its kind, the study compares two bilaterally funded projects implemented by Ghanaian NGO counterparts. The British Department for International Development (DFID) financed an adult literacy project in the North, while Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA) supported a maternal and child health care project in the East of Ghana. The study examines the quality of relations between partners in the two projects and then the ways in which these are informed by incidental learning experiences. A fieldwork was conducted in Ghana, UK and Japan. Data are largely narrative derived from in-depth interviews with more than 100 informants. Critical incident analysis is employed as the main interpretative strategy. The thesis conceptualises instances of inter-organisational learning (TOL) in terms of theories of principals and agents, prisoners' dilemmas and women's place in community development. It shows (i) that IOL can be used to maintain and modify relations of control and dominance in partnership hierarchies, and (ii) that IOL serves as a by-product of horizontal relationships and be increased or reduced in the competition between partners for resources and identity. The influential role of individuals, beyond the boundaries of organisations is stressed through social networks and trust-based relations, as are instances of resistance to learning as a consequences of personal conflict. However, structural constraints in the aid system, as demonstrated by asymmetric access to resources, expertise, knowledge, status and networks, ultimately determine the quality of funding management schemes and an environment that stimulates mutual individual learning, which is advantageous circumstances may lead to organisational learning and inter-organisational learning.

Increasing global competition within industry has forced businesses to respond by reducing costs and product development lead times in order to survive. In the automotive industry, these strategic responses include the specific exploitation of new technologies and mergers with other companies to gain economies of scale. BMW AG purchased Rover Group in 1994 but it wasn't until 1998 that competitive pressure led to the completion of the merger through the creation of a single "Group Function" structure within BMW Group. The BMW Board stated high-level objectives for the process but provided no mechanism to convert them into reality. Similarly, the BMW Group Board initiated a business process "Re-engineering" programme in 1997/8 and stated cost, time and other objectives that would have to be met. The technical and process changes that would help to achieve the business improvements were being largely driven from the bottom of the organisation but there were no frameworks available to guide strategic technology introduction. The principal innovations generated during the course of this research are frameworks for: • Maximising the business benefits from the creation of 'Group Functions' • Internal strategy creation for technology-based business sub-units These two new frameworks have for the first time provided management and staff with the means to develop meaningful strategies and operational action plans from the corporate strategic objectives. The economic and business literature concentrates mainly on whole business strategy and merger activity, neglecting the need for guidance at the sub-corporate level. Although corporate strategy can provide the overall direction of a company, it is the managers that have to drive strategic change within the business. The frameworks were developed by the author based on an in-depth review of the literature and the specific context relating to Rapid Prototyping & Tooling (RP&T) within BMW. The frameworks were validated within the business situation and further enhanced where appropriate. The Group Function framework fills the process gap between the high-level objectives and the need for operational action plans. It provides a straightforward and easy to communicate structure to the process of optimising duplicated business subunits. Use of the framework led to the retention of both RP&T teams and the initiation of beneficial synergistic activities. The framework should be applicable to other similar groups in similar circumstances. The author developed a new strategy creation framework that for the first time combines a range of strategy development approaches from within the literature into a practical framework for sub-corporate strategy development. The framework was matched to the specific context of the RP&T case but could be used in other similar circumstances. The framework was used to successfully develop a new strategy for RP&T in BMW Group and includes new approaches developed by the author that reduce the impact of environmental change and uncertainty. The framework has been described in a stand alone form that can easily be more widely exploited.

The thesis is based on a longitudinal study of the automobile industry in the U.S.A. from its inception around the turn of the century, to the 1950s. Charting the changes in methods of production, organisational structure, demography and skill configurations among the workforce, and institutional and political formations at the workplace, the study focuses upon the meaning of these developments in terms of the control of work and the personnel directly involved in that control - the changing role of foremen in 20th century industry. Using a range of sources including contemporary governmental and industrial surveys, company and trade union records and oral histories, a picture is built up of the way in which methods of production, and the control of that production, are mediated through a series of social, demographic, spatial and ideological factors, in all of which the foreman is a central character. In examining the role of shop floor supervision in shaping workers experience and actual structures of control at the workplace, and showing how the experience of foremen, individually and as a group, in turn are affected by changing patterns of work, the thesis constructs a historical modification to accounts of the labour process which stress a progressive, teleological exodus of control from the shop floor. The study points out for example, that the role of shop-floor supervisor during the inter-war period, largely supposed to have been proscribed and marginalised by technological and bureaucratic developments, remained in fact the focal point of control over hiring, firing, wage levels, production levels and methods of work, in short almost all aspects of the industrial workers' experience of factory life. Having established the boundaries of power and control surrounding the foreman in pre-war mass production, and discussed the meaning of these boundaries in terms of class, ideology and divisions among the workforce, the thesis then examines the origins and effects of unionisation on the role of supervision. Following an account of the restructuring of power and control which comes with the establishment of production workers unions in the industry, the advent of the unionisation of foremen themselves is examined. The Foremen's Association of America (FAA), which saw its genesis and principal area of recruitment in the automobile industry, represented the most serious attempt to organise supervisory workers in the USA this century, and marks a pivotal point in the spread of unionisation, managerial response and state intervention in industrial relations. Building on earlier sections outlining the position of foremen in terms of power and ideology, the thesis proposes a complex, multi-level dynamic behind the formation, growth and decline of the FAA as a corrective to previous accounts which stress the primacy of legislative and institutional explanatory frameworks. Finally the thesis charts the post-war response of management in the industry to the threat of foremen's unionisation, locating ensuing attempts to restructure the role, status and prestige of foremen in terms of the historical impact and progress of competing managerial theory, in particular that of the human relations school.

There has been considerable interest in time varying performance particularly that related to business cycles in recent years. This topic has been a persistent focus from the end of the last century, as evidenced by the quotes above, continuing through much of economics since the 1930's, when the peculiarities of pricing behaviour, particularly in the United States, during the depression years were the driving force behind interest in the topic. Since then, there has been an ongoing debate on the effects of the business cycle upon pricing and profitability. In recent years this debate has intensified having been fuelled both by technical factors and politico-economic developments. On a politico-economic level the ending of the "Golden Age" of capitalism, which had been characterised by steady growth, low unemployment and relatively small cyclical fluctuations, in the 1970's can be seen as a prime reason for a resurgence of interest in such issues. On a technical level within the economics discipline two aspects have promoted increased interest in this issue. Firstly there has been a mushrooming of theoretical approaches to the question driven by the growing dominance of game theory in particular in trying to explain the prevalence of collusion during the business cycle. At the same time, but we would argue not In parallel, there has been an expansion of empirical testing of the question of time varying performance at a microeconomic level. This expansion can be largely attributed to the advent of improved techniques and computing capability for dealing with panel data which facilitates the examination of these issues. This thesis seeks to examine one aspect of this question, the relative performance of large and small firms, a subject which has been largely overlooked within the main body of the literature on time varying performance but which can add to, and point to, useful insights for that literature.

The History of the making of Furniture is inexorably tied to the development and decline of the successive civilisations which have given the punctuation to the story of man's emergance in a settled society. In tracing the development of the Trade Unions in the furniture industry it is necessary to provide as a postscript a brief summary of furniture making through the ages, and its development in the United Kingdom. Of necessity this history is not exhaustive, and must needs take a partial view, but it is included in the main work to set the scene for the emergance of the workers organisations in the middle of the Victorian era.

This is a study of adult job retraining in further education and industry. Through indepth case studies of a small number of chemical and engineering companies and one college of further education, it attempts to develop an understanding of the broader relationship between further education, industry and government as it pertains to retraining. Data was collected by unstructured interview and participant observation. Supporting data was collected by means of postal questionnaires. The thesis is divided into four parts. Part one examines national government training and retraining policy; a policy characterised by ambiguity and ambivalance. Part two reviews the development of further education, and assesses the adult job retraining provision within one particular college. Part three examines retraining in industry and describes the enterprise restructuring under which retraining took place in three chemical companies. On the basis of findings outlined in Parts two and three, Part four asks whether further education is equipped to provide the type of retraining which industry believes it requires. The thesis concludes that, because industry and further education acknowledge two different concepts of retraining, a structural disengagement occurs. Further education seeks to provide individuals with general competencies whereas industry is concerned with enterprise specific retraining. The remainder of Part four examines the retraining experience from the point of view of trainees and students and looks at the way skills, in the context of training and retraining, undergo reconstruction. This thesis contributes to an area which is currently under-researched; and at a time of structural change within industry and further education, issues relating to retraining become important. The thesis examines this restructuring and suggests ways in which retraining can be reorganised for the benefit of industry, communities and individuals.

Industrial organisations face uncertainty created by consumers, suppliers, competitors and other environmental factors. To deal with this uncertainty, managers have to coordinate the resources of the organisation to produce a variety of behaviours that can cope with environmental change. An organisation that does not have sufficient internal complexity to adapt to the environment cannot survive, while, an organisation with excessive complexity would waste resources and might lose its ability to react to the environment. The main objective of the research was to create a model for dealing with complexity and uncertainty in organisations. The initial ideas for the model originated from the literature, particularly in the fields of systems and complexity theory. These initial ideas were developed through a series of five case studies with four companies, namely British Airways, British Midlands International (BMI), HS Marston and the Ford Motor Company. Each case study contributed to the development of the model, as well as providing immediate benefits for the organisations involved. The first three case studies were used in the development of the model, by analysing the way managers made decisions in situations of complexity and uncertainty. For the final two case studies, the model was already developed and it was possible to apply it, using these cases as a means of validation. A summary of the case studies is presented here, highlighting their contributions to the creation and testing of the model. The main innovation of the research was the creation and application of the Complexity-Uncertainty model, a descriptive framework that classifies generic strategies for dealing with complexity and uncertainty in organisations. The model considers five generic strategies: automation, simplification, planning, control and self-organisation, and indicates when each of these strategies can be more effective according to the complexity and uncertainty of the situation. This model can be used as a learning tool to help managers in industry to conceptualise the nature of complexity in their organisation, in relation to the uncertainty in the environment. The model shows managers the range of strategic options that are available under a particular situation, and highlights the benefits and limitations of each of these strategic options. This is intended to help managers make better decisions based on a more holistic understanding of the organisation, its environment and the strategies available.

This thesis is concerned with understanding the way in which knowledge is managed in IT-based innovations. Although there is a growing body of research on how to leverage knowledge to improve organisational performance, particularly in the field of "knowledge management", most studies divorce knowledge from its context and fail to consider the purpose for which knowledge is managed. One such purpose is the integration of IT-based innovations, during which knowledge about complex IT is integrated with context-specific organisational knowledge, in order to develop firm-specific solutions. However, existing research in IS implementation and IT-based innovation tends to be fragmented and falls short of providing a comprehensive analytical framework for understanding the management of knowledge in IT-based innovations. An analytical framework based on the processes of knowledge creation, sharing and retention is developed by reviewing literature in the area of knowledge management, IS implementation, IT-based innovation and organisational knowledge. As this research adopts a constructivist view of IT and knowledge, an interpretive case study approach was selected for the empirical investigation. The implementation of B2B e-commerce was selected, as it has been commonly described as knowledge-intensive. This research provides both a chronological and thematic description guided by the analytical framework of the integration of B2B e-commerce at ComCo and AutoCo, two large original equipment manufacturers in the vehicle manufacturing sector. One major contribution of this research is the development of an analytical framework that focuses specifically on understanding the management of knowledge in the integration of IT-based innovations. The analysis has revealed the existence of "knowledge phases" - periods of time in which the relationship between knowledge creation, sharing and retention is based on a stable pattern of organisational activities in order to serve a specific purpose.

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