Increasing globalisation, neoliberal policies and migration inflows have in the last few decades transformed the United Kingdom into a largely cosmopolitan nation with a varied and growing population of ethnic minority owned and/or managed businesses. There is however very little knowledge of how the imperatives of social responsibility resonate within this ever expanding cluster of ethnic minority businesses. This study investigates how the concept of social responsibility (SR) is understood and practiced by African and Caribbean small business owner/managers in the UK cities of London and Nottingham. The social, business and institutional networks of owner/managers are examined in order to understand the embeddedness of their understanding and practice of social responsibility in particular places and spaces. The research also investigates the motivations underlining owner/managers' interpretations, attitudes and involvement in socially responsible practices and activities and identifies different styles of behaviour common within the African and Caribbean small business community. The research adopted an interpretive qualitative methodology to the empirical investigation. It combined semi-structured interview data from African and Caribbean small business owner/managers and key informants in the local small business community, together with participant observation data from case studies of a sample of small businesses, to examine the issue of social responsibility in the two study areas. The key findings of the study include: that African and Caribbean owner/managers of small businesses were oblivious of the terminology of corporate social responsibility and that their interpretation and practice of social responsibility was in many ways incongruent with normative notions of "Corporate Social Responsibility"; that the concept of social responsibility is generally interpreted as a moral imperative to contribute to the welfare of stakeholders and others in society, but in some cases, also understood as a responsibility exclusively owed to co-ethnics; that social responsibility as practiced by African and Caribbean owner/managers was generally inconspicuous, informal and motivated by their idiosyncratic predispositions towards cultural, moral and/or religious traditions; that while the embeddedness of SR practice in co-ethnic business and social networks predominates, nonetheless, second generation African and Caribbean small business owner/managers were more likely to locate their SR activities and practices within mainstream networks and communities; and that the different styles of BSR behaviour of African and Caribbean small business owner/managers can be understood as "insular", "clannish" and "eclectic", On the basis of these findings it was concluded that the SR attitude and behaviour of African and Caribbean small business owner/managers were influenced and shaped by their ethno-cultural and religious beliefs, as well as their embeddedness in social and institutional networks across space and time.

This thesis provides a review and empirical analysis of the determination of executive compensation components, long-term incentive pay ratios and the implication of tournament pay structures. The sample of 1,137 executive-year observations of comprehensive executive compensation packages from FTSE350 companies are exploited to advance our understanding of executive pay determination. The meta-analysis in chapter three provides a systematic review of prior literature on the pay-performance relationship and indicates that the true association between executive pay and firm performance is positive. The economic significance of the relationship, however, is low with less than one percent of executive pay rise is directly attributable to the improvement in firm performance. Chapter six examines the determinants of executive pay components and incentive pay ratios. The empirical results suggest that main determinants of executive pay components and incentive pay ratios are firm performance, firm size, executive tenure and the CEO position. The empirical results are sensitive to performance measures used in analysis. Chapter seven provides some evidence supporting a tournament pay structure in the UK companies with strong connection between executive pay and organizational hierarchy. The convexity of the pay-position relationship implies that extra compensation weight is placed on the most senior executive compensation and the pay-gap is increasing over time. No evidence of the effect of the number of contestants on the tournament prize suggests the growing trend of hiring external CEO candidates rather than internal promotion.

Consultants have diversified their offerings to include support for the formulation and implementation of complex public sector change programmes. Such programme leadership consultants provide mixed advisory-programme delivery support, which often translates into longer engagements. This growing phenomenon is less common and understood than the traditional view of consultants who act as advisors, and requires the focus of academia. The context of the research is a case study of the Maltese Public Service, wherein major change programmes were launched and sustained over a long timeframe. The case study spanned multiple legislatures and witnessed various changes in leadership and strategy. Interestingly Consultants were engaged throughout the case study in both an advisory and a programme leadership capacity, and contributed to the creation and maintenance of momentum for the change programmes, until the programmes eventually ran out of energy. These programmes were also confronted with resistance. The research builds on existing theory to inform our understanding of the contribution programme leadership consultants can make to the creation and maintenance of momentum for change programmes, and implications for the client sponsor of the change programmes. Whilst representing only one aspect of consultancy engagements, this presents important considerations for client sponsors. The case study was bracketed from the perspective of client sponsors of the change programmes into three policy cycles based on change archetypes adopted. The researcher developed a Theoretical Framework which guided the research process and comprised of a number of theory building themes. The theory building themes were translated into research questions for each policy cycle. Four theory building -chapters focus on the analysis of the case study, theoretical analysis and relationship to existing theory, and the formulation of theoretical propositions guided by the theory building themes. The thesis has contributed to knowledge development at two levels. Firstly a theoretical framework was developed and refined which defines and better informs our understanding the phenomenon and comprises five Theory Building themes: Leverage of the Consultants' Relationship with the Client (CL); Power and Political Strategies Deployed by Consultants (P&P); Consultants' ability to Adapt over time (AD); Resistance and Consultants' Mitigation Strategies (R&M); and Programme Leadership Techniques and Discipline adopted by Consultants (NA). Secondly the thesis has informed our current theoretical understanding of such consulting engagements, with implications on client sponsors of such change programmes by applying the theoretical building themes and research questions to examine three policy cycles wherein different change archetypes were adopted. The thesis also presents practitioner implications for Consultants and Client Sponsors of Change programmes, presents a discussion on generalisation of findings, highlights the limitations associated with the research undertaken and unresolved theoretical issues, and proposes pointers for future research.

The past two decades have seen extensive research on governance structures of the firm, executive compensation and performance. However, most of these studies are in the context of profit-making organisations with relatively very little attention being given to this subject in respect of non-profit making organisations. This study examines the determinants of executive compensation and firm performance in charities. Specifically this study attempts to answer the following questions: What are the main determinants of CEO compensation in the UK Charities? What performance measures do the UK Charities use? What are the factors that influence performance in the UK charities? Using both quantitative and qualitative methodologies, the study reports a number of interesting findings. Regarding the executive compensation, the study finds that organisational size, CEOs qualification and CEO’s tenure have a positive bearing on executive pay. However, the results suggest that the sector of the organisation and CEO duality have no impact while and CEO experience had significantly negative relations with CEO pay. Turning to the performance measures, it was found that five performance measures categories are used by the UK charities, namely, financial, the customer; the internal business process, benchmarking and learning and innovation. To get deep insights into performance, the study examined the managers’ opinions on the factors influencing performance. However, CEO pay and the sector of operations have a statistically negative influence on performance. The results indicated that four factors, namely, board size, board independence, CEO pay and sector of operations, have statistically significant influences on the overall performance of the UK charities. The also results suggest that board size and board independence have positive and significant influence on performance. In terms of individual performance measures, the size of the board has a positive and significant influence in respect to financial, customer, internal business and overall performance. The results also indicate that board independence has an influence on financial performance, internal business, benchmarking and overall performance. On the contrary, benchmarking has a positive, but not significant, relationship with CEO pay. This relationship is not surprising, as it supports the social comparison and equity theory. The results also show that the gender of the CEO appears to have a positive, but not significant, impact on the CEO’s performance, with the exception of innovation and learning.

Corporate Responsibility (CR) defines the process of self-regulation, whereby an organisation seeks to measure and improve its performance related to the social, environmental and economic expectations placed upon it by society. In the past two decades the prominence, and therefore uptake of CR activities and reporting has increased across many sectors. The pace of this change has varied significantly, with many industries quickly becoming aware of its importance and integrating it into their business operations while others have seen CR as lower priority and have been much slower to embrace it. In the UK, while some of the individual components of CR are governed by legislation (e.g. environmental activities and health & safety), others such as social interactions and CR reporting have little or no legislation associated with them. This lack of any clear legislative requirements effectively allows organisations to report on any topics they wish and results in a very varied approach to implementing and reporting upon the subject. While some aspects of CR, such as reporting (Jones, Comfort et al. 2006), performance benchmarking (BITC, Graafland et al (2003)) and attitudes to CR (Herridge, (2003), Petrovic- Lazarevic, (2008)) have been investigated in isolation, there has been no attempt to provide a holistic view of the industry. This research seeks to do just that by combining a range of data in an effort to build a broad evidence base of the industry's reporting practices, performance and perceptions of the industry with regards to CR. This thesis presents the findings from a mixed-method review of CR reporting, activities and performance amongst UK construction companies. Mixed methodologies (qualitative and quantitative) were employed in order to interrogate a range of data sources. The methods employed in the empirical chapters of this work include a review of construction CR reports, a benchmarking exercise and a case study of consultancy companies operating in the construction industry. With regards to reporting, while some longitudinal changes were seen with respect to report size and levels of detail, a number of core or priority topics were identified which were commonly covered by construction companies regardless of which sub-sector they operated in. The benchmarking exercise attempted to compare the CR performance of companies within three construction sub-sectors (materials suppliers, contractors and consultants) and while some patterns were evident, such as topics where performance was consistently high, no clear trends were seen between the performances of the three sub-sectors reviewed. The case study highlighted a number of difficulties that are faced by consultancy companies and based upon the study, a range of recommendations which could potentially help to address some of them are proposed.

This thesis is concerned with the impact of outsourcing within the airline industry. There are conflicting viewpoints on the impact of outsourcing and a scarcity of empirical studies examining its influence on the airlines' performance. In order to fill in this gap, the research process was divided into three stages: (1) Literature review and an exploratory case study; (2) Analysis of secondary data; and (3) Qualitative analysis of 14 interviews, representing 12 different airlines. Through the study, the determinants of outsourcing and current outsourcing practices within the airline industry were identified. Cost reduction and enhancing the focus on core activities were identified as the main motives for outsourcing. Local authorities' legislation is regarded as the main influential external factor while demand level for a given function, criticality of the activity being considered for outsourcing, and current capability status of performing the activity are identified as the main influential internal factors. Most outsourcing arrangements are being made outside the airlines' home bases. The implications of outsourcing in the performance objectives (cost, delivery, quality, and flexibility) as well as in the airlines' overall operational performance were also evaluated. The evaluation of the airlines' performance was based on the 'passenger load factor' and 'daily aircraft utilisation'. The former captures the airlines' operational efficiency. The latter refers to maximising aircraft utilisation, one of the main tasks for the airline management. Although a positive impact on the cost objective was found, it is strongly correlated with the demand level for the outsourced function. The delivery objective is negatively influenced by outsourcing. The outsourcing influence on quality varies, depending on the nature of the outsourced function. The flexibility objective is positively influenced by outsourcing. The study revealed that there is no direct impact of outsourcing on the airlines' overall operational performance. Two main contributions were provided through the research: theoretical and practical. On a theoretical level, a more in-depth understanding of the outsourcing determinants, current practices, and performance implications in the airline industry was provided. The study also represents practical guidance for new entrants in devising their supply chains and assisting managers in terms of supply chain restructuring by predicting the determinants and impact of outsourcing on the airlines' operational performance.

The goal of this dissertation is to motivate a Knowledge-Based View of Process Improvement. In doing so, it advocates that acquiring and exploiting knowledge is the key to achieving and sustaining competitive advantage. The heightened competitive landscape firms now operate in, is not only driving the need for process improvement in order for firms to stay competitive, but also the need to acquire knowledge from external sources as firms may no longer have the luxury of developing solely from internally generated ideas. With the understanding that knowledge resides in and is created by individuals, and in line with broader trends towards more micro-views of the firm, the research looks at process improvement and knowledge acquisition at the individual level. Based on a mixed methods design, founded on a comprehensive review of the knowledge-based view, process improvement, and social network literatures, eight case interviews were first employed. This qualitative work identified Absorptive Capacity, and notably Zahra and George’s (2002) interpretation, as the key underlying theory to this investigation. Furthermore, it identified three major dyads that govern the acquisition of knowledge: affective vs. competence-based trust; costs of searching vs. motivations for sharing; and individual attributes vs. firm culture. This conceptual framework was then empirically tested with a sample of 200 respondents. To analyse the quantitative data, the variance-based structural equation modelling approach of Partial Least Squares (PLS) was used in conjunction with three advanced techniques: higher-order formative measurement analysis, interaction analysis, and multigroup analysis. The resulting contributions to knowledge are five-fold. Firstly and arguably the largest contribution, the research identifies and empirically verifies the “social integration mechanisms”, the factors that convert potential absorptive capacity (PAC) to realised absorptive capacity (RAC) in Zahra and George’s (2002) conceptualisation of Absorptive Capacity. To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is one of the first empirical studies to do this and thus makes a significant contribution to this theory. Secondly, it empirically demonstrates the existence of three dimensions to our knowledge stocks: individually-held knowledge, network-based knowledge from strong ties, and network-based knowledge from weak ties. In doing so, it empirically illustrates the strength of weak ties hypothesis by Granovetter (1973) in addition to providing insight into the antecedents of Absorptive Capacity. Thirdly, following the trend towards the more micro- foundation view, this research contributes to the discourse on the individual-level view of Absorptive Capacity (iCAP). Fourthly, it extends the knowledge-based view of process improvement by beginning to fill the dearth of literature on the exploratory and socially embedded aspects of knowledge acquisition. In addition, it endorses Absorptive Capacity as a useful theoretical lens by which to view this perspective. Finally, the outcomes of process improvement, and thus the outcomes of knowledge acquisition, are contextualised as cognitive and behavioural changes, which are in high contrast to the more traditional tangible outcomes such as number of new products, or physical improvements in products such as quality or cost.

Many companies engage in behaviour that is intended to reduce, mitigate or avoid the amount of taxation that would otherwise be due. This behaviour may result in changes to the tax code of a country and in comments being made and actions undertaken by governments, academics and other interested parties. This thesis argues that there exists a lack of clarity, coherence and consistency when considering and seeking to understand the relationship between tax codes, companies and society. This thesis argues that it is necessary to critically examine the nature of the tax related behaviour and also to identify and describe the rights, duties and obligations that are associated with the type of organisation which can be identified as a UK incorporated limited company. It is further argued that such a critical examination will require consideration of the nature of a company and the role played by directors of a company. The thesis provides an explanatory framework for tax related behaviour and uses that framework to identify and describe various types of tax related behaviour. The thesis also provides a critical discussion of the nature of the corporation and argues for the existence of a core set of rights, duties and obligations which help to illuminate the relationship between a UK incorporated limited company, the tax code and society.

With increasing concern over national green house gas (GHG) emissions, combined with the widespread economic impact of global commodities such as coal, natural gas and oil and their effect on energy prices, improving household energy efficiency can be seen as a key vehicle against which both energy emissions can be reduced and domestic GHG emissions curtailed. It is argued that factors that form the basis of choices, habits and values of individuals dictate an individual's decision to either adopt environmentally sustainable behaviour or not. This research reflects on how this specific area of energy policy is being enacted through policy and regulation, notably through one of the Community Energy Saving Programme (CESP) schemes, rolled out by the UK government in 2009. Although Government can play a pivotal role helping people foster more sustainable behaviour, it must do so in a manner that engages individuals and the public at large. As such, the aim is to adopt a more long term outlook towards encouraging sustainable energy use. The research reflects therefore on the results of a two-phase survey questionnaire administered to the residents of a CESP scheme in Aspley, Nottingham. The questionnaire sought to identify how tenants of energy-inefficient homes tend to behave with respect to domestic energy consumption and how their dwellings performed. This was augmented by quantitative data comprising utility bill figures gathered from the homes under investigation. This study adopts a mixed method strategy where the researcher combines both quantitative and qualitative data in order to provide comprehensive analysis of the research problem. In this research, 'before-and-after design' survey design is set up to explore the associations between variables under study. The field work survey was performed in one of the pilot CESP schemes currently under delivery in the Aspley area of Nottingham. Designed and executed in two survey phases, the first phase sought to understand residents' attitudes and behaviour and explore how this related to home energy use and performance prior to extensive energy-related upgrades to their dwellings. The second survey phase sought to examine changes - if any - in users' energy consumption behaviour and dwelling performance after their homes were upgraded to higher energy efficiency standards. This second phase also explored the possible reasons for any behavioural change depicted; whether it was due to policy uptake, information provided or means of communicating energy saving advice. The Aspley area in Nottingham is identified as one of the most deprived areas in Nottingham, besides the number of inefficient solid wall houses that are 'hard to heat'. Thus, assessing the effectiveness of policy interventions requires a clear understanding of consumer behaviour and motivations across all income groups so that the most appropriate approaches are developed. As such, it is possible that government aspirations to reduce energy consumption will go unheeded if they are inconsistent with the social and physical context of real life. Financial costs, past behaviour, social values and physical infrastructure are considered some of the most difficult barriers to changing energy behaviours. Policies need not only inform people about technological improvements that can be installed in their homes, but should also strongly encourage and incentivise them to use them efficiently. The users' energy consumption behaviour and the policy interventions will make the difference between promising policy, and policy which in fact delivers on its aims for energy efficiency and sustainability.

This thesis is a collection of four essays which aim to make a contribution to the theoretical analysis of the impact that flows of FDI have on fast growing developing countries, in which foreign firms not only invest but also set up R&D facilities. More precisely, we study these issues in a context in which both the mode of foreign expansion and the incentives to innovate are endogenously determined. In particular, this thesis intends to contribute to answer the following key questions: 1. What is the impact that subsidiaries of Multinational Corporations (MNC) have on some of the key determinants for the host country technological development (e.g. Research and Development investment)? 2. What are the welfare implications of the different ways in which the MNC can serve the local economy (e.g. Exports, Subsidiary)? 3. What mechanisms can host countries implement to increase the benefits of the presence of MNC? Chapter 1 surveys the theoretical literature on the impact that the presence of MNC have on the host country economy, in particular on his technological development. This chapter identifies gaps in the theoretical literature that this thesis intends to fill up. Chapters 2, 3 and 4 develop theoretical models that analyse the strategic interaction between a MNC and a domestic firm. The analysis focuses on the effect of this interaction on the incentives that domestic firms have to undertake R&D investment. Also, we analyse the impact of the different scenarios on the domestic welfare and obtain implications on industrial policy. A common feature of these models is the utilisation of a game theoretic approach. We analyse multistage oligopoly models where firms choose simultaneously R&D investment and prices (or output) in the second and third stages, while in the first stage the foreign firm decide the mode of serving the domestic market: either by exporting or Foreign Direct Investment. Chapter 2 analyses these issues in the context of a vertically differentiated market, chapter 3 in the context of a horizontally differentiated product with R&D spillovers from the Multinational Corporation Subsidiary to the domestic firm. Finally, chapter 4 investigates research joint ventures in a duopoly market with R&D spillovers and the presence of a MNC's subsidiary.