Entrepreneurial marketing (EM) has been studied from diverse approaches over the past three decades. One common approach to studying EM focuses on exploring EM adoption from a firm capability perspective. Another view emphasises the role of the business context to understand EM. These diverse approaches have led to rich, yet fragmented views of EM. This thesis is built upon these debates and proposes to reconcile the dichotomy of EM research. In doing so, both the business context and firm are taken into account to provide a holistic approach to study EM. The research employed an interpretive philosophical position and qualitative research design in examining EM in the Vietnamese independent hospitality industry. A combination of purposive and snowball sampling methods was used to recruit 30 participants for in-depth interviews. Data triangulation was achieved by using observations and fieldnotes. This thesis contributes to the EM literature by applying a comprehensive approach to understand EM from a structuration perspective. The findings reveal the enabling and constraining role of business structures which results in different tactics firms use to facilitate EM; a typology of four EM scripts is developed to conceptualise various EM adoption which represent the reciprocal relationship between firms and business structures.

This research examines the sustainability of contemporary Korean social enterprise. The sustainability problem in Korea has been a critical issue to practitioners, scholars and government officials since the enactment of Social Enterprise Promotion Act in 2006. Stakeholders in Korea do not believe that social enterprise is sustainable enough, despite a large amount of public financial support. To explore this issue, first of all, this research develops a theoretical framework, a comprehensive approach on sustainability, drawing mainly on Giddens’ structuration theory. This approach presents two categories that influence sustainability: structural factors (the social economy, market type and public policy) and agency factors (social entrepreneur, staff, organization and finance). Second, based on the literature and the theoretical framework, thesis questions that aim to examine the term sustainability, the factors affecting sustainability and their effects, and public policy, are constructed. Third, to obtain research findings, both descriptive secondary analysis of data and case studies are used, and analysis of the case studies is presented with a narrative form. Finally, this research explains that, in Korea, sustainability is understood in three dimensions: profit, social mission, and continuity of business without public money. The thesis shows that stakeholders understand structural and agency factors influence organizational sustainability, while focus points are different according to people. Regarding policy, they believe that a public-led system has to be replaced by a private-led initiative, concentrating on cultivation of a better environment for social enterprise.

Total productive maintenance is a programme for the fundamental improvement of maintenance functions within an organization involving its entire human resources. It can dramatically improve productivity and quality and reduce costs. This research aims to determine the critical success factors required for successfully implementing total productive maintenance. A review and survey will be conducted to fully investigate the elements of total productive maintenance, its benefits and drawbacks and also the data capture methodologies in industrial applications. The results will be statistically analyzed and data mining used to draw up a set of success factors related to both large and medium companies. Recommendations will be also be made on improving the implementation of total productive maintenance with particular regard to data capture and its analysis.

This study investigates how a private, voluntary North American-based sustainability certification, Rainforest Alliance, is implemented in the Sri Lankan tea industry. A case study is developed from an extensive six month period of fieldwork in Sri Lanka. The analysis is guided by Actor-Network Theory to understand the effects of the Rainforest Alliance certification as it is enacted and co-produced in the local context. The initial adoption of Rainforest Alliance by leading multinationals alters local tea market dynamics and creates market pressure that leads to the adoption of the certification by some local supply chain actors. Rainforest Alliance is inscribed in a local accountability standard that leads to changes in the management, accounting and agricultural practices of certified tea producers. Rainforest Alliance is translated locally primarily as a means for differentiating tea quality and ensuring commercial sustainability, rather than as an indicator of agricultural or environmental sustainability. Whilst investigating the local adoption of Rainforest Alliance, the study uncovers some unexpected consequences. Despite being the purported beneficiaries of sustainability certifications, tea smallholders are explicitly disadvantaged due to their inability to control growing conditions even though they are responsible for approximately three quarters of tea production. The study illustrates how local conditions and circumstances are often ignored as certifications are pushed onto local producers and local supply chains.

Lean and Agile manufacturing concepts have received substantial development within the literature, however there remains a scarcity in studies investigating the concepts simultaneously and a growing sense of confusion between the two paradigms. This thesis sought to provide clarity by distinguishing lean and agile firms based on the key tools, practices, routines and concepts they employed, test whether contextual factors influence the choice of paradigm, and rigorously measure each approach on a range of performance indicators. Findings upheld Skinner’s (1969) assertions, i.e. the ‘trade-off law’, as lean firms were superior in costs and quality levels, while agile firms were superior in terms of flexibility and speed. Results contended ‘leagile’ supply chain (SC) literature, as lean and agile firms were found to be predominantly operating downstream and upstream within automotive SCs respectively. Therefore, this thesis proposes the LAASC (Lean Agile Automotive Supply Chain) Model which suggests that when operating within a complex SC, firms competing on costs and quality (lean) are more likely to be found downstream in the SC, whereas firms competing on speed and flexibility are more likely to be found upstream in the SC.

Contemporary times witnessed financialisation emerging as a new form of economic development in liberal market economies (United Kingdom/United States). Consequences include a reshaping of the corporate governance and employment relations models owing to the dominance of finance capital leading to the increased prominence of shareholder value maximisation. I investigate the process of diffusion of these shareholder value practices in the form of corporate restructuring activities in Germany and France. Adopting a strategic choice perspective, I highlight that the process of diffusion of UK/US-based practices will be highly mediated for two reasons. First, the presence of important institutional differences in Germany and France, as compared to liberal market economies, enables domestic actors to better resist the diffusion of financialisation practices. Second, the governance of the firm constitutes the outcome of interactions among different firm stakeholders (employees, managers and shareholders) whose preferences are not monolithic. The implementation of corporate restructuring practices reflects the overlapping of preferences among different categories of firm stakeholders across countries and corporate restructuring practices. A Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) methodology is adopted for unravelling the causally complex mechanisms leading to employee downwsizing (Germany and France) and wage reduction (France) via the use of necessary/sufficient conditions.

Notwithstanding the attempt to capture a universal definition of 'work-life balance', the view of WLB as a subjective concept seems to hold merit. To understand what constitutes WLB or what influences subjective perceptions and experiences of WLB, one must interpret it through the lens of individuals who enact it every day. This thesis adopted a multilevel approach to examine employees' subjective perceptions of work-life balance among the three dimensions of influence: organisational policy framework and line manager support(internal environment) and economic climate (external environment). Employee's work context as reflected by the employee role and departmental type was also considered. 82 employees participated in this study (semi-structured interviews), ensuring range and richness of data. The findings of this study led to a conceptual model that illustrates how internal and external environmental factors influence employees' perceptions and experiences of WLB. The impact if these factors was not universal but differed based on employee context. The study also demonstrates that with negative economic changes, organisational support for WLB as well as individual perceptions of WLB undergo change, further establishing the idea of WLB as a subjective concept. Work took on greater significance when the existence of work (and consequently life as one knows it!) was threatened.

Servitization has been a recognized business phenomenon since the late 1980s to innovate a business’s capabilities and processes to create value for their customer through service. Recent technological advances, particularly in the capabilities being developed by the Internet of Things (IoT) could be an enabler for a servitzation transition at an organization. Servitization, enabled by the Internet of Things (IoT), has not been considered in the context of Small to Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs). Due to the traits of SMEs, the potential opportunities from effectively servitizing their business models and the accessibility and affordability of IoT sensors, equipment and tools, there is a gap to be explored. This research provides an understanding of the many challenges SMEs face to remain competitive. Additionally, the research develops a framework that can help to overcome some of these challenges through the utilization of a Servitization business model and IoT technology and capability. The investigation and development of IoT-enabled Servitization for SMEs could potentially lead to new knowledge and innovation. Initially, main traits of SMEs were identified and then aspects of IoT and servitization were ascertained to find those that best align with the SME unique traits. From this understanding, a framework was developed that will allow Small to Medium sized Enterprises to utilise the technology and capabilities from the IoT in order to develop servitization within their business. This framework was then further developed through a longitudinal case study with an SME and validated by a range of industry stakeholders. The outcome resulted in a conceptual framework, based on academic literature, evolved in a real-world case study, and validated by professionals and stakeholders. This validation was conducted through the dissemination of the material on a professional program MSc module, presentation of the research at international conferences, and an event held with regional SMEs to gain insight on the final version of the framework. The framework can be used by SMEs or those consulting SMEs to help them develop strategy that creates value added services in their business that are enabled by the IoT.

Typescript (photocopy). / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

This study examines how community development and mainstream environmental groups form coalitions in state-level urban environmental legislation and the effect these coalitions have upon larger processes of institutional change. I argue that the alignment of community development and environmental interests is essential in the efforts to flatten the existing power hierarchy around land use decision-making and open up new possibilities for urban form. It helps to form a "counter-institutional" response which combines "pragmatic" and "purist" interests to resolve the social and environmental dilemmas of land use. This study begins by establishing the extent of the institutional divide between community development and environmentalism through an archival analysis of the 1970s debate over national land use legislation. It then presents two case studies of policies which seek to close this divide: (1) the New York Brownfield Opportunity Area Program of 2003 which was initiated by community groups and (2) the California Senate Bill 375 of 2008 which was initiated by environmental groups. The case studies employ interview data, surveys of organizations, observations of public meetings, and document review. The cases examined provide examples of attempts to expand potential governance outcomes by forming "heterarchic" alliances across policy silos in order to make land use regulation responsive to the wider concerns of urban environmentalists. I find that heterarchy is achieved in the California case, but not in the New York case. The varying degrees to which urban and environmental advocacy groups are able to bridge the institutional divide between them is determinant of these outcomes. The extent to which heterarchic governance is achieved, in turn, impacts the ability of each policy to change the institutional structure of land use regulation.