This qualitative research investigated, on a longitudinal basis, two issues with regard to a small family business owned and managed by a husband and wife. Firstly, it considered why non-family employees sought to remain with the company despite breach of their psychological contracts following a dispute with the family members and the significantly hostile work environment that ensued. Secondly, it investigated the coping strategies adopted by employees to make the work environment more tolerable to them. Undertaken from an insider perspective, and using semi-structured interviews and participant observation to collect data, overlaying the study are insights and reflections on the challenges and difficulties faced by a manager researcher in undertaking research into sensitive issues within their own workplace. The research has made a contribution to under researched areas within the family business literature. Specifically, it has identified new factors which moderate perceptions of breach and violation of the psychological contract and encourage staff to remain with the company. These are, firstly, the way that work is organised, offering scope for individual responsibility to relatively junior members of staff and for the expression of individual identity and, secondly, the development of group unity. The research also found that staff have adopted a number of coping strategies, such as talk, unity and managing work practices and their time commitment, to deal with the hostility towards them in the workplace. The motivation of employees behind these strategies has been identified as being to survive, to exercise a degree of control over their work environment and their contribution to it and to assert a degree of identity. Finally, the research has contributed to personal and professional practice through identifying the vulnerability of employees in small and family businesses in the absence of developed HR policies and procedures.

Conducted within the UK-based subsidiaries of three global organizations, this research examines the perceived outcomes experienced by HR managers and line managers associated with the proposed implementation, and actual use, of e-HR. The research settings are the UK operations of Cable & Wireless Global, Schlumberger and T-Mobile. Both qualitative and quantitative data are used in a multiple case study approach, which leads to the development of a theoretical framework that attempts to illustrate the relationship linking HR strategy with e-HR outcomes. These data provide partial support for the model's validity but also show the need for a more dynamic understanding of the links between e-HR variables and the importance of context in explaining differences between line managers' acceptance of e-HR. This research attempts to bridge academia and practice; to provide new academic insights into the world of e-HR and to translate this in ways that allow a useful contribution to practice.

The study of critical service incidents has been extensively investigated in service marketing, however, very little attention has been paid to the role that these incidents have in the building, development and maintenance of marketing relationships. This thesis sought to address the deficiency in knowledge on the subject by exploring the critical service incident from a relational exchange perspective, with the members and management of a health and fitness club providing the central focus of the buyer-seller relationship. This investigation adopted a pragmatic philosophy in methodological design, arguing that the research had to be conducted within real time business constraints. Action research was used as an umbrella strategy for this investigation which incorporated a multi-method research design that consisted of; participant observation, in-depth interviews, a management group discussion and a telephone survey to investigate the questions of each research cycle. Whilst existing service marketing literature implies that positive and negative critical service incidents result in the bi-polar outcomes of buyer loyalty or switching respectively, the findings of this research demonstrated that the critical service incident may not be that critical to the development and maintenance of the relationship. The thesis makes an original contribution to knowledge by developing existing relationship marketing theory and making explicit the influence of the critical service incident on the buyer-seller relationship that is implied in service marketing literature. This thesis proposes that the critical service incident, produces buyer inferences, effects and consequences that result in a tendency toward loyalty or switching and that when the duration of the buyer-seller relationship is considered, these evaluative buyer judgements produce a phenomenon termed 'relationship elasticity'.

Relationship marketing (RM) is a concept developed in the Western literature which came to prominence in the 1980s. Few studies have, however, considered RM is an Eastern context and in particular the connection RM has with guanxi, the personal relationship or connections found in Chinese based cultures. This thesis adopts a broad perspective of RM from Western theories to explore the concepts and practices in Taiwanese banks. Using the existing definitions of RM, a number of RM components have been identified in this research which include the aims of RM (creation, enhancement, and maintenance), the RM mix (interaction, emotional contents, customer lifetime values, and customisation), and the outcomes of RM (long-term relationships, profitable relationship, customer share, and relationship termination). This research used in-depth interviews in order to investigate what Taiwanese banks understand about RM and how they implement RM to build customer relationships. 34 interviews were conducted with senior bank managers from 17 Taiwanese banks. All interviews were taped and transcribed. Template analysis was used to analyse the data. The findings suggest that Taiwanese banks have embraced these components when implementing RM. More importantly, guanxi, which is deeply embedded in Chinese culture, also has an influence on both concepts and practices of relationship marketing. As such, Western marketers, who have an understanding of the role of guanxi, could be more effective in implementing RM in Chinese-based economies. One of the key contributions of this thesis is on the development of the RM A.M.O. (RM's Aims, Mix, and Outcomes) framework which provides an overview of RM and the capability of the components. Also, acquiring market share, developing customer share and retaining relationships instead of relationship termination should be considered as part of relationship marketing practices.

The aim of this research is to examine whether the extent of tax compliance by oil producing companies in Nigeria is determined by the knowledge, remuneration and incentives of government tax officials. This study sets out to investigate the extent of compliance of oil and gas (exploration and production) companies with the Petroleum Profits Tax Act and to confirm whether lack of sufficient knowledge of the PPT law and poor remuneration and incentives of government tax officials affect tax administration in the upstream sector of the petroleum industry in Nigeria. An extensive literature review was conducted on the historical and legislative background and the incentives available to petroleum companies in Nigeria. The review also covered theories of taxation, tax administration and compliance, tax reforms, tax avoidance and evasion. The literature review revealed gaps which this study attempts to fill. This research has concepts that require both qualitative and quantitative approaches in its design, data collection and data analyses. Consequently, a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods was adopted for this study. Face to face interviews were held with experienced regulatory, tax, petroleum companies’ officials and tax and audit practitioners. The researcher uses literature to develop hypotheses which are tested using survey results and backed up by personal interviews. This helps in obtaining results about the behaviour of taxpayers and tax officials in the upstream sector of the petroleum industry in Nigeria. By using a survey, the researcher is able to assess the perceptions of a cross-section of stakeholders in the Nigerian oil industry about the level of compliance with the PPT law. The personal interviews with oil experts provide the benefit of their in-depth knowledge of the oil industry in Nigeria and furnish an understanding of their social world. This research seems to support the perception that the oil producing companies may not be complying fully with the provisions of the Petroleum Profits Tax Act and the Petroleum Act in relation to the payments of royalty and PPT. Interview results suggest that there is a lack of an adequate database of all company taxes paid in Nigeria, minimisation of monthly Royalties and PPT instalments, a dearth of experts on fiscal issues, overwhelming influence of the oil producing companies, poor attitude and inadequate knowledge of the operations of the petroleum industry amongst government tax officials.

No description available.

The aim of this project is the design and evaluation of a framework for knowledge based diagnosis and improvement planning of business processes. The outcome is a soundly based framework that can provide additional leverage within organisations. The study starts from identification of a research gap concerning the methods and concepts available for incorporating knowledge processes and newer knowledge management perspectives into business process improvement initiatives. The methodology adopted for the evaluation of the framework is an action research approach using a case study method, within an extended form of design-based research for a single case, with added validation phases for increased prospective transferability of results. This leads to a staged approach where, firstly, a tentative initial framework is produced from extant literature; secondly, that initial form is exposed to a critique producing an intermediate version; thirdly, the intermediate framework is implemented in the case study company and further developed, based on the feedback, to give a concluding version. Finally, the concluding framework is validated by a panel of experts. Additionally, by reflecting on experience from the case with other data collected in the study, recommended guidelines for implementation are assembled. The principle contribution to theory is the bridging of the research gap identified by introducing a new framework that advances the understanding of the link between knowledge management and business process improvement. The study also contributes an extended design-based research methodology by incorporating the single case and validation phases. The contribution to practice is an implementable and effective framework which will help guide knowledge management support in knowledge-intensive organisations. Potential further research directions are suggested.

This study aims to investigate the degree of compliance by large UK private and public listed companies with the Companies Act 2006 section 417 (6) requirement to disclose KPIs in their annual reports. Specifically, the study investigates the extent of KPI disclosures by 410 UK companies comprising the largest 205 private limited and largest 205 public listed companies. The study also examines whether corporate governance mechanisms and company specific characteristics influence the extent of KPI disclosures in the annual reports of these companies. The extent of KPI disclosures in this study is measured using three indices to quantify KPI disclosures. Some hypotheses for the independent variables were developed and tested using the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression method to determine whether corporate governance and company specific characteristics are associated with the extent of KPIs disclosure by private, public listed and the pooled companies. In terms of the extent of disclosure, the results suggest that approximately 51% of private companies and 90% of public listed companies disclose at least one KPI in their annual reports. The OLS regression results indicate that corporate governance mechanisms (proportion of non-executive directors, board size and director share ownership) and company specific characteristics (company size and profitability) are significantly associated with the extent of KPI disclosures by private, public listed and the pooled companies. The frequency of board meetings and multinationality do not significantly explain disclosure extent and comprehensiveness. The overall conclusion of this research is that private companies do not seem to comply with the requirements to disclose KPIs and that corporate governance mechanisms are important in ensuring compliance with the requirement to disclose KPIs. The results have important implications for policy makers and accounting regulators such as the Accounting Standards Board in general, and in particular the Financial Reporting Review Panel (FRRP) which is charged with the responsibility of ensuring that large private and public listed companies comply with extant regulatory framework.

Customer contact service employees in hospitality organisations have a critical role to play in satisfying customers’ expectations. However, it is recognised that hospitality service jobs are often associated with low pay, long and anti-social hours, unstable and seasonal employment, low job status, a lack of career opportunities and poor levels of benefits. In the light of factors such as these, which are likely to militate against high levels of motivation - and consequently to reduce the quality of customer service - addressing hospitality customer service employees’ motivation can be viewed as a priority for hospitality management. Inspirational, motivational leaders can motivate employees to ‘perform beyond expectations’ and previous studies of leadership in hospitality have demonstrated a number of positive outcomes related to the presence of inspirational leaders. No studies have been identified, however, that have measured the specific influence of motivational leadership on hospitality service employees’ job performance. To evaluate the contribution of motivational leadership to employee work motivation, work motivation was measured using both employee attitudes and job performance. Data were collected from a sample of non-supervisory waiting staff in hotel businesses in the UK. In total, two hundred and thirteen usable survey forms were returned from twenty seven UK hotels with table service restaurants. All of the participating organisations were rated as three or four stars and the mean number of non-supervisory waiting staff in these hotels was twenty three. The study finds that motivational leadership, alongside employee perceptions of empowerment and employees’ work orientations, contributes positively to both work attitudes and job performance. The research also finds that motivational leadership enhances employees’ work meaning and understanding of organisational goals (mission clarity). In addition to its empirical dimensions, the research contributes to hospitality studies theory by critically appraising the leadership-related hospitality literature and making recommendations for the future progress of hospitality leadership studies.

The study investigates the extent and determinants of greenhouse gas voluntary disclosures by FTSE350 United Kingdom (UK) listed companies from both theory and practitioners’ views. In accomplishing the aim, the study has the following objectives: (1) to analyse the extent of voluntary disclosure of GHG information in annual and sustainability reports of FTSE350 companies over a four year period i.e. 2008-2011; (2) to establish whether voluntary GHG disclosures are influenced by corporate governance characteristics (board size, non-executive directors, environmental committee, audit committee, ownership concentration and director ownership) and firm characteristics (company size, profitability, gearing, liquidity and industry); and (3) To investigate whether practitioners consider the determinants (as in objective two above) motivates the extent of voluntary GHG disclosures. To accomplish the objectives, the study uses a mixed-method approach on data derived from a sample of 215 FTSE 350 companies listed on London Stock Exchange. Firstly, an econometric model was developed based on a set of explanatory factors i.e. the governance and company characteristics and a dependent variable of disclosure index drawn from a multiple GHG voluntary reporting frameworks. Panel regression was then employed to examine the relationship between the explanatory factors and the actual disclosures. Secondly, through survey questionnaire, company executives were asked to rate their perception of the extent to which a list of determinants derived from largely secondary data literature influenced voluntary GHG disclosure. The results indicate an increasing trend in GHG disclosures from 2008 to 2011 perhaps suggesting positive impact of the government initiatives on GHG disclosures in the UK. Overall there is more disclosure of qualitative information in particular information on company action on GHG and climate change rather than actual emission disclosures. Companies have also not been proactive in disclosing quantified estimates of all forms of risks emanating from climate change. Results of the econometric model show that there is no support for the influence of traditional board characteristics such as Non-executive Directors, board size, and audit committee whereas both forms of ownership had a significant negative influence. The presence of an environmental committee was only significant in enhancing qualitative information and not quantitative information. In addition, as in other voluntary disclosures, size plays a vital role in determining the extent of the disclosures and that highly geared companies disclose less GHG information than less geared firms. Liquidity and profitability have no significant influence. The survey results suggest that according to the practitioners, board environmental committee and firm size are the only determining factors to have received wide support by the respondents while all other factors were firmly rejected. The findings that other determinants do not influence disclosure of GHG from a practitioner point of view suggests the need for an in-depth investigation into the determinants of voluntary disclosures beyond the evidence as derived from secondary data based studies. The study contributes knowledge to the voluntary disclosure studies in a number of ways. First, through mixed data approach, it has brought additional insights into the determinants of GHG disclosures. For example, through the primary survey data approach, evidence is documented that confirm and also contradict the secondary data approach findings in respect of both some governance and company variables. This suggests the need for more research using the mixed-method approach in an attempt to reveal why the results contradict. Secondly the results enrich voluntary disclosure literature by bringing disclosure determinants evidence through longitudinal data. Insights obtained from both the data triangulation and longitudinal study setting will help inform existing debate on policy options with regard to GHG emission disclosure. Finally the study contributes to the GHG disclosure literature by developing a comprehensive GHG voluntary disclosure index drawn from a various reporting guidelines. Such a comprehensive index will help ensure that adequacy of company GHG disclosures is assessed based on robust instrument.