This thesis explores identity work employed to secure stability and coherence of self-identity. This is achieved through an exploration of professionals becoming managers' experiences of vulnerability, conceived as personal predicaments, as they make a transition into and progress within management. This thesis takes up the invitation to dialogue with scholars from disparate philosophical orientations and epistemological commitments (Alvesson, Ashcraft and Thomas, 2008a; Smith and Sparkes, 2008) by reviewing critically the shared and contested views on self-identity. A theoretical framework is developed that conceptualises identity work within a fusion of symbolic interactionist positioning theory (Davies and Harr& 1990, 1999; Hart-6 and van Langenhove, 1991, 1999c) and relational social constructionist identity work processes (Beech and McInnes, 2006). This study's emergent focus on vulnerability, as experienced during role transitions (Hill, 1992, 2003; Watson and Harris, 1999) and ongoing personal predicaments (Schlenker, 1980), builds on the analytical importance of vulnerability (Sims, 2003), insecurity (Collinson, 2003), self-identity and identity work processes. Accounts of vulnerability as professionals make a transition into and progress within management are explored through a two-stage interview process with experienced public sector middle and senior managers from previously under-researched professional backgrounds (Cohen et al, 2002; Casey, 2008). Existing identity-related studies into professionals becoming managers (Hill, 1992, 2003; Ibarra, 1999; Watson and Harris, 1999) considered only the first year of transition into management. This research, therefore, adds to existing literature both through the type of participant and the extended nature of the study. The framework of self-identity presented is offered as a theoretical and methodological heuristic device. The thesis also offers refined conceptualisations of personal predicaments and of identity work processes, and insights into identity work strategies related to professional becoming managers' experiences of vulnerability.

The contribution of SMEs is extremely important to the economy in China, so how can they improve their competition and enhance their innovation capability, which is a serious problem for them to consider? Owing to global business development influence, Chinese SMEs need to know Western management theories in order to recognise the difference between theory in the West and practice in the East and how these theories guide them in business management. In particular, business process re-engineering (BPR) theory is significant to Chinese SMEs redesign, restructure, and re-engineering of their enterprise in order to improve productivity and effectively enhance competition. So the ultimate aim of this research is to help Chinese SMEs to realise the existing problems when implementing BPR and help them flexibly use BPR theory in practice. To achieve this aim the research is based on an empirical study to present evidence on the current status of BPR used among Chinese SMEs and to show the problems that influence their adoption and utilisation of BPR theory in business management. In addition, a framework is proposed with identified aspects that improve BPR implementation in Chinese SMEs. In order to achieve these objectives the research shows six cases providing an in-depth description of how Chinese SMEs understand BPR theory and use re-engineering concept to improve their business operations. government policy factors influence Chinese SMEs' adopting and utilising BPR theory. These factors are used to develop a framework especially for SMEs use in Chinese cultural society. Implementation of BPR, in SMEs, is not widely discussed. Thus the study has important implications for research and practice; the limitations of the research; the contributions both in academia and practice; and the reflection of the research and future research, all of which are discussed.

Confucian value, as the China traditional value, has been extensively researched in Chinese management, since the culture value is the essence for studying management. These existing studies ignore a critical issue that is the generational value change. As the direct result of China fast developed economy and 'opening' policy, much international companies entry into China, which bring the Western production and ideology to Chinese. The value and lifestyle of Chinese people have dramatically changed, especially for those young generations. This generation is in the value verge stage, which they are more individualistic and less Confucianism. The existing Chinese management theory is inappropriate since it considers all Chinese hold a same value, the study focused on Chinese young generation employee and identifying a young generation employees suited management style is little and undeveloped, which is forms the distinctiveness of this research. The aim is to explore, illuminate and gain the deep understanding of Chinese young generation employees' perceptions of value and impact of their behaviour, further to propose effective management style including the effective management approaches, to potentially contribute Chinese local managers and Western managers in their global employee management. The concepts in the Confucianism, Individualism serve as the theoretical framework for this research. Also, the knowledge of management effectiveness, management style and management approaches ground the further analysis in this research. With its characteristic, this research selects China Information Technology industry to deeply study Chinese young generation employees' value and managers' first hand experiences, It employs social constructionism followed by qualitative methodology to understand participants' perceptions. Semi-structured interview is a method to gain the participants' thoughts and stories which later to be analysed by narrative analysis followed by thematic approach. An analysis of data revealed that Chinese young generation employees different to elder employee. Four distinctive perceived values have been discovered: practicality; self centered; performance orientated and anti-traditions. To respond young generation employees' value change, the analysis revealed a management style, entitled 'Elder- brother'. Heading this management, seven effective management approaches are explored: benevolence; equal and learning supervision style; open decision making style; direct communication style; performance based evaluation; flexible staff management and encouragement for young enployees' creations. At the same time, the analysis also provides an image for the qualified manager, who is self discipline; skilled and knowledge; competence in managing and having nice personal traits. Above all, they have not been discovered by past studies. They have offered new insights and raised awareness of the Chinese young employees' value, and corresponded managerial thought and behaviour. The contributions of this research are: 1) it extends the current literature of Chinese management theory, which was never concerned in past research, with the specific interest on the Chinese young generation employees; 2) it develops a new and practice based framework for managing Chinese young generation employees in a contemporary environment, by addressing the management style, detailed management approaches and the image of the manager; 3) it provides timely information for other academics and practitioners understand the current value presence in Chinese young generation employees, as well as guides both China and expatriate managers adopt their management behaviour in the future.

This study examines managerial activity configurations with a view to understand the influences on attention middle managers give to activities they carry out. The role of top management in orienting managerial work is a fundamental influence that mediates other aspects such as task environment characteristics and response to performance feedback. Enhancing managerial performance under varying task situations and iterative performance feedback calls for an evaluation of content, and of practice. This would entail looking within the remits of past experience with existing activity configuration to enhance effectiveness and/ or looking outside to explore novel approaches to improving activities and their mutual fit. The balance between exploitation and exploration while seeking to do well at both makes such calibration in activities being marked by what I call aspirations of ambidexterity. Reflecting on constructs like managerial work environment characteristics, performance feedback, risks and benefits of pursuing ambidexterity, nature of activities, and the interaction between top and middle management, is not new to research. However, what remain missing is an empirical examination of top management influence on ambidexterity in managerial practice, and also, a focussed examination of how managers’ scope and orient attention to activities that they do. From this perspective, the study situates the unit of analysis as activities carried out by individual managers, as in how the top management influences the ambidextrous orientation of subordinate managers. The study uses data collected through a semi structured survey instrument. This is complemented with data from meeting observation memos. The survey instrument has been rigorously pre-tested and modified prior to data collection from the study research site which is federated organisation with a rather flat structure hierarchically relative to others in the industry. Several findings from the study contribute to both research and practice, and include: evidence for top management encouraging selective ambidextrous practice by looking at managers who do well; the strategic and operational alignment perception in middle managers affecting their propensity to make changes to their activity portfolios; evidence for the need for demonstrative inclusion of feedback for greater buy in by middle management; the mediation by and variation in work environment characteristics being an influence, among others. A behavioural and cognitive interface with influencing antecedents and consequences for how managerial work is shaped and evolves along aspirations of ambidextrous capability underpins the discussion in this study. The study provides support to and extends the conceptualisations along trajectories in research, primarily those that concern themselves with managerial attention, managerial activity configurations and ambidextrous practice in evolving what managers do.

Across the world, confirmed by academic and internal research evidence, Government and public sector organisations consistently display varying degrees of difficulty in generating, developing and implementing innovative ideas. Now, as budgets become tighter, the pressure to fundamentally transform the UK’s public sector by relying upon the exploration and adoption of sustainable innovation continues to grow as a policy necessity. Given this necessity, there is a definite, identified need to critically review the literature covering theory development and innovation practice as part of a cultural challenge within the UK public sector to identify the key deep rooted and persistent barriers to public sector innovation to assist in researching potential workable solutions. To facilitate this endeavour this Doctoral study deploys, as per Chapter 3, Ethnographic methods underpinning qualitative thematic template analysis to explore and identify existing innovation barriers from qualitative data collected from the management and staff of a major UK Civil Service Department. The primary objective of this research study is to contribute to the effective improvement in public sector Innovation delivery, via identification of the key barriers via ten literature defined and participant response analysis propositions to facilitate improved innovation generation. In Chapters 2 & 4, by critically showing the linkages between innovation literature and the practical observations and innovation process experiences of public servants, workable solutions as to how the UK’s Civil Service can overcome such persistent problems have been explored. This research aims to add value to the wider debate by identifying an environment that supports and encourages the practical generation of public sector innovative ideas and change behaviour. In Chapters 5 & 6, from analysis of the quantitative data, the study identified 18 barrier subject nodes covering a number of themes which appear to inhibit the successful embedding of such innovation practices and processes.

The first question you might ask yourself when you start reading this thesis could possibly be: what is it that makes this research important, interesting, and worth reading? The answer could only be found in the eyes of the beholder and when you join in on the journey you will discover your own meaning. My wish is to contribute with views and a space for reflection that can inspire leaders to look at and act on possibilities within leadership. In many ways this research might challenge traditional ways of thinking and doing research with its aim to contribute with the uniqueness of how sense-making can be developed through the perspective of systemic practice research. In systemic practice research my own practice and development becomes very important. This includes how I understand and interpret issues related to the research question and how my understanding emerges during the research process. Ways to develop systemic practice in general for the future also becomes important. The thesis explores stories leaders tell about how they make sense of leadership and possibilities they see. This also includes me and how I have made sense. Systemic practice could be described as a reflexive and reflecting practice. This means that I will share my own reflections through the whole thesis. My learnings from this research journey could also be seen as emerging through the reflections I have made during the process. The method is inspired by systemic and social constructionist perspectives related to practice research and also grounded theory. The sense I have made and express in this thesis is inevitably intertwined with experiences from past and present but also with hopes for the future, issues I would like to address for the future. The learning is partly influenced by interviews with leaders from different fields. Their sense-making has been summarised in themes that are explored and connected with and complemented with theoretical perspectives. The thesis highlights leaders’ personal and professional development as intertwined in an infinite process. The research also casts light on exploring aspects connected to values and ethics. From this journey a conceptualising of a leadership relational ethical compass and an organisational relational ethical compass has been developed. It shows that if we are grounded in values we also can be guided by these values in our leadership. But our values also need to be transformed in a meaningful and useful way to our employees and in relation to the mission we have. Leadership possibilities that arise could be seen as the aesthetics of leadership and how leadership is noticed and experienced. Often, small actions make a huge difference; how we think, communicate, and the words we use all create worlds and invite people into different patterns and meaning making conversations that are more or less helpful. The thesis highlights the importance of being comfortable with oneself and the mission as a leader. The thesis pays interest to how leaders’ self-development is intertwined with the potential of the organisation. Leaders can always increase their ability to interact with others in a meaningful and constructive way. This also shows that the mind-set we have as leaders plays an important role in how we experience our mission and the possibilities we see. The thesis is built on the idea of different domains. The introduction and methodology part represents what we can call the production domain. After this you will be invited to my personal domain and stories from my life that has influenced my sense-making. The next part will show some of the results and reflections that have arisen from interviews and will from this view take part of the production domain combined with reflections. The last chapter could be seen as my reflexive domain; how I have interwoven learning from the whole and come to certain hypotheses. The aesthetical domain could be seen as the overall how; how I have put it all together, the language and approach I have used, and how I have lived my values. This thesis and the research could also be seen as built on four parts: My professional development which is my systemic leadership practice. Developing systemic leadership practice in general. Focus on conducting systemic practice research which could be seen as in its birth. Interviews with leaders and connection to their understanding to increase aspects of leadership, sense-making and possibilities.

Russia has been lagging behind most of the developed countries and some of the transition economies in terms of the corporate governance infrastructure (Woodruff, 2004). However, the challenge to develop strategic assets, particularly in the form of oil and gas reserves, produced the need to attract foreign capital and expertise. This in turn has led to a mounting pressure to improve fundamental characteristics of corporate governance such as the regulatory environment, enforcement mechanisms, corporate structure and transparency (Preobragenskaya, 2004). Since strategic assets are at the very heart of the still undiversified Russian economy, it is easy to see how corporate governance has become one of the top priorities on the agenda of national reforms (EU-Russia Roundtable on Corporate Governance, 2006). This study attempts to register the perceived change in the institutional context in Russia through analysing reported corporate disputes. Thematic template analysis is applied to the data on corporate conflicts taken from the English language Russian press. The results of the study suggest a positive change in perception about the role of formal institutions with reference to private entities and a negative change in terms of perception in relation to state entities. This conclusion is based on the comparison of corporate disputes and enforcement practices employed by the parties to corporate disputes reported in 1998 and 2006. On an academic level this study addresses a call in the literature to give more consideration to the particularities of the management environment and the fragility of its social systems in Russia (Kuznetsov & Kuznetsova, 2001) as well as complement understanding of Russian corporate governance by concentrating on the in-depth analysis of company behaviour (Iwasaki, 2007).

Relationship marketing (RM) is widely acknowledged as a useful tool in gaining customer loyalty in various sectors. However, to date, there had been no research on how RM impacts customer loyalty in the securities brokerage firm industry in The Stock Exchange of Thailand. This study employs an inductive research approach to explore RM in securities brokerage firms in Thailand’s financial services sector and gain an understanding of customers’ and other stakeholders’ views of RM activities and loyalty to brokerages in an emerging market. Multiple data collection methods were employed, including semi-structured interviews as the main collection method and participant observations in a supporting role. Qualitative content analysis and coding techniques were used for analysing the data. This pioneering research provides new theoretical and practice knowledge and delivers a far more subtle and nuanced analysis of the dynamics at play between customer loyalty, various RM strategies and different customer types – compared to the current literature. The study found that securities brokerage firms in Thailand implemented RM practice but with differences in relationship marketing strategies, depending on the types of customers being targeted. The study identified the main factors impacting on customer loyalty to both local and international securities brokerage firms. Finally, the research confirmed that RM had a demonstrable impact in gaining customer loyalty to securities brokerage firms in The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET), but with intriguing characteristics, for example, RM’s positive impact on individual short-term investors’ loyalty, not to brokerages, but to particular staff.

This research investigates the role of sociocultural dimensions in increasing national innovative capacity. While literature focuses on other determinants of innovation output, such as the stock of knowledge and resources dedicated to R&D, dimensions of a cultural nature have yet to be adequately addressed. The investigation examines sociocultural factors in natural resource-rich countries where the urgency to survive is not the primary driver in achieving economic growth. Oil-rich GCC countries, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, have made significant investment in education and information and communications technology to develop their economies. The primary focus in developing the economies has shifted to increasing innovative capacity. This study attempts to determine other factors that need to be in place to achieve increased innovative capacity as measured by new-to-the world knowledge and innovation. Endogenous growth theory and national innovation systems provide the theoretical base for the investigation. A deductive approach will be used to produce hypotheses that will be tested quantitatively, using existing indicators for sociocultural dimensions. Five sociocultural dimensions were found to be significant in innovative capacity when tested in leading innovator countries (Germany, Japan, Sweden, Switzerland, United States), emerging innovator countries (Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Korea), and GCC countries (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates) as a whole. However, three of the dimensions, Openness to Outside Influences, and Adaptability were unexpectedly inversely proportional to innovative capacity. More precise measurements and further research are required.

This thesis is about developing a framework for monitoring and evaluating critical success factors (CSFs) in strategic change programme implementation (SCPI). Therefore, it: - identifies prerequisites enabling systematic monitoring and evaluation in SCPI, - identifies and provides new and better understanding of CSFs within SCPI, - assigns these CSFs to programme phases in which they should be monitored and evaluated, and - identifies and assigns methods and responsibilities to conduct monitoring and evaluation of these CSFs. The findings on prerequisites and the framework as the combination of WHAT (CSFs), WHEN (programme phase), HOW (methods), and WHO (responsibilities) to conduct monitoring and evaluation in SCPI demonstrate the distinctiveness of this thesis contributing to knowledge and professional practice. The findings go beyond the typical monitoring and evaluation scope of programme management. Consequently, this research offers new insights for both academics and practitioners involved in managing strategic change and monitoring and evaluating change implementation. The work is based on a case study of a global industrial company from the energy sector. It provides an assessment of its global SCPI within Europe, giving consideration to the global context of the programme and the company. The SCPI makes particular reference to changes in business models, business processes, organisation structures as well as Enterprise Resource Planning infrastructure. This research is characterised as interpretative and subjective, following a social constructionist approach. It undertakes an applied real world research project following a summative evaluation approach examining the programme after its implementation. In order to gather subjective accounts about the case, 25 semi-structured interviews have been conducted. These 25 interviewees performed more than 65 roles within the programme at global and local levels across several country implementations. Template analysis was chosen in order to analyse the textual data.