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The purpose of this research was to investigate the effects that continuous change in the form of software upgrades have on end-users. These effects could increase upgrade implementation costs in organisations.

This study explored the management style at Durban Mill and the corresponding climate it created. The first objective was to establish the current style of management using the Managerial Grid Theory developed by Robert Blake and Jane Mouton in 1964. Blake and Mouton's Managerial grid (1975) identified five different styles of management, each differentiated by the degree of concern for people and degree of concern for production. According to Blake and Mouton (1975) the Team Leader (9,9) style of management is effective most of the time, however, one must not dismiss the other styles as depicted on the Managerial Grid (see Figure 2.1), as depending on the situation they may be the most appropriate style to use. The second objective was to identi fy the impact of this style of management on the psychological climate in the company i.e. the atmosphere in the workplace. The model used in this study to measure psychological climate was based on a study conducted by MCG Davidson (2000). Davidson's model, in itself was an adaptation of studies conducted by .lames and .Iones (1979) and Ryder and Southey (1989). The dimensions of climate identified for this study was, Leadership Facilitation and Support; Professional Organisational Esprit; Conflict and Amhiguity: Regulations and Organisation Pressure: Joh Challenge. Importance and Variety and Workgroup Co-operatioll. Frielldlilless alld Warmth. This research hypothesised that the dominant style of management in the mill is Impoverished Leader (i.e. Iow concern for people and low concern for production). Further, this style of management influences each dimension of climate as identified above. The results indicated, the two dominant management styles in the company was Team leader and Impoverished leader. According to Blake and Mouton's (1975) theory, whilst the fom1er result is positive, the latter is a less than desired style for any company to operate in. The findings in the climate section of this study revealed that there is seldom to occasionally a positive climate in the workplace regarding, leadership support and facilitation, company image, issues relating to conflict and ambiguity, regulations and job pressure and job challenge. The correlation analysis showed that management style and organisational climate are strongly related (r=0.786), variables. Management style is related to the following dimensions of climate vi z. leadership facilitation and support of employees, professional organisational esprit, con flict and ambiguity and regulations and job pressure. Poor support was found for the relationship between management style and job variety and importance and no relationship found between management style and workgroup friendliness and support. In order to improve relations between management and employees and thus contribute towards business success, a holistic approach was taken in the recommended strategy. A reengineering of the business towards a leaming organisation based Tobin's (\ 993) theory was suggested. Tobin 's theory on "Ieaming organisations," is characterised by five foundations VI Z . visible leadership, ' thinking' literacy, overcoming functional myopia, ' Ieaming' teams and managers as enablers. The recommendations cover a detailed account of the five foundations of the leaming organisation approach and the course of action to be taken at the mill to place it on the road to business success.

In the thesis, the author wanted to research the topic of implementation of cloud-based solutions in the area of Supply Chain Management. The first part is devoted to theoretical background of Cloud Computing -- different types of solutions are suitable for various kinds of business activity, and Supply Chain Management. In the second part, the author focused on an analysis of a company - FN Granum and searched for a Cloud Computing solution, which would be the best for it, taking into account current situation and future plans of the entity. Such extensive research resulted in a set of conclusions and recommendations, which may be helpful for any manager considering an implementation of cloud-based solutions into their supply chains.

No / Guest Editorial.

This research aim to develop a framework to evaluate critically the effectiveness of health and safety strategies in supply chains in the UK was achieved through a range of objectives which included a review of literature on health and safety management in supply chains and small and medium-sized enterprises, an explanation of the effect of poor health and safety performance on organisations and analysis of factors that inspire health and safety management in organisations. Other objectives are the analysis of health and safety improvement strategies, an establishment of a basis for the development of a framework, the establishment of the perception and attitude to supply chain health and safety management, and the development of a conceptual framework based on ideal and best practices as well as theory that may be used to evaluate critically health and safety strategies in supply chains in the UK. The study adopted a triangulated research approach which used a questionnaire survey to ascertain the views of respondents on some health and safety issues. These views were combined with observations of a case study organisation to underpin the basis for the framework. It was established that the reliance on regulatory measures as means of improving health and safety standards in organisations is no longer advisable. An alternative and best strategy is the use of the influences inherent in supply chain relationships. There were noticeable improvements in the relationship of the case study organisation with its suppliers, and in the general awareness of supply chain health and safety management, when the framework that was developed was tried in their supply chain.

This thesis investigates development of generic capabilities in an RMIT undergraduate logistics degree program. Generic capabilities are those general graduate attributes that are not specifically discipline-focused, examples being communication and teamwork skills. A major research objective of this thesis is the extent to which graduates perceived that generic capabilities were developed in their RMIT logistics undergraduate program, specifically in a cross-cultural context spanning a range of organisations differing in size and ownership structure. The thesis involves two studies. In Study 1 managers from eight organisations, ranging in size from multi-national to small public and private (family-owned) companies were interviewed to develop a series of qualitative organisational case studies using grounded theory methodology. Study 2 is a quantitative survey of 31 Australian and 25 Asian (Singapore and Hong Kong) logistic graduates from 1996 to 2002. In Study 1, generic capabilities rankings in different organisations varied, depending on whether managers being interviewed were operational or human resource management specialists, but there was general agreement that communication, problem-solving, initiative and enterprise, and teamwork skills were highest priority. Study 2 results indicate that the views of both Asian and Australian graduates are in line with the management rankings, and are consistent with those reported by Australian and OECD government and industry research organisations. Both graduate groups agree that generic capabilities are covered in the RMIT logistic program, but ratings are generally in an 'adequate' to 'good' range, with no outstanding features. Although cultural diversity in the student body is seen as a major benefit, there are little data indicating a high level of Australian and Asian student networking, and a number of respondents are critical of a lack of international focus in the present program. A major issue is a n eed for more emphasis on presentation and problem-solving skills so graduates are able to carry through a project from initiation to completion.

The primary objective of this treatise is to develop a framework that small businesses can use to implement IT governance. This framework for IT 6 Governance in Small Businesses, called ITGovSB, will be based primarily on the CobiT framework and the ISO/IEC 27002 information security controls. In order to achieve the primary objective, it is necessary to understand the differences between IT governance in small businesses and larger organisations. Consequently, one of the secondary objectives of the paper is to derive characteristics that define IT governance in small businesses. Another secondary objective is to implement the ITGovSB framework at a small business to evaluate its effectiveness.

Title: Discovering the Dark Side: A Multiple Case Study of IOMC Instability in Triadic Relationships Authors: Adam Hargrave, Iqra Ashfaq Mian, and Jan Peter van der Zwet Background: Within IORs, knowledge, activities, and resources are increasing shared amongst organisation members to obtain some sort of strategic advantage. Typically, forming a triadic relationship. Therefore, IOMC practices are regularly used to shape, support and control activities across the triadic relationship, but conversely, literature has not explored the instability certain shared IOMC systems can bring to partners through its complexity, triadic complexity, and instability drivers. Therefore, the investigation of IOMC’s instability influence on triadic relationships is investigated to contribute to the academic literature and organisations studied.  Purpose: The purpose for the research conducted is to investigate the shared IOMC in triadic, inter-organisational relationships that influence instability in buyer-supplier triadic relationships. Methodology: A multiple case study has been conducted through semistructured interviews. A critical realism perspective, descriptive-exploratory, and abductive research methodology was enacted. Analysis and Discussion: The multiple cases show that complexities in the from of triadic complexity and IOMC design complexity may lead to the drivers that introduce IOMC instability in the triadic relationships. The literature discussed is linked to the empirical findings and a research model is proposed. Conclusion: The conclusion discusses the theoretical and managerial implications of the presented research and possible future research opportunities of IOMC instability in triadic relationships.

Multiple strategic discontinuities of the constantly changing business environment are driving organizations, both large and small to seek new ways of conducting business to create wealth. The only way organizations can cope with these strategic discontinuities, in their pursuit of strategic self-renewal, is to develop and maintain strategic flexibility whereby new sources of wealth can be created through new combinations of resources. It is through such a strategic flexibility that any organization can endeavor to achieve a dynamic fit between the organization and its environment. Dynamic capabilities and their proxies are the means by which organizations can explore and exploit various resource configurations across different possible functional, cross-functional and cross-unit activities and thereby nurture their strategic flexibility in achieving this objective of strategic self-renewal, on a sustained basis. A critical literature review pertaining to resources, dynamic capabilities, competences and strategic renewal has pointed to a dearth of holistic quantitative studies of strategic renewal from a dynamic contingency perspective or a coevolutionary perspective, particularly in the Indian context. There has not been adequate literature in striking a blend of dynamic capabilities and their proxies in terms of a judicious mix of inside-out and outside-in approaches to strategy. The empirical and conceptual gaps in literature have provided us the impetus to take upon this study. On the conceptual front, there has not been any theoretical model of integrated resource leverage that links dynamic capabilities and their proxies, in the context of strategic renewal of organizations. On the empirical front, studies on dynamic capabilities till date have been predominantly qualitative anecdotal or episodic in nature and hence firm-specific or industry-specific in their outlook. It is imperative to synthesize the conceptual debates and the diverse empirical findings towards a more integrated understanding of resources and dynamic capabilities in the context of strategic self-renewal of organizations. The present study attempts to bridge these research gaps, first by developing a conceptual model and then testing it for subsequent statistical validation. It endeavors to understand the dynamics between different resource leverages and strategic renewal initiatives and their impact on organizational performance, on the dual fronts of market performance and financial performance. It also proposes a definitional framework encompassing the hierarchy of concepts viz., resources, dynamic capabilities and dynamic competences, whose definitions from the extant literature were duly synthesized for a greater and cohesive understanding of these concepts. The objectives of the current study were: •To compare and contrast the extent of implementation of various resource leverage practices and strategic renewal initiatives in different organizations of varying age, size and ownership. •To study the dynamic interactions between various resource leverages and strategic renewal initiatives and their impact on organizational performance. •To make appropriate suggestions for enhanced leverage of resources for augmented prospects of strategic renewal of organizations. A conceptual model was developed based on support from literature and a preliminary study. The model comprises several path links (hypotheses), each of which connects two variables (constructs with pertinent indicators) and their directionality. Besides establishing rationale for each of the hypotheses, the constructs were operationalized based on an existing survey instrument (Volberda, 1998) and other allied literature. All in all, a set of 38 hypotheses was identified and formulated for the current study and has been tested using Variance-Based Structural Equation Modeling (VBSEM). The conceptual model links three major aspects viz., strategic renewal initiatives, resource leverages and organizational performance. The resource leverages are the result of constant application and development of dynamic capabilities of an organization while the strategic renewal initiatives, by and large act as proxies of these dynamic capabilities. On one hand, the model focuses on different strategic renewal initiatives that tend to jack up the absorptive capacity of an organization from time to time, with critical inputs of information from the multiple perspectives of customers, employees, competitors and business environment in general. On the other hand, it encompasses multitudinous resource leverage practices that explore and exploit different resource configurations across various possible functional, cross-functional and cross-unit activities by virtue of dynamic capabilities. Thus, a blend of inside-out and outside-in approaches to strategy is captured in this model. Based on a critical literature review and a preliminary study entailing in-depth interviews with strategy experts and a pilot study, two complementary questionnaires were developed. The first questionnaire encompasses various resource leverage practices in terms of a firm’s dynamic capabilities, and it also includes measures of organizational performance while the second questionnaire entails strategic renewal initiatives in terms of proxies of dynamic capabilities. The first questionnaire was personally administered to the CEO while the second one to a senior level manager in each organization and their responses were garnered. The sample covered 80 multi-unit organizations (80 matched pairs of respondent executives). The first phase of data analysis comprised of computation of means and standard deviations and statistical tests of comparison for each item. Kruskal-Wallis test was used for each item, across different groups of organizations, based on age-wise, size-wise and ownership-wise modes of classification. Based on the results, i.e., wherever the results rejected the null hypothesis of the foregoing Kruskal-Wallis test, subsequently, multiple testing procedure entailing pair-wise t-tests (with Bonferroni p-value adjustment method) was adopted to further explore differences, if any, between different pairs of groups. Based on the statistical significance of these tests, conclusions were drawn as to whether nature of ownership, age and size of organizations can explain the variations in resource leverage practices, strategic renewal initiatives and firm performance across organizations. Next, the survey data were analyzed at an aggregate level to test the hypothesized conceptual model by means of a multivariate technique viz., Variance-Based Structural Equation Modeling (VBSEM). Our rationale for choosing VBSEM stems from various soft prerequisites of VBSEM such as minimal sample requirements, scope for flexible interplay of data and theory, least distributional assumptions (nonparametric approach), model complexity, theory-building and scope for accommodating both latent and emergent constructs in the model. In accordance with the recommendations of Falk and Miller (1992), model trimming was carried out based on widely accepted threshold values for loadings (for reflective indicators), path coefficients and Rvalues for endogenous constructs. In addition to this, formative indicators (at the outer model level) and exogenous constructs (independent LVs at the inner model level) were handled by duly checking for multicollinearity, using a holistic approach similar to forward stepwise regression proposed by A.Koutsoyuannis (1977) and which is a revised version of the Frisch’s Confluence Analysis. After obtaining PLS estimates for all the parameters, bootstrapping for 1000 resamples was carried out to obtain stable estimates for all these parameters of PLS. Thus, bootstrap estimates were found for all the parameters of PLS viz., weights for the formative indicators and loadings for the reflective indicators in the measurement model; and path coefficients in the structural model. Pertinent F-tests were used both for Rvalues and their respective effect sizes (f values) to test their statistical significance. Direct and indirect effects of exogenous variables on the endogenous variables in the structural model were computed. Besides these, Tenenhaus’ goodness-of-fit index for the overall model was computed and this was found to be adequate, given the complexity of the model. Concomitant to the foregoing quantitative analyses, three detailed case studies in manufacturing, service and process industries, one in each of these industries, were undertaken for the purpose of triangulation. All the three case studies were carried out and analyzed on a common theme viz., dynamic interactions between different resource leverages and strategic renewal initiatives and their impact on organizational performance. These case studies also represent three categories of ownership (one listed organization, one closely held organization and one Indian multinational) and three different age groups, and thereby provide sufficient contrast in contexts. Major conclusions of the study pointed to unexplored or under-explored or under-exploited resource leverage practices and strategic renewal initiatives in the Indian context. Some of the major ones include leverage of strategic alliances, leverage of IT, leverage of Product-Market Combinations (PMCs), modularity orientation in product design, inter-industry benchmarks, resource accumulation and resource conservation strategies in general. Based on these conclusions, appropriate suggestions were made. Major suggestions to organizations include exploration of new business opportunities via strategic alliances, exploration of white space opportunities via technological boundary-spanning activities, exploration of alternative business models in different product markets, augmentation of IT integration with business processes, enhancement of collective learning via cross-functional and cross-unit activities via practices such as job rotation and proper management of knowledge portals and increased encouragement to employees (particularly technological gatekeepers and entrepreneurial boundary-spanners) in all brainstorming sessions for generation of New Product Development (NPD) ideas. Major empirical contributions of this study include establishment of significance of different strategic variables in the Indian context, assessment of the dynamic interactions between various resource leverages and strategic renewal initiatives and their impact on organizational performance on the dual fronts of market performance and financial performance. Major conceptual contributions of this study comprise refinement, integration and operationalization of theoretical concepts drawn from the diverse yet complementary sources of literature such as resources, dynamic capabilities, competences and strategic renewal from a dynamic contingency perspective or a co-evolutionary perspective concomitant to development of a comprehensive model of integrated resource leverage via dynamic capabilities and their proxies for strategic self-renewal of multi-unit organizations Directions to future researchers include longitudinal studies for greater insights of causality in the model with feedback effects, empirical studies with multiple respondents per organization, inclusion of objective measures of performance or / and industry-specific studies with a larger sample size for gaining an enhanced understanding of resource leverage practices for strategic organizational renewal.