More and more institutions have begun to implement digital transformation. Identifying the reasons behind institutions’ digital transformation can help them make the right strategies. This thesis focuses on the digital transformation taking place in the financial industry and uses organizational institutionalism theory to analyze the influence of external pressures, and what responsible strategies institutions may adopt. We use qualitative methods to conduct the research. We interview eight employees from different institutions in the financial industry in China. Our findings show how coercive, mimetic, and normative pressures affect these financial institutions differently, and in responding to these pressures, these financial institutions develop office management systems and new digital products and services. The study evaluates to which extent the new digital reality fits the theory of the influence of external pressures on institutions. For managerial practice, the findings provide guidance in describing and diagnosing external pressures that drive digital transformation, and in coping with these pressures appropriately to formulate effective digital transformation strategies.

This thesis focuses on the European Union Emission Trading System (EU ETS) and draws a comparison between the introduction of the aviation industry in 2012 and the maritime industry in 2024 into the EU ETS by analyzing industry resistance as portrayed in newspaper articles. In doing so, the thesis aims to identify whether there has been a shift in organizational resistance, and if so, what the change looks like. Using content analysis, we coded a time frame of three years surrounding each introduction event respectively, processing 134 articles for the aviation industry and 132 articles for the maritime industry. Building on the coding, a quantitative analysis was employed to identify shifts in portrayed patterns. The key result from our findings shows a notable shift in the portrayal of the EU ETS from resistance to compliance. Furthermore, we can see a change in focus on more environmental highlights as well as a relocated focus from critique aimed toward the entire system to a growing focus on its practical implementation. Drawing on institutional theory, we seek to explain the shift through growing legitimacy for climate policies resulting in an increase in the cost of resistance against said systems. Our data indicates that rising resistance costs not only diminish the occurrence of resistance but also significantly boost voiced compliance. From a practical standpoint, our findings suggest the need to include industries in the practical implementation processes to ease the shift towards a sustainable economy.

Despite early initiatives during the 1960s and 1970s, and continuing efforts ever since, the Baltic Sea remains in poor condition. The Helsinki Commission (HELCOM) is the governing body tasked with protecting the marine environment from further deterioration through intergovernmental collaboration between the Baltic Sea states and the EU. In 2007, HELCOM launched a new tool – the Baltic Sea Action Plan (BSAP), of which the so-called ecosystem approach is a cornerstone. However, how and why the BSAP reform was launched, and also what consequences such management reforms can have for transboundary resource management, is unknown. By using institutional theory, organizational theory and the advocacy coalition framework, in combination with content analysis of official documents derived from HELCOM, this thesis argues that the BSAP is the end result of a gradual process of change within institutional structures and actor beliefs. This thesis also shows that HELCOM's capacity to detect, process, and react in response to changes in its regulatory objective has not changed as a consequence of the BSAP. In contrast to earlier research, it seems HELCOM responds better to slow and opaque changes than to quick and visible ones. Finally, by comparing HELCOM with two other similar cases, the thesis shows that HELCOM's adaptive capacity could be improved in line with the recommendations of the ecosystem approach. This thesis illustrates the importance of studying the emergence of new tools for governing transboundary resources from several theoretical perspectives. The thesis uses an innovative quantitative content analysis and concludes that new methods might be required to enable such studies. The different perspectives used here give various explanations concerning the causes and consequences of the BSAP. In a future Baltic Sea, where environmental changes are likely to be abrupt, a multitude of understandings regarding the governance of the Baltic Sea will be crucial. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 2: Submitted. Paper 3: Submitted. Paper 4: In press.</p>