The grocery retailing industry is a key sector of the UK economy, accounting for 16% of consumer expenditure. As such developments in this sector will have an important effect on UK economic and social welfare. Arguably, competition in the sector has intensified in the last two decades. Yet significant consolidation in the sector has put it under the spotlight of the UK competition authorities. Previous research analysing factors affecting the performance and positioning of UK grocery retailers has tended to be restricted to a limited time period and a small sample size. This study extends this research by investigating industry evolution and factors affecting performance and industry structure with longitudinal panel data, covering a two-decade time period. The sample used covers a wide variety of grocery retailers with a range of different attributes over a significant period in the development of the industry, running from 1985 through to 2003. Strategic group theory is employed to study industry evolution and examine the effects of strategic positioning on performance. Specifically, fixed-effect panel econometric models are estimated at different levels of aggregation to analyse firm, industry and strategic group effects on the performance of retailers. Also, stochastic frontier models, in the form of Cobb-Douglas and Transcendental Logarithmic functions, are estimated at different levels of aggregation to analyse the efficiency of retailers in the sector. The results from cluster analysis on strategic groups suggest that industry structure is likely to become more concentrated, and the size of retailers will be a significant mobility barrier in the industry. The profitability analysis finds industry level factors and strategic group composition to be crucial in explaining performance differences. The efficiency analysis finds large retailers exhibiting economies of scale through operating large store formats to be significantly better positioned from smaller-format retailers with fewer outlets. Consistent and significant time dummies demonstrate the favourable macro environment enjoyed by the retailers for much of the 1990s. The analysis reveals potentially useful insights for retail managers, especially concerning the importance of positioning in the industry and the choice of strategic orientation. More generally, the study opens up further possibilities for future studies of performance and efficiency measurement over an even longer time as the sector continues to develop and shape the way consumers shop in the UK.

Both construction Waste Minimisation (WM) and construction procurement activities play an effective role in attaining sustainability by giving due consideration to the environment, community and social conditions in delivering built assets. The construction industry has a major impact on the environment, both in terms of resource consumption and increasing waste production. Recent figures published by the UK government reveal that construction and demolition activities produce approximately 32% of total waste generated: three times the waste produced by all households combined. However, the current and on-going research in the field of construction WM and management focuses mainly on onsite waste quantification and management; and stakeholders‟ source identification. Little research has been undertaken to evaluate the relationship between Construction Procurement Systems (CPS) and construction waste generation. However, literature emphasises the need for research in this context. This research aims to develop a Procurement Waste Minimisation Framework (PWMF) to enhance WM practices by evaluating the relationship between CPS and construction waste generation. Objectives of the research include: examine construction WM drivers, WM approaches, waste origins and causes; critically review and evaluate current CPS and sustainable procurement practices in the UK; assess the relationship between CPS and construction waste generation; investigate and synthesis Procurement Waste Origins (PWO); examine the most suitable CPS that could potentially embed and sustain WM; develop and validate the PWMF. This research has adopted a survey research design and mixed methods sequential procedure. Data has been gathered through a cross sectional, self-administered postal questionnaire survey (N=258 distributed, n=65 received) and semi-structured interviews (N=17) with procurement managers and sustainability managers from the top 100 UK contracting organisations and quantity surveyors from the top 100 UK quantity surveying organisations. Data analysis techniques include: descriptive statistics; non-parametric tests; and constant comparative method. The PWMF has developed based on the findings of literature review, questionnaire survey and semi-structured interviews and adopting key concepts of problem solving methodology. The PWMF validation method includes: validation questionnaire (N=8) and follow-up semi-structured interviews (N=6) with procurement managers, sustainability managers and quantity surveyors. Key findings which emerged from the study include: CPS do have an impact on waste generation in construction; integrated CPS have major potential to integrate WM strategies; four PWO identified (i.e. uncoordinated early involvement of project stakeholders; ineffective communication and coordination; unclear allocation of WM responsibilities; and inconsistent procurement documentation) and associated sub-waste causes; and the developed PWMF enables to diagnose potential waste origins and causes, and WM improvement measures for design and build projects. The study has made recommendations which, if adopted, will lead to significant improvements in WM practices and sustainable procurement practices in construction. The content should be of interest to contractors, clients, and organisations dealing with procurement, waste and sustainability.

Evidence is accumulating that climate change is having a significant effect on a wide range of organisms spanning the full range of biodiversity found on this planet. This study investigates the ecological role of climate change, the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and habitat change on British insect populations. Despite the NAO having a considerable effect on British weather, the role of the NAO on British insects has not previously been studied in great detail. The World's two best entomological time series datasets were used – the United Kingdom Butterfly Monitoring Scheme (UKBMS) and the Rothamsted Insect Survey of aphids – both surveys with very large sample sizes and high quality data. Summary of main findings: 1. Warm weather associated with a positive NAO index caused the spring migration of the green spruce aphid (Elatobium abietinum), a pest species of spruce trees (Picea) to start earlier, continue for longer and contain more aphids. An upward trend in the NAO index during the period 1966-2006 is associated with an increasing population size of E. abietinum. 2. The NAO does not affect the overall UK butterfly population size. However, the abundance of bivoltine butterfly species, which have a longer flight season, were more likely to respond positively to the NAO compared to univoltine species, which show little or a negative response. 3. A positive winter NAO index was associated with warmer weather and earlier butterfly flight dates. For bivoltine (two generations in a year) species, the NAO affects the phenology of the first generation, and then the timing of the second generation is indirectly controlled by the timing of the first generation. The NAO influences the timing of the butterfly flight seasons more strongly than it influences population size. 4. Butterfly data from Monks Wood National Nature Reserve in Cambridgeshire showed that the NAO does not affect the abundance of the whole butterfly community, but it does affect the population size of some species. The NAO does not affect butterfly diversity, but there were decreases in butterfly diversity and number of species with time. 5. The total number of butterflies counted at Monks Wood was constant for most of the time series. However, the population size of the ringlet (Aphantopus hyperantus) increased from very low numbers to more than half the total number of butterflies counted each year. Therefore the total population size of all the other species has decreased considerably. 6. The NAO was more important than climate change in determining the flight phenology of the meadow brown butterfly (Maniola jurtina) at Monks Wood. In conclusion, the NAO affects the abundance of some species of British butterfly, and an aphid species, with a stronger effect on the timing of flight rather than abundance. There was evidence for a long-term decrease in the biodiversity of butterflies at Monks Wood and this decrease is likely to continue.

The aim of this thesis is to test the importance and sufficiency of existing constructs of customer service, customer satisfaction and service quality in the logistics function of the UK food processing industry. These activities represent ongoing challenges in the logistics discipline and are under-researched in this industry sector that is affected by primary producer crises, product commoditisation and increasing retailer power. Firms that improve customer service should increase customer satisfaction resulting in better customer-supplier relationships, increased customer loyalty, profitability and a differential competitive advantage. The customer-supplier dyadic exchange between intermediary food processors is the focus of study. There has been little programmatic and integrative study or empirical research of these activities in logistics since work conducted over twenty-five years ago by La Londe and Zinzser. Additionally, some existing studies suffer from a general lack of rigour that pervades the logistics discipline and has prevented meaningful development of research validity and reliability. Finally, existing research into these activities from the marketing discipline is under-utilised in these investigations. Indeed, there has been limited inter-disciplinary research in logistics notwithstanding the genesis of both logistics and marketing as a single discipline at the beginning of the 20th century. This study uses a rigorous two-stage methodology developed for marketing research by Churchill. This methodology comprises generating variables for enquiry from a literature review, collecting and analysing data in a pilot survey to purify variables, and conducting a second survey to assess reliability and validity of pilot study findings. Models used for the study are adapted from existing work in marketing service quality by Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry and are supplemented by relationship constructs emerging from the pilot study. A postal survey was administered to 1,215 UK food processors. Respondent data was analysed using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling to test variables and constructs. The findings of this study validate constructs of pretransaction, order service and quality and relationship service and quality, thus reaffirming original constructs developed by La Londe and Zinzser. The findings also falsify transaction service quality constructs posited by Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry. Issues of price, supplier importance, supplier switching, and relationship power were tested, but did not feature in resultant constructs. These latter issues are discussed in terms of an overarching framework that encompasses the validated constructs and an extended model is hypothesised for future study. The results of this thesis indicate that UK food processors should consider all phases of pre-transaction, transaction and post-transaction events when facilitating operations design and customer service planning.

This research aims to inform the relevance of Organisational Learning (OL) to policing management practice by investigating its impact and prevalence in UK policing. In the prescriptive literature, OL is propounded as an important aspect of effective organisations that needs to be leveraged. The field of OL is found to be diverse, lacking empirical work, and in need of suitable research techniques. To focus the research, a specific example of OL is proposed in performance management (PM) practice. The PM literature shows the theoretical foundations for practice are underdeveloped. This research addresses this by combining these two fields. As a result, practical data is made available to support an examination of OL and a theoretical basis for PM is developed. In the absence of a suitable model to structure data collection, a new OL model of PM is derived from the literature. A Critical Realist position is adopted which aims to identify the nature of the phenomena underlying OL. Three case studies with UK Police Forces, which involved fifty-two interviewees, were undertaken during 2008. A pilot case study was undertaken in Scotland, with the follow-up case studies in England and Northern Ireland. The data from interviews is analysed in NVivo using a range of coding techniques. Using the results from these case studies, the provisional OL Model of PM is tested and developed further. PM practice is found to involve the creation of knowledge and the creation of action and the relationship to organisational purpose is highlighted. Six elements of the OL process are defined as Attention, Analysis, Advising, Adjusting, Affecting and Achieving. Dimensions influencing PM practice in the cases are identified. The outcomes of the research indicate relevance to policing management practice, as well as to the wider fields of PM practice and OL theory.

The covered warrant market in the UK has gained in popularity over time since first launched in 2002. This has opened up an alternative investment choice which offers derivative securities with a life of typically one to two years. It seems to fulfill many of the functions of a traded options market. Since most research has been focused on options trading, the investigation on covered warrants trading is still very limited. This is also largely due to the lack of readily available data for end-traded covered warrants and the existing covered warrants. A unique set of hand-collected data, supplemented by public and private data from main covered warrants issuer and the financial database are employed, making this thesis possible. The sample periods can be divided into two separate sets. The UK covered warrants trading during the period July 2004 - December 2006 are used to examine the impact of warrant introduction and expiration on the price, volume and volatility of the underlying securities. For the introduction analyses, both the announcement and listing of covered warrants have negative impacts on the price of underlying securities for both call and put features, though the impact of the announcement is more pronounced than that of the listing. These affects are temporary and do not persist much beyond the introduction of the warrants. Negative price impacts of the expiration event are also reported for both call and put covered warrants. However, this study finds no significant impacts on the volume of underlying securities trading from the announcement, listing and expiration of call and put covered warrants. Further evidence indicates an increase in volatility of the underlying securities during the announcement and listing of covered warrants. The results hold true for both call and put warrants cases. On the other hand, a decreasing stock volatility is found as a consequence of the expiration of both call and put covered warrants. The second data set involves the call covered warrants traded in the UK market between April 2007 and December 2008; this was analysed for evidence of the best appropriate covered warrants pricing model. This study suggests default risk as a major concern for the warrant price which is called the Vulnerable warrant price. The reasons behind this arise from concern about the issuer’s creditworthiness due to traders’ fraudulent action and the recent subprime problem, the difficulties of dynamic hedging by issuers because of market imperfections, as well as the no guarantees on covered warrant trading provided by the London Stock Exchange. The most salient findings of the study are the following. The Vulnerable warrant price is generally lower than both the Black-Scholes price and warrant market price throughout the warrant’s lifetime. The evidence suggests an overvalued warrant price in the UK market. Moreover, the in-the-money warrants indicate a higher rate of default in comparison to the out-of-the-money warrants. An additional finding shows that the market becomes aware of the default risk only on a short-term basis. The presentation of negative abnormal returns of both market and the Black-Sholes prices support the assumption that default risk is a relevant factor in pricing the UK covered warrants. These findings add to the literature dealing with the effect of derivatives trading on the underlying securities as well as providing more empirical evidence on a particular covered warrant market. This could be of interest not only for practitioners to widen their investment opportunities but also for regulators to have this as a guideline for their future related policies planning.

Via the submission of six published papers, this thesis draws together the body of work by Broadbridge on retail management and women’s careers. It reveals the factors that continue to be problematic for women’s careers and why in 2010 they continue to be under-represented in the retail management hierarchy. A contextual background to the selected papers is provided in three chapters which summarise some wider issues for the non specialist reader: an introduction to career development models, the gendered processes in management and a contemporary overview of retail employment in the UK. Of the six papers presented, each adopts a different theoretical perspective and so cumulatively a comprehensive understanding of the reasons for women’s continued under-representation in retail management positions is gained. The overall findings from the papers indicated that the main reasons for women’s and men’s differential experience in the retail management hierarchy can be located in issues of male control. Retail management is male dominated, male identified and male centred. This can present itself in a variety of different ways, and through overt or covert means of behaviour and underlying organisational cultures. Key theoretical contributions to the thesis are located in three sets of theory: the sexual division of labour and the organisation of retail work; the gendered retail career, and work-life balance and multiple role demands. Empirical and methodological contributions come from the corpus of data and the use and refinement of a mixed methods approach to understanding the subject area.

The United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union and the possibility of it, has been discussed in the news with reference to the term ‘Brexit’ extensively for at least the last two years. The role of the media has been an important issue around the Brexit decision, which had its peak in June 2016 with the EU-referendum, where the population of the United Kingdom voted in favour of leaving the EU. The given master thesis builds up on these preconditions and aims for a better understanding of the media representation of Brexit on transnational news platforms from Europe and beyond. More precisely, the media output on Deutsche Welle, France 24 and Al Jazeera English after the EU-referendum until the end of the year 2016 is examined and compared to each other. The given form of the study has emerged out of the lack of previous research, where only the role of the media before the EU-referendum and the media output within the United Kingdom have been under investigation. First, a Framing Analysis on a big sample is conducted, where the main frames and the scope of the articles are examined to get a broad picture of the way transnational media reports about the issue. Second, a Critical Discourse Analysis is carried out on a small part of the big sample. In this way, the media output can be investigated more in-depth and the results of both methods complement each other. The results show that even though differences occur, the media representation of Brexit on DW, F24 and AJE are remarkably similar. More similar even than it was expected beforehand. It occurs that the topic ‘Brexit’ is particularly presented with emphasis on the conflictual potential of it, although differences can be found in the application of a national (rather UK) or international context. Furthermore, an uncertainty is present in various elements of the articles on DW, F24 and AJE. The significance of this study is empirically, since knowledge can be generated of Brexit in transnational news. However, also methodological indications are included that can be significant for future research.

The Triratna/FWBO Buddhist movement has been associated with younger people and a lifestyle in which single sex residential communities and work projects (TBRLs) have been prominent. There is now a trend towards a wider range of lifestyles including fewer people living communally. Demographic changes include 50+ average age for ordained members and some people developing Long-Term Care (LTC) needs, with limited family and financial support. This raises questions as to the extent to which ‘Buddhist identity’ can be supported in LTC situations, with informal care, mainstream LTC services and possible care-based TBRLs all relevant.Data-gathering was initially on the basis of a general investigation of LTC issues in Triratna/FWBO using an eclectic, primarily qualitative design which had features of both a case study and a cross-sectional survey. 17 interviews included participants with current LTC needs, others asked to anticipate future care preferences, and people with relevant expertise. A questionnaire was formulated to explore attitudes to possible care-based TBRLs, with 107 participants and numerous additional comments. There was a strong consensus that Buddhist-based LTC services would, for example, provide better vegetarian diets and have an understanding of Buddhist names taken at ordination. These features were included in a conceptualisation of Buddhist identity which contrasted ‘Buddhist’ and ‘Non-Buddhist’ life, and noted ‘Dreams’ and ‘Nightmares’ as to LTC. Effective basic care was seen as essential to the general level of well-being needed for Buddhist practice, whilst a higher level of support might facilitate access to Buddhist ‘life goods’, and assist people in self-verifying themselves as committed Buddhists through ongoing practice. Informal support from fellow Buddhists was available in many contexts, but not at levels of intensity and duration characteristic of some family-based care, and it was seen as modulated by perceptions of burden, ‘busy-ness’ and other factors. There was a ‘legacy of suspicion’ of mainstream LTC, mainly focussed on residential care, with acknowledgement of some good/respectful carers and care services. TBRLs in LTC were generally welcomed, being seen as suitably altruistic work which might feature an atmosphere of ‘mutuality’ between staff and clients who were Buddhist or of Buddhist sympathy. Comparative material was used here from Methodist, Jewish and Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender (LGBT) communities in LTC contexts, with the last of these conceptualised as comparable to the Western Buddhist community as a currently emerging identity in terms of later life services. Practicality and feasibility were discussed with reference to existing TBRLs, and experience of paid-for care input between Buddhists. The latter appeared supportive of Buddhist identity and readily linked to the personalisation agenda in social care. Buddhist-friendly services were seen as a possible context for generativity, and the concept of ‘a natural part of life’ was explored in terms of the emergence of LTC in the Triratna/FWBO movement, and of Buddhism as a gradually more familiar identity which might be encountered in the sphere of LTC.

Current legislation, within England, states that local authorities should provide services for all those families in need, while also setting thresholds for access to these services. However, research has identified that regardless of the introduction of strategies to identify need and enhance family support, on-going barriers to services remain. This study took a social constructionist approach to explore professionals’ experiences of the use of the Common Assessment Framework form and multiagency working. Data were collected in four different local authorities in the South East of England, in two phases: phase one February 2011 to February 2012, phase two July to September 2014. Phase one was intended to focus on the experiences of both professionals and families in one Local Authority (LA). However, as a result of a difficulty in accessing families the research was refocused to professionals’ experiences and use of the CAF alone. Phase two was extended to three further LAs. Forty one professionals, from a variety of agencies, took part in semistructured interviews individually or in a group. Data were analysed utilising thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke 2006). Conclusions are from a small scale study and so cannot be generalised. However, findings suggested professional use of the CAF was dictated by local authority policy. Two issues emanated from this. Firstly, as the local authorities adopted the policy of utilising the CAF as a referral mechanism, rather than for its intended purpose, to assess needs, professionals perceived the CAF form as a referral tool, rather than an assessment tool. Secondly, the range of professionals utilising the CAF was diverse. This diversity necessitates suitable training to accommodate the various professionals and their backgrounds. However, in this study, such training was largely lacking. Additionally professionals found multi-agency working, required by the CAF process, problematic, time consuming, and onerous. However, experienced and knowledgeable professionals were seen to utilise creative ways in which to successfully navigate the ‘referral process’. A further finding of the study is that there were key differences in regard to the ways in which diverse professional groups view safeguarding for adolescents. Recommendations for future research, policy and local authority use of the CAF form have been made.