Free trade relations have become an important issue in both trade and development literature since the 1950s. From this period, 1950-1959, until the end of the 1960s, the economy of Egypt was protected as a result of the adoption of import substitution policies and excessive government intervention in economic activities. Since 1970, when an open-door policy was adopted, Egypt has striven to liberalise its markets with the aim of enhancing economic growth, with rewarding results. This study has quantified the effect of changes in economic policy, particularly trade liberalisation, on economic growth for Egypt during the period 1970-2006, by addressing some challenges remaining in theoretical and empirical literature on free trade and economic growth. This period witnessed a strong shift in economic policy towards a more export growth oriented stance. It covered the reforms of 1974 and 1991, as well as the establishment of the WTO in 1995 and Egypt's accession to it. Two models were constructed: the first one attempted to deal with the causality problem by re-examining the causality between exports and economic growth based on the Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) in the context of the Egyptian economy. The second model, a Simultaneous Equation Model (SEM), was developed to deal with the endogeneity problem and investigate the impact of selected openness indicators on economic growth in Egypt. The most important finding is the strong positive and bi-directional relationship between Egyptian exports and its economic growth. This finding is in line with the theoretical argument of the ability of developing countries such as Egypt to benefit from the free trade movement, which not only helps them to benefit from knowledge spillover but also to raise their productivity. The role of human capital in growth and exports was also shown to be significant. Similar findings were obtained for countries at different stages of development (low- and middle-income). It is concluded that, like Egypt, all groups will benefit from trade openness, regardless of the degree of development, with respect to the positive role of human capital to enable them to absorb new technologies from the developed countries.

This study seeks to explore how the network of auditing in an electronic environment, in the Egyptian context, is constituted. To understand how this network is constituted, the study explores the main actors that have an influence on auditing in electronic environments. It explores how, and why, these actors were enrolled, or found places for themselves, in this network. Moreover, the study discovers how these actors interact together to perform and shape the network. Actor-Network Theory (ANT) was adopted to be the theoretical framework of this study as its main focus is on the process of constructing and maintaining networks; it asks how and for what purposes heterogeneous entities are brought together in a network. By adopting the ANT perspective, this study highlights the notion that auditing in an electronic environment is not only the process of auditing the outcomes (financial statements) of a technical system using technological methods. Rather, it is a network constituted from hybrid human and non-human, local and global actors, who interact with each other through circulating different intermediaries and who have an influence on the audit process. In other words, this study looks beyond the fact that financial auditors are responsible for auditing the financial statements, which are the outputs of advanced electronic systems, to explore the process by which auditing in advanced electronic environments takes place. Thinking of the process of auditing in advanced electronic environments from an Actor-Network Theory perspective extends the list of actors involved in the process, and expands the issues that should be considered in their interaction.

This doctoral thesis presents the findings from an empirical cross-sectional survey of food retail internationalisation in Taiwanese hypermarkets, supermarkets and traditional markets. A critical review of the works of Dupuis and Prime (1996) reveals erratic sales performance of hypermarkets operating in Taiwan and in other Asia-Pacific countries since 1989; this sales trend may be linked to lack of understanding of Taiwanese shopping preferences and choices (Burt and Carralero-Encinas, 2000). This led to the research question: “Can global food retailers using hypermarket store formats achieve and sustain their competitive advantage in emerging economies such as Taiwan”. This led to statement of research objectives with the overall aim to investigate how global food retailers using a hypermarket store format can successfully operate in the Taiwanese food retail market. These objectives were achieved by adopting a phenomenological research philosophy and a mix of focus group interviews and questionnaires (Churchill and Iacobucci, 2005; Saunders et al., 2007). The primary data were presented and analysed using both qualitative and quantitative techniques through employed Microsoft Excel and SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences). The thesis identified six critical factors: (1) facility convenience, (2) shopping environment, (3) convenient products, (4) price incentive, (5) convenient services, and (6) shopping convenience which impact Taiwanese store patronage. The results of the factor and cluster analyses reveal that ‘facility convenience’ (with the highest alpha coefficient value of α = 0.748) has the greatest impact on five Taiwanese shopping clusters: (1) Value shoppers, (2) Environment shoppers, (3) Efficient shoppers, (4) Leisure shoppers, and (5) Convenient shoppers. Hypothesis and chi-square tests revealed a relationship between the factors and clusters, which represents sources of competitive advantage for each store format, and formed the bases for constructing a conceptual framework for retail internationalisation in Taiwan. The framework is the thesis’ major contribution to knowledge in providing better understanding of Taiwanese consumer patronage of store formats - this has series implications for global food retailers in the broad area of food retail internationalisation. The major limitation of the thesis relates to the fact that there is a limited extent to which the conceptual framework could be generalised across emerging economies in the Asia-Pacific Region. The issue of generalisability led to identification of the following two key areas for further research: • Testing the conceptual framework by widening the sample size to cover other cities in Taiwan and other emerging markets. This would make the framework more relevant to the Asia-Pacific Region. • A comparative study to identify trends in grocery shopping behaviour involving hypermarkets, supermarkets and traditional markets in Europe and Asia.

<p> Business model innovation, business model enablers, and strategic agility are terms explicitly evaluated and explored by researchers and practitioners. The focus of this dissertation research project included the previous terms and the respective associations with business and leadership decision-making in the context of strategy and innovation. Research design and methodologies included a qualitative, embedded, single case-study through one-on-one, in-depth interviews with primary decision-makers from small technology companies in Minnesota, United States. Primary respondent qualifications were: (a) minimum of five years of experience, (b) minimum of five subordinates, and (c) decision power to influence business model innovation, business model enablers, or strategic agility. Three research questions guided the project: (1) How do the pillars of strategic agility (strategic sensitivity, leadership unity, and resource fluidity) affect business model innovations? (2) How can managers apply the pillars of strategic agility to enhance organizational strategic agility? and (3) How do senior leadership teams manage the contradictions and paradoxes within strategic agility? Respondent interviews were imported and analyzed through Nvivo qualitative data analytics software (QDAS). Over 50 findings are narrated in Chapter 4, of which included one of the key findings: Every company was actively engaged in the paradox, but none of the company leaders specifically calculated or processed the exact phrase &ndash; strategic agility paradox. Proposed in Chapter 5 are the set of recommendations for future researchers. The recommendations advocate research in or on contrasting industries and geographies, respondents with contrasting profiles, supplementary qualitative and quantitative techniques, alternative strategic agility pillars, and new research questions.</p>

<p> Mobile technology has been one of the most pervasive information technology trends in the past 20 years. From 2012 to 2017, experts project that global mobile data traffic will reach an estimated 11 exabytes per month. Mobile shopping, also known as mobile commerce (m-commerce), has been on the rise as another avenue for consumers to use. Certain organizations, especially small businesses, have been slower to embrace mobile commerce than individual consumers. The general business problem is that many small businesses have not adopted mobile strategies that will meet consumer expectations for mobile commerce. The specific business problem is that no specific data explains the extent to which performance expectancy, effort expectancy, and social influence may influence small businesses&rsquo; intention to adopt mobile commerce. The purpose of this correlational study, based on quantitative, non-experimental research, was to examine the factors of performance expectancy, effort expectancy, and social influence that may affect the small businesses&rsquo; intention to adopt mobile commerce. The research focused on small businesses in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. This study is motivated by six research questions: (1) To what extent is there a relationship between performance expectancy and the intent to adopt mobile commerce? (2) To what extent is there a relationship between effort expectancy and the intent to adopt mobile commerce? (3) To what extent is there a relationship between social influence and the intent to adopt mobile commerce? (4) To what extent does performance expectancy influence the small business decision maker&rsquo;s intent to adopt mobile commerce? (5) To what extent does effort expectancy influence the intent to adopt mobile commerce? (6) To what extent does social influence influence the intent to adopt mobile commerce? This study used the Unified Theory of the Adoption and Use of Technology (UTAUT) as a framework to investigate these questions. A random sampling technique was used to collect online survey responses from small businesses (n = 124). Pearson Correlation found significant positive relationships between performance expectancy, effort expectancy, and social influence and the intention to adopt mobile commerce into small business operations. Multiple Linear Regression found only performance expectancy and social influence to have a significant effect on the intention to adopt mobile commerce. Additional investigation discovered that the small businesses&rsquo; customer type was a moderating factor that changed the outcome of results. This supplemental analysis revealed effort expectancy to have a significant effect on the intention to adopt mobile commerce.</p>

<p> This exploratory interpretive study investigated the lived experience of ten leaders that had recently transitioned from a face-to-face leadership role to a remote leadership role. The main research question was, &ldquo;What is the lived experience of the leader who has transitioned from face-to-face leadership to remote leadership in a retail sales context?&rdquo;</p><p> Study participants met the following criteria: (1) work for an organization that utilizes a &ldquo;remote supervision&rdquo; structure, whether this goes by the term <i>district, region, area, territory,</i> or similar; (2) have supervisory responsibility for at least six separate and distinct locations, but fewer than 25 locations; (3) have supervisory responsibility for locations with a minimum of 10 employees, but a maximum of 100 employees; (4) have transitioned from a face-to-face leadership context to a remote leadership context; and (5) have been in the new remote leadership role for at least six months but no longer than 39 months. These criteria are important and were selected specifically for their alignment with the conceptual frame. </p><p> Interviews were conducted with the leaders to learn how they experienced the transition from one role to another. These interviews were conducted using the Seidman (2013) method. The process for representing the data and interpreting the data consisted of five main parts in alignment with an interpretive phenomenological approach, or IPA (Smith, Flowers, &amp; Larkin, 2009). </p><p> There were four key conclusions from this study: (1) the leaders were able to adapt to their new leadership context as a result of their transition experience; (2) there were common leadership style balances for leaders in this study; (3) the leaders realized that there were subtle, but important communication differences in the remote context; and, (4) trust plays a unique role in remote, transactional leadership. Implications for theory include a new understanding of the balance of transformational and transactional leadership in the remote context. Recommendations for practice include potential new approaches for human resource practitioners.</p>

<p> Planning for disasters has been linked to positive outcome in the business recovery process. However, unpreparedness for disasters is prevalent in many developing countries where most small businesses do not maintain a disaster/emergency plan. Sri Lanka in recent years has experienced upsurge in natural disasters from floods, wind storms, droughts, landslides and cyclones where the majority of small businesses experienced a slow recovery. The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to gain insight into the perceived barriers and challenges that small business owners in the City of Negombo (Sri Lanka) experienced when developing a disaster/emergency preparedness plan as well as factors that may motivates small businesses owners to adopt a disaster/emergency plan. The study population consists of all 1,780 small businesses located within the city of Negombo, Sri Lanka. The purposive sample included 16 small business owners for individual interviews and 11 members from business associations for three focus group discussions (each including 3-4 participants). After receiving informed consent, data were collected using semi-structured in-depth interview protocol using open ended interview questions until data saturation occurred. . To mitigate study limitations and enhance credibility of this study; prolonged engagement and persistent observation, peer debriefing, member-checking, and data triangulation, were used. The findings of this study yielded 12 distinct themes most of which were fully or partially supported by existing literature. Five themes pertaining to the barriers and challenges business owners encounter when establishing a disaster/emergency plan: lack of knowledge or know how, access to/ problems with insurance, lack of money and resources, disaster will not happen again, and it is not my responsibility. Four of the themes focused on business owners&rsquo; perceived motivators for establishing a disaster/emergency plan: reduce business losses from disasters, train staff to manage crisis situations, business continuation, and save lives. The key recommendations include local and central government authorities, (a) advocate disaster awareness to small business owners, (b) establish mechanisms for small business owners to attain relevant information to prepare for disasters, (c) provide essential resources for the small business owners to set up disaster/emergency plans, and (d) identify ways for business owners to get access to affordable and accessible disaster insurance plans.</p>

<p> Past research has suggested that telecommuters can balance their work and personal lives more efficiently than their office counterparts. Researchers had not explored how telecommuters who worked for a private health insurer balanced their work and personal lives. The following aspects of telecommuting were investigated: (a) telecommuters&rsquo; expectations, (b) structure of work and home environment, and (c) handling obstacles at work and home. This qualitative phenomenological study consisted of interview data collected from a convenience sample of 19 full-time telecommuters self-selected from a population of 5,819 people who worked for a private health insurer located in the United States. The theoretical framework for the study was Herzberg&rsquo;s two-factor theory and Maslow&rsquo;s hierarchy of needs theory. Seven themes emerged: (a) maintaining a separate office in the home; (b) setting family expectations; (c) remaining task oriented and disciplined and maintaining a normal routine; (d) communicating with managers and colleagues; (e) juggling work and personal life; (f) taking breaks and lunches; and (g) taking personal time off. The results indicated that work&ndash;life balance can be achieved by (a) creating structure in the working environment, (b) gaining organizational and management support, (c) limiting personal obstacles during working hours, and (d) limiting work-related tasks during personal time.</p>

<p> Na (2013) identified human capital as one of the important resources Professional Service Firms (PSFs) use to stay successful. This study examined the past and current literature on skill underutilization, perceived job match, perceived overqualification and perceived overeducation. The relationship that exists between these concepts and skill underutilization was also examined to help understand how the Big Four accounting consultants in the United States perceive skill underutilization. This study adopted a quantitative study to examine how accounting consultants perceive skill underutilization. Survey responses from 119 accounting consultants were used to examine how Big Four accounting consultants perceive skill underutilization. The results of the research reveals that perceived skill utilization was positively related to perceived job match (<i>r</i> = .76, <i>p</i> &lt; .001) while being negatively related to perceived overeducation (<i> r</i> = -.42, <i>p</i> &lt; .001) and perceived overqualification (<i>r</i> = -.50, <i>p</i> &lt; .001). The three independent variables Perceived Job Match, Perceived Overeducation and Perceived Overqualification together account for 61.5% of the variance in the dependent variable Perceived Skill Utilization. Perceived Job Match accounted for 36.6%, Perceived Overeducation accounted for 0.04% and Perceived Overqualification accounted for 1.2% of the variance. The remaining variance, 23.7% (61.5% - 37.84%), is shared variance among the three independent variables. The variables, Perceived Overeducation and Perceived Overqualification actually contributed very little to the variance in Perceived Skill Utilization beyond that provided by Perceived Job Match, despite being significantly significant. Much of this contribution is due to the inter-correlation of these variables with Perceived Job Match.</p>

<p> The military faces unprecedented limitation of resources due to fiscal cuts through all branches of service. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore succession planning (SP) strategies used by Air National Guard leaders to retain skilled workers. The target population consisted of 5 leaders of the Washington Air National Guard (ANG) with a minimum of 5 years of experience in the ANG. The five tenured candidates were selected given proven leadership performance, ability to influence the organization, and they provided institutional knowledge and corporate insight of SP efforts spanning nearly a century. Additionally, these leaders had direct first-hand experience with local selective retention process and successful force management practices. The conceptual framework included organizational leadership theory, succession theory, and employee retention. Semistructured interviews were conducted and relevant documents collected. All interpretations from the data were subjected to member checking to ensure trustworthiness of findings. Coding, clustering, and thematic analysis were methods used for data analysis. Prominent ideas and actions taken were coded, common codes were clustered and themes evolved. Based on the methodological triangulation of data, 5 themes surfaced: (a) skills focus verses strategic, (b) informal verses formal SP, (c) individual verses organizational, (d) priority for retention verses recruitment, and (e) limited skill leads to mission gaps. The application of the findings from the study may contribute to social change by inspiring military leadership to adopt more strategic succession planning and ensure business sustainability by changing existing SP from a recruitment-based technique to culture of retention.</p>