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This thesis examines the question of Information System (IS) success and looks to determine if it is possible to describe that success in terms of a package of separate, interrelated success factors which can be identified and tracked through the use of a questioning framework. This research examines "common" models of IS success and failure and proposes, based on those models, areas that are regarded as important contributors to IS success. A framework is proposed that will allow multi-national organisations to identify success factors that are specific to their organisational context and this framework is then tested in a global IS company. As a result of this testing, it was found that the success factors identified did indeed relate to the framework that was proposed, but that additional work was needed to include areas that the research identified and also, to improve how the resulting success factors were presented to the organisation for easy understanding

Within a complex global marketplace, achieving cultural diversity within organisations, and managing it effectively, is a challenge. Despite high capital expenditure on diversity management initiatives, research shows programmes have been ineffective in yielding significant positive outcomes. This raises two questions. The first is: ‘Why do organisations continue to invest in diversity management if it is not effective?’ The second is: ‘Why are diversity management practices not effective?’ Answers to both questions are sought, and improvements which can be made and sustained are explored. It is written for professionals with responsibility for diversity management. They include board members, human resource professionals, equality, diversity and inclusion practitioners, and corporate responsibility professionals. They have been charged with overseeing diversity management, and require greater knowledge and strategic savvy in order to meet their objectives. The main question of this thesis is: ‘How can diversity management effectiveness be improved within a complex global marketplace?’ Three studies critically explore the relationship between the quality of institutional management culture and the effectiveness of the diversity management practices. The first, a questionnaire study, explores the causal relationship between a variety of independent variables and their effect on diversity management. The second and third are exploratory and descriptive action research case studies, examining the effects of a democratic and participative system of institutional governance on the effectiveness of diversity management. This thesis contributes to diversity management literature by highlighting, and suggesting how to overcome institutional ethoi which run counter to the principles of equality, diversity and inclusion, thus creating barriers reducing the effectiveness of diversity management initiatives. This knowledge will enable researchers and practitioners to understand more fully institutional root causes impeding development, and how to challenge them effectively. It will also assist in developing effective diversity strategies outside of the Anglo-American context within which this HRM practice began.

Consumer awareness about ethical issues has been growing over the last decades. Knowledge and awareness about ethical products has led to businesses responding with a variety of ethical products for the consumers. The growth in ethical products market has attracted the interest of researchers as evidenced in a growing body of literature on ethical behaviour. Ethical decision-making models in the extant research tend to emphasise social interest values, such as ethical obligation and ethical self-identity, as predictors of ethical behaviour. However, little is known about factors such as self-interest values and motives, crucial in the formation of attitudes and behaviour towards ethical purchases. Furthermore, research evidence, as well as industry reports, highlights that although consumers generally have a positive attitude towards purchasing ethical products, there is a discrepancy between their attitudes, intention and actual purchase behaviour. Whilst the link between intention and behaviour has been found to be generally tenuous, studies in the domain of consumer research suggest that intention to purchase can be treated as a predictor of behaviour (i.e., an immediate precursor of actual purchase). The determinants of consumers' intention to purchase ethical products, incorporating self-interest values and motives, are the focus of this study. Much of the prior research in ethical buying behaviour has focused on fast moving consumer goods categories, which are considered to be 'low-involvement' purchases. In contrast, involvement is considered to be an important underlying motivation for consumer purchase of other products such as clothing. Therefore, the product category of ethical clothing is chosen for investigation in this study because of the 'high-involvement' nature of fashion purchases. Understanding the determinants of consumer intention towards ethical buying can provide insights on consumers' motivational state (i.e., social interest and self-interest) influencing ethical choices. Specifically, this research examines the role of involvement in consumers' decision-making process to purchase ethical clothing (direct and moderating effects of clothing involvement). The data were collected via online survey instrument from an existing panel of a UK-based market research company. The proposed research model was tested employing the Partial Least Squares-based Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM). The direct and moderating effects of clothing involvement were tested by using the two-stage approach. The second-order formative measurement model of clothing involvement (hierarchical components model) was estimated using the repeated indicators approach. The results show that ethical self-identity and subjective norm have a significant impact in ethical clothing purchase decisions. Clothing involvement was found to weaken the relationship between ethical obligation and intention towards ethical buying, whilst it strengthened the relationship between ethical self-identity and intention towards ethical buying. This thesis further establishes that consumers' perceived balance between ethical self¬identity (commitment to individual's ethical augmentation) and clothing involvement (social identity and/or fashion identity) is a step towards bridging the ethical purchasing gap. This thesis is considered to make the following contributions to knowledge and theory in the domain of consumer ethical buying behaviour. First, the formulation of the conceptual model incorporating self-interest values and motives is an advancement of the existing ethical decision-making models for predicting consumer intention to purchase high-involvement ethical products. Second, this study reveals that product involvement plays a moderating role in the consumer ethical decision-making process. Finally, this study provides evidence for the mediating role of ethical obligation on the relationship between attitude and intention.

<p> Business leaders in the United States compete in a global marketplace for goods and services as well as in recruiting and retaining talented workers. The most experienced workers can usually be selective in choosing their employers. In 2000, awareness of corporate environmental issues began increasing substantially. Many prospective employees seek corporate leaders who are genuinely committed to running companies that focus on reducing negative environmental impacts. Business leaders have been increasingly using corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports to document their commitment to environmental responsibility. The purpose of this quantitative, experimental study was to examine working professionals' perceived attraction to a firm based on the level of credibility of the company's CSR report and whether any such effects differ based on employee qualification. Two hundred and eighty full time employees from two companies and members of a Department of Defense networking group completed the survey. Analysis of covariance, controlling for the effects of age and gender was used for evaluating the effects of the CSR status on attraction to a company. The results from this study indicate that an increase in credibility of a CSR report did not significantly relate to an increase in attraction to a company. In addition, the qualification level of the employee did not appear to have an influence on organizational attraction to a company that mentioned its corporate sustainability activities. This research contributes to theoretical research in organizational attraction and corporate environmental sustainability activities.</p>

<p> Many businesses are not adequately prepared for hazards and/or incidents that potentially imperil their operations. The question is why and whether independent variables associated with businesses and/or business principals are correlated to pre-incident planning; specifically, business continuity (BC) planning. Business principals from the Sacramento, California region participated in quantitative research to answer these questions through an online survey comprised of multiple choice, categorical, and Likert scale question types.</p><p> Findings from this research indicate 26% of businesses have business continuity plans (BCPs); employee safety was cited as the dominant motivating factor. Indicatively, an awareness gap was the dominant barrier for businesses without BCPs. Business size was found to be significantly (.015%) correlated to pre-incident planning; however, other demographic variables tested were inconclusive. Community resilience, intrinsically connected to economic vitality, is enhanced by safeguarding businesses from disruption and/or post-incident dissolution. Increasing BC planning benefits businesses and the communities where they operate.</p>

<p> Business survival requires that decision makers understand the critical knowledge resources that support the business' core competencies, while also facing the challenges of current labor trends. The purpose of this study was to explore the lived experiences of the management staff at a west Tennessee manufacturing facility about industrial technician skill losses. This phenomenological design included semistructured interviews of 20 managers, supervisors, and engineers and was an exploration of the potential losses from skilled worker attrition. The foundations of labor theory; knowledge management; and accounting measurements of intangible assets in advanced technology, communications, and economic systems provided the key elements of the conceptual framework. Interview data were sorted and grouped into 6 principle themes: attrition/succession planning, skills technology support, training requirements, economic benefits, support to lean operations, and skills alternative sources. These findings may enhance positive social change by informing manufacturing business leaders on the benefits of active learning organizations, collaboration with administrators of technical educational programs for improved training, replacement technologies, and utilization of the global economy for replacement workers. For skilled technical employees, the social impact of this study might ensure another generation of craft workers to help promote the prosperity of American industries and provide competitive paying worker jobs to the supportive employers, communities, and institutions.</p>

<p> As the world is rapidly advancing in technology and organizations are changing to become flatter, leaner, more efficient and more profitable it is critical for leaders and managers to keep their skills relevant to the world. In particular, outside sales managers once thought if they were outstanding performers as a sales person the next logical promotion would be to an outside sales manager. Therefore, it is vital to the success of an organization and the human capital in the organization, that leaders, in particular outside sales managers, have the necessary skills or competencies to be successful. </p><p> The purpose of this study was to explore the critical competencies needed for successful outside sales managers. The perspective of expert panelists was used in a three round Delphi study. Eighteen expert panelists looked at a comprehensive list of 172 competencies and then ranked them using a 5-point Likert scale, where 1=least important and 5=most important. </p><p> Fourteen competencies arose as critical for outside sales mangers. They are: a) managing and measuring work; b) initiative; c) determination; d) drive for results; e) clarifies expectations; f) develops others; g) builds effective teams; h) inspires and motivates others; i) manages diversity; j) depth of understanding others; k) displays high integrity and honesty; l) trust; m) ethics and values; and n) customer focus. </p><p> The findings of this research can be used by organizations in making a competency model. Competencies, such as the fourteen identified in this research have been recognized as critical to the success of an outside sales manager. This competency model is referred to as The Duet Leadership Competency Model.</p>

<p> Tourists travel all over the world to taste different types of cuisine and create memorable experiences through them. Although cuisine can be the primary reason one travels; it plays a significant role in any tourist's daily routine. While the idea of culinary tourism has been around for decades, it has received limited research attention. The existing research primarily highlights the consumer aspects, with limited focus on the trade or supply realm. The purpose of this dissertation is to present an innovative study in the culinary tourism field that develops and tests a comprehensive culinary tourism experience model from the supply sector perspective. </p><p> This dissertation includes three studies presented as potential journal articles. Chapter 1 explores a review of the current literature on culinary tourism. This chapter contains the general frameworks and models that have been proposed to date when considering culinary tourism and the theory on experience. Chapters 2 and 3 include qualitative analyses that test a proposed culinary tourism experience model through in-depth interviews from breweries and restaurant owners in Fort Collins, Colorado. The model encompasses the following 14 components: (a) learning and knowledge, (b) physical setting, (c) quality, (d) quantity, (e) service quality, (f) variety, (g) backstage access, (h) local culture, (i) senses beyond taste, (j) entertainment, (k) sustainability, (l) target market, (m) differentiation, (n) social media, and technology. The elements were selected from the results that emerged from the literature review, along with a pre-test. These elements were examined with owners and managers in terms of how the restaurants and breweries manage their operation and create a customer experience. Implications for future research and recommendations for improving this supply side approach to modeling the cuisine tourism experience are proposed.</p>

Although the extant literature has brought important insight to the study of individual users' reactions to information technology (IT), some limitations remain. Indeed, few studies theorize specifically about the IT artifact and incorporate these theories in the study of IT use. Also, the literature is dominated by an underlying assumption that acceptance of IT is favorable while resistance to IT is unfavorable. Another limitation is that this literature largely adopts a lean conceptualization of IT use and lacks a focus on the process of IT use (e.g. the process by which individuals make new uses of IT features). This dissertation tries to address these limitations and sheds light on important themes related to users' reactions to IT.Our first essay studies users' perceptions with regards to the modifications to an IT that occur after its implementation. Although these modifications potentially influence IT use and its impacts, they have hardly been studied from the end user's perspective. We propose and validate an artifact-focused measure of perceptions of IT modifications based on whether or not a user considers that the changes add new functionalities, improve existing functionalities, remove parts of the system, improve compatibility with other technologies and/or improve the system's speed and reliability. Our proposed measure contributes to studying users' reactions to IT, by focusing on the IT artifact; it also paves the way for further research on the very important and increasingly pervasive phenomenon of IT evolution.Our second essay proposes a framework that focuses on acceptance and resistance, and investigates the diverse set of IT- related behaviors and impacts that may be associated with them. It uncovers nuances obscured by the fact that these variables are generally considered separately, and in abstraction of the organizational context of use. With the concept of organizational intent, we show that resistance and employees' deviation from organizational IT use mandates sometimes benefit the organization. At the same time, acceptance and compliance with organizational IT use mandates may, at times, have adverse consequences. We also highlight scenarios under which employees and organizations can challenge these mandates to enable more favorable impacts. The last essay is an in-depth study of the process of using IT features in new ways, which we call 'enhanced use'. Based on interview data, we identify distinct patterns of enhanced use and the ways these patterns are influenced by task, user and system-related variables. We argue that the locus of innovation for enhanced use often differs according to the analyzability of the task and the type of system used. Also, the extent of substantive use involved in enhanced use depends largely on the complexity of the task at hand and on the IT-related knowledge used. Finally, our analysis suggests that the degree of task interdependencies and the type of system used are often associated with different patterns of adaptation for enacting enhanced use. Overall, we contribute a broad sketch of the interplay between the task-, IT- and knowledge-related variables that shape patterns of features adoption, use and extension after an IT is adopted.In sum, this dissertation enriches the research on users' reactions to IT. It focuses on important themes related to IT use including users' perceptions of IT changes, the impacts of different IT-related behaviors and the process of making new uses of IT features. / Bien que la littérature ait apporté des informations importantes pour l'étude des réactions des utilisateurs aux technologies de l'information (TI), des lacunes demeurent. En effet, peu de recherches théorisent spécifiquement à propos l'artefact TI pour comprendre son utilisation. En outre, la littérature est dominée par une hypothèse sous-jacente que l'acceptation des TI est favorable alors que la résistance aux TI est défavorable. De même, cette littérature adopte surtout des conceptualisations simplifiées de l'utilisation des TI et n'a pas mis l'accent sur le processus associé à cette utilisation. Cette thèse tente de combler ces lacunes et met en lumière des thèmes importants liés aux réactions des utilisateurs aux TI.Notre premier essai étudie les perceptions des utilisateurs en ce qui concerne les modifications apportées à une TI après son implantation. Bien que ces modifications puissent influencer l'utilisation des TI et ses impacts, elles n'ont guère été étudiées du point de vue de l'utilisateur. Nous proposons et validons une mesure ancrée dans une théorie de l'artefact TI qui évalue ces modifications dépendant de si l'utilisateur estime qu'elles ajoutent de nouvelles fonctionnalités, améliorent les fonctionnalités existantes, suppriment des parties du système, améliorent la compatibilité avec d'autres technologies et /ou améliorent la vitesse et la fiabilité du système. La mesure proposée contribue à l'étude des réactions des utilisateurs aux TI, en mettant l'accent sur l'artefact TI.Notre deuxième essai propose un cadre pour l'étude de l'acceptation et la résistance aux TI ainsi que sur la panoplie de comportements et d'impacts qui leur sont associés. Il met en avant des nuances voilées par le fait que ces variables sont généralement considérées séparément, en faisant abstraction du contexte organisationnel d'utilisation. Nous proposons que ces variables doivent être étudiées en relation avec les objectifs de l'organisation et des directives organisationnelles qui sont destinées à faciliter ces objectifs. En fonction de ces objectifs, nous montrons que la résistance et les dérives par rapport aux directives organisationnelles peuvent parfois profiter à l'organisation. Pareillement, l'acceptation et le respect de ces directives peuvent aussi, parfois, avoir des conséquences néfastes. Nous soulignons également les scénarios selon lesquels les employés et de l'organisation peuvent remettre en question ces directives afin de permettre des effets plus favorables.Le dernier essai propose un concept appelé "enhanced use", qui se réfère aux usages innovants qu'un utilisateur peut faire avec les fonctionnalités d'une TI. Basés sur des données d'entrevue, nous identifions des patterns distincts du "enhanced use" et les façons dont ces patterns sont influencés par la tâche, l'utilisateur et les variables liées au système. Dans l'ensemble, nous constatons qu'à la base du "enhanced use", des différences existent souvent liées à l'analysabilité de la tâche et au type de système utilisé. Notre analyse montre également que le degré de réflexion engagé pour le "enhanced use" dépend en grande partie de la complexité de la tâche à accomplir et des connaissances utilisées à cet égard. Finalement, notre analyse suggère que le degré d'interdépendance des tâches et le type de système utilisé sont souvent associés aux différents patterns d'adaptation du "enhanced use".En somme, cette thèse contribue à la recherche sur les réactions des utilisateurs de TI. Elle met l'accent sur des thèmes importants liés à l'utilisation des TI, y compris les perceptions des modifications aux TI, les impacts des différents comportements liés aux TI et le processus caractérisant les utilisations innovantes des TI.