Over the last two decades, business-to-business (b-to-b) relationships have received considerable attention through the recognition that it is possible to increase profitability through relational (exchange governed by norms of long-tern co-operation, mutual satisfaction, trust and open communication) rather than discrete (exchange that is arms-length, short-term and centred on self-interest) exchanges. One of the construct's which has received considerable attention within the b-to-b exchange process is trust. Several studies have highlighted trust as a central construct in understanding, building, maintenance and growth of business relationships. The role of trust in business exchanges between large organisations has been extensively researched and reported. However, very little research has been undertaken in terms of the impact of trust in SME relationships. The proposed research attempts to contribute towards this omission. An approach utilising a modification of Ganesan's (1994) model of retailer's and, vendor's long-tern orientation that looks at the antecedents of trust and their effect on long-term orientation is adopted. Change to the model, as suggested by Ganesan (1994), is incorporation of behavioural antecedents (relational norms) of trust. The result is a testable model that has been applied for assessing the relative impact of cognitive and behavioural trust on the upstream (supplier) and downstream (customer) long-term orientation (LTD) in SMEs when they are engaged in overall/mutual, symmetric and asymmetric exchanges. Hence the model is tested within the relational set-up that involved 8MEs and other partner organisations (i.e., SMEs and Medium-to-large organisations). The analysis conducted at three relational levels showed the following key outcomes: 1. The overall upstream and downstream analysis (where SME was involved in both symmetric and asymmetric relationships) indicates a major overlap between the proposed research findings and reported trust findings (profoundly related to large organisation studies). There was clear evidence that both cognitive and behavioural trust lead to LTO. 2. Within the symmetric (i.e., SME-to-SME) relationship analysis there was clear evidence that it was the presence of cognitive trust that led to LTO. Therefore relationships were largely driven by the credible proof (i.e., reputation and skill) of suitability. 3. In asymmetric (i.e., Small to Medium-to-large organisation) relationship analysis there was no clear evidence of either cognitive or behavioural trust being determinant of LTO. However both transaction specific investments (cognitive trust antecedent) and flexibility (behavioural trust antecedent) had a significant effect on inter-organisational trust.

The primary purpose of this thesis is to provide a causal explanation of the emergence of the UK early music labour market. The labour market for early music performers was held to have appeared in the 1970s, when the early music movement established itself as a major cultural force in the UK. It is argued that current labour market theory has been hampered in its ability to explain this phenomenon because i) it has generally taken the view that labour markets “just exist”, and ii) because existing accounts are too often founded on conflationary theorising. The only way to offer a practically adequate causal explanation of this emergent phenomenon is to adopt an approach that can account for the transformational and stratified nature of social reality. Critical realism is introduced as the philosophical “underlabourer” for this research project, with Archer's (1995) morphogenetic method representing its methodological complement. Following an immanent critique of the labour market literature, I present a re-conceptualisation of the labour market and its emergence, drawing on a critique of the entrepreneurship literature and the process of qualification. This frames the empirical research of the emergent early music labour market, involving both intensive and extensive research. The outcome of the research takes the form of an analytical historical account. The temporal and relational emergence of the UK early music labour market is shown to depend upon a range of key causal configurations (including the presence/absence of funding and training; enterprising capabilities; incubation opportunities; and re-qualification). Two underlying causal mechanisms (the tendency towards transformation and the tendency towards standardisation) are highlighted. It is argued that the retroduction of these mechanisms represents a significant contribution to knowledge with respect to our understanding of labour markets, markets in general, and the process of entrepreneurship.

The thesis addresses human resource management (HRM) strategic choice in multinational corporations (MNCs). The literature in this area is dominated by studies that are concerned with the strategy in which the practices of the "country of origin" of an MNC are adopted by their overseas subsidiaries. This "ethnocentric strategy", is mostly adopted by MNCs from countries that have a comparative competitive advantage in the world economy. The primary aim of this thesis is to investigate an opposite strategy, "localisation strategy", in which the practices of the host country are adopted by overseas subsidiaries of an MNC. The concept of localisation here is not only compliance to local constraints or utilisation of local competitive advantages but more also an approach to absorb advanced management practices from the local environment. The term "absorption localisation" is used to describe this new form. This strategy is most likely to be adopted by MNCs from the countries that are new entrants to international markets as a way to speed up their internationalization process. Theoretically, the HRM strategy adopted by subsidiaries is shaped by a MNCs overall business strategy, which reflects its position in national business systems and cultural and institutional differences from a host country. Structural contingency and managerial competency mediate the strategic choice. Structural factors facilitate certain kinds of strategic choice, but do not determine it, and leave scope for managerial competency to influence the nature of strategic choice and the extent to which the strategy is implemented. Empirically, the research involves the analyses of HRM practices in six Chinese MNCs operating in the UK to explore the nature and process of the strategic choice in these organisations. Drawing on the six case studies, it was found that "absorption localisation" has been adopted by the majority of these companies. This strategy is shaped by the demands of these MNCs internationalisation process and reflects the transformation of Chinese national business systems. It was also found that the extent and process of the strategic implementation are constrained by the characteristics of the national business system, some elements and manners of the national business systems can be observed in the HRM practices of these companies. Meanwhile, structural factors and managerial characteristics facilitate strategic choice and implementation. These findings imply, more generally, that HRM in MNCs is moving towards globalisation or convergence. However, the fact that there is diversity in the extent of localisation and clear evidence of the influence of the country of origin remains, suggests there may be limits to the convergence process.

This thesis builds on the findings from previous research, where the conventional wosodm suggests that cluster co-location and networking have a positive affect upon small firm learning and innovation. The researcher perceived the need to test the efficacy of these findings with the claimed 'new-media' cluster in the city of Brighton and Hove. A detailed analysis of the literature contributed to the development of a conceptual framework from which five propositions and 23 research questions were derived. The researcher's philosophical stance recognised the subjective nature of the social world and therefore a largely qualitative epistemology was followed. An interview instrument was designed and implemented through 17 new media owner-managers, and the findings were compiled, coded, analysed, and then compared to the previous research studies. The analysis found some evidence of new media clustering, but it was clear that some of the key characteristice were missing, namely the co-location of customers and competitors, thus forming a hybrid cluster. The networking practices of the sample new media firms were found to be limited to working with complimentary digital services suppliers and freelancers, while suppliers and key institutional agencies, although co-located, were not considered important networking partners. The paradox that arises is that customers are considered the most important networking partner but they are generally not co-located. Learning and innovation are very important to the new media sample firms, because of the need to manage discontinuous technological and market changes. The hybrid nature of the cluster, however, and the limited networking practice of the respondent firms, limits the full potential for learning and innovation to occur. In addition, factors such as firm size and limited resources also dictate that most innovation is customer-driven and of an incremental rather than a radical nature. The thesis concludes that the conceptual framework is only partially proven and using Pooper's (1964) falsification principle, the research propositions do not hold. From this, a series of recommendations are made concerning theory development, future research and professional practice, that should help enhance new media firms' ability to learn and innovate in the future.

No description available.

This study has attempted to provide a greater understanding of the use of a persuasive communication to modify behaviour in the context of a conflict. Following an extensive review of the literature relating to consumer behaviour, the author concluded that there was relatively sparse information about models from this domain that have been applied or tested in the domain of conflict resolution. The latter has provided the impetus for this thesis. In particular, this study aimed to contribute to the advancement of knowledge about forces related to the consumer behaviour and communication domain, and the specific ways that these affect the focal area of intention, in the context of a conflict. To achieve this end, this study has developed and tested an integrated model of persuasive communication in the context of a conflict. In order to meet this aim the study has employed the well-established Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) as a suitable theoretical basis for the model together with communication models from the consumer behaviour domain to develop an integrated model of persuasive communication. The study employed rigorous methodologies to operationalise and test the research constructs and found considerable support for the stability of the Ohanian (1990) source credibility scale. Data were collected in a field experiment and the principal analytical tool was Structural Equation Modelling. The model was employed to test hypotheses related to the major influences of persuasive communication identified in literature, i.e. source credibility and message variation. Overall the research makes the following theoretical contributions to the theory and practice of behaviour modification by persuasive communication: Theoretical contribution: The research has tested the boundary conditions of the TPB. The TPB has been found to represent a reliable predictive model within the context of a conflict. The structure of the model has been confirmed and a number of cross-over effects consistent with past research were identified. In addition, the research has tested the boundary conditions of the Source Credibility Model and found support for the effectiveness of an expert spokesperson in persuasive communication in the context of a conflict. Finally, the importance of external influences to the persuasive communication process has been established, in that the existence of prior beliefs about the conflict originator was shown to confound the communication effect. Managerial contributions: Despite the limitations of the study, the author considers that the research provides guidelines for practitioners who wish to create a persuasive communication to modify behavioural intention in a conflict.

The purpose of this thesis was to identify what effect the Introduction of New Public Management (NPM) in the police service has had on the role of the police sergeant supervisor. The study has investigated the role of the uniform police sergeant at five locations within the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), London, England in two stages. The main source of data was detailed face-to-face interviews with the sergeants and their accompanying role-set members. This was augmented by limited participant observation and examination of supporting organisational documents. The study discusses the results at three levels: (i) the reaction of the MPS in response to NPM; (ii) the impact of the changes within the MPS on the rote of the sergeant supervisor; and (iii) the value of role-set analysis in contextual studies. The organisational changes within the MPS followed the patterns expressed within much of the literature. The identified changes were: changes to the structure including elements of devolution; a nominal reduction in the layers of management; the lntroduction of increased accountability through performance manaqement systems; and attempts to create a new culture of service and customer focus. Interestingly the degree of control exerted from the centre on local activities appeared to have increased rather than decreased as one might expect given the ethos of NPM. This high degree of control was predominantly achieved through the use. of centralist performance measures, particularly those under the control and direction of central government. None of the literature examines the impact of NPM on the supervisor role or service delivery. The majority hypothesises on the likely impact and to a large degree this study supported those hypothesis. The impact on the role of the sergeant was found to be significant in the following respect: increased workload; increased responsibility; greater accountability; reduced autonomy; insufficient training to meet the new demands; insufficient organisational support; and reduced levels of performance. Although not a specific part of the study symptoms of stress and a high level of work absence were noted. The success in identifying the various expectations of the role-set actors and the subsequent supervisor responses vindicates the literature that proffered the use of role-set analysis in examining roles. The use of face-to-face interviews within a series of role-sets enabled the study to look at the role of the sergeant in a contextual and holistic manner. In doing so it resulted in a richness of data that could not be obtained using questionnaires. This approach was particularly suited to an ill-defined role such as that of the sergeant supervisor. In using this approach we argue that it has identified activities and influences that would not have been identified from single participant observation or discussion. It was instrumental in identifying the network effect and influence of the peer group sergeants. In a pseudo military, hierarchical, bureaucracy such as the police service one might expect the manager of the sergeant to play a major role in the definition of subordinate roles. Surprisingly this was not the case in this study. We identified that the peer group serçeants, to,gether with a lesser role played by subordinate constables, were the major determinates of the basket of activities attributed to the role of the sergeant supervisor. The findings reported here suggest that more studies of the impact of NPM on the actual service delivery are warranted. Currently the evidence points to the centralist control through performance management systems having a detrimental impact on the ability of supervisors to provide a service that meets the needs of the customer and the stated aims of NPM.

Inventors face three key problems when attempting to uncover new product inventions: vast design spaces, interconnected product elements, and uncertainty as to the payoff to a proposed product design. In order to make vast design spaces tractable, inventors rely on search heuristics. The primary objective of this thesis is to enhance our understanding of the role that search heuristics play in the inventive process for physical products. The central metaphor underlying this study is that product invention can be considered as a complex adaptive system. Invention is conceptualised as a search process, on a landscape of product possibilities, by a population of profit-seeking inventors. It is argued that a substantial component of the inventive process can be captured in an evolutionary algorithm, wherein product inventions are continually created, tested in the marketplace, and ultimately displaced by subsequent inventions. A simulation model of the process of product invention is developed using a novel synthesis of two general frameworks drawn from the literature of complex adaptive systems, Kauffman's NK model and Holland's genetic algorithm. The simulation model is used to test a series of hypotheses which examine the sensitivity of the product invention process to the search heuristics used by inventors, under varying levels of product element interconnection, and under varying levels of uncertainty regarding payoffs to proposed product inventions. The key finding of the simulation experiments is that if search heuristics are confined to those which are rooted in past experience, or to heuristics which merely generate variety, successful product invention does not occur. Successful invention only occurs when inventor's expectations as to the relative fitness of potential product inventions are incorporated into the model of invention. The simulations also demonstrate that the effectiveness of the search heuristics of inventors is robust with respect to noisy expectations as to the worth of a potential invention, and is robust with respect to conditions of technical uncertainty. The simulation results underscore the importance of formal product / project evaluation procedures in organisations, and the importance of market information when inventing new products.

<p> The analysis of big data points and the use of data analytics have proven successful in improving corporate business efficiencies, growing profits, and increasing competitive advantages. The theory of academic capitalism, which holds that institutions of higher education are becoming more like corporations due to declining operating funds and the need to become more efficient, transparent, and competitive, guided this study. Despite the positive outcomes that analytic tools may produce in advanced efficiencies and competitive growth, college academic administrators have not yet adopted these tools, due in part to barriers facing the administrators. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the nature of those barriers in a community college. Ten academic managers in 6 community college divisions who reported accountability for criterion-based key performance indicators were interviewed on their perceived use of academic analytic tools and barriers in adopting these tools. The interviews were collected and analyzed through preliminary grouping, reducing and eliminating outliers, clustering descriptions into categories, and constructing themes. The managers' narratives suggested that there were 4 perceived barriers that prevented the adoption of tools such as organizational bureaucracy (climate), restricted organizational data (policy), training, and infrastructure. An important area for further research involves identifying the strategies managers could use to overcome these barriers. The findings of this study will assist college administrators in implementing analytic tools. Such tools will improve key performance indicators, resulting in a more cohesive and cost-effective academic experience for students, faculty, administrators, and the community. </p>

This thesis examines how small players change mature organizational fields. Mature fields are characterized by stable pre-existing institutional logics, interlocked relationships between participants, and high levels of practice standardization. In this thesis, I look at the emergence, diffusion, and legitimation of new, niche practices and their embodied logic within the Canadian wine field in the past 30 years. The first phase of this thesis provides a theoretical framework of how niche practices spill over to mainstream markets in mature organizational fields. The second phase is an inductive, theory-building effort to specify how small players change mature organizational fields. Based on 49 interviews with winery representatives, industry experts, and other stakeholders in the industry, I develop theory on the endogenous and exogenous forces that facilitate the emergence, diffusion, and institutionalization of a quality standard and appellation system, the Vintners Quality Alliance (VQA), which was introduced by small players in the Ontario wine field. Within this study, I explore the strategies used by small players to diffuse their new practices, as well as how current field structures affect the institutionalization of these practices. Furthermore, I consider forces that influence the persistence of the VQA in its early institutionalization phase and its existence as one logic within the field. Finally, the third phase of my thesis includes two quantitative studies examining how entrepreneurial strategies and exogenous forces influence the diffusion of new practices and new identity symbols associated with small players within the Canadian wine industry. The insights in this thesis have important implications for theory for a number of reasons. First, I consider how small players' practices and/or identity symbols diffuse and/or become institutionalized within a mature field in a more systematic manner than that found in past literature. Second, this thesis considers the co-existence of multiple logics within a field. To date, theorists exploring institutional change have focused on the transition from one dominant logic to another within fields. Third, my thesis explores the complexities involved with institutional or symbolic isomorphic change within a mature field by considering both exogenous and entrepreneurial forces of change. / La thèse porte sur la façon dont les petits acteurs changent des champs organisationnels matures. Les champs organisationnels matures sont caractérisés par des logiques institutionnelles stables déjà existantes, des liens très étroits entre les participants et un fort niveau de normalisation des pratiques. Dans cette thèse, j'examine l'émergence, la diffusion et la légitimation de nouvelles pratiques spécialisées et de leur logique intrinsèque au sein de l'industrie vinicole du Canada au cours des 30 dernières années. La première partie de la thèse présente un cadre théorique sur la façon dont les pratiques spécialisées touchent les marchés traditionnels de champs organisationnels matures. La deuxième partie est un effort inductif théorique pour montrer en détails comment de petits acteurs institutionnels changent des champs organisationnels matures. M'appuyant sur 49 entrevues avec des représentants vinicoles, des spécialistes et autres intervenants de l'industrie, j'élabore une théorie sur les forces endogènes et exogènes qui facilitent l'émergence, la diffusion et l'institutionnalisation d'un système de norme de qualité et d'appellation, la Vintners Quality Alliance (VQA), introduit par de petits acteurs du secteur vinicole de l'Ontario. Dans cette étude, j'examine les stratégies utilisées par les petits acteurs institutionnels pour diffuser leurs nouvelles pratiques ainsi que la façon dont les structures actuelles agissent sur l'institutionnalisation de ces pratiques. En outre, j'analyse les forces qui influencent la persistance de la VQA durant sa première phase d'institutionnalisation et son existence en tant que logique institutionnalisée dans ce secteur. Enfin, la troisième partie de ma thèse présente deux études quantitatives portant sur la façon dont les stratégies d'entreprise et les forces exogènes influencent la diffusion de nouvelles pratiques et de nouveaux symboles d'identité associés aux petits acteurs de l'industrie vinicole canadienne. Ma thèse a d'importantes conséquences théoriques. Premièrement, j'examine de quelle manière les pratiques et les symboles d'identité des petits acteurs se répandent et s'institutionnalisent dans un champ organisationnel mature de façon plus systématique que ce qu'a décrit la littérature par le passé. Deuxièmement, je m'intéresse à la coexistence de multiples logiques au sein d'un champ. À ce jour, les théoriciens qui étudient le changement institutionnel ont porté leur attention sur la transition d'une logique dominante à une autre au sein des champs organisationnels. Troisièmement, j'étudie la complexité du changement isomorphique institutionnel ou symbolique dans un champ mature en examinant les forces exogènes et entrepreneuriales du changement.