Free education has been attempted since Bermuda’s 17th century settlement. This thesis examines government’s role in education and establishment of schools by government and religious societies. Early education taught slaves about salvation, frightened whites, and threatened established authority. Christianity made blacks aware of freedom. By the 1940s, black scholars pushed for equality and focused concern for students denied education with their intellectual peers. Intelligence tests determined entrance to secondary school. Whites were relinquishing public education to blacks and were resistant to black’s aspirations. Integration was thrust to the forefront. In the 1980s, the secondary entrance exam was denounced for young black males and as promoting a drug culture. In 1987, the government restructured with integration as a fiscal necessity and a failed social-political exercise. Outside consultants guided the changes in ways less than suitable to Bermuda’s circumstance. A large single secondary school was created that has been viewed as promoting private education more than anything in Bermuda’s history.¹

This research focuses on developing a framework for Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax) technology adoption by Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). WiMax has emerged as a technology to overcome the limitations of traditional and existing broadband technologies and support a great number of organisations and consumers/citizens in providing a higher speed over substantial distances i.e. in areas that are difficult for wired infrastructure to reach. Despite all the interest in the types of broadband adoption as demonstrated by SMEs in several countries, there seems to be slow progress and lack of information supporting the decision making process for WiMax technology adoption by SMEs specifically in the context of KSA. This may illustrate that SMEs adopt WiMax technology solutions at a slower pace and make them characterised as laggards in terms of new technologies adoption. This research takes into consideration this literature gap and makes a step forward and investigates on WiMax technology adoption by SMEs in KSA with an organisational cultural view, vendors’ commercialisation strategies and government policies by analysing the normative literature related to this research. The data collection of this study was carried out in two phases including quantitative and qualitative approaches. The first phase of the research provided results indicated that, the Saudi SMEs who participated in this research are strongly dominated by clan culture and adhocracy culture. These cultures also have a positive impact on the Internet technologies adoption such as WiMax by SMEs. It is found that, the combination of clan and adhocracy cultures in Saudi SMEs is making them more likely to adopt latest Internet technologies. In the second phase, the results showed a wide difference in views among SMEs, WiMax vendors and government agencies involved in WiMax technology diffusion to SMEs in Saudi Arabia. Although WiMax technology started as an innovation that has the potential to be disruptive and could replace the widely diffused fixed wire line Internet connection, the research findings showed an interesting deviation from this path. In particular, the WiMax technology market analysis in Saudi Arabia highlighted the vendors’ tendency to treat WiMax technology as a sustaining innovation. Research findings also indicated that, the Saudi government provided funds for Information and Communications Technology‘s diffusion in the country. However, the level of awareness displayed by SMEs is persistently low. Knowledge deployment, mobilisation, innovation directive and subsidy have been emphasised by SMEs as the most important government interventions that might have an impact on WiMax adoption by them. Finally, further important issues have been uncovered by the research such as taxation, experience exchange, herd culture/bandwagon, consumer right protection and customer service in relation to the adoption of WiMax by SMEs. The perceived future prospect of these additional issues has been considered as an influence on adoption of WiMax technology by SMEs. The findings of this research can be useful to guide analysts and researchers in determining critical aspects of the complex issues involved in technologies adoption, and lead to suggestions for further valid research.

The business network that is linked to flexibility, aggressiveness and strategy has become increasingly important in recent years. Several studies suggest that such networks potentially have a profound impact on firm performance, including Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs). The role of SMEs in enhancing global and local economic growth is undeniable, particularly in the context of developing countries such as Malaysia. Although numerous researches have been conducted in this field, the majority of them limit their focus to the relationship between firm capabilities (i.e. innovation and dynamic capabilities) and firm performance in specific industries. Research on the synergy impact of business networks, innovation and dynamic capabilities on SME performance remains scarce. This has become a significant gap, which this research seeks to address. This research investigates the roles of dynamic capabilities and innovation capabilities as a moderator and mediator in the relationship between business networks and firm performance, based on the model developed from the concepts of the Resource Base View (RBV) and Dynamic Capability (DC) theories. The model was justified through the Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) technique using AMOS version 23. Taking Malaysia as a research context, the model was tested against a total of 463 SMEs across different industries and categories (i.e. micro, small, and medium SMEs) through face-to-face surveys with 130 owners, 41 CEOs, 79 managers and 213 executives. This study presents five important findings: (1) there exists no direct relationship between business network and firm performance; (2) there exists a direct relationship between innovation, dynamic capabilities and firm performance; (3) the existence of the relationship between business network and firm performance is conditioned by innovation capabilities; (4) dynamic capabilities do not moderate the relationship between business network and firm performance; however (5) dynamic capabilities moderate the relationship between business networks and innovation capabilities. To conclude, the synergy of business networks, innovation capabilities and dynamic capabilities will significantly affect SME performance. This implies that SME performance will not be affected by the business network, as a single variable. The research offers three key contributions. Firstly, it enhances our understanding of the important synergies between business networks, innovation capabilities and dynamic capabilities in elevating SME firm performance. Second, the findings provide a new perspective on how the application of RBV and DC theories can be used as a conceptual lens to analyse the factors affecting SME performance. Lastly, the result signposts practical approaches for SME decision-makers by providing assistance to boost firm performance.

Diss. Uppsala : Sveriges lantbruksuniv., 2003.

This thesis investigate the role of entrepreneurship in the education sector of rural areas inIndia. The goal of this research is to elaborate on the needs of entrepreneurs in rural areas ofIndia where educational facilities and resources are inadequate for the upliftment ofeducation. The research focuses on the obstacles experienced by entrepreneurs in theeducation sector in rural areas and how they can be overcome. The study scrutinizes theimpact of entrepreneurship on education outcomes in rural India. To accomplish the aim, thestudy is based on a blended technique approach, which involves drawing upon survey datafrom the Ministry of Education India, Ministry of Rural Development, India, Ministry ofSkill Development and Entrepreneurship, India, a survey floated to an international andnational crowd, as well as individual interviews with people working in rural India and theeducation sector. The research is particularly relevant given the developing requirement ofquality education in rural areas of India, and the role that entrepreneurs can play in deliveringinnovative solutions to address this need. In the end, this thesis contributes to how we mightinterpret the potential for entrepreneurship to drive positive change in the education sector inrural India.

經濟發展的動力來自於資本的累積及技術進步。經濟學家熊彼得 (J. A. Schumpeter) 認為技術進步是經濟發展的原動力，梭羅 ( Robert M. Solow)指出：一國的經濟成長，「質」的增加比「量」更重要，而質的增 加便需依賴技術水準的提高。一般而言，技術發展為一國經濟發展最重要 的因素。而新技術的獲取與創新之間的聯繫可分成兩類，一者是透過本國 研究發展活動，由「內部」實現創新；另一類為透過技術移轉，由「外部 」實現創新 臺灣在缺乏自然資源的情況下，技術的引進及自行開發有其 絕對的必要性。近年來我國企業面對國際競爭的衝擊下，對技術的需求更 加迫切，有限的自行研究開發，在時效上不足以應付市場的需求，而依據 先進國家經驗，在高經濟成長期，技術引進可補開發之不足，不僅減少不 必要的人力、財力浪費，更能加速提昇技術層次，分享先進國家的成果。 為突破技術瓶頸，技術移轉之問題顯得日益重要。 就學理言，一般對 技術移轉所探討的主題，包括：一. 技術移轉對特殊產業所作貢獻之實證 研究。二. 技術移轉契約之制定、研究。三. 多國籍企業之技術移轉策略 。四. 國際技術移轉方式的探討。 其中對本國政府在技術移轉過程中 所扮演的角色及技術移轉體制很少探討，因此本文嚐試以政府在技術移轉 中所扮演的角色、本國技術移轉之過程、相關法規加以探討，，研究目的 如下：一．嚐試著對我國現行有關技術移轉法規及週邊制度做一探討。二 ．討論我國現今法規之適用性及相關建議。三．針對日本技術移轉的過程 及經驗作一介紹。四．以日本成功之經驗，針對國內技術移轉的限制，及 技術移轉的過程中之瑕庛，提出改進之道及建議。經由本文的整理，可對 我國現行體制有一了解，同時藉由日本的經驗對我國提出建議。

20世紀初期，以新城建設為特徵的發展形式對大陸地區的農地資源造成極大破壞，在經歷了「空間大躍進」的失敗之後，都市更新成為大陸地區新時期城市建設的的重點方向。台灣地區之都市更新事業早在日治時期就已起步，1998年《都市更新條例》頒布以來已具備完善的制度架構以及豐富的實施經驗。在相似的文化背景之下，作為都市更新的先行者，台灣地區是否能夠給尚處於起步階段的大陸地區提供借鏡意義，大陸地區又能否後來居上為台灣地區的都更困境提供良方？這便是本研究所要探討的課題。 本研究從法令政策及實施效果兩個面向切入，以制度面與執行面對兩岸之都市更新政策與方法進行比較分析。法令政策方面，通過台灣地區都市更新制度以及大陸地區土地產權制度變遷過程之梳理，釐清當前兩岸都市更新的基本流程。本研究認為兩岸都更流程雖然在某些細節存在差別，但總體來說仍十分相似。實施效果方面，本研究選取台北市、上海市以及深圳市三個城市之案例進行分析。在相似的都市更新流程下，兩岸在具體案例的實施過程則表現出政府角色的差異，形成了台灣地區民間主導更新、大陸地區政府主導更新的局面，而這也是兩岸都市更新的主要差異。 本研究認為，土地產權制度的差異是造成兩岸都市更新中政府角色不同的主要原因。換言之，台灣地區土地私有制使得民間成為都市更新的主導者；相對地，大陸地區土地公有制下的土地財政則使得地方政府主導了都市更新。在產權差異的大背景下，兩岸都更在操作方法上並無足夠的相互借鏡意義，因此本研究僅從更新理念上對兩岸之都更事業提出了一定的建議。

Many of the countries all over the world, with different experiences, own state-owned enterprises (SOEs). Even though these enterprises are useful socioeconomic policy instruments, evidence from most of these countries shows that these enterprises do not fulfil their mandates, especially when wholly owned, and in developing and corrupt countries. As a result, owning SOEs has become a trend rather than a means to an end. Several models, from privatisation, then back to renationalisation, have been attempted in mitigating the numerous problems of these enterprises. These models did not mitigate the problems of SOEs as they were, in summary, mere models backed by powerful advocates and favoured by the turn of socio-political and economic cycles at that time. However, irrespective of the numerous problems of SOEs, these enterprises can still be useful socioeconomic policy instruments now, as in the past. Using multiphase exploratory mixed methods, this thesis explores ways of mitigating the problems of SOEs by developing a best practice structural corporate governance model that takes into account various aspects of corporate governance of SOEs. In this context, the empirical part of this study was conducted in three phases. The first phase analyses the contents of relevant enterprises’ documents. The second phase analyses survey responses from purposively selected expert respondents from sample SOEs. The third phase analyses interviews from purposively selected expert participants from sample SOEs. Thus, this thesis determined the problems of SOEs, detailed the problem implications, identified contingent areas of the models considered vis a vis problems explored, extended the role of government, developed a conceptual framework, established useful models for organising and owning SOEs as a way of mitigating the identified problems, analysed the thesis statement and thesis propositions and developed a structural corporate governance model for SOEs. The study found that the holding company model, both wholly and partly owned, appears to be better in mitigating corporate governance problems of SOEs, compared with the traditional wholly and partly owned models, with the partly owned model of the holding company model a better model compared with the other models. Thus, this thesis harnesses the stages detailed above into contributing to the field of scholarly knowledge by harnessing the stages described into developing a structural corporate governance model that takes into account relevant aspects of corporate governance of SOEs and related enterprises. Following this, this thesis proposes that, in addition to emulating the developed model, establishing a supervisory board that constitutes representatives from public and private role players, as well as other external assurance providers and regulatory inspectors is key in mitigating problems of SOEs, especially in developing countries. This thesis contributes to the field of scholarly knowledge by synthesising disjointed literature on public entrepreneurship, developing and demonstrating a theoretical comparative sampling method, extending the role of government, theoretically developing a conceptual framework, dimensional theory, as well as developing a structural corporate governance model. / Business Management / D. Phil. (Accounting Sciences)