This research focuses on internationalisation and e-commerce in small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), a significant part of the New Zealand economy. Based on interviews in ten SMEs, this study explores the internationalisation process and adoption of e-commerce in these enterprises. Both phenomena are examined separately to explore relevant issues, followed by consideration of the interrelationship between the two phenomena. Ten case studies of New Zealand SMEs engaged in international business were conducted. Qualitative data was collected in semi-structured interviews with key members of each SME. The interview data were supplemented with secondary data sources, including publicly available information on the firms and their activities. A within-case and cross-case analysis was performed based around the three research foci identified above. The research findings reveal that while there is a high level of confidence among the SMEs studied for internationalisation, e-commerce adoption in these firms was at a medium level of maturity. Facilitators and inhibitors of both internationalisation and e-commerce adoption are presented. A major contribution of the study is the consideration of the mutual effects between the two phenomena, in order to raise awareness of internationalisation and e-commerce in SMEs and their significance for SMEs’ competitiveness.

This research aims to add some understanding to the existing stakeholder management literature with a focus on the management of stakeholder communication. It explores how the Web can assist the management of the communication between a dairy co-operative and its farmer supplier-shareholders. An exploratory case study and semi-structured in-depth interview research design is used to collect, analyse, and present the perceptions of interview participants. This research highlights a paradox, which results from the inconsistent needs of the farmers as both suppliers and shareholders of the co-operative. A number of factors that have influenced farmer interviewees' decisions to either reject or embrace the Web are also identified. These factors are divided into two categories, those closely associated with individual characteristics, namely, perceived values, perceived self-efficacy, and awareness; and these outside the individual's control, namely, infrastructure and media conflict. These findings suggest that the Web adds flexibility to organisations' stakeholder communication strategies by offering an additional communication form. In particular, this research shows that the Web contributes to overall management of stakeholder communication through 1) increased accessibility to personalised and up-to-date information, 2) added flexibility to self-service programs, and 3) a recreated sense of 'conventional' community. Furthermore, the Web should be used as a complement to, rather than a replacement for, conventional communication forms in stakeholder communication strategies. Although the Web may not be the answer for all stakeholder communication challenges; what seems undeniable is the tremendous potential of the Web in facilitating and leveraging the management of stakeholder communication. Three considerations are proposed for organisations planning to include the Web as part of their stakeholder communication strategy: organisational needs, stakeholder characteristics, and communication media factors. Research limitations are discussed, and recommendations for further study are outlined in the conclusion.

Organisational learning has been identified as a lasting source of competitive advantage in uncertain environments. Plentiful research has highlighted that knowledge and skills and the capabilities they develop are strategic resources and that effective utilisation of these resources enhances firm innovation and performance. However, in spite of this widespread recognition, family businesses, specifically family SMEs, have not been the subject of previous research exploring the strategic impact of organisational learning on innovation and firm performance. This research, therefore, sets out a theoretical framework drawing upon organisational learning theory and innovation, and explores the strategic links between organisational learning, innovation and firm performance “within” family SMEs and “between” family and non-family SMEs. The study was undertaken in an Australian context using a sample of 222 manufacturing SMEs comprised of 104 family and 118 non-family SMEs. The data were obtained from the Business Longitudinal Survey conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics over the financial years 1995/96 - 1997/98, which provides the most recent available comprehensive longitudinal dataset of SMEs in Australia. The study involved three constructs: organisational learning, innovation and firm performance. Organisational learning was operationalised using commitment to learning, shared vision, and networking. To measure commitment to learning, three variables, employee training, management development, and comparison of performance were used. Shared vision was measured using the presence of formal planning in the firms. Networking was measured using the existence of external networks. The innovation construct was measured using product and process innovation intensity, and firm performance was measured by growth of sales and rate of return on total assets. Data were analysed using two tests: regression analysis and the Chow test. Whereas the former test was conducted to explore the direct and indirect effects of organisational learning on innovation and firm performance “within” family SMEs, the latter was conducted to compare those effects “between” family and non-family SMEs. Our “within” results, concerning the direct effects of organisational learning on innovation found that network relationships positively influenced innovation in family SMEs. With regard to the direct effects of organisational learning on performance, we found that management development and formal planning were positively linked with family SMEs’ performance. Moreover, relating to innovation and firm performance, our research concludes that innovation in family SMEs is positively linked with their performance. In the case of the indirect effect, we found that networks affect firm performance via innovation. With respect to the “between” results, we found that whereas the effects of formal planning and innovation on firm performance of family SMEs were stronger than for non-family SMEs, the effects of employee training and management development on firm performance were stronger in non-family SMEs. Concerning networks, we found a stronger effect of family SMEs’ networks on their innovation than non-family SMEs. Finally, we re-emphasised the necessity of more scholarly studies linking organisational learning with family business characteristics such as familiness, leadership, ownership, social interactions and organisational process.

Work-life balance is a dominant discourse in contemporary Western society. It has been built on a language of large organizations, hence has not been widely considered in relation to the small-medium enterprise sector. As a consequence, scant research has been conducted on the experiences of immigrant entrepreneurs and work-life balance within the small-medium enterprise sector in New Zealand, a country largely populated with migrants and small businesses which account for 96 per cent of the total enterprises. This study aims to fill this gap by firstly exploring the interpretations of the concept of work-life balance by Chinese immigrant entrepreneurs and, secondly, the main challenges they face in achieving work-life balance. This is done by drawing on literatures including those on work-life balance, small-medium enterprises, and immigrant entrepreneurship theories. Primary research was conducted using a critical interpretive approach where the researcher is an insider to the study. This philosophical and methodological approach makes it possible to give a minority group a voice to effect social change and gain further research attention. Fifteen Chinese business owners, chosen from a variety of industries within the Auckland region, participated in this study. A qualitative methodological technique and semi-structured interviews were used to collect the data for the case study on these entrepreneurs. The results indicate that the majority do not enjoy a sense of work-life balance because they take on filial obligations important for their own culture. They need to work hard to generate financial profit for the benefit of family. About half of them work more than 60 hours per week and three works longer than 70 hours weekly. The motivation for them to work in this way is to provide their family with desirable housing and to enable their children to meet higher education goals. This study challenges the applicability of the work-life balance discourse among the immigrant entrepreneurs who perceive the concept differently based on their cultural values. The results emphasise the need for business case studies from Chinese immigrant entrepreneurs and research attention on contemporary human resource topics to be given to minority groups.

In this thesis we investigate the large-scale distribution of Ly alpha forest absorption, the effect of ionizing radiation from QSOs on their surrounding intergalactic medium and the primordial abundance of deuterium. We develop a new technique for detecting structure on Mpc scales in the Ly alpha forest. This technique does not rely on identifying individual absorption lines but is rather based on the statistics of the transmitted flux. We demonstrate that the new method is significantly more sensitive to the presence of large-scale structure in the Ly alpha forest than a two-point correlation function analysis. We apply this method to 2 A resolution spectra of ten QSOs which cover the redshift range 2.2 < z < 3.4. The QSOs form a closely spaced group on the sky and are concentrated within a 1-deg^2 field. We find evidence for large-scale structure in the distribution of Ly alpha forest absorption at the > 99 per cent confidence level. Along the line of sight we find overdense Ly alpha absorption on scales of up to 1200 km s^-1. There is also strong evidence for correlated absorption across line of sight pairs separated by < 3 h^-1 Mpc. For larger separations the cross-correlation signal becomes progressively less significant. Using the same technique and dataset we confirm the existence of the proximity effect. We derive a value for the mean intensity of the extragalactic background radiation at the Lyman limit of J = (3.6^+3.5_-1.3) x 10^-22 ergs s^-1 cm^-2 Hz^-1 sr^-1. This value assumes that QSO redshifts measured from high ionization lines differ from the true systemic redshifts by Delta v = 800 km s^-1. Allowing for known QSO variability we find evidence at a level of 2.1 sigma that the significance of the proximity effect is correlated with QSO Lyman limit luminosity. From the complete sample we find no evidence for the existence of a foreground proximity effect, implying either that J > 20 x 10^-22 ergs s^-1 cm^-2 Hz^-1 sr^-1 or that QSOs emit at least a factor of 1.4 less ionizing radiation in the plane of the sky than along the line of sight to Earth. We do, however, find one counter-example where a foreground QSO apparently depletes the absorbing gas in four surrounding lines of sight. We discuss the feasibility of pre-selecting absorption systems from low resolution data for a measurement of the primordial deuterium abundance. We present a new, low resolution spectroscopic survey of 101 high redshift QSOs aimed at identifying candidate D/H systems. We further present an echelle spectrum of a Lyman limit system at z = 2.917. We find that this system is most likely heavily contaminated and does not yield an interesting limit on D/H.

In today’s technological environment, organizational capabilities for managing change are regarded as important for business survival and growth. In particular, dynamic organizational capabilities have attracted considerable research interest over the past decade. Recently several studies have suggested that dynamic capabilities may be associated with a concept termed organizational fitness. What is not clear in this emerging research stream is whether firms with superior organizational fitness are more likely to prosper than unfit firms. In addition, relatively little attention has been directed toward creating a systemic model of dynamic capabilities that explains organizational fitness. The nature of fitness has been intensively debated in the biological sciences over a period of several decades. A confusing variety of fitness definitions have emerged from this literature. The lack of an agreed definition of fitness has resulted in several streams of research on organizational fitness. As a result of this fragmentation, there has been little progress toward answering the question of how to measure organizational fitness. The fragmentation in organizational fitness literature is problematic, because research into the relationship between organizational fitness and firm performance is not well-advanced. In this study, organizational fitness is defined in terms of organizational capability to produce variation. By defining fitness in this way, the tautological criticisms leveled against existing concepts of fitness are avoided. The definition of fitness proposed here accommodates both an evolutionary learning perspective and a perspective of strategic management, and thus reflects an integrative approach to the concept. A notable feature of the literature exploring organizational fitness is that it has been focused on large corporations. However, a growing body of literature suggests that SMEs are different from large firms and need to be examined in their own right. SMEs are important contributors to business in most countries throughout the world. This study addresses that perceived gap in the literature and asks: What relationship, if any, is there between organizational fitness and business performance for SMEs? Theory is developed and tested here by means of a large sample of SMEs in New Zealand. Two distinct aspects of organizational fitness are identified for SMEs. First, survival fitness is associated with generic combinative capabilities. Second, growth fitness is associated with knowledge assimilation and transformation. SME growth fitness and survival fitness are each found to be positively related to business performance under a variety of contexts. Further, an increase of growth fitness and survival fitness provides a means of alleviating selection pressures for SMEs. That is, dynamic capabilities of knowledge assimilation and integration are found to be positively associated with SME business performance. In contrast to studies that advocate SME development of context-dependent capabilities, the findings of this study suggest an alternative perspective: variable selection pressures can be influenced by SMEs with a high level of survival and growth fitness.

In the last decade, the ever increasing pressure of competition faced by businesses has led to the development of Customer Relationship Management (CRM). In short, CRM is the practice of integrating all aspects of business functions for dealing with customers, with the assistance of technology, and with the intention of boosting company profitability. CRM has been widely promoted as a critical contributor to business survival. However, the high failure rate of CRM projects has also attracted research attention and many factors have been discussed as contributing to the success or failure of CRM implementation. This research argues that CRM is not simply a software package or a computer program. CRM, instead, should be perceived as a strategic issue in order to realize its potential. In addition, this study also argues that CRM implementation is affected by organizational, strategic and cultural factors. In particular, this study was conducted within the context of Chinese small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs), with company size and culture as two major focuses in this study. SMEs were chosen as this segment has been overlooked in CRM study, yet it represents a great potential for growth in CRM adoption. Chinese culture was chosen as most of CRM studies have been conducted within a western cultural background. The Chinese culture has distinctive characteristics different from western culture, and this has strong influences on business operations. A quantitative method was adopted for this study and a mailed survey was used to collect data to examine the relevance of these factors within this context. Research participants were recruited using a systematic sampling technique through a comprehensive Chinese business directory. Results suggest that there are positive associations between a company’s CRM implementation and its practice of organizational, strategic, and cultural issues. In particular, four organizational issues – organizational integration, executive commitment, system readiness, and resource availability; three strategic issues – vision, planning, and customer-centric culture; and one cultural issue – networking, have an impact on a company’s CRM implementation.

There are two inter-related parts to the hypothesis explored in this research. The first is that it is significant to employ fabric as a medium in a fine art context, and the second aspect argues that female artists who choose fabric as their medium should be recognised as 'artists' rather than as crafts practitioners. I propose that in choosing fabric as a medium and sewing as my method of making art, I am working within the framework of contemporary fine art practice. In his essay 'To Cut is to Think' Germano Celant succinctly described the 'cut' made by artists who choose cutting as their process: The cut of the scissor is like the click of a camera or the whirr of a movie camera, like a stroke of the pencil or paintbrush: all these acts decisively isolate a form or representation, marking a surface that generates a reality. The cut puts an end to the traditional representation of the image, dissolving it and then restoring it as a testimony to the artist's vision and understanding. In this light, the cut confers meaning, and its use unites artists, photographers, designers and tailors, who cut their visions from the magma of their materials, whether these be colour or bronze, fabric or film, metal or wool, wood or canvas (1996, p. 31). My own use of the cut, as the bespoke tailor, reinterpreted fabric as paint and utilized pinstriped fabric as a visual metaphor for relationships of power, pink satin as a symbol of the female inclusion and Frank Stella's Black Paintings as a tool to position my work. Therefore, I would claim that I am working towards a conceptual repositioning of fabric as a medium in fine art.

It is widely accepted that low energy consumption is the most important requirement when designing components and systems for a wireless sensor network (WSN). The greatest energy consumer of each node within a WSN is the radio transceiver and as such, it is important that this component be used in an extremely energy e±cient manner. One method of reducing the amount of energy consumed by the radio transceiver is to turn it off and allow nodes to enter a sleep mode. The algorithms that directly control the radio transceiver are traditionally grouped into the Medium Access Control (MAC) layer of a communication protocol stack. This thesis introduces the emerging field of wireless sensor networks and outlines the requirements of a MAC protocol for such a network. Current MAC protocols are reviewed in detail with a focus on how they utilize this energy saving sleep mode as well as performance problems that they suffer from. A proposed new method of coordinating the use of this sleep mode between nodes in the network is specifed and described. The proposed new protocol is analytically compared with existing protocols as well as with some fundamental performance limits. The thesis concludes with an analysis of the results as well as some recommendations for future work.

The aim of this research was to discover the issues influencing the adoption of e-commerce by small and medium business enterprises (SMEs) in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). The demand aspect of the theory of diffusion of innovation enabled the formulation of a number of research propositions which formed the focus for this research. Seventy-five randomly-selected SMEs within the ACT were interviewed. Of these seventy five, fifty had adopted e-commerce and twenty-five had not. Findings complemented results from other studies, but also added to them. Factors from the demand aspect of the theory of time, resources (personnel, financial, technological), business organisation, size, return on investment, push by outside agencies or clients, and communication channels were found to be of little importance. Of greater importance were characteristics of the SME operators themselves (such as their innovativeness, their relative youth and educational level), the size of their business, the number of years it had been operating, and marketing issues. A prime consideration was that of attaining and maintaining a competitive edge over their competitors. Security and privacy issues were of little consideration prior to the adoption process, but became of much greater importance once SMEs had adopted e-commerce. Some things discovered by this research that have not appeared in the reporting of other studies included: � The importance of tertiary education for the primary decision-makers in the organisation; � The role banks played in the adoption process; � The high cost and difficulty of compliance with government regulations, especially regarding the employment of staff; and � The lack of use of specifically established communication channels, set up by government bodies or associated industry organisations to educate and inform SMEs about the potential and process of e-commerce. Results of this research have implications for a large number of associated stakeholders � government, educational institutions, and trade, industry and professional associations � and as such deserve to be widely disseminated.