The thesis conveys three discrete, yet interconnected, studies embracing issues revolving around the exploration of integrated reporting adoption and embeddedness using an institutional theory lens. Integrated reporting can be described as ‘a holistic and integrated representation of the company’s performance in terms of both its finance and its sustainability’ (King III, 2009, p. 54). The first study explores the mimetic, normative and regulative institutional factors, at both an organisational field (meso) and country (macro) levels, affecting the adoption of integrated reporting. Moreover, it provides a portrayal for the adoption of the new practice among corporations. The study uses a relatively large sample driven from the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) report list and tests it empirically using panel data from 2002- 2010. The second study develops a measure to capture sustainability embeddedness in corporate reports and uses the measure to explore and describe sustainability embeddedness in the integrated reports. Additionally, indicators on sustainability embeddedness in the de facto GRI guidelines are highlighted in comparison to the measure developed. Finally, the third study explores the determinants of sustainability embeddedness in integrated reports using a decoupling lens. More specifically, the study examines the effects of integrated reporting age (as a proxy for early and late adoption), the level of reporting of GRI sustainability guidelines (GRI application level), report assurance and corporate governance on sustainability embeddedness in integrated reports. The study finds that the application of integrated reporting emerged in 2001 amongst only a few corporations in Europe and South America, and was spread among all continents by 2010. While mimetic and normative factors at a meso level were significantly related to integrated reporting adoption, regulative and normative factors at a macro level were found to be of limited association with integrated reporting adoption. Interestingly, corporate size, a firm characteristic control variable, was found to be negatively associated with IR adoption. Exploring sustainability embeddedness in integrated reports in the second study reveals that on average integrated reporters covered 54.4% of the indicators on sustainability embeddedness on the constructed index. Integrated reporters were found to show that sustainability is embedded in some aspects as stakeholder dialogue, executive members’ commitment to sustainability and developing measures to report on various environmental impacts. Conversely, integrated reporters conducting business as usual and prioritised financial aspects in others aspects as remuneration, promotion and appraisal, employee sustainability engagement and investor dialogue regarding sustainability. The results also show that there are great discrepancies in the levels of sustainability embeddedness coverage between integrated reporters. Sustainability embeddedness scores were found to decline, especially in the most recent years of adoption. Regression results in the third study did not find evidence that early adopters of integrated reporting had significantly higher sustainability embeddedness than later adopters. Additionally, corporate governance mechanisms were also unable to explain sustainability embeddedness scores, with the exception of the positive association between corporate two-tier boards and sustainability embeddedness. Embedding sustainability was found to be mainly associated with GRI application level. There was limited evidence to suggest that integrated reporters providing assurance for their reports had higher sustainability embeddedness scores. The studies, taken together, contribute to the body of literature on CSR adoption in general and the adoption of integrated reporting and its practices in particular. The studies also provide contribution and implications by testing institutional theory in a new context.

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.

No description available.

Background:          The growing number of electric vehicles gives rise to a whole new reverse supply chain. Once the electric vehicle batteries reach their end-of-life, societal and governmental pressure forces automotive manufacturers to set up a network for disposing the hazardous batteries. Although, the volumes of returned batteries remain low, volumes will increase in upcoming years. Current networks and processes related to the return flow of electric vehicle batteries are not well established, nor well defined. Thus, creating an urgency to develop efficient collection networks.   Purpose:                  The purpose of this study is to investigate how reverse logistics networks are currently set up and to provide an overview of how the different actors and processes are connected. In addition, this thesis aims to identify challenges encountered by logistics providers and recyclers. By doing so, we hope to contribute to the research gap of which factors that constitutes a bottleneck for further development of the reverse logistics chain of electric vehicle batteries.   Method:                  The thesis conducts an interview study and is qualitative in nature. Semi-structured interviews generated empirical data, which was analysed through cross-case analysis incorporating a thematic analysis. Through this analysis we were able to achieve new theoretical understandings in connection to institutional theory.   Conclusion:             Through empirical findings a detailed framework of the reverse logistics chain of EVBs is portrayed. Furthermore, different challenges span over the processes illustrated in the framework. This presents an overview which is not found in current literature and extends current research on this topic.

Thesis advisor: Marilyn Cochran-Smith / A new phenomenon in teacher education, referred to as new graduate schools of education, or nGSEs (Cochran-Smith, et al., 2016), is gaining traction in the U.S. Profoundly different in program structures and arrangements from most university programs, these non-university affiliated teacher education programs have emerged during the current era of standards- and accountability-based reform. However, limited empirical research has examined how nGSEs conceptualize and enact teaching and learning and how these programs might signal a shift in the field of teacher education. This dissertation attempts to address this empirical lacuna through an in-depth qualitative case study of the first such program, located within High Tech High (HTH), a charter school network. The purpose of this study is to understand the HTH program’s core beliefs and behaviors, as well as the organization’s relationship with its institutional environment (i.e. the broader educational policy, funding, and field-level contexts). Utilizing institutional analysis and sensemaking theory, I argue that teacher education programming at HTH drew on a core logic of constructivism, which informed the school’s instructional work of teaching and learning and its organizational design. Through this constructivist approach, teacher education faculty and students were able to “practice with theory,” bridging the theory-practice dichotomy and informing a relational and actionable conception of knowledge. Finally, HTH took an active stance towards its institutional environment, developing organizational networks to both retain organizational fidelity to its mission and also enact change in accordance with this mission. My analysis has implications for teacher education, organizational analysis, and education policy. Because constructivism dually informed instruction and organizational structures, HTH offers new possibilities for the design of education organizations. The centrality of constructivist logics allowed for both remarkable consistency in values, beliefs, and goals across the organization as well as considerable agency for individual actors. The agency of HTH personnel, paired with the program’s “active stance” towards environmental forces, such as funders and field-level partners, informed how education leaders’ design choices simultaneously supported individual agency and organizational mission as well as ground-up approaches to change. Lastly, the case of HTH indicates that the nGSE phenomenon models new organizational approaches to teacher education, which can challenge and expand the ways in which we understand teaching and learning for educators. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2019. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Teacher Education, Special Education, Curriculum and Instruction.

O desenvolvimento econômico, social e tecnológico de um país está intimamente ligado ao seu sistema de formação de recursos humanos qualificados, em particular, às políticas de pesquisa e desenvolvimento e aos sistemas de pós-graduação Stricto Sensu. Nestes a pesquisa constitui a base sustentável do desenvolvimento, especialmente na esfera de construção das contemporâneas sociedades do conhecimento. Assim, este estudo buscou analisar os programas de pós-graduação da Faculdade de Medicina da USP/RP - FMRP que, segundo os critérios adotados na avaliação do último triênio 2001-2003 (CAPES, 2005), alcançou, pelo conjunto de dezesseis programas - nota média próxima a seis - com reduzida dispersão relativa. O estudo de tal desempenho sugere ser este fruto de um consórcio de variáveis que compõem o cenário de excelência conquistado. Além da qualidade dos quadros, dos recursos materiais e financeiros adequados, da interlocução intensa e extensiva no âmbito da comunidade científica específica, um aspecto importante, e por vezes relegado, repousa sobre o fenômeno institucional e organizacional que sustenta as estruturas e os fluxos do sistema. O êxito dos programas de pós-graduação não está, todavia, relacionado somente com as variáveis quantitativas (número de docentes, produção bibliográfica, número de orientados por docente etc.), mas também pela maneira como são organizados e geridos. Neste sentido foi realizada, uma pesquisa qualitativa, de caráter exploratório-descritivo, no qual se pretendeu estudar como os padrões institucionais (normativo, regulativo e cultural-cognitivo) dos programas de Pós-Graduação Stricto Sensu da Faculdade de Medicina da USP de Ribeirão Preto influenciam nos conceitos obtidos na avaliação trienal CAPES. Especificamente, à luz da Teoria Institucional, foram analisados os regimentos e normas da USP, da Pós-Graduação da USP e da FMRP/USP, bem como as normas internas dos programas. Além disso, foram realizadas entrevistas em profundidade com quinze coordenadores de programas de Pós-Graduação da FMRP/USP. Verificou-se, no esforço sistemático de análise, que há significativa relação entre os conceitos obtidos nas avaliações trienais e as escolhas institucionais dos programas avaliados. / The economical, social and technological development of a country depends directly on its qualified human resources formation system, more specifically, research and development policies and Stricto Sensu postgraduate system. The research constitutes the basis of the sustainable development on those subjects, especially in the construction of the contemporary knowledge societies. Thus, this study aimed to analyze the postgraduate programs of the Medicine School at USP/RP that, according to the criteria adopted in the last triennial 2001-2003 (CAPES, 2005), reached by a set of sixteen programs - average grade next to six marks-, with reduced relative dispersion. The study of such performance suggests this is due to the set of variables that compose the excellence scenario achieved. Ahead of the employees\' quality, the adequate financial and material resources, the intensive and extensive inter relation with the specific scientific community; an important aspect sometimes dismissed lies on the organization and institutional phenomena that supports the system structure and flows. The postgraduate programs success isn\'t, however, related to the quantitative variables (professors number, bibliographical production, number of guided pupil per teacher etc), but also by the way they are organized and managed. For this purpose, it was developed a qualitative research, of exploratory descriptive character, in which it was intended to study how the institutional standards (normative, regulative and culturalcognitive) of the Stricto Sensu postgraduate programs of the Medicine School at USP/RP influence on the concepts obtained in the triennial evaluation CAPES. Specifically, based on institutional theory, it was analyzed the regiments and norms of USP, USP Postgraduate and Medicine School at USP/RP, as well as the internal management rules of its programs. Also, it was realized deep interviews with fifteen managers of Postgraduate programs. It was verified, in the systematic effort of analysis that a significant relation between the concepts exists, obtained in the triennial evaluations and the institutional choices of the evaluated programs.

O ambiente de gerenciamento de projetos com o envolvimento de múltiplos atores, no âmbito da administração pública, mostra-se muitas vezes confuso, com sobreposição de papéis, transformando-se num espaço de disputa de múltiplos interesses. Este trabalho analisa o ambiente de projetos da Codevasf sob a ótica da teoria institucional e do conceito de campo organizacional como arena funcionalmente específica, e relaciona a configuração do campo com alterações estruturais da organização. Para tanto, foi selecionado como recorte o projeto de revitalização da bacia hidrográfica do rio São Francisco, onde foi feito o mapeamento do campo organizacional, considerando os atores envolvidos direta e indiretamente no projeto. Em seguida, foi analisada a influência do campo organizacional desse projeto específico na estrutura organizacional da Codevasf. Foi realizada uma pesquisa de natureza qualitativa, com uso da estratégia do estudo de caso, utilizando-se de pesquisa bibliográfica, documental e de campo, onde a coleta de dados se deu por meio dos instrumentos de análise documental, observação e entrevistas. Os resultados da pesquisa indicam vetores de conflito, cooperação e dependência dentro do campo organizacional, cujo desenho impacta a estrutura formal e informal da Codevasf / The project management environment where many participants coexist within the public administration, is often confused, with overlapping roles, becoming a space of dispute of multiples interests. This work analyzes Codevasf\'s project environment from the perspective of institutional theory and the concept of organizational field as a functionally specific arena, and relates the configuration of the field with structure changes of the organization. In order to develop the analysis, the project to revitalize the São Francisco river basin was selected as a cut-off, where the organizational field was drawn, considering the actors involved directly and indirectly in the project. Next, the influence of the organizational field of this specific project on the organizational structure of Codevasf was analyzed. The nature of research was qualitative, using the case study strategy, using bibliographical, documentary and field research, where data collection was done through documental analysis tools, observation and interviews. The results of the research indicate vectors of conflict, cooperation and dependence within the organizational field, whose design impacts the formal and informal structure of Codevasf

No atual ambiente corporativo, a implementação de mudanças organizacionais tornou-se um fato freqüente. Nesse processo de mudanças, o discurso organizacional presente nos textos produzidos pela alta administração, que constituem o discurso formal, acaba expressando pensamentos nem sempre aceitos sem questionamentos por todos os gestores da organização, dificultando o processo de mudança. A presença de discursos menos coerentes ou de discursos que competem com o discurso organizacional pode dificultar ou mesmo comprometer a eficácia do processo de mudança. Esta tese defende que, na ocorrência de um processo de mudança da Contabilidade Gerencial numa organização, o discurso influencia os níveis de institucionalização de novos conceitos que se desejam implementados. Para realizar o estudo a respeito dessa influência, utilizou-se de uma abordagem da Teoria Institucional, sob o enfoque da Velha Economia Institucional, usando-se como arcabouço teórico o modelo proposto por Burns e Scapens (2000), com ênfase nos estágios de codificação e institucionalização, bem como o modelo discursivo de institucionalização proposto por Phillips et al. (2004). O método de pesquisa aplicado foi o estudo de caso único, realizado na Caixa Econômica Federal, uma instituição financeira pública de grande porte que realiza simultaneamente atividades de natureza social (como uma agência governamental de fomento e administração exclusiva de fundos) e de natureza econômica (como um banco comercial que compete com outras instituições no mercado financeiro), a qual passou recentemente por um processo de mudanças profundas em sua Contabilidade Gerencial. Por meio da análise documental, seguida da realização de entrevistas com gestores da administração central e da análise do discurso, foi possível detectar a coexistência de dois discursos na organização: discurso social e discurso econômico. Posteriormente, foram aplicados questionários aos gestores das agências e gestores de produtos, usuários do Sistema de Contabilidade Gerencial, obtendo-se 4.259 respostas, no intuito de se verificar a ocorrência de associações entre os discursos e os níveis de institucionalização dos novos conceitos implementados na mudança. Os dados coletados foram objeto dos seguintes tratamentos estatísticos: estatística descritiva, Análise da Variância (ANOVA), Análise de Homogeneidade (Homals) e Análise de Correspondência (ANACOR). Verificou-se que há uma associação positiva entre a concordância com os conceitos de Contabilidade Gerencial e a concordância com o discurso econômico. Os indivíduos classificados como mais aderentes ao discurso econômico encontram-se associados positivamente entre um nível de institucionalização forte e médio, enquanto os indivíduos classificados como aderentes ao discurso social apresentaram associação positiva com o nível de institucionalização fraco. Dessa forma, os resultados sugerem que há influência do discurso no processo de institucionalização de conceitos de Contabilidade Gerencial, corroborando as proposições de Phillips et al. (2004), de que uma maior coerência entre discursos e conceitos presentes em textos tende a produzir instituições mais fortes e a existência de competição, entre dois discursos, pode dificultar um processo de mudança conceitual. À luz desses resultados, infere-se que o discurso, quando inserido em um processo de mudança conceitual, deva ser estruturado de acordo com as características e com o repertório de crenças de seu público-alvo, o que poderá provocar uma união coerente entre o exercício da linguagem e a prática operacional, possibilitando a transformação do campo institucional para o campo de ação de forma eficaz. / Within the current corporative environment, the implementation of organizational changes has been frequent. In this process of changes, the organizational discourse, found in the formal texts produced by the high administration, eventually expresses thoughts not always accepted before being firstly questioned by the other managers and that may cause difficulties for the changing process. The presence of less coherent discourses or discourses that challenge the organizational discourse may hinder or even affect the efficacy of changes. This thesis advocates that during a changing process within the Managerial Accounting of an organization, the discourse influences the levels for institutionalizing new concepts. This study of such influence was carried out by means of the Institutional Theory under the focus of the Old Institutional Economy, having as its theoretical framework the model proposed by Burns & Scapens (2000), emphasizing the stages of codification and institutionalization, as well as the discourse model of institutionalization proposed by Phillips et al. (2004). The research method consisted of a single case study related to Caixa Econômica Federal, a large public financial institution which performs social activities (as a governmental agency for funding and exclusive administration of funds) and economical activities (as a commercial bank which competes with other institutions in the financial market), which has recently undergone a process of deep changes in its Managerial Accounting. Through an analysis of documents, followed by interviews with central administration managers and discourse analysis, the co-existence of two discourses in the organization could be detected: social discourse and economical discourse. Later, questionnaires were applied to the managers of the bank branches and the managers of products, and to the users of the Managerial Accounting System in order to verify associations between the discourses and the levels of institutionalization of the new concepts. Out of the questionnaires, 4,259 answers were obtained. The data were submitted to the following statistical treatments: descriptive analysis, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), Analysis of Homogeneity (Homals) and Analysis of Correspondence (ANACOR). It could be verified that there is a positive association between the concordance with the concepts of Managerial Accounting and a concordance with the economical discourse. The individuals classified as most adherent to the economical discourse are those positively associated with and between a strong or average level of institutionalization. On the other hand, those individuals adherent to the social discourse have a positive association with the weak level of institutionalization. Thus, the results suggest that the discourse influences the process for institutionalizing concepts of Managerial Accounting and corroborate the propositions of Phillips et al (2004) for a greater coherence between discourses, that concepts within texts may lead to stronger institutions, and that the existence of competition between two discourses may hinder the process of conceptual change. In face of these results one may say that the discourse, whenever placed in a process of conceptual change, must be structured according to the characteristics and beliefs of the target public, which may cause a coherent union between the exercise of the language and the operational practice and allow for an efficient transformation of the institutional site into a field of action.

With a triple-bottom-line lens on sustainability, this study examines the effects of culture on companies' economic, social, and environmental sustainability practices. Drawing on institutional theory and project GLOBE, we delineate cultural practices dimensions that consistently predict sustainability practices related to each of the three domains. Based on a sample of 1924 companies in 36 countries and nine cultural clusters, we find that future orientation, gender egalitarianism, uncertainty avoidance, and power distance practices positively, and performance orientation practices negatively, predict corporate sustainability practices. Further, our findings suggest that these effects might vary according to the country vis-à-vis cluster level of analysis.

As a part of multinational corporations (MNCs), subsidiaries operate in distinct host countries and have to deal with their external context. Host country political embeddedness, in particular, helps subsidiaries to obtain knowledge and understanding of the regulatory and political context, and to get access to local networks. Moreover, they get some guidance and support from their headquarters. Distance between MNC home and host countries, however, alienates subsidiaries from the MNC and influences the extent of subsidiary host country political embeddedness. We suggest that the host country political and regulatory context moderates the effect of distance on subsidiary host country political embeddedness by reducing the need and/or value of headquarters support. Using a sample of 124 European manufacturing subsidiaries, we find that distance (space) and context (place) matter jointly: the impact of distance is stronger for subsidiaries that operate in host countries with low governance quality and low political stability in place.