This thesis explores processes of following in the UK public sector, and sheds light on individuals’ experiences of following authentically. It addresses calls for extending understandings of followership and, informed by the empirical data, adds to models of authentic followership. By taking a relational constructionist perspective, the thesis focuses on processes of following, recognising these as on going and as occurring in relation to multiple others and within multiple contexts. This study adopts a follower-focused approach, placing followers as the central focus of the study both theoretically and methodologically. The thesis develops links between the theoretical areas of followership and employee voice, to problematise and inform, through the study’s emergent findings, contemporary understandings of authentic following. This qualitative study employed a multiple-method research design consisting of interviews, visual research diaries and photo-elicitation interviews. Through this, participants shared their experiences and, through the design’s staged and reflexive approach, gave descriptions and understandings of their current and past experiences of engaging in following. Thematic analysis was utilised to interpret the data and the findings, across the multiple data sources and data types, were presented thematically. The use of multiple and visual based data collection methods, which is claimed as a methodological contribution to the followership field, provides rich insights into the lived experiences of individuals doing following and, particularly, highlights the importance of visibility, value and voice, within an overarching theme of agency. Processes of following in this thesis are thus conceptualised as individuals acting independently and having choice in the ways that they engage in following, whilst also recognising the structures in which they are located. The thesis proposes a new framework for following authentically, highlighting the complex ways in which visibility, value and voice interact.

In light of an increasing demand for environmentally friendly and safe food products and the growing market for green products, there is a need for research that examines how Chinese consumers view and make decisions about buying green food products. Despite the growth in green consumerism, few studies have explored Chinese consumers’ green purchase intentions and real buying behaviour. The purpose of this study is to develop and test a conceptual model that explains the constructs that influence consumers’ real buying behaviour and intention to purchase green products. The data for this study was gathered via a self-completed questionnaire that sought to capture the perception of 720 Chinese consumers located in Beijing and Xi’an. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling have been used to analyse this primary data. The findings reveal that consumers’ attitudes towards green purchases, subjective norms, moral obligation, and ecological affects have significant positive influence on their purchase intention for green foods, while only purchase intention and consumers’ subjective knowledge have significant positive impact on their actual purchase behaviour for green food. This study fills in knowledge gaps to focus on Chinese green consumption through applying goal-framing theory to examine consumer behaviour towards green foods. This research’s findings emphasize consumers’ subjective knowledge about green consumption which extends goal-framing theory and theory of planned behaviour applying to green food consumerism in the context of China. Meanwhile, this study examined the goal-framing theory’s external validity and testing this theory’s assumptions. This study also provided justification for using the TPB model in explaining the green food buying behaviour. So, the empirical results and findings from this study will be helpful in making a contribution to further expand research in consumers’ behaviour in relation to food consumption. Through better understanding consumer purchase intention and actual buying behaviour toward green food products, the results offered more practical information to policy makers and business leaders to better promote the idea of a green market programme.

The long term profitability and sustainability of organisations is inextricably linked to the health of our natural environment (Redekop, 2010) yet their actions continue to both directly and indirectly impact upon the environment and the services it provides. Organisations need to ensure that they have access to the skills, competencies and knowledge needed to operate within the constraints that the environment imposes and to change their business practices to respond to challenges that are inevitable in the future. However, skills and attributes to initiate and support organisational environmental change remain ill defined (Quinn and Dalton, 2006; Van Velsor, 2009; Willard et. al., 2010; Christie et. al., 2013). This study addresses this research gap by evaluating the factors that influence the success of environmental manages as change agents within their organisations. Using semi-structured interviews with environmental managers in the Northeast of England, the study explores the mechanisms used by practitioners to bring about change, the barriers and enablers they experience and the skills, attributes, behaviours and values they believe to be important for success. In so doing, the study provides a practitioner perspective on organisational environmental change. Findings highlight the context specific nature of environmental change but point to a strong degree of commonality in the characteristics likely for success as an environmental manager. The importance of personal environmental concern, strong communication and people skills, a pragmatic approach to organisational change and strong organisational knowledge alongside environmental knowledge, are identified as important. The findings of the study have implications for the ways in which the environmental managers of the future are educated and supported through their professional development. Additionally, the study highlights the need for further effort by professional bodies to raise the profile of the environmental manager role and to promote the robust validation of competencies within the profession.

The aim of this research is to develop an analytical framework, drawing on appropriate ethical theories that will facilitate exploration of the perceptions, beliefs, and feelings that corporate managers have toward corporate environmental responsibility (CER). It will enable the identification of the relationship, if any, between espoused corporate environmental policy of organisations, and the ethical values of the managers they employ. Environmental crisis is a complex problem raising issues across many disciplines. Ethics play a vital role in addressing the problem, acting as a filter to determine the 'consequences' of organisational actions and help to ensure that these actions do not compromise nature's condition. The framework developed has two dimensions; the first across anthropocentric and eco-centric ethics; the second ranging from moral minimum to moral maximum responsibility and is used as a tool for analysing the individual managers' positions toward CER and provides a mean for mapping Shell's espoused approach to CER. The research draws from a single in-depth case study, the analysis of Petrochemical giant Shell, so as to gain a comprehensive understanding of an organisation that is a major player in the CER debate. In-depth interviews are used to secure rich data. The study concludes that while the personal values of Shell's managers were congruent with Shell's CER policy, sharing the same anthropocentric viewpoint, there is a difference in terms of the extent of responsibility. For Shell, economic performance is more essential, while the majority of the participants emphasised that the primary goal of the company should be environmental preservation. Due to the hierarchal governance structure of the organisation, the strength of the individual managers' opinions does not seem to be a significant factor in driving policy and surpassing the economic imperative of the company.

Although much work has been dedicated to SMEs' strategic responses, there is still a lack of research upon the SMEs' strategic responses during an economic recession. This thesis focuses on the under-researched smaller European economy of Cyprus. The decision of Cyprus to join the European Union in 2004 and the single European currency have impacted upon the policy response to the recession which has created certain challenges for SMEs. The aim of this thesis is to explore the strategic decision-making process in Cypriot family owner-managed SMEs with special reference to the fashion retail sector which is still under-researched. The research is guided by the conceptual framework developed from the findings of the literature review which give rise to a number of research questions. The thesis employs a qualitative approach with the use of six case studies of fashion retail family owner-managed SMEs in Cyprus. The data collection comprised of a screening survey questionnaire and a series of in depth semi-structured interviews, which seek to uncover the richness of the living experiences of owner-managers during the recession. The findings of this study show that the strategic decision-making process in Cypriot fashion retail SMEs is affected by a series of internal and external factors during the latest recession. The former includes the factors of the ownership structure and characteristics while the latter factors may incorporate the degree of competition and access to funding. The bail in and bail out deal which led to a 'haircut' on banks' savings in March of 2013 has affected the decision-making process of SMEs and their ability to strategically respond to the recession. The thesis suggests that Cypriot entrepreneurs give a different perspective on their strategic priorities while ownership structure and characteristics influence their strategic responses differently.

This thesis discusses how design management can play a relevant role to improve the performance of small Mexican technology-based enterprises (TBEs) in new technological industries. The research began exploring the general role of design in Mexican business context and a gap in the literature was revealed about the role of design management and its relevance on the development of technological innovations in Mexican TBEs. A multi-method design research was adopted to identify and further detail data about the benefits and effects of design management in small Mexican TBEs. Therefore, a QUALquan design approach was utilised to apply sequentially qualitative and quantitative methods to develop a model (theory) that later was subjected to testing. The first action was to explore the context of the study through qualitative methods in order to develop an instrument (diagnostic toolkit) that enabled the researcher to evaluate the condition of the case studies within their current business practices. Then, the researcher implemented the second strategy to know the condition of the principal case studies to provide an intervention treatment. This allowed the researcher to introduce and implement design management practices within the case studies for a period of seven months to later assess once again the case studies to prove whether the intervention had provoked a change. Findings suggested that the implementation of design management can help small Mexican TBEs in new technological industries to improve their performance. The primary contribution of this research was to produce a detailed account of the conditions in which small Mexican TBEs in new technological industries operate and how they were affected by the implementation of design management. This helped to provide a holistic perspective on the use of design management, design thinking and design leadership. Similarly, it assisted in the development of an empirically confirmed design toolkit to assess the condition and design abilities and capabilities of small Mexican TBEs. The design toolkit offered users the opportunity to obtain results and suggestions about their condition and to identify and apply a series of methods, tools and techniques that can be implemented in their three levels of business activities: strategic, tactical and operational engagement.

The presence and value of emotionality in non-personal business-to-business marketing communications is questioned in literature despite existing knowledge about emotional behaviour of individuals in organisational decision-making units. However, as competition and globalisation increases, the need for differentiation and unique positioning intensifies. The role of emotions in establishing emotional differentiation through advertising is accepted in consumer research, yet little is known about the presence and characteristics of emotionality in business-to-business print advertising targeting an organisational audience. The purpose of this research was therefore to determine the presence and executional style of emotion-laden business-to-business print advertising and to identify themes and patterns of emotionality. Four German trade publications from the manufacturing and engineering sector, comprising all issues of the year 2008 with a sample size of 2000 advertisements were content analysed. Consistent findings revealed that emotionality was used in a substantial number of business-to-business print advertisements and was distributed equally across all four magazines. Emotionality was significantly associated with the use of colour and visuals, and with the size and position of advertisements in the magazine. Emotional techniques relating to content used visual components like the depiction of persons and objects, and the style of visual representation primarily contained symbols of association and metaphors. Dominant emotional stimuli were humour, trustworthiness/reliability and pride/success, which mirror the emotional world of organisational buyers. The results thus demonstrate the relevance of emotionality in non-personal business-to-business marketing communications and indicate that to a certain extent business-to-business marketers use emotional techniques as a strategic element in marketing communications.

This research focuses on American companies operating in Bahrain, employing Bahrainis whose national culture governs their daily routine. Making EDS a case study, this research explores the conflicts that arise at the work place when organisational culture encounters national culture and customs. Even with extensive globalization, particularly in the Middle East, there is a lack of research exploring the influence of national culture on the local employees, the impact of national culture of host countries on the operations of multinational companies or guidelines for American companies to follow while venturing to set up business in Bahrain. This research follows a social constructionist paradigm, utilizing reflexive qualitative interviews conducted with EDS managers and EDS local employees, analysed through template analysis, to explain complex social processes which govern the national culture and the conflicts created when organisational culture is imposed upon the local employees. The findings of this research offer a holistic picture of the previously unrecognized alienation and resentment that arises when organisational culture is imposed on the local work force in Bahrain, without understanding the cultural influences that define them. The study discovered that American companies should create an awareness and understanding in their expatriate managers about the national culture and the impact of organisational culture on the local workforce already governed by their own national culture. The thesis offers guidelines to the local government policy makers to develop practice based training for local employees to meet the challenges of working in a multinational company. The research bridges the gap in perceptions between the local employees and American companies, thus paving the way to mutually beneficial working relationships. Finally the thesis develops a practice based framework by integrating influencing factors into policy making process, thus providing a practical guide to American companies setting out to do business in the Middle East, as well as to local governments in the Middle East.

This research study seeks to understand the nature of organisational change with respect to offshore outsourcing of information technology services in a multinational pharmaceutical company, and to examine the effectiveness of approaches used to manage this change so that lessons may be drawn from these experiences. Despite the abundant literature on effective organisational change management, the key factors that need to be managed properly at different stages of the offshore outsourcing process are not well understood. The research adopts a processual view to paint a broad picture of the issues involved in these different stages. A generic process model of change, based on the review of the change literature, was first developed to represent how change was intended to occur. This model focuses on the following four stages in the change process: context, diagnosis and planning, implementation, and institutionalisation. The research employs an interpretive case study approach and draws on fieldwork from three independent information systems departments (cases) of the company, where offshore outsourcing programmes were implemented. Qualitative data from semi- structured interviews, direct observation and document analysis are analysed by applying the generic process model to produce a detailed account of the way in which change was managed in the case organisations. The findings reveal that a combination of contextual factors, both external and internal to the company, influenced the adoption and use of offshore outsourcing in the case organisations. Externally, the economic forces were found to be the main catalyst for the change, while internally the role of the executive leadership and the lack of internal resources further explain the motivations behind the adoption of offshore outsourcing. The study illustrates that achieving successful outcomes from offshore outsourcing activities critically depends on the organisation adequately addressing a number of factors, such as conveying a sense of urgency, developing and communicating the vision, identifying the benefits of change and how they will be delivered, generating short-term wins, providing education and training, developing a fit between the change and organisational culture, etc., throughout the change process. The findings also highlight the effects of offshore outsourcing on the case organisations, including change in job roles and responsibilities and organisational learning activities that enable corrective actions to improve change management efforts. An important contribution of this research is the development of a model providing a more comprehensive understanding of the change process associated with the implementation of offshore IT outsourcing. Recommendations for policy makers and change managers to improve change management practice based on the research findings, as well as recommendations for further research, form a significant part of the conclusions.

How can Corporate Social Responsibility best be understood, what is its range of application and what insights can culture provide when considering the responsibilities of a third sector organisation? This thesis addresses these questions through ethnographic enquiry conducted in a third sector organization (Groundwork Northumberland). Challenging the rigid conventions which restrict the relevance of Corporate Social Responsibility to the private sector it demonstrates both the contest and construction of meaning and frame of reference of Corporate Social Responsibility by employees in Groundwork Northumberland. All eight members of the organization have participated by engaging in semi-structured interviews (with me), keeping a research diary (individually) and participating in a focus group (with colleagues). These engagements have generated multiple accounts which demonstrate the tensions and dilemmas that mark their work, particularly in meeting expectations of stakeholders. Through these engagements the self-understandings of participants are shown to have been challenged and changed through the research process. Equally the ‘concept’ of Corporate Social Responsibility has been shown to be similarly changeable while remaining unintelligible outside a context of practice in which at least some self-understandings are shared. Martin’s framework has been considered as a means to represent the culture of the organisation. The third perspective highlighting ambiguity, paradox and contradiction seems to best represent the accounts of the research engagement with GN. The presence of tension and difference as well as a sense of disorder suggest a place for debate, discussion and plurivocality, a place in which there is indecision and the possibility of decision (Derrida). It can therefore be suggested that a responsible organization and person will be more marked by fragmentation than integration or differentiation, and that fragmentation provides conditions which Derrida discusses through the terms ‘aporia’ and ‘undecidability’. These accounts exhibit the radical undecidability of Derrida’s ethical situation in all its lived messiness. The culture of an organization which has engaged in such meaning construction is shown to be marked by the acknowledgment of the responsibility of meaning-making and is aporetic. The contribution of this thesis is to demonstrate the responsibilities inherent to an engagement with the precariousness of meaning exhibited by Corporate Social Responsibility in an organization which has chosen such engagement.