This study examines change in the family farming sector through the lens of succession. It explores empirically the succession expectations and intentions of farmers and their children in a changing contextual landscape. The research is underpinned by two theoretical concepts: the ‘farm adjustment strategy’ facilitated the development of structural reference points in respect of the family farm business and household; and application of tenets of van der Ploeg’s (1994) ‘styles’ work enabled analysis of structural change in the farm business to be viewed through a qualitative succession lens. A ‘pragmatist’ mixed-methods approach comprised a farmer survey and next generation in-depth interviews. The analytical approach accommodated issues of temporality and facilitated the linkage and study of multiple components of change. It was found that immense variability exists in terms of how succession is managed in practice. The structural characteristics and capacity of the farm business clearly impact upon succession choices and positions, but intrinsic drivers also have a very significant bearing on succession and its potential outcome. The research revealed three broad outcomes of next generation succession intention, each forming the basis of a succession style: a desire and intention to succeed to the family farm, reflected in more traditional succession modes; an intention to leave the family farm, thus opting out of farming per se; and part-time succession, characterised by off-farm professional work, flexibility and a lifestyle preference that encompasses aspects of farming and non-farming worlds. The findings presented in this thesis suggest that, through succession, forms of farm management and operation are evolving. Family farming entities are adapting and becoming increasingly heterogeneous. Through a contemporary succession lens, the notion of the family farm now comprises an assortment of family-owned and family-managed businesses with an array of diversified business, amenity and farming interests.

Background Understanding the benefits from the environment of municipally-owned energy firms in Sweden, through the perspective of the network theory, the triple helix model and knowledge transfer. Aim To construct a model describing the resources flowing within the network of relationships within the specific context of operations. Methodology The study is centred on a case company where two specific departments are put in focus: the energy recovery department and the business development. The case study aims to be descriptive, according to the data collected from interviews of relevant respondents. Findings - The benefits derived from a collaboration with a knowledge centre is the legitimate creation of exploitable innovation for the firm, as well as the creation/improvement of hybrid platforms where mobility of personnel is seen as a central communication factor. - When it comes to the income generating activities the main benefits that arose within the collaboration was the creation of opportunities for growth and business networks as such.- Power on influencing the context generates policies and favourable network oriented circumstances.

Using a unique dataset comprising information for (up to) 153 firms in the machine building sector in Belarus, we investigate the determinants of firm growth for an economy where state ownership of enterprises is widespread. We use panel data models based on generalizations of Gibrat's law, total factor productivity estimates and matching methods to assess the differences in firm growth between private and state-contolled firms. Our results indicate that labor hoarding and soft budget constraints play a particularly important role in explaining differences in performance between these two groups of firms.

This study is a reflective analysis of the perceptions of senior executives in family businesses that relate to their personal experiences of having been mentored. The study presents an overview of the topic of mentoring, defines key terms, and identifies questions addressed in the research. The rationale for this study rested on two facts. First, mentoring in non-family businesses constitutes the majority of the literature. That literature supports the importance of mentoring. Secondly, mentoring in family businesses has not been researched.

The purpose of my thesis is to analyze the State Enterprise Act. The main aim is to describe the life of state enterprise from its foundation to its termination and to point out the major legal issues. My desire was to recommend some improvements to legal regulation of the state enterprise. My thesis is divided into several chapters, each of them dealing with different aspects of the state enterprise. The first theoretical chapter examines the question whether the state enterprise is a legal entity on the background of civil doctrine. The next chapter deals with the foundation process of the state enterprise. Who is authorized to create the state enterprise and what are the essential elements of the charter of foundation. It describes the process of signing into the Commercial Register and its legal impact. This thesis also provides a view to the relationship between the authorized representatives and the state enterprise. It shall answer the questions about the powers of governing bodies and their liability. The next part is devoted to the administration of state-owned property by the state enterprise. It examines the right of state to obtain the profit made by state enterprise. This chapter also deals with the public procurement related to the state enterprise. The last theoretical chapter...

The primary focus of this thesis is a state-owned enterprise, its basic characteristics, the State-Owned Enterprise Act as its principal source of legislation and its status given by some other laws. The state-owned enterprise is a state organization and a specific organizational legal form of business through which the state carries out management of its property, carries on a business and thereby fulfills the purpose for which state-owned enterprise was founded. Specificity is manifested mainly by its property itself, the relationship to that property, the way of establishment and by performance of quasi-shareholders' rights. The main attribute of state-owned enterprises and state organizations in general is incapacity of possession of property rights. Inability of ownership does not only contrast with the ability to bind, but also raises questions concerning the legal personality. The relationship to the property has been expressed by rather vague "right to manage", which has not been used yet. The state-owned enterprise is regulated mainly by the State-Owned Enterprise Act. This regulation, though very brief in scope, has the ambition to be comprehensive legislation for state-owned enterprises. Nevertheless it is not sufficient for the treatment of all possible legal relations arising from the...

The Analysis of Some Economic and Legal Aspects of Corporate Governance of Central European Corporations There are three main goals of the thesis: 1) To identify the biggest economic risks of present Czech corporate governance 3) to recommend appropriate measures how to regulate corporate governance of publicly owned companies 2) to consider the question how appropriate it is to regulate corporate governance by hard law rules or when soft law rules could be appropriate enough. The thesis is divided into two parts - the theoretical part and the practical one. The theoretical part is subdivided into four chapters. The first contains a general introduction to the corporate governance, the second includes a description of the system of corporate governance regulation, the next one is dedicated to financial crisis impact on the corporate governance regulation, and the final chapter deals with the comparison of Polish and Czech law regulation of corporate governance in publicly owned companies. The practical part consists of three case studies. The first case study analysis the main findings of the report, which was worked out as a result of the independent audit of supervisory boards in publicly owned companies. The second case study examines the corporate governance system of state-owned companies PKN...

This study examines how board diversity and characteristics of directors affect the financial and non-financial performance of Swedish state-owned enterprises (SOEs). SOEs are characterized by state ownership, goal complexity, governmental funding and control and are therefore typical examples of hybrid organizations that purse both commercial and political logics. The board of directors (BODs) of SOEs as representatives of the shareholder serve as corporate governance mechanism to control and monitor the organization to achieve financial and non-financial targets. Further, the boards should compose of directors with the appropriate competence and experience as well as integrity and ethical values to govern the challenges for hybrid organizations.Therefore, information of the BODs on Swedish SOEs are conducted regarding their educational background, professional experience, multiple appointments, tenure, gender diversity and age diversity, as well as the amount of state representatives. Financial performance was measured by using Return on Assets and Return on Equity, while non-financial performance was measured as the fulfillment of non-financial goals and the amount of reported and disclosed GRI standards. Our eight research hypothesizes are all based on prior research on corporate governance concerning board diversity and firm performance in both private as well as public organizations. Moreover, institutional logics and upper echelons theory are used to explain the effects of the diversity characteristics on corporate performance. All hypothesizes were rejected due to insignificant relationship. Even though a significant relationship was indicated between professional experience of the directors and financial performance, the hypothesis was rejected, since the relationship was the opposite of the expected.One of the reasons for these results can be that institutional logics and competing goals prevent the BODs from focus too strong on either financial or non-financial targets.

La Chine vit, depuis une vingtaine d’années, une mutation politico-économique sans précédent où les entreprises d’État chinoises (EEC) jouent un rôle de premier plan. L’objet de la recherche s’est fixé sur la proposition d’un modèle capable d’améliorer l’appréhension de la performance des EEC. La problématique consiste donc à cerner les caractéristiques des EEC et leurs besoins afin de proposer un modèle adapté.Pour cela, nous avons étudié en détail les mutations politiques, économiques et juridiques affectant les EEC ainsi que l’introduction des concepts et modèles de management occidentaux à travers la littérature chinoise. Ensuite, nous avons fait ressortir les facteurs de performance à travers la littérature, les rapports officiels du gouvernement à partir d’une étude de contenu et d’une enquête quantitative par questionnaires utilisant l’analyse factorielle.Cela a abouti à un cahier des charges, fondement de notre proposition d’un tableau de bord stratégique durable, fondé sur le modèle des parties prenantes et capable d’intégrer les notions de développement durable, de RSE et d’aménagement du territoire. / China has experienced over the last twenty years unprecedented political and economic changes in which state-owned enterprises (SOEs) have played a major role.The purpose of the research focusses on proposing a model capable of improving the understanding of the performance of SOEs. The issue is then to identify the characteristics and the needs of SOEs in order to proposed a model adapted to them.For that purpose we have studied the political, economic and legal changes which have affected SOEs as well as the introduction of Western management concepts and models through the Chinese literature. Then we have outlined the factors of performance through the literature, governmental official reports thanks to a study of content and a quantitative survey thanks to questionnaires using factorial analysis.This has led to specifications, the basis of our proposal of a sustainable strategic dashboard founded on the stakeholder model and capable of integrating the notions of sustainable development, corporate social responsibility and territorial planning.

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, University of the Witwatersrand, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Johannesburg, March 31st 2016 / The purpose of this research is to understand female entrepreneurship from the perspective of the female entrepreneurs themselves. Much of the literature in this field has been in the context of developed countries, and relatively little research has explored the entrepreneurial experiences of women entrepreneurs in developing countries. The study followed the interpretive approach utilising a social constructivist theoretical perspective, which sought to understand female entrepreneurs in terms of their subjectively constructed reality. Forty-three purposively selected female entrepreneurs, whose businesses had transitioned from the informal economy to the formal economy, were both observed and interviewed in depth. The data were analysed using principles of constant comparison and coding, then used to formulate theoretical propositions of female entrepreneurship. During the coding process, care was taken to safeguard the language and voice of the interviewees from the raw data through to the contribution to theory. This study reveals that female entrepreneurs’ initial identities evolve through unshackling themselves from the imposed patriarchal structures into new identities. Their initial identities were disenfranchised and shaped by their historical context. The female entrepreneurs engage in a process of balancing through their own agency; this shift is essential to their functioning as successful entrepreneurs. The circumstances and motivation for these female entrepreneurs typified the intentions of other female entrepreneurs; they were compelled to juggle their family considerations with the demands of their entrepreneurial activities. Notably, they relied on their personal expertise, and augmented their personal financial resources with bootstrapping instead of relying on debt. In addition, the study indicates that family, religion, and community are the driving forces sustaining the commitment to entrepreneurship amongst these women; it is not profit alone, although income is important to sustain those who rely on their support. The results indicate a strong association between historical context - understood in terms of cultural traditions - and female entrepreneurial activities. Culture and family can either be a constraint on, or an enabler of female entrepreneurship in a developing country context. In summary, the study may be helpful to current and future entrepreneurs as it examined the personal lived experiences as well as the contextual influences of these courageous women. / MB2016