This thesis is an empirical investigation into the control mechanisms of headquarters (HQ) exercised over their subsidiaries and is conducted with the help of primary data collected from 147 Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) operating in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Following on from the literature review, this study proposed that the headquarters-subsidiary mechanisms could be linked to agency theory (with the 'classical' principal-agent relationship as its core) and to resource dependency theory (implying relations between the subsidiary and other partners based on interdependence). Our results show that the agency and resource dependency mechanisms are indeed used side by side and complementary to each other to exercise control. The Headquarters-subsidiary model used in this study has four components of control in it: personal centralised control (PCC), bureaucratic formalised control (BFC), output control (OUT) and informal control (INFO). These controls (as an agency mechanism) provide a solid platform on which other mechanisms can be built. The complementarities of these control mechanisms may be linked to earlier studies that show that successful organisations combine tight control with more open, informal and flexible information and communication exchanges. A focus that bends too much towards formal control or too much towards informal control may threaten a company's existence. Our research provides an empirical explanation on this premise. The study found that Anglo-Saxon countries heavily use impersonal types of control mechanisms, specifically bureaucratic formalised control and output control. Compared to the US, the level of control in Oriental subsidiaries is less; or, put differently, the latter enjoy a greater degree of autonomy than US subsidiaries. Once a unit is operational, Oriental parent companies grant many more degrees of freedom than US parent companies. When we deconstructed the results for Europe, comparing German and British MNEs as a group to Oriental MNEs, we found that the latter exercised greater overall control. With regard to output and bureaucratic control, we found that both US MNEs and those from the Middle East exercised greater control than Oriental MNEs. The study drew the aspect of international transfers into the picture and investigated the role of expatriates in controlling subsidiaries. It has been recognised that expatriates can form both direct and indirect means of control. In executing direct types of control, expatriates directly supervised decisions taken at subsidiaries. The study found that this role is particularly strong in MNEs from Asia-Pacific countries and German MNEs, and is much less important in subsidiaries of Anglo-Saxon MNEs. We found that subsidiaries of German MNEs experienced a very high level of control; indeed, the only control mechanism that German MNEs did not implement among subsidiaries was control by socialisation and networks. German and Japanese MNEs are perhaps more rooted in business systems concerned with the management of issues internationally than American or British companies. The second group reflected that Anglo-Saxon countries heavily used impersonal types of control mechanisms, specifically bureaucratic formalised control and output control. When we deconstructed the results for Europe, comparing German and British as a group to Oriental MNEs, reveals the latter as possessing greater overall control. With regard to output and bureaucratic control, we found that both US MNEs and those from the Middle East exercised greater control than Oriental MNEs. Headquarters can strategize to implement control by the informal and social means method by positioning a sizeable number of managers from the home country within the subsidiary. Indeed, our results revealed this as true. It seems that their presence has positive and significant effects on most levels of control: personal, output, bureaucratic and informal. Contrary to this, however, we found that the presence of a sizeable number of expatriates (as opposed to headquarters managers) leaded to greater autonomy in subsidiaries. In terms of strategy and structure, we indicated that the three distinct organisational models identified for MNEs could be recognised in our study. Control INFO was significantly, positively related to global strategy, multi-domestic and transnational strategy compared with PCC, BFC, and OUT control mechanism. Conversely, BFC had a significant, negative and weak relationship with global strategy and transnational strategy, and no relationship with multi-domestic strategy. In general however, we can deduce the existence of a tendency for global, transnational and multi-domestic MNEs to use indirect control mechanisms and informal control suited to their integrated organisational models to a larger extent. Our results confirmed previous studies in the field of organisation theory, in the sense that size is an important explanatory factor for differences in control mechanisms. In contrast to these studies, however, a dominant effect was found only for the indirect control mechanisms. Few detailed studies that have investigated the effect of size on the two indirect control mechanisms; in actuality, most previous studies have focused on the direct control mechanisms (personal centralised control and bureaucratic formalised control) only. As such, our study reconfirmed the importance of the variable size, but concluded that it is mainly associated with higher levels of indirect control. The age of the subsidiary does not seem to have a significant influence on the type of control mechanism that is exercised by headquarters towards a particular subsidiary. Our study investigated the importance of various MNE characteristics in an attempt to explain performance differences between MNEs. The advantage of this study is that many of the characteristics that have been identified in previous literature as being important factors influencing performance were included in our research design, in order for us to be able to answer the other research questions. This therefore allowed us to assess the relative importance levels of different variables in explaining performance differences between companies, such as: country of origin, industry, size, interdependence, local responsiveness, knowledge flows, and the strategy and structure of the MNEs.

Published Article / The paper seeks to engage constructively with the challenges and opportunities Indigenous Knowledge (IK) may offer disciplines in Language Practice. The approach will be contextualized in terms of the theoretical shift in knowledge production and use, as well as the current debate pertaining to the feasibility of the incorporation of IK into curricula. Specific attention will be rendered to topics of Africanizing scholarship, a performance model of knowledge, the socio-cultural embeddedness of language, and brief thoughts on the translation of the oral. These thematic issues are of particular importance to Language Practice, perceived here to be at the gateway between theory of language/communication and receiver communities.

At present there are concerns that new housing in the UK under-performs in terms of energy-efficiency. In research studies where the thermal performance of the building fabric has been measured, post-construction, significant gaps between design predictions and the as-built performance of new housing have been found. This thesis is concerned with how thermography may be used to assess the thermal performance of new housing during the construction process. The practical utility of this testing approach, which has not been investigated in-depth by previous research, is to identify performance issues at a stage when undertaking remedial work is less costly and disruptive. Moreover, by identifying issues that could reduce the energy-efficiency of the building fabric, these tests could help address the observed "performance gap". An approach for using thermography at different stages of construction has been developed through practical case studies and experimental work. The complementary use of heat transfer modelling and thermography is also explored. Finally, through interviews with industry professionals, the context of implementing tests within UK housing development practices is examined. The results of applying the testing approach demonstrate that beneficial feedback can be obtained without significant interruption to construction activities. However, test procedures need to be modified according to the stage and method of construction. It is proposed that heat transfer modelling can inform the interpretation of test results and analysis of defect severity. For the testing approach to be implemented more widely, there would need to be further development and trials on different types of construction and the oversight of an independent body to establish its credibility. In conclusion, thermography has the potential alongside other testing and inspection practices to help improve standards of site construction. However, there are limitations to its use which need to be considered if such tests are to be implemented effectively.

This research study elaborates on one of the most important features of the modern International Business (IB) area; the multinational R&D subsidiary. Taking into consideration the strategic importance and the particular role the R&D subsidiary plays, this study sheds light on the multiple forms of knowledge networks in which the R&D subsidiary is embedded. Accordingly, based on the two already known dichotomies of subsidiary knowledge networks (external home vs. external host and external host vs. internal) this thesis draws on the existing theory and empirical evidence and proposes a triangular view (i.e. external home, external host and internal) between the R&D subsidiary and its embeddedness within the surrounding knowledge networks. Accordingly, based on three major theories of the management in the IB area, Social Network Theory (SNT), Resource Dependency Theory (RDT) and Agency Theory (AT), this study provides answers on a number of under researched questions. First, what are the determinants of each type of R&D subsidiary embeddedness in each of the three available knowledge networks? Second, considering the relative costs influencing R&D subsidiaries to rely more or less on one form of embeddedness compared to another, what sort of relationship exists (i.e. complementary or substitutive) between the aforementioned forms of R&D subsidiary embeddedness? Finally, considering the contextual- and HQ-specific factors that impact the overall functioning of the R&D subsidiary, what sort of effect do the multiple forms of R&D subsidiary embeddedness have on the latter’s innovative performance? This study adopts a quantitative approach and employs appropriate econometric methods in order to provide answers to the aforementioned research questions. Furthermore, data from three different sources are amalgamated. First, a unique survey questionnaire is utilised. This instrument was originally developed in the University of Reading and corresponds to both subsidiaries and the HQ. The sample covers Fortune 500 Multinational Enterprises (MNEs). Second, and in order to augment the information derived from the survey, supplementary information on patent characteristics is sourced from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) database. Third, a range of aggregate-level (secondary) data enriches the existing dataset. The findings reveal that each form of R&D subsidiary embeddedness is determined by a set of different predictors. Precisely, it is found that host location’s macroeconomic uncertainty positively influences subsidiary’s embeddedness in the home location’s knowledge network. Being an R&D subsidiary and having an adaptation and support-oriented profile, as well as being highly centralised to the HQ, negatively influences the R&D subsidiary’s embeddedness in the host location’s knowledge network. On the other hand, having a more research intensive and internationally integrated R&D role positively influences the R&D subsidiary’s embeddedness in the internal knowledge network of the MNE. The findings also indicate that a complementary relationship exists between external home and external host, as well as among external host and internal knowledge networks. On the contrary, a substitutive relationship is indicated between external home and internal networks under which the R&D subsidiary is embedded. Finally, as regards the last research question the results indicate that only internal embeddedness has a positive and significant impact on innovative performance, while scientific and research endowment of the host locations is also found to positively influence the innovative output of the R&D subsidiary. Implications for academics and practitioners (both managers and policy makers) are widely discussed and suggest that the three-dimensional view of embeddedness is useful in understanding and explaining the way MNEs’ foreign R&D subsidiaries operate.

Facing global challenges in the knowledge economy, the competitiveness of business organisations has transformed dramatically in recent years. With the increase in the significance of knowledge sharing to organisational growth, a lot of resources have been invested to the management of knowledge via technological applications. In the same line of argument, a wide range of literature has argued for the contribution of employees in the sharing of knowledge. However, there are few literature that discussed the impact of organisational factors on the integration of business processes and knowledge sharing. Given the amount of research on the importance of knowledge management to improve business processes and organisational knowledge, it becomes imperative to develop a clear understanding of the impact of organisational factors on knowledge sharing performance. Therefore, the primary aim of this research is develop and validate a functional knowledge sharing model which can facilitate and enhance organisational performance considering the impact of organisational factors for business-knowledge implementation. A conceptual framework is built based on thorough literature review of knowledge management, organisational factors, performance and in-depth discussion with knowledge experts. The proposed conceptual framework is empirically tested adopting a quantitative method with survey data using over 300 responses from manufacturing and service industries in seven countries across three continents for a comprehensive and balanced view. The data from the survey are analysed by using integrated techniques of both Fuzzy Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) and Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). The fsQCA phase of this study discussed the comparative impact of organisational factors in the seven countries where survey data were collected and formulated the input and output variables for the measurement of knowledge sharing performance using DEA. With regard to the findings of the empirical research, three main constructs (knowledge sharing, organisational factors and performance) were successfully validated as dimensional constructs. The structural paths support conceptual framework that knowledge sharing has a positive influence on organisational competitive advantage, and organisational factors such as culture has a strong contribution to knowledge sharing performance. However, the direct impact of knowledge sharing on organisational performance is insignificant when key performance indicators are not identified. Various manufacturing and service organisations will potentially benefit from applying the results of this study to their knowledge sharing practices when seeking greater integration of multi business processes with accrued knowledge. The theoretical contribution of this study includes an integrated framework and model for knowledge transformation processes, knowledge sharing processes and knowledge sharing decision making for organisational performance.

The nature of the auditor-client relationship is a complex aggregate involving a number of groups and individuals between both parties. Although auditor-client relationship is an important subject in the accounting and auditing literature, what has not been extensively studied is the complex relationship between the clients accounting staff and the external audit group at subordinate organization level. Thus, the purpose of this study is to dig deeper into the relationship between clients accounting staff and external audit team consisting of junior and senior auditors and to find out what characterizes this relationship. We also aim to look it from knowledge management and trust perspectives since these are special characteristics of both professions. In order to find empirical results we conducted a qualitative research with a case study by interviewing three accountants and one controller in the same mother company who do financial work for four subsidiaries. They all work together with several auditor groups and therefore could provide us a good comparison to our results. Our study reveals that the relationship is maintained on the subordinate level by the senior auditor who works not only as an auditor but also as a relationship manager. Furthermore, we identify the fact that lower competence of junior auditors creates problems in relationship with client’s accountants. Therefore, our accountant respondents are more likely to allocate low trust to inexperienced junior auditors, specially due to the fact that accountants are the ones teaching the junior auditors in specific accounting issues which is time consuming and often leads to irritation on the accountants side. However, accountants’ trust towards the senior auditors turns out to be high due to recognized expertise knowledge of senior auditors based on our interviews.