Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Business values'

This Master thesis investigates how values can drive value when creating sustainable business.Concepts like Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Sustainable Development (SD) has in the last years become more and more accepted and therefore practiced in the business world. Due to alarms of the climate change, decreased biological diversity and alarming reports of child labour in the export industry, today’s society claims for more sustainable actions among global enterprises. Evidently, some organisations have a more proactive sustainable approach and therefore managed to use sustainable actions to grow and strengthen their market positions e.g. IKEA and Starbucks. Service research related to the above research area at CTF (Service Research Center) at Karlstad University pointed out that corporate values such as social responsibility and environmental responsibility (among others) can be used to create customer value, brand equity and help strategic decision-making for future growth. This thesis investigates in the specific context of Löfbergs Lila what can be learned if the above mentioned strategy is used in a medium-sized company with strong values. Which processes are required to create sustainable business and how far has Löfbergs Lila come according to selected concepts and theoretical framework in business research?

The purpose of the thesis is to investigate, in an explorative way, how values can drive value for sustainable business, both empirically through the Löfbergs in the coffee context as well as theoretically. The whole thesis can be seen as a mix of a descriptive case study and an interpretative case study where understanding of the thesis will be created in the interaction between the theoretical and empirical parts. The study has been developed using a combination of inductive and abductive methods whereby the interaction between the conceptual/theoretical framework and Löfbergs Lila, in the coffee context, have constructed a new meaning.

The explorative study of Löfbergs Lila (or AB Anders Löfberg) presents an understanding of how values have affected the strategy and operation of this organization and is still doing so to this very day. Every company can work with sustainability, but strong corporate values incorporated into the business model are an advantage. There is a fundamental basis for more “sustainable growth” when these values drive “true” environmental and social progress, including accountability. This thesis claims that true core values are deep-rooted in the company and drive value for Löfbergs’ customers in the name of sustainable business.

The theoretically- and conceptually-driven findings, built on five (re)-constructed thick descriptions from Löfbergs Lila in the coffee context, end up in five general concepts for valuesbased sustainable business

1. Service Logic

2. Values-based service

3. Values-based service quality for sustainable business

4. Managing Value chain responsibility

5. Creating the service experience

The purpose of this master’s thesis is to examine the process of creating values in a purchasing organisation; meaning in which areas created values can be added and what affects the possibility to do so. In addition, the study looks into what can be improved to further enlarge the business spectrum. Through these outlines, a survey has been made to investigate the view on created values from a purchaser, management and supplier perspective. This gives several aspects of within which areas you can work with added values. The study is based on a questionnaire to 60 purchasers at Scania CV AB. The thesis demonstrates that to a certain extent sourcing managers already work with increasing the business spectrum by adding values. But even though Scania is a company with a mature purchasing organisation there are still several areas where the work with created values can be improved, for example within process development and administration.

Executive Summary

A company needs guidelines for the organization and its employees to act in the same direction. Core values constitute a fundamental part of a company but they have to be “lived” by the members of the organization in order to be valid. When a company undergoes many

changes, there is a risk of losing the core values as focus is put on the survival of the company. Therefore, the main purpose of this study was to reach a solution for the maintenance of the core values at Atea Logistics, a company which has faced turbulent periods. However, in order to do so, a first requirement was to get in touch with Atea

Logistics’ culture in order to later correctly apprehend the organization’s core values. Hence, this research was guided by the following research question:

“How to maintain core values at Atea Logistics?”

The conducted study consists of a case study made at Atea Logistics in Växjö, which is a part of the Atea Holding AB. The currently successful group, Atea, was created in 1985 under the name of Owell. Atea is a company which helps organizations and companies increase the

benefits of Information Technologies (IT) by providing products and services that simplify the management, operation and development of IT infrastructure. As an IT product supplier, Atea covers the entire cycle from the supply of new IT products to the recycling of old ones.

Since we aimed at providing the company with a research that it could benefit from, this thesis has its base in discussions with managers of Atea Logistics. Empirical data were mostly gathered through interviews with several employees and finally interplay between empirical

data and theoretical findings occurred. The findings of this complex study comprise that core values have been neglected within the company for several years because of repetitive changes. However, employees have been aware of this situation but still have not focused on this aspect.

Several core values have been discovered which have remained since the Owell-time: respect, participation, openness, trust, responsibility and family-friendly. In order for Atea Logistics to maintain these values, several aspects need to be developed such as their clear statement, their communication via different tools (i.e. printed documents, corporate events, an integration process for newcomers, etc.) as well as the alignment of employees with them.

This study examines the relationship between personal values, perceived organisational values and organisational commiunent. The study builds on the work of Finegan (2000). It is argued that the greater the congruence between a person's personal values and the perceived organisational values of the employing organisation, the greater would be their commitment to that organization. This study examines this issue in a school context, examining the teachers' values and their perceptions of their schools' values. As part of the study a survey was administered to a sample of teachers at eight schools that represented the three main streams within the Australian education system; namely Government schools, independent Christian schools and Catholic schools. In this case, personal values and perceived organisational values were measured using Schwartz's (1991) Values Scale and their congruence was calculated using Savery's (Savery, 1993. 1983, 1981) approach. Commitment was measured using Meyer and Allen's (1990) Organisational Commitment Scale. Perceived organisational support and professional commitment were also measured through Eisenberg's (1986) and Blau's (1985b) scales. The study suggests that teachers' backgrounds have little impact on commitment. It further suggests that personal values have only a minimal effect on continuance conunitrnent, although they have a stronger relationship with affective commitment. While congruence between the two types of values do impact on affective commitment, teachers' perceptions of their organisations' values (irrespective of their own values) are stronger predictors of commitment. Personal values are also shown to affect professional commitment. Although the major focus of the study is to explore the relationship between values congruence and organisational commitment, the results suggest that the most significant predictors of affective organisational commitment are perceived organisational support and teachers' perceptions of organisational values.

Abstract

Historically, value was believed to be created and embedded in the manufacturing process, implying that companies were the creators of value. Conversely, the notion of value-creation changed during the last decades and has implemented the customer orientation and service centred view. Instead, researchers currently believe that companies only can offer value-propositions, which means that value is to be created by the customers. Services and goods are much about values and identity today, which people connect to therefore it is important that positive values are associated with the company.

The purpose of this case study is to present if values can drive value for sustainable business. In order to illustrate this we have chosen Konsum Värmland for our investigation, an independent consumer co-operative own by its 126 000 members. Konsum Värmland has advantages by being independent from KF (the co-operative union in Sweden), this by being able to set its own strategies and visions.

This thesis aspires to illustrate which values Konsum Värmland stands for and to see if Konsum Värmland has succeeded to communicate these values to their stakeholders.

We will present the theoretical framework and how values-based management is an excellent performance measurement for co-creating values together with its stakeholders. We chose to use a narrative approach for our empirical analysis. The narratives are based on interviews, observations and secondary data that we obtained in forms of literature, articles and previous research.

We have chosen to investigate four areas for our case study, which are obvious of creating values. The areas are; the history Konsum Värmland, the brands Nästgård and Värmlandsgrisen, and the adapting and developing Konsum Värmland. These areas give the reader an insight to the value creation efforts of Konsum Värmland.

It is important for companies to differentiate themselves from others, in order to stay competitive in the everyday retail branch. This is something that Konsum Värmland has done by standing for values that contributes to the region of Värmland

This case study shows how the consumer co-operative thinking is becoming more modern, in co-creating common values and meanings. The consumer co-operative thinking also tells us that is can be used as a competitive strategy, to be able to predict and to adapt to the market.

In this study we can see that local produced goods generate value, which makes the customer want to buy the goods even if they are more expensive. The values are communicated through the brands Värmlandsgrisen and Nästgård and the goods are offered in form of values-based service quality. We have created a model that illustrates how the vision, organization and the value-creation have to be in balance, to create values that can drive value for sustainable business.

Résumé

Historiquement des valeurs et leur création étaient vues comme un élément de la procédure de fabrication ce qui voulait dire que seul l’entreprise prenait le rôle du créateur de valeur. En parallèle le regard sur la création de valeur a évolué pendant ses dernières décennies vers une perspective s’orientant plus vers le client et donc plus accentuée « service ». Ces deux approches sont complétées par un avis des experts modernes qui défend la position que seule une offre basée sur des vraies valeurs peut réussir et émerger de son univers concurrentiel. Uniquement les produits, proposant une base de valeur, réussissent à influencer la perception des clients de manière durable. Des services et des produits peuvent émerger donc seulement à travers de leurs valeurs, c’est à dire à travers de leur identité, puisque les gens arrivent mieux à se mettre en rapport ce qui crée idéalement un attachement. C’est pour ça que c’est important que l’entreprise associe des valeurs à ses marques et surtout de le rend percevable aux clients de manière crédible.

Le but de cet analyse est de montrer comment des valeurs peuvent durablement porter le succès économique d’entreprises. Afin de l’illustrer pour notre étude nous avons choisi Konsum Värmland, qui compte 126 000 membres en tant que coopérative indépendante. Grâce à cela Konsum Värmland a des avantages, puisque il est indépendant du syndicat suédois KF et donc autonome de réaliser ses propres stratégies et visions.

Au delà de ça cet analyse veut montre quelles valeurs Konsum Värmland représente, et veut également examiner si Konsum Värmland a réussi à les communiquer à ses membres et ses clients.

A travers un model théorique nous allons montrer comment le management à base de valeur est un excellent indicateur pour la création de valeur mutuellement avec les membres de la coopérative. Nous avons donc choisi une approche narrative pour analyse empirique. Les conclusions se basent sur des interviews, nos observations ainsi que d’autres données que nous avons obtenu dans la litérature, des articles de la presse et par une recherche préliminaire.

Pour cet étude de cas nous avons décidé d’examiner quatre secteurs de la création de valeur qui sont l’histoire d’entreprise de Konsum Värmland, ses deux marques Nästgård et Värmlandsgrisen, ainsi que leur adaptation et évolution menées par Konsum Värmland. Ces secteurs donnent au lecteur une compréhension approfondie de la création de valeur stratégique à Konsum Värmland.

Dans l’intention de rester compétitif dans l’environnement quotidien de grand distribution, il est important pour l’entreprise de se différencier des autres. Konsum Värmland a réussi à le faire grâce à exploitation intelligente des valeurs ancrées dans la région de Värmland.

Par ailleurs cet étude de cas montre comment le raisonnement des clients évolue vers une création mutuelle des valeurs communes entre demande et offre. Ce comportement nous

amène à la conclusion qu’il utilisable davantage dans une stratégie de compétition afin d’anticiper des changements de marché dans l’objectif de s’adapter vite au nouveau contexte.

Dans cette analyse nous pouvons voir comment des produits locaux peuvent profiter des valeurs éthiques ce qui favorise une relation dans laquelle les clients sont prêts à acheter des produits même s’ils sont plus chers qu’ailleurs. Ces valeurs sont communiquées à travers les marques Värmlandsgrisen et Nästgård dont on propose les produits en s’appuyant sur une qualité de service à valeur ajoutée. Nous avons développé un model qui montre quelle vision, organisation et création de valeur doivent être balancés l’un à l’autre. Seulement à ce moment là il est possible de créer des valeurs, qui portent durablement le succès économique de l’entreprise.

Zusammenfassung

Ursprünglich wurden Werte and Wertschöpfung in der Wirtschaftsgeschichte als Teil des Herstellungsprozesses angesehen, was wiederum bedeutet das Unternehmen als Werterzeuger auftraten. Parallel veränderte sich die Bedeutung von Wertschaffung in der letzten Jahrzehnten in Richtung einer mehr Kundenorientierten und damit service-ausgerichteten Ansicht. Diesen beiden Perspektiven gegenüber steht, dass Wirtschaftsforscher heute davon ausgehen, dass Unternehmen ausschliesslich durch wertebasierende Angebote im Markt erfolgreich sein können. Nur diese schaffen es durch deren Empfinden den Kunden nachhaltig zu beeinflussen. Dienstleistungen und Waren sind also durch deren Werte und damit deren Identität erfolgreich, da Menschen diese besser mit ihren eigenen in Verbindung bringen können was im Idealfall eine stärkere Bindung bedeutet. Daher ist es wichtig, dass Unternehmen positive Werte mit ihren Marken verbinden und vor allem für die Kunden glaubhaft erlebbar machen.

Ziel dieser Arbeit ist es zu zeigen wie Werte den nachhaltigen wirtschaftlichen Erfolg von Unternehmen fördern können. Um dies zu veranschaulichen haben wir für unsere Untersuchung Konsum Värmland gewählt, welches als unabhängige Vereinigung 126 000 Mitglieder zählt. Konsum Värmland hat dadurch Vorteile, da es einerseits unabhängig von der schwedischen Gewerkschaft KF ist und andererseits damit in der Lage ist seine eigenen Strategien und Vision umzusetzen.

Diese Arbeit hat den Anspruch zu erläutern für welche Werte Konsum Värmland steht, und darüberhinaus zu untersuchen, ob Konsum Värmland es gelungen ist diese erfolgreich seinen Mitgliedern sowie Kunden zu kommunizieren.

Wir werden mit Hilfe eines theoretischen Rahmenmodells zeigen wie wertebasiertes Management ein exzellenter Ergebnismesser für gemeinsame Wertschaffung mit den Mitgliedern der Kooperative sein kann. Wir haben für diese empirische Analysis daher einen erzählerischen Ansatz gewählt. Die erzählerischen Schlussfolgerungen basieren auf Interviews, eigenen Beobachtungen sowie weiteren Daten welche wir aus Fachliteratur, Zeitungsartikeln and vorangegangener Forschung erhielten.

Für dies Fallstudie haben wir uns entschieden vier Bereich der Wertschaffung zu untersuchen. Diese sind die Unternehmensgeschichte von Konsum Värmland, die beiden Handelsmarken Nästgård und Värmlandsgrisen, sowie deren Anpassung durch und Entwicklung von Konsum Värmland. Diese Bereiche geben dem Leser eine tiefere Einsicht in die strategische Wertschaffung von Konsum Värmland.

In der Absicht im alltäglichen Einzelhandelsumfeld wettbewerbsfähig zu bleiben, ist es für Unternehmen dabei wichtig, sich selbst von anderen zu differenzieren. Dieses gelang Konsum Värmland durch deren erfolgreiche Nutzung von in der Värmland-Region verankerten Werten.

Diese Fallstudie zeigt wie sich modernes Konsumentendenken hinzu einer kooperativen Schöpfung gemeinschaftlicher Werte und Bedeutungen entwickelt. Dieses

Kundendenken veranlasst uns zu der Schlussfolgerung, dass es in einer Wertbewerbsstrategie genutzt werden kann um Marktveränderung rechtzeitig zu erkennen und sich daran anzupassen.

In dieser Studie können wir sehen wie lokal erzeugte Güter ethische Werte zu nutzen, was die Kunden wiederum dazu bewegt die Produkte zu kaufen, selbst wenn diese leicht teurer sind. Die Werte werden mittels der Handelsmarken Värmlandsgrisen und Nästgård kommuniziert, indem deren Erzeugnisse über eine wertebasierte Servicequalität angeboten werden. Wir haben dazu ein Model entwickelt, welches zeigt wie Vision, Organisation und die Wertschaffung auf einander abgestimmt sein müssen. Nur dann können Werte geschaffen werden, welche den nachhaltigen wirtschaftlichen Erfolg von Unternehmen fördern können.

Introduction. Leadership is being taught in business schools to provide students with skills in decision making, for example, within different subjects in business schools such as in ICN Business School. Purpose. The purpose of this study is to describe the student’s adoption of business school leadership ideals and values. Theoretical Framework. Implementation of theories of transactional-transformational leadership and charismatic-visionary concerning the leadership ideals of the study. Leadership ideals and leadership values correlate and correspond to the leadership styles mentioned. Methodology. Qualitative study operating in-depth interviews and surveys. Study operationalized in Bavaria, South Germany, where three business schools have been investigated for 3 months (mid-April 2019 - early May 2019). Findings. The findings of the study are the similarity of the students with the business school’s core values where a leadership ideal can be conveyed. The leadership values in detailed seem to be conveyed, and another part not entirely conveyed. Analysis. Leadership values are analyzed through SPSS results. Leadership ideals are analyzed through results of leadership values. Leadership values, leadership styles. Leadership values are all put in correlation. Conclusion. Leadership ideals are fully conveyed to students from business schools through the choice of leadership style. Leadership values are partly conveyed.

This study will focus on two main concepts: entrepreneurship and feminism and more clearly about the relation which brings them together.Feminist values have gained more attention over the years and became a field of studies (Grunig, 2000; Van Bogaert, 2009; Ahmed et al., 2013; Gardner, 2009). It becomes a natural topic in our society as it fills a role in businesses; and even more in entrepreneurship (Ahl and Marlow, 2012; Morris et al., 2006 ; Mutch, 2018 ; Orser, 2012).Even if feminism gain ground in the business world, its definition is still not unanimous.The first section will then give an insight about all the main way feminism can be understood in the current environment, then entrepreneurship. Linking both term lead to another point of view of business management. Therefore, the effect of feminism in the managerial and business culture is researched through the paper.Three main feminist values have been chosen in this study, by their predominance in the existing feminist and entrepreneurial literature. To that aim, this paper will state the three main feminist values and then, how to identify them in the workplace.

When discussing the value of an information technology (IT) system, the most common approach is to take on the perspective of either the organization introducing the IT system or the end users. The purpose of this thesis has been to study the values of both stakeholder groups in order to define what system characteristics are the most desirable from a dual-stakeholder point of view.

Through a series of contextual inquiries, interviews and questionnaires, the value perceptions of end users and IT managers at a large European rail operator were investigated. The results of the study point to a high degree of similarity in the value perceptions of end users and IT managers, although the former were generally focused on short-term value while the latter also were concerned about long-term, sustaining value.

The findings are applicable to practitioners wishing to take a dual perspective on IT value as well as academics looking to find touch points between usability and business strategy. In the context of end users and IT managers, the most important system characteristics that maximize value for both stakeholder groups were found to be Availability, Recoverability, Efficiency, Reliability and Future Proofness.

Purpose- The purpose of the study was to investigate how employees perceive and understand their company brand values. The aim was to show the importance of internal branding when communicating brand values in an organization to employees. Design/methodology/approach- The methodology used in this research was a quantitative survey study. Three warehouses were chosen for the study, in Älmhult, Helsingborg and Malmö. The sample was 129 employees and questionnaires were handed out to them. The data from the questionnaires were analyzed in the data program SPSS. Findings- Result from the study shows that the employees have a good understanding and share a mutual perception about the brand values. Although the employees have good knowledge the study shows that they are not committed on a personal level to the brand values. Since internal branding is about implementing the brand values with the employees the result shows that the internal branding is not as embedded as it should be in the organization. Research limitations and implications- Due to the timeframe given, the research was a cross- sectional study. A suggestion for future research is to do a longitudinal design in order to see changes over time. A theoretical implication is given to the two concepts of brand citizenship behavior and brand commitment since the results in this research are different from other studies. For the managerial implications, the commitment to the brand should be taken into consideration in the internal branding process. Originality/ value- The value that this study brings is to the internal branding process by showing the lack of brand commitment even though the knowledge about the brand values are high.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Sydney, 2009.
Title from title screen (viewed 18th September, 2009) Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy to the Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Sydney. Degree awarded 2009. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in print form.

This paper is based on the concept that Values drive value, a theory investigated by Bo Enquist and his colleagues at CTF in Karlstad. Our research attempts to see if the values of a supplier really matter to the purchaser.

 

The focus of our research is two organizations that have official values that play a major part in the organizational decision making, culture and marketing. Currently there is a consensus that the culture is an essential factor in creating successful businesses.

Human resource management and work values specifically have become a core element to organizations success and achieving their aims. The two countries taken into consideration in our dissertation (Sweden & Pakistan) both have a high percentage of work being done in the service sector. Sweden is one of the most developed countries in the world where the service sector plays a fundamental part in its GDP and Pakistan is a developing country on the rise where again the service sector plays a major role in the country's GDP. Sweden has an edge over most countries in the world when it comes to infrastructure and Pakistan has its own plus points with a wide range of work force thus opening new horizons for Pakistani workers to move into Sweden for work and for Pakistani managers to gain skills and expertise from there Swedish counterparts. This dissertation analyze, what aspects of work value are similar or different between managers in Sweden and Pakistan, this includes reviewing the findings from different case studies and of interview conducted with managers of different organizations in Sweden and Pakistan. The dissertation is qualitative in nature and theoretical cultural aspects in the lights of work values are used along with articles and books on management styles of managers in both the respective countries.

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2002.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Governments and organisations focus their efforts and resources on physical production factors and the skills of their employees. However, in order to focus the resources and skills of an organisation on a specific outcome there needs to be a common and binding set of values. Many empowerment efforts in South Africa have not succeeded and the reasons cited for their failures, concomitantly, have been based on physical production factors and lack of skills. This study will investigate whether a misalignment of values may be the real problem of which the physical production factors and skills were mere symptoms. The Mckinsey 7s Model will be used to structure the analysis and to determine whether the reconstruction, development and empowerment organisations, both successful and unsuccessful, had shared values. The result was that the reconstruction, development and empowerment organisations that were successful had shared values and that the reconstruction, development and empowerment organisations, that were unsuccessful did not have shared values.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Regerings en privaat organisasies fokus hulle insette op fisiese produksie faktore en die vaardighede van hul werknemers. Om die insette en aksies van 'n organisasie te fokus op 'n spesifieke uitkoms, moet daar 'n gedeelde en samebindende stel waardes wees. Verskeie bemagtigingspogings in Suid-Afrika was nie suksesvol nie. Die redes wat vir hierdie mislukkings aangevoer word, is gebaseer op die fisiese insette en die gebrek aan vaardigheid van die deelnemers. Die navorsing in hierdie studie is daarop gemik om te bepaal of die gebrek aan gedeelde waardes nie dalk die werklike probleem is nie, en dat die fisiese produksie faktore en vaardigheidsvlakke slegs simptome hiervan is. Die Mckinsey 7s model sal aangewend word om struktuur aan die studie te verleen. Die Mckinsey 7s model sal ook aangewend word om te bepaal of die heropbou-, ontwikkelings- en bemagtigings organisasies, beide suksesvol en onsuksesvol, gedeelde waardes gehad het al dan nie. Die resultate van die studie het daarop gedui dat al die heropbou-, ontwikkelings en bemagtigings organisasies, wat gedeelde waardes gehad het suksevol was en al die heropbou-, ontwikkelings- en bemagtigings organisasies, wat onsuksesvol was nie gedeelde waardes gehad het nie.

The study has aimed to investigate how Human Resources (HR) and management are working to mediate and anchor values in organizations. I have chosen to apply a socio-cultural perspective with the help of artifacts and mediating tools. The issues researched are; (i) “How do organizations mediate and anchor common values, and how does this affect the work with values?”, and (ii) “How can mediation and anchoring in organizations be understood from a socio-cultural perspective, focusing on artifacts and mediating tools?”.I have via e-mail interviewed four people working with HR in four different organizations. When analyzing the empirical data, I have been inspired by phenomenographic analysis selecting and focusing on important concepts, similarities, and differences in the responses from the informants. Within the socio-cultural perspective, the key aspects are communication and, above all, language. Artifacts and mediating tools may be considered intellectual or physical tools that we develop together with others through our thoughts and language. Values in organizations can be regarded as one such artifact or tool. The informants in the study consider work on values being a successful way to control and guide its organizations, particularly noting the importance of participation and commitment of all employees. Further, an important factor for the work on values to be overall successful, the work needs to be established and secured at all stages and in all processes. For a clear and interpretive leadership to build trust among the employees, decisions need to be based on a designed value system. With the socio-cultural perspective and artifacts and mediating tools, communication and knowledge appeared to be of great importance, which strengthens the thesis that mediating and anchoring is a prerequisite for the work on values to be meaningful. The intellectual tools provide a way to manage and control through language, and relating to values is a prerequisite to be part of an organization.

This study concerns ‘value’ and how this leads to the ‘decision’ of whether to stay in farming, or to exit the industry. Most of the research into the ‘value’ of farming is based upon the quantitative economic evaluation of either farmland income or production modelling. This study proposes that there is additional ‘value’ beyond the income received. ‘Value’ is deemed to be ‘customer perceived value’ (‘value’) on the basis that farmers are considered to be consumers of the system of farming within a professional environment. Farming is a “way of life” and this is the first study that investigates whether the ‘personal values’ (‘values’) of farmers effect the ‘value’ they perceive from farming as suggested by Schoon and Te Grontenhuis (2000). This study investigates the relationship between ‘values, value, risk, satisfaction and decision’. The research model posits that ‘values’ (each one separately) impacts on the formation of ‘value’ (which is treated as a higher-order construct of the benefits [“get”] and sacrifices [“give”] components, each of which comprises a number of dimensions), ‘risk’ (also conceptualised as a higher-order construct) impacts on ‘value’ and ‘decision’, ‘value’ is a determinant of ‘satisfaction’ which in tum affects ‘decision’ of whether or not to remain in farming, The competing model although it maintains the above structure treats the two ‘value’ components as separate constructs (that is, tests for differential impact of ‘value’ and ‘risk’ on the “get” and “give” components and for the differential impact of these two components on ‘satisfaction’). The relationships between the constructs were tested via data collected from a postal and internet survey sent to farmers within Great Britain. The empirical investigation involved the use of Partial Least Squares (structural equation modelling). Examination of the solutions obtained for the research and competing model led to the adoption of the latter because of is greater sensitivity and analytical clarity. Overall, the findings confirm the relevance of ‘perceived value’ in a person's decision to remain within a given professional domain. Specifically, the following contributions to extant knowledge are made: • The differential behaviour of the two ‘value’ components (i.e., “give” and “get”) indicates that ‘value’ should not be conceptualised and consequently examined as a unidimensional higher-order construct. Instead each of the ‘value’ components should be free to relate to other constructs. • The research has confirmed the link between personal ‘values’ and value. However, the form of this relationship is considered to be context specific (i.e., in this study only Self Direction, Tradition and Benevolence were found to be a significant determinant of the ‘value’ components). • Risk has been found to impact significantly only on the “give” component of ‘value’. • Of the two components, only the “get” to satisfaction relationship was supported. This implies that the benefits received rather than the “give/sacrifices” made are the main driver of personal satisfaction with the chosen professional domain (in this case farming). • As expected the satisfaction to decision to remain in the chosen profession relationship has been confirmed. Based on the above policy suggestions are put forward regarding actions that could engender farmer's satisfaction with their profession and consequently ensure continuation with their chosen profession.

This thesis discusses how adidas differentiate their communication to reach women and make the adidas brand more appealing to females. The adidas brand has always had their main focus on sportswear for men. This has led to the brand being perceived as masculine and it makes it hard for the female consumer to identify with adidas. We have analysed six adidas adverts from the last five years to see what adidas have communicated to women. The main purpose of this thesis is to understand why adidas have not succeeded in communicating with women in the last five years.

The theoretical chapter is divided into three parts; Brands, Communication and Consumer Behaviour. The first part describes what a brand is, how it is built and continues with how a brand can be gendered. A brand is not very likely to keep a strong position if the values connected with the brand are not reinforced through communication. When forming a communication strategy, companies have to understand how consumers behave. When selling a gendered product, companies have to understand the distinction between men and women and how they differ in consumption.

Our discussion is based on the qualitative method of collecting data. The qualitative method was carried out through two panel interviews and one personal interview, and we also performed picture analysis on adidas’ advertisements. Ten open-individual interviews with ten different women were conducted; to get their opinions on the six adverts.

Adidas have presented five different identities over five years, each with diverse focus and with different brand associations. This has led to a lack of consistency and therein lies a part of the reason why adidas have not been successful in appealing to women.

Since 2005 adidas have a collaboration with Stella McCartney. This is an attempt to add design to adidas functional clothes and to make their brand more appealing to women. This collaboration will continue until 2010 and this could provide adidas with the uniformity they need.

This research is about understanding effectiveness achieved from B2E (Business-to-Employee) e-business model. Though many studies have been undertaken on B2B and B2C models; research on B2E is still at an infancy stage. This research addressed the identified niche with a focus on the factors that lead to organisational effectiveness from B2E e-business model in the Australian context. The research was guided by Resourced Based Theory and Competing Values Framework to understand the impact of the model on organizational effectiveness. Research methods adopted for this research are exploratory; so that the 'new' area can be investigated and emerging new concepts in the same phenomena can be examined. Analysis of the data is interpretive, which was collected via interviews using a semi-structured questionnaire. The findings reveal that the Australian organisations investigated regard B2E e-business to be a dynamic and evolving model for internal management and servi ce to employees. The findings also indicate that B2E model is adopted differently in different organizations. However, the general pattern or theme that the data revealed is that the B2E applications tend to follow a stream of electronic applications such as electronic news (e-news), electronic documents (e-documents), electronic information (e-information), electronic human resource (e-HR) applications and electronic business processes for the management of employees and their internal processes. The resulting outcomes include both internal and external effectiveness in organisations with B2E e-business models.

Background: With great developments within technology and internet provision, subscription video on demand (SVoD) has made a remarkable entrance with a competitiveness which has resulted in a shift in the television industry (Noh, 2020). The user pays a monthly fee and gets access to a platform which offers a library of content. The escalated competition among SVoD services (Pennington, 2020) has resulted in businesses to re-evaluate how users and potential users' perceived value of the service and the resulting effects may have on their business. Problem Discussion: Perceived value is seen to be the most critical determinant of willingness-to-pay and whether an individual makes the decision to purchase (Chang, Wang & Yang, 2009; Ulaga & Chacour, 2001). Empirical studies that focus on the role of perceived values in the purchase decision in a digital context have been conducted in various fields, such as, freemium services (Hamari, Hanner & Koivisto, 2020) and music streaming (Guerra & Fernandes, 2019) or mixing various streaming apps together (Oyedele & Simpson, 2018). While previous research has studied perceived values’ role in the decision-making process in streaming segments, almost none of them has explored its role specifically in SVoD services. Furthermore, no previous studies have explored the temporal dimension of value, which has shown to be of great importance in technology-based self-services (Heinonen, 2004).   Purpose: This study explores the elements that mostly influence users’ perceived values when making the decision to subscribe to a SVoD service. The purpose is to investigate the market of subscription video on demand services and better understand what users perceive as valuable, as well as how and why these influence their purchasing decision. Building on this understanding, we develop a framework that illuminates the user's decision-making process when subscribing to a SVoD service.  Method: An inductive qualitative case study methodology was adopted, building on semi-structured in-depth interviews with ten SVoD service users. The interviewed users were between the ages of 25-32.  Conclusion: The researchers concluded that users of SVoD services emphasize four perceived values when subscribing, these are: emotional, social, convenience and epistemic. These values were thereafter categorized into perceived immediate and future values of subscription. When an individual is in the process of subscribing, the person weighs the temporal dimensions of perceived immediate and future values towards the price of subscription, which equates in the perceived value. The user will select the service which offers the highest perceived value.

Thesis (PhD) - Australian Graduate School of Entrepreneurship, Swinburne University of Technology - 2008.
[Submitted as partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy], Australian Graduate School of Entrepreneurship, Swinburne University of Technology, 2008. Includes bibliographical references (p. 225-238)

Business Administration/Human Resource Management
Ph.D.
Increasingly, there are organizations, industries, and cities worldwide where the "first" and "third" worlds meet in terms of culture, commerce, and politics. Although researchers agree there are significant socio-cultural implications associated with living and working in these dynamic spaces, there is considerable debate about the nature of these implications. Emerging as an example of an industry operating outside traditional parameters of space, time, and culture, the Indian Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry employs Indians to service the needs of clients and customers from around the world without ever having to leave India. Often heralded (or sometimes demonized) as vanguards of an idealized (i.e. Westernizing) Indian middle class, the identities of call center workers are often extrapolated from the goods they consume, and employment in the global workforce is equated with ascension into the global consumer class (Saraswati, 2008). In reality, the deeper socio-cultural implications of working in the Indian BPO industry are as unclear--both conceptually and empirically--as they are contested. In this research, I contribute to our understanding of these issues by examining the ways in which call center work influenced the values and behaviors of my respondents from their unique points of view. Within the empirical domain, I present a critical ethnographic analysis of fieldwork I conducted in "DomesTech"--an Indian-owned, hybrid-focused BPO organization in Hyderabad, India. Calling upon postcolonial theory and the Bhabhaian perspective of "Third Space" as conceptual and analytical guides and focusing on the values of family, materialism, and ecological orientation, my research shows that call center workers do not fit neatly into the aspirational mold often attributed to them. I also argue that the sociocultural implications of contemporary call center work are not sufficiently conceptualized by existing theoretical frameworks. Hoping to contribute to our theoretical understanding of these issues, I engage in a grounded theory approach to data analysis and call upon the geological process of subduction as interpretive metaphor to develop a refined conceptualization of contemporary culture change.
Temple University--Theses

Bakgrund: Det verkar som om inte en enda dag går förbi utan att det är något i media beträffande företag och deras olika aktiviteter som berör samhället som helhet eller enskilda individer. På senare år har både media och allmänheten kritiserat företag för att ha verksamhet som påverkar såväl individer som hela orter och kommuner negativt. Pudelns kärna i sammanhanget är den klassiska debatten kring företags etiska och sociala skyldigheter samt vems intressen företag egentligen existerar för att tillgodose.

Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att finna huruvida det under de senaste 30 åren har skett en förändring, eller flera förändringar, avseende "shareholder" versus "stakeholder"-värdeorientering i svenska storföretags årsredovisningar. Vidare belyses och förklaras våra rön utifrån ett historiskt perspektiv.

Resultat: Vi upptäcker två trender i årsredovisningarna. Den första trenden uppvisar en starkare orientering mot att skapa shareholder-värde, medan den andra trenden tyder på en orientering mot att skapa stakeholder-värde. Denna förändring i värdeorientering förefaller inträffa någon gång mellan 1984 och 1990. De två trenderna och förändringen i värdeorientering kan till stor del belysas och förklaras av den historiska kontexten.

Background: It seems as not a single day goes by nowadays without there being something in the news concerning companies and their various activities, which affect society as a whole or single individuals or both. In recent years, both media and the public have debated and criticized companies for undertaking activities that negatively affect everything from single individuals to populations of entire towns and municipalities. What these debated issues and other similar events boil down to is the classical question and debate of the extent to which companies have a moral and social responsibility and whose interests companies exist to serve.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to find out whether there has been a shift, or several shifts, in terms of shareholder versus stakeholder value orientation in annual reports of large Swedish companies during the past 30 years. Moreover, the findings are elucidated and explained from a historical perspective.

Results: We detect two trends in the annual reports. The first is a stronger orientation towards the shareholder value perspective, followed by a second trend towards the stakeholder value perspective. The shift in orientation seems to occur sometime between 1984 and 1990. The two trends and the shift can to a large extent be explained and elucidated by the historical context.

The aim of this study is to investigate how explicit CSR values are implemented in the organizational culture of companies through MCS. The focus is on which elements of MCS affect the tacit CSR values of employees, so that employee and corporate values can be aligned. Additionally, the role that shared values play on corporate social behavior is explored. To answer the research question both primary and secondary data were collected and analyzed by conducting multiple case studies. The primary data was collected through qualitative, semi-structured interviews. Secondary data was collected from the case companies’ official reports, codes of conduct and statements. A model was created to create a visualization of the concepts used in the theoretical framework. This study found that companies from nine different industries utilize MCS to align CSR values in their organization, and realize green marketing behavior. Shared values are created through four MCS; a belief system, a diagnostic control system, a boundary system and an interactive control system. These are the building blocks upon which positive corporate social behavior is grounded on. This study’s results provide managers tools to affect their company’s corporate social behavior. Additionally, on a broader level, this study indicates that green marketing and greenwashing behavior can be viewed as choices that companies can deliberately make. Managers can affect the corporate social behavior of their company and are therefore responsible for the path they choose regarding CSR.

The issue that is dealt with in this paper is the concept of values-led business. The idea behind the term is that businesses has a responsibility to the people and the society that make its existence possible and that social problems can not be solved unless business accepts taking on a leadership role which requires that business starts acting in the interests of the common good. This is specifically important since companies today are the main source of influence in people’s everyday life and the area is specifically interesting because of all the business scandals in recent years. (Cohen and Greenfield, 1997). The concept of values-led business arose mainly from the two companies the Body Shop and our chosen company; Ben and Jerry’s.

The purpose of this thesis is to explore the concept of values-led business and find out how it is different from the procedures at a non-explicitly values-led organisation. We also aim to find out if there would be any benefits of introducing values-led business into the latter.

In this paper we compare an explicitly values-led company, Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream, with a non explicitly values-led company, SIA Glass on their internal and external performance on the study areas of Marketing, Sourcing, and HRM and Organisational culture. A qualitative research method has been used as method. The collection of primary data was done with the help of interviews done at our companies’ main offices in Sweden. In the case of Ben & Jerry’s, additional secondary sources have been used. Theories used serve the purpose of both a tool of analysis but also of setting the stage of values-led business. Furthermore, the theory has been divided into the four areas of study mentioned above.

The first part of the conclusion states that we, throughout the thesis, have given a good overview of what the differences between values-led business and “ordinary” business really are. Also, we found that SIA Glass has the potential of becoming a values-led company as its foundation is not entirely based on financial goals but is to a large extent driven by a will to preserve something good for the local community. In order to develop a val-ues-led thinking a social mission should be formally put down in print and be held equal to the financial and quality missions. SIA Glass potentially has a lot to be gained especially in the marketing area as SIA Glass as it could create further leverage by using more creative marketing methods.

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2001.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The utilisation of human capital and its impact on organisational performance must rank as one of the key managerial concerns III South Africa. The message from international competitive studies is clear: corporations become competitive when people and practices change. The global market has exposed the lack of competitive strength and effectiveness of South African corporations. Against this background, managing complex organisations in the private and public sector remains a daunting, pervasive and urgent task. By focusing on issues of organisational behaviour and global competitiveness, the study aims to contribute to the development of competitive (effective) corporations in South Africa. It is important to keep in mind that the present investigation was an exploratory study attempting to add to the body of knowledge about competitiveness. It aimed to enhance existing studies on global competitiveness and organisational effectiveness and open up possibilities for new management strategies and interventions as well as further research. In particular, it builds on previous work on the impact of organisational behaviour on performance. An extremely important development in the study of corporate culture has been proof that that the normative structure (corporate culture) has a significant impact on the performance of an organisation. Because of this impact, corporate culture has to be regarded as one of the key success factors in any corporation. Corporate culture is however no end in itself, but must be regarded as a hermeneutical key (interpretative) to corporate performance. The success of the corporation takes precedence over all other aspects of the organisation, even over its culture. The framework of corporate culture and competitiveness links patterns of behaviour and management practices with underlying assumptions, beliefs and values. It provides a clear description of the integrative mechanisms and dimensions of corporate culture and the way in which they impact on competitiveness. These behavioural factors are key determinants of organisational performance because of the close link between patterns of behaviour and underlying core values and beliefs. The model also defines the elements (people, change, projects, control) that need to be managed, as well as the traits (adaptability and innovation, mission, involvement, consistency) of the culture which determines the performance of the corporation. In terms of the corporate culture and competitiveness framework, the management activity of developing a set of common or core values is therefore a good starting point for any culture intervention strategy aimed at enhancing competitiveness (performance). A shared system of beliefs, values and symbols widely understood by an organisation's members has a positive impact on their ability to reach consensus and carry out coordinated actions. This impact, as well as the nature of the culture of the corporation has to be understood by everybody in the organisation. It also has to assist them in making sense of corporate life in such a manner that it creates opportunities for everyone to impact on the performance of the corporation.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die bestuur van menslike hulpbronne en die impak daarvan op organisatoriese prestasie is een van die kern bestuursvraagstukke in Suid-Afrika. Die internasionale boodskap oor mededingendheid is duidelik. Organisasies se mededingendheid verander wanneer mense en praktyke verander. Oor die algemeen vaar Suid-Afrikaanse organisasies redelik swak in die internasional mark weens 'n gebrek aan kompeterendheid en effektiwiteit. Dit is duidelik dat in hierdie lig, die bestuur van komplekse organisasies 'n uitdagende ontwykende maar dringende uitdaging aan bestuur is. Deur op organisatoriese gedrag en internasionale kompeterendheid te fokus, poog die studie om 'n bydrae te maak tot die ontwikkeling van kompeterende (effektiewe) organisasies in Suid-Afrika. Dit is belangrik om in gedagte te hou dat die studie van ondersoekende aard was en om daardeur verdere insig in kompeterendheid te verkry. Dit poog om by bestaande studies oor internasionale kompeterendheid en organisatoriese doeltreffendheid aan te sluit ten einde nuwe bestuursintervensies en strategië te ontwikkel en terselfdertyd rigting vir verdere navorsing aan te dui. Dit bou in besonder op vorige studies oor die impak van organisatoriese gedrag op doeltreffendheid. 'n Belangrike ontiwkkeling in die studie van korporatiewe kultuur was die bevinding dat die normatiewe struktuur (korporatiewe kultuur) 'n insiggewende impak op die prestasie van organisasies het. As gevolg van hierdie verhouding, moet korporatiewe kultuur as een van die sleutel sukses faktore in enige organisasie beskou word. Korporatiewe kultuur bly egter altyd slegs 'n middel tot die bereiking van doelwitte en nooit as die doel self nie. Dit moet daarom beskou word as 'n hermeneutiese (verklarende) sleutel tot organisatoriese doeltreffendheid. Die prestasie van enige organisasie moet voorkeur geniet bo all ander aspekte van die organisasie, selfs die korporatiewe kultuur. Die raamwerk van korporatiewe kultuur en doeltreffendheid verklaar die interaksie tussen die onderafdelings van kultuur en die organisasie se doeltreffendheid. Die aannames, oortuigings en waardesisteme van 'n organisasie vorm die basis van 'n stel bestuurspraktyke en gedragspatrone. Hierdie gedragspatrone is sleutelfaktore tot organisasie doeltreffendheid as gevolg van die noue verband tussen die gedrag en die onderliggende waardesisteem. Die raamwerk identifiseer die elemente (mense, verandering, projekte en kontrole) as die elemente wat bestuur moet word, sowel as vier meganismes (betrokkenheid, aanpasbaarheid en vernuwing/innovasie, konsekwentheid en doelgerigtheid/rigtingaanwysing) van kultuur wat die doeltreffendheid van die organisasie bepaal. Korporatiewe kultuurintervensie strategië, gemik op prestasieverbetering, behoort in terme van die korporatiewe kultuur en doeltreffendheidsraamwerk by die ontwikkeling van 'n stel gedeelde of kernwaardes te begin. 'n Gedeelde sisteem van oortuiginge, waardes en simbole wat deur alle lede van die organisasie verstaan en aanvaar word, sal 'n sterk en positiewe uitwerking op die vermoë om konsensus en gekoordineerde optrede te bereik, hê. Hierdie uitwerking asook die aard van die kultuur van die organisasie moet deur almal in die organisasie verstaan word. Dit moet hulle ook in staat stel om die organisasie se keuse van prioriteite te verstaan en daardeur geleenthede vir almal te skep om 'n impak op die doeltreffendheid van die organisasie te hê.

De flesta teoretikerna som forskar kring företagskultur och möjligheterna att förändra en sådan menar att det går, men att det kan vara svårt pga. många olika orsaker. En stark företagskultur med starka värderingar anses bidra till en god arbetsmiljö och därmed en hög effektivitet. Vi har i denna studie undersökt om en företagskultur går att förändra och påverka av företagsledningen. Vi utförde en strukturerad enkätstudie på SEB Kort AB där nya värderingar infördes 2002. Undersökningen visade att företagsledningen hade lyckats påverka kulturen då respondenterna i huvudsak var positivt inställda till Core Values, dess effekter på organisationen, de själva och kollegorna samt att de delade värderingarna. Svarsfrekvensen var endast 65 procent, vilket kan anses vara ett ganska stort bortfall varför vi har valt att se denna undersökning som en förstudie. Vi har dock med hjälp av jämförelser mellan de respondenter som besvarat enkäten och information om alla anställda på SEB Kort försökt mäta validiteten, vilken utifrån denna jämförelse verkar vara ganska god. Med det stora bortfallet i åtanke måste vi ändock vara försiktiga med att dra slutsatser till hela SEB Kort.

Background: Research today highlights the importance of values alignment, but all of the research has been conducted on manufacturing companies. We found it interesting to investigate if the same theories are applicable to the knowledge-intense service sector, such as consultancy firms. Furthermore, research has identified a set of key attributes of successful teamwork, which we find closely related to values alignment. Despite this, we found no previous research within this area.

Purpose: This study investigates the connections between values alignment and teamwork at a consultancy firm.

Method: Our research was conducted as a case study at the department of Management at a consultancy firm. A survey, based on Barrett’s (2008) Seven Level Consciousness, and Cultural Values Assessment models, was carried out. However, we have modified the model to fit Swedish work-related values. We conducted pre-survey, and follow-up survey interviews with employees at the consultancy firm, as well as an interview with a former employee. This triangulation of information gathering techniques allowed us to ensure the validity of our study.

Conclusion: We found a set of four clear relations between values alignment and, what previous research has identified as, key success factors of successful teamwork. Commitment, guidance in decision making, quality of outcome and reduced interpersonal conflicts are all outcomes of values alignment, and they are in different ways connected to one or several of commitment to success and shared goals, commitment to team processes and accountability, interpersonal skills, open communication and feedback or interdependencies.

 

 

 

Bakgrund: Dagens forskning belyser vikten av att ha en gemensam värdegrund, men så vitt vi kan se sträcker sig forskningen till att enbart involvera tillverkningsföretag. Vi tyckte att bristen på forskning inom kunskapsintensiva serviceföretag, så som konsultföretag, var intrigerande och bestämde oss för att undersöka huruvida befintliga teorier är applicerbara även på den här sektorn. Forskning har även identifierat ett antal faktorer som kännetecknar framgångsrikt teamwork, vi anser att dessa faktorer är kopplade till att ha en gemensam värdegrund. Trots detta har vi inte hittat någon tidigare forskning inom det här området.

Syfte: Den här uppsatsen undersöker sambandet mellan att ha en gemensam värdegrund och teamwork på ett konsultföretag.

Metod: Den här undersökningen är genomförd som en fall studie på Mana-gementavdelningen på ett konsultföretag. Vi sände ut en enkät till de anställda, som byggde på Barretts (2008) Seven Level Consciousness och Cultural Values Assessment modeller. Vi har dock anpassat enkäten till att stämma överens med svenska arbetsrelaterade värderingar. Förutom detta genomförde vi intervjuer innan enkäten skickades ut, samt uppföljningsintervjuer. Utöver de intervjuerna, gjorde vi även en intervju med en före detta anställd på företaget. Den här trianguleringen gjorde det möjligt för oss att försäkra validiteten för vår undersökning.

Slutsats: Vi fann fyra tydliga kopplingar mellan fördelarna med att ha gemensam värdegrund, och vad som genom tidigare forskning har identifierats som framgångsfaktorer för teamwork. Engagemang, stöd för beslutsfattande, kvalitet samt en minskning av sociala konflikter är alla effekter av att ha en gemensam värdegrund. Dessa är på olika sätt relaterade till en eller flera av följande; engagemang i framgång och delade mål, engagemang till team processer och ansvarsskyl-dighet, social kompetens, öppen kommunikation och feedback eller ömsesidigt beroende.

 

The purpose of this research project was to establish in what way Christian entrepreneurs, in this case owner-managers of small and medium-sized enterprises, drew on their Christian faith – as an identity-creating construct – in the day-to-day running of their businesses. Religion was identified as one of the significant contributing elements that form part of individuals’ underlying values that are used to make numerous value-based decisions. Because SME owner-managers that adhere to the Christian faith constitute a fairly large segment of society in the Western World, a study of this nature can be regarded as a worthwhile undertaking that provides valuable insights related to how and to what extent this particular group of economic actors merge religious convictions with business operations. The research was set up in such a way that SME owner-managers in South Africa, who were self-proclaimed Christians and broadly defined as members of the Protestant tradition, constituted the sample participants. The methodology regarded as most suitable was a qualitative, grounded-theory approach whereby interviews were conducted along the lines of a semi-structured interview schedule. An openended exploratory strategy was adopted that allowed respondents to convey their thoughts and ideas pertaining to the research phenomenon from their personal perspectives. A number of conceptual and linguistic frames offered by the respondents – that gave language to the way they rationalised their faith in the context of managing their businesses – were recorded. A total of sixteen major themes and an additional eight sub-themes emerged from the data. The themes recorded and analysed were: faith, grace, calling, stewardship, kingdom, holiness, discipleship, discernment, love, relationship, anointing, inseparable dimensions of life, the Christian life journey, money, cultural perspectives and biblical principles, including the centrality of the Bible, integrity and honesty, sowing and reaping, humility, forgiveness, power of the tongue, importance of prayer and the centrality of Christ. The research findings revealed that a correct understanding of the Christian identity as well as a correct application thereof is crucial in successfully incorporating Christian ideals in the market. Full integration of the Christian identity plus an internalisation of God’s purposes and principles create an inner sense of direction that is less focused on external moral guidelines and codes of conduct – the phrase living from the inside out’ seems appropriately fitting to describe a group of economic actors who pursue their business careers with a sense of calling coupled with a belief that their commercial whereabouts are distinctively linked to a transcendent objective. In addition, general business administration guidelines, where the issue of religious affiliation per se is of no particular consequence, allow for the integration of the value concepts uncovered through the study by way of the corporate governance framework as contained in the King III report – particularly with reference to business practice interventions related to the formulation and implementation of core organisational values and moral codes.

The health care industry is undergoing significant change, particularly with the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in March of 2010. Using the Rokeach Value survey, the value priorities of the insured and uninsured respondents were assessed. The value priorities were also evaluated for the demographics of gender, ethnicity, education, income, and age group. The terminal value of health was culled out as a moderator variable relative to its influence in the decision to seek health care coverage. The most significant contribution of this study reveals an increased understanding of consumer value preferences and demographics and their influence on health care coverage choices. In turn, it advances personal value theory in a health care context and its implications to behavior and decision-making. The results establish the role of health as a significant moderator variable in the decision process. These findings reveal a multitude of insights, not only for the academic researcher, but for practitioners and policymakers alike who are commissioned to execute the new health care reform bill over the next several years. As health care reform is implemented over the next several years, a combination of legislative and market-based solutions will be necessary to curtail the rising number of the uninsured, and ensure there are parity, equity, and morality in the distribution of health care for all Americans.

Despite the recent recession, the economic growth of recent decades has created a group of so-called ‘Global-Elites’ (CeMoRe, 2010). Small in number, but high in net worth and influence they are influential in the creation of, and desire for consumption, often portrayed as luxury, privilege, prestige, and 'class'. The tourism industry has also benefited from growth, with demand predicted to double by the year 2020, reaching an estimated $14.95 billion (World Tourism & Travel Council, 2010). Much of this growth has been at the top end, as Keissling et. al. (2009) note an unprecedented rise in demand for the luxury hotel sector over the past decade. The global elite’s leisure consumption practices require considerable research attention, and yet research into luxury services, such as hotels and associated hospitality services, is greatly undeveloped. Atwal and Williams (2008) note the ability of consumption as a means for consumers to make statements about themselves, and nowhere is this more true than in the world of the Global-Elite, who seemingly having no desire to curb current travel activities (Elliott & Urry, 2009). This may be due to the uncertainty that is felt about future travel opportunities, with environmental decline of natural and heritage attractions paralleled by numerous threats to travel such as peak oil and political instability. However, in recent years, there has been increased interest in the study of ethical consumption in the tourism arena (e.g. Novelli, 2005; Sharpley, 2006; Lansing & Vries, 2006; Yeoman et. al., 2006). Although there appears to be incompatibility between the concepts of luxury and concerns around ethical consumption and sustainability, this research posits that while current transitions (around travel and tourism) continue towards further unsustainability (Cohen, 2010), ethical consumption may provide an avenue for social distinction and status differentiation in the world of the Global-Elites. In order to adequately understand the behavioural intentions of the Global-Elites, the synergy between consumer values, luxury dimensions and ethical consumption needs to be explored. This research examines the influence of consumer values, as a more universal measure of intent, in relation to ethical consumption in luxury hotels. This research argues that by reducing the uncertainty related to the degree to which consumers (Global-Elites) value ethical consumption, deeper insights into these apparently incompatible spaces and places for ethical consumption will be obtained. Furthermore, luxury hotels will be able to assess the suitability of marketing and communicating such strategies to their customers.

This thesis identifies the nature of the values that students hold about business and whether they are acquired through education; the uniformity of the transmission/communication process is addressed. The study traces the views of policy makers and teachers in the policy chain, interviews students and observes classroom interactions in a longitudinal study. The research has been conducted at a time of increasing student numbers on Business Studies courses and during an ongoing debate about the sources of values students hold about business. A distinction is drawn between the values intrinsic to AngloAmerican capitalism and the values that students espouse enabling insight as to whether students are taught and hold AngloAmerican capitalist values or not. Other sources of values such as gender and students’ parttime jobs are considered. Seven policy makers (individuals influencing the creation of the ‘hidden’ or ‘overt’ curriculum) and four groups comprising ‘A’ level and GNVQ Advanced in Business Studies students and their respective teachers participated in the research. The study draws the following conclusions: students, typically, see profit as the primary business objective and this view is framed by the values intrinsic to AngloAmerican capitalism, with other values such as customer service seen as ‘instrumental’ in the pursuit of profitability. Values intrinsic to AngloAmerican capitalism were not directly being transmitted down the policy chain; however, work socialisation values were. The students were able to distinguish between their own personal values and those of business organisations; their personal values often conflicted with those of business. Factors extraneous to education, for example, students’ parttime jobs appear to have a greater influence over their knowledge of business values than that of their teachers. The students often expressed scepticism at business activities, despite no clear evidence that teachers ‘transmit’ antibusiness sentiments. Gender had some influence on the values that students held.

Complex multi-sector relationships are created in long-term health private finance initiative (PFI) projects within and across the inter-organisational (IOR) boundary. Relationship engagement and cooperative behaviour are influenced by an individual's values orientation, which in turn affects attitude and influences the selection and operation of various cooperation mechanisms. The study considered the use of behavioural cooperation mechanisms by project leaders within role-sets created within a PFI environment from the theoretical positions of role-set theory (Katz and Kahn, 1966), behavioural mechanisms influencing cooperation (Chen et al. 1998), and values orientation (Schwartz, 1992). The research adopted the position that values act as general guiding principles in one's life (Schwartz, 1992), a stance that extends Rokeach's (1973) research of the universal nature of human values. A mixed methodology was used to obtain the values orientation profiles of twenty-nine respondents from six project environments using the Schwartz Values Survey Instrument (SVS) combined with repertory grid interviews to elicit the individuals' construct structures. Cluster and principal components analyses were subsequently carried out to enable values profiles to be assessed against construct categorisation. Two-dimensional values domains were obtained for all respondents where respondent propensity tended towards self-transcendent and openness-to-change domains (Schwartz, 1992). Values orientation was examined against elicited constructs after cluster and principal components analysis was carried out for each repertory grid interview response. Analysis enabled construct categorisation to be aligned with the categories identified in an amended model of cooperation. Cooperation mechanisms clustered into two groupings. These reflected the high importance to the sample of trust and accountability in relationships, and the lower importance of group membership, communication process and goals. However, the ranking of the second cluster of attributes was highly sensitive to a changing order. Consistently, the least important behavioural mechanism was reward structures.

Global deployment in information technology (IT) requires understandings of the cultural constraints in technology acceptance and usage behavior. Prior research indicates that the salient technology acceptance models may not be applicable to all cultures since empirical support was mainly obtained from North America. Cultural impact on user acceptance is still at the early stage of research. There has been little research done on technology acceptance and usage behavior in the context of China, which exhibits distinctive cultural differences from countries in North America. The purpose of this thesis is to test the cross-cultural applicability of Technology Acceptance Model in the People’s Republic of China (PRC), and to investigate the influence of cultural values on user acceptance of IT. Based on a synthesis of technology acceptance and cultural theories, this study incorporates work related cultural values into Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). The four cultural values of individualism/collectivism, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, and masculinity/femininity identified by Hofstede are posited to either directly influence or to moderate user acceptance to email in the context of the PRC. Data were collected from the banking industry in the PRC. Cultural values were measured at the individual level to avoid over generalizations of cultural typology and to remedy the inadequacy of post hoc explanation in conventional IS cultural studies. Instead of using the scores of national culture proposed by Hofstede’s cultural study in 1980, this study measures cultural values in terms of personal traits to reflect the changes in and the complexity of cultural values in face of a two-decades of societal change. Structural equation models (SEMs) and moderated structural equation models (MSEMs) are used in the study to explore the direct impact and the moderating effect of cultural values. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural path analysis using LISREL were performed to analyze data collected. The findings show that cultural values have both direct impact and moderation effect on user acceptance to email. The TAM general model was found to be applicable in the Chinese context. Collectivism was found to be an antecedent of Subjective Norms, while Masculinity has no significant influence on Perceived Usefulness. In addition, Power Distance was found to moderate the relationship between Subjective Norms and Intention to Use email; while Uncertainty Avoidance moderates the relationship between Perceived Ease of Use and Perceived Usefulness of email. The findings are expected to provide insights that can help international businesses to enhance technology acceptance across national boundaries. An understanding of the relationship between cultural values and technology acceptance should help organizations understand the influence of core societal values on email acceptance and so to better utilize social and cultural practices in organizational technology diffusion. This study suggests a few guidelines for better utilizing computer mediated communication technology in regard to the cultural challenges.

The research involves a cross-cultural exploratory research on personal values and identity structures of Malay and Chinese entrepreneurs as reflected in their cognitive functioning. The general focus of this research is to study personal values through indirect measures, as emerging constructs elicited from cognitive activities. This study adopts a different approach in that it moves away from the search for a single set of entrepreneurial traits. On the other hand, examining the personal values of entrepreneurs can be more fruitful. In this context, it is assumed that entrepreneurs undergo changes in personal values and identity due to changes in their personal and social situations. This research integrates nomothetic' (perspective of the general) and 'idiographic' (perspective of the particular) research methods. The techniques of data collection used are in-depth interviews, demographic data questionnaire, and Identity Structure Analysis. The data gathered were analysed using three different techniques namely quantitative and qualitative account analysis, statistical analysis using SPSS, and Identity Exploration (IDEX- IDIO and IDEX-NOMO) computer programs. The research reveals fifteen personal values common to Malay and Chinese entrepreneurs: 'personal independence, trustworthiness, a comfortable life, frugality, perseverance, hard work utilise and create opportunities, benevolence, versatility, fatalism, risk taking, self discipline, innovativeness, mutual obligation and reciprocity to family and kinship and high achievement'. The single personal value found specific to Malay entrepreneurs is 'religious piety'. On the other hand, the personal values revealed to be specific to Chinese entrepreneurs are 'sustaining growth and continuity as family business' and 'harmonious relationships with others'. The findings from this study show that there are similarities and differences in the identity structures between both groups of entrepreneurs. Most Malay and Chinese entrepreneurs have a high level of 'idealistic identification' with 'admired person', 'successful entrepreneur', and 'most Chinese entrepreneurs'. Chinese entrepreneurs sampled in this study have a 'moderate' level of 'idealistic identification' with Malay entrepreneurs. Malay entrepreneurs have a 'moderate' level of 'idealistic identification' with their 'father' whereas Chinese entrepreneurs' identification can be considered 'high'. Both groups of entrepreneurs have high self-confidence with regard to their roles as 'an entrepreneur', 'as a husband', and 'as a Malay/ Chinese'. This research has made considerable contribution to knowledge specifically in the field of entrepreneurial studies. This empirical research into personal values of entrepreneurs in general and in particular the linkage with entrepreneur's identity and role expectations broadened the psychological perspective of entrepreneurs. It is reasonable to qualify this research as one of the very few studies into personal values and identity structures of entrepreneurs. More specifically this is the first empirical research not only to compare personal values and identity of Malay and Chinese entrepreneurs but also Malay entrepreneurs in general. The study of personal values and identity of entrepreneurs is still in its infancy. Therefore, further research should be conducted to enrich existing knowledge in this area.

In this doctoral study I conceptualise shared values in order to explore a management problem from my work place environment. I observe that business-to-business (B2B) relationships between project managers and self-employed consulting engineers terminate; project managers switching to other vendors and self-employed consulting engineers losing their contract. The findings from the doctoral study show major influence of the shared values in managing project based professional relationships. Specifically, the elements of B2B professional relationships “commitment” and “trust” embedded in relationship performance show managerial implications. Furthermore, the literature review revealed a lack of qualitative knowledge in the research domain of B2B relationships. Hence, the findings from the doctoral study fill this gap and contribute to the academic knowledge by providing practise based qualitative evidence. This doctoral study was conducted in two phases. In the first phase, building on previous research articles, six elements of B2B professional relationships were refined and tested through qualitative interviews in order to explore their relevance in the B2B professional relationship between the project managers and self-employed consulting engineers. As a result from the first phase, a conceptual model of shared values was developed. In the second phase, the conceptual model of the shared values developed from the first phase was explored and validated through the experience of the project managers and self-employed consulting engineers.

The doctoral thesis explores the relationship of Business and Society in four essays. The growing public, corporate and academic interest in organizational contribution to society – in this thesis measured as Public Value, Shared Value and Corporate Social Responsibility – poses the question how we can determine value creation beyond financial benefits. The thesis provides psychological and sociological perspectives to shed light on this pressuring question. The psychological view in essay four shows that value is rooted in relationship between an observing subject and an object that is to be evaluated, thus, it is not objectively out there. This perspective is rooted in motivational psychology of basic human needs upon which individuals assess the contribution of organizations to society. Adding to this emotional-affective perspective on human psychology, we show that cognition (‘cognitive styles’) plays a vital role in individuals’ determination of how value for society is created. Essay three provides evidence that how an individual perceives value creation for society reciprocally affects the individual. We show that employees who perceive their organizations’ value creation more strongly, also derive higher levels of meaningfulness from their work and identify more strongly with their employing organization, which in turn is related to higher levels of work addiction. The final paper takes a sociological perspective borrowed from the actor network theory and shows that some discourses concerning corporate value creation for society narrow the concept of value for society down to a self-serving notion for corporations. In a case study, the essay not only shows how this narrow concept infuses corporate action but, moreover, it details how it negatively impacts society. The multi-facetted approach of the dissertation furthers the understanding of the notion of value creation for society as much as it poses new questions and calls for ambivalent investigation.:1. FRAMEWORK PAPER 1.1 Introduction 1.2 Society, Knowledge and Performativity 1.3 Technology, Complexity and Trust 1.4 Framework of the Dissertation 1.5 Four Essays on the Relationship of Business and Society 1.6 Overview of Key Findings 1.7 Implications 1.8 Strengths, Limitations, and Avenues for Future Research 1.9 References 2. MAKING SENSE OF A MOST POPULAR METAPHOR IN MANAGEMENT: TOWARDS A HEDGEFOX SCALE FOR COGNITIVE STYLES 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Theoretical Background 2.3 Data and Methods 2.4 Analysis and Findings 2.5 Discussion 2.6 Limitations and Future Research 2.7 Conclusion 2.8 References 3. TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING? ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CSR AND EMPLOYEE WORK ADDICTION 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Development of Hypotheses 3.3 Method 3.4 Results 3.5 Discussion and Conclusion 3.6 References 4. CREATING SHARED VALUE? ON THE PROLIFERATION OF A RESOURCE-BASED SOCIAL 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Agencements and the Proliferation of the Social 4.3 Creating Shared Value 4.4 From a Value Proposition to a Network of Valuation 4.5 Nestlé in Society 4.6 Insuring Shared Value 4.7 Discussion 4.8 Conclusion 4.9 References 5. PUBLIC VALUE PERFORMANCE: WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO CREATE VALUE IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR? 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Theoretical background 5.3 Public Value Scorecard (PVSC) 5.4 Public Value Atlas (GemeinwohlAtlas) 5.5 Conclusions 5.6 References

This thesis presents an interdisciplinary approach to investigate decision-making in English local authorities, through an ethnographic, narrative framework. Based on fieldwork conducted between 2009 and 2010, the thesis explores several families’ experiences of local government policymaking. The thesis provides a new perspective on the constructions of communities and identities through policy design and implementation. The research has also paid close attention to local government practitioners, the organisations they work within and the roles they have played in the lives of the aforementioned families. The thesis shows how the practitioners’ decision-making creates an ethical narrative, which in itself can tell a story of how social and physical worlds are built. The thesis contributes to the community-based perspectives in public administration literature through the analysis of narratives and community identity construction. Employing the methodological approach of Critical Discourse Analysis, also involving aesthetic observations, the research shows how policymaking itself serves as a story-telling practice within local government. Making use of Traveller caravan sites as a stage, the research illustrates stories of building, managing and evicting sites, as a way to discuss localised power, citizenship and value-systems in present-day England.