Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Interpretive multiple case study'

The gaining popularity of Knowledge Management (KM) has been reinforced by the quest for innovation and value creation. Value creation is grounded in the appropriate combination of human networks, social capital, intellectual capital, and technology assets, facilitated by a culture of change. It is indicated that the future of KM tends to focus on the study of the impact on people in terms of value or knowledge value creation. Because of this, the positive relationship between KM and value creation has been discussed extensively in the literature. However, the majority of the studies on knowledge value creation have been widely undertaken to highlight several case studies demonstrating success in developed countries, whilst very few studies have been done in the cultural context of developing countries. These studies in developing economies have identified several distinctive features, in particular socio-cultural factors that have an important role and influence in KM practices. A call has been made for further research to explore KM in different organisational and cultural contexts in developing economies. Thailand is an example of a developing country where a number of distinctive socio-cultural features have been identified. It therefore represents an interesting case to conduct a study on the influence of these cultural features on KM practices within an organisational context. The objective of this empirical study is to explore knowledge value creation practices in a Thai organisation. The research adopts an interpretive stance and employs a case study approach involving multiple data collection methods. It is based on the researcher's personal expertise and close involvement in the selected case study organisation for over a decade. The study characterises Thai distinctive culture in terms of collectiveness, shyness, conscientiousness and seniority, and indicates that these distinctive socio-cultural features critically influence (a) the social network ties and relationships between employees within and across teams, (b) the resulting level of trust between employees, and (c) the ability to share and create knowledge effectively in the organisational socio-cultural environment. The study is limited to a Thai organisation, but can be generalised to other organisations that exhibit similar characteristics. It provides interesting insights into the socio-cultural factors affecting knowledge management adoption in a Thai organisation and a foundation to further the research on the validation of the theoretical model that emerged from this empirical study.

This study aims to provide strategies for blended learning situations which combine supervised on-line courses with traditional classroom lectures in order to take into account the different learning styles of particular groups of students. Most studies, to date, on learning styles have focused on the individual level. This research proposed that commonly preferred learning styles and leanings towards certain media presentations can be identified in whole groups that share some common group characteristics. An interpretive case study was chosen as the methodology to reach the research goal because it collectively combines the benefits of a case study and multiple data collections from students who studied on a required on-line course in the same learning context. The students, who participated in this study, were majoring in either Science, Social Science, or Management. Various data collection techniques included a survey of 576 students who studied IT courses, personal interviews of 34 students, participatory and on-line observations, and reference to institutional documents. Qualitative analysis of the data employed a concept synthesis coupled with a template analysis to compare and contextualise all the facets of reality depicted by the data (King, 2004). This approach was necessary due to the extensive theoretical background required to generate the initial template and the need to completely comprehend the group learning phenomenon. The research discerned that students in specific major academic fields have common preferences for on-line media and activities that assist the learning process because they process and perceive information differently. A model is proposed to identify the interactions between the learner, the media and activity content, and the context of learning. The design of on-line course materials should take into account group learning styles to propose a holistic picture for effective learning. This is a valuable resource for the teachers and designers of compulsory on-line courses and for those who determine educational policy and strategy.

Governments around the world have pursued ICT based initiatives including the provision of infrastructure to assist regional areas to develop economically (Beckinsale et al. 2006). There has been considerable interest in exploiting ICT to develop high technology clusters and support innovative networks (Lawson & Lorenz 1999). However, these initiatives have met with mixed success. It is clear that such development depends on more than providing appropriate technology Attention to social and organisational factors is crucial if regional areas are to realise the potential of ICT as a tool for regional development (Gengatharen & Standing 2005). It is important to understand the nature of business networking as well as the perspective of those participating in such networks if successful initiatives are to be established. The aim of this research is to identify how ICT can be used for knowledge sharing among businesses in regional areas and how the online networks through which knowledge is shared can contribute to the development of the region. This research investigates the question of what value small businesses in those regions derive from knowledge sharing networks using ICT. It also seeks to identify the value creation potential of those networks for their region. Previous research has shown that large organisations have achieved significant value from virtual communities of practice (VCoPs) as a structure for sharing knowledge and supporting innovation (Wenger 2004). The concept of Communities of Practice and Virtual Communities of Practice provided a useful point of departure for this research. The investigation comprised interpretive case studies of two Australian regional areas and their local business networks which incorporated SMEs in a variety of industries. Each case study was conducted in three stages. First, semi-structured interviews were conducted with regional economic development leaders. Second, 192 small and medium business owners were surveyed about their business activities and their participation in local business networks. Third, in-depth interviews were conducted with 23 small business owners to gain a richer understanding of their participation in knowledge-sharing networks and the value they realised or anticipated from various knowledge-sharing activities. A combined analysis of the two cases was conducted as well as the individual analyses. The research adopted a modified Structured Case method (Carroll & Swatman 2000). The analysis of the two case studies revealed: a.) There was a significant difference between the majority of SMEs who traded within the region and those trading largely beyond the region. The latter’s more proactive online sharing knowledge and seeking of business opportunities would enable them to access most value from VCoEs. b.) The participating SMEs operated in a number of industries and what they had in common was an interest in improving their enterprises. Consequently they used their regional networks which were not aligned to any one industry to make connections and share knowledge. They did not necessarily seek to access specific information. c.) A necessary prerequisite of VCoEs is having vibrant CoEs where face-to-face interaction enhances the development of trust and social capital. This appeared as an important factor facilitating the move to incorporate online knowledge sharing. d.) Younger businesses appeared to gain the most value from knowledge sharing in CoEs as they were using their networks to determine how to grow their firm. e.) The value of VCoEs to the SME participants is primarily in their general connection to other businesses in the region. Since the participants operate in a number of industries, what they have in common is an interest in their enterprises. The main value appears to come from the potential of the VCoEs to add to this connection and to social capital. This study found that successful management of VCoEs must: i) Ensure the network website is actively used by members before attempting to incorporate online knowledge sharing. ii) Monitor and stimulate online forum interaction rather than rely on interaction to occur naturally. iii) Not rely on email as a mechanism for stimulating knowledge sharing. Email is seen as more appropriate for formal documentation than for candid exchange of views. The concept of virtual communities of practice was found to be somewhat inappropriate for the diverse SMEs in the regional networks. Because of their diversity, they do not necessarily see value in sharing knowledge about practice but they do see value in sharing more general information and in providing support, connection and ideas that facilitate the strategic direction of their business. To address this issue, the concept of virtual communities of enterprise (VCoEs) is proposed as recognition of what the participating SMEs had in common: an interest in their individual businesses as part of the region. The original contribution of this research consists of its identification of the issues in linking SMEs across industries. It provides new insights on the business practices of regional SMEs and developed the concepts of Community of Enterprise (CoE) and Virtual Community of Enterprise (VCoE) to capture the special nature of knowledge sharing in regional multi-industry business networks. New perspectives are revealed on the ways that value could be derived from knowledge sharing by these regionally networked SMEs, as such it adds to the body of knowledge in an area where there has been little systematic investigation. This research reinforces the importance of social capital as an essential pre-requisite for accessing the value of intellectual capital in regions. Social capital emerges as vital when establishing and maintaining face-to-face knowledge sharing in regional networks and a necessary pre-condition for successfully establishing online knowledge sharing. Trust is a key factor and this research extends understanding of the role of social capital and the importance of trust in regional networks and online interaction. Its findings have significant implications for the development and management of CoEs and VCoEs as it outlines the key elements that need to be addressed when establishing and maintaining them, the appropriate applications for this context and the issues involved in management of the networking and online contexts. These findings not only increase our understanding of the management dynamics of online networks, they can also provide guidance to those seeking to establish successful VCoEs.

Thesis: Ph. D. in Linguistics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Linguistics and Philosophy, 2018.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 295-307).
This dissertation investigates two case-related phenomena: aspect-conditioned differential subject case marking and overt case-stacking, and why case morphology on a DP may correlate with movement of a DP. Guided by data from Amis (Formosan, Austronesian), I argue that case assignment may apply to a single DP more than once and case-stacking is overt realisation of multiple case assignment. In Amis, a DP surfaces with all the cases it has been assigned when it is a contrastive topic. Moreover, Amis provides strong evidence for treating case-stacking truly as stacking of multiple cases, instead of stacking a focus marker on top of a case marker. In addition, I propose that case morphology and whether a DP can undergo certain type of movement are both mediated by [phi]-agreement. In particular, each successful [phi]-agreement with a DP introduces to the DP a K(ase), a structural correlate of morphological case. This is based on the behaviour of subjects of perfective clauses. Subjects of perfective clauses receive genitive case in a neutral context but appear with an additional nominative case when they are contrastive topics. Moreover, there are more restrictions on moving these subjects, compared with nominative-marked subjects of imperfective clauses. I posit that subjects of perfective clauses become [phi]-defective as a result of agreeing with perfective Asp(ect). This is manifested in one less case assignment, which results in genitive case on the surface, and inability to be attracted by certain complex A/Ā-movement probes.
by Tingchun Chen.
Ph. D. in Linguistics

Information systems are considered to be a critical and strategic part of most organizations today. Because of this it has become increasingly important to ensure that there is an effective information security program in place protecting those information systems. It has been well established by researchers that the success of an information security program is heavily dependent upon the actions of the organizational members that interact with the information security program. Because of the interaction between people and the information security program an appropriate information security culture is required to effectively influence and control the actions of the members within that organization. While the importance of an information security culture has been well established by researchers there has been little research conducted to date that assist in understanding and managing information security culture within organizations. To expand the body of knowledge in this area this study will explore the information security culture of a large organization using interpretive case study methodology. The use of semi-structured interviews to collect data has allowed the researcher to report back their interpretation of shared meanings, consciousness, language and artifacts observed while at the research site. Structuration theory was applied as a theoretical lens with which to better understand information security culture and explore ways in which organizations can better understand and manage information security culture. We found structures of signification and legitimacy were the most influential on employee's behavior towards information security. While the structure of domination exerted minimal influence over employee's behavior. This research study contributes to the existing body of knowledge regarding information security culture by examining the role of structural properties exhibited within information security culture. Structural properties of information security culture have not been adequately considered within the existing literature. By expanding our understanding of the role of social structures such as systems of meaning, power and legitimacy on information security culture researchers will have a deeper understanding of this phenomena call information security culture. This will enable us to better understand how to develop and manage an appropriate information security culture.

Young gifted students experience school in a variety of ways. They become bored in classrooms where they are not challenged. They can develop disruptive behaviors or underachieve in order to feel accepted by their classmates or teachers. Three gifted first graders in the teacher-researcher's classroom participated in this case study. A variety of assessment tools were used to identify the student participants. Data were collected through teacher observations, videotaped classroom activities, videotaped interviews with students, audiotaped interviews with parents, and portfolios. Data are reported and discussed within the frame of five themes that emerged: high parent involvement, social relationships, characteristics of the learning environment, student-centered learning, and asynchronous development. The classroom context is richly described as it is critical to understanding the data and transferability.

South Africa’s future success depends on a number of national priorities, amongst them the transformation of its education system. Education is the best route to follow to alleviate poverty and many other social ills. One way to overcome some of the complex challenges and crises that we face in South African schools is to pay attention to issues of leading and leadership, including the leadership of teachers. This study is done with the hope that research into teacher leadership will be one of the answers to the crisis in education. It should become a beacon of hope for all educationists who passionately want progress in the youth of South Africa. What better way than to ‘Awaken the Sleeping Giant’ of teacher leadership, borrowing the term from Katzenmeyer and Moller (2009). This study was designed as a case study, the purpose of which was to find out about the enactment of teacher leadership in an Eastern Cape township high school as well as the enhancing and hindering factors to this enactment. This study was done as a replication study of a similar study done by a group of 11Master’s students at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in 2010. Similar to the original study, this case study was located within the interpretive paradigm and drew on school profiling, survey questionnaires, a focus group interview, selfreflective journals and individual interviews for its methods of data collection. The study was framed by distributed leadership while Grant’s (2008; 2012) Model of teacher leadership was adopted as the analytical tool. It emerged from the data that the three teacher leaders, my primary participants, exhibited teacher leadership across all four zones of Grant’s (2008) Model. The first zone was leadership in the classroom where all three teacher leaders showed leadership to varying degrees. Zones Two to Four are about leadership beyond the classroom into the school and beyond. In Zone Two, the zone where teachers work with each other and the learners outside the classroom, substantial levels of leadership were enacted by the three teacher leaders. Zone Three, where leadership is exhibited in whole-school development, the three primary participants showed distinct leadership qualities as well. The fourth zone, which is about interaction with neighbouring schools, also revealed that all three teacher leaders demonstrated active leadership on a regular basis. Findings further revealed that there were only a few inhibiting factors to the leadership of teachers at the case study school, including limited resources and infrastructure as well as insufficient support and acknowledgement from the relevant stakeholders when leadership initiatives were made, either successfully or otherwise. However, the enhancing factors superseded the inhibiting factors. A functional committee culture guided by a shared vision existed in the case study school together with an ethos of trust which enabled the staff to work collaboratively. Though there was certainly room for improvement in leadership practices at this case study school, the enactment of teacher leadership in this school illustrated a strong case of ‘developed’ teacher leadership (Muijs& Harris, 2007) within a dispersed leadership framing (Gunter, 2005)

Title - An Interpretive Case Study of Distributed Leadership in a Welsh Primary School Background - This paper explores the model of distributed leadership operating within a Welsh primary school from the perspective of a selection of staff working in the school. The school was chosen because the head teacher had stated that the school operated a model of distributed leadership, a model which is advocated in the Welsh School Effectiveness Framework (NAW, 2008). In order to investigate "How is leadership distributed at Fox Primary School", the research design of this dissertation explores the distribution of leadership throughout the environment and people of the organisation. To address the overarching research question two specific research sub-questions are addressed in this dissertation. These are: 1. Who performs leadership roles at Fox Primary School? 2. How is leadership coordinated and aligned at Fox Primary School? Methods - Data collection took place in three phases. Phase one consisted of the collection of internal documents, including school improvement plans and staffing structures, and external reports by Investors in People and Estyn in order to gather a environmental context in which the staff who work in the school operate. Phase two consisted of individual semi-structured interviews with the head teacher, deputy head teacher, school business manager and a teaching assistant. Phase three consisted of a focus group interview with three class teachers, the school business manager and a teaching assistant. The interview and focus group data, which were gathered to explore the perceptions of leadership operation in the school, were analysed using Nvivo 9 software. Conclusions - The research concluded that, based on the perceptions of a sample of staff from within Fox Primary School, the practice of distributed leadership is less than expected, given the head teacher's initial statement that the school operated a model of distributed leadership, and that its implementation is constrained by the requirement that the school meet externally imposed aims relating to pupil outcomes in literacy and numeracy. This conclusion is based on key findings which indicate that the focus of leadership activity is influenced by Government; that the role of the head teacher remains significant even through leadership is distributed; that opportunities for enactment of distributed leadership between governors and staff is limited; and that staff vary in their perceptions of the value and opportunity for informal leadership by parents. However, it was found that the alignment and coordination of leadership is supported through a combination of traditional hierarchical structures and novel flattened structures for curriculum development. The curriculum development structures and the school's school improvement planning processes support the distribution of leadership throughout the school community, although the foci of the school improvement plan are significantly influenced by Government.

PONTIFÍCIA UNIVERSIDADE CATÓLICA DO RIO DE JANEIRO
Design de notícias: um estudo de casos múltiplos discutiu o surgimento e os limites do design de notícias, desvinculando-o da dinâmica interna do Jornalismo e caracterizando-o como uma relevante subárea do campo do Design ao se constituir numa forma discursiva da sociedade industrial a partir do final do século XX, quando surge e se desenvolve. Para tanto, apontou as características desse design, distinguindo-o dos anteriores no âmbito da página de notícias, sistematizando sua metodologia de trabalho e discutindo sua inserção na referida sociedade.
News design: a multilpe case study discussed the emergence and the limits of news design, isolating it from the internal dynamics of Journalism and characterizing it as an important subarea of the field of Design as it has been constituted in a discursive form of industrial society from the end of the 20th century, when it arises and develops. The study pointed out the features of this design, distinguishing it from its earlier form in the page of news, systematizing its working methods and discussing its insertion in that industrial society.

Leadership transition literature indicated that nonprofit sector current leaders lack understanding of proper ways to make use of relevant management leadership techniques to develop new leaders. New leaders replacing retiring organizational leaders lacked managerial experience and training needed to lead employees and manage organizational resources. The purpose of this study was to explore, understand, and interpret leadership supportive systems techniques that characterize “Plan A,” vision used for professional development of aspiring nonprofit executives for capacity building of critical leadership skills and management of networking functions toward organizational sustainability. The conceptual framework of this study focused on supportive systems leadership development theory, nontraditional leadership development theory, and “Plan A” leadership development theory. The study adopted qualitative exploratory-interpretive case study to generate research data through surveys, document analyses, interviews, and focus group discussions for research questions 1 and 2. Data generated were analyzed using embedded thematic data analysis strategy and qualitative NVivo 11 software. The major integrated themes that emerged characterizing the unique features of “Plan A” vision of nontraditional leadership development techniques were: (a) vision and leadership empowerment, (b) performance and feedback, (c) efficiency and conflict management, and (d) effective communication between leaders and aspiring executives in the workplace. The study contributed to nonprofit leadership transition by interpreting and providing in-depth understanding of leadership development roles that involved leadership development persuasion, collaboration, consultation, and encouragement for aspiring executives to seek leadership roles within the nonprofit management team.

This study was aimed to explore the interaction between effective physics teacher characteristics, from teachers&rsquo
and students&rsquo
shared perceptions and students&rsquo
motivation. The thesis included two main parts. The first part was quantitative and the characteristics were identified. The second part was qualitative and the characteristics were used as criteria to select two case teachers and the interaction between their characteristics and students&rsquo
motivation was investigated. The questionnaire, in the quantitative part, was administered in 3 regions of Turkey and 3 cities for each region including 214 high school physics teachers. There were two different questionnaires, derived from the quantitative part, to select the two case teachers for the qualitative part. The qualitative data included interviews with the two case teachers and their students, field notes, and videos. The data in the quantitative part was analyzed by descriptive statistics. Findings revealed that there were 38 effective physics teacher characteristics affecting students&rsquo
motivation in physics within 8 categories as perceived by teachers and students. The characteristics were important in terms of students&rsquo
motivation as perceived by teachers more than as perceived by students. The teachers&rsquo
subject matter knowledge and their personal characteristics were the two categories that mostly affected the students&rsquo
motivation. The data in the qualitative part was analyzed by cross case analysis. The findings revealed that the positive characteristics increased students&rsquo
motivation, when the teachers exhibited them. When the teachers did not display the positive characteristics, the students&rsquo
motivation decreased. If teachers exhibited the negative characteristics in a positive way it was likely to increase students&rsquo
motivation. The qualitative part enhanced results of the quantitative part in that it enlightened the way that those characteristics affected students&rsquo
motivation and what would cause if those characteristics were not exhibited or were exhibited negatively.

This study explored the perceptions that radiography faculty and students have of professionalism in health care. The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to understand the substance and the meaning that radiography faculty and students give to professionalism. Learning professionalism in the imaging sciences necessitates emersion in authentic experiences, which the authors call "legitimate peripheral participation," so that skills and didactic knowledge gained in a classroom can be applied in real situations among a community of experts in a field of study (Lave & Wenger, 1991). The research explored the perceptions that RT educators and students have of professionalism by asking the participants to define and describe professionalism and identify what aspects of the professional were meaningful to them. An anonymous survey and focus group discussions were used to gather the perceptions of the participants. The target population for the study was nine faculty members or instructors and ten students from the radiologic technology program of a private, not-for-profit, multi-campus university. These sets of participants were chosen because their firsthand knowledge and experiences of professionalism in the radiography program could aid in addressing the main research and sub-research questions. Both groups defined RT professionalism in terms of respect, empathy, and ethics. Important and meaningful aspects of professionalism included giving competent, compassionate patient care and assisting with diagnosis. The findings revealed that three major areas of professionalism in the imaging sciences must be addressed: interdisciplinary education, intradisciplinary education specifically around professionalism, and the development and implementation of specific competencies that encompass professionalism.

The conceptual framework of agile software development is an ever-growing movement in the software industry. However, recent studies have shown that large, less software-focused companies, where software development is primarily used for in-house IT-solutions, struggle with giving up traditional command-control type of management. This hits hard on some of the most important principles of agile software development and in many cases this phenomenon has inevitably led to large gaps between development teams and more managerial parts of the organization. This thesis has aimed to study this gap and investigate how it affects software development teams’ ability to carry out their work. By comparing three software teams that were internally highly similar but with varying external conditions, impact on the teams’ behaviour based on their different environments was studied. The study was carried out using a multiple-case study approach with primary data sources consisting of survey gathered data from all team members and interviews with a subset of the team members. The results gathered from this study suggest that agile development teams are extremely dependent on a well-functioning interface to business related parts of an organization. Regarding teams’ ability to make decisions and being agile in their way of working, the results primarily isolate impediments with roots in an unwillingness to adhere to and lack of understanding of agile principles. In this thesis, our gathered results were also correlated with a modern framework called Flow in order to confirm its relevance regarding analyzing software development teams in large-scale environments.

Global consensus on the importance of gender equity in education is perhaps one of the greatest agreements reached in the twentieth century. However, for countries in the sub Saharan African region where disparities of gender are wide and primary education takes priority, secondary education continues to remain in the periphery. As countries make progress towards the attainment of Universal Primary Education (UPE), the concerns for gender equity and equality have become associated with school access and pupil retention. Yet, patterns and trends in school enrollment suggest that disparities of gender are more complex. As lessons are learned from the achievements and challenges of attaining UPE, it is increasingly apparent that gender disparities within education occur in, within and beyond access to schooling. In other words, the challenge of making education gender equal goes beyond school access and school enrollment. Kenya is a signatory to the 1990 Jomtein Declaration on Education For All (EFA). It is also among the few countries in the sub Saharan Africa region with a significantly reduced gender gap in primary and secondary education. This is in tandem with the third of the eight Millennium Development Goals whose aims bear a broad social and economic development agenda. While education equity is important in Kenya and tremendous progress has been made in primary education, beyond the attainment of Universal Primary Education (UPE) there is an even more significant target; gender equity in education both in primary and secondary education by 2015. The attainment of this target requires more than access to schooling and for this reason it poses great challenges to governments and schools. In light of the progress made in Kenya and the need for more equitable education beyond primary education, this study conceives a need for an incisive examination of education equity priority areas in Kenya. The study argues on the need for a shift of concern and debate from primary education to secondary education because the gains of UPE only become meaningful when education equity is secured in secondary education. The study underscores that beyond school access and retention, education output and outcomes need to become prominent variables because they gauge trends and patterns and the quality of gains made where education is claimed to be both accessible and equitable. Using case study method, the study makes a critical interpretation of the schooling experiences, educational choices, preferences and aspirations of girls taking secondary education in single-sex schools in Murang’a district, Kenya. The study shows that girls schooling experiences are not homogenous and that there are contradictions in the ways that girls experience their schooling and make educational choices. It also shows that girls do not necessarily stand good chances with their education simply because they are enrolled in single-sex schools. The study reveals individual subjectivities and schooling culture to be at the centre of the differences between schools and the schooling experiences that girls have. The two have impact on how girls perceive themselves and their abilities, the preferences they nurture and the educational choices they make. The study draws attention to nuances in access and equity within girls’ education. It draws out issues and nuances linked to gender access, equity and equality with respect to school, teacher and subject access. Though the study is not generaliseable, it shows that in contexts where female access and survival is secured, there is need for attention to be paid to the environments that nurture educational choices and preferences so that the high rates in school access become translated into equally high educational output and outcomes.

The last decades sport sponsorship has grown into a massive industry. This has given marketers unique opportunities and challenges to develop their brand strategy in order to stay competitive. Although the increasing research made within sport sponsorship, marketing researchers is just in the beginning of understanding the full effects of it. There is still a gap within this research field in Sweden and the rest of Europe. Though, researchers have found common desired brand objectives for using sport sponsorships which are called the sponsorship portfolio. The purpose of this study is to investigate companies’ perception and use of sport sponsorship. The purpose will also be to investigate how well companies’ use of sport sponsorship match with their customers perceptions of it. This study is based on a qualitative multiple case study using a semi-structured interview technique. Two companies, Craft and Team Sportia, were interviewed with five different managers to investigate their perception of sport sponsorship. Two focus groups, one on each company, where conducted in order to compare the results of the interviews. The study will be limited to the Swedish sport sponsorship market. In the case of Craft, findings indicate that Crafts sport sponsorship strategy is in overall congruence with the most important brand objectives using sponsorship in the theory. Though are the focus group perception of Crafts sport sponsorship and their brand not quite as consistent as company want to reflect. Results from the case of Team Sportia reveal that they could be seen as a company with a positive brand image. The brand itself is perceived as less strong than their competitors by the focus group due to weak perceived brand awareness. New findings in this study are Crafts product development through sport sponsorship as well as the message of brand familiarity through Team Sportias sport sponsorship.

The qualitative multiple case study adds to the previous research regarding the orientation thoughts, context, and understandings of teachers, parents, and prekindergarten administrators when investigating parental involvement in prekindergarten. Teachers in preschools are encouraged to find ways to involve parents for higher levels of student achievement. To address the needs of improving parent participation in prekindergarten, teachers and administrators need parent information on their willingness to participate or not. In order for a school to change strategies, staff members of the organization need to understand the problem which may motivate the need for change. In this study, teachers, parents, and administrators among three prekindergarten programs share their thoughts, beliefs, and views to define the problem of parental involvement in prekindergarten. The research questions asked: Why are some parents more involved than others with their children in prekindergarten? How do parents perceive influencers which invoke their involvement? How does prekindergarten curriculum drive parent engagement? The qualitative multiple case study will aid in understanding parent perceptions about effective actions taken by schools to improve the performance of prekindergarten children. The prekindergarten stage for children includes emotional and developmental challenges that can impose hardship during kindergarten entry and beyond.

In a recent article, Bai and Perron (2003, Journal of Applied Econometrics) present a comprehensive discussion of computational aspects of multiple structural change models along with several empirical examples. Here, we report on the results of a replication study using the R statistical software package. We are able to verify most of their findings; however, some confidence intervals associated with breakpoints cannot be reproduced. These confidence intervals require computation of the quantiles of a nonstandard distribution, the distribution of the argmax functional of a certain stochastic process. Interestingly, the difficulties appear to be due to numerical problems in GAUSS, the software package used by Bai and Perron.
Series: Research Report Series / Department of Statistics and Mathematics

This dissertation, originally aimed at investigating cooperation in heterogeneous as well as homogeneous groups, is based on a multiple case study presented in six separate, but partly related papers. These papers, preceded by Part 1 with an introduction and Part II, dealing with the method used, are divided into three different parts. Part III a case study of the introduction of self-regulating work groups at a paper mill and in an office, both homogeneous groups. For various reasons, the project objectives regarding change in division of labor were not fully implemented. I argue that the reason can be seen in terms of the workers´ collective and infer that "new" ways of opposing change might be observable in the future. Additionally, by analyzing my own recollections of blue-collar work, I conclude that the worker´s collective in the future, as a result of globalization, labor-saving technology and new production concepts might take a differentiated form. This means also that the "collective identity" of the worker or the relations of workers to work and to life outside work will, instead of being uniform, be differentiated. Other changes might be understood in terms of a weakened or even obliterated workers´collective. In part IV, based on empirical studies of how midwives cooperate with other professions within heterogeneous groups, I conclude that the problems regarding different hierarchical positions of group members can be described in terms of professionalization. Additionally, by carrying out a discourse analysis of the discourse of midwifery, I investigate what role it plays in the professonalization of midwives and show that it draws upon the concept of the female midwife and the male obstetrician and that the discursive professonalization strategies used both toward the medical profession and toward groups subordinate to the midwives - which are based on the discourse - are generated. These two groups of papers focus on and investigate different types of defensive strategies used to cope with the subordinate or intermediate position of respective group. They also explore the different ways (by the worker´s collective and the discourse of midwifery) whereby a collective identity is formed and transformed. The last part of the thesis, including one paper, focuses problems related to cooperation within inter-professional teams.
Godkänd; 1998; 20061123 (haneit)

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, School of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation, 2007.
Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-07, Section: A, page: 2765. Adviser: Douglas H. Knapp. Title from dissertation home page (viewed Mar. 28, 2008).

Traditional teacher evaluation procedures involve the school leader providing feedback in a summative form to the classroom teacher (Tuytens & Devos, 2011). The function of the administrator to be both supervisor and evaluator is a contrasting role. There are four main purposes of teacher evaluation: improvement, accountability, staff development, and personnel decisions (Darling-Hammond, Wise, & Pease, 1983; Tuytens & Devos, 2011). Administrators are already constrained for time and resources. Therefore, fulfilling all four purposes through the current evaluation process in California is becoming increasingly difficult.

Using peers in the evaluation process is an alternative evaluation method being explored across the country, specifically in the form of Peer Assistance and Review (PAR; Goldstein, 2004; Matula, 2011; Weems & Rogers, 2010). The problem this research addressed was the efficacy of teacher evaluation systems and how evaluative practice can be improved from the perspectives of principals and Consulting Teachers (CTs) with experience in the PAR program.

The study found principals and CTs had mixed reactions regarding the inclusion of PAR as a multiple measure for teacher evaluation. All participants' perceptions of the role of the CT included the common language of supporter, helper, coach, and mentor, which matched the PAR documents from each district. The data showed that subjectivity, fear, and lack of time, negatively impacted the traditional teacher evaluation process and that involving peers in the process could be beneficial.

A multiple case study was used to explore the experiences of senior leaders with vulnerability. The leaders selected for the study were seasoned executives who consciously used vulnerability as part of their leadership style and who had extensive experience with a variety personal development processes. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 7 senior leaders from a variety of for-profit and non-profit sectors. The study provides insights that may be of practical use to leaders who wish to deepen their experience and expression of leadership, and to leadership development professionals who focus on helping leaders to be more emotionally genuine, relationally transparent, and able to take healthy risks. Though there are tangentially relevant theories such as emotional intelligence and authentic leadership, vulnerability is a new area of study especially as it concerns leadership, and this qualitative exploration may bring an important perspective to this emerging topic of academic and practical interest.

The Co-Alignment Principle is a strategic management framework that guides value-added management. The model suggests that firms will perform successfully if they scan the environment for forces driving change and allocate their resources to industry-leading competitive methods that address environmental trends. When financing and managing a capital project, a firm's managers must think strategically and consider the "four pillars" of project valuation and management: (1) estimating future cash flows over the project's life cycle, (2) determining an appropriate cost of capital/rate of return, (3) assessing and managing operational and financial risk, and (4) investing in the appropriate materials and resources. The four pillars of project valuation and management act as a framework to guide this investigation on university conference center financing. The overall research question of this study asks how university officials make conference center investment decisions based on the four pillars of project valuation and management. To answer the research questions posed by this investigation, this study adopted a multiple case study approach, in which officials at five universities were interviewed about their universities' conference center projects. Interviews with two executive-level personnel at each university along with multiple sources of written documentation provided the basis for conclusions. Evidence from the data collection phase of this project indicates that universities follow similar procedures for financing their conference centers. For instance, they take advantage of low-cost, tax-exempt debt and private contributions to fund these capital projects. In addition, they place little emphasis on sensitivity analyses for cash flow projections and ignore the opportunity costs of capital. University conference center financing practices with respect to the four pillars of project valuation and management are not consistent with the recommendations set forth by traditional financial principles. This study concludes that universities should improve their strategic thinking and pay more attention to the four pillars in order to increase the viability of their conference center businesses.
Master of Science

In a recent article, Bai and Perron (2003, Journal of Applied Econometrics) present a comprehensive discussion of computational aspects of multiple structural change models along with several empirical examples. Here, we report on the results of a replication study using the R statistical software package. We are able to verify most of their findings; however, some confidence intervals associated with breakpoints cannot be reproduced. These confidence intervals require computation of the quantiles of a nonstandard distribution, the distribution of the argmax functional of a certain stochastic process. Interestingly, the difficulties appear to be due to numerical problems in GAUSS, the software package used by Bai and Perron.
Series: Research Report Series / Department of Statistics and Mathematics

E-learning implementations have become an important agenda item for academic and business institutions as an enabler to complement their education and training needs. Many of the existing e-learning systems, however, present several limitations, such as being static and passive, and consisting of a time-consuming set of services, which suggest the need for more creativity, autonomy, and flexibility to the learner. The inclusion of animated software agent technology in e-leaming environments has been of growing interest aiming to encourage the learner to become more engaged and motivated. However, the empirical investigations on the effect of animated agents in teaching and learning have revealed diverse results in a continuum from animated software agents being helpful to them being distracting. The aim of this research study is to understand how the application of the animated software agents in e-learning environments could lead to effective learning, by identifying appropriate roles for animated agents in e-learning environments, when and for whom they would be useful and what use could they realistically be put to. Also: do social and cultural factors affect the interaction between the users and the animated agents? The research has been undertaken using a qualitative, interpretive approach with supporting case study data as the chosen research methodology. Thus, the contexts of action and the experiences of individuals in a single, real-life setting was considered, providing a complementary perspective to the existing studies. The approach highlights some methodological implications, which contribute to the development of methods and practice in this field. The research findings suggest that whilst the use of such animated agents has become more widespread there is no common framework for evaluating their utility for various types of e-leaming user. An analysis of the possible contributions to the effectiveness of teaching and learning based on a conceptual evaluation framework is presented. The resultant framework is useful for practitioners and researchers into courseware and animated agents development and provides guidelines for animated agents design and implementation in e-learning environments. Keywords: e-Leaming, animated software agent, learning effectiveness, interpretive case study.

Though turnover researchers have called for a deeper understanding of the temporal and contextualized process of individual voluntary turnover, little empirical progress in this direction has been made. Adopting Price's (1977) dynamic conceptualization of turnover as moving from one social system to another, and drawing upon knowledge across organizational, social psychological and psychological domains, this exploratory thesis uses in-depth topical life histories to examine individual experiences with stay/leave decision processes in their construed context.
Findings challenge longstanding assumptions of linearity and continuity in turnover decision processes, as well as the conventional wisdom that utility-maximizing logic underlies these decisions. The data suggest that the pursuit of context-self congruence is a driving force in stay/leave decision processes, and that self-concept, emotions and psychological states may be under-studied influencers of these decisions. Results further uncover decision process characteristics previously rendered inaccessible to researchers, due to the predominant use of correlational studies in turnover research. These characteristics include: a) pivotal points of transition; b) the story lines that underlie influencing factors; c) the nature and role of context; and d) the consequences of engaging in these decision processes, for participants and for their workplaces, regardless of the outcome.
This idiographic study, using a purposive sample from a single population of Quebec physicians, is intended to provide turnover researchers with a starting point for cross-group retrospective and longitudinal comparisons. It also aims to stimulate hypothesis generation that accounts for time and the contextual conditions under which particular factors are likely to affect the turnover decision. From a practical viewpoint, this thesis begins to answer the call from Canadian and Quebec Health Care Human Resource specialists for a deeper understanding of the psychosocial aspects of Canadian healthcare worker turnover and retention (British Columbia Office of the Auditor General, 2004; Dubois & Dussault, 2002).

Sudbury serves as a relevant historical case study of a settlement that has undergone several transformations since its inception as a fledgling village in the latter part of the nineteenth century. Though changes of this kind have been frequent in Ontario, they have not normally happened to hinterland resource communities. This article suggests that Sudbury is unique in this regard, having evolved through five distinct stages: (I) a railway company village, (2) a colonial-frontier mining town and city, (3) a regional central-place, (4) a declining metropolis, and (5) a nearly selfsustaining community. The constant restructuring of Sudbury's society and economic base has been caused by a variety of external and internal forces, among which the "human dynamic" has been vital and ever present. The paper suggests that under certain circumstances a resource community can progress from a staples and boom-bust existence to a more sustainable urban economy based on local and regional influences.

En aquest treball exploratori s'estudien les conductes de cercad'informació a la web d'un total de sis participants (quatre estudiants de traducció en el seu primer any d'estudis de postgrau i dos traductors professionals amb tres i 15 anysd'experiència, respectivament). Atès que la necessitat de cercar, recuperar, utilitzar i generar informació depèn, entre molts altres factors, del tipus d'usuari i recerques documentals, aquest estudise centra en les cerques d'informació en línia realitzades a partir de la traducció de l'espanyol a l'anglès de dos textos dedivulgació científica. Els comportaments de recerca d'informació en línia dels participants de l'estudi s'analitzen per tant en relació a una sèrie de característiques textuals (encàrrec de traducció i text d'origen) i qualitats personals (nivell de coneixement sobre la temàtica de traducció, i nivell de coneixement i experiència tanten el camp de la traducció com en la recerca d'informació en línia). Tot i que s'han recopilat dades de tots els participants de l'estudi pel que fa a la primera tasca de traducció, les dades relatives a la segona tasca de traducció corresponen només als estudiants de traducció.
En este trabajo exploratorio se estudian las conductas de búsqueda de información en la Web de un total de seis participantes (cuatro estudiantes de traducción en su primer año de estudios de postgrado y dos traductores profesionales con tres y 15 años de experiencia, respectivamente). Dado que la necesidad de buscar, recuperar, utilizar y generar información depende, entre otros muchos factores, del tipo de usuario y búsquedas documentales, este estudio se centra en las búsquedas de información en línea realizadas a partir de la traducción del español al inglés de dos textos de divulgación científica. Los comportamientos de búsqueda de información de los participantes del estudio se analizan por tanto en relación a una serie de características textuales (encargo de traducción y texto de origen) y cualidades personales (nivel de conocimiento sobre la temática de traducción, y nivel de conocimiento y experiencia tanto en el campo de la traducción como en la búsqueda de información en línea). Si bien todos los participantes del estudio realizaron la primera tarea de traducción, solo los estudiantes llevaron a cabo la segunda tarea de traducción.
This multiple-case study explores the Web search behaviors of a total of six participants. These include a naturally occurring sample of four postgraduate translation trainees (in their first year of studies) who enrolled in an introductory course on technical and scientific translation, and two additional subjects (a PhD student of translation with three years of casual professional translation experience and a translation teacher with over 15 years of experience in the discipline) who participated in a pilot study conducted prior to the main study. Given that the need to seek, retrieve, use, and generate translation information depends on the type of users and the translation tasks performed, the study focuses on two specific tasks dealing with the translation of two popular-science texts from Spanish into English. In particular, the study examines the online search behaviors of all participants in relation to a number of translation task attributes (text type and translation brief) as well as user attributes (translation expertise, Web search expertise, and domain knowledge). While for the first task data was obtained from all six research participants, the second task was only carried out by the four translation trainees.

Färggrossen is a warehousing company that was established in 1976. The company has over 400 customers ranging across mid and south Sweden; it stores 5,000 different types of products such as paints, wallpapers, chemicals and tools which are used for painting.

Since its establishment, the company has not changed how it manages its warehouse. Decisions are based on the warehouse manager’s personal memory and decisions, and this method worked sufficiently well until the company was bought by Mikael Lindgren in September 2008. Lindgren, the CEO, believed that the company had more potential, which is why the company has eagerly started to make changes in order to improve the warehouse operations as well as to reach its full potential. This thesis is to guide the company to reach this goal.

At our first meeting with Färggrossen, improvements regarding different processes as well as the warehouse layout were identified. As a first step, a literature study was conducted in order to gain deeper insight and understanding about warehouse layouts; also we benefited from studying literature regarding different warehouse aspects from a system perspective: inputs, processes and outputs.

Subsequent to the literature study, we identified those thesis research questions which needed to be answered in order to improve the warehouse management at Färggrossen. The next step was to decide which methods should be used in order to answer these questions. After researching different methodology options, a meeting with Färggrossen and our supervisor Bengt Ekdahl took place where we, together, decided to use the multiple case study method.

Färggrossen suggested that we study two other companies, BSAB and ECO; according to them, these companies had similar warehouses. To be able to benchmark three companies, we needed to understand the warehousing management systems of all three companies, which is why we conducted our interviews.

Once we finished gathering the required data, we defined the three companies’ activities in a manner to correspond with the terminology which is used in the literature.  In the analysis chapter we compared the three companies, and also used the information from the literature in order to provide Färggrossen with recommendations on how to improve the warehouse processes and layout. These are categorised as main, secondary and future recommendations; the main recommendations are the most important and inexpensive to implement, which is why we strongly suggest that they are prioritized.

The two most important recommendations to improve the outputs of the warehouse system are implementing a serialized locater addressing system and defining a bulk area to support the replenishment process. These particular modifications will improve the overall efficiency of the warehouse system as well as the product availability and the customer satisfaction.

The overall efficiency of the warehouse system will be further improved by eliminating manual labour as much as possible and combining the inspections whih are done in the receiving process with the putaway process.

The product condition will be improved if the following recommendations are implemented; a small shelf solution which is used in ECO, a fixed slot system in the wallpaper area and the implementation of safety precautions in the company.

The purpose of this thesis was to map and analyze Färggrossen in order to improve the inventory, warehouse layout and the methods being used in the warehouse management. With our recommendations, the company will have an improved and new warehouse layout, the processes will be improved and the efficiency will be increased.

This case study aims to find out what characterizes the Brazilian company Semco and the Swedish company Freys hotels as private owned democratic companies, and whether the mechanisms used to apply and carry on the democratic process are sufficient or not to truly make the workplaces democratic. The way this study is conducted, is by analyzing the definition of workplace democracy and its managerial approaches. To be able to map and study the democratic process in the companies, the authors chose to analyze the parts of the organization that sustain democracy. These parts are structure, information/communication process, individuals and decision-making.

The theories applied, are theoretical thoughts and definitions of the managerial approaches (empowerment and participation) used to introduce democracy at the workplace. In addition a political framework for analyzing democracy is used. Five previous studies were also highlighted in the theory chapter, in order to reinforce the authors’ choice of theories and give a broaden understanding of the subject studied in this essay. For analysis, seven hypotheses characterizing a democratic company and the use of workplace democracy were tested. The analysis was carried out using collected primary and secondary data from books, articles, interviews and inquiries with employees from Semco and Freys Hotels. Another interview was conducted with Professor Carl Von Otter at the National Institute for Working Life, who explained the meaning of a democratic corporation.

The results show that the hypotheses can be used to describe workplace democracy. However, the managerial approaches are not sufficient to make a company democratic since

they can be used in order to restrain employee participation. Participation and involvement should be the basic idea that comes with employment. Another conclusion from the study is that the application and success of workplace democracy depends on the national context.

Background: In the past, enterprises had no recognition of information integration and operated as independent units within a chain. As a result, most of the firms throughout the supply chain faced inadequate information sharing, lack of collaboration, and absence of compatible IT infrastructure. Theses three elements play a crucial role in information integration that assists companies’ goal congruence. In a highly competitive market, companies from different industries take these three elements into consideration in order to synchronize their activities. Nowadays, transportation industry plays a crucial role in all developed countries in order to fulfill the customer’s needs and act as a connection between manufacturers and consumers. Intermodal freight transportation is one of the elements of transportation industry that includes two main players - freight company and terminal operator. In this respect, it is essential to review theoretical framework and explore the practice of information integration within intermodal freight transportation. Hence, this study carries an investigation on information integration in accordance with theoretical framework from the perspective of the dyad that includes a freight company and a terminal operator. Purpose: The research defines the level of information integration within intermodal freight transportation. A freight company and a terminal operator are the players studied in this research. Three elements of information integration, which are collaboration, information sharing, and IT implementation and adaptation, are investigated in order to identify the level of information integration. The main objective is to understand the information integration and its level within the industry from a dyadic perspective. Method: This research is conducted from a positivist scientific perspective along with qualitative research method and deductive approach. The authors conduct the embedded multiple-case study with a dyadic perspective. In this context, the freight companies and terminal operators are the studied players within this research. In order to gather the empirical data, semi- structured interviews are conducted via telephone and email. Empirical data is analyzed by utilizing two different methods, which are within-case and cross-case analysis. Furthermore, ethical issues are considered in this research, based upon trustworthiness and accuracy. Result and Conclusions: The conclusion of this research is based upon within and cross case analysis. Three studied dyads have shown the same result of medium level, while one dyad has demonstrated high level of information integration. In this regard, each dyad has been rated separately in accordance with the theoretical framework that provides scale with low, medium and high levels regarding collaboration, information sharing, and IT implementation and adaptation in order to find the level of information integration. From the dyadic perspective and with help of cross case analysis, the level of information integration regarding the whole research population is defined at medium level. It is remarkable that obtained results, in accordance with the theoretical framework, are different from the companies’ representatives’ perception of information integration.

Many preschool students enter kindergarten without the oral language and phonetic awareness skills necessary for academic success. Qualitative research is also limited about the instructional practices preschool teachers use to improve the literacy skills of their students. The purpose of this study was to explore how teachers used developmentally appropriate instructional practices to improve the literacy skills of preschool students. The conceptual framework was based on the theories of Piaget and Vygotsky in relation to language development. A multiple case study research design was used. Participants included 6 teachers from 3 different preschool programs in an urban school district in the eastern United States. Data were collected from individual interviews with preschool teachers, observations of literacy instruction in classrooms, and related program documents. For the single case analysis, coding and category construction were used to analyze the interview data, and descriptive statistics were used to analyze the observation data. A content analysis was used to analyze the documents. For the cross case analysis, data were examined across all cases for emerging themes and discrepant data. A key finding was that preschool teachers used developmentally appropriate instruction to improve oral language, phonological awareness, and written expression and supported play through learning centers; however, limited teacher–child interaction was found in relation to quality of feedback and language modeling. This study contributes to positive social change by providing educators with a deeper understanding of the need to improve the literacy skills of young children.

Background: Exploring the ambidexterity literature in the context of agile software development organizations from the perspective of how the organizational characteristics that result from the application of agile methods affect the achievement of ambidexterity Aim: To gain insight into how agile software development organizations achieve ambidexterity. Methodology: How agile software development organizations achieve ambidexterity was studied through a multiple case study where the total of four case projects in two different organizations were examined. Findings: This study indicated how the characteristics of agile software development organizations have an essential role in how ambidexterity is achieved in these organizations.

Healthcare quality measurement and care reimbursement have become a central focus for leaders and administrators of healthcare organizations. The provision of high-quality healthcare is contingent on the skills and abilities of leaders and clinical staff who support evidence-based clinical practice through implementation strategies. The problem defined in this qualitative exploratory multiple-case study was concerned with the frequency of unplanned hospital readmissions occurring in the state of Florida specifically, in healthcare facilities located in Broward, Miami-Dade, and Monroe Counties (tri-county area). Healthcare stakeholders working in organizations located in the tri-county area report hospital readmission rates of 23%, that resulted in higher financial penalties. The purpose of this qualitative exploratory multiple-case study was to explore the reasons for higher than expected unplanned hospital readmissions in healthcare facilities located in the tri-county area of south Florida to help hospital administrators to improve healthcare quality through reducing unplanned rehospitalizations. Thirteen participants contributed to this study: 4 (31%) healthcare leaders, 4 (31%) clinicians, and 5 (38%) registered nurses. Through the collective experiences of healthcare stakeholders, two primary and two secondary themes emerged to provide a clearer understanding of the contributing factors related to unplanned hospital readmissions. Four themes namely, education, population, and cultures and resources supported existing literature and provided new knowledge related to the importance of executive leader knowledge, nurse educational and skill levels, patient literacy and language, and cultural elements when applying evidence-based clinical practices in complex healthcare environments.

Background: Customer needs are ever changing and organizations are under constant pressure to fulfill these needs. This resulted in the organization moving in new areas and introducing new offerings/business models. In order to thrive in the competitive market, new companies were acquired with a new set of business units were introduced or existing business units are converged. This resulted in the emergence of multiple business model phenomena and ultimately strategies were developed to manage the business models simultaneously. Purpose: The motivation behind this study, is to find the strategy for operating multiple businesses models embraced by an organization to thrive in a developing field. Methodology: This study is a based on qualitative analysis with a single case study method. The information has been gathered from the two semi-structured interviews with top management of the company and by means of annual reports & financial documents. The findings have been analyzed within the case analysis. The case organization is HMS Industrial Networks, a Swedish Industrial communication equipment manufacturer. Empirical Findings: The findings contain a total review of the organization history and business models from 1988 to 2018, based on the gathered information. It is organized in identified time periods. Conclusions: It can be concluded that business models of HMS have evolved from its establishment to current day. Moreover, integrating strategy used to manage multiple business models through acquisition and realizing synergies that adversely alters the distribution of possible outcomes regardless of an increase or decrease of the expected outcome. Future Research: The future research is needed in order to find other types of strategies for managing multiple business models.

Aim – The aim of this study is to explore how Management accountants (MAs) participate in strategic management processes nowadays and to explain reasons for potential differences in involvement of MAs in strategic management processes between different organizations.Method - The study is based on a multi-case study approach conducted among three independent companies in Sweden. The information from semi-structural interviews with MAs and archival data in form of job announcements for Senior MAs positions is used to analyze and cross-check the relationship. The time-horizon is cross-sectional.Findings - The study shows that involvement of MAs in strategic management processes varies a lot within organizations being influenced by the following factors: personal traits, business knowledge, relationship with management and established role. Some major variations on cross-company level are identified between subsidiary and HQ, and between representatives of different capital ownership forms.Conclusions - The study suggests that power imbalance in organizations hinders applying critical thinking and expressing objective opinion by MAs, that makes it difficult to claim a fully explicit business-partner role. Process of MAs’ involvement in the strategic management decision making presents a product of interrelation between two strategies for legitimizing of truth claims proposed by Heizmann and Olsson (2015): executing power of authority and executing power of expertise.