Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Public enterprise management'

This thesis is a study of why and how an authority model of managing state-owned enterprises has remained popular in Taiwan through the past two decades. The subject was chosen because it has to date, been a neglected subject in the literature on Taiwan, even though it is significant to any serious examination of Taiwan's continuing political development and the government's approach to governance. Taiwan has experienced three major milestones of political democratisation over the period, each greatly enhancing the democratic characteristics of the state and also reflecting a degree of absorption of global political and economic pressures. Taiwan's political democratisation has been widely discussed in recent years, but not much attention has been paid to the effect of the political changes on its public sector management. The discussions have simply speculated that the Taiwanese government no longer uses the authoritarian way of governing the country, in keeping with its promotion of democratic development. However, this research clearly indicates that the change of political regime from the previous Kuomintang (KMT) to the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has not meant any significant change in the way state-owned enterprises are managed. The approach of the DPP government resembles that of the KMT government in that it continues with an authoritarian way of managing state-owned enterprises, despite the party's long established commitment to a democratic way. In other words, this huge change has not meant state-owned enterprises are any better placed than they were previously in terms of having a greater degree of enterprise management autonomy. This research also shows that Taiwanese governments, regardless of which of the two parties is in power, manipulate state-owned enterprise management using the enterprises as a major means of achieving multiple political objectives. In particular, it has become almost endemic in Taiwan's politics that the ruling party manipulates state-owned enterprise management in order to win political elections and protect its political position. In this sense, it has become evident that the democratic way of governance has still not been used within this part of the government yet.

Although public sector industries play a very significant role in the economy of Bangladesh, from the very beginning of their inception they have been a cause of concern. It is alleged that they have failed to meet their expectations mainly because of inefficient management. On the other hand the public sector managers do not agree that the absolute responsibility for unsatisfactory performance should go to them. It is true that public sector enterprises in Bangladesh have failed to initiate the breakthrough as to profitability and productivity, and thus the public sector managers cannot avoid their bigger responsibility in this regard since they are supposed to play the dominating role in an organisation. It was logically thought that an investigating study would be able to provide important insights into the subject matter. This empirical study has thus tried to examine the managerial world in order to draw a profile of managerial characteristics by taking into account the personal, behavioural and the contextual issues. It also has examined the progress of industrialisation and the position of professionalisation of management in the perspective of Bangladesh along with the roles that are being played by the Bangladesh managers in the industrialisation process. The study has been quite successful in identifying a wide range of interesting issues having influence on managerial performance. It was found that the Bangladesh managers are in general highly educated and relatively new generation managers having little industrial experience to their credit. They mainly came from the vast rural areas of the country. Their position is comparatively stronger with respect to job related training. But the higher education and wider training have failed to bring positive results with respect to productivity and profitability, because the education has very little relevance to the managerial profession. Again, the higher education has been mainly responsible for increasing the level of managerial aspirations with very little realisation and thus has been generating widespread frustration. Poor job description and inadequate delegation were also responsible in this regard. The public sector managers have been found very much concerned about the security of their jobs. Their dealings and actions apparently are directed towards maintaining a good superior-subordinate relationship but under careful scrutiny this apparently encouraging situation was found to be non-existent. Interestingly the public sector managers are almost united in saying `No' to any prospective changes which may affect their jobs and interests, but they are also less concerned about the changes which appeared to have no apparent adverse effect. The policies of the successive governments in Bangladesh have made the situation worse. The required power, authority and freedom has not been allowed to practice to the enterprises; instead they are expected to follow the regulations covering almost every operational area and also to follow lengthy and bureaucratic procedures. Despite the presence of preconditions the industrialisation process has not got momentum as yet. The absence of powerful elite has been mainly responsible for this situation. The symptoms of professional management were found absent there which is an indication that the management has still a very long way to go in the way of becoming a professional group. What is evident from the study is that all the revolutionary changes (as they are often labelled by the authority) have virtually failed to bring the desired results; even so the government is planning to introduce more changes, when it is almost certain that some vital aspects have continued to remain unattended throughout the period as there have been very little effort to increase the managerial capacity and to release their willingness to cooperate with the government plans. Time, money and efforts would have been worth investing if these could have been diverted towards creating a congenial environment and developing the human resources working in the Bangladesh public sectors especially the managerial personnel. Some of the 'costly' experiments would have easily been avoided and much of the criticisms of the public sectors would not have appeared if there were such efforts from the very beginning.

Two are the objectives of this thesis: To identify structural and cultural causes of ineffectiveness in a state-owned railway enterprise in the light of the management cybernetics area of knowledge. To assess the capacity of this area of knowledge, especially in its abstract and coded form (Beer's Model of the Viable System), to provide adequate explanations of organizational performance and organizational failure. The objectives are sought in the analysis of an actual enterprise, the Greek Railways Organization (OSE). An 'ethnographic type' pilot study is initially undertaken, to highlight organizational problems under a management cybernetics perspective. The study, though demonstrating structural problems associated with a certain organizational culture, is assumed in itself inadequate, as it reflects a subjective interpretation of reality. A 'survey within the case study' is therefore undertaken aiming at deriving the real dimensions of organizational problems from an analysis of managerial responses. Responses are designed to provide a picture of both the actual way in which the enterprise organizes in the pursuit of its tasks, and the organizational culture. The first subtheme (organizational structure) is examined in terms of the cybernetic model of the viable organization. The findings, in general, validate the assumptions of the ethnographic study. Numerous structural problems are identified. The second subtheme (culture) is examined in terms of managerial cohesiveness, defined as the agreement between managers on key issues of the identity of the enterprise. The overall conclusion is that though managers are, in general, in agreement, the content of this agreement tends rather to reflect a shared pessimistic view of the future than cohesiveness facilitating viability and development. The conclusion, as regards the enterprise, is, that though many problems are reflected in the organizational structure, proper modifications of this structure may not suffice to guarantee improved performance, unless considerable attention is paid in the building of a relevant organizational culture, quite difficult under the specific circumstances. The conclusion, as regards the adopted methodology, is that though Beer's model of the viable system assists in a diagnosis of many organizational deficiencies, it may not suffice to promote organizational change, especially when narrowly perceived, i. e., when results to a concentration on structural arrangements in the expense of the building of a corporate culture. Certain methodologies should develop, which, while making use of the advantages of the model, will not underestimate other significant aspects of organizational reality.

The construction industry has long been criticized as being not advance enough to use information communication technology (ICT) and slow to adopt knowledge management (KM). This research demonstrates how using an effective and efficient ICT systems can improve KM, and that an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system can be one tools to help improve KM. An ERP system is also a powerful tool to help integrate business processes which has particular use in the construction industry. The principle objective of this research was to explore the drivers and inhibiters that determined successful adoption and use of an ERP system at its actual implementation stage. Secondly, it aimed to identify successful factors of a partnering strategy and its integration into the ERP system. The third objective was to investigate the appropriate leadership style that influenced the ERP system and the partnering strategy, and to identify the impact of culture on the leadership style. The research was conducted within the context of a Hong Kong construction organization. This research makes a contribution in two spheres: PM and the construction industry. The first implication for PM theory is to illustrate how knowledge has been efficiently managed within a construction organization by using ICT/ERP.

During the 1990s, many organizations across the globe migrated existing information systems to Enterprise Systems (ES) packages, which promised both business and technical solutions to their existing sets of problems. However, ES implementations have gained notoriety for not meeting budgeted expenditures and schedules. Such events have warranted academic research to gain an understanding about the role of ES packages and the importance of ES implementation. A large number of academic researchers have adopted a variance approach to examine ES implementation. As a result they have identified a range of critical success factors said to be influential in achieving successful implementation of ES packages. An alternate perspective for researching ES implementation is the process approach but this has remained largely neglected in academic debates. Furthermore, it has still not been possible for researchers or practitioners to understand the degree to which specific critical success factors, or other considerations, might be influential in any given ES implementation, either pre- or post-project. This research therefore adopts the process approach to examine ES implementations. The process approach is focused on explaining an outcome, given a set of activities. This research draws upon the work of Markus and Tanis (2000) and O�Leary (2000), who have established frameworks to explain an outcome (success or failure) of ES implementations. In addition, this research draws on the work of Davenport (2000) and Brehm et al. (2001), who have established models that outline activities related to configuration of business and software processes during implementation of ES packages. To enable this inquiry, a single case study (site) was chosen, to expose the actions and events that transpired during the implementation of an ES package. This research concludes that the framework of O�Leary (2000) is better suited to explain the outcome of an ES Implementation than the framework of Markus and Tanis (2000). The framework of Markus and Tanis (2000) was found to be useful in understanding the implementation process of an ES package. In addition, this research developed a novel model that portrays a comprehensive set of activities, undertaken by the case organization during the configuration of business and software processes. This model traversed the 'High-Level', 'Detailed Development' and 'Implementation' stages of the configuration process. It is asserted that this model is a significant improvement when compared to models presented by Davenport (2000) and Brehm et al. (2001). This research also explored some of the issues of the case study that did not fit neatly into the existing theoretic frameworks employed. Six issues emerged in this regard; 'Selection of industry specific ES package solution'; 'Selection of Proven Implementation Partner'; 'Project Planning and Management'; 'Incremental Implementation Strategy'; 'Ownership of the ES Project' and 'Selection of Best Practice Business Processes'. It is contended that each have played a critical role in the successful deployment of the ES package at this case site.

In order to remain competitive, the integration of their information systems is an imperative for many large organisations. Applications that originally have been developed independently are now required to interoperate to support new or different functions of the enterprise. Although the mechanisms for application interoperation exist provided by the technology, due to the sheer number and complexity of the running systems, integration solutions � centralised or distributed�appropriate at the local level do not translate successfully to the whole enterprise. Centralised integration approaches often satisfy only some of the integration requirements, they are very expensive, and are fraught with danger since they imply an �all or nothing� approach. Distributed approaches, on the other hand, suffer from complexity and scalability problems as the number of system interfaces to be implemented and the number of execution-time invocations grows with the number of component applications. This dissertation makes a contribution to the field of Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) within the framework of distributed systems technology. Based on real-life case studies experience, we present here a federated approach that controls the size and complexity of the integration effort by reusing existing systems as much as possible and reducing the number of interacting applications. Only selected local elements are exposed to the organisational milieu, and a consistent supporting infrastructure is provided to make systems interactions possible. Our approach provides a flexible and scalable strategy to enterprise integration, avoiding the shortcomings of traditional approaches. We respect existing organisational structures, and demonstrate how appropriate federation infrastructure and protocols enable the interoperation of existing systems. The three main facets of enterprise knowledge are systematically incorporated into the integration effort: a) by the use of domain ontologies to support data integration; b) by the development of a methodology to include business rules; and c) by the development of FEW, a federated workflow model to implement the business processes of the organisation.

The purpose of this thesis is to understand the marketing perceptions and practices of primary school managers, in response to attempts to introduce market forces into the provision of UK state education. The study has investigated marketing in primary schools through ten longitudinal case studies using three main sources of data: interviews with headteachers, and governors, participant observation, and market research of the perceptions of parents and other groups. Two groups of influences combined to make diverse and complex marketing micro-environments, which conditioned the impact of marketing activities initiated by the schools: i) the local provision of primary education (the capacity, sector and status of schools, and the image of the locality), and ii) the population profile of the catchment area (numbers of local pupils, parental perceptions and population types). A picture of marketing at the case study schools emerged which was different from the initial impression of a peripheral activity given by much of the literature, and headteachers' own accounts. Critical incident analysis revealed more extensive strategies and tactics which could be labelled as “marketing”, but which were not necessarily described as such by headteachers. Events and decisions triggered marketing activities directed at a number of targets which can be grouped into the priority order of: i) internal relationships (existing parents, pupils, staff, and governors), ii) recruitment markets (new parents and feeder institutions), iii) educational agencies (LEA, DfEE, OFSTED etc.), and iv) community relationships (local media, commercial sponsors and community groups). Individuals within these target groups positioned a school according to their perceptions of its academic and environmental reputation, its locality and their degree of involvement with it. Headteachers attempted to improve their schools' market position through a mix of methods which can be summarised as four I's - information, image building, involvement, and the influence of word-of mouth communications. Headteachers found that the most effective marketing strategies had two main components: i) marketing to improve relationships with existing parents, staff and governors was an essential precursor to any external marketing effort; and ii) marketing to targets other than prospective pupils was important in order to build up a supportive series of relationships in the micro-environment. In particular, parental involvement strategies to achieve marketing aims evolved as an acceptable response because they were not seen as overtly competitive, and they had a perceived educational value. Headteachers seemed to share many of the marketing problems of owner-managers of small businesses. The findings reported here suggest that the private sector may have lessons to learn from the marketing management of small public organisations such as primary schools, so that a more meaningful exchange of information across the sectoral divide is indicated.

This purpose of the research is to investigate the relationship between the implementation of an Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) and corporate governance within the public sector. Furthermore, the study focused on the role of internal audit in ERM implementation as well as the relationship between ERM and risk communication. Questionnaires designed to collect data were e-mailed to risk managers; internal auditors and senior managers. The survey confirmed a positive association between the implementation of an ERM framework and corporate governance as well as risk communication. The majority of respondents further confirmed that corporate governance concerns were the main driving force behind the implementation followed by the impact of HIV/AIDS on their respective organisations. Of those surveyed 38% confirmed that their ERM process is embedded and they have also created the position of chief risk officer or similar. However, it is important to note that the role of internal audit in ERM implementation is not fully integrated.

The theoretical literature on public ownership suggests many reasons for anticipating poor performance by publicly-owned firms, especially the lack of incentives for managers in uncompetitive environments combined with the problems of political interference. Yet the performance of the nationalized British gas industry in the post- war period was very impressive, with high rates of growth of output and productivity and the successful development of new techniques and new markets. To resolve this puzzle, the key factors to be examined are government/industry relations and strategic management. A detailed analysis of the evolution of government policy towards the nationalized industries in general and gas in particular, including the provision of funds for investment, pricing policies, the extent and quality of monitoring of the industry's performance and energy policy, reveals that government policy in the case of gas was more benign than for many of the nationalized industries. Management strategy is investigated by means of a comparison of two Area Gas Boards, the South Western and the East Midlands. Quantitative indicators show that the East Midlands Board enjoyed rapid sales growth for much of this period, and made use of a wide range of techniques for manufacturing and supplying gas. The South Western Board's sales performance was among the weakest in the industry and it remained committed to out-moded techniques based on coal for a long time. Underlying differences in the market/technological environments faced by the two Boards provide a major part of the explanation of these variations in business performance. However, the strategies adopted by the Area Boards are also shown to be important. In contrast to much existing literature on nationalized industries the emphasis here is on the autonomy enjoyed by managers in many crucial aspects of decision-making, the surprising strength of competitive forces acting on the gas industry, regional diversity, and the reasonably benign role played by government.

Our understanding of enterprise restructuring in a transition context is predominantly drawn from the ex-communist countries of Europe. Those countries have their own cultural values, social structures, were subject to the Soviet political and economic managemet styles and had their own political and economic reasons to move to the free market system. Without doubt, these factors had influenced their enterprise restructuring and its determinants. Given this influence, our understanding of enterprise restructuring and its determinants can be considered limited especially when one takes into consideration the fact that mnay developing countries with centrally planned economic systems had moved to the free market system almost at the same time as the ex-communist countries. Very important, the restructuring behaviour of their state and privatised enterprises and the determinants of their behaviour have been neglected by researchers. This neglect was, indeed, a stimulus to carry out a research study on enterprise restructuring and its determinants in Algeria. The aim of this research study was to develop an understanding of the kind of restructuring taking place in the state enterprises slated for privatisation in Algeria and the factors that stimulated or hindered their restructuring from 1990 to 2005. Algeria is a country that combines a mixture of historical backgrounds. It has a history of more than one hundred years of French colonial rule and has a deep rooted link with the Arab and Islamic cultures. It is also a country which had followed, after gaining independence from the colonial rule in 1962, its own style of socialism where the private sector,in light manufacturing and some service industries, was tolerated and workers of the state-owned enterprise were given the power to share the decision makings with management. More significantly, Algerial was and still is a country where almost 90 percent of its foreign revenues come from hydrocarbons export. Its move to the free market in 1989 came as a result of the sharp drop in the price of oil and therefore a sharp decrease in its foreign revenues. It was a move imposed by the IMF in return for the extension of its debts repayment and the provision of fresh loans. With these socio-cultural, political and economic characteristics of Algeria, it was expected that the restructuring behaviour of the enterprises under investigation and the determinants of this behaviour would exhibit some differences from those experienced in the transition countries of Europe. The investigation was carried out on three enterprises operating in different industries: Saidal in pharmaceuticals, the SNVI in heavy vehicles and Eriad Alger in wheat processing and manufacturing. The data was collected and analysed using qualitative and quantitative research strategies. Semi-structured and unstructured interviews were used to collect data on the restructuring actions and their determinants. They were carried out with senior managers at the head offices, divisions and functional departments of the enterprises; managers at the trade union (UGTA); managers at one state-owned consultancy organisation called CNAT; managers at the ministry of industry; two visiting managers at the trade union (UGTA); and a small number of workers of the three enterprises under investigation. A survey using a self-completion questionnaire was also used to investigate the characteristics of the top management teams of the three enterprises. Primary documents such as state, private company and media reports and secondary document such as journal articles and books were also used. The findings drawn from the study reveal that Saidal was the only enterprise that restructured effectively despite the strong competition in its market. This was possible through the determination of Saidal's president general manager and his top management team to restructure and through the enterprise partnership with many multinational firms. The findings also indicate that controllable and uncontrollable factors had significant impact on the restructuring behaviour of the three enterprises. The controllable factors were the corporatisation of the state enterprise and the underdevelopment of the institutional environment. Corporatisation was an important incentive that encouraged effective restructuring but this was possible only when the enterprise was financially healthy, as was the case with Saidal. The financial autonomy of Saidal reduced the intervention of the government administration in its internal affairs. Government intervention was strong when the enterprise was perceived by the government as strategically important, as was the case with the SNVI, or when the government intended to totally privatise the enterprise, as was the case with Eriad Alger. The underdevelopment of the institutional environment, especially corruption, the shortage of technical skills and the lack of adequate market information hampered competition and slowed down effective restructuring. The uncontrollable factors were the trend in the market and the cultural values. The growing market for pharmaceuticals in Algeria was a stimulus for attracting foreign investment in Saidal which consequently encouraged effective restructuring. As for the cultural values, the family and friendship ties, the social responsibility stemming from religious belief, the regional belonging and the legacy of French colonial rule in Algeria played a significant role in the selection and recruitment of managers and workers, in slowing down the progress of shedding workers surplus and in slowing down foreign participation in privatisation. Future research on enterprise restructuring and its determinants in Algeria should be carried out on a larger sample of enterprises with different ownership using quantitative and qualitative research strategies. Research should also explore enterprise restructuring and its determinants in other developing countries which moved to the free market system and in countries which share similar cultural and social structures with Algeria. It is time for researchers to move away from exploring effective and ineffective enterprise restructuring and concentrate more on exploring how partnership with foreign firms, the shortage of technicla skills, the lack of market information and the cultural values, be it religious beliefs, customs of the legacy of colonialism, affect the restructuring behaviour of state, privatised and private enterprises and the determinants of this behaviour.

Japanese-style management has attracted a lot of attention from managers, business executives and scholars worldwide. The sudden intensity of interest in the so-called Japanese Management Model has been partly due to the rapid ascendancy of Japan as, a leading economic superpower in a relatively short period after her humiliating defeat in the Second World War. In 1982, Malaysia officially launched the "Look East" policy to emulate the Japanese by adopting Japanese-style management practices. It was believed that by adopting Japanese-style management techniques, the Malaysians can replicate the Japanese success. This study aims to discuss what constitutes Japanese-style management and also to determine if it can be transferred to the Malaysian public enterprise sector. From this study, it was revealed that only some elements of Japanese-style management are transferable to Malaysian public enterprises. There is a number of problems encountered in trying to transfer the Japanese practices to Malaysian public enterprise sector, especially if they are not compatible with the Malaysian values. The problems of transferring Japanese management techniques across national boundaries are further compounded when the transfer is from private sector to public sector. Even in the case of Japan, her public enterprise sector does not even have a reputation of efficient management. It was also found that despite the official policy and persistent effort towards "Japanisation" by the government, the majority of Malaysian workforce still prefer the present existing management system. To some extent, the study has provided some answers to questions regarding the feasibility of adopting the Japanese-style management. But most important of all, the study has revealed that Japanese-style management is not a panacea to the problems confronting the public enterprise sector in Malaysia.

This study explores partnership working as a mechanism for effective public service delivery. It investigates into how Public-Social Enterprise Partnerships (P-SEPs) can utilise innovative models of user involvement and Service Innovation (SI) in the co-design and co-delivery of user-led socially-oriented services to young adults (18-24) in East England. It identifies the inability of P-SEPs to conceptually explore innovative models of user involvement and SI when engaging young-adult end users in the co-design and co-delivery of user-led solutions to `wicked` issues like `rough sleeping` as a gap in knowledge which I will explore three interrelated research questions in filling. This study draws conceptual inspiration from the network theory, the Pragmatic research paradigm and the inductive-deductive research strategy in exploring the Concurrent Mixed Method underpinned by Likert-scale questionnaires and semi-structure interviews as my data gathering instruments. The emergent conceptual framework from my data analyses posits that high users` perception of their involvement in the co-design and co-delivery of user-led public services can engineer satisfaction, transformational outcomes and high service quality. A fieldtrip provided the conceptual opportunity for me to explore three multiple-case studies in gathering qualitative data through semi-structured interviews administered to staff as these were coded, thematised and analysed using NVivo. Quantitative data from questionnaires administered to end users were analysed using Excel. Evidence gleaned from both strands was integrated and triangulated in complementing and enhancing my research findings. This study challenges misconceptions and dominant ideologies which underpin user involvement while making three interconnected contributions to knowledge. First, it extends the frontiers of knowledge in the discipline by creating new insights and articulating four innovative models of user involvement. Second, at the practical level, it contributes to the ongoing debate on conceptualising, modernising and delivering more effective userengineered public services by informing professional practice and policymaking. And third, at the theoretical level, it contributes towards the development of a theory on user involvement. It thus underlines the factual conclusion that high users` perception of their involvement in the co-design and co-delivery of user-led outcomes can engineer high user satisfaction, high service quality and transformational outcomes. It successfully re-positions the debates on user involvement on new conceptual and empirical grounds.

Public sector organisations are implementing the Enterprise Content Management (ECM) system because of their large volume of unstructured content which led to documents being stored in various repositories. This made it difficult for such organisations to access, control and locate documents. ECM systems are therefore implemented to address the uncontrolled manner in which documents are saved, stored and accessed by employees. There were a number of other anticipated benefits. This study aims to explore and understand the achievement of benefits through the use of ECM systems and to determine the barriers preventing the benefits from being achieved in public sector organisations. The study used a qualitative research approach. Two cases of the public sector organisations were investigated in a cross-sectional study. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews and by viewing organisational documentation. Data was analysed using thematic analysis with elements of deductive and inductive approaches. An ERP benefits framework and the Enhanced Impact framework formed a theoretical base and were used as a lens for collecting and analysing data.

Title: A Comparison of the Equity-supportiveness of Organizational Cultures of (Public) NHS Organizations and (Private) Social Enterprise (SE) Providers Theory: New Public Management (NPM) has been the most influential paradigm in public administration in the last three decades. NPM-driven ideas such as provider competition, privatisation and patient choice have resulted in increased interest from recent UK governments in Social Enterprises (SEs) for delivering public health services. NPM-based changes have been criticized for creating inequitable provision of healthcare and increasing unjust health inequalities. It is worth asking whether equity for patients is promoted equally effectively by public (NHS) organizations and SE providers. Research Aims and Methodology: A mixed methods approach was employed. The quantitative strand used a survey to compare the equity-supportiveness of NHS and SE organizational cultures [124 respondents (68 NHS and 56 SE staff) from 21 organizations (12 NHS and 9 SEs)]. The qualitative strand used semi-structured interviews with 27 SE staff members to examine organizational changes in SEs and the impact of these changes on equity in service provision. Findings: By achieving better alignment with organizational values, reducing bureaucracy, speeding up decision-making, giving staff more autonomy and responsibility, encouraging initiative, risk-taking and innovation, involving staff more actively in strategic decision-making, and making better use of technology, Social Enterprises are promoting equity to an equal or greater degree than public (NHS) organizations. Implications: However, the SE model (currently limited to community healthcare services) remains unclear and problematic, suggesting caution in its use by larger NHS acute Trusts. More research is needed before a policy to support the adoption of the SE model in public service delivery is mainstreamed.

Thesis (PhD) - Swinburne University of Technology, 2006.
Submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Swinburne University of Technology - 2006. Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (p. 193-207).

In recent years, public sector reforms with its New Public Management (NPM) doctrine have attracted the attention of policy makers, practitioners and academics around the world. In the developing countries, these reforms are usually engineered and imposed by the international financial community such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). One of the main components of NPM is changes in management control systems (MCS) as it is believed that by adopting new MCS better transparency and accountability will ensue. This has resulted in the introduction of private sector accounting practices into the public sectors in order to enhance efficiency, effectiveness and transparency, and also to change the orientation of public sector managers towards managerialism. Using a large state enterprise in Nigeria, hypothetical called Nigeria State Company (NSC) as a case study, this thesis seeks to explore and understand the Nigerian public sector reforms and how these reforms impacts on the MCS of the organisation. The thesis explores the various MCS introduced, the processes of their implementation and how these systems function in the day-to-day decision making of the organisation.

IT services are increasingly being offered via a shared service model. This model promises the benefits of centralization and consolidation, as well as an increased customer satisfaction. Adopting shared services is not easy as it necessitates a major organizational change, with few documented exemplars to guide managers. This research explores a public IT unit’s realization of shared services with the intent to improve the transparency of its value proposition to their stakeholders. An ethnographic field study enabled in-situ data collection over a 24-month period. We analyzed the resulting, rich process data using the Punctuated Socio-Technical IS Change (PSIC) model. This resulted in several contributions: an explanatory account of shared services realization, an empirically grounded punctuated process model with seventeen critical incidents, and twelve key lessons for practitioners. Several extensions to extant process research methods are developed. These contributions combine to form a detailed and nuanced understanding of the process of realizing IT shared services at a large public university over a multi-year period.

ICT development and deployment and supporting policies take place within a fiercely contested globalised political economy. For organisations there is a pervasiveness of change processes, often externally imposed, which are rising with these globalising effects. This not only implies that the context in which organisations are situated is continuously changing, but also that the nature of the organisation itself is subject to change (Van Tonder, 2004). However, the external influences imposed on an organisation are often heterogeneous and make the management of adapting to the external environment extremely complex. This thesis explores such an externally imposed change on an organisation around the implementation of a contentious national policy. This entails not only dealing with the more usual dimensions of change in an organisation, but also the implications of the national debate and contentions around the national policy playing out in the local setting of the organisation. In this thesis the change explored is within a government department from a proprietary Enterprise Content Management (ECM) system to an open source ECM system. An interpretative approach was followed, using a longitudinal case study. Two main aspects of this change process are explored. The first is the impact of the national open source policy on government departments - an externally imposed change of mission, vision and values. The second is how internally the government department changed its internal work processes and information systems to comply with that policy. These two aspects are intertwined. Alignment of the organisation mission, values and objectives, with the proposed technological innovation and change management models emerges as a necessary condition for managing change. However, what emerged as a more challenging issue was whether internal organisational changes can be aligned with contentious national policy imperatives. Three theoretical lenses are used to explore this contentious issue: the HEM model of Du Plooy’s (1998); the improvisational change management model of Orlikowski and Hofman (1997); and institutional theory as it applies to Information Systems. The improvisational change model of Orlikowski and Hofman (1997) in combination with Du Plooy’s (1998) HEM model, was used to understand the change process unfolding in the implementation of an OS ECM system in a Government department in SA. The result of this application is some practical recommendations for government officials on future OS implementations, as well as a theoretical add-on to extend the change management model applied. The researcher found that models can increase our understanding and reveal how one can ‘cultivate’ the human environment within which technology is to be implemented. However, the process of developing an understanding of how national policy was developed and the rationale for it was also found to be important, as is developing an understanding of the rationale of this particular department for choosing to implement the OS ECM system. By adding to, or expanding on Orlikowski and Hoffman’s (1997) model to include a fourth element, indicating the external forces in the environment, such as government regulations; government policy; and the debate on global and national FOSS versus PS, highlights the need for this external alignment as well as prevents the focus on internal alignment only. Institutional theory was consequently applied in an attempt to unpack the organisational and change management dimensions of the change model, aiming at understanding the institutional forces which legitimates or contradicts the technical/rational ideas and actions of the change. The findings were threefold. Firstly, the role played by IS as an institutional process in and of itself and the way in which this could have affected the implementation of the new OS ECM system was discussed, pointing to the possibility that the new system was not necessarily being implemented to streamline the work practices, but rather due to its institutional status of being a ‘rational myth’; something which had to be done as ‘it’s just the right thing to do.” Secondly, OSS and PS were argued to be different ‘types’ of institutions. Using the institutional pillars it was argued that OSS and PS were driven by different institutional forces, with PS leaning towards the regulative pillar and OSS being more in line with the normative pillar. These two institutions were found to mainly differ with regard to their basis of compliance and the logic behind them. The insights offered by this argument revealed that when changing from OSS to PS, it would be very valuable to recognise that OSS and PS are two different ‘types’ of institutions, and to not only understand that the new system could therefore change the organisational processes when it is implemented, but to also acknowledge the change which will take place within the IS/IT institution itself – moving from the regulative to the normative. The change should thus be understood both within the two different IS innovations themselves, and in how these two innovations interact. Lastly, the research in this thesis went beyond the technical/rational actions of the stakeholders, and included an in depth analysis of the institutional forces at play in the broader social context of the Government department. It explained the institutions which were at play on the international, national and organisational levels, pointing out which of these forces worked in favour of or against the technical/rational actions, and in the process contributed to the unexpected outcome of the new OS ECM implementation process.
Thesis (PhD-- University of Pretoria, 2014
Informatics
unrestricted

Supply chain literature has increasingly argued that supply chains are being used by a wide range of industries to generate innovations which deliver competitive advantage, and that social factors such as trust and collaboration play a key role in making effective supply chain management (SCM). Closer examination of the research suggests that much of this literature is based on studies of industries which deliver consumer products and these studies are predominantly conducted within a positivist research framework. This research bias has resulted in far less attention being paid to studies of mature industrial markets. This case study seeks to redress such bias by posing an overall question regarding the role of social factors in innovation within a well established supply chain which existed across three mature, capital intensive industries � steel manufacturing, transport and railroad track construction and working outside the positivist paradigm by using a m ultidisciplinary research approach within a �critical realist framework�. In responding to the overall research question, three subordinate questions were explored. Firstly, how well suited are present corporate governance structures of individual organisations to deal with the newly emerging interconnected organisational structures in order to support the generation of innovations within supply chains? Secondly, what has been the impact of the widespread adoption of information technology in generating innovation in supply chains? And thirdly, what is the role played by interorganisational social networks in generating innovations within supply chains? The overall findings were that the social factors played a far more important role than had hitherto been acknowledged in either supporting or inhibiting innovation within supply chains. Corporate governance was seen to generally inhibit innovation between organisations. The claims of much of the SCM literature which asserts a strong link between IT and innovation in supply chains was not supported. In fact, it was found that the majority of subjects preferred to get information through social systems. The role of interorganisational networks (IONs) was found to be most effective at generating incremental innovations aimed at maintaining operational efficiency. A critical realist research approach was able to uncover some difficulties associated with a purely positivist research paradigm which restricts investigation to the empirical level of ontology. The critical realist approach was able to explore social causal mechanisms and structures which were not as readily accessible at the empirical level of inves tigation. It was found that multiple realities existed across the supply chain, and that the positivist assumption of a mono reality which underpins much of the enterprise resource planning (ERP), process management and governance approaches was in fact inhibiting the ability of the social system to be innovative and ultimately driving up costs. In fact a process management approach supported by information technology and operating within present corporate governance structures created conflicting goals which increased complexity. A key finding of this study was how the open social system of the supply chain used dynamic relationships to overcome the rigidities and complexity of a closed systems logic embedded in the formal governance and information systems.

The main topic of the thesis is case management - a modern concept of dynamic business processes that emphasizes data and user involvement in decision-making process. The main goal is to create a functional prototype of information system for e-procurement based on case management approach that solves problematic aspects of current electronic procurement environment in Czech Republic. In the theoretical section, there is a description of the basic concept of case management and the possible use of case management across various sectors. Subsequently the reference model and general architecture of case management system are introduced and an optimal methodology for modelling and analysis of case management solution that combines existing standards in context is proposed. The practical section contains an analysis of the functional requirements and description of the electronic public procurement system, both in terms of the minimum legal requirements for solutions and problematic area derived from the perspective of Czech eGovernement. Detailed implementation-ready model is created using the proposed modelling methodology that forms a foundation for implementation of the selected scope of the electronic procurement system based on the IBM platform. Created prototype facilitates a procurement specification via an easy-to-use interface that incorporates methodological support when entering the data, automatic recommendation of suitable suppliers and proactive inspection of a compliance with regulatory requirements. Contribution of the work lies in the demonstration of possibilities for optimal e-procurement solution implementation. Within the results of the work are identified obvious practical benefits of case management for this area, particularly the speed of deployment and implementation changes, variable and dynamic user experience and efficient distribution of necessary information to the end-user. I have evaluated usage of a case management system for similar projects as appropriate and useful.

A water supply service can be seen as a public or private good, but this thesis makes the argument that water is vital for society and so to ensure accountability it is important that water governance includes citizens' participation for social and environmental justice concerns. Public goods are generally defined as goods and services that are provided by 'means of public policy' (Lane, 1993, p. 21), or 'collective political choice' (Stretton & Orchard, 1994, p. 54) rather than by means of an individual market mechanism in which private goods are usually provided. This thesis addresses the function of water as a public good. If social and environmental goals of water use are ignored, the implications can be detrimental particularly for the poorest members of society. An organization's goal effectiveness is usually related to its success in achieving desired outcomes of the organization's goals through a systemic management interaction across organizational aspects at the input, process, output, and outcome/impact stages. This thesis argues an evaluation model of performance measurement can be developed to reflect the characteristics of a public good for a water supply utility, and this model of performance measurement can assist in addressing issues of social and environmental justice. Harris et al argue that better governance can only be achieved by working for democracy in multiple arenas (Harriss, Stokke, & Tornquist, 2004, pp. 7-8). This study considers multidimensional performance measures taking on board the values of many stakeholders with different backgrounds. It 'unfolds' and 'sweeps in' in many dimensions in an attempt at systemic representation (Ulrich, 1983, p. 169). McIntyre- Mills states that 'service need to reflect the values of the users and for this to occur the users need to participate in and decide on policy design and governance' (McIntyre-Mills, 2003, p. 14). Performance measurement systems can be used to detect a gap between services supplied by providers and various needs demanded by stakeholders. The thesis develops an outcome performance measurement model for evaluating social equity and environmental justice concerns. It draws on and adapts four performance measurement models of the International Water Association, World Bank, Indonesian Home Affairs Department and Indonesian Water Supply Enterprise Association. A complementary combined method was developed that addresses qualitative and quantitative governance concerns as they perform to water supply performance problems. Three research methods were used, namely the case study, survey and focus group discussion for collecting qualitative and quantitative data from the three governance sectors. These were triangulated. Five research tools in the case study method were used for collecting information from stakeholders in the three governance sectors including interview, personal communication or email, document analysis, direct observation and documentation. The survey was used to investigate 431 respondents from three case study locations in Cinusa1 city, and the two focus groups were conducted in the city's water supply company management for discussing problems of water supply performance as summarized from the survey. The locus of this study was concentrated in the Cinusa city jurisdiction area, and the focus was the performance problem of the water supply company in Cinusa during 2001-2004. However, a comparative study of water supply performance nationally and internationally is presented for analyzing relative performance gaps.This research evaluates interconnections among cost inefficiency, tariff escalation and other non-financial performances: water supply quantity, quality, continuity and pressure. Inefficient costs because of corrupt, collusive and nepotistic practices in this Indonesian water supply company implicate cost burdens in the company and prevent this water local public enterprise perform its social and environmental missions. The Cinusa local government as the owner of this local public enterprise and the Cinusa local parliament hold a monopoly power in some important decisions related to this local public enterprise, including tariff policy, senior management positions and the total amount of profit share paid to the local government. Such customers from lower income household instead of being subsidized as specified in the national regulation are paying at a profitable tariff and subsidizing this enterprise's inefficiency and the government's locally generated revenue. The inefficiency alongside the profit sharing policy also weakens this enterprise's capacity to invest and improve its service performances. Improving the service performance is essential for current and potential customers and could also benefit the society economically, socially and environmentally, besides being of economic benefit to the enterprise itself. Securing public health concerns and groundwater preservations can be conducted by improving the accessibility, the availability and the reliability of water quality, quantity, pressure and continuity. This research presents an evaluation model for improving the accountability of water supply by means of performance management tool and it makes policy recommendations.

eFörvaltning ses som ett medel för att göra kommunalt förvaltningsarbete mer effektivt och interoperabelt. Dock begränsas kommuner av oförmåga att uppnå det vilket försvårar genomförandet av deras uppdrag. En orsak till varför införandet av eFörvaltning inte ger de systematiska fördelar som efterfrågas beror på att införandet av informations och kommunikations teknologier (IKT) inte är tillräckligt. Förändringen som krävs kan inte ske över en natt utan är en gradvis förändring över tid som även kräver nya sätt att arbeta på. Kommuner behöver hantera sin eFörvaltningsutveckling på ett mer strukturerat sätt för att öka möjligheterna att förverkliga de fördelarna som sägs kunna erhållas. Enterprise Architecture (EA) har på senare tid kommit att ses som en möjlig lösning för att komma tillrätta med denna problematik. Genom att arbeta mot en EA skapas möjligheten att brygga IKT system med affärsprocesser och därigenom leda till effektivitet och interoperabilitet. Dock är EA inom offentlig sektor ifrågasatt. Forskare menar att EA saknar tydlig definierad omfattning och begreppsvärld, vilket gör användningen av EA inom förvaltningsarbete svår. De omfattande logiska EA ramverk som finns idag saknar innehåll som är specifikt relaterade till offentlig sektor. Vari det blir problematiskt att arbeta mot en EA inom offentlig sektor. Denna licentiatavhandling lägger följande forskningsfråga: ”Vilken roll har EA för införandet av eFörvaltning inom Svenska kommuner?” Samt följande underfrågor ”Vilka förutsättningar finns för att använda EA vid eFörvaltningsutveckling?” ”Vad har Örebro kommun uppnått genom att arbete mot en EA i deras eFörvaltningsutveckling?” Och ”Vilka problem har Örebro kommun upplevt av att arbeta mot en EA vid eFörvaltningsutvecklingen?”. En longitudinell fallstudie av ett eFörvaltningsutvecklingsprojekt i Örebrokommun genomfördes mellan 2007 och 2009 med syfte att utröna dessa frågor och för att skapa insikt om EAs roll för eFörvaltningsutveckling. Förutsättningar, resultat och upplevda problem vid eFörvaltningsutvecklingen studerades. I anslutning till detta empiriska arbete genomfördes även en jämförandestudie av eFörvaltningsmål såsom de anges i officiella statliga dokument inom så väl Sverige som i EU gentemot förmodade fördelarna med EA som diskuteras i samtida EA-litteratur. Studien visar att EA som fenomen ses som en förutsättning för att lyckas med eFörvaltning. 7 viktiga aspekter gällande förutsättningen för att lyckas med kommuners eFörvaltningsutveckling identifierades: Skillnaden mellan administrativa och politiska ansvaret, Politiskt mandat, Politisk timing, Resursfördelning, Samordning under NPM, Leverantörsberoende, Val av standard och bäst praxis. För att förbättra möjligheten att röna framgång i eFörvaltningsutveckling behöver dessa aspekter aktualiseras och hanteras. New Public Management (NPM) som styrmodell utgör ett strukturellt hinder för eFörvaltningsutveckling som förhindrar en mer explicit användning av EA-ramverk, vilket påverkar möjligheten att uppnå uppsatta mål negativt. Trots den strukturella problematik som föreligger, kan stöd erhållas genom att arbeta utifrån ett ”EA-tänk”. Ett ”EAtänk” kan här ses som ett medel för att påbörja förändringen mot en EA utan att för den delen explicit använda sig av ett EA-ramverk, eller -metod. Dock är det viktigt skapa en förståelse för att ”EA-tänk” som fenomen i sin tur ger upphov till strukturer och således kan leda till problem som även de måste hanteras för att eFörvaltningsutveckling skall lyckas. eFörvaltning, NPM och ett ”EA-tänk” skapar en strukturell triad där olika strukturella egenskaper i vissa fall sammanfaller med varandra vari de kan stödja kommuner i dess arbete och således bidra till positiv utveckling. Medan det i andra fall leder till negativ utveckling där administrationen upplever problem att ta till sig av de rekommendationer eFörvaltningsprojektet kan tänkas ge till organisationen som helhet. Paradoxalt nog skapar denna strukturella triad en situation där kommuner måste arbete runt sig själv för att komma framåt. Normer och befintliga strukturer i kommuner förhindrar effektiv samarbete både internt mellan olika förvaltningar och externt gentemot andra kommuner och landsting vilket leder till fragmentariska framsteg mot projektmålen och i slutänden även kommunens övergripande mål gällande eFörvaltningsutveckling. Givet de i många fall motstridiga strukturella egenskaper som finns mellan NPM och eFörvaltning innebär att det initiala arbetet mot EA i eFörvaltningsutveckling är ett ytterst komplext fenomen. För att öka möjligheten att eFörvaltningsutvecklingen blir lyckad krävs det att kommuner känner till och hantera den negativa inverkan NPM har på eFörvaltningsutveckling. Samtidigt behöver de känna till och hanterar problematiken som uppstår av att arbeta mot en EA genom ett ”EA-tänk”, Samt att som studien visat, EA ger inget stöd för mer politiseras mål, vari kommuner behöver annat sätt och andra strategier för sådant arbete. Detta är viktigt att beakta, speciellt med tanke på att mer politiserade mål i mångt och mycket är de mål som kommer premieras av politiker. Av just den enkla orsaken att politiker inte blir omvalda på grund av “effektiva IKT integrerade interna processer” utan blir omvalda utifrån förbättringar som är synliga och som gagnar medborgare positivt. Avhandlingen bidrar till forsknings genom att öka förståelse för och behovet av att hantera både positiva och negativa faktorer som påverkar möjligheten att lyckas med eFörvaltningsutveckling inom kommunalt arbete. Vilket inkluderar de 7 identifierade kritiska faktorer måste aktualiseras och hanteras för att öka möjligheten att lyckas. Den negativa effekt NPM har på eFörvaltningsutveckling och hur ett ”EA-tänk” kan leda till positiv utveckling, även om det som denna studie visat inte kan bidra till mer politiserade mål. Vad gäller denna licentiatavhandlings bidrag till praktiken så bidrar den med att belysa den problematiska situation som föreligger av att institutionaliserade strukturer i många fall verkar som ett hinder mot förändring. Studien möjliggör även till att kommuner kan skapa en förståelse för sin egna eFörvaltningsutveckling och möjligtvis kan verka för att inte uppleva samma problematik som identifierats i Örebros eFörvaltningsutveckling samt visa på hur en kommun kan arbeta för att hantera den problematik som inte kan förhindras alternativ som uppstår trots denna kunskap.
Governments struggle with inefficiencies and an inability to achieve interoperable information communication technology (ICT) systems. Apparent issues include a failure of local government to realize the benefits of electronic government (eGov) initiatives, high project failure rates, administrations hampered with inefficiencies, and a lack of interoperability between systems within the local government. Thus, local governments need to address their eGov initiatives in a structured way to improve their chances of providing the benefits that are sought after. Sweden’s eGov model is decentralized, following a strict new public management (NPM) model. Whilst eGov ought to bring benefits to local government, Sweden is still hampered by inefficiencies and an inability to achieve interoperable ICT systems. This has been the case for quite some time. One reason why systemic gains from adopting eGov have not reached the levels sought after could be that, in many cases, ICT implementations are not enough. The transformation needed for eGov is not instantaneous; it requires various new ways of working. Enterprise Architecture (EA) has come to be seen as a possible solution to the apparent issues of developing, adopting and managing eGov successfully. By utilizing EA, it is argued that it is possible to bridge ICT systems and business processes, thus making the organization more efficient. However EA’s usefulness for eGov development and adoption is the subject of debate. Some researchers argue that EA lacks clearly defined scopes and concepts, which makes the use of EA in government difficult. Whereas other argues that although EA frameworks are comprehensive logical frameworks, they lack content that is related specifically to government organizations. The thesis posits the following research questions: What is the role of EA in eGov adoption in Swedish local government? together with three sub questions: What are the prerequisites for using EA in Swedish local eGov adoption? What has the Swedish local government in Örebro achieved with its use of EA in eGov adoption? And What problems have the Swedish local government in Örebro experienced in its use of EA when adopting eGov? To explore the role of EA in eGov adoption a longitudinal case study is carried out on the municipality of Örebro’s eGov project MovIT, a project launched in 2007 that ended in 2009. I study the prerequisites, results and problems associated with using EA in Swedish local government as part of eGov adoption. A comparative study is conducted of the goals of eGov, as stated in official eGov documents at EU and Swedish governmental levels will attest as to the supposed benefits of EA in contemporary EA-literature. From the study, it can be concluded that EA, as a phenomenon, is thought to be, if not a silverbullet, then at least a prerequisite to eGov success. In term of prerequisites, EA use cannot assist Swedish local government where there are more politicized objectives; in this situation, local government is required to look elsewhere to find support for its work. The study identify several critical issues from the empirical study of the prerequisites: distinction between administrative and political responsibilities; political mandate; political timing; resource allocation; coordination under NPM; dependence on providers; and choosing among standards and best practices. These issues need to be acknowledged and handled appropriately by Swedish local government in order to improve the chances for success in eGov adoption. The study also showed that NPM as governance model becomes a hindrance in eGov adoption, preventing the project from a more explicit use of an EA-framework and negatively affecting the projects possibility to adopt eGov. However, despite this structural problem, it is still possible – as observed – for a project that is based on EA-thinking to begin working. EGov, NPM and EA-thinking form a triad, with structural properties that, in some instances, correlate. In such cases, this can lead to positive changes. However, in other situations, they are contradictory, resulting in Swedish local government having a difficult time in adhering to the suggestions endorsed by the eGov project. This lead to incoherent progressions towards requested results. The existing structures hindered effective cooperation, both internally between different departments and externally with other local governments. This licentiate thesis has shown that the initial use of EA in local government eGov adoption is complex. Given the contradictory nature of NPM and eGov, local government has to acknowledge the negative impacts of NPM on eGov adoption. As well as acknowledging the issues that arise from EA use, a key area is a lack of support of local government in an area that is most likely to be endorsed by politicians. Politicians do not get re-elected based on efficient internal processes with a highly integrated ICT; rather, changes must be visible to citizens and businesses. This licentiate thesis has also shown that ‘EA-thinking’, as a means for local government, can move towards an EA without the explicit use of an EA framework or EA method. However, ‘EA-thinking’ may give rise to other issues that need to be acknowledged and dealt with. This licentiate thesis contributes to research by improving our understanding of the nature and importance of promoting and inhibiting different factors. Including critical issues for succeeding with eGov adoption, the negative effects of NPM and how EA-thinking can lead to positive changes, even though it cannot assist local government in all aspects deemed important to eGov adoption. In terms of practice, this thesis contributes by highlighting the problematic nature of institutionalized structures and the effect that this has on eGov adoption. It also contributes by enabling local governments to acknowledge the problems identified. This allows them to better understand their own development and possibly avoid similar problems or at least have a better understanding of how to handle the issues that arise.

Offentliga organisationer har de senaste åren implementerat styrsystem från privata organisationer för att förbättra organisationerna. Dessa styrsystem har både påvisat för- och nackdelar för de offentliga organisationerna vilket även har ökat de icke-finansiella riskerna för dessa. Vi ställer då oss frågan om ett riskhanteringsramverk som är skapat främst för privata organisationer kan förbättra riskhanteringsarbetet för Hudkliniken på Örebro Universitetssjukhus (USÖ). Syftet med vår fallstudie är att förklara hur Hudkliniken på USÖ arbetar med riskhantering och om det där finns förbättringsmöjligheter. Vi vill också studera om COSOs ramverk för riskhantering kan vara till nytta för kliniken och hjälpa dem i deras arbete. Studien har använt en kvalitativ forskningsansats. Datan har bestått av intervjuer samt Hudklinikens dokumentation kring riskhantering. Studien visade att Hudkliniken på flera områden utför ett adekvat arbete gällande riskhantering med vår teoretiska referensram som mall. Då teorins alla områden inte täcks i verksamhetensnuvarande arbete skulle dock COSOs ramverk kunna vara till hjälp för organisationen.

Magister Commercii (Information Management) - MCom(IM)
The aim of this study is to investigate why the implementation of Enterprise Architecture (EA)in the Provincial Government of the Western Cape (PGWC)adopted in 2006,failed to be ineffective to address application duplication.

Den här uppsatsen handlar om hur organisationer som omfattas av offentlighethetslagstiftningen men samtidigt bedriver affärsverksamhet på en konkurrensutsatt marknad uppfyller både offentlighetslagstiftningens krav kring hantering av allmänna handlingar och de krav som uppkommer från verksamheten. Syftet med uppsatsen är att ge kunskap om vilka faktorer som påverkar uppfyllnad av offentlighetslagstiftningens krav kring allmänna handlingar i offentligt affärsverksamhet som agerar på en konkurrensutsatt marknad. Uppsatsen är baserad på en fallstudie av affärsverket Luftfartsverket (LFV) och omfattar intervjuer, litteratur och dokumentstudier av både interna och externa dokument samt granskning av ett antal kammarrättsdomar rörande utlämnade av allmänna handlingar från LFV där beslutet har nekats med hänvisning till affärssekretess och sedan överklagats till kammarrätten. Uppsatsen huvudsakliga slutsatser är:  Lagstiftningen ger möjligheter att skydda affärskritisk information. Det finns dock en oro både inom verket och hos samarbetspartners att de som är satta att tillämpa regelverket vid begäran om utlämnade inte har tillräcklig kunskap att bedöma vad som är affärskritiskt för olika organisationer  Det finns viss administration kopplat till hantering av allmänna handlingar i ett affärsverk som en konkurrent som inte omfattas av offentlighetsprincipsregelverket inte har. Det finns både positiva och negativa effekter för ett affärsverk av denna administration och det har inte i denna studie kunnat påvisas vilket som överväger.  Vid förändringar i omvärlden är det av stor vikt att man gör en konsekvensanalys över hur regelverken ska tolkas och hanteras internt i organisationen om detta inte görs så kan det innebära att olika individer och grupper av medarbetare hanterar regelverken olika.  Medarbetarnas kunskap, insikt och tillämpning är avgörande för framgång.

Over the past decade, Social Impact Investing (SII) has garnered increasing attention among public policy makers as a solution for multigenerational, complex, intractable social and environmental problems, or as some advocates like to say, ‘wicked’ problems. The growing interest in SII aligns with the expansion, since the 1980s, of a set of public sector reforms that make use of new public policy instruments to achieve public objectives. Neoliberal economists and New Public Management (NPM) theorists have long argued for these reforms to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of government bureaucracies. These reforms have led to a paradigm shift that Lester M. Salamon has labeled ‘New Governance’, characterized by public policies that make use of market mechanisms, partnerships with new actors, networks and flexible rules. Public administration scholars have suggested focusing on public policy instruments instead of the traditional focus on programs and institutions to gain an understanding of the dynamics of the ‘New Governance’ paradigm and to address important questions that go beyond the dimensions of effectiveness and efficiency. This dissertation draws on Lester M. Salamon’s framework for analyzing public policy instruments combined with a conceptual framework developed by the Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation (OECD). The thesis uses this framework to assess the SII market by examining three cases of Canadian federal public policy instruments designed and implemented to achieve socio-economic objectives. These policy instruments provide either a cash transfer or a tax incentive to create investment funds mandated to invest with a purpose of making a return and achieving a positive social outcome. The dissertation employs a qualitative research approach and case study method to explore questions of equity and effectiveness to produce findings and recommendations useful to pubic administration scholars who focus their research on public policy instruments and to public policy makers who are considering policy options for structuring and growing the SII market. Data was collected through an extensive document review and 19 semistructured interviews. A dimensional analysis, SII analysis and discourse analysis of the data were undertaken. The researcher made the choice of undertaking a discourse analysis in order to fill a gap in the public policy instrument literature and inform the debate on SII. This dissertation contributes to the body of knowledge on public policy instruments and SII by presenting the results of a comparative analysis of three public policy instruments that created investment funds mandated to produce socio-economic outcomes.

There exist major disparities in issues concerning health, education, the environment, and other problems that affect overall well-being. Currently, government and nonprofit institutions do not sufficiently mitigate these problems. This thesis examines traditional corporate structures that uphold the profit-maximization dilemma and analyzes emerging corporate structures that encourage greater social enterprise. The alternative corporate structures provide greater flexibility for mission-driven companies. Such structures encourage─and legally require─increased awareness and investment in social and environmental enterprise. Executives must decide, to what extent, they will utilize the power and influence of business to do good works.

Empirical studies have established that tourism is a major determinant of economic growth and that international air services have a beneficial effect on the growth and development of an economy. It has also been argued that trade and public enterprise reforms in the service sectors, undertaken to a greater extent in high income countries, have had a positive impact on the sectors performances. This study analyses several hypotheses relating to Fiji’s tourism and air transport service industries. First the study examines the contribution of tourism exports to economic growth in the case of Fiji. Second, the study analyses whether the tourism reform adopted by Fiji in 1999 under the World Trade Organization’s General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) has impacted on total tourism export performance. Third, the aviation-service growth nexus is investigated. Lastly, the effect of the aviation public enterprise reform activities on the export performance of air services is evaluated. Using time series annual data from 1968 to 2006, the Auto Regressive Distributed Lag. methodology has been utilized to estimate the contribution of each service sector to Fiji’s total service output. The results show that the tourism is a major determinant of growth in Fiji and that the aviation service-growth hypothesis is also valid for Fiji. The empirical results show that both the trade reforms in tourism and the pro-competitive measures undertaken in the airline industry, amongst other determinants, have not significantly created an impact on the respective export performance of tourism and air services. These findings provide key policy implications in the light of capitalizing on services exports as a major source of growth, particularly in developing island countries such as Fiji and the need to facilitate the strengthening of the market to boost the export performance of tourism and air services.

The subject matter of the thesis is the study of managerial incentive schemes for public enterprises. The problem of incentives and control is characterized in Chapter I stressing asymmetric information and preferences between principal (Minister) and agent (Manager). Chapter II reconsiders the findings of some previous works on the use of simple mechanisms under certainty and it shows that incentive problems may be solved with a pure-rent type contract. One of the parameters of the contract (profit-sharing ratio) is central to the enforcement of 'managerial' efficiency while the relative weights given to profit and (an approximation to) consumer surplus will influence optimal pricing decisions. This feature is maintained in a risky environment (Chapter III) although reinterpreted in a second-best fashion due to the trade-off between incentives and risk-sharing. The weights given to each side of the contract depend on the impact of price changes upon the degree of profit-uncertainty and the managerially self-selected level of effort. In addition it is shown that, when providing incentives, the Minister will depart from the pricing rule derived under full information. Chapter IV shows that these results are valid when capacity choice and non-price rationing issues become relevant. Chapter V attempts to integrate the issues of performance indicators and efficiency audits into the previous framework. It is shown that there must exist an upper limit to the admissible number of performance indicators and that efficiency audits can be designed as conditional investigation procedures and used according to an expected cost-benefit characterization. Some central underlying factors affecting the form of the optimal investigation strategy are identified. Finally, Chapter VI attempts to consider the previous results and their implications within a brief discussion of U.K. policy for public enterprises in the last decades.

To achieve effectiveness and efficiency in public enterprises, change is needed. Due to the rapid changing global environment and increasing demand for service delivery, continuous change is needed. Changes have been taking place in the Kenyan public sector since 2003. The public enterprises in Kenya, like in most countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, have been characterised by slow and bureaucratic processes that retard organisational performance. Employees and managers in these enterprises have been perceived as not performing as they should. Kenyan public enterprises are important to the economy of the country. They provide social services to the Kenyan population and employ about 654 200 people. The latter translated in a wage bill of 84 378 million Kenyan Shillings (Ksh 80 = 1 US dollar). There is therefore a need to investigate ways to improve individual and organisational performance, collectively viewed as organisational effectiveness in this study, in these enterprises. It is generally accepted that leadership and organisational culture play a critical role in managing the effectiveness of enterprises. In this study, leadership style (transactional and transformational), leadership personality (Machiavellianism, narcissism, masculinity, femininity, individualism and collectivism) and organisational culture (entrepreneurial and market-orientation), strategic management, corporate ethics are investigated determinants of organisational effectiveness. A survey approach was used to collect data from 670 senior executives from 134 Kenyan public (state) enterprises. Two hundred and fifty-six (256) useful survey responses from 53 public enterprises were received. Structural equation modelling (SEM) statistical technique was used to test the hypothesised relationships between the above-mentioned determinants and the dependent variables (individual performance intention and organisational performance). The descriptive statistics of the raw data were also analysed to ascertain the managers’ perceptions about these determinants in the public enterprises. The empirical results revealed that transformational leadership exerts a positive influence on both organisational performance and individual performance intention; that self-deceptive narcissism motivates individual performance intent but decreases organisational performance; that an entrepreneurial, market and strategic management orientation positively influences organisational performance; and that strategy implementation positively influences individual performance intent. In view of these findings, the study concludes that it is critical that leadership styles and leadership personalities be taken into account in leadership recruitment and development process in Kenya public enterprises. Kenyan public enterprises will also improve their organisational performance if they implement entrepreneurial, market and strategic management principles.

This thesis is broadly concerned with the factors that influence and shape the character of human resource management (HRM) within the entrepreneurial start-up enterprise. Specifically, it investigates the way in which such companies implement and action HRM activities, and evaluates the extent to which it is possible to characterise the activities as entrepreneurial and strategic. Human resource management is understood in this thesis in its broadest sense � that is, as signifying people management within employment relationship. Little is known, however, about the development and implementation of human resource management in small and medium size enterprises. The majority of published research to date focuses on HRM in large, formal organisations, and is inter-organisational, rather than intra-organisational. Welsh and White comment that �Small business is not a little big business� (1981: 18), however, and it cannot be presumed that the two have the same managerial practices. Research into small business does, however, indicate that size, informality of structures and processes, and the personal preferences, values and attitudes of the owner/manager impact significantly on the way in which HR practices are adopted. Although there is little extant research that focuses on the relationship between HR practice and strategy in small business, it has been suggested by some that they have limited ability to manage strategically due to the informality of their structures and processes. Others however speak of HRM in the small organisation as strategic where there is a discernible link with the strategic goals and objectives to improve business performance and develop organisational cultures that foster innovation and flexibility. The �entrepreneurial start-up enterprise� is understood in this thesis as a particular type of business; that is, a simple, small, informal enterprise with a founder/owner/manager who is opportunistic, innovative, responsive to the excitement of risk taking, and is interested in fast growth. In the past, studies of the effectiveness of HRM and HR practices in small companies have benefited from being qualitative in nature. However, methodologies employed in the study of entrepreneurship tend to lack diversity and neglect alternative approaches (Aldrich, 1992). There has also been insufficient effort focused on researching organisation formation activities (Gartner and Starr, 1993). This thesis employs a qualitative approach that is interpretive, naturalistic, and narrative in style, in an effort to go some way towards redressing the limitations of existing work in the twin fields of HRM and entrepreneurship research. This is a longitudinal case study of two self-styled entrepreneurial start-up enterprises: Consultco and Pilotco. Consultco is an interactive business consultancy with a recruitment practice as part of its service. Pilotco is a publishing and Internet company that was to produce a series of CD-ROM guides to key Internet sites. A case study methodology was chosen as a sound way to explain, describe, evaluate and explore close-up HRM activities in the natural world of the entrepreneurial start-up. Narrative was chosen as a way of making the respondents stories about the organisational experiences more accessible to both the researcher and the reader, and in this way captures the unfolding story of the founding of a business as it occurs. The thesis is presented in four parts. The first part explores entrepreneurship, the influence of the entrepreneur on their organisation�s culture, and the concept of entrepreneurial strategy within the growth process of the enterprise. It also covers different views of human resource management and the practice of HR in the context of small business, specifically the entrepreneurial start-ups. The second part of the thesis is concerned with the theoretical methodologies that underpin the research, and the design of the study. Part 3 presents the stories of the respondents in their own voice, to create organisational narratives for Consultco and Pilotco. A cross-case analysis follows, which tries to throw light on the process of HRM as it is practiced in the entrepreneurial start-up context. This part concludes with the researcher�s own story within the research process, and how this experience in turn influenced on the process of meaning making. The final part of the thesis revisits the factors that influence and shape the character of HRM in the entrepreneurial context, and posits an alternative way in which to interpret the meaning of HRM, and its relationship to the opportunistic enterprise.

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Universidade Federal de Sao Carlos
This thesis, aims to identify changing and excluding elements in the solidarity economy management process, together with a group of workers of solidarity economic enterprises, promoted by the local public policy of solidarity economy, seeking ways to improve the daily practice of management. An introduction with the contextualization of the theme, a literature review on self-management in solidarity economy groups and a characterization of the public policy of solidarity economy, focused in São Carlos/SP, were performed. The methodology used for conducting the present research was the Critical Communicative Methodology (CCM), which places the dialogue, interaction, interpretation and validation of the results collectively, in a communicative process of knowledge production. The CCM provides, through communication, the construction of a critical analysis of reality by the people who experience it, seeking, thereby, to obtain results to transform or validate a social reality. It is a participatory methodology, which enables in its development the flattening of the relations between participants/researcher through consensus building. Data collection in the CCM is performed using quantitative and qualitative methods, as in a traditional methodology. What makes this methodology different is its participatory nature, in which the representatives of communities or collectives that are part of the research participate of the project, investigation process and its conclusions, in order to interact, reflect and make decisions in all these steps, following the communicative orientation's postulates. To carry out the research, a critical communicative group with people from solidarity economic enterprises, participants of São Carlos public policy, was formed. Analysis matrices were produced, so that the excluding or changing elements identified by the group were distributed into two categories: public policy and solidarity economy. After the realization of communicative groups, the systematization of data was performed by the researcher and the results submitted to the group for discussion, construction and validation of its final content. The matrices with the final result listed 70 elements, 46 (65.7%) classified as excluding dimension and 24 (34.3%) in the changing dimension. It means that the dialogue pointed out that the themes solidarity economy and public policy have more challenges to be overcome than elements that have been changing the reality of enterprises fostered by São Carlos public policy. This research considers that these changing elements identified should be strengthened. For those elements identified as excluding, they represent a platform that can guide new actions or even redirect those ones that already exist, so they can become changing in public policy and in the self-management experience.
Esta tese tem por objetivo identificar elementos transformadores e excludentes no processo de gestão em economia solidária, junto a um grupo de trabalhadores e trabalhadoras de empreendimentos econômicos solidários, fomentados pela política pública municipal de economia solidária, buscando formas de melhoria na prática cotidiana da gestão. Foi realizada uma introdução com a contextualização do tema, uma revisão bibliográfica sobre a autogestão em grupos econômicos solidários e uma caracterização da política pública de economia solidária, com enfoque no município de São Carlos/SP. Para o desenvolvimento da pesquisa foi utilizada a Metodologia Comunicativa Crítica (MCC), que coloca o diálogo, a interação, as interpretações e a validação dos resultados de forma coletiva em um processo comunicativo de produção de conhecimento. A MCC possibilita, por meio da comunicação, a construção de uma análise crítica da realidade pelas próprias pessoas que a vivenciam, buscando, assim, obter resultados para transformar ou validar sua realidade social. É uma metodologia participativa, que em seu desenvolvimento permite a horizontalização das relações entre participantes/pesquisadora por meio do processo de construção de consensos. A coleta de dados na MCC é realizada utilizando-se métodos quantitativos e qualitativos, como em uma metodologia tradicional. O que a diferencia é seu caráter participativo, no qual os representantes de comunidades ou coletivos que fazem parte da pesquisa participam do projeto, da realização da investigação, incluindo a análise dos dados, e de suas conclusões, de maneira a interagir, refletir e decidir em todas estas etapas, seguindo os postulados da orientação comunicativa. Para a realização da investigação, foi formado um grupo comunicativo crítico com pessoas de empreendimentos econômicos solidários, participantes da política pública de São Carlos. Foram produzidas matrizes de análise, de maneira que os elementos excludentes ou transformadores identificados pelo grupo foram distribuídos em duas categorias: políticas públicas e economia solidária. Após a realização dos grupos comunicativos, foi realizada a sistematização dos dados pela pesquisadora e o resultado submetido ao grupo para discussão, construção e validação de seu conteúdo final. A matriz com o resultado final elencou 70 elementos, sendo 46 (65,7%) classificados na dimensão excludente e 24 (34,3%) na dimensão transformadora. Isto significa que o diálogo estabelecido apontou que as temáticas economia solidária e política pública apresentam mais desafios a serem transpostos do que elementos que têm sido transformadores da realidade dos empreendimentos fomentados pela política pública municipal de São Carlos. A presente pesquisa considera que estes elementos transformadores identificados devem ser fortalecidos. Em relação aos elementos identificados como excludentes, estes representam uma plataforma que pode orientar novas ações ou mesmo reorientar ações já existentes, para que estes elementos possam se tornar transformadores na política pública e na vivência autogestionária.

The research project reported in this dissertation discovered, applied and drew inferences about the utility and applicability of an enhanced paradigm of Entrepreneurial Business Planning (EBP). The project was motivated by the observation that a clear disparity existed between the teaching of entrepreneurship � in which attention to EBP has been intense and significant � and entrepreneurship research � in which attention to EBP has been negligible. Discovery commenced with development of an analytical framework suitable for classifying and analysing an EBP paradigm, should one be found to exist. This framework was created by combining the four essential ingredients of a paradigm � distilled from an analysis of several definitions of the word paradigm in appropriate contexts � with the three core roles which Mintzberg (1994) argued are the key descriptors of the function of any plan. An existing but inadequate EBP paradigm was revealed by a content analysis, conducted according to an adapted combination of the methodological prescriptions of Krippendorf (1980) and Carney (1972), of a large sample of the existing EBP normative literature: that is, prescriptions purporting to teach the reader how to write a successful Entrepreneurial Business Plan. A combination of logical critique, application of appropriate analytical models and development of grounded theory � based upon the methodology first articulated by Glaser and Strauss (1967) � resulted in production of an enhanced EBP paradigm, a complex construct embracing: (1) precise definition of application boundaries, (2) twelve laws; (3) six success rules; (4) and specified instrumentation requirements. Application of the enhanced EBP paradigm involved four research case studies embracing the case research methodology espoused by Yin (1989). Four Entrepreneurial Business Plans were written according to the prescriptions of the enhanced EBP paradigm and submitted to the marketplace. Sufficient time (between four and eight years) was allowed for results to be monitored. The four case study businesses were selected to span a variety of key attributes designed to maximise two things: (1) the ability to attribute causation of observed results (most particularly the attraction of the investment funds solicited by each Entrepreneurial Business Plan) directly the application of the enhanced EBP paradigm rather than any other possible cause; (2) the ability to make wide rather than narrow inferences about the applicability and utility of the enhanced EBP paradigm. Inferential conclusions were drawn from individual and cross-case analysis. Four points encapsulate the most significant results of the research to the community of entrepreneurship scholars and practitioners and beyond them, to the managerial community at large. (1) The research provides a basis for systematic inquiry in the field of Entrepreneurial Business Planning and a template for quality assessment of Entrepreneurial Business Plans. (2)It redresses the imbalance between research and teaching in an important field of the entrepreneurship discipline. (3)It extends the domain, credibility and utility of entrepreneurship as a discipline. (4) It is the potential generator of many practical analytical constructs and corollary theory in a wide variety of managerial fields. Extended case analysis provided two examples of domain extension and the generation of corollary theory and practice: first, in the field of �venture renaissance� (a term coined to represent the domain of all non startup applications of the enhanced paradigm of Entrepreneurial Business Planning) and second, in the field of mergers and acquisitions. These two illustrations of corollary theory and practice provide strong concluding arguments in favour of the proposition that the enhanced EBP paradigm has substantial general utility. In summary, as a result of the research reported in this dissertation, Entrepreneurial Business Planning may be regarded as a distinct grouping of integrated techniques amounting to a managerial technology for removing impediments to business growth by attracting necessary investments on behalf of articulated strategies. Entrepreneurial Business Planning has thus emerged from vague definition amid the narrow contextual confines of a startup venture seeking venture capital, to precise definition in a far broader context as a generic technology for the removal of impediments to business growth, wherever and however they occur.

L’accélération des changements politiques et socioéconomiques influe fortement sur l’équilibre budgétaire des organisations publiques. Elles sont contraintes de tendre vers un modèle d’organisation plus réactif et flexible. Pour les organisations publiques, l’enjeu est de déterminer la meilleure hybridation public-privée, déclinée en une structure réticulaire, permettant d’assurer la performance économique de leurs services mais également la création de valeur publique. Ces réorganisations présentent de nombreux écueils insuffisamment adressés par la littérature en gestion publique. Elle analyse les évolutions et les lacunes en matière de management dans la sphère publique mais elle ne propose que rarement les méthodes et outils supportant les formes de management qu’elle recommande. Dans ce contexte, l’objectif de cette thèse est de s’approprier la littérature en gestion publique pour y apporter un nouveau regard et proposer la mise en oeuvre de modèles, méthodes et outils du génie industriel. Ainsi, nous proposons un méta-modèle et un cadre méthodologique pour l’ingénierie d’une organisation étendue. Cette proposition vise à maîtriser la complexité d’une structure réticulaire sans nuire à l’autonomie des organisations (publiques et/ou privées) qui la composent. La mise en oeuvre de la méthodologie proposée est illustrée par le biais d’un cas d’école inspiré de la fonction habillement du ministère des Armées : le scénario d’une externalisation de cette fonction habillement est étudié en prenant en considération son inclusion dans une structure réticulaire
The increasing of political and socio-economic changes strongly influences the budget balance of public organizations. They are constrained to move towards a more reactive and flexible organizational model. For public organizations, the challenge is to determine the best public-private hybridization, into a reticular structure, ensuring the economic performance of their services but also the creation of public value. These reorganizations present many pitfalls that are insufficiently addressed by public management literature. It analyzes management changes and gaps in the public sphere, but rarely suggests the methods and tools that support the forms of management it recommends. In this context, the aim of this thesis is to review the public management literature in order to bring a new perspective and propose the implementation of models, methods and tools of industrial engineering. Thus, we propose a meta-model and a methodological framework for the engineering of an extended organization. This proposal aims at controlling the complexity of a reticular structure without damaging the autonomy of the organizations (public and/or private) that compose it. The implementation of the proposed methodology is illustrated by a textbook case inspired by the clothing function of the French armies: the scenario of an outsourcing of this clothing function is studied taking into account its inclusion in a reticular structure

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston University
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The core objectives of the study are: i)to choose an appropriate methodology to evaluate the performance of public enterprises, such as the sugar mills of Bangladesh; ii) to empirically measure the performance of these mills; iii) to build a model to explain the variation in the performance of these enterprises; iv) to measure managerial performance thereform, adjustment having been made for variables beyond the control of the manager; and v) to recommend measures to improve the performance of the sugar mills.
2031-01-01

The first research objective of this dissertation is to extend existing conceptualizations of intercultural communication competence to create a new theoretically grounded construct, the Rainbow Model of Intercultural Communication Competence. The second research objective of this dissertation is to utilize this foundation and assemble a new instrument, the 127-item Intercultural Communication Competence Inventory (ICCI). The ICCI consists of sub-scales to measure foreign language competence, non-verbal communication competence, perceptions of cultural distance, intercultural self-awareness, intercultural communication knowledge, intercultural communication skills, intercultural communication motivation, intercultural communication appropriateness, intercultural communication effectiveness, intercultural contextual relationships, and intercultural affinity. This tool is designed assist strategic international human resource management practitioners to find, select, and/or train the best possible candidates for international assignments in an efficient manner. To accomplish these goals, a quantitative research design has been adopted. In a pilot study and three subsequent studies data was collected between 2005 and 2006 when the ICCI was administered to students in 19 courses with clear intercultural education elements at eleven universities in four countries (New Zealand, Germany, United Arab Emirates, USA) to build four samples of students: self tests (N = 1014) and retests (N = 587), peer tests (N = 613) and retests (N = 529). The ICCI was used as a paper-pencil and an online questionnaire. Using this method is appropriate as it provides intercultural communication trainers with quantifiable results to differentiate candidates and to measure training effectiveness. This dissertation has produced several research findings. Each of the ICCI sub-scales is psychometrically scrutinized and results described in detail. In exploratory factor analyses most scales have supported their theoretical framework as described in the Rainbow Model of ICC. Most sub-scales show independence from a variety of biases, and demonstrate sensitivity to competence changes over time and differences between evaluators. Various hypothesized links between the scales could be verified. The entire ICCI demonstrated that, despite currently still insufficient sample sizes, its conceptual roots, the Rainbow Model of Intercultural Communication Competence, is recognizable in self and peer tests and retests. The implications of the findings of this dissertation are threefold: First, the Rainbow Model of Intercultural Communication Competence has received preliminary confirmation. Second, the ICCI has initially shown a tendency to be a practical and reliable tool for recruiting, selecting of, and conducting training needs assessments that facilitate intercultural communication training effectiveness evaluations for suitable candidates for international assignments. Third, ICCI sub-scales have demonstrated the potential to enhance selection and training efforts in a speedy and specific way to support resource-cognizant intercultural training. The reader, however, is cautioned that a variety of limitations of this study need to be acknowledged. Finally, numerous areas of future research are identified.

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs), which represent around 95% or more of the total number of enterprises in many countries, are often considered critical for a country's economy because of their effects on economic output and their contribution to overall employment. However, as a result of globalisation and the deregulation of the New Zealand economy, SMEs in this country have been faced with the need to internationalise in order to grow because of increased domestic competition. Moreover, when they make their move to offshore markets they also face fierce competition. Hence, it is in this largely integrated and competitive global marketplace that it becomes critical for smaller firms to learn about international business to succeed. Therefore, this thesis aimed to understand and explain how internationalising NZ SMEs learn and develop knowledge throughout their internationalisation process. To frame this problem an extensive review of the literature on internationalisation, organisational knowledge and organisational learning was conducted. This assessment revealed a gap related to the evolution of learning and knowledge in SMEs' internationalisation process. It also identified the incremental and born-global internationalisation types, two more common and distinctive internationalisation paths that SMEs follow. The literature described the several common forms of knowledge that played more or less critical roles in these firms' internationalisation. Furthermore, extant research also stated that experiential learning and other learning processes were important for the internationalisation of these firms but it did not delve into the development of these learning processes over time. Finally, the evaluation of the knowledge and learning literatures identified three most distinctive and important forms of knowledge that organisations develop as a result of several learning processes. Anchored on the research problem and the specific research questions, derived from the literature review, and framed by a post-positivist worldview, this study developed a methodology that combined theory building, process-based research and case studies to address the problem. More specifically, the methodology involved the selection of and collection of historical, or retrospective, data from eight cases, four incremental and four early-internationalising firms. The data collected through interviews and document analysis was examined using different process analysis techniques. This research has found that there were important differences in the incremental and early-internationalising firms' learning and knowledge during their creation. Furthermore, the early-internationalising firms identified and implemented an internationalisation strategy from the beginning. Thus, the knowledge about international markets and products acquired through congenital learning and their initial intention to offer their products offshore allowed the early-internationalising firms to expand internationally from their creation or soon after. In contrast, the incremental firms only decided to internationalise after they learned from their experience in their domestic market that they had a successful product that had international potential. Besides their initial internationalisation strategy, or lack of it, and knowledge, other factors, such as firm resources, product and industry characteristics and previous learning and knowledge, influenced these firms' subsequent internationalisation strategy, learning and knowledge. Publication associated with this thesis: Pellegrino, J. (2005) Organisational Learning Processes in Internationalising Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises: a Comparison between Traditional and Born-Global firms. Udevalla Symposium & McGill International Entrepreneurship Conference, Udevalla, Sweden, September 2005.

In the last decade, the ever increasing pressure of competition faced by businesses has led to the development of Customer Relationship Management (CRM). In short, CRM is the practice of integrating all aspects of business functions for dealing with customers, with the assistance of technology, and with the intention of boosting company profitability. CRM has been widely promoted as a critical contributor to business survival. However, the high failure rate of CRM projects has also attracted research attention and many factors have been discussed as contributing to the success or failure of CRM implementation. This research argues that CRM is not simply a software package or a computer program. CRM, instead, should be perceived as a strategic issue in order to realize its potential. In addition, this study also argues that CRM implementation is affected by organizational, strategic and cultural factors. In particular, this study was conducted within the context of Chinese small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs), with company size and culture as two major focuses in this study. SMEs were chosen as this segment has been overlooked in CRM study, yet it represents a great potential for growth in CRM adoption. Chinese culture was chosen as most of CRM studies have been conducted within a western cultural background. The Chinese culture has distinctive characteristics different from western culture, and this has strong influences on business operations. A quantitative method was adopted for this study and a mailed survey was used to collect data to examine the relevance of these factors within this context. Research participants were recruited using a systematic sampling technique through a comprehensive Chinese business directory. Results suggest that there are positive associations between a company’s CRM implementation and its practice of organizational, strategic, and cultural issues. In particular, four organizational issues – organizational integration, executive commitment, system readiness, and resource availability; three strategic issues – vision, planning, and customer-centric culture; and one cultural issue – networking, have an impact on a company’s CRM implementation.

Thesis (PhD (School of Public Management and Planning ))—University of Stellenbosch, 2006.
Using an investigative approach the study starts by outlining the governance quandary that exists within the public sector, with observations made over the past decade by scholars and active role players in the governance arena both in the private sector and in the public sector. It continues to show a growing need for good governance in the public sector, especially in the developing economies of emerging democracies. It uses South Africa as an example in this regard, although the discussion can just as well be applied to other countries finding themselves in a similar situation. It places the governance debate in perspective and provides the background for the development of the Public Sector Integrated Financial Governance Framework (IFGF). A brief look is taken at the reasons for the growing focus on governance in general, governance in the private and public sector, the need for governance, the basic dynamics of governance, stakeholder relationships, the regulatory framework and the role of the judiciary. It then places this understanding of governance – from a financial perspective – within the South African context. Using the South African context the study discusses the need for an IFGF, the basic requirements for such an IFGF and then as a response proceeds to discuss the role of values and principles, functional application areas and governance-related activities in an IFGF. It develops a financial governance universe, which provides an overview of the various subsections within these aspects. From this basis the study proceeds to develop the IFGF by identifying specific principles and values applicable to South Africa, followed by a description of functional application areas consisting of leadership, management and control practices required as a minimum to ensure healthy public sector financial governance. It continues to develop governance-related activities based on existing frameworks recognised by public sector agencies globally and in some instance, designed for the private sector. The study proceeds to develop these areas to enable employees in the public sector to discharge their duties in a manner that can form the cornerstone in governance excellence. Having used a deductive approach during the first few chapters to develop the IFGF, the study then proceed using an inductive process to construct the conditions and the related activities required by the IFGF. It develops detailed information on specific activities that must be in place for the IFGF to be functional. These activities provide the “how” and are grouped together based on a recognised framework. Governance effectiveness depends on a situation where all areas are considered. Lastly the study focuses on the conclusions regarding the IFGF outcomes and therefore discusses the implementation of the IFGF and the impact on the accounting system, measuring governance and keeping the IFGF updated with developments internally and externally. The study shows the growing importance for developing countries and emerging economies to demonstrate healthy governance processes and practices. However, no consensus yet exists on the approach or methodology, particularly with regard to building national ownership of and political commitment to governance (Landell-Mills, 2003:369). Fortunately similar initiatives have been forthcoming from a number of countries and, although they are each focussed differently, they provide a base for developing a public sector IFGF for South Africa in particular, but can also be used as a guideline for other emerging democracies. Developing the governance universe facilitates the process of keeping track of a multitude of possibilities that are relevant in day-to-day management. The study determined the applicable criteria that an IFGF must satisfy to attract attention when funding is required from the donor community and to provide assurance to stakeholders with limited skills and knowledge that objectives are achieved effectively and efficiently in an ethical environment. The benefit of this framework is that it has passed the first scrutiny in South Africa namely that of the Provincial Treasury of the Provincial Government Western Cape (PGWC) public sector audit committees in the public sector (PGWC) and is currently being subjected to a four-year implementation process, starting with an awareness phase in all Departments of the PGWC. During this process the senior management of all the departments are being exposed to the principles contained in the IFGF and their practical observations and suggestions will be applied towards formulating an updated version of the Governance Framework of PGWC (Draft version 2.20e). This is significant, because it represents a healthy interaction between academic research and practical application, a process that is more often than not balanced, but appears to be in favour of either the one or the other.