RSS 1.0Theses
This collection contains the Doctoral and Masters by Research theses produced within the department.
This collection is licenced under a Creative Commons licence. The collection may be reproduced for non-commercial use and without modification, providing that copyright is acknowledged.
Recent Submissions
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From bean-counter to lion-tamer: an ethnographical investigation into the lived experience of UK ACA chartered accountants and their career boundariesThe accountancy profession of the twenty first century, and the roles therein, are rapidly evolving, transforming, and potentially contracting. As digitalisation deepens, the acceleration of Artificial Intelligence, robotics and distributed ledger accounting threaten to finally sound the death knell for the traditional ‘bean-counter’ stereotype. The purpose of this study was to examine the career boundaries of contemporary chartered accountants, to consider how boundary expanding is expressed in practice. Employing an ethnographical approach, the study investigated the lived experience of accountants’ career boundaries through the auto-ethnographical lens of the researcher, a chartered accountant herself. The research unearthed a rich and diverse collection of boundary-stretching and boundary-contracting case studies, spanning a full career generation, and contributes a new model of ‘career boundary elasticity’ which has implications for the accountancy profession.
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Understanding consumer perceptions of expiry dates for cosmeticsThe topic of cosmetics expiration is under researched in the marketing literature, and consumers can lack awareness about it. However, cosmetics expiration is important because it represents a consumer health issue, as illustrated by several papers published in medical journals. The aim of this research is to understand the role of cosmetics expiration date – specifically the Period After Opening (PAO) in cosmetics marketing, and how it influences consumer behaviour in the UK and China markets. This is the first study in a marketing management context that has investigated the role of PAO in consumer behaviour. The research adopts a mixed method approach and employs three studies: qualitative interviews in both countries (the UK and China), a quantitative experimental design in the UK, as well as a large survey in China. The data are analysed using NVivo, SPSS, AMOS and Fuzzy logic. The main findings and contributions to knowledge are: From the qualitative work: 1) A perceived risk framework is useful to an understanding of consumer attitudes to PAO in cosmetics. Self-brand connection (SBC) risk and environmental risk should be added to the existing risk framework. 2) Two major positionings in the cosmetics market can be identified: brands which emphasise the science behind their production and brands which emphasise their use of natural ingredients. 3) Some differences in PAO attitudes emerged by country (China versus the UK). In the UK study, psychological risk emerged as the most important in explaining overall risk, which is compatible with prior work. For UK respondents, the longer the PAO, the higher their purchase intention, irrespective of the brand type, thereby demonstrating that PAO can be a marketing signal as well as a statement of shelf life. In the China study, however, social risk emerged as more important, which can be explained by cultural differences. Different segments exist in the China market, defined by brand type, PAO, price and product type. PAO again emerged as a marketing signal. Both the UK and China studies indicate PAO and perceived risk can interact, and that such interaction can help explain the relationship between brand image and purchase intention. Specifically, perceived brand warmth is not as strong a predictor of purchase intention for cosmetics as prior work suggests it should be, and the interaction between PAO and perceived social risk in China and psychological risk in the UK helps explain why.
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An Exploration of the Drivers for Professionalism within UK Jewish Heritage CharitiesThe thesis explores the drivers of professionalism for Jewish Heritage Charities as well as the impact on the organisations in the study. Though there was a growing body of research on development of professionalism in charities, there is very limited studies on how this was impacting Jewish Heritage Charities in the UK. Charities have been reporting decreasing revenue from traditional fundraising activities over the last decade as well as significant competition for major grants and governmental funding. The loss of traditional funding and the increase in reliance on major donors and funding bodies has led to more regulation and now the growing concern with the management and accountability of charities. The study explored how this development of professionalism has impacted on (JHC). Using a case study approach, 11 interviews took place with senior management, trustees, and volunteers of three JHC’s and one non-Jewish museum that had recently been through major governance and structural changes. Due to the nature of the research and small sample the findings are limited to the case study however some good practice has been highlighted and professionalism within the case study was identified by the developing business processes and managerialism. The study also identified that rigorous governance procedures for trustees as well as performance management of trustees was needed however proved controversial. The study also identified the need for more development of recruitment processes of volunteers and trustees alongside professional development and training programmes to ensure professional practices are embedded into the organisations and good practice is maintained.
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SME Corporate Philanthropy (CP): Exploring how CP is managed and appraised for its impact on communitiesPurpose The ability to appraise the impact of any project allows for the opportunity to improve the project over time. The purpose of this study is to develop a bespoke Appraisal Tool, for SMEs, for Strategic Corporate Philanthropy (SCP), which allows organisations to appraise the impact of their SCP projects for themselves and the community. Exploring approaches to appraise SCP has been severely neglected by academics. Most appraisal tools focus on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). This study will research how organisations practise and appraise their SCP activities. It is believed that a strategic approach to corporate philanthropy will increase the impact it has on the community, and the bespoke SCP Appraisal Tool for SMEs developed by the researcher will complement this approach. The central focus of this study is the way key decision makers of SMEs manage SCP. The impact of utilising a separate Appraisal Tool from that used to measure CSR will be observed by focusing on the impact the relevant projects have on the community and the SMEs’ corporate objectives. The study commenced in 2019. In 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 as a worldwide pandemic, which had a great impact on businesses and their philanthropic activities. It is for this reason that the researcher also included a research objective to address this phenomenon. The study aimed to gain an understanding of the influence that the COVID-19 worldwide pandemic had on company decision making with regards to philanthropic activities. Research Design A phenomenological approach was undertaken, given the unique pandemic situation and the need to gain a deep understanding of the experience and decision making of SME entrepreneurs and managers. Data collection was undertaken via in-depth, semi-structured interviews and observations within eight small and medium companies and one large corporate (key informant). The study identified the definitions of SCP that set it apart from CSR. The study also investigated how entrepreneurs and SME decision makers appraised and managed CSR projects and identified if this was undertaken separately from philanthropic activities. Qualitative data analysis was undertaken via cognitive mapping and template analysis. Findings This research echoed Kubíčková’s (2018) review of the current literature relating to SCP. Kubíčková stated that turning corporate philanthropy into measurable projects will benefit both society and corporations alike, and this seems to have been confirmed by this research. The respondents in this study felt that their philanthropic activities were driven by a deep-seated desire to “do good” and a desire to “support their local community.” They felt that their local community was an important stakeholder and as important as their customers. The data indicated that SMEs that publicised their CSR and SCP activities seemed to have a positive effect on the SME’s company and on the organisations they supported. Respondents involved their staff with all their CSR and SCP activities, from inception through to completion. The research indicated that the pandemic had a great effect on the day-to-day business of all participants, affecting staff numbers, staff morale and income, which in turn influenced their philanthropic activities. Companies adapted by adjusting their resource allocation and by focusing on local causes. Companies that held fundraising events in the past reverted to hosting online events and sponsoring local projects and clubs. The data indicated that COVID-19 had urged people to take a closer look at their own neighbours and communities and that the focus moved away from supporting international causes in favour of local community causes. This could have a knock-on effect for the income streams of international charities. Recommendations Key recommendations of this study (Chapter 7) are as follows: • Charities should build relationships with SMEs and not just larger corporates. • National and international charities are advised to establish community projects and team up with local businesses and organisations. • Government should consider reinstating the mandatory reporting of corporate giving (as part of the Companies Act), as was the case in 2013. • The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) could be simplified for use by SMEs. • Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Strategic Corporate Philanthropy (SCP) could be defined and managed separately for better results and impact. This study found that most literature (both academic and practice) relating to CSR and SCP mostly focused on larger corporates and not on SMEs. The study found a gap in the literature with regards to defining, managing, and appraising SCP from the perspective of an SME. Originality The originality and distinctiveness of this research project is found in the development of a bespoke SCP Appraisal Tool for SMEs and the research done relating to corporate giving by SMEs during the COVID-19 pandemic, as this has never been done before.
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Equity crowdfunding as an alternative source of entrepreneurial financeEquity-based Crowdfunding (EBC) has been playing an increasingly important role in financing entrepreneurial companies (Signori & Vismara, 2018). Project founders raise funds via online platforms, such as Crowdcube, which also gives project founders direct interaction with potential investors. Through their feedback, investors provide opinions of the business idea, which may prove useful in reshaping and improving the products or services. Although current research on equity-based crowdfunding has correlated various campaign and projects’ features to success, there is a lack of convincing conceptual framework that has the potential to incorporate the interplay of the different factors in crowdfunding. In particular, the extant literature has so far attempted to explain success in terms of project characteristics, generally ignoring the characteristics of fund structure and their interrelationship with project characteristics in the success (or failure) of equity crowdfunding. This thesis is aiming to address this gap by building upon signalling theory, goal setting theory and social capital theories to develop a comprehensive conceptual framework that incorporate projects characteristics, fundraising structure and their interplay in the EBC campaign. Hypotheses are developed based on the conceptual framework. The data of the thesis were collected from the 850 projects funded between 2011 and 2019 on EBC platform, Crowdcube, in UK. The data was analysed using a quantitative method, with the dataset being analysed using an Ordinary least squares (OLS) regression and a series of robustness tests using a logistic regression to assess the reliability of my results. The result of this study found that higher firm age, more social media channels, and more management team members in project characteristics can contribute to the success of EBC campaigns, whilst lower funding target, less equity offered, and moderate investment threshold value to gain voting rights in fundraising characteristics can also contribute to the success of EBC campaigns. The results also suggest that project founders may establish a higher investment threshold value for investors to obtain voting rights if they are confident in the project's ability to create substantial cash flows or revenue in the future. Moreover, investors may waive their voting rights if project founders provide signals of higher-quality projects. More importantly, the result of this study found significant interaction effect between different factors, including firm age and social media, equity offered and social media, and equity offered and investment. The findings help to depict a complex web of interacting factors that when considered together, are contributing to the success of EBC. Through investigation of the factors of project characters and its fund structure characters in equity crowdfunding, this thesis assists project founders in setting up their crowdfunding campaign and investors screening out projects with growth potential and advances understanding of Crowdfunding, especially for equity crowdfunding.
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Charitable Organisations and Ambidexterity: Implications for Charity Sector LeadersThe survival and sustainability of charities, also sometimes referred to as not-for-profit organisations (NPOs) has been a long-term challenge for the sector because of changeable socio-economic events, which have taken place throughout the last century and beyond. Charities and charity leaders demonstrate significant capability in managing the competing demands of short-term and long-term survival in accordance with their social mission. Despite this, there is limited scholarly literature, which considers how this is achieved. This research seeks to address this by examining the organisational concept ‘organisational ambidexterity’ in the context of private charitable organisations. In doing so it offers new contribution to the organisational literature on charity and organisational ambidexterity, as well as new knowledge to charity sector leaders through determining key components of organisational ambidextrous design in the delivery of social mission. The research was conducted between 2021 and 2022 using mono method research in the form of 14 semi-structured interviews with executive members (Chief Executives and Directors) of UK based charities in the disability, health, or social care arena. Analysis took place through a reflexive thematic analysis process, with findings culminating in eight key components for the application of organisational ambidexterity in charity. It is believed that this research represents the first scholarly research conducted into organisational ambidexterity applied to private charities in the UK. Building on previous knowledge, it finds clear evidence of organisational ambidexterity represented in multi-dimensional structural models, culture, systems, and strategy. It is limited by its size and unique context and therefore establishes a basis for further studies in this field to evolve.
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Understanding Founders’ and Successors’ Expectations of British Higher Education Related to the Chinese Family Business: An Extrapolative Expectation PerspectiveThe importance of family business and thus family business succession is well supported in the literature. As part of their succession plan, Chinese family businesses tend to send the prospective successor to study in an overseas university. However, there is little attention paid to the effectiveness and efficiency of the successors’ overseas education and its impact on the family business succession. In particular there is a lack of attention on the expectation of the founders and successors’. This thesis is about exploring and explaining the similarities and differences in expectation of successors’ overseas education between founders and successors of family businesses in China. 60 informants comprising 30 pairs of successors (who were studying a business course) and business founders completed identical questionnaires separately. This was then followed by in-depth one-to-one interviews with respondents. Adopting extrapolative expectation theory, which holds that expectations are caused by prior experience, a comprehensive conceptual framework is developed, followed by corresponding hypotheses. The findings support the hypothesis that the business founders’ expectations about the business-related factors of a business degree course are significantly higher than the expectations of successors themselves. On the other hand, the expectations of founders and successors for non-business-related factors were similar, for instance: for the development of English skills. A follow-up in-depth qualitative research in the form of interviews was conducted with the business founders and successors. Qualitative data analysis helps to reveal that while there are some interesting differences associated with respondents’ background, gender and personality, the result of the analysis shows that work experience plays a key role in explaining the difference in expectations of the founders and successors. In addition, four competing theories (intention, relationship, gender and personality) failed to explain such differences. The thesis makes a significant contribution to knowledge in understanding the expectations of the family business on successors’ overseas education. It shows that, due to differences in work experience, the expectation of business founders and their successors differ significantly in many aspects related to the successors’ overseas education. This is important as literature tends to consider the multiple influences of various individuals within a family on major decisions as one decision-making unit. The differences in expectation have major implications in their choice of courses and satisfaction of successors’ overseas education, which in turn affects the effectiveness and efficiency of the longer-term family business succession process. The findings of this thesis help the family business, policymakers and researchers to see a potential issue in the family business succession process that is largely ignored. It is suggested that more resources can be put by policymakers into raising awareness of the different expectations that are identified. Family businesses should work on the differences in expectations including enhancing both understanding and the successors’ solid work experience before studying abroad. The findings of this thesis highlight an important but unresearched area for researchers to be further explored. Finally, the project design, which adopts a complementary mixed-method approach and compares the views from business founders and successors, is unique and helpful to understand the research question through different lenses.
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A Comparative Study on Students’ Learning Expectations of Entrepreneurship Education in the UK and ChinaEntrepreneurship education has become a critical subject in academic research and educational policy design, occupying a central role in contemporary education globally. However, a review of the literature indicates that research on entrepreneurship education is still in a relatively early stage. Little is known about how entrepreneurship education learning is affected by the environmental context to date. Therefore, combining the institutional context and focusing on students’ learning expectations as a novel perspective, the main aim of the thesis is to address the knowledge gap by developing an original conceptual framework to advance understanding of the dynamic learning process of entrepreneurship education through the lens of self-determination theory, thereby providing a basis for advancing understanding of entrepreneurship education. The author adopted an epistemological positivism philosophy and a deductive approach. This study gathered 247 valid questionnaires from the UK (84) and China (163). It requested students to recall their learning expectations before attending their entrepreneurship courses and to assess their perceptions of learning outcomes after taking the entrepreneurship courses. It was found that entrepreneurship education policy is an antecedent that influences students' learning expectations, which is represented in the difference in student autonomy. British students in active learning under a voluntary education policy have higher autonomy than Chinese students in passive learning under a compulsory education policy, thus having higher learning expectations, leading to higher satisfaction. The positive relationship between autonomy and learning expectations is established, which adds a new dimension to self-determination theory. Furthermore, it is also revealed that the change in students’ entrepreneurial intentions before and after their entrepreneurship courses is explained by understanding the process of a business start-up (positive), hands-on business start-up opportunities (positive), students’ actual input (positive) and tutors’ academic qualification (negative). The thesis makes contributions to both theory and practice. The findings have far reaching implications for different parties, including policymakers, educators, practitioners and researchers. Understanding and shaping students' learning expectations is a critical first step in optimising entrepreneurship education teaching and learning. On the one hand, understanding students' learning expectations of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship education can help the government with educational interventions and policy reform, as well as improving the quality and delivery of university-based entrepreneurship education. On the other hand, entrepreneurship education can assist students in establishing correct and realistic learning expectations and entrepreneurial conceptions, which will benefit their future entrepreneurial activities and/or employment. An important implication is that this study connects multiple stakeholders by bridging the national-level institutional context, organisational-level university entrepreneurship education, and individual level entrepreneurial learning to promote student autonomy based on an understanding of students' learning expectations. This can help develop graduates with their ability for autonomous learning and autonomous entrepreneurial behaviour. The results of this study help to remind students that it is them, the learners, their expectations and input that can make the difference between the success or failure of their study. This would not only apply to entrepreneurship education but also to other fields of study. One key message from this study is that education can be encouraged and supported but cannot be “forced”. Mandatory entrepreneurship education is not a quick fix for the lack of university students’ innovation and entrepreneurship. More resources must be invested in enhancing the enterprise culture, thus making entrepreneurship education desirable for students.
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How can the Organisational Ambidexterity concept be applied to the automotive industry as it aims to exploit current vehicles sales profit pools and explore autonomous electric mobility services?The Automotive Industry is facing unprecedented disruption from electrification, connectivity, autonomous driving, and diverse mobility. Throughout its 130-year history, the industry has been built on increment change and could now be facing an existential crisis if it does not respond to these disruptors. Organisational Ambidexterity (OA) is the dual challenge of exploiting current profit pools whilst also exploring future revenue streams. The literature presented four antecedent themes that will form the basis of this research (Differentiation vs Integration, Individual vs Organisation, Static vs Dynamic and Internal vs External). The most recent a priori body of knowledge is set against a backdrop of mergers and acquisitions within the automotive industry to achieve globalisation, scale and explore new markets. The current backdrop of facing disruption has received very little attention to date, which this thesis has set out to redress. OA is a social construct, created by the perceptions and actions of the actors within the research site. The nature of disruption is also a mutually constructed reality, assessed by the actors according to their own beliefs on the scale and impact on their organisations and themselves. A subjectivist ontological approach is taken, with an interpretivist epistemology viewing the world as assimilated through perception and discourse. This research is qualitative, using semi-structured in-depth elite interviews to gather data, and represents privileged access. Analysis will be using the Constant Comparative Method, with the coding steps carried out manually. The researcher is embedded in the research setting and will take a participant-observer approach. This methodology of elite interviews, reinforced with emic indwelling and manual coding, delivered rich insights in the current context of the automotive industry. This thesis makes contributions on three fronts. The contribution to theory provides an upto-date view of OA within the automotive industry, assesses the relevance of the four antecedent themes, and identifies three emergent themes – Collaboration, Speed and Scale. The contribution to practice is to provide managers and organisations insights and guidance on how OA could be applied. The findings provide privileged insights into how collaboration operates, identifies some of the challenges, and empathises with the Traditional and Contemporary OEM’s and their different stances. Outside of the Automotive industry, any industry that is facing disruption can gain transferrable insights. The contribution to methodology is demonstrating that elite interviews, underpinned by emic indwelling, can deliver rich insights from a privileged setting.
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A practical and theoretical approach to assessing Micro-Enterprise brand image signalsThis thesis aims to investigate how Micro Enterprises (MEs) communicate their brand image to their markets. The research takes a comparative approach and examines firms in both the UK and China. The main theoretical base for the work is that of the Stereotype Content Model (SCM) which holds that entities with humanistic associations (including brands and corporate brands) are automatically judged for their ‘warmth’ (trustworthiness, sincerity, supportiveness) and their ‘competence’ (effectiveness, efficiency). The status (prestigious, glamorous) of the entity is also included in the SCM model but as an antecedent to competence judgements. Recent work alternatively considers it as a dimension of imagery which is automatically judged by customers. The methodology is a mixed method and has three interlinked pieces of work, the first two of which are more exploratory and the last more confirmatory. A case study approach first explored the signalling of 14 MEs using in-depth, semi-structured interviews with their owner-managers. A thematic analysis of content showed that managers emphasize their competence and that fewer provided unprompted examples of status positioning. The second study involved the content analysis of parts of 66 ME websites labelled ‘who we are’ or similar. Competence descriptors were again the most frequent followed by warmth and then status items. The two studies evidence that MEs signal competence, warmth, and status but in that order of emphasis. An experimental study was conducted where the status signalling of a fictitious ME (a gift company) was manipulated. It explored why MEs use the signal less and test whether this changes the perceived competence of the company and the purchase intention and person-brand congruence of potential customers. The increase in status did not increase competence and it reduced outcome behaviour and warmth. As warmth explains consumer attitude best, using the status signal can reduce potential sales. This holds regardless of country (the UK and China), and control variable values. However, perceived higher prices and giving too much irrelevant information mediated and therefore explain the effect of status on consumer attitude. The main effects were positive, but the indirect effects were negative due to perceived higher prices and irrelevant information. Finally, all variables considered in this study were tested using Structural Equation Modelling, adding to the insights from the final study The primary contribution is to better understand how MEs communicate their imagery to their market. SCM thinking is also tested and developed in the context of ME marketing and recommendations made for its adaption.
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Disruptive Philanthropy: Assessing the Challenges of Funding from “Big Tech” for a UK CharityThe immense wealth generated by the technology sector – or Big Tech – since the end of the 20th century has created a new breed of philanthropists, keen to use the business practices of Silicon Valley to ensure their money is employed to optimum social impact. This study considers how a long-established, UK-based journalism charity can understand, and engage with, the new philanthropic practices of the digital economy in to order to fund transformative change, while appreciating, and managing, the associated benefits and risks. A characteristic of the digital economy is that it has blurred conventional boundaries between commercial and philanthropic practices. Accordingly, this study was conducted through the theoretical framework of “hybrid organizations” – defined here as non-profit entities which adopt business practices to achieve social ends but face the challenge of balancing the competing institutional logics of mission and money. This study synthesises the literature on the new, more market-oriented philanthropic models - collectively described here as “disruptive philanthropy” – to provide a conceptual model to guide hybrid, non-profits like the journalism charity that wish to engage with the digital economy. The model is then used to inform a qualitative, inductive study of the journalism charity using semi-structured interviews with a purposive sample of eight stakeholders from the journalism charity and four “elite” interviewees from the digital economy. This study makes a number of contributions to theory and practice in terms of understanding the digital economy’s business ethics and how non-profit organizations can assess clearly whether the funding support it is seeking from the digital economy is philanthropic or commercial. The conceptual model serves as a guide to hybrid, non-profit organizations on the factors to assess when seeking engagement with the digital economy. A framework is offered to help non-profits ensure good governance when accepting funds from the digital economy. The study reinforces the need for non-profits to have a clear identity and mission to obtain philanthropic funding. Finally, the study provides an understanding of how organizations from the digital economy assess their funding support through the benefits to their own “ecosystems” – which can be commercial, philanthropic or hybrid in nature.
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To investigate the ambidextrous challenges and tensions of small and medium enterprises in the United Kingdom defence & security sectorThe defence and security industry is an extremely dynamic environment, influenced by policy and world events. Whilst it often needs to respond to rapid change, there is a dichotomy in that capital programs take years to come to fruition. Many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are involved in both of these short and long-term aspects of acquisition, thus creating strategic challenges. Though there has been much research around ambidexterity and SMEs, there has been very little in the fluid domain of defence and security supply-side SMEs. This study aims to investigate this gap in research. The investigation collected primary qualitative data through the use of semi-structured interviews, with research participants constituting the leadership functions of eighteen businesses that deliver either directly to the defence and security governmental departments, or into the supply chain. Findings indicate that within a shrinking defence sector, successful SMEs are operating in an ambidextrous fashion, often utilising the industrial partners of the industry trade organisations. Also, outside that of grand strategic change, Government policy has a limited impact on the SMEs in this sector. With scarce resources, the leadership of businesses see the competing needs of resource and finances as a major tension point. These two competing needs can be defined as exploration and exploitation respectively, and can be situated within an ambidextrous construct. Critically, successful businesses operate in a ambidextrous zone where there is constant iterative adjustment between both exploration and exploitation. This thesis advances the thought leadership in SME strategy, particularly around the key indigenous industry of defence and security, thereby adjusting the understanding of the definition of ambidexterity. This study contributes to the current literature, through the development of an alternative and responsive conceptual dynamic model of a growing business, theorising that ambidexterity functions change as SMEs grow, are constantly evolving, and are adjusted by both internal and external influences. The study concludes with recommendations for practice.
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The Isle of Man: All dressed up but nowhere to go. Can place branding and marketing strategies help turn around the fortunes of the Isle of Man?Place branding and marketing has become one of the tools employed in the competition between countries and cities for attracting businesses, investments and a talented workforce. Place branding and its underlying factors, place identity and place image, have been widely researched especially in the last two decades, however it is yet to be agreed upon models and frameworks which can assist practitioners in their day-to-day activity. Through investigating the role of place identity in place branding strategies, this research aims to explore how place branding strategies can help the IoM to enhance its image and attract businesses and a talented workforce. Identification of a place brand model or framework would assist the IoM brand managers in their efforts to show the IoM as an attractive location for businesses and workers. This research was conducted adopting a social constructionist philosophy and following an interpretivist theoretical perspective. The focus of the research is placed on comparing and contrasting how the Isle of Man is perceived by local and relocated business people with how it is portrayed through the IoM government websites, providing a contrast between place identity and place brand identity. Therefore 15 interviews are analysed using thematic analysis and six IoM government websites are analysed using qualitative content analysis. From the findings emerged a strong sense of ambiguity when looking at the IoM as a place for business and as a place of residence highlighting the fact that people’s perceptions about places are not one dimensional. This finding supports the suggestion that places have multiple identities. Also some of the characteristics of the IoM were aligned with what was presented in the websites, but other characteristics did not, which coincided with dissatisfaction for the respondents. These findings suggest that misalignment of certain place brand attributes with place identity coincides with dissatisfaction, however the source of dissatisfaction is not the misalignment but rather the quality of the attributes not matching the expectations. Classification of the place brand attributes that give rise to dissatisfaction or satisfaction is identified as an important factor in developing the place brand strategies. The contribution of this research is focused on making a difference to business practices by offering a practical solution; an adaptation of the Two-factor Theory is suggested as a tool that could aid the process of brand attribute classification. The application of the Two-factor Theory could assist the IoM brand managers to monitor and develop the alignment of place identity with place brand identity. Whilst the adaptation of the Two-factor theory has already been confirmed in product branding, further quantitative research could help in establishing its reliability and validity for place branding.
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Medium and large family businesses of North West England as learning organisationsThis study is an exploration of the learning strategies of family businesses in the North West of England, within the framework of the theory of the Learning Organisation (LO). The main purpose of this study is to explore and evaluate the notion of the Learning Organisation and to investigate its prevalence and application to the Family Business sector within North West England. To date, a very limited amount of studies focused on the characteristics of the LO within the medium and large family business context. Therefore, this study contributes to knowledge by determining practical guidance for implementing LO characteristics that can be applied to family businesses. The study used a qualitative methodology, associated with the social constructivist and interpretivist paradigm. Six medium and large family businesses operating in North West England were chosen to facilitate the qualitative research. In the North West of England, medium and large family businesses have complex features which create high demand for owners and employees to adopt learning strategies discussed in the LO concept which makes it an ideal context to explore the prevalence and the application of LO characteristics. This research makes a number of contributions to knowledge. Firstly, through review and analysis of the currently available theoretical work from more than 40 LO theorists and practitioners spanning the last four decades. The development of this “theoretical frame of reference” and the terminology used for identifying and analysing of LO characteristics is not only seen as a vital fundamental step in the course of this thesis, but also as a major contribution to providing structure and improving the future academic study of LO. Second, findings from the study suggest that medium and large family businesses have shown the existence of some of the LO characteristics within the three main levels of the organisations. The notable findings of the research are that medium and large family businesses need to develop a learning culture with organisational learning to incorporate with the business strategy and provide a transformational leadership so as to achieve the possibility of becoming a LO. The findings identify that family businesses in the North West region have the potential to become Learning Organisations should they implement the proposed recommendations and changes to their currently family business models. Third, the thesis makes a methodological contribution by introducing a model of Learning Organisations which specifically relates to family businesses. Furthermore, this model aims to facilitate a learning culture that suggests family businesses adopt key characteristics of the LO for continuous improvement, collective learning, and enhancement of performance.
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How and why are hourly paid employees motivated to work in a family owned food manufacturing sector SME within the United Kingdom?The purpose of this study is to establish how and why hourly paid employees are motivated to work in a family owned food manufacturing sector SME within the United Kingdom. The study also seeks to identify and understand how these motivational factors are contingent on hierarchical level and life stage within hourly paid employees in UK food manufacturing SMEs, in order to develop an understanding of work-based motivation among hourly paid employees from a manager’s perspective. The research uses a case study approach within a third generation family-owned cheesemaker. The results of this study suggest, within the particular work environment and sample of respondents under review, that motivation originates from a combination of intrinsic factors, extrinsic factors and social influences. Using survey questionnaires and semi-structured interview techniques, the research established the main a priori themes driving work motivation within the organisation under review, namely; (1) job security, (2) financial motivation, (3) the work itself, and (3) changes in motivation over time. The results also identified a number of a posteriori themes which were of particular importance to the participating respondents, namely: (1) camaraderie and teamwork, (2) that the organisation was a progressive company with an enviable reputation, and (3) overtime. The study indicates that social influences can have a profound effect on motivation at work and can also be a source of increased productivity within an organisation. For example, camaraderie is proven to be a motivating factor among employees and contributes to workforce stability within the context of this case study. The research findings suggest that workforce stability breeds success and provide a framework for performance improvement based on developing human resource practices that focus on cultivating employee motivation. Identifying the key motivators in today’s society may provide organisations with opportunities to improve productivity through the motivation of their staff. Furthermore, staff retention could increase if workers become more motivated, which may lead to improved efficiency and effectiveness within an organisation. Motivated and committed employees could subsequently increase the competitive advantage of the organisation.
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The management of continuing professional development in General Further Education Colleges when intentionally aiming to improve Ofsted inspection from an ‘inadequate’ or ‘requires improvement’ grading to ‘good’.The area of teachers’ continuing professional development (CPD) is in the spotlight. This study considers the range of CPD opportunities that are implemented for teachers in General Further Education Colleges (GFECs) following an “inadequate” or “requires improvement” Ofsted inspection in order to achieve a future grading of “good”. The study draws on specific theoretical insights from the literature concerned with teacher professional development in the Further Education (FE) sector. In doing so, the study evaluates the spectrum of CPD models that were on offer within eleven GFECs that took part in the study by using a constant comparative approach. Using data generated from the eleven GFECs and also Kennedy’s (2014b) framework of CPD models as a lens for analysis, I identified five CPD models, which I then classified in relation to their top-down or developmental approach, and also the extent to which the activities identified underpinned professional autonomy and transformative practice. Using CPD as the point of analysis, the study investigates eleven GFECs, and whether the approach taken by the various colleges, prioritises individual or collective development. It then goes on to examine the contribution of resources, roles and responsibilities of individuals and teams within the particular context in which they operated. The findings generated from this study argue that continuous improvement is the result of a change in culture that is initiated by the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) and middle managers, and the success of this cultural change hinges on a series of mechanisms that support the achievement of “higher standards” in teaching and learning.
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Understanding UK Rewards-based Crowdfunding as an Alternative Source of Entrepreneurial FinanceEntrepreneurial financing plays a vital role in the survival and viability of businesses (Crosetto & Regner, 2018; Mason & Harrison, 1991; Signori & Vismara, 2017; Zhao et al., 2019). Research studies and financial commentators have suggested that reward-based crowdfunding (RBC) plays an increasingly important role in the process of business start-ups (Baeck et al., 2014; Bilau & Pires, 2018; Lelo de Larrea et al., 2019; Mollick, 2014). However, a review of literature indicates that little is known about the field of RBC from a theoretical perspective. Therefore, the main aim of the thesis is to address the knowledge gap by developing a conceptual framework to advance understanding of the RBC funding process through using a signalling theory lens. The author adopted a pragmatist epistemological stance. This study collected publicly available data of 636 UK start-up projects on a RBC platform, Kickstarter, from September to December in 2017 and repeated this for the same period in 2018. It was found that signal observability (the size and quality of the fundraiser’s network) play a significant role in crowdfunding success across all projects. Whereas, prosocial intention (charitable purpose) plays a stronger role in predicting the likelihood of the success of projects with a medium goal. This study identifies and evaluates how the key factors (project quality, project intention and signal observability) impact on crowdfunding’s success, as well as investigates the interplay between different actors (signallers, receivers and signals) in the RBC market. A further important contribution of this work arises from the use of rich qualitative data in addition to the quantitative research approaches previously utilised by others (Bi, Liu and Usman, 2017; Kunz et al., 2017). The thesis makes contributions to both theory and practice. The findings have major implications for different parties including: policy makers, practitioners, researchers and educators. It provides an insight for practitioners considering the adoption of a crowdfunding approach and the knowledge and recommendations in running a successful RBC campaign. It also helps nascent entrepreneurs to reconstruct their financing strategy through the better understanding of the position of RBC in entrepreneurial financing. An important implication is that this study can help policy makers to better understand the RBC industry, which is essential in developing relevant policies in this under-governed area. Finally, this research contributes to growing knowledge and interest in entrepreneurial finance, especially in the online alternative finance market, which is beneficial for both researchers and educators.
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Managers Managing Stress at Work: Exploring the experiences of managers managing employee stress in the social housing sectorThis research has explored how seventeen middle managers in the social housing sector manage employee stress and the reasons they take the approach they do. The research has been conducted in response to the increased prevalence of workplace stress. While workplace stress and mental well-being continues to rise up the political and business agenda; the most recent statistics from national and international organisations identify that the management of stress in the workplace needs to be improved. Workplace stress is a global issue for which the related direct and indirect costs are only beginning to be quantified, although the estimated cost of work-related depression in Europe is €617 billion per year. Furthermore, there is a trend towards devolving responsibility for managing workplace stress to individual managers. Despite their increasing responsibilities for managing stress at work, middle managers often lack the authority, skills and capacity to make the changes required to prevent workplace stress. Evidence suggests that middle managers are in a complex and challenging position between their superiors and more junior staff which can exposes them to role related stressors. The United Kingdom (UK) social housing sector is a particularly complex and vital one, comprising of a variety of private, public and charitable enterprises that build, manage and maintain housing stock. The complexities, political and financial challenges facing the sector expose middle managers and their staff to an increased risk of work-related stress. This study adopted a constructivist philosophy, relativist ontology and subjectivist epistemological position. Semi structured interviews were conducted with seventeen middle managers working in the social housing sector in an attempt to explore and better understand how they approach managing work-related stress experienced by the employees. The findings of this study are that, in contrast to what the extant literature recommends, participants adopt predominantly reactive approaches to managing employee stress and deploy mostly secondary and tertiary stress management interventions. The study also found that the participants tend to focus on managing stress caused by workload, relationships at work and home-work interface. Furthermore, this study contributes new insights into how middle managers are managing stress in practice such as, using their personal experiences of managing their own stress and by observing the behaviours and practices of other managers. This study also highlights a number of contemporary stressors in the context of the social housing sector. These contributions provide new practical insights into how middle managers might more effectively manage stress in the workplace. The need and focus of this research arose from the researcher’s practice as an occupational health and safety consultant working with social housing providers across the UK. His work involves advising housing providers and their middle managers on matters of employee stress and health. Often this advice is sought when the employee is already unwell and needs help to recover. This reactive approach to workplace stress is contrary to what UK health and safety (H&S) law requires and is known to be ineffective in tackling stress at work. The researcher’s professional experience in the housing sector and the trend in devolving responsibility for managing stress at work to middle managers, provided the initial spark for this research.
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Exploring the lived experiences of owner-managers who thrive at workThis thesis explores how owner-managers of scale-up companies thrive at work and aims to explore the experiences of owner-managers of these companies who are thriving at work. Empirical research to date is primarily conceptual and quantitative and conducted outside the UK with employees. This research addressed the literature gap by undertaking interpretative phenomenological analysis with owner-managers in the UK. Key findings both support and challenge the existing thriving at work construct proposed by Spreitzer, Sutcliffe, Dutton, Sonenshein & Grant (2005). Whilst this study was a based on a small number of atypical individuals, this appreciative inquiry extended existing knowledge by describing the insights and experience of owner-managers who were thriving at work using their own taxonomy, clearly expressing their need for self-development and energy, but combining these with a third dimension of being happy on a daily basis. For some, the number of participants might suggest that the findings have to be interpreted cautiously, however the underpinning methodology provided a robust rationale for such numbers to gain a deeper understanding of the idiographic experience ownermanagers have when they thrive at work. This research also contributes to the body of knowledge on spill-over, between home and work, as owner-managers were happy to have, and accepted, that their work-life and home-life would be intertwined. In the UK the Scale-up Institute report of 2014 recommended that an eco-system be developed to support these companies, and the findings of this thesis produce practical insights for stakeholders within this eco-system. Educationalists in particular should be facilitators who focus on the strengths of owner-managers, recognise that owner-managers are paratelic learners, so enable them to spot and respond to challenges to support their thriving, but importantly recognise that the speed of change could be gender specific. It is incumbent on stakeholders in the ecosystem to invest in external peer groups as a place in which owner-managers can be authentic, as inside their organisation they see themselves as role models to their staff, recognising the contagious effect their mood could have on those around them.
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The Study of Endogenous Corporate Social Responsibility in Saudi ArabiaCorporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is striving to reach the business community of Saudi Arabia from Western and International CSR prospective. However, they are faced with local endogenous CSR factors indicating the distinctive Saudi CSR features and characteristics originating from within Saudi Arabia during the current early CSR initiatives. Saudi Arabia is an advocate for Islamic teaching and practices, throughout the Islamic world abiding comprehensively to the Islamic social care system, which is interlocked with additional unique cultural, national, and social expectations. Those factors overlap with the semi-official governmental endorsements and the private sector’s unique conceptualization of CSR, which, in essence, formulate the endogenous distinctive Saudi CSR characteristics (Saudi CSR) considered to be under-researched in comparison to the CSR generic debate in other countries. The research questions are: what are the endogenous Saudi CSR Characteristics? How can they be related to the local Saudi CSR unique conceptualization? And could they be interpreted using Carroll’s 1779, 1991, and 3D CSR Models? The study primarily aims to empirically investigate, identify, and analyse the unique origination of the Saudi CSR model and the misconceptualizing it has to the International CSR regulatory framework. It also aims to provide a possible template for the Saudi National CSR strategy respectively. It focuses upon investigating whether the empirically formulated and identified Saudi endogenous CSR’s context and characteristics can be aligned, analysed and/or interpreted in light of CSR generic theories, and the international CSR standardization for reporting initiatives, including Carroll’s Four dimensions: 1979 and Pyramid 1991, and the Three-Domain 2004 CSR models (Mark et al., 2004). The analytical analysis demonstrates that a Saudi national CSR strategy has not been established yet; hence the current study provides a template for building up such strategy. A conceptualized theoretical framework is formulated utilizing both empirical evidence from pilot studies and the narrative analytical analysis, which aimed at identifying and exploring Saudi CSR uniqueness using an eclectic research approach. The indirect Saudi CSR evidence was investigated using questionnaires, document analysis and Semi-structured interviews, which comprised nearly 380 Saudi organizations within the private, listed, and Non-profit sectors. Data Analysis including King Khalid Foundation, Saudi companies and CSR Data reflection revealed a set of endogenous distinctive characteristics, which are validated using triangulation data collection tools. The findings of the study suggest that the Saudi CSR characteristics (endogenous features) fall within the following categories evidenced by their practical applications, Saudi companies’ strategic policies and Saudi leadership’s CSR own self-generated principles: (1) Islamic Philanthropy, (2) Social Obligation, (3) National Development Obligation (5) Corporate Citizenship (6) National Economic Developments (7) National Competitiveness, (8)Stakeholder’s Expectation and (9) Environmental and Global Expectation and (10) Corporate Governance. Furthermore, data analysis displays that Carroll’s 3D CSR model sets certain suitability limitations for Saudi CSR interpretations. It also reveals the need for utilizing the adopted Carroll’s combined model formulated in the present study; its utilization conforms to the Saudi CSR components while formulating the required Saudi national CSR.
