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Browsing School of Management (SoM) by Course name "PhD in Leadership and Management"
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Item Open Access Analysing the impact of corporate governance on corporate sustainability at board level.(Cranfield University, 2021-06) Bolourian, Soudabeh; Angus, Andrew; Alinaghian, LeilaStakeholders are increasingly holding companies accountable for their environmental and social conduct. Organisations are engaging in, and incorporating, social and environmental issues in their business models, organisational structures and processes. The board of directors are responsible for the overall achievement and oversight of the organisation’s aims and objectives. However, there is little detail on the board’s role in monitoring and overseeing social and environmental issues in the corporate governance realm. This thesis addresses this void in several ways. First a systematic literature review provides a comprehensive synthesis of the extant literature investigating the board of director’s role as a core element of corporate governance in corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance. Critical assessment of a sample of 67 studies from 18 highly regarded scholarly journals published between 1992 and 2020 uncovers similarities and inconsistencies regarding the effects of various board attributes on CSR-performance. The review reveals these attributes do not work in isolation, but interact with each other and the context in which they are embedded in shaping CSR-performance. Second, empirical analysis of a cross-industry sample of 2891 firm-year observations from 789 FTSE350 and S&P500 listed companies during a 4-year period (2013-2016) investigates the role of the board attributes in driving CSR-performance. The influence of the board-level CSR-committee – a board attribute that despite the increased prevalence of such committees on the board is largely understudied – in driving CSR-performance is explored. This contributes to the growing literature on CSR-committees by investigating their presence, composition and interactive effects with various board attributes in driving CSR-performance. Additionally, contributing to the recent call for investigating interactions among board attributes and their impact on CSR-performance. Finally a configurational approach is used to further explore board attribute interactions and combined impacts on CSR- performance. The results of a Qualitative Comparative Analysis reveals nine board configurations leading to high CSR-performance. This contributes to the argument that “one-size” does not fit all, and different boards can achieve the same results via unique configurations of attributes.Item Open Access Anticipatory and retrospective sensemaking during unfolding organizational crises.(2017-11) Runswick, Fionnuala Eilín; Kutsch, Elmar; Denyer, DavidExisting research on sensemaking during organizational crises has identified retrospective processes in which actors give meaning to what has happened, thus reducing uncertainty and enabling action. While sensemaking is generally considered to be retrospective, several scholars dispute that sensemaking is exclusively a past-oriented process. Klein, Snowden and Pin (2007, 2011) have recently proposed a future-oriented anticipatory sensemaking process that involves the preparation and enactment of a course of action to avert a predicted threat during an organizational crisis. The topic of future-oriented sensemaking remains an on-going debate in the sensemaking literature. This research attempts to contribute to this debate by offering a deeper understanding of the forms, temporal orientation and interaction of the sensemaking processes during unfolding organizational crises. The research approach involved semi-structured interviews with twenty people from fourteen organizations across nine different industries and three continents. There are three novel contributions from this research. The first contribution is the integrative model of anticipatory and retrospective sensemaking during unfolding crises that was synthesised from the literature and evidenced in the empirical data. The second contribution is the model of anticipatory sensemaking processes during unfolding organizational crises, which was derived from the literature and enhanced based on the findings from the empirical study. In identifying future-oriented anticipatory sensemaking processes during unfolding organizational crises, the findings provide evidence for the counter-argument to the key ontological assumption that sensemaking is exclusively a retrospective process. The third contribution is that the actors created collective organizing structures during the unfolding crises, which enabled them to make sense and take action. The findings and contributions from this research have implications for both theory and practice.Item Open Access Blockchain technology for food supply chain: an investigation of the implementation process and impact on supply chain performance.(Cranfield University, 2023-03) Vu, Nam; Ghadge, Abhijeet; Bourlakis, MichaelThe food supply chain (FSC) plays a vital role in sustaining human life and achieving economic growth. Food and agricultural products are inherently perishable, sensitive to temperature, dependent on nature for production, and seasonal. As the result, businesses have to face specific and persistent challenges in monitoring food quality and safety, and reducing waste. Moreover, the globalization and complexity of the modern FSC can lead to pressing issues such as information asymmetry, low transparency, and food adulteration. Businesses and academics have explored Blockchain technology as a potential remedy for the hurdles of managing the FSC. While the technology has grown at an impressive pace, the knowledge regarding Blockchain adoption and its impact is yet fully explored. Therefore, there is a compelling need for researching the Blockchain phenomenon in the FSC setting, contributing to both literature and practice, and ultimately to better management of food products. To close the gap, this thesis particularly aims to investigate the adoption process of Blockchain and its impact on operational performance. Through a series of three studies, this thesis provided a literature review of the subject, developed an evidence-driven model for Blockchain integration, evaluated the relationships between important determinants to the Blockchain implementation stages, and specified the effects of adopting Blockchain on key performance metrics of the FSC. The key findings of this thesis are three-fold. First, the thesis provided an extensive and scientific systematic literature review about the current state of Blockchain adoption research in the area of food supply chain management. Specifically, the literature review synthesized four main themes from relevant literature, including the Blockchain adoption process, drivers and barriers to the adoption, and applications of Blockchain in food management. Second, the thesis constituted a holistic model of Blockchain implementation in the specific context of the FSC. Started with combining insights from the literature review and Innovation Adoption theoretical lenses to develop a conceptual model for iii Blockchain implementation in the FSC, the thesis then employed a mixed- methods approach to develop the conceptual model further. First, interviews were conducted to explore the process of adopting Blockchain in the FSC. Then, quantitative data was gathered by a survey to statistically assess the key relationships in the implementation model. The result is an evidence-based and feasible model of Blockchain adoption for organizations in the FSC. This model details Blockchain implementation activities and critical determinants of the process (implications from interviews findings), as well as analyses the most important determinants of each adoption stage (implications from the survey findings), all in the FSC setting. Third, this thesis evaluates the impact of a successful Blockchain adoption on the operational performances of an FSC. Using the System Dynamics modelling approach and simulations, the thesis illustrates holistically how Blockchain technology can affect key performance metrics, including inventory level, service level, lead time, and cost, at a supply chain level. Findings in this thesis subsequently make several key contributions to literature, practice, and policy. The thesis extended the current knowledge of the Blockchain phenomenon in the context of FSC, especially how to implement the technology and what impacts it can have on supply chain performance. Moreover, the thesis provided valid attempts at elaborating Innovation Adoption theories and models to better explain the particular context of Blockchain in the FSC and bringing System thinking and System Dynamics approach to examine supply chain phenomenon. The results of this thesis inform managers in the field about the approach to implementing Blockchain technologies, and what factors they need to understand for successful adoption. The System Dynamics models in this thesis further provide a useful tool for businesses to experiment and explore the impacts of the technology on their operations. Moreover, the findings in this thesis suggest several important implications for policymakers. Particularly, they highlight the important role of regulators in advocating for the industry-wide adoption of Blockchain, provide an in-depth understanding of Blockchain roadmap and impacts for promoting the technology among businesses, and suggest regulatory bodies direct more efforts into onboarding the lesser iv technologically capable entities in the FSC (farmers, SMEs, etc) to a Blockchain network.Item Open Access A collective mindfulness perspective of information sharing in the blood supply chain.(Cranfield University, 2018-11) Lusiantoro, Luluk; Yates, Nicky; Varga, LizPurpose: This thesis aims to determine and unravel the underlying mechanisms of how inter-organisational information sharing influences blood safety and availability in the dyadic blood supply chain in normal, high tempo, and emergency conditions. Design/methodology/approach: Grounded in the critical realism paradigm and the perspective of high reliability theory particularly the collective mindfulness concept, this thesis uses an embedded multiple case study designed for theory elaboration. A combined retroductive-abductive and the basic qualitative description has been adopted as a research strategy. Two contrasting cases with three embedded cases for each main case are selected using convenient and context-based approaches, representing a centralised and tightly regulated blood supply chain in the UK as well as a decentralised and loosely regulated blood supply chain in Indonesia. The data are collected using the triangulation of semi- structured interviews, walkthroughs, and other supporting documents including artefacts and archives. Template analysis coupled with within-case and cross- case analyses are then used to analyse the data. Findings: This thesis finds that inter-organisational information sharing influences blood safety and availability through the dynamic enactments of collective mindfulness principles that reflect the inter-organisational information sharing behaviour across the operational conditions. It also finds that the blood supply chain actors in the centralised and tightly regulated context are collectively more mindful when sharing information than those in the decentralised and loosely regulated context, so that more positive changes in the blood safety and availability performance are observed in the former compared to that in the latter context. Interestingly, whilst the data reveal an emerging mechanism of heedful interrelating across a range of operational conditions, this thesis also reveals the fact that inter-organisational information sharing does not necessarily lead to positive changes in blood safety and availability. In fact, negatively enacted collective mindfulness principles can lead inter-organisational information sharing to unimproved and even potentially worse blood safety and availability performance. Originality/value: The primary contribution of this thesis lies in understanding the underlying mechanisms of how inter-organisational information sharing influences blood safety and availability in the dyadic blood supply chain across a range of operational conditions. Whilst offering practical and conceptually relevant knowledge to the blood supply chain literature, it informs the wider supply chain literature on the different collective mindfulness principles that make inter- organisational information sharing influence supply chain performance across a range of operational conditions. The use of the collective mindfulness concept offers a novel perspective that extends the current discussion on the effectiveness of that information sharing for supply chains.Item Open Access Commodity reference price transparency: conceptualization, measurement instrument development, and influence on commodity price management.(Cranfield University, 2023-03) Vašek, Jan; Saghiri, Soroosh; Bourlakis, MichaelCommodity reference price (CRP) is potentially an important commodity price management influencing factor. However, despite its importance, it remains under-researched and poorly understood. Anchored in contingency theory and building on previous studies, this study (a) conceptualizes CRP contingency as CRP transparency, (b) creates a CRP transparency index as a tool for classifying and evaluating CRP, and (c) demonstrates the CRP transparency impact on CRP functions and CPM practices. Intuitive and interpretive literature reviews are combined with nine directed expert interviews to uncover the CRP transparency attributes. Subsequently, 111 interviews with purchasing managers explore a purposive sample of 22 CRP to construct and populate the CRP transparency index and to explore its theoretical and practical relevance, in particular, how individual CRP transparency levels shape CRP functions and impact the availability, choice and performance of commodity price management practices. The main contributions of this thesis to theory are (a) conceptualizing CRP transparency as a multi-dimensional construct composed of four measured attributes: accuracy, completeness, publication frequency, and methodology, (b) operationalizing these measured attributes into five transparency levels, (c) constructing CRP transparency index divided into five distinct and meaningful levels following a geological metaphor: black hole, opaque, translucent, transparent, dazzle. From a practitioner standpoint, this thesis provides actionable insights into (i) CRP transparency assessment and comparison with alternative CRP, (ii) how CRP transparency shapes the commodity price management practices and CRP functions and, (iii) offers an empirical toolbox for assessing, comparing, and configuring CRP to regulators and CRP issuers.Item Open Access Conceptualising a framework of trust-based auditing by focusing on service quality, scepticism and ethics.(Cranfield University, 2018-12) Spiteri Bailey, Michelle; Moro, Andrea; Wisniewski, Tomasz PiotrA number of financial scandals exposed over the past years have been perpetrated with the active involvement of auditors, negatively affecting the perception of trust and usefulness of the audit. The scope of this research is to understand auditors’ and clients’ perceptions of trust in the audit and identify factors to restore trust. Such a research has not yet been conducted in Malta, characterised mainly by small family businesses where all registered commercial companies, regardless of size, need to have audited financial statements. This study conceptualises a framework of trust-based auditing, based primarily on factors such as ability, benevolence and integrity. Perceptions and opinions from auditors and their respective clients were collected using a questionnaire. The information collected determines whether a framework based on service quality, ethical behaviour and professional scepticism leading to audit usefulness could be established and to determine a set of client attributes perceived to increase trust. Results revealed that whereas auditors perceive that service quality, ethical behaviour and professional scepticism increase trust, their clients, on the other hand, opined that service quality is inversely linked to reputation and the latter is inversely related to trust. Auditors perceive all observable factors as equally and positively influencing service quality, ultimately increasing trust. Clients perceive reputation as a substitute to trust and service quality as a substitute for reputation. They also expressed the view that increasing the independence of auditors will increase unethical behaviour. Findings revealed that auditors and clients agree that assessing the company’s creditworthiness and performing a review for possible bias, fraud or error, increases audit usefulness, and to a lesser extent trust. A set of management attributes perceived by both auditors and clients to increase service quality and ultimately trust in the audit were also identified. These attributes mainly include the importance of adequate support by management and accurate record keeping by the client.Item Open Access The consequences of financial regulation.(2017-10) Aghanya, Daniel Efe; Poshakwale, Sunil S.; Agarwal, VineetGiven the importance of the financial services for capital accumulation, financial stability, and global financial intermediaries, the last decade has witnessed widespread calls for vigilant regulation of the sector, especially since 2007 to 2009 financial crisis. This has reinvigorated the debates on the economic benefits and costs of regulating the financial services. In this work, I examine the impact of financial regulation on the financial sector to better understand its influence on compliance costs, quality of financial reporting, and risk-taking, as well as the wider impact on the stock market liquidity and price informativeness. I also examine the impact of the UK’s decision to leave the European Union (BREXIT) on the UK stock market and industry. In the first paper, I review the empirical evidence on the literature on financial regulation published over the past thirty-five years with the aim: (1) to extend my understanding of its impact on the financial sector, (2) evaluate whether the regulation achieves the purpose it was designed, and (3) provide insights and suggestions for future research. I find several useful insights have been generated over the past two decades. Despite this progress, I find that most empirical studies were done in the United States, research on other regulatory context is under-researched. Further, most empirical research on costs of regulation exclude the financial sector, and we know that this sector is highly regulated. There is a need for more empirical research to provide insight on the regulatory cost burden to the financial sector. In the second paper, I examine how the Statutory Audit and Corporate Reporting Directives (SACORD) affect the compliance costs, risk-taking and quality of financial reporting of the EU banks. Using a natural experiment, I find that post SACORD, compliance costs of the EU banks increase by 11 to 26 percent. Further, there is a significant increase in risk-taking and a decline in the reporting quality. I conclude that as far as the EU banks are concerned, these regulations do not appear to have the desired effects of improving the reporting quality and constraining risk-taking. In the third paper, I investigate the impact of the MiFID on stock price informativeness and liquidity in the European Union (EU). Using data from 28 EU countries and the Difference in Differences approach, I find that post-MiFID the stock prices reflect greater firm-specific information and the market becomes more liquid. Consistent with the ‘Hysteresis Hypothesis’ the evidence shows that the impact of MiFID regarding price informativeness is greater for countries that have superior quality of regulation. The results are robust with respect to the choice of price informativeness and liquidity proxies as well as the control variables. Finally, in the fourth paper, I analyse the impact of UK referendum outcome (Brexit) on stock prices, along three key arguments made by proponents. I document that restricting EU labour movement is associated with a decline in market value by 9.64% to 10.35% over a 10-day event window. Further, sectors with a majority of their business operations outside the EU fared better than sectors that requires a lot of workforce from the EU. I find evidence that highly regulated sectors benefit more from expected deregulation of EU-derived laws except for the financial institutions. Additionally, internationally focused companies’ performed better than domestically focused firms. In sum, my evidence shows that the market expectations about labour restrictions, streamlining regulation and trade policies significantly affect firm values.Item Open Access Corporate governance and firm performance: evidence from India.(Cranfield University, 2019-09) Poudel, Ramji; Poshakwale, Sunil S.Corporate governance (CG) has attracted much public interest in the last three decades because of its apparent importance for the financial health of corporations, for the economy, and society in general. Most prior studies have focussed on CG issues in developed economies, particularly in the USA, UK, and other European countries, arguing that the advanced economies have relatively resolved their CG problems. CG issues are rooted in the separation of ownership and control of corporations with widely diffused ownership structures and managerial controls that result in agency problems between owners and managers. CG models of these advanced economies have been branded as the international benchmark for the best practices. Emerging economies are rising to become global economic superpowers. Many of them are newly liberalized, but in a short period, they have been overtaking advanced economies in terms of sizes and growth rates. CG problems in emerging economies are manifest via the concentration of ownership, prevalence of family control, and pyramidal ownership structures having entirely different institutional contexts for CG structures. However, little is known about the impact of CG on firm performance in emerging and developing economies. To understand the evolving perspective of CG in emerging economies, I look at India. This thesis is organized in paper format with three journal papers. Paper 1 describes the evolving perspective of CG in India. Its first part analyses the evolution of CG in India in three stages: the managing agency model (in the colonial period until 1947); the conglomerates or business house model (1947-1991); and the Anglo-American model (after 1991). My analysis shows that the modern form of CG in India evolved with the economic liberalization of 1991. Since then it has gone through several reform processes with well structured CG laws, regulations and codes, such as Clause 49 of the Listing Agreements, the Corporate Governance Voluntary Guidelines 2009, the Companies Act 2013, and the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code of India 2016. These CG laws, guidelines and codes are intended to provide a strong CG environment in the country, so that it can resolve CG problems and strengthen the financial health of corporations. The second part of the paper compares CG systems in India with those of the USA and UK in six areas, i.e. CG regulatory frameworks, board structures and committees, ownership structures, stakeholder relationships, financial accounting, auditing and reporting practices, and markets for finance. Initially, the CG systems in India were closer to the UK’s business-based CG model of ‘comply or explain’, but after the Companies Act 2013, Indian CG systems moved closer to the US regulations-based CG model of ‘comply or die’. Paper 2 discusses how performance indicators, such as Tobin’s Q, returns on assets (ROA) and returns on equity (ROE), are affected by a company’s leadership styles, and by it’s board’s size, independence, compensation, and gender diversity, plus it’s directors’ age, tenure, activities, and external commitments. From a sample of around 150 large Indian companies for five years from 2010/11 to 2014/15, listed on Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and National Stock Exchange (NSE), I construct a panel data, and I use system-generalized methods of moments (system GMM) on fixed effects regression models. The regression results show that board independence has a negative association with all performance indicators because of the lack of unified and prudent decisions. Directors’ tenure positively affects Tobin’s Q and ROA, implying that long- serving directors are good stewards of firms’ resources. CEO duality negatively affects Tobin’s Q, suggesting that the concentration of both the decision-making role and supervisory role in a single individual does not improve firm performance. Boardroom gender diversity is negative with ROA and ROE, which implies that companies appoint women directors as tokens to comply with the laws. Board size, external commitments, compensation and activities have no significant association with performance indicators. Past performance, as measured by one year lag of performance variables, are positive with the current year’s performance, implying that there is a dynamic effect on firm performance. In Paper 3, I empirically examine the components of ownership structure, as the key elements of internal governance mechanisms of the companies. Components of ownership structure, such as institutional ownership, promoter groups’ ownership, proportions of promoter directors, blockholders’ dispersion, family control, directors’ property, and government ownership are examined by linking them with firm performance, Tobin’s Q, ROA and ROE. In an unbalanced panel data of 150 large Indian companies, I use system GMM estimation on fixed effects regression models. I find that equity ownership of institutional investors has a positive impact on Tobin’s Q, indicating that institutional investors are independent, and they do not compromise as monitors of the firm. Family control improves firms’ accounting performances, as indicated by positive associations between family control and ROA and ROE. These results suggest that family control lowers agency problems between owners and managers and also does not adversely affect the interests of minority shareholders. Family members in family-controlled firms act as stewards instead of agents, and their behaviour improves firm performance. Similarly, ownership by promoter or promoter groups’ positively affects market performance as measured by Tobin’s Q. Higher percentage of ownership gives the promoters enough incentive and control to monitor managerial activities. Non-executive directors’ (NEDs) ownership has a negative association with ROA and ROE. NEDs, who hold a nominal proportion of ownership stake of the firms, are neither active directors nor fully independent, which can damage firm performance. Blockholders’ dispersion has a positive relationship with Tobin’s Q and negative association with ROA and ROE. These results suggest that markets react positively to the presence of multiple blockholders; however, multiple blockholders are damaging accounting performance due to the presence of a new set of conflicts among blockholders, and between large blockholders and minority shareholders. Government ownership of companies has no significant association with performance measures.Item Open Access Customer engagement: "only connect", a reconciliation between scholastic and practitioner perspectives.(Cranfield University, 2022-05) Mollen, Anne; Wilson, Hugh; Macdonald, Emma K.The scholastic view of customer engagement is that it is a critical metric, albeit within the academic world there is a debate as to whether this critical metric is best represented experientially or behaviourally. The practitioner world is divided: for some the construct is a “vanity metric” (Weigel, 2011); others recognise the importance of the phenomenon but discard the experiential metric in favour of behavioural proxies. This thesis aims to achieve concordance between these perspectives by challenging the assumptions of both worlds about the concept’s provenance and utility It is structured around three papers. The conceptual paper (paper 1) defines customer engagement as an experiential construct, distinguishes it from neighbouring constructs (notably telepresence and interactivity), and establishes its dimensions, laying the groundwork for scale development. This paper was published in Journal of Business Research in 2010. It has become a central part of academic discourse on engagement, having 1590 Google Scholar citations by May 2022. Paper 2 explores the scholastic-practitioner disconnect about engagement. Through two large-scale surveys of media websites (n=12,125 and 3,030), it: (1) refines paper 1’s definition of engagement to take account of conceptual work in the intervening decade; (2) develops and validates an engagement scale reflecting that revised conceptualisation; (2) compares the impact on outcomes (loyalty, satisfaction and NPS) of this experiential engagement measure (‘CE’) with a behavioural measure (‘CEB@Site’), showing that the former outperforms the latter; (3) refutes the hypothesis, reflecting practitioner heuristics, that CEB@Site is a robust proxy for CE; and (4) illustrates that CEB@Site nonetheless remains a valuable metric in its own right. Context (here, different site ‘genres’) is a moderating factor that does not, however, inhibit comparisons between sites within the same category. Paper 3 examines the effect of CE on advertising receptivity (AdRecep), another crucial outcome for practitioners. Reusing paper 2’s second survey, it finds that: (1) CE drives AdRecep; (2) CE dimensions differ in their impact on AdRecep by context; (3) contextual targeting is an effective driver of AdRecep, and (4) respondents who are ‘receptive’ to advertising are also ‘responsive’ to it and exhibit a propensity to be ‘micro-influencers’. Paper 3 thereby makes the case for CE as an advertising metric of value.Item Open Access Customer insights generation at the front end of innovation: an exploration within a medical device company(Cranfield University, 2023-06) Grant, Stuart Russell; Goffin, Keith; Adams, RichardIt is generally agreed that product innovation happens when innovation teams conduct market research to uncover customer needs. It has also been reported that customer needs and customer insights are essential for radical innovation. Over the last 40 years, research into customer needs has defined needs as either articulated or unarticulated, with associated market research methods to uncover needs and insights, such as surveys, questionnaires, observation, interviews, and a repertory grid. Though customer needs are well-defined, customer insights need an adequate definition. Although definitions exist in the marketing and psychology literature, they are unclear or often conflicting within the product innovation field. For example, customer insights are either a separate concept from a need or a component of needs. As such, how both these concepts relate to radical innovation remains unclear. Furthermore, the process of uncovering customer needs has been well defined; conversely, the process that links the uncovering of customer needs and discovering customer insights requires an improved framework. Nevertheless, does understanding the relationship and process between needs and insights matter and warrant being studied? If, as suggested, finding customer needs leads to incremental innovation and customer insights lead to radical innovation, then understanding this is worthwhile. This is because, firstly, for academics, investigating what innovation teams are doing during the front end of innovation (FEI) will allow them to analyse the data from case studies research more effectively. Secondly, practitioners will better appreciate the FEI process and be able to categorise their findings from market research into needs and insights, which will assist with considering the type of innovation being pursued. Therefore, understanding the relationship between a need and an insight is required. A fuller understanding of the process of discovering insights in the FEI is needed. Through a systematic literature review (SLR) and an exploratory case study, the research attempts to investigate this conceptualisation of customer insight in product innovation and understand the relationship between needs and insights. The SLR reviewed the extant literature on the definitions of, the methods used for finding, and the relationship between needs and insights. The exploratory case study investigated the process of discovering customer insight with innovation teams in a global medical technology company. The research had two strands – retrospective and longitudinal. Five retrospective cases were conducted immediately after the FEI had finished: four interviews per case, totalling 20 interviews. Four longitudinal cases followed the FEI for ten months; an interview was conducted with the participants at 1-, 4-, and 10-month intervals throughout the front end process; this totalled 45 interviews with 15 participants from the four cases. In addition to the interview data, documentation was also collected from all nine cases. The data was collected and analysed based on coding from the literature. The research extends the body of literature on customer needs and insights. From a theoretical perspective, the study provides a clearer understanding of the definition of customer needs and insights. It also suggests the relationship between the concepts of need and insight. The framework proposed that discovering insights produces a better understanding of the front end process. This process is iterative, whereby finer needs are uncovered, and deeper insights are discovered as the team further understands the customer and the market research. From a practice perspective, the study assists innovation in better appreciating the interaction of needs and insights. The research also helps product innovation teams better categorise their market research findings into needs and insights that may drive more radical innovations.Item Open Access The dilemma of natural resource dependency in gulf countries.(Cranfield University, 2019-08) Aljarallah, Ruba Abdullah; Angus, AndrewNatural resources (NR) serve as useful inputs and vital raw materials for domestic industries, which stimulate and secure sustained economic growth and development. However, the notion that the richness of NR can be translated into a curse rather than a blessing has long been an overarching topic of research for both academics and policymakers. The wealth of NR has noticeable socioeconomic and political impacts that vary among resource-rich countries. Given the importance of the Gulf Countries and their dependency on income from NR, the present study thoroughly analyzes the socioeconomic and political aspects of NR dependency in Kuwait (KWT), the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Firstly, this study examines the economic aspects of NR dependency by taking per capita GDP (PGDP) and Total Factor Productivity (TFP) as dependent variables. Secondly, this study examines the political aspects of NR dependency by taking institutional quality as the dependent variable. Lastly, the present study examines the social aspects of NR dependency by taking human capital as the dependent variable. This study applies the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model and co-integration technique by using time-series data from 1984 to 2014. The results indicate that, in the long-run, dependency on NR has a positive impact on PGDP in the KSA and the UAE, but the relationship is insignificant in KWT. Then, it is found that NR dependency shows a positive impact on TFP in the KSA and a negative impact in KWT, while the relationship is insignificant in the UAE. The results reveal that, in the long-run, institutional quality deteriorates as a result of NR dependency in KWT, but this relation is insignificant in the KSA and the UAE. The results of co-integration illustrate that NR dependency dampens human capital in the three countries in the long-run.Item Metadata only Director prestige, firm performance, value, and risk.(Cranfield University, 2022-10) Khedar, Harsh; Poshakwale, Sunil S.; Agarwal, VineetThis thesis investigates the impact of director prestige on firm performance, value, and risk. The first essay, entitled, “Are prestigious directors mere attractive ornaments on the corporate Christmas tree?”, examines the impact of appointments of prestigious directors on both short- and long-term firm performance. Using the UK’s unique institutional setting of Queen’s honours to measure director prestige, I find that the market reacts positively to the appointment announcements of Prestigious Award-Winning Directors (PAWDs). Further, I show that firms appointing PAWDs show a significant improvement in performance than firms appointing Non-Award-Winning Directors (NAWDs). However, it is the first appointment of a PAWD to firms that are driving the significance implying that there is no incremental value in appointing more than one PAWD to the board. I attribute these findings to the monitoring, legitimacy, and preferential access to resources roles of prestigious directors. My results are robust to several checks controlling for endogeneity arising through omitted variable bias and self-selection bias. In the second essay, entitled, “Prestigious Directors, Firm Acquisitions, Financial Policies and Risk”, I investigate the impact of prestigious directors on the firm’s acquisition behaviour, financial policies such as cash holdings and net leverage and its risk and valuation. I find that firms undertake less acquisitions, especially, diversifying acquisitions, after appointing PAWDs. Moreover, they increase their cash holdings after appointing PAWDs, and hence, their net leverage decreases as firms need not borrow externally due to excess cash. Finally, I find that the firm risk declines and the value increases after the appointment of prestigious directors. I consider these findings to diligent monitoring performed by prestigious directors that reduce managerial private benefits. Overall, my findings are consistent with both the Agency Theory and the Resource Dependence Theory that suggest that prestige not only acts as an incentive to effectively monitor management but also signals higher human and social capital.Item Open Access Does religiosity and trust affect financing activities? Evidence from Indonesia.(Cranfield University, 2020-12) Wijaya, Ibrahim Fatwa; Moro, Andrea; Belghitar, YacineIslam religiosity and trust are inextricable linked since Islamic teachings promote trustworthy behaviour. Existing literature has shown that perceived trustworthiness of a party has positive impacts on the business-to-business relationship, especially in financing relationships. So far, however, there has been limited discussion on the role of religiosity and trust to support financing activities in the Islamic context. Empirical paper number 1 examines the impact of Islam religiosity on financing availability and non- performing financing in both Islamic and conventional banks. I contribute to the literature by using more suitable Islam religiosity proxies at province level, namely Islamic school, Islamic seminary school, mosque, Hajj application, and halal certificate and by finding that Islamic and conventional banks in stronger Islam religiosity areas provide more financing and have less non-performing financing. Empirical paper number 2 explores the magnitude of values-based trust vis-à-vis competence-based trust on financing availability in the context of Islamic culture, an issue that has limited discussion in current literature. I find that values-based trust plays stronger role than competence-based trust in Islamic culture. Finally, existing literature on trust and bank lending has not taken into account the characteristics of financing products in their studies. The third empirical paper discusses the role of trust on financing availability in three different Islamic financing products, i.e., Murabaha, Ijara, and Profit-loss sharing. I find that values-based trust is more important than competence-based trust in Ijara, but competence-based trust plays stronger role than values-based trust in both Murabaha and Profit-loss sharing.Item Open Access Drifting away of actions from prescribed procedures(Cranfield University, 2023-10) Tewari, Neha; Denyer, David; Pilbeam, ColinThis research examines a particular kind of routine change where a decoupling of actions from the prescribed procedures is consciously and mindfully introduced to benefit the organisation and to make work easier, locally efficient, and more effective. I draw on Snook’s (2002) conceptualisation of practical drift to define my phenomenon. When procedural demands do not fit the practical or situational demands, people adjust or alter the recommended procedures, routines, and workflows to better fit the local needs. This research uses a case-based inquiry to examine 197 cases of drift happening within large multinational organisations from the Oil and Gas, Manufacturing, and Aerospace sectors to theories of why ‘Practical drift’ happens and what the impact of this on safety. Using a mixed-method data collection technique of Repertory Grids (RepGrid), 31 middle and senior managers were interviewed. It resulted in 262 RepGrid ‘Constructs’ related to the events of drift. The data was firstly analysed qualitatively using a bootstrapping generic content analysis technique that pools construct into meaningful higher-order categories. Two quantitative analyses followed this: a RepGrid-specific statistical analysis, called the Average Normalised Variance (ANV), to identify key constructs and a Boolean minimisation-based Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) to identify factor combinations associated with safety negative outcomes. This research finds that drifted actions happen because actors have an operational objective or ‘Purpose’ that triggers drift. Secondly, there exist some contextual conditions that facilitate replacing a recommended procedure with an alternate action. Safety findings reveal that some factors like ‘Risk awareness’ and ‘Local decision flexibility’ are more likely to deliver safety negative outcomes. In contrast, the factor ‘save time’ was found to be correlated to safety positive outcomes. Building on these findings, I propose three theoretical models. First is a factor model that identifies a set of factors causing drift. These factors are ordered by their relative influence, extending our understanding of the purpose and contextual conditions associated with drift. The second and third models link factors from the first model to different safety outcomes. These models add to the extant literature on practical drift and routine change by identifying (i) factors that link to safety positive, neutral and negative outcomes and (ii) the combination of key factors having more potency to deliver safety negative outcomes. The relevance of these findings for practice is that the research raises the issue of drift being an operational reality and motivates the organisations to address the drift causing factors. Furthermore, this study paves the pathway for future studies to establish causal relationships among the configuration of constructs discovered in this research.Item Open Access The effect of a curruption scandal, recession and legislation on voluntary disclosure, reporting quality, and governance, compliance and control: the case of Brazil.(Cranfield University, 2019-08) Whitehead, Martin; Belghitar, YacineThis thesis sets out the results of a mixed methods research project comprising three separate studies that look to address the overarching research question: how do trigger events in the form of crises and legislation affect (i) corporate reporting, i.e. through voluntary disclosure and earnings management, and (ii) governance, compliance and internal controls? This important topic, which sits at the intersection of three research domains - crisis management; corporate control and governance; and financial reporting quality - has not been targeted in a holistic way in prior studies. This thesis aims to shed new light on the topic by addressing this gap. Paper 1 comprises a systematic literature review (SLR) which is motivated by the research question: - how do crisis trigger events (corruption scandal, transparency legislation, and recession) impact corporate responses in the form of management actions, and their reporting choices around voluntary disclosure and earnings management? Adopting established SLR methodology, the review identifies 91 articles from research domains across management, accounting and finance. The study synthesizes key findings from the sample, identifies emergent themes, and constructs a conceptual crisis response framework centred on dynamic stakeholder management for determining action and reporting choices, which must be navigated within a control and regulatory environment that chiefly influences reporting response options. The paper also sets out implications for practitioners and policy makers, makes the case for Brazil as a fruitful location for relevant and interesting studies, and presents a tangible research agenda which is used to inform Papers 2 and 3. Paper 2 is a case study which examines how Petrobras responded to a major corruption scandal in the period 2010-2017 through (i) disclosures in its annual report (AR), sustainability report (SR), and press releases; and (ii) organizational restructuring changes made to strengthen governance and controls in response to the crisis. We find evidence in support a legitimacy theory explanation of a strategy to repair trust with key stakeholders through (i) enhanced disclosure and (ii) an evolving sequence of actions to regain control and restructure the organization, pursuant to trust repair models. In addition, we obtained new insights into how a company uses the AR and SR to target different stakeholder groups and communicate differently with them to manage their respective legitimacy concerns, findings which support stakeholder theory and organizational façade theory explanations. Finally, our review of actions taken by management shows that these align well with models of trust repair and legitimacy management, and appear to have resulted in Petrobras successfully regaining legitimacy by 2017. Paper 3 is a quantitative study which assesses how three major external events influenced earnings management in Brazil during the period 2000 – 2017. We consider the effect of the Petrobras corruption crisis, recession, and the introduction of a new transparency law (the Brazil Clean Company Act (BCCA)). We find that the corruption crisis affecting Petrobras in 2014 and 2015 (and the resulting external scrutiny from regulators, media and the public associated with it), was of such an intensity that it had an impact similar to that of legislation elsewhere, such as Sarbanes-Oxley: - i.e. in Brazil during the corruption crisis the level of accruals-based earnings management (AEM) decreased and real earnings management (REM) increased as the two were used as substitutes. During recession, firms reduced the level of REM they use, which is consistent with an interpretation that this costly form of manipulation is not required when all firms are facing unfavourable reporting. BCCA, which was introduced in 2014 to improve transparency and reduce corruption, has had the effect of reducing real earnings management, which we interpret as being due to an increased focus on compliance and governance with improved tone at the top. This study is the first to consider the impact of both a corruption crisis and transparency legislation on earnings management behaviour, and adds to extant knowledge on what influences REM usage, the results of which widen our understanding of how management weighs the costs and benefits of its manipulation options, dependent on external scrutiny and the quality of internal governance mechanisms Overall, the results from the three papers enable us to contribute to the research literature in a number of ways in respect of the influence specific crisis and exogenous shock events have on management decision making related to (i) its responsive actions to ensure the adequacy of its governance and controls environment, and (ii) in the reporting and communication choices it makes around earnings management and voluntary disclosure; findings which have relevance beyond the Brazilian environment.Item Open Access The effects of supply chain disruptions due to hurricanes on stock price.(Cranfield University, 2022-04) Schelp, Priscilla; Skipworth, Heather; Aktas, EmelPurpose and Rationale: It is known that supply chain disruptions have a negative stock price effect and that the effect is stronger if these are caused by catastrophes. However, these effects of hurricane-induced supply chain disruptions on stock price remain unexplored, even though the annual average hurricane damage in the US due to hurricanes is $54bn, of which $9bn is to commercial businesses. This thesis aims to: 1. Explore, classify and connect the three concepts of natural disasters, supply chain disruption (SCD) and firm financial performance in one framework. 2. Identify potentially influencing factors and test if, and in which way, these influence the effect of hurricanes on stock price. 3. Define a statistical model to evaluate the effect of hurricanes on stock price. The main focus is on manufacturing firms. Design/Methodology/Approach: This research is quantitative. The daily closing value of 625 manufacturing companies that were listed on the NYSE between 2014 and 2018 was analysed. Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) was applied in combination with intervention analysis to model the stock price time series. In total six deduced hypotheses were tested. The statistical interruptions in stock prices due to hurricane announcements and hurricane incident announcements were investigated. The method allowed estimation of the magnitude and temporal patterns of change by applying transfer functions. Multiple factors that potentially influence the magnitude or pattern of the stock price reaction were tested, including details of damage. Findings: Both hurricane incident announcements and hurricane announcements negatively affect a firm’s stock price, mostly in the form of a transitory change. Industry moderates the stock price reaction to hurricane announcements. Minor supply chain disruptions are the only impacts resulting in a positive reaction. Providing details on actual damage leads to less negative and mostly positive reactions. Companies providing information on preventive closures are unlikely to suffer a negative reaction. Practical Implications: Hurricane risk needs to be actively managed by firms in all sectors; however, the preparation needs to be sector-specific. Firms should focus their efforts on managing supply chain disruptions. Additionally, firms need to communicate in a transparent way to reduce shareholders’ uncertainty and increase trust, so that the stock prices reactions are less negative. Originality: This thesis provides a single framework connecting disasters, supply chain disruptions and firm performance, thereby bridging supply chain management and financial economics literature. The thesis evaluates the effect of hurricane-induced supply chain disruptions for the first time. It does not analyse just the effect of hurricane incident announcements but also hurricane announcements and compares both. Autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) in combination with an intervention model was applied as an alternative to the frequently used event study methodology. This approach is chosen to evaluate the effect of hurricane announcements and hurricane incident announcements on the daily stock price time series of the firms in scope. Longer term effects can be evaluated, and the best fitting transfer functions are assessed. The model accounts for autocorrelation, trend, seasonality, and drift patterns. Additionally, the effect of the following potentially influencing factors was tested as these have only been touched on in the existing literature so far: impact type, impact extent, detailed damage, and preventive closure.Item Open Access Engaging stakeholders in sustainablilty-orientated innovation.(Cranfield University, 2018-10) Watson, Rosina; Wilson, Hugh; Macdonald, Emma K.Companies increasingly collaborate with external stakeholders to deliver sustainability- oriented innovations intended to address environmental and social challenges. These partnerships have the potential to combine the diverse resources and capabilities required to implement systemic change, but suffer from conflicts and tensions arising from differences in partners’ objectives driven by their contrasting institutional logics (or ‘value frames’). Through three interconnected studies written as journal articles, this thesis contributes to our understanding of how companies can effectively engage their stakeholders in sustainability-oriented innovation. A systematic literature review integrates evidence from 88 scientific articles into a framework revealing the hierarchy of capabilities required to integrate a company’s stakeholders in sustainability-oriented innovation. Notably, a tier of second-order stakeholder learning capabilities is identified which enables companies to acknowledge, work positively with and learn from differences between themselves and their partners. These differences, as well as the mechanisms and strategies employed to navigate them, are further investigated through eight case studies of sustainability-innovation partnerships. First, findings from a subset of five business-nonprofit partnerships are synthesized into an action-oriented ‘CIMO- logic’ framework which sets out the stakeholder interventions used and the value outcomes generated. Whilst project outcomes are achieved by partners enforcing their own interests through agent control, total value is enhanced when partners recombine their resources and capabilities through resource integration; this process is facilitated by partners navigating differences between their value frames through value empathy. Second, analysis of all eight case studies focuses in on this issue of recognizing and reconciling difference. Five dimensions of difference between partners emerge (goal salience, goal instrumentality, temporal focus, language and collaborative intent) along with five strategies deployed to reconcile tensions arising from these differences (engagement logic alignment, cultural bridging, partner positioning, project scoping and success measurement). Taken together, the thesis’s findings advance our understanding of how companies can effectively integrate stakeholder perspectives into their sustainability-oriented innovation processes. They may have implications for other innovation and partnerships contexts involving stakeholders, including those from diverse institutional settings.Item Open Access Examining shared perceptions and awareness of gendered organisational political climates in male-dominated organisations: a power base model.(Cranfield University, 2022-09) King, Michelle; Denyer, David; Parry, EmmaOrganisational politics and political behaviour are gendered, and this contributes to gender differences in building and maintaining power at work. This research utilises a systematic review to elicit mechanisms from the extant literature relating to organisational political climate (OPC) and power sources and their bases. Adopting semi-structured interviews and an abductive reasoning process, this research then examines how and why OPC and political behaviours are gendered by examining how power sources and bases are activated in two organisations (renamed EnergyCo and FinanceCo to ensure anonymity), where women make up less than 10% of senior positions at the time of undertaking the interviews. Examining how OPC and political behaviours are gendered within male-dominated organisations is important, as the gendered nature of these constructs is more likely to be heightened within this environment. The findings reveal that perceptions of OPC and political behaviours are gendered through the perceptions individuals form of the ideal worker, which is both gendered and political. The gendered nature of both OPC and political behaviours results in differential outcomes for men and women at work, reinforcing the gender power gap.Item Open Access An explanatory theory of power in inter-organisation relationships: evidence from the aerospace and defence industry.(Cranfield University, 2022-01) Simpson, Deborah Catherine; Wilding, Richard D.; Bourlakis, MichaelThis thesis concerns the phenomenon power, heralded the most fundamental yet contested phenomenon / concept in social science. The focus is establishing the essential qualities that describe, characterize, and explain power in inter- organisation relationships (IOR-power) to inform debates on the significance of IOR-power to supply chain performance. The thesis is founded on an iterative and critical synthesis of core academic perspectives spanning 50 years and 27 practitioner perspectives obtained from three field studies, unearthing meanings and experiences attributed to IOR-power. It is argued that IOR-power standing replete with unresolved contestations has been under-theorised and under- valued in the literature and in practice. An imbued distain for IOR-power is fuelled by an untenable dichotomisation of consensual IOR-influence and coercive IOR- power – unnecessarily stripping IOR-power of much of its potency – leaving both precariously sharing the burden of explaining IOR-behaviour wherein accounts thus far are insufficient to explain IOR-outcomes of interest. Underpinned by a dialectical critical realism perspective, the main contribution is a plausible theory of IOR-power, a fundamental explanatory process building block complemented by a conceptual framework supported by evidence from the aerospace and defence industry. Advancing alignment with natural-based power, IOR-power is more comprehensively claimed to be the combination of embedded individual behaviour, human creations, and Nature, at work exploiting resources in pursuit of goal attainment – an emergent, downwardly inclusive social and natural-based process governing IOR-outcomes. Accordingly, IOR-influence is distinct from but wholly integral to IOR-power that is rendered situated, negotiated, and indeterminate. IOR-power is conferred its full weight in explaining IOR-performance across economic, social, and environmental domains rendering adopted perspective and attribution salient in IOR-power accounts. The only antithesis of IOR-power is IOR-powerlessness wherein empowerment and disempowerment stand as theoretical bridges.Item Open Access Exploration of organizational practices that foster experiences of inclusion(Cranfield University, 2023-09) De Largy; Vinnicombe, Sue; Anderson, DeidreThe literature on inclusion is growing, yet there remains a lack of clarity about how to foster an inclusive organization, with little attention paid to organizational inclusion practices or how inclusion is experienced. This thesis addresses these shortcomings through three studies. First, a systematic literature review reveals the inclusive organization tends to be studied through leadership, climate, workgroups, perceptions and practices; these elements may act generatively and interact to foster inclusion. Inclusion, conceptualised as treatment that satisfies needs for belongingness and uniqueness, but with less exploration of individual experiences of inclusion. Also, inclusion practices, although recognised as important in fostering an inclusive organization, lack empirical exploration. The second paper addresses this shortcoming; an empirical study with 15 Diversity and Inclusion Directors/Leads, using semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis. Findings indicate that practices may facilitate belonging and value uniqueness but organizations tend to prioritise practices which promote belonging. Practices that promote well-being and career development foster inclusion but are dependent upon the leaders involved. The third study is an empirical investigation of individual experiences of inclusion, with semi-structured interviews with 36 junior women. The study finds that employees prioritise being valued for their professional expertise and when treated as an individual, through well-being and career development practices. Interactions with line managers are the primary context for inclusion, although experiences of inclusion are complex and changeable. Overall theoretical contributions are that inclusion practices are inexact, practices may promote either belonging, or being valued, or both. Well- being and career development practices are re-positioned in the inclusive workplace model as inputs of inclusion. The study provides empirical evidence that employees prioritise task-related inclusion, with line managers as the primary context for inclusion, within day-to-day interactions.