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Background: Institutional delivery rates in India have improved in the past decade, but maternal mortality remains high. The aim of this study was to describe current referral pathways and transport services for pregnant women in the Indian public health sector to identify strategies for strengthening the referral system for emergency obstetric care. Methods: I conducted three literature reviews; a health provider’s KAP survey of staff in primary level public health facilities from two states; analyses of ‘108’ ambulance service data from six states; and telephone interviews of women who called this service in two states. Results: The reviews found no standard protocols or guidelines for referral of women with obstetric high-risk or complications in India, and over half of pregnant women attending primary level health facilities were referred. There was poor quality institution referral care and no studies on the effectiveness of transport interventions. The KAP study found staff had sub-optimal knowledge and practice for screening common high-risk conditions and complications, and low confidence and resources to manage emergency situations. Less than a quarter of pregnancies and institutional deliveries in the study populations used ‘108’ ambulances. Most women called the service for normal labour: only 4.3% had an obstetric emergency and 5.8% were inter-facility transfers. Of pregnant callers to the ‘108’ service, one third reported a high-risk condition or early complication in pregnancy. Women transported using other means were more likely to use private facilities than those transported by ‘108’. Conclusion: The quality of obstetric care at peripheral health centres is suboptimal and the high proportion of referrals could be avoided. The ‘108’ ambulance service is underused, especially in emergency situations. India’s health systems should improve the provision of obstetric care by standardising services at each level of health care. Strategies are required to increase the use of ‘108’ services for obstetric emergencies.

A methodology is devised to enable key people directly responsible within an organisation for the automotive component design and manufacture, to environmentally assess a wide variety of products that they produce. The research is applicable in those organisations that have adopted QS9000rrS16949 Quality Systems and have a robust Advanced Product Quality Planning (APQP) process in place. Research was conceived around the hypothesis that there is a need to integrate automotive product design and manufacture with environmental performance to enable environmental considerations to be taken into account in daily decision-making practices. A concept for integrating environmental performance objectives into product variety management was derived by analysing current methods deployed in the collaborating organisation, Federal Mogul Corporation. The findings were then critically compared with several other companies nominated by Federal Mogul and Coventry University to remove any'bias or preconceptions that existed. In addition, a review of current practices and management systems through a literature review was 'presented establishing useful guidelines that can be used in the creation of a suitable .methodology. This research concluded that a great deal ofprevious work has concentrated on managing the design and manufacture of a wide variety of products for operations management and does not include environmental consideratiqns. There is also limited study on environmental process planning which addresses issues with scrap, defects and by-product reductions. Many techniques and standards are available (e.g. Life Cycle Assessment, Design for Environment, Environmental Management Systems) but all have inherent weaknesses and none are related directly to the APQP process. Case studies confirmed that all the organisations had an Environmental Management System based on 1S014000 but the approach has been reactive and compliance based. The APQP process· did not facilitate the suppliers to analyse or document environmental issues while building quality into the range of products manufactured. Different departments and APQP practitioners within an organisation had different t11us towards' environmental perfonnance and product variety manufacture. The APOP practitioners did not have a comprehensive methodology, support tools including the practice of working in unison to achieve environmental improvement goals during the application ofAPQP logic for the design & manufacture ofproduc~s. Therefore, the proposed methodology consisted offour main phases: • Phase 1 - Encouraged organisations to devise and make· available their environmental and product management policies and strategies.' • Phase 2 - Guided a company to identify the pre-requisites that were required to streamline their organisation to focus on the environment and product quality. • Phase 3 - Emphasised the application of an environmentally based proc~ss planning system framework for streamlining the organisation's internal product management operations and systems. • Phase 4 - Encouraged the use of unique tools arid techniques for product environmental perfonnance assessment. Six case studies were used to evaluate the frameworks and models in key organisations. All case studies realised cost-savings whilst improving product/process characteristics. Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) posed by the methodology were docfunented during the application ofthe case studies. The aim . of this research was successfully achieved by satisfying all of the research objectives. In conclusion, the following has been achieved by this research: • By deploying the research methodology, the objective of evaluating current manufacturing practices for automotive product management was achieved in which, gaps that existed between product design/manufacture and consideration of environmental impacts were identified. • By identifying the suitable requirements to close these gaps through the research methodology, the objective of producing an integrated methodology to ensure product design/manufacture met environmental requirements and aid decision making practices was achieved. • By further enhancing the methodology to be more robust, the objective of developing frameworks, models, perfonnance indicators, tools and techniques to support the methodology was achieved. • By applying the methodology in real-life applications, the objective of evaluating and validating the methodology using industrial based test cases was achieved.

A slice reactor has been constructed to study stirring patterns in jetted liquid/liquid reaction systems of the type found in top blown oxygen steel making processes. The two liquids used in the study have been mercury and highly viscous glycerol water mixture. The reaction has involved the oxidation of metallic sodium dissolved in the mercury by hydrochloric acid produced in the glycerol water mixture by jetting the liquids with a nitrogen hydrogen chloride gas mixture. The reaction takes place between droplets of the mercury amalgam and the acidified glycerol water solution, this reaction modelling the reaction that takes place in top blown steel making processes between droplets of iron carbon alloy and the oxidising slag. Gaseous hydrogen is produced by the reaction that has been studied, and it is bubbles of hydrogen that produce and maintain the foam within the slice reactor. The slice reactor has been constructed to represent a vertical section cut across the diameter of a centrally jetted axi-symmetric reactor of the BOS type, so that the jet is provided by a slit nozzle set at right angles to the sides of the reactor. The symmetry of gas and liquid flow patterns in the slice reactor is thus essentially two dimensional as opposed to the axi-symmetric flow patterns that exist in actual BOS reactors. The interactions between the two-dimensional jet and the liquids have been studied in the absence of any reaction in order to establish the extent to which the two dimensional system behaves in the same way as the axi-symmetrical system. Particular attention was paid in this study to the depth of the depression produced in the liquid surface by the impact of the jet and the conditions under which liquid was splashed out from the impact region. These studies showed that the characteristics of the two-dimensional jetting system are very similar to those of the axi-symmetric systems that have been extensively studied previously. The behaviour of the slice reactor in the presence of the reaction that produces and sustains the foaming slag has been studied by injecting a colour tracer into the foam and studying its movement. Two distinct flow zones have been observed in the foam, and the effect of changes in operating variables, such as lance height and gas flow rate, on these two flow zones has been studied. The presence of the tracer has allowed the metal droplets sprayed out from the jet impact region to be visible during their path through the foam. The size, velocity and spatial distribution of these droplets have been studied and their response to changes in the operating variables ascertained. As well as studying the behaviour of the reactor with a vertical jet produced from a single slit nozzle, a series of experiments have been carried out with two slit nozzles in which two jets of gas are produced at different angles of divergence. The behaviour of the system with these two slit nozzles has been compared with its behaviour with the single slit nozzle. The results of the investigation have been discussed in relation to the operation of industrial oxygen steel making processes.

This thesis deals with the constitutional development and the working of the Council of India from 1858 to 1919. The first chapter deals with the formation of the Council and its development until 1869, giving a picture of the cordial relation then existing with the Secretaries of state. The second sketches the development of the Council to 1895 showing how influential it was in helping to shape the policies of the Government of India in Calcutta and London. The third chapter is concerned with the gradual decline in influence of the Council down to the passing of the Act of 1919. The following three chapters describe in some detail various aspects of the policy of the Council. 'The problems of Civil Service Policy' deals with the Indianisation of the Civil Service and the active part played in this by the Council. The next considers the activities of the Council in the development of the economic policy of the Government with special reference to land revenue, cotton duties and the relations of the Government with the Presidency Banks. The last chapter deals with the members of the Council and emphasizes their ability and variety of experience. As a supplement to this chapter there is an appendix in the thesis containing the records of service of the 95 members of the Council. There is also a list giving the periods of service of the members.

By way of experimental investigation, this thesis outlines the effects of drag reducing riblet wall surface and outer layer large energy break-up (LEBU) device on the broadband noise of the turbulent boundary layer and the potential implications on hypothetical radiated noise from a sharp trailing edge. Through hot wire measurements on a stable time-invariant artificially tripped boundary layer, the flow conditions of the baseline turbulent boundary layer and the turbulent boundary later over the drag reducing riblets has been investigated. From there, the fluctuating pressure field of the turbulent boundary layer has been measured and characterized by way of wall embedded microphone sensors. Turbulent spots have been employed as a tool and visual aid into the spatial and temporal effect that the passive flow control devices have on the turbulent flow structures. It has been found that there is potential to affect trailing edge noise predictions when using a hybridised method of passive flow control, where both the near wall and outer boundary layer are targeted simultaneously.

At present, high-performance work systems (HPWSs) are widely believed to be a potential source of sustainable competitive advantage for organisations. However, although there is sufficient evidence to indicate the positive relationship between the HPWS and organisational performance, it remains unclear precisely how such a system affects organisational performance. Accordingly, there have been calls in the literature to access the level of individual employees in order to examine this relationship through their perspectives and perceptions regarding HPWSs because, at the end of the day, their experiences and interactions with such systems are what determine their subsequent attitudes and behaviours, which ultimately affect customer satisfaction and enhance the service climate in the organisation or vice versa. The current study, which is funded by the Shura Council*, aims to fill this gap by empirically examining the effects of the HPWS, employee outcomes (measured in terms of job satisfaction, commitment, trust, motivation and intention to remain) and service climate on customer satisfaction in the Omani public sector. This study contributes to our understanding of the 'black box': the mechanism by which perceptions of an HPWS affects customer satisfaction. The study examines the direct effects of employee outcomes and service climate on customer satisfaction as well their mediating effects on the relationship between the HPWS and customer satisfaction. Furthermore, this study explores the moderating effect of agencification on the HPWS-customer satisfaction link. In so doing, it not only provides insight into how the HPWS affects customer satisfaction through its direct and indirect impacts on employee attitudes and behaviours as well as service climate but also contributes to the literature of the two fields of strategic human resources management and new public management (NPM). Using a sample of 521 professionals in 15 government entities in the public sector in Oman, a partial mediation model was identified and tested using structural equation modelling. The study results indicate that an HPWS has significant positive relationships with employee outcomes and service climate. The findings also reveal that both employee outcomes and service climate partially mediate the relationship between the HPWS and customer satisfaction. Furthermore, the employee outcomes were found to have both direct and indirect effects on customer satisfaction via the service climate. Therefore, the study findings suggest that public-sector officials should seek to adopt and invest in HPWSs to enhance positive employee attitudes and behaviours and to cultivate a favourable service climate that will ultimately enhance the level of customer satisfaction. On the other hand, the results of this research did not support NPM's claim that agencification is an effective way to render public bureaucratic institutions more effective in achieving customer satisfaction. The study, therefore, raises concerns about the persistence of many international organisations, such as the World Bank and IMF, in calling on governments to implement this trend, particularly in developing countries.

Bahrain is a developed country that faces different economic and political challenges. Economically, Bahrain depends mostly on oil. However, there are some attempts to diversify its economy. Bahrain has established several economic projects to boost its economy including Bahrainization (Nationalization), Tamkeen (Labour fund), the Bahrain Business Incubator center, the banking sector, transport and communication, manufacturing and education. The Ministry of Education has established various educational projects to accommodate Bahrain Vision 2030, which aims to diversify the economy of Bahrain, building strategies of government and encouragement of a partnership between the private and public sector and the provision of an effective education system based on well trained teachers, enhancing the performance of public schools, provision of equal education opportunities for all students and improving and encouraging scientific education. This study investigates the different measures of secondary school effectiveness in Bahrain as a result of the new development of the education system in Bahrain including both teaching and improvement programs. These were initiated by the Ministry of Education in Bahrain and educational specialists. The literature reviews showed that secondary school effectiveness has been examined using specific factors - students' performance, teachers' performance, leadership. However, other factors such as leader-member exchange, value congruence, supportive supervisor communication and task performance have not been investigated well in the education sector and at the secondary school level in particular. The aim of this research is to investigate the impact of leader-member exchange, value congruence, supportive supervisor communication and task performance on secondary school effectiveness in Bahrain. Subsequent to this, a linkage was made between leader-member exchange and secondary school effectiveness in relation to the factors of supportive supervisor communication, task performance and value congruence on the one hand and the impact of value congruence on the relationship between leader-member exchange and secondary school effectiveness on the other. The research gap in this research is about the lack of knowledge of how to measure secondary school effectiveness in Bahrain. The conceptual model tested in this study is based on leader-member exchange theory. The study is based on a quantitative approach on reports provided by Quality Assurance Authority for Education and Training; a self-administrated questionnaire was distributed to both teachers and school administration. This was preceded by a pilot study to test the validity and reliability of the measures used in the main survey. The questionnaires were distributed and collected from 1/10/2015 until 31/10/2015. The total number of questionnaires was 1200 divided into two groups: (500) for the supervisors and (700) for the teachers. A total of 940 were returned: 420 from supervisors and 520 from teachers). The total number of questionnaires that were void was 225, 105 for supervisors, and 120 for teachers; due to missing data, the questionnaires eligible for analysis were 715, 315 for supervisors, and 400 for teachers. This empirical study reveals firstly that leader-member exchange and task performance have a significant positive and direct impact on Bahraini secondary schools' effectiveness. Second, supportive supervisor communication has a significant positive and direct impact on task performance. Third, leader-member exchange has a significant positive and direct impact on supportive supervisor communication. Finally, value congruence partially moderates the relationship between leader-member exchange and school effectiveness, leader-member exchange and supportive superior communication, and task performance relationship with supportive supervisor communication. The study also utilized the indicators of schools effectiveness provided by Quality Assurance Authority for Education and Training reports integrated with variables of leader-member exchange, supportive supervisor communication, task performance and age of school. These school indicators include the capacity to improve, students' academic achievement, students' progress in their personal development, the quality and effectiveness of teaching and learning, the quality of the curriculum delivery, the quality of guidance and support for students and the quality and effectiveness of leadership and management which have a significant relationship with leader-member exchange, supportive supervisor communication, task performance, age, talented and creative students, physical disabilities, special needs and physical difficulties students. It was found that talented and creative, physical disabilities and special needs and physical difficulties students have a significant effect on the school's capacity to improve, students' academic achievement, students' progress in their personal development, the quality and effectiveness of teaching and learning, the quality of the curriculum delivery, the quality of guidance and support for students and the quality and effectiveness of leadership and management. On the other hand, leader-member exchange, supportive supervisor communication, task performance and school's age have no significant effect. The research findings contribute to the theory in widening the understanding of the different measures of secondary school effectiveness in secondary schools in Bahrain and integrate them with indicators of effectiveness provided by Quality Assurance Authority for Education and Training reports. Finally, the report studies effectiveness of schools from both teachers' and supervisors' perspective, which provides deep understanding of the education system in Bahrain and helps in the continuous improvement process implemented by the Ministry of Education.

Corporate governance (CG) is the set of rules and regulations through which organisations account to their stakeholders. An effective CG system promoting the efficient use of organisational resources is instrumental in the economic growth of a country. Based on the existing literature, this research identifies board structural features i.e., 'Board Independence', 'CEO Duality', 'Board Diversity', 'Number of Board Committees' and 'Audit Committee Independence' as key variables of an effective CG system. Previous studies have largely examined the direct relationship between CG systems and firm performance. This research develops a multi-theoretical model that links the Board structural characteristics with firm performance measured in Tobin's Q, Return on Assets and Return on Equity, via two crucial mediating variables, 'Board Size' and the 'Frequency of Board Meetings', and two additional moderating variables, 'Code of Corporate Governance' and 'Ownership Concentration'. The conceptual model that is developed is tested with the help of an econometric study based on a comprehensive set of balanced panel data of 265 companies listed on the Karachi Stock Exchange for a period of six years. The first panel (2009-2011) represents the time-period before the implementation of the revised Code, and the second panel (2013-2015) covers the time-period following the implementation of the revised Code. The results show that the Number of Board Committees (discussing strategic issues) is significantly related to performance and the 'Size of Board' significantly mediates the relationship between the number of board committees and performance. The relationship is also moderated by the Code of Corporate Governance and ownership concentration held by the largest shareholder. The results also show that the links between additional Board structural variables (board independence, CEO duality, board diversity and audit committee independence) and the financial performance are positive but not significant to draw conclusive result. Comparison between pre-and post-implementation of the revised Code of CG suggests that the intervening relationship between the board variables and the performance is stronger after the implementation of the revised Code. This research is a significant milestone in the country context of Pakistan that reflects the socio-economic set of several emerging economies. A key implication of this research is that the corporate sector in Pakistan needs to move away from the tick-box culture of CG. The sector needs to implement CG as a tool to mitigate business risks, appoint and empower non-executive directors to achieve an effective monitoring of management. The companies also need to establish their own ethical and governance principles applicable to the Board of Directors in order to deal with factors that are likely to reduce Directors' efficiency. The research offers new insights and conceptual framework for further research in this area.

This thesis is an empirical investigation into the control mechanisms of headquarters (HQ) exercised over their subsidiaries and is conducted with the help of primary data collected from 147 Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) operating in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Following on from the literature review, this study proposed that the headquarters-subsidiary mechanisms could be linked to agency theory (with the 'classical' principal-agent relationship as its core) and to resource dependency theory (implying relations between the subsidiary and other partners based on interdependence). Our results show that the agency and resource dependency mechanisms are indeed used side by side and complementary to each other to exercise control. The Headquarters-subsidiary model used in this study has four components of control in it: personal centralised control (PCC), bureaucratic formalised control (BFC), output control (OUT) and informal control (INFO). These controls (as an agency mechanism) provide a solid platform on which other mechanisms can be built. The complementarities of these control mechanisms may be linked to earlier studies that show that successful organisations combine tight control with more open, informal and flexible information and communication exchanges. A focus that bends too much towards formal control or too much towards informal control may threaten a company's existence. Our research provides an empirical explanation on this premise. The study found that Anglo-Saxon countries heavily use impersonal types of control mechanisms, specifically bureaucratic formalised control and output control. Compared to the US, the level of control in Oriental subsidiaries is less; or, put differently, the latter enjoy a greater degree of autonomy than US subsidiaries. Once a unit is operational, Oriental parent companies grant many more degrees of freedom than US parent companies. When we deconstructed the results for Europe, comparing German and British MNEs as a group to Oriental MNEs, we found that the latter exercised greater overall control. With regard to output and bureaucratic control, we found that both US MNEs and those from the Middle East exercised greater control than Oriental MNEs. The study drew the aspect of international transfers into the picture and investigated the role of expatriates in controlling subsidiaries. It has been recognised that expatriates can form both direct and indirect means of control. In executing direct types of control, expatriates directly supervised decisions taken at subsidiaries. The study found that this role is particularly strong in MNEs from Asia-Pacific countries and German MNEs, and is much less important in subsidiaries of Anglo-Saxon MNEs. We found that subsidiaries of German MNEs experienced a very high level of control; indeed, the only control mechanism that German MNEs did not implement among subsidiaries was control by socialisation and networks. German and Japanese MNEs are perhaps more rooted in business systems concerned with the management of issues internationally than American or British companies. The second group reflected that Anglo-Saxon countries heavily used impersonal types of control mechanisms, specifically bureaucratic formalised control and output control. When we deconstructed the results for Europe, comparing German and British as a group to Oriental MNEs, reveals the latter as possessing greater overall control. With regard to output and bureaucratic control, we found that both US MNEs and those from the Middle East exercised greater control than Oriental MNEs. Headquarters can strategize to implement control by the informal and social means method by positioning a sizeable number of managers from the home country within the subsidiary. Indeed, our results revealed this as true. It seems that their presence has positive and significant effects on most levels of control: personal, output, bureaucratic and informal. Contrary to this, however, we found that the presence of a sizeable number of expatriates (as opposed to headquarters managers) leaded to greater autonomy in subsidiaries. In terms of strategy and structure, we indicated that the three distinct organisational models identified for MNEs could be recognised in our study. Control INFO was significantly, positively related to global strategy, multi-domestic and transnational strategy compared with PCC, BFC, and OUT control mechanism. Conversely, BFC had a significant, negative and weak relationship with global strategy and transnational strategy, and no relationship with multi-domestic strategy. In general however, we can deduce the existence of a tendency for global, transnational and multi-domestic MNEs to use indirect control mechanisms and informal control suited to their integrated organisational models to a larger extent. Our results confirmed previous studies in the field of organisation theory, in the sense that size is an important explanatory factor for differences in control mechanisms. In contrast to these studies, however, a dominant effect was found only for the indirect control mechanisms. Few detailed studies that have investigated the effect of size on the two indirect control mechanisms; in actuality, most previous studies have focused on the direct control mechanisms (personal centralised control and bureaucratic formalised control) only. As such, our study reconfirmed the importance of the variable size, but concluded that it is mainly associated with higher levels of indirect control. The age of the subsidiary does not seem to have a significant influence on the type of control mechanism that is exercised by headquarters towards a particular subsidiary. Our study investigated the importance of various MNE characteristics in an attempt to explain performance differences between MNEs. The advantage of this study is that many of the characteristics that have been identified in previous literature as being important factors influencing performance were included in our research design, in order for us to be able to answer the other research questions. This therefore allowed us to assess the relative importance levels of different variables in explaining performance differences between companies, such as: country of origin, industry, size, interdependence, local responsiveness, knowledge flows, and the strategy and structure of the MNEs.

Workforce Localisation policies in Saudi Arabia (commonly known as ‘Saudisation’) have passed their nineteenth year, aiming at replacing foreign employees in the private sector with local employees. The government’s rationale behind the localisation of the workforce includes both the high rate of unemployment amongst Saudi nationals and the massive presence of expatriates in the labour market. The government acted firmly in this issue as organisations are threatened by closure and severe financial penalties if they do not comply with the policy requirements. Although these policies apply to all private firms, the regulations have been even tougher on Multi-National Enterprises (MNEs) as one of the main objectives of Saudi’s foreign investment policy is to create employment opportunities for locals. However, many MNEs have been found to be lagging behind in implementing the policies. Despite the importance of these policies and their implications on MNEs’ performance, research in this area remains very limited. The literature available has focused on issues of rationales and barriers of WL polices. One of the main gaps in literature is the lack of multi-dimensional models that identify the factors associated with the success of such policies. In an attempt to overcome the mentioned limitations, this research identifies the determinants of localisation success through the employment of multi-dimensional model. From the model proposed, the research evaluates the impacts of Institutional determinants, HR determinants, and firm characteristics on localisation success. The study draws its conclusion from the analysis of quantitative data collected from Human Resource Directors representing 157 MNEs. Hypothetical relationships are examined using multiple regression analysis. With regard to the first group of localisation determinants, the results support the institutional determinants of cause and control whilst supporting only the consistency proposition in the content determinants. With regard to HR determinants, the roles of HR director, recruitment, and training were found to be powerful determinants of localisation success. Finally, the results have shown that determinants related to MNEs’ characteristics—namely MNE size and MNE age—have no significant impact on localisation success. We also found that MNEs operating in the petrochemical industry are more likely to succeed in their localisation polices than other industries namely high and low technology industries. The overall findings have raised a number of areas of interest. First, the drivers of these policies were specifically social perception in the form of legitimacy and extrinsic economic pressure. Secondly, it was also duly observed that legislative and regulatory influence was found to be a strongly positive determining factor. From a theoretical perspective, it is concluded that greater diffusion of policies which acknowledge the potential variations in skill sets and labour availability and capability would, in fact, result in a more transparent approach. In the long term increased trust between organisations and policy-makers could have the effect of accelerating the localisation process because MNE’s work collaboratively with policy-makers and are prepared to invest resource in improving the level of localisation as a form of strategic and competitive advantage.

Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) face two decisive and domineering decisions when expanding across borders, namely, location and ownership decisions. The location decision involves where an MNE should locate its affiliates (i.e. a specific market or country), whereas the ownership decision involves what level of control to have over them (i.e. a wholly owned subsidiary or joint venture). These decisions have concerned managers, decision makers, foreign investors, and academics in the field of international business. Hence, the aim of this study is to provide further empirical evidence and insights regarding the determinants of location decision and ownership strategy of MNEs. Reviewing the literature on the location and ownership decisions of MNEs reveals that altered theories and explanations have been used to address these phenomena. However, none of them provides a full explanation of the MNEs' activities across borders unless it is combined by other theories. The only theoretical approach that provides a relatively full explanation of such activities is the eclectic paradigm. That is because it accommodates different explanations of all MNE theories by combining three types of advantages that are essential for any MNE to undertake foreign direct investment (FDI); these are ownership (O), location (L), and internalisation (I) advantages. Although this fact is evident in the literature, only few studies used the eclectic paradigm in examining and explaining both decisions incorporating all its factors together. Responding to this gap in the literature, this study developed a conceptual framework based on the eclectic paradigm incorporating all factors and variables that proved to have an impact on these decisions towards a better understanding of these phenomena. A questionnaire method was employed to examine the significance of the factors identified in the conceptual framework in determining the location and ownership decisions of MNEs. This questionnaire was addressed to senior executives of foreign affiliates operating in Syria and Jordan to ascertain the importance of these factors in the MNEs' decision to locate in Syria and Jordan. The data were analysed by means of an exploratory factor analysis (EFA), a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and logistic regression for research hypotheses testing. In relation to the location decision, the following factors are found to be important: intangible asset advantages, market factors, institutional factors, advantages of common governance, strategic motives, cost factors, and transaction-specific motives. One of the interesting findings of this study is that ownership advantages are found to be more important than the location advantages. In relation to the ownership strategy, the following factors are found to be important in affecting MNEs' preferences: ownership advantages (intangible asset advantages, advantages of common governance, and home country-specific advantages), location advantages (market factors, institutional factors, cost factors), and internalisation advantages (firm-specific motives). This study suggests that MNEs perceiving a higher level of importance for these factors are more likely to prefer a wholly owned subsidiary rather than a joint venture. Another interesting finding is that home country-specific advantages and cost factors are found to have a major effect on the ownership strategy selection. The findings also show that examining and explaining the location and ownership decisions should include the three OLI advantages. In addition, this study has proved that the OLI paradigm is the most suitable theoretical approach to examine and explain both decisions.

This research study elaborates on one of the most important features of the modern International Business (IB) area; the multinational R&D subsidiary. Taking into consideration the strategic importance and the particular role the R&D subsidiary plays, this study sheds light on the multiple forms of knowledge networks in which the R&D subsidiary is embedded. Accordingly, based on the two already known dichotomies of subsidiary knowledge networks (external home vs. external host and external host vs. internal) this thesis draws on the existing theory and empirical evidence and proposes a triangular view (i.e. external home, external host and internal) between the R&D subsidiary and its embeddedness within the surrounding knowledge networks. Accordingly, based on three major theories of the management in the IB area, Social Network Theory (SNT), Resource Dependency Theory (RDT) and Agency Theory (AT), this study provides answers on a number of under researched questions. First, what are the determinants of each type of R&D subsidiary embeddedness in each of the three available knowledge networks? Second, considering the relative costs influencing R&D subsidiaries to rely more or less on one form of embeddedness compared to another, what sort of relationship exists (i.e. complementary or substitutive) between the aforementioned forms of R&D subsidiary embeddedness? Finally, considering the contextual- and HQ-specific factors that impact the overall functioning of the R&D subsidiary, what sort of effect do the multiple forms of R&D subsidiary embeddedness have on the latter’s innovative performance? This study adopts a quantitative approach and employs appropriate econometric methods in order to provide answers to the aforementioned research questions. Furthermore, data from three different sources are amalgamated. First, a unique survey questionnaire is utilised. This instrument was originally developed in the University of Reading and corresponds to both subsidiaries and the HQ. The sample covers Fortune 500 Multinational Enterprises (MNEs). Second, and in order to augment the information derived from the survey, supplementary information on patent characteristics is sourced from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) database. Third, a range of aggregate-level (secondary) data enriches the existing dataset. The findings reveal that each form of R&D subsidiary embeddedness is determined by a set of different predictors. Precisely, it is found that host location’s macroeconomic uncertainty positively influences subsidiary’s embeddedness in the home location’s knowledge network. Being an R&D subsidiary and having an adaptation and support-oriented profile, as well as being highly centralised to the HQ, negatively influences the R&D subsidiary’s embeddedness in the host location’s knowledge network. On the other hand, having a more research intensive and internationally integrated R&D role positively influences the R&D subsidiary’s embeddedness in the internal knowledge network of the MNE. The findings also indicate that a complementary relationship exists between external home and external host, as well as among external host and internal knowledge networks. On the contrary, a substitutive relationship is indicated between external home and internal networks under which the R&D subsidiary is embedded. Finally, as regards the last research question the results indicate that only internal embeddedness has a positive and significant impact on innovative performance, while scientific and research endowment of the host locations is also found to positively influence the innovative output of the R&D subsidiary. Implications for academics and practitioners (both managers and policy makers) are widely discussed and suggest that the three-dimensional view of embeddedness is useful in understanding and explaining the way MNEs’ foreign R&D subsidiaries operate.

Very little past work has focused on the comparative analysis of human resource management (HRM) practices between domestic (DEs) and multinational enterprises (MNEs). The majority of the work in this area has instead concentrated on comparing the HRM practices employed by the subsidiaries of MNEs, and has mostly been conducted in the context of developed countries. This research studies the behavioural differences in the HR practices--recruitment, training, internal career opportunities, appraisals, rewards and incentives, as practiced in DEs and MNEs in the emerging country context of Brunei Darussalam. A survey of literature yielded nine major testable hypotheses. These included MNEs being more stringent with regard to their recruitment and training and rigorous with their promotion practices. Performance appraisal (PA) processes were hypothesised to be more advanced and better structured in MNEs when compared to DEs. Incentives and reward systems were also observed and following from literature, these were predicted to be more advanced and better structured in MNEs. In addition, we also hypothesised that the role of HR directors has become more strategic in the two genres of enterprises. We also tested the impact of several control variables on HR practices. In order to put our hypotheses to test, we collected primary data from a cross-section of firms. A count revealed a total of 465 firms in operation; of these, 214 were drawn for study. A total of 151 firms (70%) responded; 88 of these (58%) were DEs and 63 (42%) were MNEs. We applied a mix of parametric and non-parametric tests to analyse the data. On balance, we found support for most hypotheses. In terms of recruitment and selection practices, MNEs are found to be more rigorous in their recruitment, placing more emphasis on such traits as candidates’ willingness to travel, devotion to task, self-motivation, and independent judgment. We also found that MNEs place more emphasis on training; they also emphasise a stronger work culture by relying on ‘induction by socialisation’, and ‘buddy system /mentoring’. Moreover, while the statistical differences on its importance are seen to be higher in MNEs, the mean score emphasising the importance of training for DEs comes out to be high as well. This shows that both sets of enterprises rank the issue of training of their employees high. In terms of internal career opportunities, the results show that MNEs prefer to avoid competition between internal candidates by preparing one person well in advance. Compared to DEs, MNEs rely on sound individual technical skills for promotion purposes, also displaying their preference for technically sound employees in senior positions. Our analysis also shows that MNEs conduct PAs more frequently than DEs, and their feedback system is also rapid. The HR directors and employees of MNEs are more receptive to PAs than those in DEs whilst; in contrast, HR directors in DEs face less opposition to feedback when compared with those in MNEs. It emerges that PAs are an important part of the HR function in both types of organisations. In terms of incentives and rewards systems, MNEs follow market ethos and principles. They also show that DEs tend to look at the industry standards when setting rewards such as ‘basic pay’. There is also higher appeal for social and psychological benefits to employees of MNEs when compared to DEs. When analysing the role of the HR director, HR directors of MNEs show a tighter fit between HR policy and business strategy compared with DEs. With regard to the subject of HR devolvement, HR directors from both DEs and MNEs indicated that rather than having sole responsibility, routine HR responsibilities were shared with line management. The area in which there is less inclination to devolve to line managers is in strategic HR work. Moreever, these traits were more pronounced in MNEs than in DEs. Further, HR directors of MNEs clearly regarded their tasks as more important than the HR directors of DEs. Our analysis also showed that MNEs had higher perceived financial performances when compared to DEs. When analyzed by age, older firms were found to place more importance on language and commitment. With regard to size, larger firms place emphasis on employees’ willingness to travel and work experience in other countries as the main recruitment criteria. Younger firms are more likely to be following market principles in terms of explaining incentives and reward system to their employees, whilst older firms claim that working for them carries social and psychological benefits for employees.

Educational loan defaulting is a problem increasing on a worldwide scale. In Malaysia, the default rate is almost 50% in the case of loans advanced to students in higher education. With this in mind, for the first time, this study analyses this chronic problem in-depth with consideration to primary data collected from a cross-section of students currently studying in public universities in Malaysia. With help from the Theory of Planned Behaviour, the empirical analysis establishes that loan defaults are influenced by a complex interaction of personal-, social- and psychology-related variables: students’ attitude, intention to repay loan, parental influence, perceptions that loan repayment will affect quality of life after graduation, perceptions towards loan agreement, and an awareness of loan repayment issues created by the media. This study succeeds in disentangling the precise impact of such variables in regard to loan defaults. The findings are of great relevance to government-funding agencies, which can better plan the loan advancement and recovery process once they understand the true reasons behind defaults. The novel method utilised for the first time with the objective to study the default issue should also be useful to academic researchers seeking to conduct similar studies in the context of other countries. This study should also assist policy makers in planning long-term strategies in terms of assessing, designing and evaluating new loan schemes. Developing countries, such as Malaysia, face competing demands on their limited financial resources. An increase in the recovery rate will bring in funds that can be lent to additional students or used for strengthening educational infrastructure. These measures add useful value to the social and economic set-up of the country.