Public sector business collaborating: a social constructionist perspective.

This research study explores the perceptions and experiences of individuals involved in the business collaborations of the Coal Authority (TCA) with other public and private sector organisations. The study offers two major contributions to professional knowledge and practice. The first is that the social and behavioural activities associated with the business collaboration process are of as much concern as the economic and structural aspects. The second is a conceptual model and framework which makes sense of the public sector business collaborating process, and identifies behaviours and practices which are perceived by the participants to positively contribute to successful business collaborating and to minimise the risk of inter-organisational collaboration failure. The research accounts underpinning the study are based on the researcher's direct observation, interviews, accounts and life experiences of over fifty individuals that he engaged with during his thirty months involvement within the research process. This was complemented by his reflective diary recording in real time the thought processes from the participants in both the public and private sector involved in business collaborating on a day-to-day basis, as he immersed himself in a purposeful way in the research setting. Twenty-four of the collaborators work for public sector organisations, twenty-nine work in the private sector. Thematic discourse analysis was used to interpret their life experiences and develop the framework around the four perspectives that emerged. The four perspectives are: • The context perspective • The business and strategy perspective • The delivery perspective • The people perspective Personal reflections on the research process and the framework are based on the Kirkpatrick (1967) four level theoretical model for the evaluation of learning and development outcomes. The researcher also describes the changes in behaviour and practices within TCA with regard to the way the people within TCA interact and collaborate with people from other organisations as a result of the study and its findings. Finally, the researcher demonstrates his achievement of the six learning outcomes of his DBA doctoral programme

Improving the effectiveness of procurement: Identification and improvement of key determinant factors - The PEPPS Project

Procurement, organisational buying, purchasing, sourcing, strategic sourcing, and more latterly within the public sector, “commissioning”, are all terms used to denote the function of and the responsibility for, procuring materials, supplies, and / or services. Many organisations look to transform their procurement function with varying degrees of success, and this thesis aims to identify what makes procurement effective and how an organisation can successfully transform their procurement function? The questions are addressed through a mixed methods approach, following a predominantly interpretivist position, more specifically tending towards phenomenology. The research is conducted over five phases of activity, and includes a 3-year, longitudinal, action research based intervention within an industrial based company. It was found that the definition of effective procurement was situation specific, although was generically defined as “where the buy-side of the business has achieved a position that is fundamental to the enterprise and drives the achievement of business objectives taking consideration of stakeholder expectations, perceptions and business requirements”. A procurement effectiveness model was created, that had five key dimensions; “Compelling Case”, “Competency”, “Approach”, “Communications”, and “Governance”, and the application of the model proved very successful within the industrial application. The key academic contribution from this research is the development of the procurement effectiveness model, which both builds upon existing research and applies new thinking to the development of a holistic approach to the improvement of procurement. In terms of the contribution to practice, the research provides a bridge between academic and industrial thinking in order to improve the quality of information available to those looking to embark upon a procurement transformation

Changing ideas about corporate social responsibility CSR and development in Context: The case of Mauritius

The idea of corporate social responsibility (CSR) has risen to prominence with remarkable rapidity in recent years. Although the literature on contemporary CSR has concentrated almost exclusively on advanced capitalist countries, CSR is increasingly being promoted in a developing country context as an important mechanism for furthering economic and social development goals. Yet, there is currently very limited research about whether contemporary CSR can in fact assist in development. This thesis seeks to contribute to the body of knowledge in this area. The first, theoretical, part of the thesis explores changing ideas about the nature of CSR, and argues that contemporary ideas of CSR are ameliorative in nature, marking a fundamental shift from the original, transformative, idea of the `socially responsible corporation', which emerged in the 1920s and 30s. The thesis also argues that with their emphasis on self-regulation and voluntarism, contemporary ideas about CSR are very much part and parcel of contemporary neo-liberal ideas about economic and social organisation. The second, empirical, part of the thesis seeks to investigate whether the model of CSR being deployed in the developing world is indeed a conservative one and, if so, whether this conservatism is likely to render it ineffectual. It explores how CSR is understood by its practitioners - company executives and other key players - in Mauritius, focusing on the impact of the concept on executive opinion by examining their rhetorical commitment to CSR as well as what that entailed in practice. The research suggests that executives in Mauritius tend to equate CSR with corporate philanthropy, which casts doubt on its ability to make a significant contribution to development. In light of the arguments developed in the thesis, one of its main conclusions is that a return to the earlier, more radical, conception of CSR is needed if CSR is really to make an important contribution to development