Browsing Ph.D. theses by Title
-
How Material Practices and their Symbolic and Physical Meanings Form a Colonising LogicLauesen, Linne Marie (Frederiksberg, 2014)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: This PhD thesis is the outcome of three-year doctoral study of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and stakeholder engagement in the water sector. This study contributes to new knowledge about water companies formed as hybrid organisations in the aftermath of the new public management (NPM) era worldwide. Today we see different hybrid organisations of water companies around the world that have either been fully privatised or quasi-privatised. Quasiprivatisation in Denmark means that water utilities are still perceived as natural monopolies, which has not made them into for-profit driven companies. Instead a simulated market and state regulation has been introduces with annual, national benchmarking to set a price cap as an upper limit for the consumer-price of water. Similar systems are seen in fully privatised water companies in the United Kingdom, the United States, and partially in South Africa. However, here the water companies are typically owned by private companies and not established as municipalityowned limited liabilities1 as in Denmark and elsewhere in Scandinavia. This PhD thesis proposes new models and principles and corporate social responsibility and stakeholder engagement of these water companies. The findings of the study suggest a new definition of a colonising logic of CSR competing and coexisting with the regulators’ colonising logic of NPM. Through the study and definition of these logics as colonising the water sector this PhD theisis provides an understand of new perspectives of how CSR is enacted through stakeholder engagement and how the logic of CSR frames the top managers’ claim: ”We are CSR!” (Interview B, March 2011) and the consequences of this logic. Both the logic of CSR and the logic of NPM is found to be based on the materials that the water companies are organised around, namely water. Water is perceived as a natural good that should ideally be free and plentiful for all citizens around the world. However, the competition between the two colonising logics stems from another material, namely the money or price that providing clean and pure water for all are allowed to cost the citizens. Through the dialectical interaction of these in terms of material practices between producing water and infrastructure to distribute it and collecting money as a payment for it and the regulation of this, this PhD thesis proposes a new definition of the role of materials and material practices underlying several institutional logics such as the institutional logic of capitalism, state, democracy, family, religion/science, profession, and corporation (Friedland & Alford, 1991; Thornton et al., 2012; Friedland, 2013). URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8896 Files in this item: 1
Linne_Marie_Lauesen.pdf (8.076Mb) -
Essays on Turnover, Entrepreneurship and Location Choice in the Danish Maritime IndustryIsakson, Christine D. (Frederiksberg, 2013)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: It is critically important to understand the connection between social interaction and individual economic choice (Granovetter 2005). This thesis asks the overall question; How do social relations, specifically coworkers, in the organizational context, influence individual economic choice? The three economic outcomes being examined are turnover, entrepreneurship (the choice to start a business or firm) and location choice (the choice of where to live). These three economic choices are linked to social relations in the organizational context by examining different facets of coworker or peer influence. Common to all papers are mechanisms pertaining to communication, knowledge transfer and coworker influence. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8654 Files in this item: 1
Christine_Isakson_NEW.pdf (1.634Mb) -
Kulturanalytisk casestudie om udfordringer og dilemmaer med at forankre Coops CSR-strategiRosenstock, Maja (Frederiksberg, 2012)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Ph.d.-projektet handler om forankringen af Coops CSR-strategi. Coop er, med sine 35.000 ansatte og 1200 butikker spredt ud over hele landet, Danmarks største dagligvarevirksomhed. Coop driver kæderne SuperBrugsen, Kvickly, Dagli’Brugsen, Irma og Fakta. De er ejet at Fællesforeningen for Danmarks Brugsforeninger (FDB), der igen ejes af 1,6 mio. danske forbrugere. Coop blev for nyligt udråbt som "CSR-områdets mediedarling", da de var den virksomhed i Danmark, der havde fået mest positiv CSR-omtale i medierne. Denne afhandling illustrerer, hvor svært det kan være, at praktisere CSR - selv for en virksomhed som Coop. Et af afhandlingens væsentligste bidrag er at undersøge forankringen af CSR-strategien, set indefra virksomheden selv, og på denne måde illustrere de mange udfordringer og dilemmaer, der er forbundet med at praktisere CSR. Netop kompleksiteten og de mange udfordringer og dilemmaer ved CSR-arbejdet beskrives sjældent. Tværtimod hører virksomhederne gang på gang om, hvordan CSR er en oplagt ’business case’, og om hvordan arbejdet med CSR skaber win-win situationer og giver konkurrencemæssige fordele. Afhandlingen kan dermed ses som en modvægt til de mange flatterende beskrivelser af CSR, som den direkte vej til bedre bundlinje og øget vækst. Således følger afhandlingen op på den strategiske tilgang til CSR og sætter denne under nærmere belysning. I afhandlingen diskuteres fordele og ulemper ved den strategiske CSR tilgang, ligesom det illustreres at implementeringen og forankringen af CSR-strategier langt fra er så ligetil, som det umiddelbart kan lyde, når CSR kontinuerligt beskrives som win-win situationer og konkurrencemæssige fordele. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8550 Files in this item: 1
Maja_Rosenstock.pdf (5.783Mb) -
Et casestudie om styring og meningsskabelse i relation til CSR ud fra en intern optikSkovmøller, Carina Christine (Frederiksberg, 2012)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Ph.d.-afhandlingen undersøger betydningen af ledelsens styringsform i forhold til medarbejdernes meningsskabelse omkring CSR. Herunder hvorvidt CSR som koncept påvirker medarbejderes forventninger til ledelsens styringsform og sensegiving, og i givet fald hvordan. Ligeledes hvilke virksomhedsinterne processer der viser sig at have indflydelse på ledelsens styringsform og medarbejdernes meningsskabelsesproces i relation til CSR. Afhandlingen er baseret på et longitudinelt studie i VELUX hovedkontor i Hørsholm, Danmark, i forhold til implementeringen af Sustainable Living, som er det overordnede mål for VELUX’ arbejde med bæredygtighed såvel internt som eksternt. Data er indhentet med to års interval i henholdsvis 2008 og 2010 og er baseret på 70 interviews med medarbejdere, mellemledere og ledelse i 2008 og 2010 samt observationsstudier i sammenlagt 2½ år. Sideløbende med disse undersøgelser har jeg deltaget i seminarer, projekter & møder, fulgt presseomtale om CSR i VELUX og undersøgt interne dokumenter med relation til CSR området. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8421 Files in this item: 1
Carina_C_Skovmøller.pdf (1.402Mb) -
The Case of RomaniaSamson, Ramona (København, 2006)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Europa undergår fundamentale forandringer i kølvandet på den Kolde Krigs afslutning. En afgørende begivenhed er udvidelsen af den Europæisk Union (EU), der indebærer, at de tidligere kommunistiske lande i Østeuropa bliver del af et samlet Europa. Samspillet mellem ydre og indre faktorer i disse samfund bevirker, at det i stigende grad er nødvendigt at befatte sig på en ny måde med studiet af europæisk forandring og integration. Svaret i denne afhandling er ’kulturel integration’. Afhandling tager sit afsæt i den aktuelle sociologiske debat vedrørende fremvæksten af et såkaldt postvestligt og postnationalt Europa. Denne indebærer, at ikke alene de østeuropæiske lande forandrer sig, men at hele Europa er genstand for grundlæggende refortolkning i takt med at landegrænser opblødes og Øst/vestdelingen af kontinentet gradvist ophæves. En sådan ’dobbelt synkronicitet’ (double syncronicity) står i modsætning til hovedparten af eksisterende teorier om europæisk integration, der forklarer Østeuropas integration i det øvrige Europa som ’transition’. Transitologien hviler på to grundantagelser: Dels at de østeuropæiske lande bevæger sig entydigt i retning af en vestlig model (konvergens), dels at integration alene udspiller sig indenfor rammerne af EU’s formelle institutionelle struktur (singularitet). I modsætning hertil er det opfattelsen hos denne afhandlings forfatter, at de aktuelle forandringsprocesser i de tidligere kommunistiske lande i Østeuropa ikke kan begribes fyldestgørende inden for rammen af disse traditionelle integrationsteorier. På denne baggrund spørger afhandlingens problemformulering: ”hvordan analyserer man forandringsprocesserne i Østeuropa i sammenhæng med de overordnede forandringer, der finder sted i Europa?” URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7732 Files in this item: 1
ramona_samson.pdf (2.279Mb) -
Their Merits and Sophistication across ContextsHolm, Morten (Frederiksberg, 2012)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: The purpose of this dissertation is to expand our understanding of the applicability and performance effects of different Customer Profitability Measurement (CPM) models across contexts. Customer profitability measurement has attracted increasing interest recently – mainly in the marketing literature. The vast majority of this research has been case-based. Consequently, the evidence in this field consists of a number of case demonstrations indicating that using CPM models can be beneficial in specific industries but only very limited cross-sectional research investigating the general relationships between the CPM model use, context and firm financial performance. Researching these relationships is expected to contribute to marketing as well as management accounting literatures but also to managers working with or planning to start working with CPM models in practice for two reasons: First, marketing managers are increasingly required to be accountable for the marketing investments they expect to make. A better understanding of which CPM models that are applicable in different contexts will contribute to more efficient resource utilization in firms. Second, the management accounting literature on CPM models is very scarce despite the fact that this area is a key priority in practice. Knowledge on how CPM models are adapted to fit the environment in which the firm operates will contribute to our understanding of how CPM models should be designed but also to the general school of contingency-based management accounting research. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8437 Files in this item: 1
Morten_Holm.pdf (795.1Kb) -
Skjold, Else (Frederiksberg, 2014)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: In this PhD thesis, The Daily Selection, I will be addressing the overall question of how research on wardrobes can contribute to a more effective connection between the production and the consumption of dress objects. The thesis builds on exemplary studies of people in their wardrobes, with the aim of focusing on theoretical and methodological concerns and implications. It is structured in three parts, each of which consists -‐ independently -‐ of its own introductory framing, its own literature review, its own methods chapter, its own field work study, and its own conclusive reflections. As such, the parts, when taken as a whole, represent an evolving process through which my overall research questions are being filtered and reflected. My scholarly approach builds on the fusing of fashion and dress research and design research, in this way closing a gap between dress practice as, on the one hand, symbolic discourse and, on the other, as an embodied practice that is 'physically embedded' in the material capacities of dress objects. In Part I, I frame this view by addressing the concept of dressing as a 'bodily situated practice', as defined by Entwistle (2000), combined with a processual view on design and everyday practices, as defined by Shove et al. (2008). Based on these perspectives, I contribute with my own explanatory frameworks of 'sartorial systems' and 'sensory anchoring', on which I base the entire thesis. In order to operationalise these frameworks in my field work, I have developed a personal methodology for the wardrobe method that embraces the sensory and temporal aspects of dress practice. In Part II, I filter this through the vehicle of a collaborative project with Danish designer Mads Nørgaard, wherein I observe how dress objects from Nørgaard's collection are appropriated and used in the wardrobes of informants. In this way, I point to discrepancies between the production and the dissemination of dress objects that take place in the fashion industry, and to the ways that people use and experience these objects in their everyday lives. In Part III, I conduct a series of ‘wardrobe sessions’ with informants in collaboration with a designer, in order to explore how use practice might cast reflections back onto design processes. In my concluding chapter, I argue that my thesis contributes with a more facetted and reflected set of thinking in relation to dress practice, and that this way of thinking could potentially bring about radical changes in the way dress objects are currently produced, disseminated and sold. All together, this thesis shows that in order to establish a more tight fit between the production and consumption of dress objects, there is very good reason to look into the dress practices that are taking place in people’s wardrobes. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8992 Files in this item: 1
Else_Skjold.pdf (5.047Mb) -
I et internationalt og komparativt perspektivKoerver Schmidt, Peter (Frederiksberg, 2013)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Emnet for denne afhandling er dansk skatteretlig CFC-lovgivning. Denne form for lovgivning går kort fortalt ud på, at aktionæren i et selskab under særlige omstændigheder skal medregne en andel af selskabets indkomst til sin egen skattepligtige indkomst, selvom selskabet ikke har udloddet udbytte til aktionæren. I international sammenhæng er CFC en forkortelse for Controlled Foreign Corporation (eller Company), og som forkortelsen antyder, finder sådanne regler normalt kun anvendelse, hvis selskabet er kontrolleret af aktionæren og er hjemmehørende i udlandet. Med andre ord angår CFC-beskatning normalt indkomsten i udenlandske datterselskaber. Uden CFC-regler vil beskatningen af aktionæren normalt være udskudt til det tidspunkt, hvor det udenlandske datterselskab udlodder udbytte til aktionæren, eller hvor aktionæren afstår sin aktiepost i det udenlandske datterselskab. I andre tilfælde vil beskatning hos aktionæren slet ikke finde sted. Såfremt det land, hvori det udenlandske datterselskab er hjemmehørende, ikke beskatter datterselskabets indkomst eller kun beskatter indkomsten med en lav sats, er der således mulighed for at skatteudskydelse eller skatteundgåelse kan forekomme, hvis aktionæren indretter sig således, at indkomst oppebæres af det udenlandske datterselskab i stedet for hos aktionæren selv. Det grundlæggende formål med afhandlingen er – ved anvendelse at den retsdogmatiske metode – at analysere dansk CFC-lovgivning og praksis med henblik på at udlede gældende ret på området – de lege lata. I den forbindelse er det tillige hensigten at identificere uklarheder samt vurdere, om de danske CFCregler strider mod indgåede dobbeltbeskatningsoverenskomster eller EU-retten. Et yderligere formål med afhandlingen er at vurdere, hvorvidt dansk CFC-lovgivning kan anses for at imødekomme visse retspolitiske hensyn, og såfremt dette ikke er tilfældet at komme med alternative bud på, hvordan de danske CFC-regler med fordel kan udformes. Med andre ord har afhandlingen også haft til formål at komme med betragtninger de lege ferenda URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8928 Files in this item: 1
Peter_Koerver_Schmidt.pdf (3.955Mb) -
Haulrich, Martin (Frederiksberg, 2012)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Parallel treebanks have received increasing attention in the past few years, primarily due to their potential use in statistical machine translation. Creating parallel treebanks manually is a time-consuming and expensive task and for this reason there is considerable interest in creating treebanks automatically. This task can be solved using standard tools such as parsers and aligners. However, because parallel treebanks are based on parallel corpora, we are in a special situation where the same meaning is represented in two different ways. This thesis is about how we can exploit this information to create better parallel treebanks than we can by using standard tools.... URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8385 Files in this item: 1
Martin_Haulrich.pdf (1.932Mb) -
Stenheim, Tonny (Frederiksberg, 2012)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: The dissertation investigates the decision usefulness of goodwill-accounting numbers. Theory and methodology from value relevance, earnings-management and corporate-governance literature are employed in order to investigate the decision usefulness. The dissertation compares the value relevance of goodwill reported under the impairment-only method (current IFRS) with the value relevance of goodwill reported under alternative accounting methods. It also investigates the extent to which goodwill-impairment losses under IFRS are associated with variables for economic impairment and/or earnings-management incentives. And finally, it investigates whether an estimate of misrepresentation of economic impairment in goodwill is associated with earnings-management incentives and/or corporate-governance mechanisms. The results suggest that the impairment-only method provides accounting numbers that more faithfully depict economic fundamentals as reflected in stock prices. The results also suggest that reported goodwill-impairment losses are not strongly affected by earnings-management incentives. Still, misrepresentation of economic impairment in goodwill does not seem to be constrained by corporate-governance mechanisms. In overall, these findings support the recently implemented impairment-only method under current IFRS URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8398 Files in this item: 1
Tonny_Stenheim_2ed.pdf (2.371Mb) -
Social innovation i en forretningsmæssig kontekstSønderskov, Thomas Stengade (Frederiksberg, 2011)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Hvilken funktion og rolle har ledelse for CSI? Med afsæt i ovenstående forskningsspørgsmål rapporterer denne afhandling fra et 3-årigt aktionsforskningsprojekt med et forandringsintenderende sigte inden for forskningsfeltet social innovation. Afhandlingen placerer sig i forlængelse af ovenstående interesse og udfolder social innovation i relation til ledelse i en forretningsmæssig kontekst – et forskningsområde, der internationalt også kaldes Corporate Social Innovation (CSI),(Kanter 1999, Jupp 2002). URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8329 Files in this item: 1
Thomas Stengade Sønderskov.pdf (3.748Mb) -
Co-existence of institutional logics in the recorded music industrySigurdardottir, Margrét Sigrún (Frederiksberg, 2010)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: The concept of institutional logics, notably a choice between multiple logics, has been offered as a foundation to theoretically explain heterogeneity of organisation. The thesis focuses on how this heterogeneity of organisation is possible through a study of how decision makers deal with conflicting yet coexisting logics in their every day work. The field chosen for the empirical study is the recorded music industry, where two opposing logics, the artistic and the commercial, necessarily co‐exist. Through semi‐structured interviews, decision makers in the recorded music industry in the UK were asked about their work processes. Their descriptions revealed two very different ways of acting based on either the artistic logic or the commercial logic. The study further shows that even if there were some attempts to take both logics into account, all the respondents emphasised one logic over the other, but not the same logic, leading to the established major/independent duality in the structure of the field. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7992 Files in this item: 1
Margrét_Sigrún_Sigurdardottir.pdf (4.133Mb) -
Beukel, Karin (Frederiksberg, 2013)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Empirical studies show that only a small number of all innovations created are valuable innovations. In spite of this, most innovation research focuses on identifying the determinants of innovation, rather than determining the factors influential in generating valuable innovations. The current knowledge therefore can guide organizations to increase innovation output, but not to increase the value of the innovation output. The purpose of this PhD research is to contribute to our understanding of the determinants of valuable innovations by investigating how different intraorganizational factors and uncertainty influence organizations’ abilities to generate valuable innovations. This thesis is comprised of four papers, a general introduction and a conclusion. The papers rely on both qualitative and quantitative research methods. One builds on interview data gathered at a Danish university and a firm, one relies on data from the Scandinavian biotech industry, and two papers rely on data from the global hydrocracking industry. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8828 Files in this item: 1
Karin_Beukel.pdf (3.146Mb) -
Førsokratisk informeret, ny-aristotelisk ἦθος-tænkning hos Martin HeideggerMoesby Jensen, Tommy (Frederiksberg, 2010)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Afhandlingens tematiske sag er en genvindelse af Heideggers tænkning og tænkevej som en før-sokratisk informeret, ny-aristotelisk ἦθος-tænkning og dette som en rekonstruktion af antik selv-ledelses-tænkning. I Komposition, referencer, oversættelser og forkortelser udvikles blandt andet en særlig forbindelse mellem referentialitet og afhandlingens komposition, under inspiration fra Heideggers egen brug af inter- og intra-tekstualitet, og vigtige kilder og formalia præsenteres. Kompositionen og dermed afhandlingens enkelte §’er er tænkt således, at en række temaer gennem afhandlingen ofte forbinder sig med tidligere udviklede temaer, som nu sættes anderledes i spil og ind i nye sammenhænge, og herved oplyses det tidligere og det senere udviklede i en gensidighed. Sagt på en anden måde, så vil en lang række forberedende behandlinger finde en senere udfoldelse, og dette angivet som en tendens i kompositionen....... URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8028 Files in this item: 1
Tommy_Moesby_Jensen.pdf (2.160Mb) -
Towards Sustainable LawyeringHøedt-Rasmussen, Inger (Frederiksberg, 2014)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: The role of the lawyer is in transition and the formerly predominantly homogeneous profes-sion has become a heterogeneous group of lawyers with diverging perceptions of the lawyer’s identity and of the main characteristics of the profession. The European Union has extended the perception of democracy and the fundamental rights to include more collective rights, social concerns, global responsibility and sustainability. The dissertation’s main question is: How can the identity and competences of lawyers be developed so that they can practise sustainable and proactive lawyering in the European Union? Theoretically as well as methodologically this research constitutes an interdisciplinary study, where legal science meets sociology and social learning theories. Identity development is perceived as a reflective project; there is a range of lifestyle choices which contribute to a composed but constantly shifting maintenance of self-identity in relation to democratic principles and the ideal of justice connected to the role of lawyers. The study builds on Anthony Giddens’s structuration theory. This involves looking at how lawyers connect the questions ‘What to do?’ (societal level) and ‘How to act?’ (professional level) with ’Who to be?’ (personal level). The study depicts a European identity ideal based on legal sources while empirical data from focus groups and individual interviews makes it possible to identify six different identities among Danish practising lawyers. It is possible to recognise the following identities: lawyer-businessman, lawyer-performer, lawyer-entrepreneur, lawyer-humanist, lawyer-integrator and lawyer-statesman. The fragmentation of the profession, with greater demand for specialist knowledge, in-creased individualisation and participation in new communities of practice, requires each lawyer to reflect on their identity and establish criteria for what, when and how they will use their lawyering skills. For this to succeed, lawyers’ identities and competences will depend more on self-directed learning and individual learning plans, where the legal identity combines (global) societal responsibility with job satisfaction, authenticity and adherence to personal values. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8908 Files in this item: 1
Inger_Rasmussen.pdf (5.288Mb) -
Janning, Finn (København, 2005)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: There is a story about two companies, and how the one was supported and dominated by the other. Even today, more than 13 years after their separation, the support and domination of one company over the other seems to continue. In 2001 NNE (Novo Nordisk Engineering A/S), celebrated its tenth anniversary as an independent affiliate within the Novo Group. The anniversary was celebrated with a huge party at the Øksnehallen Exhibition Centre located in Copenhagen, Denmark. Here NNE launched its new Corporate Visual Identity (CVI). The CVI was created in order for NNE to show the world that it strived to become the market leader in the growing fields of biotechnology and pharmaceuticals. Equally important, NNE wanted to detach itself from its supporter and dominator, the company Novo Nordisk A/S. To begin with, NNE changed its name from Novo Nordisk Engineering A/S to NNE; secondly it created a new logo; and last, as a brand promise, it stated: Unique Know How. In fact, NNE changed all of its visual identity (i.e. CVI) in a manner like that of pirates who want to change identity by raising another flag on the mast before anchoring at a harbor. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7128 Files in this item: 1
finn_janning.pdf (1.848Mb) -
Anne (, )[More information][Less information]
Abstract: This thesis explores the history of humanitarian organizations as agents in public life. When taking on the role as mediators between Western publics and distant sufferers, what conception of social responsibility do humanitarian organizations promote? What are the consequences of the institutional context of these organizations on the form of social responsibility that they are able to promote? In a historical perspective, what changes in these conceptualizations can we observe and to what extent can we understand them as resulting from institutional changes? These questions are asked with the assumption that the discourse of humanitarian organizations is at once a reflection of and a force in the configuration of dispositions in target publics. Enquiring about the history of humanitarian organizations as agents in public life, thus, means enquiring about the ways in which over the past 40 years, these organizations have given meaning to our relation to different sufferers and contributed to shaping our individual and collective conception of the scope and nature of our social responsibility.... URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8318 Files in this item: 1
Anne_Vestergaard.pdf (6.561Mb) -
[More information][Less information]
Abstract: The co-location of industry in agglomerations of similar and related firms is one of the salient features of the contemporary global economy. Over the last thirty years, a large body of theory and case-literature has addressed this phenomenon and sought to understand the advantages that accrue when industries are spatially clustered. Contemporary scholars in this tradition have focused on the advantages of face-toface interaction and the access to spatially sticky information in the form of buzz available to cluster agents. They have further suggested that the development of local conventions and a local idiom facilitate knowledge circulation and collaboration within clusters while perhaps frustrating access to outsiders. The resultant learning views of agglomeration have become dominant within the field of economic geography. In the past decade, however, this dominant view has been challenged by a counterview challenging the idea that physical proximity is neither necessary nor sufficient for economic learning. First, it has been noted that much of the learning that occurs in clusters may actually be organized through various forms temporary proximity. Secondly, it has been argued that knowledge circulates not by virtue of spatial proximity, but through participation in knowledge communities that share a basic epistemological framework and common purpose. These communities may be spatially clustered or may be widely dispersed. The research presented in this dissertation aims to contribute to this debate on the relative importance of physical and relational proximity to processes of economic learning. It does so through a qualitative study of the European Animation Industry and its attempt to build supportive networks and institutions resembling those found in successful geographic clusters, but in the context of a spatially dispersed industry. It demonstrates how through the extensive use of temporary proximity in the form of conferences, market places, and workshops, European animation was able to create a dense social fabric supporting learning and collaboration among firms that were both geographically and culturally distant. The dissertation is developed in three distinct articles written for journal publication. These are followed by Appendix One discussing methodological issue related to the research, Appendix Two providing empirical introduction to European Animation, the object of the dissertation’s case study. They are followed by a brief conclusion discussing the dissertations findings. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8966 Files in this item: 1
Alexander_Cole.pdf (2.434Mb) -
Cross Functional Integration in the Process of Product InnovationBaunsgaard, Vibeke Vad (Frederiksberg, 2011)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Integration across departments, functions, and knowledge areas is important for success in the process of product innovation. Research of organizations, whether private or public, demonstrates, however, that cross functional integration is difficult to achieve in praxis. This problem area: Why is cross functional integration – in SMEs – in the process of product innovation so difficult in praxis? – sets up the foundation for this PhD. By focusing on cross functional integration in small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and by utilizing a qualitative research design in studies of the micro politics of cross functional integration, the PhD makes a novel contribution within an area of research largely overlooked by previous literatures.... URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8325 Files in this item: 1
Vibeke_Vad_Baunsgaard_Summary.pdf (891.8Kb) -
Christoffersen, Jeppe (Frederiksberg, 2011)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: In recent years, we have witnessed multinational enterprises (MNEs) changing strategies to exploit opportunities for division of labor on a global scale (Hansen et al. 2009). In consequence these have received growing interest among researchers and governments as ‘agents of host country economic development’ (Scott-Kennel and Enderwick 2005, p.105). A general consensus of this research is that ‘FDI [Foreign Direct Investment] offers an additional channel for introduction of technology, innovation, new ideas, different organizational practices and new skills to a host country’ (Scott-Kennel and Enderwick 2005, p.112). Another consensus is that these knowledge resources were introduced into the host country through linkages between the MNEs and a local firm and would in the longer term diffuse to other firms through e.g. demonstration effects and labor turnover (Giroud and Scott-Kennel 2009).... URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8332 Files in this item: 1
Jeppe Christoffersen_SUMMARY.pdf (1.138Mb)