Browsing Ph.D. theses by Title
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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) -
An Empirical Study of Website Quality in the Public SectorSørum, Hanne (Frederiksberg, 2014)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: In the public sector, we find that traditional face-to-face interaction has, in many cases, been replaced by online communication and transactions during the last decade. The quality of public sector websites is, therefore, of particular importance in order to ensure quality participation in an increasingly digital society by all the citizens. In view of the fact that Norway and Denmark aim to be world leaders of the Web, with regard to innovations, technical standards and user-centred development, easily accessible facilitation for high quality interactions assumes considerable significance. With reference to this particular aspect, the following Ph.D. thesis focusses on perceptions and measurement of website quality and success, by emphasising and highlighting the performance of public sector websites in the Scandinavian countries (respectively Norway and Denmark). This thesis draws on both qualitative and quantitative data collected during the research process. A grounded theory approach is applied in order to investigate explanations of website quality and statistical analysis is performed to examine perceptions of quality and success in websites. In this regard, the webmasters’ perspectives are emphasised, as they are found to be pivotal figures and key contributors in website quality improvements. Website quality criteria, obligated by the central governments are also discussed. These criteria aim to minimise a gap between the governments and the citizens for provision of online information and digital services. The findings and explanations of website quality cover a variety of features and range from technical standards to a broad definition of usability. Pertaining to this fact, added emphasis is placed on actual usage and subjective issues concerning user-friendliness and ease of use, compared to the criteria implemented by the governments, which focus more on objective technical measures. This may explain why users are not actually satisfied with high quality websites, when compared to low quality websites, in an annual assessment of hundreds of public websites based on these criteria. Accordingly, explanations and measurements of quality within the public sector are perceived differently, when taking into account the citizens’ (users’) needs and requirements from websites. Based on the use of quality criteria and evaluation methods applied to such evaluations, there exists a potential argument for adopting an additional user-centred focus. Furthermore, user satisfaction is emphasised as a measure of success in websites and user-centred development is found to be a key contributor. In view of this fact, the findings also prove that the public sector in general should improve and extend their feedback channels, by extending frequency and methods applied in user testing and continuous quality improvements. The fact that government bodies perform testing to a minimal extent and that more sophisticated methods should be included, demonstrates a potential for advances in facilitation for improved and refined user experiences in online communication between citizens and the public sector. In this regard, organisations which perform user testing tend to see a stronger correlation between website quality, user satisfaction and net (user) benefits. The concluding observations in the thesis, suggest that further research can decrease a gap between the governments’ perceptions of quality, and the citizens’ needs and requirements from public websites. Future investments and quality improvements should devote increased attention to testing and issues concerning inclusion of real users, and the benefits of such actions. Implications for practice are also provided in order to move the sector forward and facilitation for improved and refined user experiences and success on the Web. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8922 Files in this item: 1
Hanne_Sørum.pdf (2.257Mb) -
Kallestrup, René (Frederiksberg, 2012)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: The Global Financial Crisis which started in 2007 is a defining economic event of our lifetime. Recessions and public bailouts of banking systems have resulted in concerns about the solvency of sovereigns in recent years as many Eurozone countries face substantial fiscal pressures. The exact causes of the Global Financial Crisis are still debated but it is unlikely to be the outcome of one single event. In a review of the Global Financial Crisis based on 21 books on the topic, Lo (2011) summarises the underlying causes and policy prescriptions: ”there is still significant disagreement as to what the underlying causes of the crisis were, and even less agreement as to what to do about it ... Like World War II, no single account of this vast and complicated calamity is sufficient to describe it.” The listed causes range from global capital flows, poor regulation, regulatory capture, inequality, high leverage, skewed economic incentives of borrowers and lenders, etc. Gorton and Metrick (2012) also contain an interesting summary of the literature written in recent years and in ”Lessons from the Financial Crisis” edited by Berd (2010) several chapters from academic researchers analyse the ongoing crisis. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8450 Files in this item: 1
Rene_Kallestrup.pdf (1.375Mb) -
A Complexity ApproachHolm Andreasen, Peter (Frederiksberg, 2012)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: “How can we understand the dynamics of procurement management?” An answer to this question has predominantly been explained by procurement management experiencing dissatisfaction with the status quo, where the procurement organisation was viewed from other entities in the company as an insignificant, reactive and an administrative part of the business. The potential, however, for the procurement organisation to be significant in the company was argued to be vast (Ammer 1989, Ellram & Carr 1994, Van Weele 2005). In order to change the situation of the procurement organisation, procurement management was informed that they should in gradual steps develop the procurement organisation towards more sophistication and significance (Reck & Long 1988) producing strategies that were aligned with the overall company strategy including the development of policies, procedures, systems, tools and processes (Cousins 2002, Cousins et al 2008). This process changed the perspective of the procurement organisation which among other things, allowed the procurement entity to contribute to the implementation of the concept of supply chain management (Freeman & Cavinato 1990). Ever since I first got familiar with the practices of procurement and its management, I have been puzzled by its complexity. At the same time, I have wondered about how the same space of complexity in the procurement management domain literature has explained the same practices by reductionism, smoothness and simplicity as just described. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8384 Files in this item: 1
Peter_Holm_Andreasen.pdf (1.552Mb) -
Vintergaard, Christian (København, 2006)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Dette værk er indgivet til Ph.D. bedømmelse under Forskerskolen i Viden og Ledelse ved Institut for Ledelse, Politik og Filosofi ved Copenhagen Business School som en del af opfyldelse af kravene for at opnå graden Ph.D. Målet med denne afhandling er, at fremsætte en kombination af nye teoretisk perspektiver og ledelsesmetoder, som tilsammen vil give et bedre indblik i de tidlige stadier af corporate venturing. Dette vil inkludere nye perspektiver på corporate venturing, eftersom afhandlingen videreudvikler akademiske og praktiske værktøjer for beslutningsprocesser. Afhandling bidrager med to overordnede tilføjelser til den nuværende litteratur om corporate venture. For det første, sætter den fokus på de vigtige, men oversete, tidlige faser ved venture processen. Dette indebærer de forhold, nødvendige for udvikling af nye innovative venture muligheder (venture basen), opdagelse af investeringsmuligheder og endelig forberedelse til evaluering af investeringsmuligheder. Venture basen er de karakteristika og forhold der for et firma og dets miljø kan udgøre ressourcer til opstart af nye ventures. Grundet ventures innovative natur bliver det, at opdage entreprenelle muligheder en hovedudfordring der involverer en diversificeret gruppe af aktører. Den tidlige fase inkluderer også specifikke vidensskabende handlinger der skal udføres for at kunne evaluere de mange investeringsmuligheder. For det andet bibringer afhandlingen nye perspektiver til hvorledes aktiviteterne i de tidlige faser er forbundet i værdikæden. I modsætning til tidligere litteratur, hvor venture processer præsenteres som lineære og forudsigelige, demonstrerer dette værk, at en mere dynamisk tilgang er tiltrængt, en tilgang der er særlig fokuseret på hvordan vidensprocesser og læringsfremmende aktiviteter driver venture processen, lige fra udviklingen af nye ideer til deres betydning evalueres. Disse bidrag trækker på teoretiske perspektiver fra den nuværende corporate venture litteratur (såsom Block and MacMillan, 1993; Burgelman, 1984, 1996; Chesbrough, 2000; Zahra, 1991) og komplementerende litteratur der tilvejebringer et netværk og videns perspektiv (såsom Gibbons et al. 1994; Kline and Rosenberg, 1986; Powell et al., 1996). Disse perspektiver er særligt gennemslagskraftige i deres argumentation om innovations processer og evolutionær udvikling. De bringer også ny indsigt om den type læringsproces som corporate ventures er en del af når de udvikler og evaluerer nye venture muligheder. I modsætning til en traditionel monografisk Ph.D. afhandling, så præsenterer denne afhandling sine resultater i fem (5) uafhængige men forbundne undersøgelser, udgivet i internationale peerreviewed tidsskrifter og bog kapitler. Udover disse studier så indeholder afhandlingen også en teoretisk introduktion og metode, en litteratur gennemgang og en konklusion. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7133 Files in this item: 1
christian_vintergaard.pdf (4.638Mb) -
The Case of Iran (1965-2010)Khonsary-Atighi, Hadis (Frederiksberg, 2016)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: The central focus of this thesis is the identification of theory-consistent economic determinants of aggregate and sectoral domestic investment in the context of the oil-rich and oil-based economy of Iran within the theoretical framework of modified neoclassical-accelerator type investment models. This thesis further attempts to extend this theoretically consistent framework by incorporating oil-driven financial constraint measures such as specified by cash flow models. The latter is justified on the basis of the presence of imperfect capital markets in Iran and the inherent uncertainty associated with the availability of oil-driven finance for investment due to the unpredictable nature of oil prices. A CVAR method is being employed to determine the theory-consistent long-run relationships between the variables of interest during 1974-2011. Motivated by the existing gaps in the investment and natural resource curse literature, the main objectives of the thesis include investigating: (i) the extent to which the theoretical framework is able to explain investment in the Iranian context and the underlying reasons for the (expected) partial applicability of such a framework; (ii) the relation between oil and investment patterns; and (iii) sectoral shifts during the process of capital accumulation and the role of the state in this process. Hence, the findings of this thesis contribute to current debates in the literature on the economics of natural resources and on investment, as well as to the application of the investment literature in the context of oil-abundant and -dependent economies like Iran. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/9297 Files in this item: 1
Hadis Khonsary-Atighi.pdf (3.364Mb) -
Urban, Dieter (Frederiksberg, 1999)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Denne Ph.D. afhandling søger af sammenknytte to nationaløkonomiske problemkredse: Økonomisk vækst og økonomisk geografi. Afhandlingens centrale spørgsmål er: Vil økonomisk vækst føre til industriel koncentration eller industriel spredning? Hvordan påvirker en ændring i industriens lokalisering regional og national vækst? Hvilken indflydelse har den stadig tættere integration på økonomisk vækst og industrikoncentration? Afhandlingen består af fem kapitler. Kapitlerne er nært forbundne, men kan læses uafhængigt af hinanden. Kapitel 1 er et introduktionskapitel. Det indeholder en oversigt over litteraturen på området og et resume af de i denne afhandling fremlagte forskningsbidrag. Udgangspunktet for min forskning har været Krugman’s banebrydende artikel “Economic Geography and Increasing Returns” fra 1991. Heri udvikler han en model, der kan forklare, under hvilke omstændigheder, industrier tenderer at koncentrere sig i en land eller en region. Artiklen mangler imidlertid en fulstændig analytisk løsning af modellen, og intuitionen bag dens centrale sammenhænge er uklar. Kapitel 2 tilstræber at råde bod på disse svagheder. Kapitlet indeholder dels en rigoristisk analytisk løsning, dels en simpel grafisk illustration af Krugman’s model. Det påpeges, at der er en nær analogi mellem Krugman’s model og neoklassisk udenrigshandelsteori baseret på antagelsen om heterogene agenter. I kapitel 3 vises, at Krugman’s model har en unik kortsigtet ligevægt, men multiple langsigtede ligevægte. Afhængig af industriens initiale fordeling vil en relativt mindre industrialiseret økonomi enten af-industrialiseres eller konvergere mod samme udviklingstrin som den mere industrialiserede økonomi. Den mulige eksistens af en “fattigdomsfælde”, hvoraf en økonomi ikke kan udvikle sig ved egen kraft, giver en teoretisk begrundelse for, at aftaler om fri bevægelse for varer og kapital (eksempelvis inden for EU) kædes sammen med aftaler om strukturstøtte til de mindre industrialiserede regioner. I kapitel 4 integreres økonomisk geografi og neoklassisk vækstteori i en model, der simultant forklarer økonomisk vækst og industriens fordeling. Det påvises, at der er to regimer: Et neoklassisk “catching-up” regime, hvor økonomierne gradvis konvergerer, og et fattigdomsregime”, hvor forskellen i økonomisk udvikling udvides. Det påvises, at afvikling af handelsbarrierer kan eliminere fattigdomsfælden, således at mere tilbagestående lande med tiden vil tilnærme sig de mere udviklede økonomier. Kapitel 5 er en empirisk test af den model, der udvikles i kapitel 4, mod data for USA og Japan. Testen viser, at modellen ikke kan afvises for så vidt angår perioden efter Bretton Woods fast-kurs systemets sammenbrud i 1972. Under Bretton Woods systemet synes de to økonomer at have udviklet sig uafhængigt af hinanden, hvorfor modellen må afvises for denne periode. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7914 Files in this item: 1
Dieter_Urban.pdf (1.410Mb) -
Politikernes og forvaltningens medkonstruktion og konsekvenserne herafSecher, Christine (Frederiksberg, 2010)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: This thesis is about how different e-participation user groups co-construct technology through the use in practice. It is studied how technology is used on a municipality level for citizen-communication and -participation with an online debate forum as a case in point. Users of online debates are citizens, politicians and the administration. In this thesis, I have chosen to focus on how politicians and the administration use online debates. I show how politicians and the administration participate in very distinct ways on the debate forum and thereby create specific forms of citizen communication and participation. Everybody can participate in the online debate as long as they give up their name and email. Periodically, citizens write quite a lot of contributions on the debate forum. But politicians’ and the administration’s perception of what is happening on the debate influence which role the citizens’s contributions will have for the politicians and administration, as well as forms of interaction between users. In this thesis, I argue that the users’ (politicians’s and administration’s) sensemaking about online debates as well as the mediation of the use of online debates have a crucial influence on which types of practice of online debate can develop. Online debate is perceived as an equivocal technology in the sense that the use of the technology is not clear cut but a result of the user’s sensemaking about the technology and thereby the sensemaking about possible acts and interactions with the technology and other users. Sensemaking is the primary theoretical frame with a special focus on situation-specific cue-frame-relations. The Municipality of Odder is the case and a unique one with its 11 years of experience within municipally facilitated online debate. The empirical data are contributions written from September 3rd, 2005 to April 15, 2008 (a total of 1983 contributions), 17 semi-structured interviews of ½-1½ hours length with administration and politicians in the municipality as well as different written documents from the municipality. In this thesis I show that politicians and administration act as users of the online debate in four different ways: Political candidate, councilor, administrator and mediator. The political candidate run for the municipal election and is only present in the debate the last three months before the election. The political candidate see online debates as a good opportunity to make him/herself visible to voters and competing candidates, and therefore (s)he writes a lot of contributions during this period. The political candidate rarely answers ordinary citizen’s contributions but instead decides to write new contributions or answer contributions started by competitors. The political candidate rarely gets involved in real discussions on the debate but instead choose to give his/her visions for the future of the Municipality of Odder. The councilor see the debate as the citizen’s opportunity to voice their meaning and therefore rarely participate in the debate, as this could have a negative effect on citizens motivation to write on the debate. The councilor reads the citizens’ contributions and once in a while the contributions act as input for internal council discussions. When the contribution reflect misunderstanding and when it is not only a few citizens who share the misunderstanding, the councilor chooses to write a report for the debate. It is usually the relevant committee chairman or equivalent who writes the contribution. The administrator believes that the majority of the contributions on the debate are political and therefore (s)he should not participate in the debate. The administrator sees citizens and business as partners. It is groups of professionals, which cover associations, organizations etc. and does not necessarily, see the individual citizen as a key stakeholder. The groups of professionals use other media, such as mails and letters, in their communication with the administration, as their input is often long reports and technical judgments. The administrator chooses only to answer factual misunderstandings in ongoing processes or more general issues in the municipality. The mediator, which is a role only a small part of the administration acts in, generally works with the implementing and forming the use of technology in the municipality. (S)he sees ICT as a way of increasing openness and effectiveness in the municipality. Online debates is a solution which the mediator believes especially increases openness and (s)he works with the aim of ensuring a continued debate. The mediator focuses on maximizing the number of contributions, on making it easy to participate and to make it possible to discuss anything, which is why the debate is in no editor or guided use of the debate. The result is that the individual user – political candidate, councilor and administrator – mediate the use of the debate and develop filters for their own and others’ ability to act on the online debate. That politicians and administration appear in these four roles in relation to online debate problematic several aspects of the use of e-participation practices in a municipal context. One aspect is that the four roles develop different practices for the use of the debate which function parallel on the debate without the development of a common practice. A second aspect is that a mediator role is established. An actor who mediates the interaction between citizen and politician, and thereby an actor who has a high degree of importance for what online debating becomes in practice. A third aspect is that the administration takes the mediating role and becomes a political advisor or an administrator of political decisions. A shift which neither the politicians nor the administrator are aware of. At the same time, the way the technology is mediated creates both synergy and conflict between the councilor, the political candidate and the administrator. Synergy and conflict which primarily can be related to the focus of the mediator on the increased use of the technology and the missing focus on contextualization of the online debate. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8000 Files in this item: 1
christine_secher.pdf (6.411Mb) -
En ledelsesfilosofisk afhandling om selvledelsens paradoksale dynamik og eksistentielle engagementKjær Lassen, Tommy (Frederiksberg, 2013)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Denne afhandling handler om selvledelsesfænomenets kommercielle konceptualisering. Afhandlingen baserer sig på et metodekombinerende forskningsprojekt bestående af aktionsforskning og fænomenologisk analyse. Projektet er etableret og finansieret efter erhvervsPhD-ordningen og er som sådan underlagt en dobbeltmålsætning om både erkendelsesmæssig videnskabelse og empirisk nytteskabelse. Projektets aktionsforskningsdel er gennemført, blandt navnlig ingeniørsegmentet i DONG Energy Power, og den fænomenologiske analyse er gennemført med særlig afsæt i kandidatens forholdsvis atypiske baggrund nemlig en protestantisk tilværelsestydning. Projektet er initieret af virksomheden selv, det vil sige af ledelsen i udviklingsfunktionen Engineering i samarbejde med ledelsen i Powers afdeling for HR-Udvikling. Forskningsspørgsmålet lyder slet og ret: Hvordan skal selvledelse konceptualiseres i DONG Energy Power? Dette er i udgangspunktet et nytteorienteret spørgsmål, men afhandlingen viser, at dette spørgsmål implicerer en grundlæggende erkendelsesteoretisk problematik om, hvorledes et meningsfuldt og værdiskabende selvledelsesbegreb overhovedet lader sig konceptualisere. Bag selvledelsens hvordan gemmer der sig et normativt spørgsmål om selvledelsens hvorfor. Projektet er empirisk set sat i verden, fordi der viste sig en række problematikker i forbindelse med virksomhedens konceptualisering af dets ønskede selvledelsesbegreb; problematikker omhandlende forholdet mellem design og emergens, fastholdelse og performance, nødvendighed og mulighed og eksistens og produktivitet. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8753 Files in this item: 1
Tommy_Kjær_Lassen.pdf (1.441Mb) -
A Critical Ethnographic Study of the Structural Tensions of Organizing DiversityHolck, Lotte (Frederiksberg, 2015)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: This dissertation consists of a collection of four articles aimed at critically exploring how diversity and its management are organized in two Danish organizations. The articles are based on a critical ethnographic study of the links among diversity and its management, and the structural setting, including the greater historical-societal structures, the organizations’ structural setup and the spatial structures. Throughout the dissertation, I focus on how this structural setting enables and constrains the local organizing of diversity. This structural focus allows me to explore how structural conditions facilitate or restrain employee agency, and enables me to suggest locally relevant and progressive ways of organizing diversity. Consequently I ask the following main research question: How do the greater historical-societal setting, the organizational setup and spatial structures both enable and constrain organizing diversity in the two case organizations, and what are the implications for the management of diversity and employee agency? URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/9149 Files in this item: 1
Lotte_Holck.pdf (2.204Mb) -
An Ethnographic Study of Quality Coordinator Work in two Danish Hospital DepartmentsMadsen, Marie Henriette (Frederiksberg, 2015)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: The issue of quality and how to provide the best possible care for patients has always been a central concern in the health care sector. For the last decades, this concern has resulted in formulations of quality standards and clinical guidelines that define best practices for clinical work, as well as an increased use of methods and procedures to measure, assess and control quality. In this way, quality development includes certain expectations and requirements, not only to the practices of patient care but also to the practices of quality development. Accordingly, the organisation of quality development in health care has become a matter of concern in its own terms. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/9227 Files in this item: 1
Marie H Madsen.pdf (2.212Mb) -
In Between Local Translation, Institutional Logics and DiscourseWaldorff, Susanne Boch (Frederiksberg, 2010)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: In this dissertation I focus on a national reform of the Danish public sector, which in January 2007 facilitated the development of new municipal health care centers in order to meet specific local demands and to improve primary health care. However, this new organizational concept was not presented as a mandatory and detailed legislative reform. The municipalities therefore developed centers focusing in different ways on health promotion and rehabilitation and with great variation in their structure. Specifically, I find it intriguing how specific actors at the local level, such as politicians, medical professions, and social welfare professionals, were able to participate in local developments, and how they constructed specific organizational forms as local manifestations of the new national policy. Particularly, I am interested in exploring how the heterogeneous institutional context influences local actors’ translation of an abstract organizational concept into specific organizational forms.... URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8021 Files in this item: 1
Susanne_Boch_Waldorff.pdf (2.327Mb) -
Stern, Alexander Brian (Frederiksberg, 2010)[More information][Less information]
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A Semiotic Approach to the Sentence Forms Chosen by British, Danish and Russian Speakers in Native and ELF ContextsIbsen, Olga Rykov (Frederiksberg, 2016)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: According to Durst-Andersen’s theory of communicative supertypes all languages can roughly be described as belonging to one of the following supertypes: (1) reality-oriented languages such as Russian and Hindi that speak of reality through the situation being common to the speaker and the hearer; (2) speaker-oriented languages such as Spanish and Japanese that speak of reality through the speaker’s experience of the situation; and finally (3) hearer-oriented languages such as Danish and English that speak of reality through the hearer’s experience of it. Using the above-mentioned approach, this dissertation investigates the following hypotheses: (I) native speakers of British English prefer indirect requesting strategies; (II) Danes and Russians favour direct requesting strategies in their mother tongue; (III) Danes and Russians transfer direct requesting strategies from their mother tongue to English; (IV) British, Danish, and Russian speakers prefer interrogative sentence structures with the situations where the speaker and hearer do not ‘share the same world’. Cross-cultural data consisting of the Trolley (Permission), the Window (Prohibition), and the Library (Impossibility) situations has been collected through role play from Danish, Russian, and English speakers (control group) at Carlsberg, and consists of both English Lingua Franca Data and Mother Tongue Data. The analysis of these three situations partially provided support for hypothesis I with the native speakers of English and II with the Russians though not with the Danes. By construing requests in terms of a ‘problem-solving’ activity, I found that almost half of the British English speakers ‘solved the problem’ straightaway by using the imperative sentence structure in the Trolley situation, e.g. Put your luggage on the trolley! Yet, among the three groups, the British English speakers were the only group who employed interrogatives most often. Both the Russian and Danish speakers preferred to solve the problem by offering their ‘best bid for a solution of a problem’ in the form of the declarative sentence structure in English, like.g. You can put your luggage on the trolley, whereas they preferred other ways of solving the problem in their native languages: the Russian mother tongue speakers overwhelmingly solved the problem on the spot with the help of the imperative form as in Stav’te svoi vešči na moju teležku! for ‘Put (IPFV) your belongings on my trolley!’, and the Danish mother tongue speakers mostly chose to solve the problem by ‘stating’ it, which is done with the hlp of the interrogative sentence structure, like Skal jeg ikke lige smide den med på min vogn ? for ‘Don’t you want me to throw it on my trolley?’. Hypothesis III was also partially confirmed with the Russians, who appeared to transfer the imperative sentence structure from Russian to Russian English in the Trolley and the Library situations. In addition, due to the original view on directives as trichotomous entities, it was possible to discover covert influence of Russian aspect and transfer of the imperative mood in Russian to Russian English. The analysis did not reveal any direct transfers of syntactic structures from Danish to Danish English. Finally, hypothesis IV was completely confirmed since the British, Danish, and Russian respondents largely preferred the interrogative sentence form with the Library situation. Even though the present study has analysed only a small sample, the findings for direct and subtle transfers from a mother tongue to English as a Lingua Franca can prove instrumental in improving global communication, say, in the form of developing teaching material for cross-cultural business organisations that use English as medium of communication. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/9338 Files in this item: 1
Olga_Rykov_Ibsen.pdf (5.974Mb) -
Skibsted, Marie Kruse (Frederiksberg, 2016)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: This thesis focuses on individuals’ educational achievements and labor market outcomes in a Danish context. Particularly, the thesis aims at determining the returns to specific tertiary educational decisions and understanding the mechanisms underlying such decisions. These related objectives are addressed using econometric methods applied on Danish micro data. All four chapters are empirical studies and combine data from different sources. The main source of data is an administrative data set obtained from Copenhagen Business School (CBS) that contains detailed educational information on students enrolled at CBS. I combine this data with register data obtained from Statistics Denmark. The educational data is the core of Chapter 2, Chapter 3, and Chapter 4 and defines the sample in these chapters. Chapter 1 relies exclusively on data from Statistics Denmark. Chapter 1 (a joint work with Anders Sørensen from Copenhagen Business School) estimates the wage premium of those with a master’s degree in business economics and management when compared to the wages of those with master’s degrees in other fields in the social sciences. By means of an Instrumental Variable (IV) approach, we identify the returns to a business education by addressing the endogenous selection of master’s programs. Using season of birth as an exogenous determinant of master’s degree choice, we find that a master’s degree in business economics and management results in a wage premium of around 12% compared to other master’s degrees in the social sciences. Moreover, we find that the probability of private sector employment is significantly larger for individuals with a master’s degree in business economics and management. Finally, in contrast to the literature that finds significant reductions in the gender wage gap when controlling for educational fields, controlling for a master’s degree in business economics and management does not affect the large and robust gender wage gap prevalent in our sample. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/9318 Files in this item: 1
Marie_Skibsted.pdf (2.867Mb) -
Fosse, Henrik Barslund (Copenhagen Business School, 2012)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: The thesis consists of an introduction followed by three numbered chapters (independent papers). It covers topics in international trade, and in di¤erent ways the thesis investigates aspects of heterogeneity. The rst chapter is coauthored with Pascalis Raimondos-Møller. The version of this chapter is published in the CESifo Working Paper Series and serves as the nal background paper for the compressed journal article published in Review of Development Economics, May 2012. The second chapter is coauthored with Madhura Maitra, senior PhD student at Columbia University at the time. The third chapter is a solo paper. In the rst chapter we introduce a traditional macro model of trade and change the com- petitive environment by introducing state-owned enterprises. We also include heterogenous households to analyze e¤ects on the income distribution. The chapter focuses on Vietnam s accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2007. Upon entry, Vietnam was granted an accession period lasting till 2014. During this period tari¤s would have to fall according to the accession agreement. This rst chapter evaluates this 2007-2014 trade liberalization by building an applied general equilibrium model and calibrating it to the Vietnamese data. The model pays careful attention to the fact that Vietnam has many state-owned enterprises that do not behave in a pro t maximizing way. The model simulations show that the WTO imposed tari¤ reforms will reduce the overall welfare level of the Vietnamese households. Moreover, the biggest loss of income will take place among the poor rural households in Vietnam. We propose other tari¤ reforms that both raise overall welfare and reduce income inequality. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8541 Files in this item: 1
Henrik_Barslund_Fosse.pdf (1.149Mb) -
Overgaard Olesen, Jan (, 2001)[More information][Less information]
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Shi, Qingxin (Frederiksberg, 2010)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Usability evaluation methods are widely used to assess and improve the user interface design. This dissertation investigates the thinking aloud usability testing from a cultural perspective. In a test situation, representative users are required to verbalize their thoughts as they perform their tasks while using the system, and an evaluator observes the user’s task performance and comes up with usability problems. The primary goal of a usability test is to find a list of usability problems. In this research, the impacts of evaluators’ and users’ cultural backgrounds on both the result and the process of the thinking aloud usability testing were investigated. Regarding the results of the usability testing, the identified usability problem was the main focus, whereas for the process of testing, the communication between users and evaluators was the main focus. In this dissertation, culture was regarded as cognitive styles and communication orientations. For the theories of thinking aloud, both Ericsson and Simon’s classic model, and Boren and Ramey’s revised model for usability testing were taken into account. Based on the culture theories and thinking aloud models, hypotheses were developed to investigate the evaluators’ identified usability problems in different cultural settings, and themes were put forward to investigate the evaluators’ and users’ communications. In order to investigate the hypotheses and themes, an experimental study was conducted. The experimental design consisted of four independent groups with evaluators and users from similar or different cultures (Danish and Chinese). Empirical data were collected by using background questionnaires, usability problem forms, usability problem lists, video recordings of the testing and interviews. The usability testing software “Morae” was used to record the whole testing, including the faces of the evaluators and users, the screen and keyboard activities. Evaluators’ and users’ communications were analyzed by the behavioural coding and analysis software “Observer XT 8.0” with a well defined coding system. The results of the systematic study of the thinking aloud usability testing in the context of the intra- and inter-cultural usability engineering show that the evaluators’ cultural backgrounds do have some influences on the usability testing; however, the influences are different for the tests with Western and East Asian users. The main findings of this research have implications for both usability research and practice. The methodological approach also gives inspiration for usability evaluation studies URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8167 Files in this item: 2
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