This paper examines the market entry of the UK’s largest retailer (Tesco) into the USA. Tesco’s launch of a new brand – Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Markets – in virgin territory is a bold move, notwithstanding the firm’s considerable success with its overseas investment strategy (which...

Who are the key people involved in making and implementing the big decisions that set the strategic direction for a firm? Do those who decide also see things through to implementation - and who amongst them wields the most influence? Drawing on data from a study of the making and implementing of...

We explore the implications of trade liberalization in economies with State Owned enterprises (SOEs) and shirking. SOEs are modelled as controlled by the members of the enterprise who determine output and effort levels, while facing output prices and wage rates set by government. Enterprise...

This paper explores the use of structural models as an alternative to reduced form methods when decomposing observed joint trade and technology driven wage changes into components attributable to each source. Conventional mobile factors Heckscher-Ohlin models typically reveal problems of...

This thesis aims to extend the current knowledge about corporate image formation process by developing a comprehensive model which incorporates corporate identity mix elements (i.e. symbolism, communication, and behaviour) and unplanned communication factors (i.e. interpersonal, intermediary and...

Demonstrations of the power of branding in consumer markets reverberate around the globe. In contrast, the role of branding in industrial markets is unclear and under-researched. Three basic questions stimulate the thesis: (1) What is industrial branding?; (2) Is industrial branding important,...

There has been a recent resurgence of interest in the relationship between income inequality and growth. We use the WIDER/UNDP World Income Inequality Database to investigate the effects of inequality and trade liberalisation on growth in a sample of exclusively developing countries....

In this paper we investigate the powerful implications of the Stolper-Samuelson theorem, which uses the Heckscher-Ohlin model to predict strong links between changing trade prices and wage inequalities. We summarise recent work, which shows that these theoretical links are, in fact, far stronger...

This thesis contains two lines of research. The first applies the strategic decision-making theory of the firm to the issue of corporate governance. We find that preferences vary over strategy but not all interests are currently being represented, resulting in a failure to govern in the public...

This thesis investigates the development of capabilities by incumbent telecommunications operators in the context of the transition to the Next Generation Network (NGN). In particular, it examines the case of BT in the UK, as a large-scale first mover in this transition. The research is based on...