Thesiss

This dissertation is an ethnographic study of the Iraqi diasporic community in the UK. It is based on two years of fieldwork research I conducted there between 2006–2008. I approach the formation of the diasporic community in light of utopian visions of a past colored by colonia…

Both construction Waste Minimisation (WM) and construction procurement activities play an effective role in attaining sustainability by giving due consideration to the environment, community and social conditions in delivering built assets. The construction industry has a major …

It has been recognised that exporting is an engine for growth at both country and firm levels. However, the challenging nature of international business often prevents companies from entering and surviving in international markets. In the Small and Medium-size Business context, …

This research has been carried out as part of a collaborative doctoral award with partners Spike Island Art and Design Centre and University of the West of England. It employs a mixed methods approach, including participatory action research, reflexive practice and semi-structur…

The transitions of young people to adulthood in the UK are a political threshold that has received much public attention. The trend for young people to abstain from elections relative to older generations is one example of the many reasons young people’s politics have come under…

This study explores how United Kingdom (UK) threshold standards are understood, mediated and safeguarded in an Egyptian Transnational Education (TNE) context. The professional challenge this thesis addresses is the requirement for Higher Education (HE) leaders and practitioners …

This thesis investigates the variables that explain the behaviour of States in their national arenas regarding the implementation of collectively agreed measures within the framework of fisheries regimes. According to orthodoxy, States set up regimes to manage fish exploitation …

Background: The recent political agenda for health and social care requires more client-centred, personalised services. Self-Directed Support, encompassing Direct Payments and Personal Budgets, is designed to provide people with more choice and control over how their needs and o…

The significance of flows of temporary, skilled labour migrants under conditions of globalization is widely acknowledged. Using a case study of elite cricket professionals moving from the UK to Australia for a maximum duration of 6 months, out and return migration flows and proc…

The large scale retailer with a strong retail brand and sufficient critical mass in the market place may reach a pivotal point in its development when the directors can address the question: “Does the company want to get directly involved in the functions of centralised buying, …

The UK Government invests billions of pounds annually in infrastructure projects to support more effective public service provision. However, numerous major projects have failed to meet expectations, or have delivered only with significant budget increases and extensions to proj…

The purpose of this dissertation is twofold. Firstly, to investigate whether the E.M. Rogers diffusion of innovations paradigm can be applied to the building industry in the United Kingdom. Secondly, to look at the implications of this model in relation to the specification of b…

Since the early 1990’s the number of corporate stand-alone reports produced by various organisations worldwide has increased considerably (Kolk, 2004; Owen, 2006). It is argued that introducing an assurance statement with the stand-alone report may contribute to enhancing the cr…

This dissertation analyses the biofuel debate in the UK, focusing on how the UK Government has deployed expectations to legitimise its biofuel policy. The analysis builds on the sociology of expectations, integrated with insights from the multi-level perspective (MLP) on socio-t…

Due to the fact that corporate environmental reporting (CER) is largely voluntary and unregulated, practice has evolved in the absence of a meaningful conceptual framework. This lack of a normative theory stating what should be the content of CER as well as the methods for measu…

The Triratna/FWBO Buddhist movement has been associated with younger people and a lifestyle in which single sex residential communities and work projects (TBRLs) have been prominent. There is now a trend towards a wider range of lifestyles including fewer people living communall…