NON-CEO EXECUTIVE PAY We develop a theory wherein the pay of non-CEO executives can be explained by micro-level opportunity structures-- the intersection of executives ' particular functional positions, CEO background, human capital, and the strategic resource allocation decisions made by the focal firm. Specifically, our framework suggests that executives will be paid more when they occupy positions made visible and important by the actions and resource allocation decisions arising from a firm's strategy, or have a functional background similar to that of the CEO. Moreover, we further suggest that executives ' human capital will benefit them most, in terms of pay, when their position helps the firm manage such strategic resource allocations. Support for this multilevel framework is provided using a unique, longitudinal data set that combines survey and archival data on the four highest echelons of senior executives in large U.S. firms. 2 Executive compensation is an integral component of corporate governance. Indeed, "few such topics on strategic leadership generate the same degree of controversy " (Finkelstein & Hambrick, 1996: 263). The tremendous attention paid to compensation often can be attributed to

WORKING PAPER *: We are grateful to Vandita Prabhu, Danai Tsotra, Chris Kang, and Anosh Wadia, for the assistance they provided during the collection of the secondary data used in this paper.

The importance of testing the co-alignment model has been emphasized by several researchers in the past. The present study is an attempt to test the model using theories in corporate finance and strategic management, which will also prove the commonalties that exist between these domains of business research. This will help support the arguments of some researchers in the hospitality industry who have stressed the importance of assessing the firm’s strategies using concepts in finance. The overall objective of this study is to test the viability of the co-alignment model using strategic management and corporate finance theory. The present study identifies the dimensions and variables using prior research within each of the constructs studied under the management and corporate finance domains, vis-a-vis environment risk, corporate strategy, capital structure and firm performance. The relationship between the constructs and dimensions were tested for the dependencies between them using surrogates used in prior research through a priori hypothesized relationships. The unit of analysis was the corporate level, and hence, the

We extend the Western strategic management literature on environmental scanning to the entrepreneurial context by surveying business owners in two countries. Specifically, using the framework of Daft, Sormunen and Parks (1988), we test how perceived environmental uncertainty in seven environmental sectors and information accessibility influence scanning frequency of venture owners in the U.S. and India, two dissimilar entrepreneurial settings. Overall, entrepreneurs in India scan more frequently than do U.S. entrepreneurs, and the perceived rate of environmental change and accessibility of information are associated with their scanning. In the U.S., only perceived information accessibility prompts scanning. These results, which depart from inferences drawn from samples of managers in the Western literature, offer potential for extending scanning theory by cross-culturally broadening the theoretical nexus between organization theory, strategy and entrepreneurship in more fully understanding scanning behavior. Key Words: entrepreneurship, scanning, strategy 2 The literatures of organization theory and strategic management are replete with discussion of the influences of environmental complexity and volatility on organization decision-making, structure and

Organizations have been exhorted to adopt novel costing approaches over the past decade. This study assesses the extent to which organizations have altered their practices along these lines, the perception of their success and their association with several contextual factors. A questionnaire was developed to collect information on corporate costing practices, strategic orientation, organisational culture and other information in seven countries:

This paper is work in progress and I am thankful for any comments and suggestions regarding it. Errors and omissions might remain in the paper and the intention is not to implicate any of them to the many scholars that have moved the field forward. Please do not quote without prior permission from the author. This paper examines how managers create and develop strategy in practice. It reports findings of an in-depth investigation of managerial activities and associated learning dynamics in strategy creation, the generation and development of radically new strategies. Managerial and learning activities on different organizational levels, their influence on strategy development, and relationship to strategic change are examined. A dual longitudinal case methodology, including a single in-depth case study combined with a multiple retrospective case study is used, involving four multinational companies. The findings show a twofold character of strategy creation including an adaptive and a creative strategy motor of strategic change involving fundamentally different learning dynamics, reflecting their diverse location and social embeddedness. Adaptive learning dynamics were based on exploitation and refinement of prevailing industry and resource structures and involved a deductive reasoning or sensemaking as regards strategy, including knowledge assimilation activities such as formal intelligence and routine experiences. Creative learning dynamics evolved in the periphery of the organizations and were more remote from existing values and beliefs. They predominantly involved exploration and inductive sensemaking, including activities like informal noticing and creative experiments. The exploration/exploitation trade off interaction between the two strategy motors resulted in tension, which finally triggered strategic change.

Paper presented in the special session titled

The Office of Graduate Studies has verified and approved the above named committee members. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS At the end of this journey, I find it fitting to quote the Grateful Dead – “What a long, strange trip it’s been!!! ” Fortunately, I have benefited from the encouragement and support of several significant groups of people. First of all, this dissertation is dedicated to my family, whose unconditional love and support has helped bolster and encourage me. All my love to my parents, Robert and Juanita, my brothers, Willie, Billy, and Dennis, and the other members of my family. I also offer a special acknowledgement to my grandmother, Helen Davis, who is always with me in spirit. I am also blessed to have received training and mentorship from an outstanding group of faculty at Florida State University. I especially appreciate the guidance and understanding of my dissertation chair, Dr. Bruce Lamont. Dr. Lamont is a man who has always pushed me to reach my full potential, and enabled me to envision concepts and theories in entirely new lights. I would also like to offer special thanks to the other members of my dissertation committee, Drs. Gerald Ferris, Ralph Brower, David Ketchen Jr., and Chuck Kacmar, for their feedback and insight throughout the dissertation process. Finally, I would like to thank the students who served as mentors, friends, and colleagues

E-Commerce studies in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Least Developing Countries (LDCs) have been labelled as being obscure and characterised by a list of challenges which if, not remedied, will continue to plague these countries. Many LCD studies employ research methodologies that are quantitative and techno-centric in nature. However, although E-Commerce is a technology, it is embedded within a given context – that of a least developing country that is characterised by specific contextual challenges different from both developing and developed countries. Against this background, investigation of E-Commerce in SMEs in LDCs requires initial understanding of structural properties inherent in the specific context and thereafter in the technology. This paper proposes a conceptual framework for examining the interaction of structural properties of E-Commerce in SMEs in LDCs. The framework integrates the structuration theory concepts with factors drawn from E-Commerce studies in SMEs in LDC.