This thesis investigates the extent to which international law provides a normative framework for the management of the Spratly Islands area in the absence of agreed maritime delimitation, with the... Show moreThis thesis investigates the extent to which international law provides a normative framework for the management of the Spratly Islands area in the absence of agreed maritime delimitation, with the aim of maintaining peaceful coexistence of the disputant States and promoting international cooperation. In addition to the introductory and concluding chapters, this thesis consists of two parts: Part I (Coexistence) and Part II (Cooperation). Part I, comprising chapters 2-4, seeks to set out a predictable territorial order and a permissible scope for unilateral behaviours to ensure peaceful coexistence of the disputant States. Part II, including chapters 5-7, outlines international legal frameworks for inter-State cooperation in resource and pollution management concerning the Spratly Islands area. This thesis concludes that the functions of international law in managing this region can be achieved through the interaction between its substantive and procedural elements, despite its limitations resulting from the classic ‘territoriality’ model of jurisdiction. This thesis will hopefully provide a balanced perspective on the roles of international law and advocate a blueprint of cooperation that can be undertaken at a relatively low level of efforts or changes by making use of the existing international instruments or available cooperative mechanisms as much as possible. Show less
This dissertation aims to identify patterns in the managerial processes during an enterprise system implementation (ESI) period. An ESI remains a notorious challenge. In most cases, it concurrently... Show moreThis dissertation aims to identify patterns in the managerial processes during an enterprise system implementation (ESI) period. An ESI remains a notorious challenge. In most cases, it concurrently involves business strategy change, organizational change, and technical innovation. This dissertation adopts structuration theory as a __sensitizing device__ for understanding change forces behind an ESI. A pattern-recognition method is used to extract and describe patterns of managerial processes out of the structuration insights. Two sub-structuration processes are selected in order to make the structuration process observable and identifiable for the pattern recognition: Communicating significance by top management and facilitating learning for ESI. Ten in-depth empirical cases are studied in a longitudinal way. The main contribution of the thesis is four-fold: (1) the thesis designs a pattern-recognition method for conducting process studies (Structuration); (2) A set of process patterns are identified. These patterns clearly show the predictive power of the process studies; (3) A method to operationalize structuration theory. The __modalities__ embedded in the structuration framework are operationalized as a specific set of techniques within certain managerial processes which are observable and actionable; (4) New insights into the performance criteria of a strategic ESI project. A success of an ESI should not only be decided by operative criteria, but also should be judged by the achieved strategic impact. Show less
