From Passive to Active Community Conservation: A Study of Forest Governance in a Region of the Sierra Norte of Oaxaca, Mexico

This thesis investigates how seven communities in a subregion of the Sierra Norte of Oaxaca are conserving high forest cover in the absence of national protected areas. To conduct this study I relied on archival research and the review of community documents, focus group interviews and land use transects to explore historical and current land use. I found that communities have conserved 88.34% of the subregion as forest cover, or 58,596 hectares out of a total territory of 66,264 hectares. Analysis suggests that the communities have undergone a historical transition from more passive conservation to more active, conscious conservation particularly in the last decade. This thesis further contends that communities deserve additional financial compensation for this active conservation of globally important forests for biodiversity conservation and that exercises in systematic conservation planning ignore the reality that existing biodiversity conservation in the subregion is associated with community ownership.

Patterns in the space use of the Bearded Reedling, Panurus biarmicus, on the Tay Reedbeds, Scotland

This thesis presents research into the space use of a specialist reedbed Passerine, the Bearded Reedling, or Bearded Tit, Panurus biarmicus, with a view to inform the conservation of this species and reedbeds as a whole. How a species uses space, and how space use changes between individuals or over time, can influence: the ability to forage and hunt effectively, breeding success, susceptibility to predation, genetic health, disease spread, robustness against environmental change and ultimately, colonisation or extinction. Thus, understanding the space use of animals can provide critical insight into ecological systems. Birds offer interesting models when studying animal space use, as, by being intrinsically mobile, many bird species can occupy multiple spatial scales. As a consequence of being completely dependent on patchy and ephemeral reedbed habitats, the Bearded Reedling, has a clustered, inhomogeneous distribution throughout its range. This drives the existence of distinct spatial scales upon which space use studies should be characterised. Distribution and movement within a single reedbed can be considered local-scale, while spatial processes between reedbeds can be considered wide-scale. Temporal processes may act upon both of these scales. For example, changing interactions with predators may influence nest positioning at a local-scale, while seasonal changes in resource requirements might drive processes such as migration at a wide-scale. The Bearded Reedling has a wide temperate breeding range, extending over much of Eurasia. On the IUCN’s red list, it is listed as ‘of least concern’, with an estimated European population between 240,000-480,000 breeding pairs. Despite its relatively favourable conservation status, its dependence on reedbed habitats drives a fragmented distribution, with populations being concentrated in small, isolated, stands. Over the last century reedbed wetlands have suffered rapid declines caused by drainage schemes undertaken to improve land for development or agriculture. Additionally, many remaining reed stands are subject to extensive commercial management to produce thatch or biofuel. Conversely, in other areas, management is driven by conservation motives which recognise the present threats to reedbeds, and aim to encourage the diversity of species associated with these habitats. As the Bearded Reedling is fundamentally linked to the quality and structure of a reed stand, understanding the space use of this species will offer information for the direct conservation of this specialist species, and for the effects of reedbed management as a whole. This thesis first presents studies of space use at a local-scale. All local-scale research is conducted at the Tay Reedbeds in eastern Scotland. Mist netting and bird ringing data are used within capture recapture models, which include an explicit spatial component, to gain insight into the abundance of the Bearded Reedling on the Tay. This abundance estimation approach suggests the Tay reedbeds are a stronghold for this species on the British Isles, and that, as a high latitude site, the Tay may have importance for range expansion. A combination of transect surveys and radio-tracking data are then used to establish the local-scale space use of this species during the breeding and autumnal seasons. These data are related to changes in the structure of reed caused by local management in the form of mosaic winter reed cutting. Results suggest that birds exploit young and cut patches of reed as foraging resources when they are available, and that old, unmanaged reed is critical for nesting and winter foraging. Further local-scale studies concern the spatial patterns in the nesting habits of this species. Mosaic reed cutting creates clear edges in a reedbed. Artificial nests placed in the Tay Reedbeds demonstrate increased nest predation rates closer to the edges of cut patches. Additionally, high predation rates become reduced as the cut reed re-grows, suggesting that reed cutting may increase accessibility of the stand to predators. As Bearded Reedling nests are uncommon and difficult to locate, the timing, site selection and structure of a sample of real nests from the Tay is then detailed. These demonstrate an early, and relatively rigid breeding onset in this species, the importance of dense, compacted reeds as nesting sites and a degree of flexibility in nest structure. Conservation efforts will also benefit from studies into wide-scale spatial processes. These may be important when establishing how colonisation events occur and when predicting the effects of climatic change. The Bearded Reedling has been traditionally considered a resident species which only occasionally undertakes wide-scale, between-reedbed, movements. Indeed, the ecology of this species suggests strict year round local residency to reedbeds, with distinct seasonal changes in diet allowing occupation of these habitats year round. The European ringing recoveries of this species, since the 1970s are investigated to better characterise the wider movements of specialist resident. These suggest residency in southern populations, but higher instances of movement than expected in more northerly regions. In these regions wide-scale movement patterns resemble those of partial regular migratory species. An understanding of local and wide-scale spatial processes can offer a strong foundation on which to build conservation strategies. This thesis aims to use studies of space use to provide this foundation for the Bearded Reedling and offer further insight into the ecology of reedbed habitats as a whole. The thesis concludes by proposing an effective strategy for the conservation management of reedbeds that will especially benefit the Bearded Reedling.

Effect of trees in the soil nutrient concentration and pasture produtivity in Mediterranean silvo-pastoral systems

Silvo-pastoral are mixed systems of trees and grass, which have been proposed as a means to extend the benefits of forest to farmed land. Agro-forestry systems under semi-arid Mediterranean conditions, called montados in Portugal and dehesas in Spain, cover substantial areas in the world. These silvo-pastoral systems are the most extensive European agro-forestry system, as they cover 3.5–4.0 Mha in Spain and Portugal. Long-term studies are essential to assess the magnitude of the temporal nutrient flow dynamics in terrestrial ecosystems and to understand the response of these systems to fertilizer management. In order to implement the conservation task and recovery of resources through silvo-pastoral systems it is necessary to know and correct potential limiting factors, especially the soil factor, and this requires agronomic knowledge as well as the implmentation of the available new technologies. In this context, this task aims at a better understanding of the contribution of the two components of montado ecosystem (trees and herbaceous vegetation) on the soil nutrient and water dynamics, that allow for the interpretation of the variability of pasture dry matter yield and help the farmer in the management of tree density. Collaterally the task will evaluate and calibrate new technologies that simplify the monitoring of soil, grassland, trees and grazing animals.

Living on the intertidal/subtidal edge: ecology of the stalked barnacle Pollicipes Pollicipes and of the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus

This thesis contributes to the knowledge of temperate rocky shore ecology, with direct implications in the management and conservation of two important local marine resources that inhabit the very edge of subtidal and intertidal habitats on wave-swept rocky shores: the sessile filter feeding stalked barnacle Pollicipes pollicipes and the mobile keystone herbivore sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus. Research was conducted along gradients of wave exposure on rocky shores of Southern Europe. The abundance of P. lividus was four times higher in SW Portugal than in NW Italy. Most of the variation in urchin abundance occurred at small spatial scales, probably shaped by habitat complexity. In SW Portugal, sea urchin attachment forces while in burrows were measured and related to burrow shape, urchin size and habitat. Burrowing behaviour enhances sea urchin attachment force and might be an adaptive response to hydrodynamic stress. Abundance of P. pollicipes in SW Portugal is highly and positively related to wave exposure at local and regional scales. Predation and recruitment processes seem to be important drivers of these abundance patterns. A distribution model of P. pollicipes abundance in relation to wave exposure was developed for the SW coast of Portugal and might be used for improvement of its management and conservation. Growth of P. pollicipes was studied by applying a novel method using fluorescent calcein for marking and to estimate growth. Growth rate decreased with barnacle size and was highly variable amongst individuals, particularly in smaller barnacles. No effect of shore level on barnacle growth was detected. An assessment of the state of the fishery, conservation and management of the stalked barnacle in different regions of continental Portugal was made, highlighting an overall negative tendency of this state and recommending a change into a co-management system; Resumo: Viver no limite intertidal / subtidal: ecologia do percebe Pollicipes pollicipes e do ouriço-do-mar Paracentrotus lividus Esta tese contribui para o conhecimento da ecologia do litoral rochoso e tem implicações diretas na gestão e conservação de dois recursos marinhos locais que habitam o interface subtidal/intertidal de costas rochosas sujeitas a agitação marinha: o percebe Pollicipes pollicipes, animal séssil e filtrador e o ouriço-do-mar Paracentrotus lividus, animal móvel e herbívoro. Foram realizados vários estudos ao longo de gradientes de hidrodinamismo em costas rochosas do sul da Europa. A abundância de P. lividus foi quatro vezes superior no sudoeste de Portugal relativamente ao noroeste de Itália. Grande parte da variação na abundância de P. lividus ocorreu a pequenas escalas espaciais, provavelmente influenciada pela complexidade do habitat. A força com que o ouriço-do-mar se fixa ao substrato foi medida no terreno no sudoeste de Portugal, tendo esta sido relacionada com a forma da depressão que ocupa, o tamanho individual e o habitat. O comportamento escavador desta espécie aumenta a sua força de fixação ao substrato e poderá ser uma resposta adaptativa ao hidrodinamismo.. A abundância de P. pollicipes na costa sudoeste de Portugal, a diferentes escalas espaciais, está relacionada de forma positiva com a agitação marinha, e é influenciada pela predação e pelo recrutamento desta espécie. Foi desenvolvido um modelo de distribuição e abundância de P. pollicipes para esta costa baseado na relação com a agitação marinha, cujos resultados podem ser usados para melhorar a gestão e conservação deste recurso. Um novo método com recurso a calceina fluorescente foi desenvolvido para marcar percebes e estudar o seu crescimento. A taxa de crescimento diminuiu com o tamanho do animal, sendo altamente variável entre indivíduos, sobretudos nos de menores dimensões. O estado da apanha, conservação e gestão do percebe em diferentes regiões de Portugal Continental apresentou uma tendência global negativa, e recomenda-se uma alteração para um sistema de cogestão deste recurso.

Knowmore (House of Commons)

Knowmore (House of Commons) is a large scale generative interactive installation that incorporates embodied interaction, dynamic image creation, new furniture forms, touch sensitivity, innovative collaborative processes and multichannel generative sound creation. A large circular table spun by hand and a computer-controlled video projection falls on its top, creating an uncanny blend of physical object and virtual media. Participants’ presence around the table and how they touch it is registered, allowing up to five people to collaboratively ‘play’ this deeply immersive audiovisual work. Set within an ecological context, the work subtly asks what kind of resources and knowledges might be necessary to move us past simply knowing what needs to be changed to instead actually embodying that change, whilst hinting at other deeply relational ways of understanding and knowing the world. The work has successfully operated in two high traffic public environments, generating a subtle form of interactivity that allows different people to interact at different paces and speeds and with differing intentions, each contributing towards dramatic public outcomes. The research field involved developing new interaction and engagement strategies for eco-political media arts practice. The context was the creation of improved embodied, performative and improvisational experiences for participants; further informed by ‘Sustainment’ theory. The central question was, what ontological shifts may be necessary to better envision and align our everyday life choices in ways that respect that which is shared by all - 'The Commons'. The methodology was primarily practice-led and in concert with underlying theories. The work’s knowledge contribution was to question how new media interactive experience and embodied interaction might prompt participants to reflect upon the kind of resources and knowledges required to move past simply knowing what needs to be changed to instead actually embodying that change. This was achieved through focusing on the power of embodied learning implied by the works' strongly physical interface (i.e. the spinning of a full size table) in concert with the complex field of layered imagery and sound. The work was commissioned by the State Library of Queensland and Queensland Artworkers Alliance and significantly funded by The Australia Council for the Arts, Arts Queensland, QUT, RMIT Centre for Animation and Interactive Media and industry partners E2E Visuals. After premiering for 3 months at the State Library of Queensland it was curated into the significant ‘Mediations Biennial of Modern Art’ in Poznan, Poland. The work formed the basis of two papers, was reviewed in Realtime (90), was overviewed at Subtle Technologies (2010) in Toronto and shortlisted for ISEA 2011 Istanbul and included in the edited book/catalogue ‘Art in Spite of Economics’, a collaboration between Leonardo/ISAST (MIT Press); Goldsmiths, University of London; ISEA International; and Sabanci University, Istanbul.

From resource base to dynamic capabilities : an investigation of new firms

Despite the numerous observations that dynamic capabilities lie at the source of competitive advantage, we still have limited knowledge as to how access to firm-based resources and changes to these affect the development of dynamic capabilities. In this paper, we examine founder human capital, access to employee human capital, access to technological expertise, access to other specific expertise, and access to two types of tangible resources in a sample of new firms in Sweden. We empirically measure four dynamic capabilities and find that the nature and effect of resources employed in the development of these capabilities vary greatly. For the most part, there are positive effects stemming from access to particular resources. However, for some resources, such as access to employee human capital and access to financial capital, unexpected negative effects also appear. This study therefore provides statistical evidence as to the varying role of resources in capability development. Importantly, we also find that changes in resource bases have more influential roles in the development of dynamic capabilities than the resource stock variables that were measured at an earlier stage of firm development. This provides empirical support for the notion of treating the firm as a dynamic flow of resources as opposed to a static stock. This finding also highlights the importance of longitudinal designs in studies of dynamic capability development. Further recommendations for future empirical studies of dynamic capabilities are presented.

Integrating eco-efficiency assessment of commercial buildings into the design process : LCADesign

The ability to assess a commercial building for its impact on the environment at the earliest stage of design is a goal which is achievable by integrating several approaches into a single procedure directly from the 3D CAD representation. Such an approach enables building design professionals to make informed decisions on the environmental impact of building and its alternatives during the design development stage instead of at the post-design stage where options become limited. The indicators of interest are those which relate to consumption of resources and energy, contributions to pollution of air, water and soil, and impacts on the health and wellbeing of people in the built environment as a result of constructing and operating buildings. 3D object-oriented CAD files contain a wealth of building information which can be interrogated for details required for analysis of the performance of a design. The quantities of all components in the building can be automatically obtained from the 3D CAD objects and their constituent materials identified to calculate a complete list of the amounts of all building products such as concrete, steel, timber, plastic etc. When this information is combined with a life cycle inventory database, key internationally recognised environmental indicators can be estimated. Such a fully integrated tool known as LCADesign has been created for automated ecoefficiency assessment of commercial buildings direct from 3D CAD. This paper outlines the key features of LCADesign and its application to environmental assessment of commercial buildings.

New insights into rebound effects : theory and empirical evidence

The main objective of the thesis is to seek insights into the theory, and provide empirical evidence of rebound effects. Rebound effects reduce the environmental benefits of environmental policies and household behaviour changes. In particular, win-win demand side measures, in the form of energy efficiency and household consumption pattern changes, are seen as ways for households and businesses to save money and the environment. However, these savings have environmental impacts when spent, which are known as rebound effects. This is an area that has been widely neglected by policy makers. This work extends the rebound effect literature in three important ways, (1) it incorporates the potential for variation of rebound effects with household income level, (2) it enables the isolation of direct and indirect effects for cases of energy efficient technology adoption, and examines the relationship between these two component effects, and (3) it expands the scope of rebound effect analysis to include government taxes and subsidies. MACROBUTTON HTMLDirect Using a case study approach it is found that the rebound effect from household consumption pattern changes targeted at electricity is between 5 and 10%. For consumption pattern changes with reduced vehicle fuel use, the rebound effect is in the order of 20 to 30%. Higher income households in general are found to have a lower total rebound effect; however the indirect effect becomes relatively more significant at higher household income levels. In the win-lose case of domestic photovoltaic electricity generation, it is demonstrated that negative rebound effects can occur, which can potentially amplify the environmental benefits of this action. The rebound effect from a carbon tax, which occurs due to the re-spending of raised revenues, was found to be in the range of 11-32%. Taxes and transfers between households of different income levels also have environmental implications. For example, a more progressive tax structure, with increased low income welfare payments is likely to increase greenhouse gas emissions. Subsidies aimed at encouraging environmentally friendly consumption habits are also subject to rebound effects, as they constitute a substitution of government expenditure for household expenditure. For policy makers, these findings point to the need to incorporate rebound effects in the environmental policy evaluation process.’

The development of a clinical learning environment scale

Within nursing, there is a strong demand for high-quality, cost-effective clinical education experiences that facilitate student learning in the clinical setting The clinical learning environment (CLE) is the interactive network of forces within the clinical setting that influence the students'clinical learning outcomes The identification of factors that characterize CLE could lead to strategies that foster the factors most predictive of desirable student learning outcomes and ameliorate those which may have a negative impact on student outcomes The CLE scale is a 23-item instrument with five subscales staff–student relationships, nurse manager commitment, patient relationships, interpersonal relationships, and student satisfaction These factors have strong substantive face validity and construct validity, as determined by confirmatory factor analysis Reliability coefficients range from high (0 85) to marginal (0 63) The CLE scale provides the educator with a valid and reliable instrument to evaluate affectively relevant factors in the CLE, direct resources to areas where improvement may be required, and nurture those areas functioning well It will assist in the application of resources in a cost-effective, efficient, productive manner, and will ensure that the clinical learning experience offers the nursing student the best possible learning outcomes

The foraging behaviour of the Black rat (Rattus rattus) within Australian macadamia orchards

The black rat (Rattus rattus) has been shown to be the primary species responsible for causing significant crop losses within the Australian macadamia industry. This species success within macadamia orchards is directly related to the flexibility expressed in its foraging behaviour. In this paper a conceptual foraging model is presented which proposes that the utilisation of resources by rodents within various components of the system is related not only to their relative abundance, but also to predator avoidance behaviour. Nut removal from high predation risk habitats during periods of low resource abundance in low risk compartments of the system is considered an essential behaviour that allows high rodent densities to be maintained throughout the year.

Public accountability : the perceived usefulness of School Annual reports

Annual reports are an important component of New Zealand schools’ public accountability. Through the annual report the governance body informs stakeholders about school aims, objectives, achievements, use of resources, and financial performance. We examine the perceived usefulness of the annual report in the discharge of public accountability. We find that 15% of the recipients (mainly parents/caregivers) do not read the annual report because they trust in the school to do the right thing or rely on others to monitor school activities. We find that the annual report is used for a variety of purposes including to determine if the school has conducted its activities effectively and achieved stated objectives and goals; to examine student achievements; to assess financial accountability and performance; and to make decisions about the school as a suitable environment for their child/children. We find that other forms of communication such as school newsletters, parent-teacher interviews, children and other parents are more important sources of information about the school than the annual report.

Digital kids, analogue students : a mixed methods study of students' engagement with a school-based Web 2.0 learning innovation

The inquiry documented in this thesis is located at the nexus of technological innovation and traditional schooling. As we enter the second decade of a new century, few would argue against the increasingly urgent need to integrate digital literacies with traditional academic knowledge. Yet, despite substantial investments from governments and businesses, the adoption and diffusion of contemporary digital tools in formal schooling remain sluggish. To date, research on technology adoption in schools tends to take a deficit perspective of schools and teachers, with the lack of resources and teacher ‘technophobia’ most commonly cited as barriers to digital uptake. Corresponding interventions that focus on increasing funding and upskilling teachers, however, have made little difference to adoption trends in the last decade. Empirical evidence that explicates the cultural and pedagogical complexities of innovation diffusion within long-established conventions of mainstream schooling, particularly from the standpoint of students, is wanting. To address this knowledge gap, this thesis inquires into how students evaluate and account for the constraints and affordances of contemporary digital tools when they engage with them as part of their conventional schooling. It documents the attempted integration of a student-led Web 2.0 learning initiative, known as the Student Media Centre (SMC), into the schooling practices of a long-established, high-performing independent senior boys’ school in urban Australia. The study employed an ‘explanatory’ two-phase research design (Creswell, 2003) that combined complementary quantitative and qualitative methods to achieve both breadth of measurement and richness of characterisation. In the initial quantitative phase, a self-reported questionnaire was administered to the senior school student population to determine adoption trends and predictors of SMC usage (N=481). Measurement constructs included individual learning dispositions (learning and performance goals, cognitive playfulness and personal innovativeness), as well as social and technological variables (peer support, perceived usefulness and ease of use). Incremental predictive models of SMC usage were conducted using Classification and Regression Tree (CART) modelling: (i) individual-level predictors, (ii) individual and social predictors, and (iii) individual, social and technological predictors. Peer support emerged as the best predictor of SMC usage. Other salient predictors include perceived ease of use and usefulness, cognitive playfulness and learning goals. On the whole, an overwhelming proportion of students reported low usage levels, low perceived usefulness and a lack of peer support for engaging with the digital learning initiative. The small minority of frequent users reported having high levels of peer support and robust learning goal orientations, rather than being predominantly driven by performance goals. These findings indicate that tensions around social validation, digital learning and academic performance pressures influence students’ engagement with the Web 2.0 learning initiative. The qualitative phase that followed provided insights into these tensions by shifting the analytics from individual attitudes and behaviours to shared social and cultural reasoning practices that explain students’ engagement with the innovation. Six indepth focus groups, comprising 60 students with different levels of SMC usage, were conducted, audio-recorded and transcribed. Textual data were analysed using Membership Categorisation Analysis. Students’ accounts converged around a key proposition. The Web 2.0 learning initiative was useful-in-principle but useless-in-practice. While students endorsed the usefulness of the SMC for enhancing multimodal engagement, extending peer-topeer networks and acquiring real-world skills, they also called attention to a number of constraints that obfuscated the realisation of these design affordances in practice. These constraints were cast in terms of three binary formulations of social and cultural imperatives at play within the school: (i) ‘cool/uncool’, (ii) ‘dominant staff/compliant student’, and (iii) ‘digital learning/academic performance’. The first formulation foregrounds the social stigma of the SMC among peers and its resultant lack of positive network benefits. The second relates to students’ perception of the school culture as authoritarian and punitive with adverse effects on the very student agency required to drive the innovation. The third points to academic performance pressures in a crowded curriculum with tight timelines. Taken together, findings from both phases of the study provide the following key insights. First, students endorsed the learning affordances of contemporary digital tools such as the SMC for enhancing their current schooling practices. For the majority of students, however, these learning affordances were overshadowed by the performative demands of schooling, both social and academic. The student participants saw engagement with the SMC in-school as distinct from, even oppositional to, the conventional social and academic performance indicators of schooling, namely (i) being ‘cool’ (or at least ‘not uncool’), (ii) sufficiently ‘compliant’, and (iii) achieving good academic grades. Their reasoned response therefore, was simply to resist engagement with the digital learning innovation. Second, a small minority of students seemed dispositionally inclined to negotiate the learning affordances and performance constraints of digital learning and traditional schooling more effectively than others. These students were able to engage more frequently and meaningfully with the SMC in school. Their ability to adapt and traverse seemingly incommensurate social and institutional identities and norms is theorised as cultural agility – a dispositional construct that comprises personal innovativeness, cognitive playfulness and learning goals orientation. The logic then is ‘both and’ rather than ‘either or’ for these individuals with a capacity to accommodate both learning and performance in school, whether in terms of digital engagement and academic excellence, or successful brokerage across multiple social identities and institutional affiliations within the school. In sum, this study takes us beyond the familiar terrain of deficit discourses that tend to blame institutional conservatism, lack of resourcing and teacher resistance for low uptake of digital technologies in schools. It does so by providing an empirical base for the development of a ‘third way’ of theorising technological and pedagogical innovation in schools, one which is more informed by students as critical stakeholders and thus more relevant to the lived culture within the school, and its complex relationship to students’ lives outside of school. It is in this relationship that we find an explanation for how these individuals can, at the one time, be digital kids and analogue students.

Customer-oriented deviance (COD) : a conceptualisation, development and validation of a behavioural measure

Frontline employee behaviours are recognised as vital for achieving a competitive advantage for service organisations. The services marketing literature has comprehensively examined ways to improve frontline employee behaviours in service delivery and recovery. However, limited attention has been paid to frontline employee behaviours that favour customers in ways that go against organisational norms or rules. This study examines these behaviours by introducing a behavioural concept of Customer-Oriented Deviance (COD). COD is defined as, “frontline employees exhibiting extra-role behaviours that they perceive to defy existing expectations or prescribed rules of higher authority through service adaptation, communication and use of resources to benefit customers during interpersonal service encounters.” This thesis develops a COD measure and examines the key determinants of these behaviours from a frontline employee perspective. Existing research on similar behaviours that has originated in the positive deviance and pro-social behaviour domains has limitations and is considered inadequate to examine COD in the services context. The absence of a well-developed body of knowledge on non-conforming service behaviours has implications for both theory and practice. The provision of ‘special favours’ increases customer satisfaction but the over-servicing of customers is also counterproductive for the service delivery and costly for the organisation. Despite these implications of non-conforming service behaviours, there is little understanding about the nature of these behaviours and its key drivers. This research builds on inadequacies in prior research on positive deviance, pro-social and pro-customer literature to develop the theoretical foundation of COD. The concept of positive deviance which has predominantly been used to study organisational behaviours is applied within a services marketing setting. Further, it addresses previous limitations in pro-social and pro-customer behavioural literature that has examined limited forms of behaviours with no clear understanding on the nature of these behaviours. Building upon these literature streams, this research adopts a holistic approach towards the conceptualisation of COD. It addresses previous shortcomings in the literature by providing a well bounded definition, developing a psychometrically sound measure of COD and a conceptually well-founded model of COD. The concept of COD was examined across three separate studies and based on the theoretical foundations of role theory and social identity theory. Study 1 was exploratory and based on in-depth interviews using the Critical Incident Technique (CIT). The aim of Study 1 was to understand the nature of COD and qualitatively identify its key drivers. Thematic analysis was conducted to analyse the data and the two potential dimensions of COD behaviours of Deviant Service Adaptation (DSA) and Deviant Service Communication (DSC) were revealed in the analysis. In addition, themes representing the potential influences of COD were broadly classified as individual factors, situational factors, and organisational factors. Study 2 was a scale development procedure that involved the generation and purification of items for the measure based on two student samples working in customer service roles (Pilot sample, N=278; Initial validation sample, N=231). The results for the reliability and Exploratory Factor Analyses (EFA) on the pilot sample suggested the scale had poor psychometric properties. As a result, major revisions were made in terms of item wordings and new items were developed based on the literature to reflect a new dimension, Deviant Use of Resources (DUR). The revised items were tested on the initial validation sample with the EFA analysis suggesting a four-factor structure of COD. The aim of Study 3 was to further purify the COD measure and test for nomological validity based on its theoretical relationships with key antecedents and similar constructs (key correlates). The theoretical model of COD consisting of nine hypotheses was tested on a retail and hospitality sample of frontline employees (Retail N=311; Hospitality N=305) of a market research panel using an online survey. The data was analysed using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). The results provided support for a re-specified second-order three-factor model of COD which consists of 11 items. Overall, the COD measure was found to be reliable and valid, demonstrating convergent validity, discriminant validity and marginal partial invariance for the factor loadings. The results showed support for nomological validity, although the antecedents had differing impact on COD across samples. Specifically, empathy and perspective-taking, role conflict, and job autonomy significantly influenced COD in the retail sample, whereas empathy and perspective-taking, risk-taking propensity and role conflict were significant predictors in the hospitality sample. In addition, customer orientation-selling orientation, the altruistic dimension of organisational citizenship behaviours, workplace deviance, and social desirability responding were found to correlate with COD. This research makes several contributions to theory. First, the findings of this thesis extend the literature on positive deviance, pro-social and pro-customer behaviours. Second, the research provides an empirically tested model which describes the antecedents of COD. Third, this research contributes by providing a reliable and valid measure of COD. Finally, the research investigates the differential effects of the key antecedents in different service sectors on COD. The research findings also contribute to services marketing practice. Based on the research findings, service practitioners can better understand the phenomenon of COD and utilise the measurement tool to calibrate COD levels within their organisations. Knowledge on the key determinants of COD will help improve recruitment and training programs and drive internal initiatives within the firm.

The social role of design on collaborative destination branding : creating a new journey, a new story for the Waterfall Way, New South Wales, Australia.

This paper suggests that collaborative design can be an effective tool to promote social change. A co-design methodology and the results of its application in branding the Waterfall Way (New South Wales, Australia) as an eco- and nature-based tourism destination are presented as an example. The co-design exercise actively involved stakeholders in all stages of the design process, harnessing local tacit knowledge in relation to communication design, stimulating reflection upon what is special about the places, and consequently reinforcing a sense of belonging and the environmental and cultural conservation of place. The achieved results reflect the involvement and ownership of the community towards the design process. However, the application of a collaborative brand design methodology produced more than just a destination brand that is attractive to visitors, in line with local values, ways of living and the environment. It helped to catalyse a social network around tourism, triggering self-organising activity amongst stakeholders, who started to liaise with each other around the emergent regional identity - represented by the new brand they created together. The Waterfall Way branding process is a good example of social construction of shared understanding in and through design, showing that design exercises can have a significant social impact not only on the final product, but also on the realities of people involved in the process.