title: An Integrated Theory of the Roles of Governing Boards of New Zealand and Australian Co-operative Dairy Companies

authors: Old, Kevin Murray

subjects: Co-operatives

abstract: Over recent times there has been significant interest in corporate governance by the popular press, regulators and academics after strings of spectacular corporate failures. Governance research, however, appears to have been contextually-bound, focussing mainly on organisations with freely traded shares. The governance of co-operatives, despite their significance to the world and New Zealand economies, has received scant research focus. The New Zealand dairy industry, which is dominated by co-operatives, contributes 25 percent of exports and ten percent of GDP to the local economy, yet there appears little understanding and empirical research of co-operative governance. Reviews of the managerial corporate governance and co-operative literatures also suggest there is currently no all-encompassing theory of the governance of co-operatives. Given these gaps in the literature, the aim of this research is to inductively develop a theory of the roles of governing boards of New Zealand and Australian co-operative dairy companies from the perspective of the participants. 

In order to achieve this aim, a case study method inspired by Eisenhardt (1989a) is selected to guide the research. Fieldwork utilising semi-structured interviews with governance participants from six co-operative cases is used to gather a broad and deep picture of co-operative board roles. By analysing data within case and comparing across cases, the understandings from the empirical data provide the basis to develop the theoretical model.

Drawing from these understandings, this study will look at board member roles in terms of their activities and the process in which they engage. This research results in a theoretical model deeply informed from practitioners' views to provide a unified theory of governance. Upon theoretical saturation five unique theoretical concepts and relationships between them emerge from the analysis with an intimate link to the empirical data: Exogenous-Issues, Supplier-Shareholder-Needs/Benefits, Supplier-Shareholder-Controls, Board Architecture and Board Roles. Subconcepts within the Board Architecture concept are: Individual-Distinctions, Engagement-Forums, and Dynamics. Four Board Role concepts emerge Unite, Strategic-Involvement, Control and Serve. The resultant model of co-operative board roles presents new insights, is logically coherent, has a good fit with the data and is reasonably parsimonious. 

A contribution to knowledge of corporate governance and agricultural co-operatives is achieved through an integrative and nuanced understanding of co-operative board roles. The findings also highlight individual director contributions to the role; a unique addition to governance studies. The model also begins to highlight the relationships between key actors and the processes used in decision making. The theoretical model's similarities to and divergences from existing theories of corporate governance are drawn to illustrate the contribution of the model.

This thesis provides researchers, practitioners, educators, regulators and policy makers in the corporate governance and agricultural co-operative fields, insights into the current and ongoing roles of co-operative boards. The theoretical model establishes foundations for further study into how directors can more effectively govern their co-operatives.

text: An Integrated Theory of the Roles of Governing Boards of New Zealand and Australian Co-operative Dairy Companies Over recent times there has been significant interest in corporate governance by the popular press, regulators and academics after strings of spectacular corporate failures. Governance research, however, appears to have been contextually-bound, focussing mainly on organisations with freely traded shares. The governance of co-operatives, despite their significance to the world and New Zealand economies, has received scant research focus. The New Zealand dairy industry, which is dominated by co-operatives, contributes 25 percent of exports and ten percent of GDP to the local economy, yet there appears little understanding and empirical research of co-operative governance. Reviews of the managerial corporate governance and co-operative literatures also suggest there is currently no all-encompassing theory of the governance of co-operatives. Given these gaps in the literature, the aim of this research is to inductively develop a theory of the roles of governing boards of New Zealand and Australian co-operative dairy companies from the perspective of the participants. 

In order to achieve this aim, a case study method inspired by Eisenhardt (1989a) is selected to guide the research. Fieldwork utilising semi-structured interviews with governance participants from six co-operative cases is used to gather a broad and deep picture of co-operative board roles. By analysing data within case and comparing across cases, the understandings from the empirical data provide the basis to develop the theoretical model.

Drawing from these understandings, this study will look at board member roles in terms of their activities and the process in which they engage. This research results in a theoretical model deeply informed from practitioners' views to provide a unified theory of governance. Upon theoretical saturation five unique theoretical concepts and relationships between them emerge from the analysis with an intimate link to the empirical data: Exogenous-Issues, Supplier-Shareholder-Needs/Benefits, Supplier-Shareholder-Controls, Board Architecture and Board Roles. Subconcepts within the Board Architecture concept are: Individual-Distinctions, Engagement-Forums, and Dynamics. Four Board Role concepts emerge Unite, Strategic-Involvement, Control and Serve. The resultant model of co-operative board roles presents new insights, is logically coherent, has a good fit with the data and is reasonably parsimonious. 

A contribution to knowledge of corporate governance and agricultural co-operatives is achieved through an integrative and nuanced understanding of co-operative board roles. The findings also highlight individual director contributions to the role; a unique addition to governance studies. The model also begins to highlight the relationships between key actors and the processes used in decision making. The theoretical model's similarities to and divergences from existing theories of corporate governance are drawn to illustrate the contribution of the model.

This thesis provides researchers, practitioners, educators, regulators and policy makers in the corporate governance and agricultural co-operative fields, insights into the current and ongoing roles of co-operative boards. The theoretical model establishes foundations for further study into how directors can more effectively govern their co-operatives.

year: 2009

title: EEG slow-wave coherence changes in propofol-induced general anesthesia: experiment and theory.

authors: Wang, Kaier

subjects: Turing–Hopf instabilities

abstract: The electroencephalogram (EEG) patterns recorded during general anesthetic-induced coma are closely similar to those seen during slow-wave sleep, the deepest stage of natural sleep; both states show patterns dominated by large amplitude slow waves. Slow oscillations are believed to be important for memory consolidation during natural sleep. Tracking the emergence of slow-wave oscillations during transition to unconsciousness may help us to identify drug-induced alterations of the underlying brain state, and provide insight into the mechanisms of general anesthesia. Although cellular-based mechanisms have been proposed, the origin of the slow oscillation has not yet been unambiguously established. A recent theoretical study by Steyn-Ross et al. (2013) proposes that the slow oscillation is a network, rather than cellular phenomenon. Modeling anesthesia as a moderate reduction in gap-junction interneuronal coupling, they predict an unconscious state signposted by emergent low-frequency oscillations with chaotic dynamics in space and time. They suggest that anesthetic slow-waves arise from a competitive interaction between symmetry-breaking instabilities in space (Turing) and time (Hopf), modulated by gap-junction coupling strength. A significant prediction of their model is that EEG phase coherence will decrease as the cortex transits from Turing-Hopf balance (wake) to Hopf-dominated chaotic slow-waves (unconsciousness). Here, we investigate changes in phase coherence during induction of general anesthesia. After examining 128-channel EEG traces recorded from five volunteers undergoing propofol anesthesia, we report a significant drop in sub-delta band (0.05-1.5 Hz) slow-wave coherence between frontal, occipital, and frontal-occipital electrode pairs, with the most pronounced wake-vs.-unconscious coherence changes occurring at the frontal cortex.

text: EEG slow-wave coherence changes in propofol-induced general anesthesia: experiment and theory. The electroencephalogram (EEG) patterns recorded during general anesthetic-induced coma are closely similar to those seen during slow-wave sleep, the deepest stage of natural sleep; both states show patterns dominated by large amplitude slow waves. Slow oscillations are believed to be important for memory consolidation during natural sleep. Tracking the emergence of slow-wave oscillations during transition to unconsciousness may help us to identify drug-induced alterations of the underlying brain state, and provide insight into the mechanisms of general anesthesia. Although cellular-based mechanisms have been proposed, the origin of the slow oscillation has not yet been unambiguously established. A recent theoretical study by Steyn-Ross et al. (2013) proposes that the slow oscillation is a network, rather than cellular phenomenon. Modeling anesthesia as a moderate reduction in gap-junction interneuronal coupling, they predict an unconscious state signposted by emergent low-frequency oscillations with chaotic dynamics in space and time. They suggest that anesthetic slow-waves arise from a competitive interaction between symmetry-breaking instabilities in space (Turing) and time (Hopf), modulated by gap-junction coupling strength. A significant prediction of their model is that EEG phase coherence will decrease as the cortex transits from Turing-Hopf balance (wake) to Hopf-dominated chaotic slow-waves (unconsciousness). Here, we investigate changes in phase coherence during induction of general anesthesia. After examining 128-channel EEG traces recorded from five volunteers undergoing propofol anesthesia, we report a significant drop in sub-delta band (0.05-1.5 Hz) slow-wave coherence between frontal, occipital, and frontal-occipital electrode pairs, with the most pronounced wake-vs.-unconscious coherence changes occurring at the frontal cortex.

year: 2014

title: Volunteering at the edge of chaos: A case study on the self-organising of younger volunteers during the Rena oil spill crisis

authors: Lockwood, Sarah Jane

subjects: volunteer

abstract: This thesis investigates the self-organising of younger volunteers during the 2011 Rena oil spill crisis in Aotearoa/New Zealand. It builds on emerging research that considers the relationships between volunteering and activism and focuses on the ways in which younger volunteers carved out a ‘volunteer-activist’ space for themselves on the edge of the formal crisis responses.  
The research adopts a case study approach and uses an interpretive lens to investigate three research questions: (1) How was volunteering conceptualised by younger volunteers involved in the Rena crisis?; (2) How did the generational dynamics of younger volunteers affect the various organising responses to the Rena event?; and, (3) How was self-organising conceptualised by younger volunteers involved in the Rena crisis?
The data comprised interviews with 53 participants, 38 of whom were classified as younger volunteers (16-29 years of age) and 15 who held positions of authority in the Rena crisis response and who had high levels of engagement with the younger volunteers. By examining the intersections and overlaps of self-organising, younger generations of volunteers, and crisis events through a social constructionist methodology combined with an interpretive lens and reflexive position, the thesis makes several theoretical and practical contributions.
At a theoretical level, the thesis challenges traditional crisis management approaches dominated by command and control, formal, or top down organisational structures and arrangements. The thesis demonstrates how, as active members of society, younger volunteers developed alternate forms of participation to strengthen crisis response. 
Power tensions between younger volunteers and crisis officials were grounded in a deep sense of frustration resulting from negative societal views toward younger generational cohorts and the structural workings of a risk society. By reconciling social and institutional grievances through self-organising, younger volunteers could take advantage of their marginalised position and enact self-reflexive responses in ways that were not readily available to them in everyday life. This sense of empowerment helped younger volunteers navigate the structural uncertainties they faced as they transitioned towards a competitive labour market and also to take greater control of their lives during a crisis.
From an Aotearoa/New Zealand, perspective, the thesis also provides insights into how younger Māori participants made sense of and enacted their ‘volunteer’ experience and how this experience was influenced by culturally embedded principles. Importantly, there appeared to be no generational differences between how younger and older Māori participants made sense of their ‘volunteer’ experience. Both groups were driven by collectivist orientations, which highlights the importance of contextualising culture in volunteer sector research. 
The social constructedness of the media technologies used by participants exposed broader power structures that existed within their generation-specific social worlds. To this end, media multiplexity showed how use of different communication technologies (1) supported the maintenance of relationships between participants and (2) was fundamental to the meaning participants attached to the different forms of technologies. These findings indicate the need to move away from the current literature’s focus on the tools of communication technologies used by younger people during crisis events, towards the meanings that exist behind the use of such technologies as well as the digital relationships fostered among volunteers. 
This thesis contributes to the scholarship on volunteering and activism by showing how self-organising emerged as an alternative form of activist—or activator—approach to volunteer participation within a crisis response. This approach enabled young volunteer-activators to move beyond their perceived sense of marginalisation and avoid those formal organisational forces that limit their sense of freedom and personal development. The result was an alternative crisis response of self-organised volunteering on the edge of chaos.

text: Volunteering at the edge of chaos: A case study on the self-organising of younger volunteers during the Rena oil spill crisis This thesis investigates the self-organising of younger volunteers during the 2011 Rena oil spill crisis in Aotearoa/New Zealand. It builds on emerging research that considers the relationships between volunteering and activism and focuses on the ways in which younger volunteers carved out a ‘volunteer-activist’ space for themselves on the edge of the formal crisis responses.  
The research adopts a case study approach and uses an interpretive lens to investigate three research questions: (1) How was volunteering conceptualised by younger volunteers involved in the Rena crisis?; (2) How did the generational dynamics of younger volunteers affect the various organising responses to the Rena event?; and, (3) How was self-organising conceptualised by younger volunteers involved in the Rena crisis?
The data comprised interviews with 53 participants, 38 of whom were classified as younger volunteers (16-29 years of age) and 15 who held positions of authority in the Rena crisis response and who had high levels of engagement with the younger volunteers. By examining the intersections and overlaps of self-organising, younger generations of volunteers, and crisis events through a social constructionist methodology combined with an interpretive lens and reflexive position, the thesis makes several theoretical and practical contributions.
At a theoretical level, the thesis challenges traditional crisis management approaches dominated by command and control, formal, or top down organisational structures and arrangements. The thesis demonstrates how, as active members of society, younger volunteers developed alternate forms of participation to strengthen crisis response. 
Power tensions between younger volunteers and crisis officials were grounded in a deep sense of frustration resulting from negative societal views toward younger generational cohorts and the structural workings of a risk society. By reconciling social and institutional grievances through self-organising, younger volunteers could take advantage of their marginalised position and enact self-reflexive responses in ways that were not readily available to them in everyday life. This sense of empowerment helped younger volunteers navigate the structural uncertainties they faced as they transitioned towards a competitive labour market and also to take greater control of their lives during a crisis.
From an Aotearoa/New Zealand, perspective, the thesis also provides insights into how younger Māori participants made sense of and enacted their ‘volunteer’ experience and how this experience was influenced by culturally embedded principles. Importantly, there appeared to be no generational differences between how younger and older Māori participants made sense of their ‘volunteer’ experience. Both groups were driven by collectivist orientations, which highlights the importance of contextualising culture in volunteer sector research. 
The social constructedness of the media technologies used by participants exposed broader power structures that existed within their generation-specific social worlds. To this end, media multiplexity showed how use of different communication technologies (1) supported the maintenance of relationships between participants and (2) was fundamental to the meaning participants attached to the different forms of technologies. These findings indicate the need to move away from the current literature’s focus on the tools of communication technologies used by younger people during crisis events, towards the meanings that exist behind the use of such technologies as well as the digital relationships fostered among volunteers. 
This thesis contributes to the scholarship on volunteering and activism by showing how self-organising emerged as an alternative form of activist—or activator—approach to volunteer participation within a crisis response. This approach enabled young volunteer-activators to move beyond their perceived sense of marginalisation and avoid those formal organisational forces that limit their sense of freedom and personal development. The result was an alternative crisis response of self-organised volunteering on the edge of chaos.

year: 2019