http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/168 Mon, 06 Apr 2026 17:09:24 GMT 2026-04-06T17:09:24Z http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/32936 Title: The role of government initiatives in sustainability practice and performance in the UK hotel sector Authors: Peivand, Fahimeh Abstract: Sustainability has become increasingly important in today’s business world, with companies recognising the need to integrate ethical, social and environmental considerations into their operations. The hotel sector is no exception, and interest in promoting sustainable practices within the industry continues to grow. Although the UK government has introduced several initiatives to advance sustainability in hotels, a comprehensive understanding of their effectiveness as well as the challenges and opportunities that accompany their implementation remains limited. The main objectives and contributions of this research are to assess the impact of government initiatives on sustainability practices and performances in the UK hotel industry and to identify effective strategies and mechanisms to encourage sustainable practices. There is a lack of a holistic framework that not only explains how government initiatives drive sustainability practices and performance, but also how the various elements of government initiatives, sustainability practices, and performance influence one another, including the interrelationships among these elements. This study adopts institutional theory to examine how external drivers and pressures, i.e. government sustainability initiatives, shape sustainability practices and performance in organisations. Semi-structured interviews with hospitality managers and employees provide a fresh empirical perspective and add a new dimension to the existing body of knowledge. The findings of this research demonstrate that there are four key government initiatives that encourage sustainability practices in the hotel industry in the UK i.e. norms and culture, set of rules, decision-making process and innovative initiative entrepreneurship. The research outcome was the development of the new holistic framework based on empirical results, institutional theory and the previous literature discussion, which resulted in the final research framework, as being a significant theoretical contribution of this research. Policymakers, hotel‐industry stakeholders, and researchers can apply this framework to devise government strategies that advance sustainability practices and performance across the hospitality sector and the wider service economy. Description: This thesis was submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel University London Wed, 01 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/32936 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/32534 Title: Investigating socio-cultural influences on Saudi shoppers’ perspectives towards sustainability and ethical practices Authors: Aljukhaydib, Ahmed Nasser Abstract: This thesis investigates how cultural, religious, and institutional factors shape the way Saudi consumers understand and practice sustainable consumption. Most of existing literature on sustainable consumption is based on Western, individualist models that focus on environmental concern, and personal responsibility. However, these models do not fully reflect non-Western contexts such as Saudi Arabia, where social norms, religious beliefs, and government influence are deeply connected to consumers’ everyday choices. The research adopts a qualitative, interpretivist approach based on social constructivism. In total, 40 participants took part in this study — 30 semi-structured interviews and a separate group of 10 shop-along interviews were conducted, all with Saudi citizen-consumers. Data were analyzed thematically using Lochmiller’s five-step method. Two main theoretical perspectives guided the study: Practice Theory, which focuses on the role of social routines and shared behaviors, and Multiple Modernities Theory, which emphasizes that different societies modernize in culturally specific ways. Findings show that Saudi consumers prioritize affordability, need, and product quality over environmental concern. Many participants linked sustainability to Islamic teachings such as avoiding waste and practicing moderation. Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia’s national transformation plan, emerged as a key driver of sustainability efforts, highlighting a strong reliance on state-led transformation rather than the individual or community efforts that were often the focus in earlier research. This study contributes to sustainable consumption studies by offering a culturally grounded understanding of non-Western consumers’ perceptions on the role and responsibilities of various stakeholders for sustainability. I make a novel theoretical contribution in combining Practice Theory with a Multiple Modernities perspective to analyse non-Western consumers’ shopping practices in relation to sustainability concepts. The thesis argues for a more inclusive, context sensitive approach to sustainability research and policy that considers culture, religion, and structure not just individual attitudes. Description: This thesis was submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel University London Wed, 01 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/32534 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/32525 Title: Leadership through lived experience: How remote work shapes leadership practices in non-profit organisations – a grounded theory approach Authors: Buresova, Petra Abstract: This study examines how remote work impacts the understanding and practices of non-profit leadership, it does so through the lens of lived experiences. Using a Constructivist Grounded Theory approach, the research investigates how non-profit leaders understand their roles and adapt to challenges in remote settings. Through 34 in-depth interviews with non-profit leaders, team members, and other key stakeholders, in the UK, the study proposes a practice framework for remote leadership in charitable organisations. This framework highlights four interconnected dimensions of leadership: building relational connections, maintaining connection with organisational culture and mission, adapting to individual needs and promoting empowerment, and applying continuous reflection. The model builds upon our understanding of leadership as an interpersonal and relational process. These findings show that remote non-profit leadership is not build on operational oversight, but it is relational and adaptive in its core. The study offers a framework that considers the complexities of remote work in missiondriven non-profit organisations. The findings also offer practical insights for non-profit leaders. They highlight the importance of visibility in the digital space, trust-building, personalised leadership approaches, and continuous reflection, to keep the remote nonprofit teams engaged. This study brings an updated perspective for our understanding of non-profit leadership in remote settings, as it frames it as a relational and adaptive experience. The study offers theoretical contributions, as well as practical applications for leaders engaging with a dispersed workforce. This study also aims to provide contribution to the knowledge of the non-profit sector, and through the shared knowledge, support the organisations to continue to provide invaluable services to those in need. Description: This thesis was submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel University London Wed, 01 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/32525 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/32510 Title: Whistleblowing on food fraud: Analysing consumer whistleblowing intentions in the United Kingdom through the lens of the development of the whistleblowing triangle and theory of planned behaviour. Authors: Ngoma, Chikondi Abstract: Whistleblowing is a topic of interest that has attracted great global attention from various stakeholders in many countries worldwide including the United Kingdom. At its core, whistleblowing has been established as one of the most effective ways to tackle unethical practices, fraud, and other illegal engagements in organisations. Whistleblowing can be explained as the action an individual takes to disclose wrongful practices or unethical practices in a firm. It can be conducted internally or externally by the individual. The reason behind disclosing this information is to obtain corrective actions from the respective parties. However, blowing the whistle is risky as the whistle blower might encounter threats, retaliation or even job loss for disclosing the information. Therefore, countries need to establish whistleblowing protection legislation and companies to create robust channels for reporting unethical practices. In the United Kingdom, the Public Interest Disclosure Act was established for the protection of whistle blowers. Since its creation, various amendments have been made and policy agencies have established policies to better protect whistle blowers. However, whistleblowing is still an action individual are reluctant to undertake. As stated above whistleblowing has been used to tackle various unethical practices. Previous whistleblowing studies have only dealt with addressing corporate fraud or financial fraud. Researchers have created models to address corporate fraud or financial fraud. However, most studies have neglected to use whistleblowing to address food fraud. Despite food fraud cases increasing globally. This justifies the need to conduct research with regard to the whistleblowing model and food fraud. This research aims to create a whistleblowing model by incorporating the theory of planned behaviour and the development of the whistleblowing triangle. This model will be used to understand factors that led consumers to report unethical food practices. As stated above whistleblowing is still an action that individuals are reluctant to undertake. Our study will try to understand which factors will lead consumers to report unethical food practices. This research sheds light on the whistleblowing literature as it will develop a whistleblowing triangle and theory of planned behaviour to create a model to address food fraud. The incorporation of these two models will help us understand consumer whistleblowing intention, specifically in the United Kingdom. On the same token, this research is unique as it uses consumers as a sample in the area of whistleblowing, previous research has focused on using employees, managers, and internal auditors. The use of consumers in the whistleblowing literature relating to food fraud is significant because consumers are very important stakeholders in the food supply chain as they are the end users or consumers of the goods. Furthermore, consumers have the power and authority to notice wrongdoing and report it. Lastly, consumers will be more inclined to take a keen interest in the topic of food fraud and whistleblowing as it directly affects their health should a company engage in food fraud, likewise, these consumers are sacrificing scarce resources in the form of money for this food therefore, they would be further inclined to ensure their resources are not being exploited by supply of fraudulent food. With the ongoing food frauds taking place consumers have now become aware of the right procedures or practices with regards to food production. As a result, they become key factors in preventing food fraud. To understand consumer whistleblowing intention in the United Kingdom a survey was provided to consumers. The study obtained 514 respondents of which 221 were male and 291 were female. Our study highlights that ethical responsibility is positively and significantly related to brand loyalty, barriers to whistleblowing are negatively and significantly related to brand loyalty, ethical responsibility is positively and significantly related to social support, barriers to whistleblowing are positively and significantly related to social support, social support is positively and significantly related to brand loyalty, and barriers to whistleblowing is positively and insignificantly related to ethical responsibility. These findings indicated consumer whistleblowing intention. We now understand what will lead consumers to report unethical food practices in the United Kingdom. In addition, this study has provided robust managerial implications. Description: This thesis was submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel University London Wed, 01 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/32510 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z