Doctoral Research

Developing, growing and sustaining relationships with customers is fundamental to the success of an organisation. In a rapidly changing environment where work has become vulnerable, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (“VUCA”), this remains a key challenge (Raja, 2021). Amid this VUCA world, a variety of tri-partite relationships exist, specifically between organisations, employees and customers. Organisations assess how they can generate product or service value and offer it as brand promises to customers to indicate how they will solve the product or service issue of the customer. Brand promises are, more specifically in the service industries, brought to life through engagements between employees and customers.

Oil and Gas has been produced from UK reservoirs since 1967, and although the industry is past its peak, it remains an important contributor to the UK economy (Green & Keogh, 2000). UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) Production Efficiency (PE) and Well Delivery (WD) productive time is at 80%. This reflects continuing efforts by industry to improve operational efficiencies (Oil & Gas Authority, 2020). The 20% operational inefficiency in the UKCS is lost time and cost which could be invested to accelerate the energy transition to reliable renewable options that can be added into the energy mix. The HS&E Report (2022) notes that improvements in human performance and data sharing are important to tackle these inefficiencies.

The Ugandan financial sector comprises non-deposit-taking microfinance institutions and deposit-taking institutions. Microfinance institutions provide financial assistance to the underprivileged worldwide to finance their small businesses. According to Ssekiziyivu et al. (2018), microfinance institutions in Uganda are essential in providing loans to support small and medium-sized firms that employ a large portion of the country’s workforce. Most microfinance institutions are non- deposit-taking microfinance institutions which lend to the majority of the small and medium-sized firms that contribute 20% of the gross domestic product and employ more than 60% of the labour force.

The analysis of economic challenges in developing countries reveals several flaws and dysfunctions including (i) high rates of unemployment; (ii) rising inequality; (iii) disruption of major economic activities due to the pandemic; and (iv) low productity due to poor human capital development (UNICEF, 2021). To address some of these challenges, development efforts, including the Global Partnership for Education, the Malala Fund, and others, have been devoted to the implementation of education reforms to improve quality (Bruns, Macdonald, & Schneider, 2019; Ditlev-Simonsen, 2021). The emphasis on education quality emanates from the reality that it equips students with the necessary skills to enhance national competitiveness, reduce inequality within a country, and eventually foster economic growth (Callender & Dougherty, 2018; Ramirez, 2014).

A resilient region is seen as one that continues to prosper and maintain economic stability in the face of inevitable shocks and disruptions that occur over time (Christopherson et al., 2010, p. 134). The ability to adapt to changing circumstances and seize new opportunities, leading to increased innovation and competitive advantage, make such regions more attractive to businesses and investors by providing a stable environment in which to invest and grow. And, particularly, innovation systems at different levels (Rose & Krausmann, 2013) such as scientific communities of national academies of sciences are seen as key to developing regional resilience.