Working across societal borders

This dissertation examines the intersections between the three societal sectors -- business, government and civil society -- with particular interest in the mechanisms and institutions that influence the effectiveness of these interactions. The dissertation is comprised of three essays, based in three different empirical contexts. In the first essay, I develop a theory of strategic decision-making related to the participation of social movement organizations seeking to influence government regulation of business practices. The second essay studies a cross-sector case of innovation adoption, and identifies key relationships between the entry and 'landing' points of the idea, and innovation adoption. The last essay studies adaptation of multinational managers to local labor-market institutions, and shows that institutional obstacles to subsidiary performance and productivity can be overcome by what we term flexible intermediate adaptation.