ACKNOWLEDGMENT

FINALLY!!!! I submitted my work!!!!!!!! Whoo hoo~~~. Yippee~~~~.
But the work wouldn't have been completed without these people.
Please allow me to take this opportunity to thank them all. THANK YOU!!!!

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Many people have made it possible for me to complete this dissertation. First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my academic advisors, Professor Koichiro Hioki and Professor Naoki Wakabayashi for their invaluable guidance and unfailing support throughout the academic years of my graduate course. I am especially indebted to Associate Professor Yoshiaki Takao (Tokyo Metropolitan University) and Assistant Professor Yingyan Wang for their kind assistance, immeasurable guidance, and support in innumerable ways.

I am also grateful for all of the comments, suggestions, and critiques from the professors of Kyoto University, namely Associate Professor Takashi Hikino, Associate Professor Yasuo Sugiyama, Professor Akira Takeishi, as well as other researchers who participated in the 5th Asia Academy of Management, the 2008 National Conference of the Academic Association for Organizational Science, and all the other conferences where I have presented bits and parts of this dissertation. Their contribution has helped greatly in paving the direction of this dissertation.

My gratefulness is extended to more than 700 participants of the case study and questionnaire survey, the questionnaire pilot testers, as well as those who helped me to find the way and connections into conducting the empirical research used in this dissertation. Although the limited space provided and my promise to keep all information confidential do not permit me to thank them individually, their kind help deeply touches my heart. I am also grateful for the help of Associate Professor Sununta Siengthai (Asian Institute of Technology) and Ajarn Decha Dechawatanapaisal (Chulalongkorn University) on the questionnaire design and construction guidance. A special thanks is extended to my friends Nattajak Pitakpuvadon for sponsoring the printing of the questionnaire forms, Parichart Sitijitawat for driving me to one of the survey sites, P’Tid and Ping for helping me with the labor work of packing and repacking the questionnaires, and Chalermrat Chantaradecha (doctoral student at Srinakarinwirot University) for being my SEM encyclopedia. Thanks also to Gerhard Mels (Scientific Software International, Inc.) for his prompt assistance when I encountered problems with the LISREL software.

This dissertation could never have been completed without my super proofreaders, Chi-Wei Chang and Mary Rose Saratan Guzman. I am deeply touched by their enduring friendship and dedication. I am also grateful to Ryuichi Nakamoto, my kohai at Kyoto University, for always helping with either translating or checking my Japanese writing. However, all mistakes in this dissertation are of my own and mine alone.

Even though circumstances do not permit me to complete this dissertation with Japanese enterprises, I would like to thank Shigeyuki Kitani and other staff at Kyocera Corp. for their warm welcome and assistance throughout my time spent at the Kyocera Research Center.

I would also like to gratefully acknowledge the Japan Foundation, AsiaSEED Institute, the AYF Program, as well as the Japanese Government (Monbukagakusho, MEXT) for their financial support throughout my graduate study and the preparation course prior to this.

Completing a graduate degree is not an easy task. I would like to thank all of my friends from Chitralada School, Thammasat University, the AYF Program, the Thai Student Association in Japan, as well as those in Thailand and other parts of the world where our paths have crossed. Their friendship and encouragement were what got me through the rough times during my graduate study.

I am thankful also for all my senpai and kohai at Kyoto University (I am glad to be a part of the Kyodai family!), my labmates especially Sovannroeun Samreth, and my Thai and foreign friends in Kyoto. I wish I could thank you all individually. My time at Kyoto University would not have been this enjoyable without the kindness of Assistant Professor Mami Katagawa, Associate Professor Tetsuya Kirihata, Associate Professor Hiroyuki Matsui, the staff of the Graduate School of Management, and the members of Katagawa-Gumi! The list would not be complete if I did not mention all of my senseis and friends from Toryokai Kyudo Club. Although it has only been one year since I started practicing Kyudo, I am forever thankful for everyone’s friendship and support. You have made my stay in Japan very memorable!

Finally, I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to my beloved family. I am eternally grateful to my father and mother, Tavisak and Sumon Pruksapong, for their unconditional love and enduring support. I am indebted to my older sister and her husband, Matana Pruksapong and Jes Kettratad, for their encouragement and shared experience in the Ph.D. program. Also, I am grateful to my little sister, Suthapa Pruksapong, my aunties, and the memory of my grandparents for their never-ending love and encouragement. Thank you for believing in me. Without them, I could never have come this far.