The aim of the diploma thesis called "Education and human resources development in selected companies" is to highlight the prevalent forms of education in selected companies, to analyze them with regard to human resources development and to propose changes leading to improve the future knowledge economy. Two companies have been selected for research: Schwan Cosmetics CR, Ltd., based in Český Krumlov, which produces wooden cosmetic pencils, and Leifheit, Ltd., based in Blatná, producing domestic utensils and fabrics. The thesis is divided into a theoretical and an experimental part. The theoretical part required a number of relevant scholarly treatises to be studied. In this part, the basic terminology pertaining to human resource management, education of employees and knowledge economy is explained. The following part first describes the selected companies and then it focuses on the analysis of education of employees and the human resources development in these companies, by means of questionnaires and unguided interviews with heads of personnel departments. In the closing part, a summary of acquired data, together with recommendations and suggestions for possible improvements are included.

O estudo trata da descentralização de políticas públicas de Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação (CT&I) do governo federal para os municípios. As políticas públicas de CT&I são, cada vez mais, essenciais para o desenvolvimento economicamente viável e sustentável de uma nação. Assim, governos ao redor do mundo investem em empresas e sistemas de inovação como forma de manter a competitividade em uma economia cada vez mais global. Paradoxalmente, apesar da crescente relevância política, social e econômica das cidades no mundo, seu papel tem sido subestimado nas políticas nacionais de CT&I no Brasil. No plano teórico, o presente estudo apoia-se em duas vertentes temáticas: o desenvolvimento regional na economia do conhecimento e a descentralização federativa. Nesse contexto, o estudo interroga sobre como inserir o município nas políticas nacionais de CT&I. O estudo busca evidências empíricas nas relações intergovernamentais da descentralização e em dois estudos de caso, nas cidades brasileiras de Porto Alegre e São Leopoldo, ambas do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul, escolhidas pelos bons resultados na promoção de sistemas empresariais de inovação. A pesquisa chegou a alguns resultados como: (a) a mobilização dos governos em torno de políticas públicas em CT&I continua sendo crucial para o desenvolvimento de empresas e sistemas empresariais de base tecnológica; (b) os municípios mostram capacidade de criar políticas públicas de CT&I, como marcos regulatórios, estruturas organizacionais, mecanismos de incentivo e sistemas de governança; (c) a descentralização via municípios pode melhorar a capilaridade e a eficácia de programas nacionais, fortalecendo sistemas regionais de inovação e complementando políticas federais de CT&I; (d) os municípios são entes federados plenos que têm poder político e econômico para influir e promover ajustes nas políticas públicas federais de CT&I. / This thesis discusses decentralization of national public policies on Science, Technology and Innovation (ST&I) from the federal to the city government. Governments around the world have been supporting companies and innovation systems because of their relevance to economic viability and national sustainable development. However, despite the increasing political, social and economic relevance of cities worldwide, their role has been underestimated in national ST&I policies. In this context, this study considers how municipal decentralization of national ST&I policies enhances capillarity, efficiency and the strengthening of regional systems of innovation. The study offers empirical evidence of intergovernmental relationships of decentralization through the case studies of two Brazilian cities: Porto Alegre and São Leopoldo, which were selected because of their comparatively good results in promoting companies and systems of innovation in comparison to other Brazilian cities. The main conclusions of the study are: (a) federal government public policy promotion in ST&I remains crucial to the development of entrepreneurial technologically-based systems; (b) municipalities are capable of mobilizing resources, structuring incentive mechanisms, articulating actors, and organizing governance systems; (c) decentralization via municipalities can improve capillarity and effectiveness, strengthening regional innovation systems and consequently complementing national ST&I policies; (d) increased political and economic power of city governments can promote improvements in federal policies of ST&I.

This diploma thesis deals with the characteristic of the corporate culture of the chosen enterprise. Specifically, the thesis focuses on the desirable state of the corporate culture. In the methodology, the criterion of desirable functionality of corporate culture is determined according to the cultural dimensions by G. Hofstede. This criterion requires an enterprise to operate on bases of knowledge economy with focus on new innovative approaches and competitiveness. The data was obtained through three conducted investigations. The first two were closest to the questionnaire survey. The first one was called the "Questionnaire - The Power of Corporate Culture" and the other one was called Values Survey Module 2013 (VSM 2013). The third research was quantitative with qualitative elements - Colour Semantic Differential Test. Finally, changes that can help to move to the entirely desirable state of enterprise culture are proposed.

O estudo trata da descentralização de políticas públicas de Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação (CT&I) do governo federal para os municípios. As políticas públicas de CT&I são, cada vez mais, essenciais para o desenvolvimento economicamente viável e sustentável de uma nação. Assim, governos ao redor do mundo investem em empresas e sistemas de inovação como forma de manter a competitividade em uma economia cada vez mais global. Paradoxalmente, apesar da crescente relevância política, social e econômica das cidades no mundo, seu papel tem sido subestimado nas políticas nacionais de CT&I no Brasil. No plano teórico, o presente estudo apoia-se em duas vertentes temáticas: o desenvolvimento regional na economia do conhecimento e a descentralização federativa. Nesse contexto, o estudo interroga sobre como inserir o município nas políticas nacionais de CT&I. O estudo busca evidências empíricas nas relações intergovernamentais da descentralização e em dois estudos de caso, nas cidades brasileiras de Porto Alegre e São Leopoldo, ambas do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul, escolhidas pelos bons resultados na promoção de sistemas empresariais de inovação. A pesquisa chegou a alguns resultados como: (a) a mobilização dos governos em torno de políticas públicas em CT&I continua sendo crucial para o desenvolvimento de empresas e sistemas empresariais de base tecnológica; (b) os municípios mostram capacidade de criar políticas públicas de CT&I, como marcos regulatórios, estruturas organizacionais, mecanismos de incentivo e sistemas de governança; (c) a descentralização via municípios pode melhorar a capilaridade e a eficácia de programas nacionais, fortalecendo sistemas regionais de inovação e complementando políticas federais de CT&I; (d) os municípios são entes federados plenos que têm poder político e econômico para influir e promover ajustes nas políticas públicas federais de CT&I. / This thesis discusses decentralization of national public policies on Science, Technology and Innovation (ST&I) from the federal to the city government. Governments around the world have been supporting companies and innovation systems because of their relevance to economic viability and national sustainable development. However, despite the increasing political, social and economic relevance of cities worldwide, their role has been underestimated in national ST&I policies. In this context, this study considers how municipal decentralization of national ST&I policies enhances capillarity, efficiency and the strengthening of regional systems of innovation. The study offers empirical evidence of intergovernmental relationships of decentralization through the case studies of two Brazilian cities: Porto Alegre and São Leopoldo, which were selected because of their comparatively good results in promoting companies and systems of innovation in comparison to other Brazilian cities. The main conclusions of the study are: (a) federal government public policy promotion in ST&I remains crucial to the development of entrepreneurial technologically-based systems; (b) municipalities are capable of mobilizing resources, structuring incentive mechanisms, articulating actors, and organizing governance systems; (c) decentralization via municipalities can improve capillarity and effectiveness, strengthening regional innovation systems and consequently complementing national ST&I policies; (d) increased political and economic power of city governments can promote improvements in federal policies of ST&I.

Favorisées par les gouvernants en quête d’un nouveau modèle post-industriel, les économies basées sur la connaissance vont devenir en quelques décennies le référentiel à atteindre pour le développement de territoires soumis aux pressions de la globalisation.Longtemps considérés comme des éléments indispensables à la production et à la transmission du savoir, les établissements d’enseignement supérieur et de recherche, comme les universités, ont été de plus en plus intégrés dans les analyses sur le développement territorial à mesure que s’imposait le paradigme américain de la valorisation des activités de la recherche publique. Cette nouvelle mission imposée aux établissements de recherche, suppose qu’ils sont des facteurs d’un développement localisé. Mais le rôle qui leur est assigné est-il justifié ? À travers l’impact singulier de la recherche publique, on peut analyser la place de ces établissements sur leur territoire d’accueil. Apres avoir fait un état de l’art en matière d’analyse d’impact nous utilisons le cadre méthodologique de l’étude d’un cas illustrant cette problématique. L’agglomération de Brest mise sur la forte concentration d’établissements de recherche à vocation maritime pour développer le cluster local. Bien que non généralisable, ce cas éclaire les recherches dans ce domaine. Au-delà, la thèse apporte une autre vision sur les réformes de type top down des systèmes d’enseignement supérieur et de recherche considérant le savoir comme n’importe quel bien économique. Or la connaissance n’est pas un bien comme les autres. Et c’est cette singularité qui explique les difficultés d’analyse dans le champ de l’économie de la connaissance. / Promoted by governments seeking for a new post-industrial model, the knowledge-based economies will become in a few decades the repository to reach for the development of territories subject to the pressures of globalization. Regarded as essential to the production and transmission of knowledge, higher education and research institutions, such as universities, have been increasingly integrated into the analysis of territorial development while was emerging the american paradigm for valorisation of public research activities. This new mission imposed on research institutions, assume they are factors of localized development. Is this assigned role justified? Through the singular impact of public research, we can analyze the role of these institutions on their home territory. After a state of the art on the impact assessments, we developed a methodological framework for case study illustrating this problem. In the agglomeration of Brest, there is a high concentration of research institutions with maritime vocation on which rely the local cluster. Although not generalizable, this case enlightens the research in this domain. In addition, the thesis sheds new light on the top-down reforms of higher education and research systems considering knowledge as any economic good. But knowledge is not a commodity like others. And that would explain the difficulties of analysis in the field of the knowledge economy.

With the advent of the internet age, the way in which global society interacts with technology has changed dramatically. The instantaneous availability of information and connectivity, signal the rise of a knowledge economy. This is a system in which the most valuable resource, to nations and private enterprise, is knowledge. This thesis argues that value is created through knowledge flows, which result in innovation and technological advancement. This technological advancement is the primary determinant of a nation’s global competitive advantage in a globalized knowledge economy. This thesis then posits that these innovations are fostered by institutional, social, cultural, economic, and governmental factors within a nation. These factors make up a nations’ National Innovation System (NIS). Using case studies of the US, China, India, and the EU, this paper then attempts to deconstruct, compare, and contrast the innovation strategies of each country and what implications they might have for the future. Lastly, an analysis of potential trends attempts to forecast the global innovative landscape in the near future.

This thesis aims to investigate how the City of Lund, and Lund University will provide accommodation for researchers associated with the construction of the research facilities ESS and MAX IV. Furthermore, this paper will study what synergies that exist between housing for researchers, the City of Lund, and its university to attract international researchers.  There is a shortage of housing for students and researchers, especially in municipalities with higher education institutions. To solve this, the Swedish government issued a regulation that enabled universities to offer accommodation to further groups of researchers to strengthen Sweden as a research nation. With the ESS and MAX IV as catalysts for growth, the municipality of Lund will function as an important research hub on an international level. The research conducted a study of strategic documents, such as the City of Lund’s comprehensive plans and in-depth comprehensive plan. As well as a qualitative method that implemented interviews, whereby some of the questions were based on the analyzes of the document study. The interviews were constructed from three groups and will be the perspectives this thesis will discuss its results and analysis by.  The results showed the need for strategic documents to include socio-cultural values and place-based innovations to attract knowledge-intense professionals and further highlight the need for cooperation between Lund municipality and Lund University to maintain its guest researchers.

<p><h1>There is a growing number of students with disabilities accessing postsecondary education in Ontario. Among this student body, students with learning disabilities are the largest sub-group. These students transition into knowledge workplaces, which have significant cognitive performance standards. Although there is some emerging literature on the outcome of university graduates with learning disabilities, there is little known about their <em>experiences </em>during this transition process.</h1></p> <p>There are two central purposes of this doctoral thesis: a) to provide insight into the experiences of transition for university graduates with learning disabilities, and b) to critically reflect upon the practicalities and politics of implementing participatory action research. The papers gathered in this dissertation are based upon a participatory action research project with mentees, and interviews with both mentees and mentors from a learning disability mentorship program at an Ontario university. The first paper is a collaborative writing piece with co-researchers that applies an analogy of ‘taking center stage’ to reflect upon the process of participation for co-researchers. The second paper involves a critical reflection of the <em>imagined distance </em>that took place amongst the research team, and an exploration of participatory techniques to address this distance. The third paper examines qualitative interviews with mentors and mentees on three stages of the transition process: interview, general cognitive ability testing and probationary period.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Thesis (MEd) -- Stellenbosch University, 2010. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The new Technology curriculum was included in the National Curriculum Statement (Department of Education, 2005) as part of the broader intention of serving as the vehicle for reconstructing our society and our orientation towards education for the 21st century. In this narrative I will start by exploring the congruence between the technology curriculum, globalisation and the knowledge economy, the related discourses and the expectations these create for technology education in the Further Education and Training and General Education and Training bands in secondary education in South African schools. I will continue by critically engaging with the discourses and school-based patterns of engagement that shape the technology curriculum as well as teaching and learning practices in a secondary school. By locating my arguments within Pierre Bourdieu’s theories of habitus, field and strategies, as elaborated on by Lingard and Christie (2003), as well as Foucault’s theory of power, this narrative will engage with the perceived gap in the policy implementation process. This gap consists of a myriad of contextually interrelated factors that interact with the achievement of the prescribed outcomes and ultimately the intention of shaping learners for meaningful participation in the knowledge economy.

知識經濟可以定義為以知識資源之配置，以技術擁有為目的，以科學的生產為支柱而從事生產、行銷、消費的經濟模式。首先，這樣的一種經濟模式，主要的特點是它擁有及運用知識的資源。第二個，它生產的基礎是高科技的基礎。第三個，它創造出來的是在高科技與知識結合之後的一個經濟永續生產的模式。 「沒有成功的組織，面臨的問題無法解決；缺乏有力的領導，組織則無法成功」若沒有稱職的領導人，實在難以想像這個國家或世界如何能塑造一個更令人嚮往的未來。惟當代的管理學者逐漸認識到，作為一位領導者，不僅應具有某種專業知識技能，也應具有「認知的複雜」(Cognitive complexity)，能從多面向詮釋問題的意義，協調多重的努力和發展組織的願景(vision)等，因此，領導者的價值、態度、思維傾向要比他本身所具備的專業知識更為重要。 核心能力是指組織擁有競爭者所沒有的專業能力，這種能力多以知識為基礎，並非以產品或有形資產為主。筆者定義高階領導人核心能力為領導組織面對多變的外在環境，可分為如下： 一 、策略管理能力 二 、變革管理能力 三、創新管理能力 四、危機管理能力等四種核心能力。 研究策略管理的內容有策略核心組織、策略地圖、平衡計分卡等三項。 策略管理內容＝（策略地圖+平衡計分卡+策略核心組織） Content of Strategy Management =（Strategy Map）+ （Balanced Scorecard）（Strategy Focused Organization） 基本上一套完整的策略管理程序，可以歸納如下五項：1.界定組織使命與目標、2. 策略的規劃、3.形成策略、4.執行策略、5.評估成效。 現在企業創造價值的方式，已由過去「管理有形資產(Tangible assets)」轉變為「管理無形資產(Intangible assets)」。所謂無形資產，例如顧客關係、創新的產品和服務、高效率高品質的作業流程、前瞻的資訊技術，以及高素質的員工等。有形資產可用財務報表、資產負債表和損益表來描述其成效，然而無形資產則要以策略核心組織來整體評估。 變革管理理論可分為兩種來研究，經濟理論（E理論）與組織理論（O理論） E理論：經濟策略，「E理論」變革的目標，在於迅速、大幅增加以現金流量、股價來衡量的股東價值。O理論：組織能力策略，最成功、永續的組織，便是那些擁有幹勁、有學習導向文化，以及傑出員工的組織。這類變革所需要的是員工的高度參與、較扁平的組織架構，以及組織和員工間密切的關係。 知識經濟時代，□動企業革命的重要因素己由「E」的思維移轉至「I」的思維。□動未來革命的策略因子，將移轉至以「創新」（Innovative）為主軸的時代，知識經濟時代的領導風格必須培養下列五個「I」的思維：1.誠正思維（Integrity）、2.承諾思維（Involvement）、3.智價思維(Intelligence)、4.遠見思維（Insight）、5.整合思維（Integration）。 所謂有效的危機管理，是一項非常重要且非常複雜的動態管理過程，組織若欲對危機作有效管理，首先要建立「凡事豫則立，不豫則廢」的正確態度來面對危機，再以長期規劃的觀點來對組織可能發生的危機作準備，並建構一套周詳的危機管理策略，從不斷學習的過程中來達到危機管理的成效。 在知識經濟時代下，領導人於混亂的資訊中容易迷失方向，而流於主觀與偏見，筆者對領導者核心能力之建構，歸結出下列數點結論，以期掌握工作本質與全貌。 一、 知識經濟的體認 二、創造競爭優勢 三、核心能力的發展與落實 四、企業家精神的培育 五、領導能力的提昇 六、策略整合與協同工作