Engaging in regular exercise has multiple health benefits--for example, physical (Anshel, 2003; Penedo & Dahn 2005); mental (Stathopoulou, Powers, Berry, Smits, & Otto, 2006); emotional (Berger Pargman, & Weinberg, 2002); and social (Anshel, Reeves, & Roth, 2003; Dishman, 1994; Lox, Martin, & Petruzzello, 2003). Unfortunately, there are as many barriers to people exercising (e.g., time, cost, and accessibility) as there are benefits. Consequently, approximately two-thirds of individuals living within the United States do not engage in regular exercise (i.e., 3 days per week for at least 45 minutes; CDC, 2006). Multiple interventions have been implemented to help individuals initiate regular exercise (e.g., psychotherapy, physicians, and community programs), but none of them review how an individual alters his or her thoughts about exercise that could lead to initiation. Addressing an individual's beliefs about engaging in regular exercise will add to the understanding of how modifying thoughts can help lead to initiation. The purpose of the current study was to monitor the use of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT)-style interviews to help three male participants who have had difficulties beginning and sustaining regular exercise explore their thoughts about exercise and potentially begin an exercise routine. In this dissertation, a comprehensive background is provided, outlining and explaining definitions affiliated with REBT, exercise, and mental health. Then a thorough literature review is provided, which outlines previous research on exercise interventions. In response to the specific research questions posed, the results of the current study indicate that using a variety of active directive REBT style interviews helped three men modify their beliefs about exercise and consequently improve their motivation to routinely engage in the behavior. Finally, limitations, implications, and directions for future research and practice are provided.

Three indices of forest stand structural and compositional diversity were incorporated into a linear programming, timber-harvest scheduling model to examine the tradeoffs between managing stands for timber production and biodiversity objectives. While harvest-level objectives were fairly compatible with the maintenance of biodiversity, present net worth maximization resulted in substantial reductions in all three measures of biodiversity.

The Central Utah Writing Project (CUWP) was created in 2009 and, following the National Writing Project's model of professional development, has held a 3- or 4-week summer institute each subsequent year. This training includes collaborative, constructivist, teacher-led training to improve the teaching of writing in schools. Multiple qualitative and quantitative studies have shown the effectiveness of this professional development in the language arts classroom. This multiple-case study of four secondary teachers, whose individual content areas lie outside English or language arts (math, music, science, and social studies), used data from interviews, observations, and artifacts to provide a description of each case and how each teacher has personally and professionally incorporated the training gained from the CUWP. The study also synthesized common themes across the cases. These themes, necessary for professional development included a participant's personal interpretation of the experience (phenomenon) construction of one's own learning, active learning/ participation in the professional development, the inclusion of authentic tasks, collaborative support community, inclusion of prior knowledge and/or experience, self-efficacy regarding one's own writing and the teaching of writing, motivation as a teacher, motivation as a student, scaffolded modeling, teacher expertise in professional development, and the use of writing in the content area. In short, the study investigates how the CUWP summer institute influences the attitudes and classroom writing practices of teachers whose primary content area is not English or language arts. Results showed that only one of the case studies changed their attitudes about writing from neutral to positive. The other three already possessed positive attitudes toward the use of and the teaching of writing in their own classrooms. All four participants changed their classroom practices as a result of participating in the CUWP summer institute and also deemed the results on student performance beneficial. Each of the four constructed a separate takeaway that they implemented in their respective classrooms.

My study examined the belief development of three preservice teachers as they learned to teach writing in a one-semester elementary writing methods course. I also sought to identify significant episodes that contributed to the preservice teachers’ belief development. Two questions guided my inquiry: How do preservice teachers’ beliefs about writing and the teaching of writing develop while enrolled in an elementary writing methods course? and What episodes do preservice teachers, who are enrolled in an elementary writing methods course, view as significant in helping them negotiate their beliefs about writing and writing instruction? I collected survey data, conducted a series of in-depth interviews, and completed 12 classroom observations during the data collection phase of my study. From those data sources, I generated descriptive statistics and followed constant comparative methods to analyze my transcripts and fieldnotes. Using data from two surveys administered on the first day the writing methods course met, I employed stratified purposeful sampling strategy in order to select three case study participants with varied orientations toward writing instruction: Skylar, Natasha, and Samantha. I developed three case study descriptions and conducted cross-case analysis in order to answer both of my research questions. Based upon data from the Writing Instruction Orientation Survey, from classroom observations, and from in-depth interviews, I considered belief development along a continuum from product-orientation to process-orientation for each case study participant at the beginning of the semester and at the end of the semester. The belief development of all three case study participants moved toward a process-orientation of writing instruction by the end of the semester, which was the observed orientation of the instructor in the writing methods course. The three preservice teachers identified learning experiences that required the application of information from readings and class meetings as significant in their belief development. Those assignments included shared writing assignment and in-class writing time and creation of an original publishable piece of writing. One case study participant also identified small group activities conducted in class as significant. The case study participants varied in their application of author’s craft language that matched their emerging process-oriented beliefs. Skylar’s and Natasha’s beliefs about writing instruction evolved from an eclectic orientation at the beginning of the semester to a process-orientation at the end of the semester. They demonstrated a limited ability to apply author’s craft language to match their emerging beliefs. Samantha began the semester holding process-oriented beliefs about writing instruction and grew significantly in her application of author’s craft language that matched her beliefs. These three case study participants experienced varied growth in their ability to talk the talk of a process-oriented writing teacher. The experiences of these three preservice teachers suggest that preservice teachers acquire the ability to recognize teacher behaviors the match their beliefs about writing instruction before their ability to apply the language to accompany emerging beliefs develops. The acquisition of professional discourse to talk about emerging beliefs varied depending on the readiness level of the individual. Findings from my inquiry indicate that teacher educators should consider intentionally designing writing methods courses to include assignments and experiences that involve the application of presented information and developing understandings as a means to foster belief development. This type of opportunity might include field experiences directly related to course assignments, as was the case with the shared writing assignment in my study. Teacher educators might also create situations that allow preservice teachers to apply author’s craft language so that they grow in their ability to talk the talk of a writing teacher. The development of professional discourse is a marker of membership in any community of practice. As preservice teachers work to gain entry into the teaching profession, it should be expected that their ability to apply language of that community develop along a continuum.

Livability, sustainability, and accessibility in urban public space are growing concerns in urban research and policy agendas. The professional field, however, lacks perspectives for public space qualities. Academic research about women and girls’ involvement in the re-design of public spaces is scarce. The Swedish suburb of Fittja in Botkyrka municipality is characterized by modernism and functionalism and at the beginning of a large refurbishment process. In 2018, think tank Global Utmaning initiated #UrbanGirlsMovement Botkyrka with the purpose of improving the public spaces of Fittja together with multiple stakeholders, particularly girls and young women from Fittja. In this case study, multiple methods and concepts from feminist urban geography and public space research are applied to examine how livability is illustrated and understood by girls and in which ways these learnings can inform urban public space policies. The results highlight ways to discharge patriarchal structures in public space using a compact and multifunctional urban form, accessible to all citizens through a variety of unprogrammed activity options, vibrant hangspace and green beautification. A feminist approach to urban livability shows the importance of understanding the diversity of perspectives to livability in public space, and that these perspectives matter for how we understand planning principles.

Changes have occurred within educational settings over the past 30 years, creating a more equal learning environment for women. Despite the fact that women aged 18-39 years now outnumber men within New Zealand universities, there is still evidence of inequality for pregnant university students.A qualitative case-study approach was used to explore and describe the stages and patterns of transition from being a university student to becoming a pregnant university student. Each woman demonstrated the complexity of the transitions. The pregnant body and becoming visible were factors that impacted on all five women who participated in this study. The case studies describe how pregnancy intervened in the experience of being a student.Various coping mechanisms were employed by these pregnant university students. The research suggests that they find balance through compartmentalizing aspects of their lives. They attribute educational and personal outcomes to luck. These strategies have enabled these women to aim for educational or personal success. Yet it remains clear that the university does not provide adequate support for these pregnant university students. Policies and resources need to be established to aid pregnant university students in this process of transition.

Over the past two decades, research in both the management accounting and marketing disciplines has reported insightful developments, theoretically and empirically, in which both are implicated, yet research into the interface between the two disciplines remains relatively unexplored. In the management accounting literature, a strategically-orientated approach has evolved in which customers, customer satisfaction, customer value and competitive positioning have developed as key management themes requiring a re-evaluation of the existing management accounting information for decision-making. In marketing, research on �market orientation�, has emphasised similar and interrelated themes of customers, competitors, and the interfunctional coordination of organisational activities in the creation of customer value and the ascertainment and calculation of profits. Taking market orientation as a point of departure, in this thesis a conceptual framework is developed which reflects the theoretical links between management accounting and market orientation at a product decision-making level. The undertaking of two in-depth organisational case studies is reported in which market orientation and management accounting for each functional area is analysed and discussed. A greater functional and organisational emphasis on customers� vis-�-vis competitors was found as was an emphasis on informal means of information communication and coordination between functional areas. Despite consistent cross-functional understanding of customers� product-attribute needs in both case studies, the findings indicate the use of �traditional� accounting information for product-level decision-making and an absence of market-orientated accounting information. Exploration and description of the industry and organisational context in both case studies provides an insight into several factors - formality, strategic orientation, organisational structural costs and resource capability � that appear to influence market orientation and the adoption of market-orientated accounting for product decision-making.

The New Zealand education system has undergone some two decades of substantial reform. There can be little doubt that this has brought significant change to the nature of what is expected of people occupying positions of leadership in schools and educational institutions (Ball, 2007; Bottery, 2004; Codd, 2005). Against this contextual backdrop, and in the researcher’s experience as a teacher and former holder of a position of leadership, there is an observable phenomenon of educational leaders stepping aside from position and yet continuing to work as teachers within the same workplace. Despite claims of a leadership ‘crisis’, and international acknowledgement of concern over the retention of educational leaders (Brooking, 2007; Brundrett & Rhodes, 2006; Fullan, 2005), the human experience of this phenomenon appears unrepresented in current research literature. The present study has sought to capture this experience through addressing the central research question “What is the lived experience of the voluntary relinquishing of the position of leader, yet choosing to remain within the same educational workplace?” In order to gather rich qualitative data, a descriptive multiple case study design was employed. In-depth unstructured interviews were carried out with eight educational leaders who had relinquished position within the contexts of New Zealand State Secondary Schools and Private Training Establishments, and chosen to continue working in these same contexts. The subsequent analysis drew on the tradition of hermeneutic interpretation (van Manen, 1990) to arrive at interpretations of the uniqueness of individual experiences, and offer understandings of the shared meanings of the experience in the form of essential themes. The key findings which emerged in this study were those of a sense of the ‘a-lone-ness’ of leadership, the ‘ready-suddenness’ of the decision to step aside, a seeking of ‘balance’ in the relinquishing of position, a powerful sense of ‘re-turning’ to the call of teaching, and varying degrees of ‘ease’ and ‘dis-ease’ in the experience of ‘letting go and holding on’ following positional relinquishment. These findings serve to extend aspects of those of earlier leadership and role exit studies, and offer previously undocumented understandings. Thus, a major contribution of this study is in the bringing-to-voice of the stories of those who step aside from leadership position yet remain in the workplace, and in the opening of avenues for further research.

The rapid growth of the internet and e-commerce provide new opportunities for China’s retailers, and a new battle for China’s retail industry has begun. The purpose of this research is to explore the barriers and factors for achieving successful e-tailing in China’s retail industry. Some past studies have investigated the success of e-commerce in the western context. This study aims to partially fill the gap created by the lack of research into e-commerce in the Asian context, by investigating successful e-tailing in China’s retail industry, and is based on a case study of the Shanghai Brilliance Group. Therefore, the research question is ‘How can successful e-tailing in China’s retail industry be achieved?’ Accordingly, three research issues are addressed:Research issue 1: How is e-tailing being used in the Shanghai Brilliance Group?Research issue 2: What are the barriers to the implementation of e-tailing in theShanghai Brilliance Group?Research issue 3: What are the factors for achieving successful e-tailing in theShanghai Brilliance Group?To investigate the research question and the three research issues, the following approaches were applied. Firstly, three parent disciplines were reviewed, namely, ecommerce, retail in China, and e-tailing success factors, in order to generate the research gap and a theoretical model. A theoretical model was developed, which included six factors and their variables. These six factors are: senior management factors, organisational factors, e-commerce strategies, external factors, consumer factors, and ecommerce system measurements. Secondly, the primary data for this research were collected from interviews (16 in-depth interviews and 3 focus group interviews) and a survey questionnaire (200 valid questionnaires).The findings for the first research issue showed that e-commerce is poorly implemented in the Shanghai Brilliance Group and its subsidiaries, but that e-commerce in the supermarket subsidiaries is more advanced than in the department stores. Only one department store is offering online shopping to their customers, while both supermarket subsidiaries offer online shopping. The rest of the department stores only use websites for advertising and promotion, or for limited customer service, such as award point checking. Moreover, only the Oriental Shopping Centre and Lian Hua Supermarket have specific teams or an out-sourced company controlling their e-commerce project. This shows that e-commerce is not being taken seriously in the Shanghai Brilliance Group to date.In relation to the second research issue, a total of nineteen barriers were identified from the interview data. Those barriers can be divided into two categories, namely, external barriers and internal barriers. Most of those barriers are consistent with those mentioned in the literature. However, some new barriers emerged from the data analysis process, including the mission of the organisation, and high profit objectives.The findings in relation to research issue 3 identified other important factors of e-tailing, besides those barriers answered in research issue 2. Most of the success factors reviewed in the literature were confirmed by the collected data and in addition, some new variables were explored. Overall, six groups of factors and 64 variables were addressed in this research as success factors for e-tailing. This included 57 out of the 59 variables which were previously mentioned in the literature and seven emergent variables.This research has made a contribution to both the theory and practice of e-tailing.Through qualitative analysis, this research not only identifies the important factors of e-tailing, but also generates a comprehensive model to guide the implementation of e-tailing by China’s retailers, especially the Shanghai Brilliance Group. Furthermore, this is the first study to investigate successful e-tailing in China’s retail industry. Accordingly, the proposed framework of this study provides a foundation for future research.

In contemporary software development, an emergent understanding of the problem domain and envisioned goals forms the basis of designing, testing and development activities. Lack of a common understanding of the domain can result in costly rework or client dissatisfaction. Research shows that the development of shared understanding in this context is a complex and error-prone process and there is room for improvement. Is this because practitioners are not following suggested practice from literature? Or are the actual barriers to shared understanding not being addressed by current tools and techniques? Is the development of shared domain understanding even viewed as problematic (or even important) by practitioners? These are some questions that need to be investigated in order to effectively design process improvements and tool support in this area, yet there is little information related to this. This study takes a multi-case study approach, which incorporate semi-structured interviews with representative from ten small-to-medium organisations. This study focuses on the vendor’s perspective and includes a mix of application domains. Result of the interviews is analysed to discover themes and patterns related to an analysis framework constructed from the literature review. The findings indicate that vendors perceive the process of developing shared application-domain understanding with their clients as being both problematic and important to a successful implementation. Twelve barriers have been identified from the analysis. The results also confirm that the process of sharing understanding development is generally perceived as being evolutionary and collaborative. This process is described by most interviewees comprises iterative phases of elicitation, confirmation and refinement of the understanding. A definite preference for face-to-face interaction is evident at regular times throughout development, particularly in early stages, although the importance of ad-hoc communications by phone or email, as domain knowledge needs arise, is also emphasised. Access to cooperative domain-expert throughout development is generally seen as a critical success factor. Several companies report using in-house domain-expert as client “proxies” in this regard. There is a mix of attitudes apparent regarding the direct communications of developers with client stakeholders. This ranged from insisting that developers are involved from initial elicitation and “kick-off” meetings, to “shielding” developers almost entirely from client. In terms of representations of understanding, participants relate natural-language, screen-shots, mock-ups, prototypes and product-demonstrations as the most useful artefacts for sharing and confirming understanding of the problem domain. They emphasise the importance of flexibility and client familiarity with the representations. In general, there is no clear separation between problem and solution spaces evident when the interviewees discussed representations of understanding, and the preference seems to be for concrete rather than abstract representations. In conclusion, comparisons between the findings and literature generally confirm contemporary thinking regarding domain knowledge sharing, although a number of barriers were given particular emphasis in this field study. The use of computer-based tool support is not widespread and the need to improve the domain knowledge sharing process and tool support in practice is widely acknowledged by the participants in this investigation. This study has identified some fruitful areas of research in this regard.