Since 1999 UK employment programmes (known as welfare-to-work programmes) have been delivered through the procurement of services from organisations outside of the public sector. Managed by contractual arrangements and arranged in a quasi-market system controlled by the state, private and third sector organisations compete to secure contracts predominantly based on payment-by-results and competitive tendering processes. This thesis used an instrumental case study to analyse the impact of the welfare-to-work quasi-market on a third sector organisation based in Scotland. Using a qualitative mixed-methods research strategy including 20 in-depth interviews, 150 documents, an ethnographic study and financial analysis of the organisation’s accounts, the thesis presents an in-depth insight into the development of the welfare-to-work market and its changes over time and the impact this had on instigating organisational change in a third sector organisation. Drawing on transaction cost theory, neoinstitutional theory and resource dependency theory the study found that activities, structure, and management processes changed in line with changes in its organisational field in order to attract and maintain resources and gain legitimacy. Furthermore, the organisation under investigation faced financial management tensions as it sought to balance its involvement in service delivery with transaction costs associated with market participation. The thesis found that the dependence on resources from complex quasi-markets relations creates new power asymmetries between delivery organisations and the state.

This thesis contrasts the equine policy networks and organisational landscapes of the horse industry in England, Sweden and the Netherlands. In order to analyse each network the conceptual framework offered by the Marsh-Rhodes policy network typology is adopted, while the dimensions of membership, integration, resources and power are specifically considered. The origins and development of each policy network studied are analysed, along with an appraisal of their inherent characteristics. The cultivation and maintenance of consistency, communication and collaboration within a diverse policy network are examined. In addition, the influence of a diverse policy network on policy decision making is explored. The importance of relationships between key individuals within policy networks is analysed, along with the significance of the micro and macro levels of the networks. Finally, the future development of the equine policy network and horse industry in England for the benefit of interest groups and the government is considered. Within each policy network a specific organisation which acted as the mouthpiece for interest groups within the network to the government was identified. However, the structure of each of these bodies and their mode of operation differed considerably between countries. In Sweden and the Netherlands, the connection between the equine and agricultural policy networks was shown to be significant in the development of the relationship between interest groups within the horse industry and the government. In both countries an organisation from the agricultural sector expedited the development of this relationship. The level of government intervention and financial support afforded to each horse industry varied. Significant differences in key sub-sectors of each of the policy networks studied, specifically sport and recreation, and breeding, were identified, while recent developments in the European-wide equine policy network were also examined.

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to explore if there is any evidence that students actually can learn anything with the help of case studies. This study will answer the hypothesis “H” that are constructed as following: “H”. “The case study teaching method is a stimulating method for students to learn in.” Methodology - The method used in this paper is qualitative secondary research from databases. The databases consist of Diva, Google Scholar, Emerald, Web of Science and Scopus. Other secondary research is from research books and books about pedagogy. Implications/Findings - This research study shows that case studies have a positive influence on the student’s engagement and that learning gets more meaningful if the students are more engaged in the learning process. To be more engaged can move the student to a higher level of thinking. Furthermore, case studies enhanced the learning retention in students. Keywords - Student, Evidence, Learning, Case Study, Engagement, Stimulating, Motivation, Influence. Paper type – Research paper.

Case studies are widely used across a lot of different subject areas, however there are a lot of questions about the use of it because of the doubt in its’ contribution to science and the quality of it. The purpose with this research paper is to define the case study and the characteristics required in it for it to be classified and recognized as a “good” case study. Findings reveal that case study is defined in many different ways depending on the area of subject it is presented in. A good case study is reliable, valid and is used as a qualitative research method and it contains a lot of depth in the investigated single case.

The purpose of this study is to examine how members of the community, educators, legislators, and members of the academy organized and mobilized to bring Florida Statute 1003.42(h) into being. This Afrocentric case study policy analysis centers African people, educators, and policymakers as agents, actors, and subjects with agency who determined that such legislation was needed and necessary for the education of African American students and all students. Data, in the form of document analysis, websites in the states of New York, New Jersey, Illinois, and South Carolina with similar laws, and Florida’s Commissioner’s Task Force on African American History, newspaper accounts, and interviews with key people involved in the creation of the Florida legislation, were analyzed using an Africological methodology. Findings include several major themes that emerged about educational curriculum content, intent, needs, and analysis relative to why this legislation was sponsored and passed including: (a) inaccuracy and omission, (b) correction and inclusion, (c) consciousness and competence, (d) policy and priority, (e) power and precedence. The final product includes a theory of Selective Memory Manipulation and a Paradigm for Afrocentric Educational Policy Production and Analysis.

Background: The continued success of Lean thinking beyond manufacturing has led to an increasing interest to utilize it in software engineering (SE). Value Stream Mapping (VSM) had a pivotal role in the operationalization of Lean thinking. However, this has not been recognized in SE adaptations of Lean. Furthermore, there are two main shortcomings in existing adaptations of VSM for an SE context. First, the assessments for the potential of the proposed improvements are based on idealistic assertions. Second, the current VSM notation and methodology are unable to capture the myriad of significant information flows, which in software development go beyond just the schedule information about the flow of a software artifact through a process. Objective: This thesis seeks to assess Software Process Simulation Modeling (SPSM) as a solution to the first shortcoming of VSM. In this regard, guidelines to perform simulation-based studies in industry are consolidated, and the usefulness of VSM supported with SPSM is evaluated. To overcome the second shortcoming of VSM, a suitable approach for capturing rich information flows in software development is identified and its usefulness to support VSM is evaluated. Overall, an attempt is made to supplement existing guidelines for conducting VSM to overcome its known shortcomings and support adoption of Lean thinking in SE. The usefulness and scalability of these proposals is evaluated in an industrial setting. Method: Three literature reviews, one systematic literature review, four industrial case studies, and a case study in an academic context were conducted as part of this research. Results: Little evidence to substantiate the claims of the usefulness of SPSM was found. Hence, prior to combining it with VSM, we consolidated the guidelines to conduct an SPSM based study and evaluated the use of SPSM in academic and industrial contexts. In education, it was found to be a useful complement to other teaching methods, and in the industry, it triggered useful discussions and was used to challenge practitioners’ perceptions about the impact of existing challenges and proposed improvements. The combination of VSM with FLOW (a method and notation to capture information flows, since existing VSM adaptions for SE are insufficient for this purpose) was successful in identifying challenges and improvements related to information needs in the process. Both proposals to support VSM with simulation and FLOW led to identification of waste and improvements (which would not have been possible with conventional VSM), generated more insightful discussions and resulted in more realistic improvements. Conclusion: This thesis characterizes the context and shows how SPSM was beneficial both in the industrial and academic context. FLOW was found to be a scalable, lightweight supplement to strengthen the information flow analysis in VSM. Through successful industrial application and uptake, this thesis provides evidence of the usefulness of the proposed improvements to the VSM activities.

Title: Marketing mix of Czech Taekwon-Do ITF Federation Objectives: Main objective of this diploma thesis was an analysis of marketing mix of the Czech Taekwon-Do ITF federation and making of suggestions for its improvement. Partial goals were aimed at analysis and description of the organization and of the environment in which this organization exists. Methods: Qualitative marketing research method has been selected to meet purpose of this thesis. Methods of case study and in-depth interview have been used also together with SWOT analysis. Results: Outcome of this thesis consists of a draft with suggestions for optimization of marketing mix. Foremost these improvements have been suggested: changes in promotion, utilization of sponsors and also update of some product items and prices. Key words: Marketing mix, Taekwon-Do, case study

New Orleans has had a consistently high homicide rate for around twenty years, but limited research has committed to discovering a successful solution to the pre- and post-Katrina crime problem. Prior research has been conducted to analyze whether the Southern “culture of violence,” poverty, income inequality, unemployment, gun ownership and legislation, gangs, and residential segregation affect homicide, but no study applies these factors to New Orleans. Using a case study analysis that applies these variables studied in prior research to New Orleans and information acquired from the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Uniform Crime Reports, correlations are made between homicide in New Orleans and poverty, income inequality, and residential segregation. Implications show that homicide is affected by multiple factors. All of these factors should be analyzed when homicide is the focus of the research because homicide is not a result of one or two variables.

Student Number : 0311118P - MA research report - School of Social Sciences - Faculty of Arts / Land reform in Southern Africa has attracted a lot of attention from sovereign third world government and those of developed countries. This followed the invasion of commercial farms in Zimbabwe and has a bearing on Zimbabwe’s neighbours especially Namibia and South Africa. This paper examines why governments at times adhere to land reform within the rule of law and at times does not, resulting in strained donor-government relations. A comparison of government-donor relations in Zimbabwe and Namibia is explored. The crux of the argument is that land reform is damaging when the rule of law is flouted by governments. Strained relations are a result of ineffective agencies of restraint, lack of commitment by the governments, external donors and white commercial farmers to correct land injustices that came into existence as a result of settler colonialism.

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