Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the engine of economic growth and job creation. Governments have devoted considerable resources to increase their competitiveness in the market. Several design support programmes (DSPs) have emerged from this investment to promote design as a strategic resource for innovation and business growth. Although existing research indicates that an effective use of design can enhance the business performance, a lack of interest amongst SMEs to work with designers is cited in several studies. Despite the great amount of money, energy and time that has been spent on design support for SMEs, there is still a lack of knowledge about effective delivery and evaluation. This thesis focuses on the problem of finding better ways to assist SMEs with design for economic growth by evaluating the effectiveness of design support for SMEs. This research, therefore, has examined the activities of UK-based DSPs, investigated the expertise of design consultancies and inquired about the self-image of designers in order to expand the knowledge of design support for SMEs. The research applied an interpretive paradigm, where multiple realities are recognised as socially constructed. Data was gathered through interviews with individuals representing DSPs, SMEs, design consultancies and government support agencies assisting SMEs. Observation of business support events and publicly available documents were used as additional sources. A thematic analysis and a systematic metaphor analysis were employed to examine the resulting data. The research has highlighted a number of key issues that are pivotal to the success of design support for SMEs. This PhD research also proposes two explanatory frameworks to contribute to design theory and practice: a seven-step evaluation framework for planning and evaluating the outcomes of DSPs and a re-framing of the generalist-specialist dilemma that can inform the activities of design consultancies and DSPs and can guide designers to improve their expertise.

This dissertation consists of two largely stand-alone chapters. The first chapter presents a goal-activation theory of the antecedents of advice taking. I propose that three separate categories of goals - decision quality, social standing, and emotional well-being - influence receptivity to advice. Decision quality goals increase striving toward a good outcome in the decision for which the advice was given. Social standing goals focus attention on the social effects of the act of taking or rejecting the advice. Emotional well-being goals are related to establishing or maintaining a desired affective state. Each of these goals can be activated by attributes of the situation, advice, advisee, and advisor. Because they increase striving toward different ends, the goals direct attention to disparate advice-related cues and affect the evaluation of those cues. This results in different responses to advice. At the current time, nearly all research on advice taking has addressed decision quality goals and related cues. By presenting this theory, I hope to increase interest in a wider set of antecedents of advice taking. The second chapter reports a series of studies testing hypotheses derived from the theory presented in the first chapter. Specifically, I contrast the effects of an advisor's relative expertise to effects of the advisor's relative hierarchical position on advice taking. I hypothesize that the effects of expertise are driven by decision quality goals, while the effects of relative hierarchical position relate to social standing goals. I further hypothesize that advisees' conceptions of appropriate leader-follower relations (specifically, follower co-production role orientation; Carsten & Uhl-Bien, 2012) activate social standing goals, but not decision quality goals. Lastly, I propose that outcome accountability increases attention to decision quality goals and reduces attention to social standing goals.

Experts in the field of molecular and cellular biology (MCB) use domain-specific reasoning strategies to navigate the unique complexities of the phenomena they study and creatively explore problems in their fields. One primary goal of instruction in undergraduate MCB is to foster the development of these domain-specific reasoning strategies among students. However, decades of evidence-based research and many national calls for undergraduate instructional reform have demonstrated that teaching and learning complex fields like MCB is difficult for instructors and learners alike. Therefore, how do students develop rich understandings of biological mechanisms? It is the aim of this dissertation work to explore features of expertise and knowledge building in undergraduate MCB by investigating knowledge organization and problem-solving strategies. Semi-structured clinical think-aloud interviews were conducted with introductory and upper-division students in MCB. Results suggest that students must sort ideas about molecular mechanism into appropriate mental categories, create connections using function-driven and mechanistic rather than associative reasoning, and create nested and overlapping ideas in order to build a nuanced network of biological ideas. Additionally, I characterize the observable components of generative multi-level mechanistic reasoning among undergraduate MCB students constructing explanations about in two novel problem-solving contexts. Results indicate that like MCB experts, students are functionally subdividing the overarching mechanism into functional modules, hypothesizing and instantiating plausible schema, and even flexibly consider the impact of mutations across ontological and biophysical levels. However "filling in" these more abstract schema with molecular mechanisms remains problematic for many students, with students instead employing a range of developing mechanistic strategies. Through this investigation of expertise and knowledge building, I characterize several of the ways in which knowledge integration and generative explanation building are productively constrained by domain-specific features, expand on several discovered barriers to productive knowledge organization and mechanistic explanation building, and suggest instructional implications for undergraduate learning.

The overarching aim of this thesis is to probe more deeply into how col­laborative writing can help to socialise students in a writing practice. More specifically, the thesis deals with lab report writing and the relationship of three students with different backgrounds to the educational practices of a university department. The three students differ in language background, previous higher education and vocational experience. The material comprises recordings of student discussions while writing lab reports in a group. The students and their lab report writing in different group con­stellations has been followed longitudi­nally for between two to four semesters. In addition the development of the lab reports over time has been studied, as well as teachers’ comments on them. Student acquisition of the genre is linked to internal textual criteria (textual aspects) and to extratextual criteria in the educational context. In view of the study’s focus on group collaboration a socio-cultural per­spective has been adopted as a frame. A model developed by Storch (2002) based on Vygotsky’s role relationships between expert and novice is used to shed light on how the students resolve problems related to the writing task through group discussions. The results show that the students’ backgrounds play a role in the creation of their profiles in the collaborative writing groups. The student with a second-language background often seeks support, not least where linguistic correctness is concerned, and cites what teachers say as arguments. The student with prior experience of academic writing appears to be a seasoned writer, for instance by daring to deviate from instructions and teachers’ directives. The third student uses his professional experience of writing lab reports in discussions to gain acceptance for his ideas.

L'expert psychiatre, initialement convoqué dans les tribunaux afin d'évaluer la responsabilité pénale des auteurs d'infractions, s'est progressivement trouvé en charge de mesurer leur dangerosité. L'expertise de dangerosité tendrait-elle à remplacer celle de responsabilité ? Pour répondre à cette question, nous avons étudié au Luxembourg et en France le rôle qu'est aujourd'hui amené à jouer l'expert dans des juridictions criminelles. Son intervention, désormais systématique dans ce type de juridiction, se matérialise par la production d'un discours écrit et oral. Prenant acte de ce fait, ainsi que de l'importance du langage dans les champs judiciaire et psychiatrique, nous avons ancré ce travail dans le champ de l'analyse du discours, et avons étudié l'expertise et la justice en train de se dire. Une première partie se concentre sur la production et le contenu du discours que les experts soumettent à l'institution judiciaire, et une seconde sur la façon dont l'expertise est intégrée au jugement. Les experts, dont le discours est sous la surveillance de l'institution judiciaire, ne participent finalement à évaluer ni la responsabilité strictement pénale, ni la dangerosité. Leur discours, enchevêtré aux discours des autres acteurs de la procédure, alimente l'ensemble des débats ; il participe à l'évaluation de la responsabilité subjective et morale de l'accusé, tant pour déterminer le quantum de la peine que pour décider d'une mesure appropriée. Initialement extérieur à l'institution, et chargé de soustraire à la justice des personnes estimées irresponsables pénalement, l'expert participe désormais à la punition et au traitement de l'ensemble des auteurs de crime.

Research based on translation expertise, which is also sometimes referred to as translation competence, has been a growing area of investigation in translation studies. These studies have not only focused on how translation expertise may be conceptualised and defined, but also on how this expertise is acquired and developed by translators. One of the key observations that arise from an overview of current research in the field of translation expertise is the prevalence of process-oriented methodologies in the field, with product-oriented methodologies used comparatively infrequently. This study is based on the assumption that product-oriented methodologies, and specifically the corpus-based approach, may provide new insights into translation expertise. The study therefore sets out to address the lack of comprehensive and systematic corpus-based analyses of translation expertise. One of the foremost concerns of corpus-based translation studies has been the investigation of what is known as the features of translated language which are often categorised as: explicitation, simplification, normalisation and levelling-out. The main objective of this study is to investigate the hypothesis that the features of translated language can be taken as an index of translation expertise. The hypothesis is founded on the premise that if the features of translated language are considered to be the textual traces of translation strategies, then the different translation strategies associated with different levels of translation expertise will be reflected in different frequencies and distributions of these features of translated language in the work of experienced and inexperienced translators. The study therefore aimed to determine if there are significant differences in the frequency and distribution of the features of translated language in the work of experienced and inexperienced translators. As background to this main research question, the study also investigated a secondary hypothesis in which translated language demonstrates unique features that are the consequence of various aspects of the translation process. A custom-built comparable English corpus was used for the study, comprising three subcorpora: translations by experienced translators, translations by inexperienced translators, and non-translations. A selection of linguistic operationalization’s was chosen for each of the four features of translated language. The differences in the frequency and distribution of these linguistic operationalization’s in the three sub corpora were analysed by means of parametric or non-parametric ANOVA. The findings of the study provide some support for both hypotheses. In terms of the translation expertise hypothesis, some of the features of translated language demonstrate significantly different frequencies in the work of experienced translators compared to the work of inexperienced translators. It was found that experienced translators are less explicit in terms of: formal completeness, simplify less frequently because they use a more varied vocabulary, use longer sentences and have a lower readability index score on their translations, and use contractions more frequently, which signals that they normalise less than inexperienced translators. However, experienced translators also use neologisms and loanwords less frequently than inexperienced translators, which is suggestive of normalisation occurring more often in the work of experienced translators when it comes to lexical creativity. These linguistic differences are taken as indicative of the different translation strategies used by the two groups of translators. It is believed that the differences are primarily caused by variations in experienced and inexperienced translators‟ sensitivity to translation norms, their awareness of written language conventions, their language competence (which involves syntactic, morphological and vocabulary knowledge), and their sensitivity to register. Furthermore, it was also found that there are indeed significant differences between translated and non-translated language, which also provides support for the second hypothesis investigated in this study. Translators explicitate more frequently than non-translators in terms of formal completeness, tend to have a less extensive vocabulary, tend to raise the overall formality of their translations, and produce texts that are less creative and more conformist than non-translators‟ texts. However, statistical support is lacking for the hypothesis that translators explicitate more at the propositional level than original text producers do, as well as for the hypothesis that translators are inclined to use a more neutral middle register. / MA (Language Practice), North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2013

The use of celebrity endorsers is a popular marketing strategy in many countries. Typically, many marketers believe that using celebrities is a viable marketing strategy for attracting customers, increasing market share and improving sales for their market offerings. The celebrity endorsement strategy using local celebrities is increasing in South Africa. Many South African marketers are now using popular local black celebrities in an attempt to attract the prosperous black emerging middle class, known as Black Diamonds. Black Generation Y students offer great promise to marketers in the South African market as their tertiary education is likely to lead to higher future earning potential and subsequent entry into the already prosperous black emerging middle class segment. Given the increased use of local black celebrities and the market potential of the black Generation Y cohort in South Africa, it is important to investigate whether this marketing strategy may be effective when used in this segment. Celebrity endorsement may work effectively if the correct celebrity is chosen to promote a product but may have costly results if an inappropriate celebrity is chosen. Ohanian (1990) developed a scale to facilitate the selection of celebrity endorsers. The scale is based on the source credibility model that includes the source attractiveness, trustworthiness and expertise model. This study set out to determine whether the black Generation Y students have positive perceptions of local black celebrity endorsers using the celebrity endorsers‟ credibility scale developed by Ohanian (1990). Furthermore, the scale was validated using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling in order to ascertain whether the scale remains applicable when used in the South African context. A non-probability convenience sample of 880 (440 per institution) black students aged between 18 and 24 years was taken in 2012 from the two registered public higher education institutions in the Gauteng province of South Africa. Following a top-of-the-mind-awareness test, four local black celebrities were identified, namely Connie Ferguson, Black Coffee, DJ Sbu and Zahara. In a second top-of-the-mind-awareness test to determine which product types each celebrity is considered to most suitable to endorse, Connie Ferguson was linked to cosmetics, Black Coffee to hot beverages, DJ Sbu to men’s clothing and Zahara to traditional African clothes and jewellery. The relevant primary data was collected using a self-administered questionnaire that had four versions – one per identified celebrity. Lecturers at the two public HEIs were contacted and asked if they would distribute the questionnaires (four versions) to their students to complete during lecture periods. The questionnaires were hand delivered to the relevant lecturers and those completed were immediately collected. The questionnaire requested respondents to indicate on a six-point Likert scale their perceptions of the four selected celebrities‟ attractiveness, trustworthiness and expertise in endorsing their selected product types. In addition, respondents were asked to provide certain demographic data. Findings from the study indicated that black Generation Y students have positive perceptions of the selected local black celebrity endorsers‟ attractiveness, trustworthiness and expertise in endorsing their selected product types. In addition, the results of both the confirmatory factor analysis and the structural equation modelling suggest that the scale developed by Ohanian (1990) to be a valid measure for selecting celebrity endorsers when applied in South Africa. Insights gained from this study will assist both marketing academics and practitioners understand the perceptions of the black Generation Y students towards the use of local black celebrities in product promotions in the South African market. / MCom, Marketing Management, North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2013

The aim of this master’s thesis is to trace examples of political rationality and governmental technologies in a selection of final reports of Swedish Public State Inquiries (SOU) where literacy and related concepts are fea-tured. I make use of the governmentality studies perspective developed by Nikolas Rose and colleagues. This can be described as a theoretical and methodological approach based on Michel Foucault’s concepts of govern-mentality, subjectivity, truth and knowledge, whose focus is on the ways in which social phenomena are repre-sented politically as problematic and how governmental technologies, in the shape of evaluative techniques, institutional practices, tools and programmes of reform and intervention, are developed for the remedy of such ‘social problems’. I pose questions, stemming from my primary aim, which relate to the observation of political rationality in my material, the kinds of governmental technologies which are suggested as useful or necessary, the aspirations of government discernible, as well as how literacy might be seen. I demonstrate that literacy can certainly be viewed as a governmental technology, employed in the realisation of political aspirations, on the basis of ideals of participation, influence, lifelong learning, and access, and through a political rationality, common in advanced liberal societies, which promotes notions of self-empowerment, autonomy and freedom. The ideal citizen is, I conclude, conceptualised principally as a Swedish-born, able-bodied, adult reader. This is achieved through a process of othering, or ‘dividing practices’, which places children, young people, immigrants, and to some ex-tent, people with reading difficulties and disabilities outside of the picture of literate normality. This is a two year master’s thesis in Archive, Library and Museum Studies. / Syftet med den här masteruppsatsen är att urskilja exempel på political rationality och governmental technologies i ett urval huvudbetänkande av Statliga offentliga utredningar, där litteracitet och närliggande begrepp framhävs. För att uppnå detta syfte, tillämpar jag ett governmentality studies-perspektiv såsom det har utvecklats av Nikolas Rose med kollegor. Perspektivet kan beskrivas som ett kombinerat teoretiskt och metodologiskt angreppssätt med utgångspunkt i Michel Foucaults begrepp på governmentality, subjektivitet, sanning och kunskap, och som lägger fokus på hur sociala fenomen representeras och problematiseras politiskt, och hur governmental technologies, i form av bedömningstekniker, institutionella praktiker, reformeringsverktyg och -program för avhjälpande av sociala problem, utvecklas. Följande är exempel på frågor jag ställer i relation till uppsatsens syfte: är det möjligt att skönja en political rationality i mitt empiriska material? Vilka governmental technologies rekommenderas som användbara eller nödvändiga? Hur ser politiska förhoppningar ut? Jag påvisar att litteracitet tydligt kan ses som en governmental technology, använd för att förverkliga politiska förhoppningar, på basis av ideal såsom deltagande, inflytande, det livslånga lärandet och tillgång, genom en political rationality som präglar senliberala samhällen, och som främjar föreställningar om empowerment, autonomi och frihet. Jag drar en slutsats som visar att den idealiska medborgaren konceptualiseras främst som den flergenerationssvenske, vuxna läsaren utan funktionshinder. Detta åstadkoms genom en process av othering, eller ’skiljande praktiker’, som placerar barn, ungdomar, invandrare och, till viss del, människor med lässvårigheter och läshinder utanför bilden av den litterata normaliteten. Detta arbete utgör en två-årig masteruppsats inom ABM.

This is a study of self and authority in the popular spiritual field. Since Heelas's The New Age Movement (1996), the notion of a common Self-spirituality in which seekers trust the authority of the Self has been familiar within academe. Yet, contrary to the direction of Heelas's earlier work on indigenous psychologies and self-religions, the different ways participants conceive terms like seeker and self has largely escaped analysis. This omission allows scholars to homogenise diverse activities and portray broad cultural trends. But, it also black boxes the self, side-lines how authority actually works, and obscures conflicts between participants. I address such gaps by examining four international enlightenment cultures, each with a guru (Andrew Cohen; Gangaji; Tony Parsons; and Steven Saunders of Holigral ). Research materials include field experiences, recorded events, and participants printed and online publications. Combining multi-site ethnography with sociological conversation and discourse analysis, and drawing upon science and technology studies throughout, my argument addresses three themes: seekers; gurus; and truths. Developing Heelas's earlier work, I show seekers are not pre-constituted but configured in interactional practices which draw upon various cultural idealisations of the self. An enlightened self is likewise configured differently in each culture. I show such mundane local practices constitute gurus as experiential experts through associating their personas with participants configured experiences of self. Different configurations of self are consequential, implying differing modes of engagement with wider society and figuring in credibility contests between different cultures. I provide a way of understanding enlightenment cultures which avoids homogenising them, considers their respective potentials to promote social change, and accounts for antagonisms between them. As tangential themes, through a literary Seeker Self voice, I address issues of distance and engagement in studying spirituality and the often transparent penetration of academic discourse by the discourse of spirituality, or its spiritual repertoire.

This thesis analyses the process of institutionalisation of the concept of genetically modified organism (GMO) in the UK between 1986-1993. The existing accounts of the GM debate have focussed on either the 1970s or the 1990s. Very little, however, has been said about the 1980s, long before that of GMOs became a popular issue. Through a detailed examination of the PROSAMO initiative – a series of experiments aimed at determining the environmental impact of GMOs with a regulatory purpose in mind – this thesis have been able to explore the important but rather neglected role of the UK dominant institutions in the historical development of the debate over the release of GMOs into the environment. In analysing the way ‘GMO’ institutionalised between the late 1980s and early 1990s, this thesis shows that the concepts of risk and uncertainty – which have dominated the GM debate – need to be conceived as collective constructs that are used strategically in order to pursue various objectives related to the context in which people using them operate. It is also argued that the legitimate use of these concepts is bound to the credibility and the authority of science. These considerations have stimulated some reflections on the nature and role of regulation in the GM debate. In particular, it is argued that the move from a voluntary system of controls to a statutory one represents a move from an epistemic community approach to policy-making to a logic of bureaucratic politics, in which the literal interpretation of rules became a solution to political disagreement. As rule following became a political requirement, GMOs became a bureaucratic issue and scientists turned into bureaucrats. Within these changes, the role of scientific expertise in the definition of GMOs decreased. From this point of view, the way ‘genetic modification’ and GMO institutionalised gave rise to new practices and behaviours that turned around GMO as a controversial but nevertheless stable category.