The thesis contains an evaluation of LAG as a tool for development of the rural region. The default hypothesis is that the LAG Říčansko has of its region and the influence of this effect can be evaluated positively. It followed the trends and developments in the field of rural development with a focus on the LEADER approach. Furthermore, for the final evaluation analyzes the structure of the LAG, the selection of supported projects and the implementation of cooperation projects. Part of the work is devoted to the characteristics and the current situation in the region LAG Říčansko. As a basis for the design of projects in problematic areas include a description of activities of some foreign LAG in Germany and Austria. The aim is achieved through interviews with workers LAG Říčansko and compares its structure and focus of the recommended and mandatory requirement for LAG. It was also the focus of supported projects compared with regard to problem areas in the region. The main part of the job evaluation LAG was a questionnaire survey among inhabitants of the region, partners and holders LAG regional brand Zápraží original product, which was focused on knowledge of the activities of the LAG and satisfaction with the treatment. Economic efficiency projects LAG was assessed using a cost-benefit analysis (CBA) of the selected project. Due to the nature of the project, its methodology was amended and as a result of its work is proposed for evaluating the effectiveness of cooperative projects using space CBA cost utility analysis (CUA). Knowledge about the work of LAG Říčansko are summarized in the conclusion that the MAS Říčansko has on the region a positive effect. Conclusion also includes the realization that this fact is only sustainable if the LAG will respond to changes in the region and its activities will involve local stakeholders in all sectors in sufficient representation.

abstract: As robotic systems are used in increasingly diverse applications, the interaction of humans and robots has become an important area of research. In many of the applications of physical human robot interaction (pHRI), the robot and the human can be seen as cooperating to complete a task with some object of interest. Often these applications are in unstructured environments where many paths can accomplish the goal. This creates a need for the ability to communicate a preferred direction of motion between both participants in order to move in coordinated way. This communication method should be bidirectional to be able to fully utilize both the robot and human capabilities. Moreover, often in cooperative tasks between two humans, one human will operate as the leader of the task and the other as the follower. These roles may switch during the task as needed. The need for communication extends into this area of leader-follower switching. Furthermore, not only is there a need to communicate the desire to switch roles but also to control this switching process. Impedance control has been used as a way of dealing with some of the complexities of pHRI. For this investigation, it was examined if impedance control can be utilized as a way of communicating a preferred direction between humans and robots. The first set of experiments tested to see if a human could detect a preferred direction of a robot by grasping and moving an object coupled to the robot. The second set tested the reverse case if the robot could detect the preferred direction of the human. The ability to detect the preferred direction was shown to be up to 99% effective. Using these results, a control method to allow a human and robot to switch leader and follower roles during a cooperative task was implemented and tested. This method proved successful 84% of the time. This control method was refined using adaptive control resulting in lower interaction forces and a success rate of 95%. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S. Mechanical Engineering 2014

Dans une littérature managériale balançant entre critiques et défendeurs, le budget, objet de ce travail de recherche reste omniprésent dans les pratiques managériales des entreprises. Dans cette étude, l'approche de cet outil de contrôle de gestion est particulière : nous considérons le système budgétaire selon son degré de complexité.D'où le premier objectif à savoir la conception d'une taxinomie des systèmes budgétaires dans un contexte bien spécifique: la PME en Tunisie. Le principal questionnement est d'identifier les contingences structurelles (PME) et comportementales (le dirigeant) qui influencent le degré de complexité du système budgétaire.Etant le principal acteur dans la PME, le dirigeant, fait l'objet d'une attention particulière, d'où le deuxième objectif de la recherche : concevoir une typologie des dirigeants tunisiens. L'analyse des données recueillies par questionnaire administré par entretien direct auprès de 116 PME industrielles tunisiennes montre qu'il n'existe pas de déterminisme structurel ou comportemental expliquant la variabilité des systèmes budgétaires observés dans les PME tunisiennes. Les profils des dirigeants donnés par l'analyse typologique regroupent des dimensions socioprofessionnelles (expérience, formation) et des dimensions culturelles (de Hofstede) : deux principaux résultats émanent de cette analyse: d'une part, considérer une culture arabe est une vision réductrice de la richesse de ces nations et d'autre part, les profils des dirigeants tunisiens sont culturellement différents / In a managerial literature balancing between criticism and defendants, the budget, object of the present research is omnipresent in the managerial practices of enterprises. In this study, the approach of this management control tool is particular: we access the budgetary system according to its degree of complexity.The first objective of this research is to conceive a taxonomy of budgetary systems within a specific context: the SME in Tunisia.The main questioning is to identify the structural (SME) and behavioral (the manager) contingencies that influence the complexity of the budgetary system.Being the principal actor in the SME, the manager is subject to a particular attention; that justifies the second objective of this research: conceiving a typology of Tunisian managers.Data analysis has been collected through questionnaires administrated by direct interviews within 116 industrial Tunisian SME's. It has shown that there are no structural or behavioral determinism that explain the variability of observed budgetary systems within Tunisian SME's.The profiles of managers that appeared through the typological analysis regroup social, professional ( experience, education) and cultural ( Hofstede) dimensions: Two main results show from this analysis: First, considering an Arab culture is a reducing vision of the richness of these nations. Second, the profiles of Tunisian managers are culturally different.

This study identified and defined leader behaviors with two levels of leadership in a self-managed team organization. Job analysis methodology was used. A comparison of task importance values was made within groups and between hierarchical levels in the organization. Identified leader behaviors were compared with effective, traditional leader performance. Qualitative data collected throughout the investigation clarified an integrative model for effective organizations developed from the literature. The model included leader characteristics and team member behaviors when using self-managed teams.

A more globalized workforce, coupled with technological advances in electronic communication, have led organizations to turn to virtual work teams at a rapidly increasing rate (Gilson, Maynard, Young, Vartiainen, & Hakonen, 2015). Leadership has been shown to aid team performance across work domains (Morgeson, DeRue, & Karam, 2010), and there exist a host of functional leader behaviors that have been found to benefit face-to-face team performance (Burke, Stagl, Klein, Goodwin, Salas, & Halpin, 2006). Attention to leadership in this new era of work teams is necessary to identify those specific behaviors that enable effective virtual team functioning. Team performance, whether in the virtual context or face-to-face, requires attention to taskwork (i.e., what people do) as well as the required teamwork (i.e., how people work together to go about doing the tasking; Morgan Jr, Glickman, Woodard, Blaiwes, & Salas, 1986). Thus, drawing upon the Consideration and Initiating Structure classification of leader behaviors, the current study sought to determine which behaviors are most critical to virtual team effectiveness and other important outcomes, specifically within the context of a virtual team working on a decision-making task. This study determined that Consideration leader behaviors are most beneficial for virtual team performance, team member satisfaction, and team potency in a decision-making context. Further, perceived leader effectiveness was found to predict team member satisfaction and team potency. This work has important implications for both science and practice, including extending existing leadership theory to a new context (i.e., virtual teams) and influencing leader behaviors for decision-making teams across work domains.

The “camera eats first” phenomenon has become a worldwide popular culture which affects our everyday life. The study is committed to look at the foodie behavior on Instagram in Hong Kong, a renowned gourmet paradise. Through a qualitative study of five Instagram foodies, it aims to explore and add an academic dimension of understanding of the culture from the foodie’s perspective and their online behaviors of running a public profile about daily food consumption on Instagram. The results suggested that some foodies see their profiles as the extension of themselves, a space to showcase their works and preferences; but they do not see their profile as a future business opportunity. Even though the foodies on Instagram are mostly amateur instead of professionally trained food photographers, they keep enhancing their skills by learning from their peers and constant practices, for the sake of producing attractive photos. Flat-lay is one of the most popular styles of photography on Instagram which is appreciated by the foodies, as well as the audience. Attractive food visual content and skillful labeling hashtags have made Instagram a platform to satisfy intense desire for food consumption. A foodie’s interaction with audience further enhances the consumer’s desire by offering personal comments. The findings imply that there is a wide scale of foodies with different attitudes towards their practice of posting food images on Instagram. It is crucial for food marketers to understand their attitudes and preferences for better communication. Future research can be conducted on a broader scale of foodies to examine foodies and their influence on social class, giving marketers more ideas of effective positioning and segmentation.

In order to minimize duplication, consolidate resources and strengthen industry representation to government, the South African Avocado Growers Association (SAAGA), South African Litchi Growers Association (SALGA), South African Macadamia Growers Association (SAMAC) and the South African Mango Growers Association (SAMGA); amalgamated under an umbrella organization called Subtrop. This study focuses on the pre and post effect the amalgamation had on Extension services to the abovementioned organizations. The effect was measured by conducting a survey. The survey measured both Subtrop member and relevant Subtrop staff responses. The survey used two questionnaire types, one for Subtrop members and one for Subtrop extension advisors. The questionnaires were designed to complement the SPPS V19.0® statistical package. The questionnaires were completed at group interview sessions. A total of 127 farmer respondents, divided in two groups, namely 90 farmer respondents and 37 opinion leader respondents participated in the external survey. The internal survey comprised of six Subtrop extension advisor respondents. Farmer and opinion leader respondents, (hereafter called respondents), provided their perceptions and rated the extension services of the technical department of Subtrop. Results showed that the respondents used the Extension services for on farm advice and group based Extension services like study groups. The Subtrop Extension services received a higher rating after the Subtrop amalgamation than before the amalgamation. Subtrop extension advisor responses showed a need for training and coaching, as well as some reconciliation with respect to the increase in work load afforded by the amalgamation. Pre-amalgamation extension advisors served one commodity, while post amalgamation extension advisors now serve four commodities. The respondents indicated their satisfaction with the organizing of study groups. They also indicated that the study groups met their needs. Although the respondents understood the value of intercommunication and participation, the study showed that the minority realized the need to take ownership of study groups. All the extension advisors indicated that organizing study groups was the single activity that used most of their time. The Subtrop study groups were rated higher after the Subtrop amalgamation than before. The Subtrop newsletters were rated higher after the Subtrop amalgamation. The respondents indicated the newsletters as valuable and therefore proved newsletters as an appropriate extension communication tool. The Subtrop websites were indicated as somewhat valuable. Most respondents indicated a lack of awareness of the websites, indicating a need to promote the websites better. Although very few respondents completed the marketing related services section of the survey, those that completed this section were all aware of this service. The following recommendations emerged: For extension advisors: <ul> <li> The development of a curriculum of Subtrop commodities for training purposes;</li> <li> Regular technical and soft-skill training;</li> <li> The development of a mentorship program; and</li> <li> For new extension advisors an orientation program which includes the above mentioned.</li> </ul> To improve the Extension service outputs: programmed extension and the implementation of area committees. Additional focus on communication and exit interviews. For farmer members: <ul> <li> Study group management needs to be improved, combine newsletters, improve awareness of research and promote websites and market services.</li> <li> Further: develop an extension policy, maximize area committee involvement and regular member feedback surveys.</li></ul> / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development / unrestricted

A striking feature of swarm robotics is its ability to solve complex tasks through simple local interactions between robots. Those interactions require a good infrastructure in communication and localization. However, in underwater environments, the severe attenuation of radio waves complicates communication and localization of different vehicles. Existing literature on underwater swarms use centralized network topology which require physical vicinity to the central node to ensure reliability. We are interested in building a decentralized underwater swarm with a decentralized network topology that only requires neighbour communication and self-localization. We develop a simple leader-follower interaction rule where the follower estimates the leader's position and acts upon that estimation. The leader shines a 450 nm diffracted blue laser that the follower uses to continuously align its light sensors to the light source. Furthermore, the leader's laser can be modulated for explicit communication purposes. The proposed leader-follower approach produces satisfactory results in surge and sway axes, however, it is not robust against illumination changes in the environment. We then proceed to solve the self-localization problem, by fusing Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) values with the thrust to estimate a robot’s position. In an Ardusub Simulation in the loop (SITL), the particle filter showed a slightly better performance than the Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) in the surge axis. However, both filters are prone to drifting after a while. We have observed that IMU values need to be filtered properly or another reliable sensor must be used alternatively.

The purpose of this dissertation is to show a yet undiscovered link between identity claims and the survival of political leaders. Diversionary theory posits that starting foreign conflicts during domestic hardship may increase the popular approval ratings of the leader and maintain him in power. I suggest that leaders may resort to initiating identity claims as a diversionary action to stay in power. Indeed, using survival analysis, this study finds a connection between the desire of leaders to protect their ethnic kin in neighboring countries and the leaders' own popularity and survival at home. Yet, identity claim initiation and escalation significantly decrease the chances of leaders to remain in office. At first sight, this is in sharp contrast with the diversionary theory literature, which suggests that leaders may employ foreign wars as a means to distract from domestic problems and increase their survival in office. Yet, the realization that the escalation of conflict may backfire does not necessarily deter leaders from diverting. Therefore, this analysis offers a new perspective in the field of rationalist explanations for war.

Der Artikel beinhaltet eine Einleitung, sowie drei Abschnitte zu den Themen 'the opinion & the legal thinking', 'internal investigations', 'the person of the mastermind in the future development of the law of internal investigations'. Außerdem ist ein Fazit zu den beschriebenen Themen enthalten. / The article includes three clauses concerning 'the opinion & the legal thinking', 'internal investigations', 'the person of the mastermind in the future development of the law of internal investigations', as well as a final conclusion.