According to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) (2004), it is estimated that there is a total of 1.42 million active businesses in South Africa, 84 per cent of which are classified as “family business”. Internationally, family businesses account for 70 per cent of all international businesses and 35 per cent of Fortune 500 companies (Balshaw, 2004). Despite their economic importance, family businesses still find marketing to be a challenge. Relationships are at the heart of family businesses (Petzinger, 1999; Cooper, Upton and Seaman, 2005). This is because the fundamental DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid) a family business is based on a symbiotic relationship between the family and the business. Families, by virtue of their DNA, cultivate deep relationships with people, which include customers, suppliers and even competitors. Hence, in a family business context, these values are transferred into the business by the associated family. This relational approach is often utilised in the marketing strategies that they adopt. This study investigates some of the characteristics of relationship marketing that exist in South African family businesses. The results from the family businesses surveyed, indicates that they cultivate deep relationship with customers. This characteristic enables these businesses to be highly proficient at both satisfying and retaining customers. However, despite a culture of customer centricity, further findings indicate that such businesses are less proficient regarding their orientation with competitors, as they are often slow to respond to competition, in the market place. Lastly, the study indicates that family businesses cultivate and maintain a healthy relationship with employees; as such relationships is a prerequisite for customer satisfaction.

This study explores the relationship of entrepreneurial orientation and dynamic capabilities as organizations grow beyond country borders and into international markets. Through an extensive literature review of internationalization, entrepreneurial orientation and dynamic capabilities, a theoretical framework is developed that allow us to answer our research question. The study takes an abductive, comparative case study approach and is conducted on three Swedish SMEs in regard to their internationalization activites related to South Korea. The study proposes that there is an area in research that still contain a high degree of ambiguity which makes an understanding of the relationship between these two constructs difficult to define. The study’s findings report that the two constructs have complementary narratives of the same phenomenon which concedes a variety of possible relationships. The study then argues in support and rebuttal of five propositions of relationships.

Recent studies show that sea turtles use both magnetic and visual cues to successfully orient. Juvenile green sea turtles from the near shore reefs of Palm Beach County, Florida were brought to the lab to determine whether the sun could serve as a visual orientation cue. When tethered during the day in a large outdoor tank west of the ocean, the turtles oriented east to northeast. To determine whether the sun's position was used to maintain their heading, I altered the turtles' perception of time by entraining them to a light cycle advanced by 7 h relative to the natural cycle. When tested afterward in the same outdoor tank the turtles oriented northwest, the predicted direction after compensating for the sun's movement over 7 h across the sky. Orientation was unchanged when the turtles bore magnets that negated the use of magnetic cues. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that the turtles used the sun for orientation. / by Cody Robert Mott. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2010. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2010. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Thesis advisor: Michael G. Pratt / Despite calls to understand the micro-foundation of institutional theory and to understand how professional identity change relates to the broader macro context (e.g., Lok, 2010; Lepisto, Crosina and Pratt, forthcoming); exploration of the link between a field-level institutional change and the individual professionals' identity responses within the field remains. For this dissertation, I conducted an inductive qualitative study of French veterinarians and their reactions to "the Service Directive", a European Union regulation that re-categorizes veterinarians as "service providers" from "healthcare professionals." Drawing on interviews with practicing veterinarians, leaders of the field, observations, and archival data, my dissertation advances our understanding of professionals' responses to an institutional change which can potentially redefine what their profession is. My findings suggest that professionals negotiate an institutional change (in this case, the Service Directive) at the professional level before its formal implementation and before individual professionals within their organization engaged in any form of response. My dissertation introduces a model centered on understanding how veterinarians responded to this change at the individual level (and more particularly, in terms of identity) within their organization. This model suggests that individual professionals perceive the institutional regulatory change in hopeful, fearful or ambivalent manners. I found that these perceptions are influenced by professionals' work orientation and perceived organization's time orientation. Further, I found that these perceptions lead to different types of identity responses: identity expansion, identity maintenance, giving up a possible self, and de-emphasizing an existing identity. My research enriches emerging perspectives on identity responses to an institutional change by pointing out various identity responses and tying them to the perceptions of an institutional change. My research further suggests that such a change can be perceived as an opportunity, as a threat, or both, not solely as a threat. Furthermore, my dissertation introduces the notions of orientation (work orientation and perceived organization's time orientation) as key to the processing of an institutional trigger. Finally, it calls attention to an emotional processing of the institutional trigger. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2014. / Submitted to: Boston College. Carroll School of Management. / Discipline: Management and Organization.

Considerando o exercício da nossa prática, e a importância que a adolescência e a orientação sexual assumiram nos últimos anos, é que buscamos realizar o presente estudo. Nosso objetivo foi conhecer a percepção de alunos que haviam participado de um grupo de adolescentes com relação à dinâmica desses grupos e à orientação sexual, tendo como referencial teórico os aspectos conceituais da adolescência, sexualidade na adolescência, vulnerabilidade, orientação sexual, metodologia participativa e lúdica. Buscamos na abordagem qualitativa, uma alternativa metodológica para entender a realidade expressa através das percepções desses adolescentes. Do ponto de vista teórico e formal, optamos pela modalidade de Pesquisa Estratégica. Realizamos o estudo em uma escola municipal de Ribeirão Preto, tendo como atores sociais, alunos que participaram, de grupos de orientação nas 4ª séries. Com relação ao processo de trabalho de campo, para coleta de dados, utilizamos a técnica da entrevista semi-estruturada, tendo como técnica complementar a realização de grupos focais. O tratamento e análise dos dados foram feitos através da análise de conteúdo, elaborada por Bardin. A partir das falas dos atores sociais, pudemos identificar núcleos temáticos, relacionados ao lúdico, enquanto processo facilitador para a aquisição do conhecimento e reflexão; ao conteúdo abordado e a participação nos grupos, enquanto fator determinante para o seu futuro e um caminho para o diálogo intra familiar. / It is by considering our practice and the importance given to adolescence and sexual orientation in the last few years that we aim at accomplishing this study. Our purpose was to understand the perception of students who have already participated in a group of adolescents as to the dynamics of such groups and in relation to the sexual orientation. The conceptual aspects of adolescence, sexuality in adolescence, vulnerability, sexual orientation, participative and ludic methodology made up the theoretical framework of our study. In order to achieve our goal, we applied a qualitative approach, a methodological alternative to understand the reality expressed through the perceptions of these adolescents. From the theoretical and formal viewpoint, we chose the Strategic Research modality. We carried out the study in a municipal school in the City of Ribeirão Preto with social student-actors who, had participated in groups in the 4th graders. Concerning the field work process for data collection, we used semistructured interviews and the formation of focal groups as a complementary technique. The data analysis and treatment were carried out by means of the content analysis method, elaborated by Bardin. Based on the students\' discourse, we were able to identify thematic nuclei related to that which is ludic as a facilitating process in the acquisition of knowledge and reflection, to the approached content and the participation in the group as a determinant factor for their future and the possibility of intra-family dialogue.

The evolution of novel protein functions and protein families is a fundamental question within both evolutionary biology and biochemistry. While many gene families follow predictable patterns of molecular tinkering, many protein families exist with completely novel functions now essential. The guanylate kinase protein interaction domain (GKPID) of the membrane associated guanylate kinases (MAGUK) represents a model system for the study of protein evolution in which a protein scaffolding domain has evolved from a nucleotide kinase ancestor. Here we elucidate the ancient mechanisms by which these new functions evolved by combining ancestral protein reconstruction with in vitro and cell-biological molecular experiments. We found that the GKPID's capacity to serve as a mitotic spindle-orienting scaffold evolved by duplication and divergence of an ancient guanylate kinase enzyme before the divergence of animals and choanoflagellates. Re-introducing a single historical substitution into the ancestral guanylate kinase is sufficient to abolish the ancestral enzyme activity, confer the derived scaffolding function, and establish the capacity to mediate spindle orientation in cultured cells. This substitution appears to have revealed a latent protein-binding site, rather than constructing a novel interaction interface, apparently by altering the dynamics or conformational occupancy of a hinge region that determines whether the binding site is exposed or hidden. Three further substitutions also conveyed a measure of ligand specificity to phosphorylated Pins, which is necessary in metazoan spindle orientation pathways. These findings show how a small number of simple, ancient genetic changes caused the evolution of novel molecular functions crucial for the evolution of complex animals and laid the groundwork for an entirely new family of metazoan scaffolding proteins. This dissertation contains previously unpublished, co-authored material.

Further analyses of comparing the creativity scores of the experimental groups also showed inconsistent results. Participants in the promotion cue condition scored significantly higher in uniqueness and unusualness of standardized assessment, and fluency and flexibility of creative problem solving than those in the prevention cue condition. The correlation between promotion focus and creativity was found significantly higher under the promotion cue condition than the prevention cue condition. But other mixed results showed that the control group scored significantly higher fluency and flexibility of standardized assessment than participants in the promotion cue condition. Participants' levels of promotion focus trait also had main effects on their creativity scores. Participants with higher trait of promotion focus tended to score higher in most of the creativity indicators. / In conclusion, the present study provided some limited evidence that promotion focus as a personality trait had weak but positive associations with creativity, and achievement goal as a weak mediator in affecting students' creativity. Students' promotion trait had stronger main effect on their creative performance than situational promotion focus. Ways to improve the manipulation effects and future direction on research had been suggested. / Results showed that the manipulation was relatively ineffective as reflected by the manipulation questions. Participants' promotion trait had, however, main effects on the manipulation items. Participants with high promotion trait scored significantly higher in all the checking items of promotion focus. Participants' prevention trait also had main effects on their perception of checking items of prevention focus. Participants with high prevention trait got higher scores of prevention situation than individuals with medium and low trait level. / Study 2 took a further step to examine the effects of regulatory focus on creativity in 490 Grade 7 students who had taken part in the previous study. Participants of 13 intact classes were randomly assigned to one of the conditions, namely promotion-framing condition (188 students from 5 classes), prevention-framing condition (149 students from 4 classes), and the control condition (153 students from 4 classes). Verbal and written instructions were provided with an intention to frame the regulatory focus of individual students. Participants completed a parallel item of the alternate use battery of the standardized creativity assessment, another item of creative problem solving, and six checking questions. Previous scores of achievement goals and regulatory foci were used as covariates in analysis of variance to examine the differences in the checking items. / The present study aimed at examining the influence of two motivational variables---achievement goal and regulatory focus on creativity. It was composed of two empirical studies. Study 1 was designed to investigate how achievement goal and regulatory focus affected creativity. A total of 824 Grade 7 students took part in completing a questionnaire which comprised an alternate use item of a standardized creativity assessment, a creative problem solving task, an instrument on achievement goal and two instruments on regulatory focus. Exploratory factor analyses and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to confirm the factor structures of achievement goals (mastery-approach goal, performance-approach goal, mastery-avoidance goal, and performance-avoidance goal) and regulatory foci (promotion focus and prevention focus). Results showed that these two variables were basically distinctive in nature. Positive but weak correlations were found between promotion focus and creativity, as well as prevention focus and creativity. Positive and weak correlations were also found between mastery-approach goal and creativity, performance-approach goal and creativity, as well as mastery-avoidance goal and creativity. Promotion focus had moderately high associations with both approach goals (mastery-approach and performance-approach) and avoidance goals (mastery-avoidance and performance-avoidance), and so had prevention focus. Regression analyses indicated that the strongest predictor for creativity was promotion focus. Performance-approach goal and mastery-avoidance goal served as weak mediators of regulatory focus on creativity. / Hui Na Na Anna. / "November 2006." / Adviser: P. C. Cheung. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-08, Section: A, page: 3279. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 206-224). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstract in English and Chinese. / School code: 1307.

by Leo Li Kai-chung. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1991. / Bibliography: leaves 55-56. / Chapter Chapter One --- Introduction --- p.2 / Chapter Chapter Two --- Analytical Framework / Chapter (1) --- Conceptual Review --- p.5 / Chapter (2) --- Theoretical Relevance Individual Differences in Language Learning --- p.8 / Chapter (3) --- The Studies of Lambert and Gardner Integrative vs. Instrumental Orientation of Second Language Learning --- p.12 / Chapter (4) --- Anomalies Arising Out of Language Learning Attitude Studies Challenge To Lambert's & Gardner's Orientation Theories --- p.17 / Chapter (5) --- Politzer's Learning Behaviour Studies Alternative Explanation To Language Learning Proficiency --- p.23 / Chapter Chapter Three --- Hypothesis & Data Collection Method --- p.28 / Chapter Chapter Four --- Findings & Discussion / Chapter (A) --- Findings --- p.37 / Table 1: Personal Data & Background of English Learning Experience of Subjects --- p.39 / Table 2: Orientation by Proficiency --- p.43 / Table 3: Orientation & Proficiency by Low Language Learning Behaviour --- p.44 / Table 4: Orientation & Proficiency by High Language Learning Behaviour --- p.44 / Chapter (B) --- Discussion --- p.45 / Bibliography --- p.55 / Appendix --- p.57 / Questionnaires

by Li Shing Sun. / Thesis (M.A.Ed.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1987. / Bibliography: leaves 111-113.

This study investigates how the subsidiaries of multinational enterprises (MNEs) reconfigure their resource bases to respond to an altered strategic positioning. In particular, the focus is on the subsidiaries of multinational enterprises from emerging economies (EMNEs), which undertake transformation from export-orientation to host market-orientation in an emerging economy being host country. Two Taiwanese MNEs with subsidiaries in China extensively operated the host market are selected as case studies. This research is grounded in a preliminary conceptualisation covering three main areas: subsidiary organisations, external actors in the host country and headquarters’ functions. It provides insights into (1) how the subsidiaries align their historical resources with newly-developed capabilities; (2) how the subsidiaries govern inter-firm relations with external actors in the host environment; and (3) whether and how complementary resources are to a limited extent transferred from headquarters to subsidiaries so as to support the operations in the host market. With regards to the organisational initiatives undertaken by the case subsidiaries, it is found that the historical resources are leveraged to support the host market business, whilst at the same time developing required marketing capabilities. In addition, the concept of organisational ambidexterity is adopted to refer to way in which existing (export-oriented) and new (host market-oriented) businesses that are operating simultaneously. As to the inter-firm relations, the case subsidiaries have been mainly governing their relations with distributors by performance-based mechanisms aiming to secure stable profits. By contrast, the relation-based trust was not commonly observed among the cooperation ties. With growing brand strengths and increased direct contact with consumers, they held higher authority over the interfirm relations with distributors than during the initial stages of operating in the Chinese market. In addition, with regards to the cross-border resource transfers, two distinct modes of headquarters-subsidiary relationships emerged: a traditional one, in which headquarters allocate resources within MNEs and a novel one in which headquarters’ functions were gradually replaced by the powerful subsidiary, termed in this thesis as “migrating headquarters”. On the basis of these findings, we put forward a set of propositions that present the interrelations between the resource circumstances of case subsidiaries, the institutional environments and the organisational initiatives undertaken by the case subsidiaries. Theoretically, the contributions of this study are threefold. Firstly, it advances the research on subsidiary development by holistically exploring the: resource reconfiguration of subsidiaries, inter-firm relations with external actors and headquarters-subsidiary relationships. In particular, the resource deficiency which the EMNEs’ subsidiaries encountered and the characteristics of the required capabilities for the host market-oriented transformation, i.e. local marketing competences, were investigated. Secondly, through probing the governance mechanisms adopted regarding interfirm relations between the case subsidiaries and local distributors, this study not only addresses the question of how MNEs acquire this location-bound resource, but also advances the extant research by the aspect of network positions. That is, this study indicates that the first-tier distributors hold more relations-based interactions with the case subsidiaries than the lower-tier ones did. Moreover, unlike the reliance on informal relations suggested by extant literature on doing business in emerging economies, it is found that the economic governance mechanisms based on distributor performance have been predominantly adopted by the case subsidiaries. Thirdly, by investigating how the complementary resources are transferred to the subsidiaries, this work discovers EMNEs’ weakness at responding to the host market-oriented subsidiary transformation in terms of resource deployment within MNEs, in particular those resources that have been mostly controlled by headquarters. In addition, the term “migrating headquarters”, which represents an extreme outcome of subsidiary development, provides novel knowledge to the extant literature on the relocation of MNE headquarters by the perspective of resource circumstances. Moreover, the five components comprising dynamic capabilities in the context of subsidiary transformation are identified through the two case studies as being: capability upgrading, capability leverage, capability building, coordination capability and cooperative capability.