Bakalauro baigiamajame darbe analizuojama organizacinė kultūra, kaip viena iš svarbiausių kultūros komponentų. Šio darbo teorinėje dalyje nagrinėtas organizacinės kultūros sąvoka ir tyrimo dimensijos, vertybių bei komunikacijos įtaka organizacinei kultūrai. Remiantis teorijoje nagrinėtais klausimais, buvo atlikta anketinė apklausa, t. y. tyrimas, kurio metu išanalizuota ir palyginta trijų įmonių organizacinė kultūra. Baigiamojo darbo tikslas – įvertinti UAB ,,Gausa", UAB „Gausuva ir VšĮ ,,Humana" organizacinę kultūrą ir jos raišką, remiantis darbuotojų nuomonėmis. Tiriamą problemą apibūdina klausimai: kokie yra organizacinę kultūrą atspindintys bruožai? Kiek svarbios vertybės ir komunikacinis organizacinės kultūros elementas? Kaip darbuotojai vertina įstaigoje vyraujančią organizacinę kultūrą? Kokios vyraujančios vertybės tiriamoje įstaigoje? Kiek gali būti skirtingi tos pačios srities įmonių organizacinės kultūros aspektai? Išsikeltais uždaviniais tiriama mokslinė literatūra, apibrėžianti organizacinės kultūros sąvoką, funkcijas, požymius, pokyčių įtaka organizacijos valdymui, vertybių sistemos įtaka organizacinei kultūrai bei apibrėžiama tarpasmeninių santykių reikšmė. Tyrimu įvertinamos darbuotojų nuomonės apie organizacinės kultūros išorinius elementus, įstaigose vyraujančias vertybes, palyginami trijų pasirinktų įmonių tarpusavio organizacinės kultūros specifiką formuojantys veiksniai. Tyrimas atliktas anketinės apklausos būdu, kuria buvo siekiama išsiaiškinti... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / This bachelor‘s thesis has its main focus on organizational culture. It’s been analyzed as one of the most important component of culture. The theoretical part of thesis contains the examination of concept of culture and dimensions of the research as well as the influence of values and communication to organizational culture. According to the questions examined, the survey was implemented. The organizational culture of three enterprises was analyzed during this research. The aim of the Bachelor’s thesis is to assess the organizational culture and its aspects of three enterprises (“Gausa” Ltd, “Gausuva” Ltd and public enterprise “Humana”) according to opinions of employees of the enterprises. The following questions reveal the problem analyzed: what are the features of organizational culture? How important the values and communicational element of organizational culture are? How do the employees assess the organizational culture within their enterprise? What are prevailing values within the enterprises researched? How different the aspects of organizational culture can be in the enterprises of the same field of activity? An academic literature - containing the concept of organizational culture, its functions, indications; the influence of changes to the organization management; the influence of system of values to organizational culture - was analyzed as well as the importance of interpersonal relations was defined. The research assesses the prevailing opinions of employees... [to full text]

This qualitative research study aims to investigate how eight members of the Society of Friends (also known as Quakers) experience a divine presence in their Meeting for Worship. The purpose is also to find out how their identity as Quakers has been created, and to see how they look at their Meeting of Worship when it comes to ritual as a concept. The method used in this study is individual, semi-structured interviews and observations of Meeting of Worship. The results show a relatively homogeneous group of individuals from a secular upbringing who as adults sought out a community where silence is appreciated and used to achieve an experience of a divine presence. Berger and Luckmann's theories of socialization have been applied to the results and the discussion reveals how the secondary socialization has been essential in the process of forming the individual into being a Quaker. There is however one exception, in the form of one participant who grew up in the Society of Friends. Catherine Bell’s ritual theory, that no ritual can be defined without its context, can be applied to the Quaker’s view of a ritual. The view Bell has on rituals can be used to understand the views shared by the participants in the study.

In this essay I have chosen to take a closer look at gold figure foils (Swedish “guldgubbar”), find their context and analyze it. I have analyzed some earlier studies about gold figure foils that were found in Scandinavia. The focus of my study is based on the locations of the findings. Another important aspect is to discuss if the encountered gold figure foils that were folded and cut looked like that due to intentional motives or not. My conclusion is that when it comes to the locations of the findings they are mostly found in houses irrespective of if it´s in a posthole, wall or house foundation. The other conclusion is that the gold figure foils could have intentionally been manipulated before they ended up in the ground.

Marriages and families are currently under tremendous pressure. Many marriages and families battle to adapt to changing life circumstances. They have become ignorant about the Divinely intended substance of relationships and are barely surviving. These marriages break up and end up in unhappiness and many times in the breaking up thereof. During the past 40 years there have been many attempts by state and church to stop the deterioration of marriages and family relationships and to put back the essential qualities of life. Many marriage enrichment programmes have been initiated and many couples and families have been encouraged to participate. Social programmes have been discussed and marriage and family initiatives have been launched during these programmes. This has brought hope in many communities. In this confused world of relativism and adaptation people have found some anchor points for their relationships and have found new meaning in their existence. However the question still remains: Do these programs just give a temporary surge of enthusiasm? To move from one program to another and to attend the one course after the other, does not bring a lasting solution. Courses and programs cannot function as crutches from which to get support for wavering marriages and family life. Couples and family members must be equipped in an integral way to revive their marriage and family life. They must be taught to become aware of the richness of happenings and memories that make relationships special and integrate these into their relationships. Rituals (for example: Baptism and Holy Communion) have helped church and humanity through the ages, to look past stale relationships and circumstances, to discover anchors in life and get through traumatic events. These rituals have been the reason for so many unique outcomes in stale relationships and have opened a new future for individuals and groups where none was evident. During this study these rituals have been seen as long–term assistance for marriages and families for the maintenance, extension and dynamics thereof. Rituals with the help of the development line of narrative research methodology, have been put in place to help couples and families to a better understanding and support of each other. They put new life into relationships, to build attainable future dreams and have given the opportunity for partners to move away from stale relationships to more hopeful relationships. The value of the local enrichment program as a safe environment for growth, adaptation and the integral implementation of meaningful rituals in marriage and family life, cannot be stressed enough. Within this enrichment program, with its relevant rituals, relationships are dynamically turned to the future. Believe in the existence of relationship has been found. Energy has been given to couples and families to live more purposefully. They are more creative and have a better understanding of each other. They can face the future together. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Practical Theology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

This thesis presents the results of paleoethnobotanical investigations conducted at nine karst sites associated with the Maya site of Pacbitun in western Belize. The archaeobotanical remains were deposited during the Late Classic period and the site was abandoned at some point during this same time (c. A.D. 900). Paleoenvironmental data from the Maya Lowlands indicates that human activity contributed to regional climate change during the Late/Terminal Classic period. However, site-specific research has demonstrated a variety of responses to these social and ecological changes. The archaeobotanical data from this study is used as a proxy for understanding how people at Pacbitun ritually responded to macro-regional environmental stress. Ritual plant use at the cave sites does not conform to behavioral ecology models that predict biological, cost-fitness related responses to resource scarcity. Instead, the data supports a model of behavior based on culturally motivated ritual practices.

Marriages and families are currently under tremendous pressure. Many marriages and families battle to adapt to changing life circumstances. They have become ignorant about the Divinely intended substance of relationships and are barely surviving. These marriages break up and end up in unhappiness and many times in the breaking up thereof. During the past 40 years there have been many attempts by state and church to stop the deterioration of marriages and family relationships and to put back the essential qualities of life. Many marriage enrichment programmes have been initiated and many couples and families have been encouraged to participate. Social programmes have been discussed and marriage and family initiatives have been launched during these programmes. This has brought hope in many communities. In this confused world of relativism and adaptation people have found some anchor points for their relationships and have found new meaning in their existence. However the question still remains: Do these programs just give a temporary surge of enthusiasm? To move from one program to another and to attend the one course after the other, does not bring a lasting solution. Courses and programs cannot function as crutches from which to get support for wavering marriages and family life. Couples and family members must be equipped in an integral way to revive their marriage and family life. They must be taught to become aware of the richness of happenings and memories that make relationships special and integrate these into their relationships. Rituals (for example: Baptism and Holy Communion) have helped church and humanity through the ages, to look past stale relationships and circumstances, to discover anchors in life and get through traumatic events. These rituals have been the reason for so many unique outcomes in stale relationships and have opened a new future for individuals and groups where none was evident. During this study these rituals have been seen as long–term assistance for marriages and families for the maintenance, extension and dynamics thereof. Rituals with the help of the development line of narrative research methodology, have been put in place to help couples and families to a better understanding and support of each other. They put new life into relationships, to build attainable future dreams and have given the opportunity for partners to move away from stale relationships to more hopeful relationships. The value of the local enrichment program as a safe environment for growth, adaptation and the integral implementation of meaningful rituals in marriage and family life, cannot be stressed enough. Within this enrichment program, with its relevant rituals, relationships are dynamically turned to the future. Believe in the existence of relationship has been found. Energy has been given to couples and families to live more purposefully. They are more creative and have a better understanding of each other. They can face the future together. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Practical Theology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

<p>This dissertation investigates Iron II Judean pillar figurines and their place in Judean ritual. First, the project identifies major trends in the interpretation of figurines and evaluates them using ancient Near Easter texts, archaeological context, the Hebrew Bible, and iconography. Second, it focuses on the significance of major iconographic shifts in figurine production, using the various types of data to understand these shifts and their implications for figurine function. </p><p>The dissertation first analyzes four major trends in the study of these statuettes, showing that interpreters begin with assumptions based upon figurine iconography and only then take into account Israelite religion, biblical texts, and archaeology (Chapter 2). The study then explores textual descriptions of figurine rituals from the Neo-Assyrian Empire. These suggest that figurine rituals were highly complex and that the absence of accompanying ritual texts is a barrier to interpretation (Chapter 3). </p><p>Chapters 4-7 examine the archaeological contexts and technological characteristics of the figurines. Chapter 4 focuses on Kathleen Kenyon's excavations in Jerusalem, Chapter 5 focuses on Yigal Shiloh's excavations in the same area, Chapter 6 describes the results of a new petrographic study of Jerusalem figurines, and Chapter 7 summarizes the data and compares them with the archaeological contexts of figurines found in other areas of Judah. The analysis demonstrates that the majority of figurines were found as random trash in domestic structures, that figurines were used by people from various socio-economic levels, that most figurines were not associated with domestic shrines, and that figurines have no significant correlation with artifacts associated with women's activity areas. The data also have important implications for the understanding of iconography in Jerusalem and surrounding areas.</p><p>Turning to the Hebrew Bible, Chapter 8 explores the descriptions of clay objects and idol production in biblical texts. This survey of passages shows that production from clay was never prohibited in the biblical text and that concerns over the production of idols focus on images from stone, wood, and metal. It also demonstrates that clay, as a production material, had a unique ability to bridge the gap between sacred and profane realms. </p><p>Chapter 9 investigates the various components of the figurines through stylistic analysis and comparative iconography. The chapter argues that the figurines were probably associated with protection and healing. It also discusses the rise of the pillar figurine style in Judah and Jerusalem, the significance of its regional adaptation, and the importance of the image's ambiguity for its function and dissemination. </p><p>Finally, Chapter 10 locates the figurines in their socio-historic context within Iron II Judah, as a part of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. The chapter evaluates the likelihood that the Neo-Assyrian Empire provided the cultural context for the spread of figurine rituals associated with healing and protection in the Iron II. It also summarizes biblical depictions of healing rituals and the role of divine intermediaries, closing with a final evaluation of the dominant interpretive paradigms and a summary of figurine development and function.</p> / Dissertation

This dissertation examines the ways that books can show the place of magic in fifteenth-century English society. Specifically, I am interested in what was important about magic to people and how magic was used by people in the creation of their identities, both as individuals and within the community. As I explore these issues, I aim to demonstrate that magic freely co-mingled with non-magical texts in manuscripts. Furthermore, this mixing of magical and non-magical texts is a vital part of understanding magic’s role in the shaping of people’s identities, both public and private. Chapter one presents the results of a preliminary survey of magic in fifteenth-century English manuscripts. I clarify how I delineate between texts – magical and non-magical and between genres of magic. This chapter also uses a series of case studies to look at some of the issues of ownership that are dealt with in more detail in the later chapters of this thesis. Chapters two, three, and four look at individual manuscripts in depth. In Chapter two, I examine how a lower gentry household used their notebook to establish their place within a strata of the gentry that was increasingly interested in medical and scientific texts in the fifteenth century. Chapter three looks at the private notebook of an anonymous scribe and how its owner combines the ordinary and transgressive qualities of magic to create an identity for himself that is based on a quasi-clerical masculinity and the ludic qualities of magic. Chapter four concerns Robert Taylor’s medical notebook, which he may have used as a part-time medical practitioner, and the insight it gives into the everyday concerns of medieval people. Chapter five is an examination of the book of an early fifteenth-century Cistercian monk named Richard Dove. Dove’s notebook contains a copy of the Ars notoria, the only manuscript containing ritual magic that I study in this dissertation. I argue that Dove, unlike other monastic users of the Ars notoria, does not use the text for its spiritual benefits, but its material benefits as part of his desire to participate in a broader intellectual culture outside the monastery.

This dissertation examines the ways that books can show the place of magic in fifteenth-century English society. Specifically, I am interested in what was important about magic to people and how magic was used by people in the creation of their identities, both as individuals and within the community. As I explore these issues, I aim to demonstrate that magic freely co-mingled with non-magical texts in manuscripts. Furthermore, this mixing of magical and non-magical texts is a vital part of understanding magic’s role in the shaping of people’s identities, both public and private. Chapter one presents the results of a preliminary survey of magic in fifteenth-century English manuscripts. I clarify how I delineate between texts – magical and non-magical and between genres of magic. This chapter also uses a series of case studies to look at some of the issues of ownership that are dealt with in more detail in the later chapters of this thesis. Chapters two, three, and four look at individual manuscripts in depth. In Chapter two, I examine how a lower gentry household used their notebook to establish their place within a strata of the gentry that was increasingly interested in medical and scientific texts in the fifteenth century. Chapter three looks at the private notebook of an anonymous scribe and how its owner combines the ordinary and transgressive qualities of magic to create an identity for himself that is based on a quasi-clerical masculinity and the ludic qualities of magic. Chapter four concerns Robert Taylor’s medical notebook, which he may have used as a part-time medical practitioner, and the insight it gives into the everyday concerns of medieval people. Chapter five is an examination of the book of an early fifteenth-century Cistercian monk named Richard Dove. Dove’s notebook contains a copy of the Ars notoria, the only manuscript containing ritual magic that I study in this dissertation. I argue that Dove, unlike other monastic users of the Ars notoria, does not use the text for its spiritual benefits, but its material benefits as part of his desire to participate in a broader intellectual culture outside the monastery.

The thesis sets out to discuss the Bronze Age cosmology in Scandinavia, based on the results from the investigations at Nibble outside Enköping in Uppland. The excavations were carried out in 2007 and revealed extensive remains of a ritual place with burials, cult houses and food preparation areas. In addition, hundreds of cupmarks and two ship rock carvings were found. The cult place was constructed by moving stones around, gathering them into stone settings, stone walls and heaps of fire-cracked stones. The importance of the stones as cosmological entities is established through this special and deliberate treatment. Nature is transformed into culture. The cult place was established in connection with the construction of a large stone setting at the top of a hillock. Cremated and crushed bones of a man had been placed centrally in the construction, and close by, several cult houses had been erected, complemented by a food preparation area, where sacrificial meals were prepared and eaten.   In many cases, stone settings and heaps of fire-cracked stones are used in similar manners. At a settlement site close to the cult place, there was a heap of fire-cracked stones that contained the cremated bones of a young woman. It had been specially constructed for her burial and contained layers of coal and fire-cracked stones from several cremation pyres. The border between what is a burial and what is not is hard to define. The burnt bones of the dead were handled in much the same way as the burnt stone. They were burnt and crushed, ground to a powder, and restored to the earth. The use of stones in connection with fire and water (and smoke) suggests the existence of a system built on the four elements: stone (earth), fire, water and air. In addition, the existence of a tripartite universe is suggested. Stone settings (and some of the heaps of fire-cracked stones) were constructed as portals to the underground, and the smoke from the funeral pyres was the means of transport to the heaven above.  During the Early Bronze Age, the functions of the warrior and the shaman were often carried out by the same individual. During the Late Bronze Age, however, the functions of the warrior and the shaman seem to have been separated.   The separation of the ritual functions show that a change in ritual practice and cosmology occurred some time in the middle of the Bronze Age. A complete cosmological change was probably not involved, and many older rituals were still carried out in the Late Bronze Age. The relationship between the four elements remained the same, and the treatment of stone in particular remained unchanged. The connection between stone and bone still prevailed, as did the crushing and grinding.