Not every project deserving of success achieves it. Conversely, not every project heading for the scrap heap arrives. The journey to project success is long and hard and does not happen overnight. To understand the journey to project success we need to understand what makes a project successful. A successful project can be classified as a Project of which the costs did not exceed 25% of the agreed capital approved with a less than 25% schedule slip and with all the operational problems being sorted out in less than a year. Project success potential, can be increased by focusing on the critical factors listed in this study, namely: Project Front End Loading (FEL), high calibre project teams, and people skills/soft skills of project management. The success of a project can be increased when the project has high calibre project teams starting the project with very effective Front End Loading (FEL) and keep project team members continuity based on the fact that the project is managed by a project manager understanding people who have the soft skill to lead and influence the project team, rather than managing the team. The research was conducted by means of a literature and empirical study. The literature study documents the critical factors for project success. Knowledge gained from the literature study formed the basis for the empirical study to test critical factors for project success in practice and the recommendations can be read in chapter four. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2009.

Evaluation of teacher training has been conducted primarily on pre-service contexts and has focussed almost exclusively on evidence of impact in terms of changes in teachers’ behaviour or beliefs. Using a responsive / constructivist methodology my research focuses on an in-service context and takes the participants as the starting point of the research in order to examine both the processes of teacher learning (i.e. how do teachers learn) as well as the product (what are their claims, concerns and issues) regarding the training programme. The emergent data is analysed with findings grounded in the literature of teacher learning and parallels made with my own reflections on the processes of learning through the research experience itself. The evaluation focuses on a Cambridge In Service Certificate of English Language Teaching (ICELT) training course which is designed as an internationally appropriate INSET programme that can satisfy the training needs of (both native and non-native) EFL teachers. The research is valuable because we do not know how teachers learn on a training course. Through a review of the literature and exploiting the imagery of a metaphorical journey of development, I formulate a framework for analysing teacher learning which distinguishes between practical (applied) knowledge, conceptual knowledge and knowledge of self. This theoretical framework provides a lens to analyse data emerging during the evaluation. The research advocates an alternative ‘constructivist – responsive’ method of evaluation for teacher education programmes that has the dual aim of learning through the evaluation (process) as well as from the evaluation (product). The research methods follow a Fourth Generation Evaluation model (Guba and Lincoln 1979). The results show that in terms of the evaluation outcomes (product) we can identify modes of learning that concern tasks (how), knowing (what) and awareness of self and socio-cultural context (why). Analysis of the teachers’ talk as collaborative interaction showed little evidence of learning taking place. There were no obvious sections of exploratory talk that is conducive to the construction of new meanings and learning. However by analysing teachers’ talk as a manifestation of individual modes of thinking we are able to identify modes of thinking that have clear parallels with the framework of teacher learning depicted above: techno-rationale thought (how), reflective thought (what) and critical thought (why).The descriptive framework therefore depicts the integration of levels for both the process of learning and the products of learning and as such is a powerful tool for teacher educators. Teachers need to operate on all three levels in their professional lives. The study challenges some well-established assumptions in teacher training evaluation. In terms of epistemology, teacher learning is life-long and individual. Human learning occurs on three levels: physical (body), mental (mind) and spiritual (soul) and these levels describe how we think as well as what we do. Evaluation of any training course needs to take into consideration the dimensions of learning, the influence of the socio-cultural context and recognise the interconnectedness of process and product (i.e. how the traveling and the journey interact).

This written thesis accompanies a 32-minute documentary video, Journey for Jazz, which explores four Korean students who major in jazz at the University of North Texas in Denton. Detailed accounts of the pre-production, production, and post-production of the video guide the reader to understand the challenging and rewarding process of making this documentary. Theoretical issues are also discussed, including Bill Nichols's typology of documentary modes as a useful tool for analysis of hybrid documentaries and conventions of the observational and interactive mode in Journey for Jazz, which is considered a hybrid of both modes. The film focuses mainly on the scholarly and artistic experiences that the four students undergo while studying jazz in the United States.

L’ouverture au monde est de rigueur chez les jeunes d’aujourd’hui au Québec comme ailleurs. Membres d’office de la génération Y, les jeunes sont d’emblée familiers avec les « nouvelles technologies ». En effet, les moyens numériques et les réseaux sociaux n’ont plus de secrets pour eux et leur permettent de nouer contact à l’échelle de la planète. Il devient dès lors tentant de partir à l’aventure, sac au dos, afin de se conformer à l’ouverture au monde vue comme une qualité. Le présent mémoire de maîtrise envisage le backpacking, c’est-à-dire la façon de voyager qui a actuellement la cote chez les jeunes, en particulier les étudiants, en mettant un sac sur son dos et en partant à l’aventure afin de pouvoir enrichir les qualités qu’ils reconnaissent à leur propre personne. En effet, quitter son épicentre social, souvent seul, en « voyageant léger » dans des contrées étrangères contribue à la capacité d’agir de son propre chef et d’être soi-même, en acquérant des qualités susceptibles de mettre en exergue leur individualité. La tendance se conçoit en théorie à la lumière des thèses sur l’individualisation présentes en sociologie et qui, ici, seront considérées avec nuances. L’analyse mise en œuvre s’appuie sur des entrevues semi-directives recueillies de la bouche de backpackers jugés représentatifs de cette inclination à mettre sa routine quotidienne entre parenthèses afin de vouloir agir par soi-même. Or, l’étude produite dans les pages du mémoire révèle que, à leur niveau, ils voyagent librement, mais en ayant en main téléphone intelligent ou portable grâce auquel ils restent constamment connectés avec leur épicentre social, leurs parents et amis, qui ce faisant exerce un pouvoir d’inflexion sur leur périple et sur leurs agissements à l’étranger. Comment expliquer ce paradoxe? Voyager sac au dos dans l’intention d’agir par soi-même, mais être continuellement sujet au regard des autres, lesquels peuvent gouverner à certains égards la marge de manœuvre propice à l’individualisation qui a valeur de qualité. Voilà ce que cherche à expliquer ce mémoire. / Being open to the world is trending with today’s youth in Quebec and elsewhere. Members of the Generation Y, young people are already familiar with "new technologies". Indeed, the digital ways and the social media networks have no secret for them, and allow them to keep in touch on a worldwide scale. It then becomes tempting to leave on an adventure, a bag on their back, to conform to the view of being open to the world as a quality. The present Master’s thesis considers the notion of backpacking, namely a trending way of travelling by young people, in particular students, by putting a bag on their back and leaving on a journey to enrich their qualities as individuals. Indeed, leaving their social epicenter, often alone, while traveling "light" in foreign parts of the world contributes to their capacity to act on their own initiative and acquiring qualities susceptible to highlight their individuality. This trend is theoretically designed in the light of theses about individualization present in sociology and which, here, will be considered with nuances. The current analysis leans on semi-directive interviews from backpackers considered representative of this inclination to put their daily routine on hold in order to act by themselves. The study produced in the pages of this report reveals that, at their level, they travel freely, while keeping a smart phone or a portable device which they constantly remain connected to their social epicenter, their parents and friends. In doing so, the devices exercise a power of inflection on their trip and on their actions abroad. How do we explain this paradox? Backpacking with the intention to act on their own, but constantly be subjected to others opinions, which in turn can in some respects govern the control facilitating individualization at its quality value. That is what the Master’s thesis tries to explain.

This MA thesis is focused on discovering the literary motif of journey in selected works defined by Australia. These works also share the interest in shaping Australian identity. A socio-historical background of colonisation and the first settlement in Australia is provided and the key terms of cultural anthropology are further elaborated on. The thesis depicts traditional Aboriginal culture and focuses especially on its earthbound philosophy. Special attention is paid to the differences among various literary approaches towards the subject matter, to the application of cultural anthropology findings, to the depiction of clashes between different cultures and possibilities of their reconciliation. Furthermore, the works of selected authors are closely characterised from the point of view of their degree of authenticity and the genre specifics. Various treatments of the literary motif of journey are compared and critically analysed. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

The purpose of this study is to explore patients’ experiences and preferences concerning communication with primary care, as well as their attitude towards a future digital system to manage communication. The Swedish county councils and municipalities (SKL) is developing a new digital tool as a complement in the communication between patients and physicians, thus this research is a preliminary investigation of a larger approach. The research has been based on 20 semi-structured interviews with patients in ages between 21 and 86 from 13 different health care centers in Sweden. The interviews indicate that the communication between patients and physicians needs development in numerous ways and that the system used by the primary care contributes to negative outcomes in the communication. Patients’ attitudes towards a new digital system to manage communication were investigated and a majority was positive. The study’s results pointed out the importance of the physicians’ attitudes in the physician-patient communication, and brought some possible improvements to be done in the actual primary care system; as for example implementing new communication channels to allow an easier contact of patients with their health care center. The new communication tool was overall well received and even appeared to be a suitable solution for some of the problems discovered along the patients’ journey. The overall results obtained are positive and promising towards its implementation in Sweden.

Artificial intelligence (AI) continues to gain traction and is increasingly reshaping the media and marketing communications field. While significant research has been conducted on the impact of AI in other fields, there is little empirical evidence on how AI is affecting the customer journey. The present study explored both organizations’ current use of AI tools and how customer perceptions about AI affect AI usage and adoption through the lens of diffusion of innovation theory. The research was conducted using mixed-method qualitative research. In-depth interviews and a case study content analysis were conducted to collect and analyze the data. The results suggest that consumer perceptions about AI impact levels of adoption when AI is recognized, but there appears to be cognitive dissonance regarding what constitutes AI and complicit acceptance of some of its benefits. Companies in different geographical locations have different levels of AI adoption along the diffusion of innovation stages.

Student Number : 7639580 - MA research report - Faculty of Humanities / This research report explores the motif of the water journey as a metaphor for philosophical enquiry in Melville and Conrad by comparing Moby-Dick with Heart of Darkness, and Billy Budd, Sailor with Lord Jim. It takes as its starting-point M.H. Abrams’s essay, “Spiritual Travelers in Western Literature”, and adapts the typology which he introduces by identifying four different kinds of fictional journey, namely, the physical, the experiential, the narrative and the hermeneutic. By concentrating on a broadly-based semiotic approach to interpretation (while also allowing for other critical possibilities), it examines Melville and Conrad’s treatment of certain pivotal issues in metaphysics, epistemology and ethics. It compares the narrative strategies of the two authors and, by offering close readings of the four texts under discussion, it highlights the similarities and differences in the authors’ responses to a universe of teasing complexity, as well as exploring the reader’s engagement with such texts.

Metoden Kundresekartläggning har använts i årtionden för att kartlägga målgruppers upplevelser, exempelvis kunders upplevelse av en organisations tjänster. I vetenskaplig litteratur saknas beskrivning av hur datainsamling och analys går till i kundresekartläggnings-projekt. För att öka förståelsen för hur metoden går till har kunskap samlats in, främst genom intervjuer med praktiker (user experience designers och tjänstedesigners) erfarna av metoden. Resultatet blev en guide fylld av tips som kan vara bra för praktiker att tänka på inför och under den här typen av projekt, samt hur man kan engagera organisationen (beställaren av kundresekartan) i projektet så att insikterna används vidare även efter leveransen av kundresekartan. I slutet av guiden finns dessutom fem exempel på kundresekartor som praktiker delat med sig av och berättar om.

Esta dissertação trata das possíveis aproximações entre os campos da arquitetura, antropologia e história a partir de um recorte específico: uma leitura dos estudos, roteiros e viagens empreendidos por estudantes de arquitetura de São Paulo em momentos decisivos de suas formações. Esses deslocamentos em direção ao universo da cultura brasileira, ora mediado pelas viagens de campo ora pelo reconhecimento da arquitetura popular, colonial e moderna, são analisados à luz de uma longa tradição das viagens de formação, dos grand tours clássicos aos roteiros românticos ou neocoloniais, aqui focalizados a partir de duas experiências distintas situadas entre 1938 e 1962. O primeiro momento coincide com o contexto da Missão de Pesquisas Folclóricas, idealizada por Mário de Andrade e enviada ao Norte e Nordeste do país em 1938. Detém-se em particular na atuação do estudante de arquitetura da Escola Politécnica de São Paulo, Luiz Saia, então vinculado ao Departamento Municipal de Cultura e ao SPHAN, e como tal designado para chefiar a equipe. Em seguida, o trabalho passa a examinar a atuação dos estudantes da Faculdade de Arquitetura e Urbanismo da Universidade de São Paulo (FAU-USP), sobretudo a partir das atividades do Grêmio (GFAU) no que se referem aos estudos propostos e itinerários estabelecidos de reconhecimento de aspectos da cultura brasileira e do folclore, da arquitetura tradicional e da arquitetura moderna, entre outros. / This study deals with the possible interactions between architecture, history and ethnography through the reading of the studies, routes and road trips undertaken by architecture students throughout Brazil during their formative years in Sao Paulo. These displacements towards Brazilian culture - done either trough field trips, either through acknowledging the diverse forms of architecture, popular, colonial and modern are analyzed in the light of a long tradition of formative journeys, from the classical grand tours to the romantic, neocolonial and modernist itineraries. It focuses here in two specific experiences. The first one was undertaken in the midst of the Mission for Folkloric Research, conceived by Mario de Andrade and lead by Luiz Saia to the North and Northeast regions of the country in 1938. The second one examines the students experiences at the Architecture School in the University of São Paulo (FAU-USP), specially their activities within the local Students Board (GFAU) related to research, field trips, voyages designed to acknowledge different aspects of Brazilian culture, folklore, historical heritage as well as architecture, either colonial, modern or vernacular.