This study's primary goal was to specify what cultural sensitivity is and delineate the process of its formation. In addition, the role that cultural sensitivity plays within the international buying process was probed. Accordingly, antecedents and consequences of cultural sensitivity are specified. Overall, this study empirically examines buyer/seller interactions within the Asian Pacific Rim. Based on multiple in-depth interviews of key informants, salient strategic domains emerged and are delineated within a Grounded Theory model. Within the early analysis phases, trust emerged as a salient domain and a consequence of cultural sensitivity. This study examines the structure of trust as well as its role within the international buying process. Four structural dimensions of cultural sensitivity emerged: (1) cultural declarative knowledge, (2) etic (outsiders') procedural knowledge, (3) emic (insiders') procedural knowledge, and (4) environmental scanning. In addition, the process of cultural sensitivity was found to have the following four stages: (1) The Honeymooner; (2) The Worker; (3) The Outsider; and (4) The Transspector. Each stage was shown to vary in terms of four structural dimensions. In addition, culture shock is explained within this model. A new conceptualization of trust emerged with the four following dimensions: (1) integrity trust, (2) caring trust, (3) benevolence trust, and (4) reliability trust. Of key importance, shared frames of meaning emerged as a new dyadic construct with the following two dimensions: (1) shared declarative frames, and (2) shared procedural frames. Finally, an overall model is introduced with antecedents, and consequences of these three focal domains: cultural sensitivity, trust, and shared frames of meaning. / Ph. D.

The purpose of the present study was to develop a concurrent engineering (CE) apparel framework. Sequential manufacturing is the traditional production method for apparel manufacture. Sequential design and product development impact manufacturing more than any other process because design decisions can have costly production implications. To improve this process, other industries have implemented CE. CE is the concurrent design of products and their related manufacture and support processes. Reported CE benefits are time, cost, and quality improvements. A review of CE literature showed no application of CE for apparel manufacture. The present study was an interpretational qualitative case study of apparel manufacturers with two phases: Phase One was a descriptive documentation mapping the <i>as is</i> environment. Phase Two was the development of a <i>to be</i> environment that integrated apparel design with product development. The apparel manufacturer sample was located in U.S. representing multiple merchandise classifications. Sample size for Phase One was 72 subjects and 36 subjects for Phase Two. A triangulated data collection method combined interviewing, reading company documents, observing, and giving questionnaires to focus groups. Phase One results and discussion narrative are 101 IDEF₀ analytic graphic diagrams and identification of process performance weaknesses for the <i>as is</i> environment. IDEF₀ diagrams include: create apparel line, develop colors and prints, implement fabric and special operations, set production specifications, and produce samples. Findings documented the <i>as is</i> environment as a sequential process with rework cycles occurring in all functional areas. The <i>as is</i> environment had time-to-market delays, excess cost, and decreased process quality. Phase Two results and discussion for the <i>to be</i> environment was the development of a CE apparel framework. The findings are illustrated in 80 IDEF₀ diagrams with reorganization of apparel activities, inclusion of multi-disciplinary design teams, and use of enabling technology. The <i>to be</i> environment findings show apparel activities did not remain sequential. Apparel activity movement supports the CE design maturity curve concept in which apparel design decisions moved later, and manufacturing and costing decisions are made earlier. An apparel associate focus group indicated that the <i>to be</i> environment could improve moderately for time-to-market, excess cost, and process quality. / Ph. D.

The flow of taxpayer money to public and private schools in today’s atmosphere of scarce and highly contested fiscal resources heavily influences the debate over school choice. While there is considerable information on disparate funding among public school systems across the nation there is little empirical data on the cost of publicly financed nonpublic school programs. In an effort to advance the debate on public funding of school. choice from the theoretical to the empirical, this study was constructed to quantify and analyze state funding patterns for public and nonpublic education. It was devised to ascertain the amount of money one state, Ohio, expended on public and nonpublic education over a six-year period in order to elucidate the actual costs of current policies that aid nonpublic school students and to compute the state’s true fiscal effort for public education. Ohio was elected for study because its educational system comprises all elements of the debate on school choice. It has an extensive history of legislation that provides nonfinancial and indirect to nonpublic schools as well as recent school choice enactments, such as intradistrict and interdistrict open enrollment policies and a pilot scholarship program for low income children in the city of Cleveland. It has also been judged as maintaining an unconstitutional school funding system which has resulted in highly disparate educational opportunity for K-12 students across the state. The data indicate a level funding pattern over the six-year period of the study, from FY 1990 through FY 1995, with very little variation in the percent allocated to education form the general state budget. The proportions allocated to public and to nonpublic schools have remained steady as well. The evidence indicated that an average 97.4 percent of the state’s education budget went to public schools and an average 2.6 percent supported nonpublic school students. Over the six years under study, the amount of money that was allocated in support of nonpublic school students totaled approximately $683.7 million. If the portion localities pay for bus transportation for nonpublic school students is included, the amount increases to $836.3 million. / Ph. D.

The purpose of this study was to determine the philosophical orientation of each sitting Justice on matters pertaining to the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. A second purpose is to determine whether their philosophies change based on the issues involved. The research questions that drove this analysis are: 1) What theories of original intent can be derived from the literature? 2) To which variation of original intent, separationism or nonpreferentialism, do the individual Justices subscribe? 3) What are the various Establishment Clause issues that have been heard by the Court? 4) Do the individual Justices’ philosophies change depending on the issue? By studying the text of the First Amendment, events surrounding its passage and other writings of the Framers of the Constitution, scholars have posited two theories of the original intent of the Framers to explain the meaning of “an establishment of religion.” The first theory is termed nonpreferentialism. Nonpreferentialists argue that government may support religion so long as that support is nondiscriminatory among religious sects. The second theory, separationism, states that government may not support one, any or all religions. Separationists argue that a "wall of separation” should exist between church and state while nonpreferentialists opine that no such wall was intended by the Framers. The United States Supreme Court has jurisdiction over issues involving the establishment of religion. The individual Justices have certain predilections with regard to governmental support of religion and have written opinions in cases and scholarly articles in which they articulate their philosophies. Using traditional legal research methods, this study has demonstrated that of the seven sitting Justices that have written opinions or scholarly articles pertaining the Establishment Clause, Rehnquist, Scalia and Thomas, are consistently nonpreferentialist in their philosophical orientation. One justice, Stevens, is consistently separationist. Souter has written consistently separationist opinions, yet joined O’Connor’s nonpreferentialist concurrence in one case. Kennedy, and O’Connor are neither consistently separationist nor nonpreferentialist. The philosophical orientation of those Justices changes based on the nature of the Establishment Clause issue. / Ed. D.

Fully cyclized, soluble phenylethynyl-terminated ether imide oligomers of 2.0-10.0 kg/mole (Mn) were prepared in high yield by the reaction of 2,2'-Bis[4-(3,4-dicarboxyphenoxy)phenyl]-propane dianhydride (Bisphenol- A Dianhydride, BPADA) with a stoichiometric excess of p-/m- phenylene diamine and phenylethynylphthalic anhydride (4-PEPA) endcapper. The lower (Mp) oligomers displayed attractive low melt viscosity properties, and were successfully processed via thermal curing at 350-380°C for 30-90 minutes. The 3.0 kg/mole oligomers had a cured glass transition temperature (Tg) of 267°C and produced tough, solvent-resistant films. Excellent adhesion values to surface treated titanium alloys were produced by single lap shear measurements. Resin infusion molding has been conducted that permitted low void graphite fabric composite panels to be prepared. The diamine monomer bis(m-aminophenyl) methyl phosphine oxide (DAMPO) was synthesized via nitration and the reduction of diphenyl methyl phosphine oxide. Rigorous purification of this monomer enabled it to be used for the synthesis of high molecular weight polyetherimides. Both thermoplastic materials and thermosetting systems endcapped with either phthalic or phenylethynylphthalic anhydride, respectively, have been produced. Major emphasis has been placed on polyimides derived from 2,2’- bis(4-(3,4-dicarboxyphenoxy) phenyl) propane dianhydride (BPADA). High molecular weight homo- and copolyimides based on BPADA/DAMPO exhibited glass transition temperature values in the range of 215-223°C, and were completely amorphous. They displayed higher modulus and tensile strength values than the polyetherimide control based on meta-phenylene diamine, and also generated high TGA char yields in air. Phenylethynyl crosslinkable materials were effectively cured at 380°C to produce solvent resistant networks that were ductile, and which also generated high char yields, suggesting their possible utilization in fire resistant matrix systems. / Ph. D.

In an era of growing accountability and limited resources in education, it can be argued that many aspects of the present programs in higher education need to be reassessed in light of current student needs. One area of the higher education structure, college transfer programs, has not kept pace with the changes in higher education and has maintained its antiquated status despite the influx of innovations. Without the transfer function as a significant component of the community college mission, access to higher education may be limited for many students. The transferability of college course credit is a significant issue in higher education and especially to community colleges. There are no clear guidelines or standards for either the community colleges or four-year colleges to use in determining the transferability of particular courses. Community colleges need to ensure that every course designated as a transfer course will be transferable to receiving institutions. Four-year colleges should expect that the course they accept in transfer meets the same standards required within their curricula. Transfer credit should be based on equivalent competencies for similar courses. The purpose of this study was to explore those characteristics that distinguish college-level course work. Data were gathered to answer the research questions by conducting in-depth interviews with twenty-three faculty from the disciplines of biology and history at three community colleges and three four-year colleges. The researcher presented a broad, open-ended question that asked the faculty to describe in detail what they perceived to be the distinguishing characteristics of college-level course work. The analysis of the interviews included organizing the data into domains; generating categories; and comparing and contrasting the faculty comments from each discipline and college. The analysis revealed the identification of nine categories of characteristics distinguishing college-level course work. The results showed more similarities than differences in the comments between the groups. The dimensions of similarity across interviews (i.e. common characteristics) provided information for answering the research questions. / Ph. D.

The purpose of this study was to assess the level of school law knowledge possessed by high school guidance counselors in the Commonwealth of Virginia in three specific areas: tort liability, counselors and their employment, and student rights. The study also sought to determine if the following independent variables significantly influenced school law knowledge: highest educational attainment level, where undergraduate degree was obtained (in or outside the Commonwealth), where counseling certification was obtained (in or outside the Commonwealth), years of experience in education, years experience as a counselor, membership(s) in professional organizations, if actively involved in the organization, type and recency of school law training, and demographic characteristics of the location where the counselor was employed. A questionnaire was developed to collect demographic information and to assess the level of school law knowledge possessed by Virginia counselors. Four hundred surveys were mailed randomly to counselors throughout the Commonwealth and 250 (62.5%) were returned. The mean score on the total test was 42%. The mean scores for the three scales were as follows: tort liability (scale 1, 35%), counselors and their employment (scale 2, 48%), and student rights (scale 3, 37%). Analysis of variance or independent t-tests were used as appropriate to determine if significant differences existed between knowledge of school law and the variables listed above. Significant differences were realized at the .05 confidence level for each of the following variables: 1. highest degree earned (scales 1 and 2), 2. where degree was obtained (scale 1), 3. membership in professional organizations (scale 2), 4. prior school law training (all three scales), and 5. demographic characteristics of counselor’s employment (scales 2 and 3). A significant difference was not indicated between knowledge of school law and any of the other demographic variables. As reported earlier the mean score was 42% for the entire test. The highest scale score was realized in scale 3 (48%). The total score was similar to Dumminger (41%) who studied Virginia teachers and found teacher’s school law knowledge to be less than adequate. In agreement with the Dumminger study, the school law knowledge possessed by Virginia high school guidance counselors was found to be less than adequate in the areas investigated. / Ed. D.

Two experiments were performed to investigate the predictability of antagonistic muscle forces during static and dynamic tracking tasks with perturbations. In the first experiment, perturbations to the isometric tracking were effected by sudden momentary changes in the gain. In the second experiment, perturbations to the tracking consisted of momentary changes in the resistance of the lever arm used to track the icons. In the first experiment with isometric tracking the effects of perturbation frequency, perturbation magnitude, tracking gain, tracking phase and the absence or presence of preview information on the level of antagonistic co-contraction about the elbow were investigated. The effects of these variables on the tracking error were also examined. In the second experiment, the effects of perturbation frequency, perturbation magnitude, tracking phase, and the absence or presence of preview information were investigated using a dynamic tracking task. Measures of antagonistic co-contraction and tracking error were again computed and used as dependent measures. Optimization-based biomechanical models have been used by a number of authors to calculate calculate individual muscle forces. The models require that certain lower bounds of the muscle forces be specified. The optimization criteria typically used result in a solution in which the antagonistic muscle forces are at their lower bounds. This lower bound is typically assumed to zero, but could very well be specified at some other nonnegative value. Two experiments were designed to test whether the level of antagonistic co-contraction varies in a regular predictable way with the factors under study. The aim of the study was to establish a theoretically-derived and experimentally confirmed basis for selecting lower bounds greater than zero for antagonistic muscles. The two experiments showed that perturbations were effective in impairing tracking performance and subjects evidenced a limited ability to respond to the perturbations by increasing the antagonistic muscle force so that it would minimize the effects perturbations. The study also examined the effects of movement direction, and level of force required on the level of observed antagonistic co-contraction and confirmed the findings of previous authors. The results of the study do not support different lower bounds for tasks which vary in perturbation frequency, or preview information. The results do indicate significantly different levels of antagonistic activity with tracking gain and direction of exertion in the isometric task. The results also indicate significantly different levels of antagonistic activity with perturbation magnitude in the dynamic tracking task. / Ph. D.

published_or_final_version / Asian Studies / Master / Master of Arts

Orientador: Jose Carlos de Souza Braga / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Economia / Made available in DSpace on 2018-07-23T13:06:39Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Sousa_LucyAparecida_D.pdf: 5907186 bytes, checksum: 0cc1b1b42bfb3e757b13e66aec3050b2 (MD5) Previous issue date: 1998 / Resumo: Não informado / Abstract: Not informed. / Doutorado / Doutor em Economia