Yes / In an academic field, where does brand new idea come from? To understand how noble ideas emerge, this study elucidates how network brokers and high status actors contribute to the creation of knowledge institutions, by paying a specific attention to the interplay between institutional structure and an individual agency in academia. Although numerous scholars have been attempted to relieve the tensions around the agency versus structure debate, accurate explanations of interactive aspects between them are not well documented. To fill this void, this study suggests a conceptual model to explain the complementary and synergetic effects of network structure and agency on the knowledge innovation. In doing so, this study provide an answer to the question of why some actors often fail to obtain significant advantages from a privileged network position while others succeed.

Agency Employment Abstract My diploma thesis is focused on the agency employment. The institute of agency employment was integrated to our system of the legal regulations in 2004 and nowadays it is a very popular alternative of traditional employment. Employers perceived it as an institute that enables them to react quickly and effectively to the changes which take place on the labour market and therefore gain the needed employees in the right time. I decided to write about this topic mainly because agency employment is very interesting issue with great business opportunities, but unfortunately the Czech regulation isn't as complex and clear as it could be. Therefore, I find this topic quite intriguing. The thesis is divided into introduction, conclusion and six more chapters. First chapter introduces the term and origin of the institute of agency employment within the Czech system of legal regulations. Next chapter focuses on the legal regulation of agency employment. Firstly, I mention very briefly history of the agency employment legislation, then I focus on the international legislation of the agency employment and last but not least I also give a short excursion into European legislation. In the third and fourth chapter I analyse in depth private law aspects of the agency employment and then also...

Syfte: Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka hur det kommer sig att den fysiska resebyrån finns kvar och hur framtiden ser ut hos dessa i och med teknologins snabba framväxt.  Metod: Denna studie utgår ifrån en kvalitativ metod. För att samla in data till empirin har tio semistrukturerade intervjuer genomförts med olika resebyråer belägna i Stockholm, via personliga möten, telefon och e-post. De resebyråer som undersökts är Jade Travel, Lotus Travel, Resevaruhuset, Resecity, Apollo, Ving, Nygren & Lind, Jorden Resor, BIG Travel och Globetrotter. Teoretisk referensram: De teorier som använts i studien behandlar konsumentbeteende, distributionskanaler, servicescape, dynamiken av servicemötet och relationen mellan konsument och resebyrå. Slutsats: Den fysiska resebyrån har i och med teknologins framväxt förändrats på så sätt att dagens fysiska resebyråer värderar det fysiska servicemötet med kunden. En del fysiska resebyråer har minskat i antal men servicekvaliteten tillsammans med kompetens och kunskap hos de anställda i resebyråerna har blivit högre, detta föra att kunna konkurrera mot andra resebyråer och deras virtuella tjänster samt för att skapa en relation med konsumenterna. / Purpose: The purpose of this essay is to examine why physical travel agencies still exist, and what the future looks like for those agencies since the technology's rapid growth.  Method: This study is based on a qualitative methodology. Ten semi-structured interviews have been conducted for the empirical data. The interviews were held with various travel agencies located in Stockholm through personal meetings, telephone and e-mail. The travel agencies who participated in the interviews was; Jade Travel, Lotus Travel, Resevaruhuset, Resecity, Apollo, Ving, Nygren & Lind, Jorden Resor, BIG Travel and Globetrotter. Theoretical framework: The theories that have been used in this essay are consumer decision making, distribution channels, servicescape, the dynamics of the service encounter and the relationship between customer and travel agency. Conclusion: The physical travel agency has since the technology's development changed on a way that today's physical travel agencies evaluate the physical service meeting with the customer. Some physical agencies have decreased in number but the quality of service along with the skills and knowledge among employees of the travel agencies has increased, therefore to compete against other travel agencies and their virtual services, and to create a relationship with the consumers.

Published Article / 'n Groot hoeveelheid eiendomsagente het tot die eiendomsagentskapsbedryf toegetree in die laaste paar jaar. Tersel fdertyd het die kliënte se beoordeling van die kwaliteit van dienslewering deur eiendomsagente in die bedryf 'n afwaartse neiging getoon. Hierdie persepsie van swak kwaliteit lei tot 'n negatiewe impak op die bedryf. Navorsing gedurende 2004 het uitgewys dat kliënte in die Bloemfontein streek oor die algemeen nie tevrede is met die gehalte van dienslewering deur eiendomsagente in die bedryf nie. Respondente het sekere areas waar verbeterde hoë vlak dienslewering kan plaasvind, uitgewys. Hierdie navorsing en aanbevelings het dit moontlik gemaak om 'n model te ontwikkel vir die verkryging van maksimale tevredenheid van beide kopers en verkopers. A large number of estate agents entered the real estate industry in the last few years. At the same time the client rating of the quality of services offered by estate agents in the industry followed a downward trend. This perception of poor quality is causing a negative impact on the industry. Research done in 2004 has identified that clients within the Bloemfontein region are generally not satisfied with the level of service delivery by estate agents within the industry. Respondents did identify certain areas that could be improved in order for estate agents to deliver a superior level of service. On the basis of this research and recommendations, it was possible to develop a model of the service delivery that will maximise the satisfaction of both buyers and sellers.

This thesis explores how children’s experiences of childhood in Kyrgyzstan transformed after the collapse of the Soviet Union (1991) and the consequent transition to market economy. In particular it studies the interrelations of culture and economic circumstances and their effects on child agency in times of economic, social, cultural and political change which were not given enough attention in the relevant literature. I sampled 40 children (aged 12 and 16) from a state school in an underprivileged area and a prestigious private school (used as economic dividers) to study the complexity of child agency and structure in their daily lives. An ‘agency’ concept was applied as a theoretical framework conceptualised through the four components as action, freedom, purposiveness and outcome and was formulated as the setting-based ability of children to act in response to cultural and economic structures and relationships at home, school and the neighbourhood. The effects of low and high income on child agency are not straightforward due to the changing traditional culture in the Kyrgyz society, which makes agency not only a social and cultural construct, but one affected by economic conditions. The study demonstrated the nuances of child agency as freedom in high income, its conflicting purposes in low income and differentiated outcomes of short and long term wellbeing between the two groups. Economic circumstances do not only influence the dynamics of agency across settings, age and gender but challenge the very notion of the classic Western concept of agency as an independent ability to act. The findings elaborate on the concepts of the new sociology of childhood (Prout and James, 1997) and the cultural politics of childhood (James and James, 2004), as these theoretical frameworks do not account sufficiently for economic dis/advantages as a structural factor of agency, which emerges as a socially shared process of acting whose nature depends on material circumstances.

Why is it that we humans have a tendency to construct transcendental entities? That is one of the big questions the scientific discipline Cognitive Science of Religion is trying to answer. In order to gain validation for the concepts used by this discipline neural correlates are needed. The aim of the present work is to investigate the concepts Hypersensitive Agency Detection Device ((H)ADD) and Theory of Mind (ToM) both in psychological, cognitive and neural aspects to see if those concepts are enough to explain the human tendencies to construct transcendental entities. This work is developed as philosophical a literature study and uses literature from the scientific disciplines of cognitive neuroscience, cognitive science of religion, cognitive science, neurotheology, psychology of religion and philosophy of religion. This means that the present work is interdisciplinary and stands on a bridge between the theoretical and empirical sciences. A word of caution: Regardless the findings this work presents, the explanatory value is limited as it is a theoretical study in an empirical scientific field. It is when the findings in this work are tested empirically that the findings sustainability are decided.              What this work shows is that neural correlates for ToM already exist in the form of the Mirror Neuron-Theory (MNT), but it is problematic because it can not show how higher orders of representations are possible. No scientific data about neural correlates to (H)ADD has been found for this study, but here the amygdala may play a prominent role. Furthermore this work shows that (H)ADD and ToM is not enough to explain why humans have a tendency to construct transcendental entities. We are in need of peripheral cognitive mechanisms such as intuitive knowledge modules, ontological categories, teleological thinking, our drive to seek causal connections and our ability for pattern recognition.

This professional report outlines and assesses of various advertising agency organization and compensation models. It provides an analysis of how the disruptive technology of the Internet has changed consumer media habits and caused a paradigm shift in the marketing communications landscape and how the current economic recession has affected agencies. The organization models addressed include the traditional silo model and the roster model. Compensation models include labor-based fee models, commission-based models, and several new models that the industry has recently embraced. / text

Transpacific Investment Corporation –TCI– is a private entity determined to take advantage of the increasing market opportunities arising between Asia and Latin America. TCI is to be incorporated under Guatemalan law in November 2003. The corporation plans to start its operations in Taiwan by February 2004, pioneering into the Spanish Language Industry. The Spanish Language Division of TCI will offer price-competitive opportunities to study Spanish and do tourism in Guatemala. The Division’s tasks will be distributed between two agencies: a Promotion and Recruitment Agency in Taiwan and a Coordination Agency in Guatemala. The latter is in charge of selecting the highly-qualified Spanish Learning Centers and Local Tour Operators that will be responsible for executing the language learning and tourism activities provided to TCI’s clients. Additionally, the Coordination Agency will select adequate insurance and security services to ensure maximum safety for the participants. The promotional efforts will be targeted at university students currently participating in Spanish language courses, and the marketing mix has been designed according to their needs. The leaders of this venture believe that there is a promising opportunity on this field because of the latent popularity of the Latin culture and the price advantages that Guatemala is capable of offering. Currently, more than 1,300 Taiwanese students participate in Spanish language courses. With its diverse products, TCI estimates it can attract at least 33 students on the first year of operations, 49 students on the second year, and 55 students on the third year. These numbers represent, respectively, market shares of 10%, 15%, and 20%, of conservatively defined potential markets. The initial investment required for the venture is slightly above NT 500,000. If the market share goals are achieved, it will be possible to reach the payback period in 13 months, and to enjoy net income above NT 200,000 for the second year, and above NT 800,000 for the third year. These results yield a return-on-investment ratio higher than 1.44.

This project represents one of the few major pieces of research into women’s narratives of political incarceration and is an examination of first person accounts written against a backdrop of significant historical events in twentieth-century Germany. I explore the ways in which the writers use their published accounts as an attempt to come to terms with their incarceration (either during or after their imprisonment). Such an undertaking involves examining how the writer ‘performs’ femininity within the de-feminising context of prison, as well as how she negotiates her self-representation as a ‘good’ woman. The role of language as a means of empowerment within the disempowering environment of incarceration is central to this investigation. Rosa Luxemburg’s prison letters are the starting point for the project. Luxemburg was a key female political figure in twentieth-century Germany and her letters encapsulate prevalent notions about womanhood, prison, and political engagement that are perceptible in the subsequent texts of the thesis. Luise Rinser’s and Lore Wolf’s diaries from National Socialist prisons show, in their different ways, how the writer uses language to ‘survive’ prison and to constitute herself as a subject and woman in response to the loss of self experienced in incarceration. Margret Bechler’s and Elisabeth Graul’s retrospective accounts of GDR incarceration give insight into the elastic concept of both the political prisoner and the ‘good’ woman. They demonstrate their authors’ endeavours to achieve a sense of autonomy and reclaim the experience of prison using narrative. All of the narratives are examples of the role of language in resisting an imposed identity as ‘prisoner’, ‘criminal’ and object of the prison system.

This paper investigates whether managers that have a propensity for personal tax aggressiveness are associated with tax avoidance at the firm level. Motivated by Dhaliwal, Erickson, and Heitzman (2009) and Hanlon and Heitzman (2009), I construct a measure of personally tax aggressive ("aggressive") managers and determine whether corporate tax avoidance activities increase in their presence. The results of my study indicate that aggressive managers are associated with firm-level tax avoidance. The neoclassical view would suggest that aggressive managers' tax expertise could benefit shareholders through lower tax payments. Since aggressive managers extract their personal tax savings from shareholders, non-tax agency costs potentially increase in their presence. This has implications for the association between aggressive managers and firm value. Using the framework established through the agency view of tax avoidance (Desai and Dharmapala, 2008) I find that on average the presence of aggressive managers is associated with increased firm value. However, consistent with recent research, governance is an important moderating factor whereby firm value in the presence of aggressive managers tends to increase only for relatively better-governed firms.