This PhD attempts to study and learn about issues that influence Information Systems research development in Malaysia. An Action Case was conducted to learn about how to improve research in the author's institution in Malaysia. The action case included participatory activities to promote qualitative research in the author's institution and collecting information from qualitative interviews and discussions. This thesis is presented as a story from a first-person perspective and narrative of the researcher. The first person perspective was chosen because the author wanted to present his work from the his own perspective and for the reader to follow the research experience itself. The narrative also fits into many of the discussions in the thesis for action-based methods placing the researcher as the research tool and that the researcher is the 'hero' of the research story. This also ties into one of the main aspects of the thesis which is actuality. To improve IS research in Malaysia, those who conduct and administer research need to understand each other's actuality. The thesis suggests due to Malaysia's academic culture there are misunderstandings that cause IS research to be left behind in terms of research support. Despite the contextual difference of views among researchers and administrators, there are patterns of similarities that can be taken from government policies and university policies. The thesis proposes that by increasing understanding using these patterns and actuality, Malaysian IS research can be improved and developed further. The thesis proposes more Action Research in the future to improve this understanding. This thesis contributes by proposing theoretical aspects that discuss the issues related to IS research improvement. This thesis proposes the action case method as an approach for Malaysian-based IS research. And this thesis along with the author attempts to make a positive difference in improving IS research in the author's institution specifically, and Malaysia in general.

This thesis investigates two source memory errors: observation inflation, where observed actions are misremembered as being performed; and self-action inflation in which self-performed actions are misremembered as having been performed by somebody else. It has been proposed that these inflations occur because of overlapping brain activity during observation and performance. This has been attributed to mirror neurone activity. To test this, observation and self-action inflations are investigated for different types of actions (meaningful, meaningless and communicative) known to evoke different mirror neurone activity. Different age groups (young adult, and elderly) were studied as were the effects of relative ethnicity between observer and performer. The Remember-Know-Guess paradigm was used. This showed that people make inflations with high qualitative details and confidence. As anticipated, elderly participants made significantly more observation inflations than young adults. Across both age groups, significantly more inflations occurred for communicative and meaningful actions than for meaningless actions supporting the idea that mirror neurones may be involved in formation of inflations. However when the effects of relative ethnicity were included in the paradigm it was found that significantly more observation inflations were formed after observing different ethnicity actors. It has been hypothesised that if mirror neurone involvement is involved in observation inflations then the highest number of inflations are expected for the same ethnicity condition because of the overlap between participant and performer. This thesis therefore suggests a less simplistic explanation of the underlying mechanisms responsible for these types of memory error.

abstract: The greatest challenge facing humanity in the twenty-first century is our ability to reconcile the capacity of natural systems to support continued improvement in human welfare around the globe. Over the last decade, the scientific community has attempted to formulate research agendas in response to what they view as the problems of sustainability. Perhaps the most prominent and wide-ranging of these efforts has been sustainability science, an interdisciplinary, problem-driven field that seeks to address fundamental questions on human-environment interactions. This project examines how sustainability scientists grapple with and bound the deeply social, political and normative dimensions of both characterizing and pursuing sustainability. Based on in-depth interviews with leading researchers and a content analysis of the relevant literature, this project first addresses three core questions: (1) how sustainability scientists define and bound sustainability; (2) how and why various research agendas are being constructed to address these notions of sustainability; (3) and how scientists see their research contributing to societal efforts to move towards sustainability. Based on these results, the project explores the tensions between scientific efforts to study and inform sustainability and social action. It discusses the implications of transforming sustainability into the subject of scientific analysis with a focus on the power of science to constrain discourse and the institutional and epistemological contexts that link knowledge to societal outcomes. Following this analysis, sustainability science is repositioned, borrowing Herbert Simon's concept, as a "science of design." Sustainability science has thus far been too focused on understanding the "problem-space"--addressing fundamental questions about coupled human-natural systems. A new set objectives and design principles are proposed that would move the field toward a more solutions-oriented approach and the enrichment of public reasoning and deliberation. Four new research streams that would situate sustainability science as a science of design are then discussed: creating desirable futures, socio-technical change, sustainability values, and social learning. The results serve as a foundation for a sustainability science that is evaluated on its ability to frame sustainability problems and solutions in ways that make them amenable to democratic and pragmatic social action. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Sustainability 2011

Esta dissertação trata da ação educativa no âmbito do Projeto Arqueologia Histórica Missioneira, desenvolvido em cooperação técnica entre o IPHAN e universidades gaúchas entre os anos 1985 e 1995, sob a coordenação do Professor Arno Alvarez Kern. Para conduzir a análise do tema, a dissertação inicia com uma leitura sobre o processo de incorporação das ruínas missioneiras em território brasileiro, ao patrimônio e à memória nacional. Em seguida, é colocada a problemática do surgimento da arqueologia histórica no Brasil e a relação que esta tem com o desenvolvimento dos dispositivos legais de preservação e das políticas para o patrimônio arqueológico emanadas do IPHAN. Assim referenciado, a terceira parte do trabalho consiste em perseguir as condições em que foram realizadas as ações educativas no Projeto Arqueologia Histórica Missioneira, bem como demonstrar o sentido que essas ações adquiriram ao longo de sua realização. / This dissertation deals with the educational activities under “Arqueologia Histórica Missioneira” project, developed in technical cooperation by IPHAN and Rio Grande do Sul’s universities between 1985 and 1995, under scholar Arno Alvarez Kern coordination. To conduct the analysis of the topic, the dissertation begins with a reading about the incorporation process of Missions ruins into Brazilian national heritage and memory. After that we present the question regarding the rise of Historical Archeology in Brazil and its relations with the laws for preservation and policies by IPHAN’s archaeological heritage. Finally we present the conditions under which educational actions of “Arqueologia Histórica Missioneira” project were performed and show off the meaning that these actions have acquired throughout their achievement.

A presente pesquisa trata das questões em torno da fotografia noturna, na confluência entre as linguagens artísticas da ação, do vídeo e da instalação, levando em consideração a comunicabilidade e proposição da experiência da noite. A partir de ações lançadas para a câmara, o deslocamento do corpo à noite é capturado através de fotografia e vídeo para ser apresentado em um ambiente escuro construído para a vivência da noite transfigurada. O processo criativo do trabalho estende-se até a duração da experiência na situação proposta em exposição. / This research deals with the issues that surround night photography in the confluence among the artistic languages of the action, video and installation, also considering the night experience's communicability and proposition. Starting from aimed to the camera actions, the body's displacement at night is captured through photogtaphy and video, to be presented in a disfigured night experience built dark environment. The work's creative process extends up to the experience's duration in the proposed situation under exposition.

In this study an attempt is made to describe and illuminate the attitude of both pupils and teachers to the introduction of a cognitivist process approach to the teaching of written literacy in one standard in a multi-cuI tural Eastern Cape Model C secondary school. Because the cognitivist process approach to the teaching of written literacy was to complement already existing strategies for the teaching of written literacy, the research took the form of collaborative action research in three standard nine English classrooms. Teacher- and pupil diaries were the main means of data collection. Two spirals of action research were conducted in an attempt to identify difficulties and improve practice. Diaries and discussion revealed a positive response to the drafting, revision and editing processes which researchers had already identified as the processes which skilled writers use in creating text. Acknowledgement of the benefits to be derived from peer response as audience was also established. Anomalies relating to the grouping of pupils for peer-editing were found to be a key issue in determining the relative success of the project. Difficulties were also found to exist in the ability of some of the pupils to engage effectively in peer-peer and teacher-peer negotiation of text. Possible reasons for these difficulties have been identified , and further research into the nature of the inherent power relationships which exist implicitly in a multi-cultural educational setting and impede negotiation would be necessary to appreciate fully the difficulties experienced.

Abstract The purpose of the present study is to theoretically and empirically examine how entrepreneurs create business models to capture opportunities. More specifically, this study focuses on the business model antecedents, in other words, entrepreneurial actions between the moment of opportunity identification and the inception of the functioning business model. By reviewing the extant literature on opportunity and business models, this study develops and argues for an action approach to understanding the business model creation process. Focusing on theory development, this research follows a cyclical process of research-oriented action research, utilizing the diary method. In total, one hundred fifty five diaries were collected and analyzed for the purposes of this research. Four groups of respondents were included: the participants of a start-up accelerator program in Oulu, Finland; the participants of a project carried out at the University of Oulu, Finland; the participants of a venture creation training organized by the Business Model Design Center, Ålborg, Denmark; and two novice entrepreneurial teams based in Helsinki, Finland. This study develops a conceptual model that illustrates how entrepreneurs create business models to capture opportunities. The model suggests that the process of business model creation is a continuous iteration of conceptualizing and contextualizing. Conceptualizing is associated with choices and decisions made under uncertainty, whereas contextualizing is about acting upon these choices and decisions, thereby testing their feasibility and acceptability against perceived reality. Conceptualizing triggers action as entrepreneurs try to actualize the choices and decisions they have made. Conceptualizing and contextualizing mutually support and reinforce each other by means of feedback loops: Changes in opportunity conceptualizations and/or business model conceptualizations necessitate modifications in their contextualization and vice versa. The major contribution of this study lies in addressing what has previously been a mostly neglected area of research and explaining how entrepreneurs create business models to capture opportunities from the action perspective. From the methodological perspective, this study employs a novel combination of action research and the diary method, which allows investigating entrepreneurial actions in their natural setting. / Tiivistelmä Tässä tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan kuinka yrittäjät luovat liiketoimintamalleja liiketoimintamahdollisuuksia hyödyntääkseen. Erityisesti työssä keskitytään liiketoimintamallien aihioihin, joita yrittäjät työstävät liiketoimintamahdollisuuksien tunnistamisen ja toimivan liiketoimintamallin syntymisen välisenä aikana. Työssä rakennetaan aiempaan liiketoimintamahdollisuus- ja liiketoimintamallitutkimukseen perustuva, yrittäjien päiväkirjoja hyödyntävä toimintatutkimuslähestymistapa, jonka tavoitteena on lisätä ymmärrystä liiketoimintamallien luomisen prosessista sekä teoreettisesta että empiirisestä näkökulmasta. Kaikkiaan tutkimuksessa kerättiin ja analysoitiin 155 päiväkirjaa neljästä eri vastaajaryhmästä: yrityskiihdyttämöstä Oulussa, Oulun yliopiston järjestämässä yrittäjyysprojektissa, Aalborgin yliopiston Business Model Design Centerin järjestämässä yrityksen perustamiskoulutuksessa, ja kahdessa aloittavien yrittäjien tiimissä Helsingissä. Tutkimuksessa kehitettiin käsitteellinen malli kuvaamaan kuinka yrittäjät luovat liiketoimintamalleja liiketoimintamahdollisuuksien hyödyntämiseksi. Malli esittää liiketoimintamallin luomisen jatkuvana ja iteratiivisena konseptointina sekä kontekstualisointina. Konseptoinnilla tarkoitetaan tässä yhteydessä yrittäjien epävarmuuden vallitessa tekemiä valintoja ja päätöksiä, kontekstualisoinnilla näiden valintojen ja päätösten mukaisesti toimimista. Konseptualisoinnissa ja kontekstualisoinnissa testataan liiketoimintamalliaihioiden toimivuutta, kannattavuutta ja hyväksyttävyyttä yrittäjien kokemassa todellisuudessa. Konseptointi käynnistää toiminnan, jolla yrittäjät pyrkivät toteuttamaan tekemiään valintoja ja päätöksiä. Konseptointi ja kontekstualisointi vahvistavat ja tukevat toisiaan kaksisuuntaisen palautemekanismin kautta: muutos liiketoimintamahdollisuuksien ja liiketoimintamallien konseptoinnissa aiheuttaa tarpeen muuttaa tapaa, joilla niitä testataan ja toteutetaan käytännössä – samalla käytännön toteutuksessa opittu heijastuu takaisin siihen, miten liiketoimintamahdollisuuksia ja liiketoimintamalleja konseptoidaan. Työn pääasiallinen kontribuutio on liiketoimintamallien toimintatutkimuksen alueella. Aiemmassa liiketoimintamahdollisuuksia ja liiketoimintamalleja yhdistävässä tutkimuksessa ei ole juurikaan sovellettu toimintatutkimuksellista lähestymistapaa. Työssä onkin kehitetty uusi päiväkirjoihin perustuva toimintatutkimusmenetelmä, joka mahdollistaa yrittäjien toiminnan tutkimisen tilannesidonnaiset tekijät huomioon ottaen. Käytännössä työn tuloksia voidaan hyödyntää uuden yritystoiminnan luomisessa sekä yrittäjien ja yritysten tukemisessa.

This diploma thesis focuses on the French analytic predicates with event nouns with the suffix -ation. It is divided into two parts, a theoretical and a practical one. The theoretical part starts with a description of the analytic predicates and their caracteristics on which are based the tests used for identification of this type of predicates. It is followed by the description and typologies of the event nouns which represent one of two fondamental constituents of the analytic predicates. Then the work deals the process of nominalization, and the importance of the delimitation, sense and characteristics of the French suffix -ation is highlighted. The practical part analyses the most frequent French event nouns with the suffix -ation. First of all, a sample of thirty most frequent French nouns in -ation is selected, then the ethymology of these nouns is researched and their action sens is tested. After that, this work treats the valency of the action nouns and their collocability with verbs.

Tomando a ética como um modo de se conduzir que se constitui, a um só tempo, da relação que estabelecemos com o outro, por intermédio da relação que tecemos conosco mesmos, procuramos abordar no presente trabalho a temática dos enlaces e desenlaces constituintes do viver-junto. Duas interrogações nos acompanham: como o indeterminado atravessa nossa experiência e sob que condições somos convocados a responder pelos efeitos imprevisíveis das ações que protagonizamos. Para contornar este problema de pesquisa, encetamos um caminho duplo. Um deles parte de narrativas de um percurso escolar trilhado no decurso de oito anos em escolas da rede pública estadual do município de Porto Alegre. Tais narrativas estão referidas a uma coleção de acontecimentos não-lineares entornados da matéria mais ínfima da experiência pedagógica onde o critério escolhido para narrá-las não foi outro senão a intensidade com que produziram um certo desassossego e desalojamento em sua narradora – único modo encontrado de dar um registro simbólico às cenas ali testemunhadas. O outro caminho encetado diz respeito a um percurso investigativo, teórico-conceitual onde procuramos situar nosso problema de pesquisa através de uma releitura da obra de Aristóteles, em especial, de sua Ética a Nicômaco, buscando fazer jus ao modo como o filósofo evoca e ocupa-se dos impasses éticos em seu tempo. Seguindo esta via, procuramos realizar uma interlocução com o campo da psicanálise, em especial, com o modo como Lacan dedica-se a recolher alguns elementos ensejados no pensamento aristotélico procurando interrogá-los e contornar a questão do homem e da relação que este estabelece com sua própria ação. Esta articulação toma o seminário em que trata Sobre a Ética da Psicanálise, como um importante ponto de interlocução. Nossa escolha por escrever um trabalho de dissertação que segue uma via dupla justifica-se no modo como nossa questão investigativa se faz operante na própria estrutura que imprimimos ao nosso texto, na fenda que se abre entre experiência e reflexão teórica e que sinaliza certa impossibilidade de efetuar a passagem de uma trilha para a outra sem ter de contabilizar as perdas que esta transposição nos convoca a responder. Assim, procuramos sustentar nosso problema de pesquisa desdobrando-o em três capítulos: no primeiro, trabalhamos com as temporalidades do possível, do necessário e do acaso no sentido de pensá-la como instâncias que condicionam a ação humana e que restringem o poder do agente de determinar sobre tudo o que lhe acontece; no segundo, avançamos no sentido de pensar a respeito de pretensas posições ocupadas em arranjos circunstanciais nas quais o agente acaba sendo investido de um suposto domínio sobre sua conduta, sobre o contexto do qual participa e sobre a conduta daqueles que o entornam; por fim, no último capítulo de nosso trabalho, procuramos tratar da dimensão trágica da existência explorando as relações entre ação e transmissão simbólica. / This work presents the connections and disconnections that are developed through relationships and by living together based on an understanding of ethics both as the way we conduct ourselves and are constituted that are woven together to form who we really are. There are two fundamental questions in this work: how the indeterminate affects our experience and under what conditions we are called on to respond to the unpredictable effects of our actions. In order to address these research questions we employed a two-prong approach that sustains, rather than resolves, the tension between theory and experience. One way is based on eight years of narratives from the state public schools in the city of Porto Alegre. These narratives are based on a collection of specific non-linear teaching experiences. In order to symbolically register the particular scenes in these testimonies, the narratives were chosen based on their intensity and whether they decentered or produced restlessness in the narrator. The second approach is the investigative process. We placed our research within theoretical concepts based on a re-reading of Aristotle, particularly Neomachean Ethics, in order to do justice to the ethical dilemmas of his time. We make a psychoanalytical intervention, using Lacan’s articulation of dialogue that was presented in his seminar The Ethics of Psychoanalysis, to utilize elements of Aristotle’s ideas to question the relationship between man and his own actions. Our desire to operationalize the work that we do in this text led us to employ this two-pronged approach. We create an opening between experience and theoretical reflection, which signals the impossibility of going from one to the other without accounting for the losses that this transition creates. This work is divided into three chapters. In the first chapter, we work with temporalities of the possible, the necessary and chance as instances that condition human action and diminish the power of the agent to determine exactly what will happen to him. The second chapter advances this by exploring the alleged positions occupied in circumstantial arrangements in which the agent is supposedly invested in the domination of his own conduct, the context in which participation occurs, and the conduct of those who surround him. The final chapter of this work addresses the tragic dimension of existence by exploring existing relationships between action and transmission.

[pt] Esta dissertação tem como objetivo esclarecer o conceito arendtiano de ação dentro da vita activa a partir do livro A Condição Humana e considerar a maneira como tal conceito está relacionado com os temas do desvelamento do agente e do contar histórias. Portanto pretendemos mostrar como a consolidação da tradicional hierarquia em que parâmetros metafísicos regram e orientam o mundo sensível acarretou o enfraquecimento da autonomia da ação. Nesse sentido optamos por abordar os ensaios do livro Homens em Tempos Sombrios em que a autora constrói narrativas biográficas, lançando luz sobre quem foram aqueles homens e mulheres, sem subjugar sua maneira de aparecer no mundo a leis superiores, preservando, assim, as características essenciais da ação. / [en] This dissertation aims to clarify Hannah Arendt´s concept of action in the vita activa throughout the book The Human Condition, and to consider the way such concept relates to the themes of the agenst´s disclousure and storytelling. Hence we pretend to show how the consolidation of traditional hierarchy in which metaphysical parameters ruled and oriented the sensible world brought about the weakening of the action´s autonomy. In this way we have opted to approach the essays in the book Men in Dark Times where the author builds up biografical narratives shedding light on who those men and women were without subjugating their appearance in the world to superior laws, so preserving the essential features of action.