Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1966. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

this investigation dealt with the problem student actors confront in making a transition from educational to professional theater due to inadequate or insufficient training. A mail survey was conducted with 110 Equity stock theaters to determine whether or not those theaters serve an internship function to offer additional training and assist the beginning actor in his transition period. The introduction considers professional attitudes toward educational theater and the subsequent need for internship. The second and third chapters discuss the construction of the mailed questionnaires and the more significant responses. The last chapter concludes from the 57.3 per cent response that Equity stock theaters constitute an important but limited source for the student actor to learn and practice the arts of the theater.

<p>The purpose of this study is to contribute to thedevelopment of the Logistics Management discipline. A motivefor the study is that I have found actors being very anonymousin the Logistics Management literature. I have found this to bein contrast to my practical experiences where actors are highlyessential. On the basis of an interview study and a literaturestudy I want to give some thoughts and ideas for thedevelopment of the discipline. The interview study wasconducted with 48 actors operating across a supply chain withindifferent business areas of a multinational Swedish company.The actors views of the organisation, problems associated withit and logistical variables were focused. In the literary studyI focused on fundamental ideas and characteristics. I alsofocused on scientific foundations and points of departure inLogistics Management research.</p><p>In the text I strive to view the world as sociallyconstructed and in my writing I have the effort to beinterpretative and reflective. With these points of departure Itry to use approaches seldom used in research within thelogistics management discipline.</p><p>In my work I present thoughts and ideas which are importantto notice with regard to the aim of the discipline to benormative and contribute to the development of one or manyorganisations. The first issue that I highlight is that in theinterview study it was apparent that there existed clusterswith different perspectives across the supply chain. Theseperspectives provided different sorts of understanding for theorganisation and problems associated with it. I found this tobe a reason for problems within the organisation. In theliterature, however, I found the insight about this is low ornot outspoken, which motivates further studies. As aconsequence of the different views and understanding, I noticedthat the interviewees put different meaning into concepts likecustomer focus and holistic vision. The different meaningseemed to be a reason for problems within the organisation.Since I regard the concepts as central and obvious within thediscipline, more attention could be given to the concepts andhow they are used. The interviewees also emphasised awell-functioning organisation and the importance ofimplementing solutions. Implementation issues could thereforebe highlighted to a larger extent, to elucidate obstacles andpossibilities for successful change management and to highlightproblems that need to be treated. In the interviews people andtheir behaviours were seen as central. Therefore human andtheir behaviours could be given more attention. Understandingfor people’s behaviour as a foundation for changemanagement processes could be emphasised even more. As aconsequence, I consider reference to other disciplinesnecessary to reach a higher understanding of these behaviours.Since the studied company was far from the best practicestudies that now dominate the area and the study has proven tobe fruitful, the discipline could strive to be more balancedand use other cases to elucidate problems and highlight theseproblems.</p><p>Some authors’opinions that other paradigms and viewsthan the ones dominating the discipline should be used todevelop it, has been strengthened by the study, especially withregard to paradigms and views with a focus on actors.</p>

This thesis examines the changing nature of Hollywood stardom and how this is informed by an emergent celebrity culture. Through several case studies this study augments older forms of analysis with Bourdieu’s concept of capital to create a new model of stardom that can accommodate recent cultural developments. In chapter one four key forms of capital are identified. After contextualising this new model within the history of classic Hollywood and older academic approaches to stardom in chapter two, the analysis of Nicole Kidman’s star text in chapter three shows how her image has evolved to combine all forms of cultural capital and as such exemplifies an entirely new formulation of the Hollywood film star. Chapter four applies this analysis to the small screen, with the case studies of Michael J. Fox and Sarah Jessica Parker showing how some performers are able to accrue cultural capital by simultaneously working in film and television, establishing television as a legitimate site for Hollywood stardom and its associated capital. In chapter five a case study of Brand Beckham shows how the capital of contemporary celebrity can be effectively deployed in order to generate a similar allure to that of the classic Hollywood star and with it a similar level of Hollywood power. The final chapter examines the simultaneous unravelling of one brand and the creation of another in light of the increasing power of the fan within celebrity culture. A detailed study of Britney Spears’s presence on perezhilton.com highlights the involvement of the audience as producers of her image and demonstrates how new technologies can be used to create an entirely new form of fame for the gossip columnist, which in turn has been appropriated by the Hollywood system as the next site for legitimate fame.

Although the strategy formation process in large companies has been extensively and deeply researched, the strategy making in SME (small and medium sized companies) is largely under-investigated by researchers. In our thesis, we find even for entrepreneurial SME owners, the process doesn’t exhibit the characteristics of comprehensive and exhaustive environmental scanning and strategic analysis. Instead, the strategy formation in entrepreneurial SMEs is a combination of systematic planning and improvisation, a combination of proactivity and reactivity. And the limited planning and proactivity is more reflected on the SME owner’s cognitive level, they are strategically aware, sensitive and flexible to any change that will affect their company and immediately know the relevant implications. Our finding is in line with Mintzberg’s insightful notion that “strategy as a pattern” and “strategic thinking”. The SME owner’s opportunistic, intuitive and emergent approach to strategy making often involves more than themselves. Families, friends, company board of directors, accountants, consultants are also influential actors participating and contributing to this process in different ways.

This dissertation examines the sources and consequences of non-state actor influence in international environmental policymaking. I argue that non-state variables inside of a country, such as the strength of environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs), public attitudes towards the environment, and the level of interpersonal trust between citizens, can act as important determinants of state actions in the international environmental policymaking realm. The empirical analyses of these propositions provide the main bulk of this project. My first empirical chapter tests the hypothesis that the strength of domestic nongovernmental organizations can affect the likelihood of a country participating in international environmental agreements, and finds that countries with more ENGOs are party to more international environmental agreements than countries with fewer ENGOs. My second empirical chapter examines the impact of public opinion on the treaty ratification behavior of a country, and finds that the greater the level of public support for the use of international environmental agreements to address environmental problems, the faster a country ratifies the Kyoto Protocol. My final empirical chapter demonstrates how levels of inter-personal trust between citizens can impact the extent to which a state complies with its environmental treaty obligations, and shows that higher levels of trust are linked to higher rates of compliance with environmental treaties, but that this effect is mediated by the degree of ethnic diversity within a country. Given the significance of my findings, I conclude with the argument that nonstate actors are able to influence the participation, ratification and compliance behavior of states in international environmental policymaking arena.

Primary Health Care (PHC) plays a vital role in decentralization of health care services. PHC is designed to ensure health care coverage at the community level through the involvement of the community in improving their healthy living. PHC offers treatment and care in continuum that is supported by a facility-linked home- based care system and a referral system. While PHC is global, its operation and functioning in the area of community health provisioning varies across communities. The main objective of this study is to find out whether PHC is effective or not in Roma Valley, Lesotho. The study was carried out in Roma Valley, in the Maseru district of Lesotho. The population for this study includes the nurses under the department of PHC, village health workers, Chiefs and out-patients from four different villages. Out of this, a sample of thirty individuals was selected. The data for this study was collected through qualitative research technique, particularly oral interviews and written records or secondary data sources. The analysis revealed that nurses and village health workers respond to the social needs and health problems of the community and community members are also involved in improving their health status. Village health workers face many challenges in their engagement in this system such as not being given incentives for what they do and often uncooperative disposition of some community members including their leaders. It was also found that they operate under a lot of stress due to lack of resources.

This research explored Dunbar’s concept of the mask in order to examine why select black male actors, Flip Wilson (as Geraldine), Eddie Murphy (as Rasputia), Martin Lawrence (as Sheneneh), and Tyler Perry (as Madea), have worn the mask of femininity to survive the vicissitudes of the American stage. It explained what factors compelled these selected black male actors to mask their appearance and why the outward signs of femininity are used as vehicles of communication in their artistic expression. The methodology involved a visual deconstruction of media utilizing literary texts as the instrument to analyze the movies and television shows of these actors, and the research centered on the theories of W. E. B. Du Bois’ notions of the veil and double consciousness, Stephen Greenblatt’s idea of self-fashioning and self cancellation, and Franz Fanon’s views on language found in the book Black Skin White Masks. While wearing the mask, Wilson, Murphy, Lawrence, and Perry challenge society’s notion of black manhood, the limitation of the black man’s freedom of speech, and the role of black women in their plight for an uninhibited existence. These actors also tackle crucial matters, namely black female sexuality, classism, obesity, and the black family. These actors achieve their objective and combat the gaze of both black and white America by self-fashioning and self-canceling their identities at will.

No description available.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Texas at Dallas, 2008. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 297-314)