Arab countries strive toward the modernization and feminization of the Arab culture; however, some of these countries (i.e., Saudi Arabia) are culturally and legally governed by "sharia law", and have maintained cultural norms regarding segregation of the sexes. In order to have a better understanding of the Arab travelers to the U.S., this research focuses on the gender dynamics between the service providers and Arab customers during a service encounter. Specifically, this research examines how the same and opposite genders of service-provider and customer influence Arab customers’ emotional response (comfort), consequently their service encounter evaluation (satisfaction), and behavioral intentions (feedback willingness). This research also examines how the employees’ efforts to solicit feedback from Arab customers may intensify the effect of gender dynamics on Arab customers’ responses. Scenario-based online surveys are created and distributed to respondents of Arab descent in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and United Arab Emirates by using snowball sampling. The results based on 326 respondents show potential differences determined by gender interaction. Arab customers were more comfortable, more satisfied with the service encounter, and more willing to provide feedback, if the employee was the same gender as the customer, as opposed to the employee being the opposite gender from the customer. However, results showed that employee efforts to solicit feedback did not intensify the gender interaction effect. Additionally, through the service encounter, the Arab customers’ comfort influenced their service encounter satisfaction and their willingness to provide feedback. The findings of this research provide valuable implications for hospitality managers to better cater to the needs of Arab customers by examining the dimensions of gender boundaries in an intercultural service encounter.

The Cost of Feeling Good attempts to quantify the optimum portfolio returns of Socially Responsible Investment Funds and Dual-Purpose Portfolios. In order to meet the demands of investors who want to create a social impact and generate financial returns, investors can choose two methods. For the purpose of this study, the social returns were quantified and the financial returns were quantified using net present value. In every scenario, the socially responsible investment decision generated higher financial returns. Because of the immediate loss to an investor after choosing the DPP strategy, financially, the SRI fund appears to be the better approach for a financially driver investor. In terms of social returns, the DPP has a more clear impact on society. Measured as the charitable contribution given on an $1,000 investment, the socially responsible fund contributes far less to society on a per investor basis. Therefore, if an investor is interested in generating higher social returns and wants to be selective in terms of their charitable donation, they should choose the DPP model. In terms of tax brackets, investors in higher tax brackets have to generate higher financial returns on socially responsible investments in order to match the returns of a DPP. This is also true with investors who invest less in charity. Therefore, the investors that are in the highest tax bracket and contribute little to charity will need to generate far higher SRI returns according to the constructed theory. This finding is important to the growing millennial trend in sustainable investing.

On March 23, 2010, President Barack Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) into law. This reform, it is argued, is projected to increase insurance coverage of pre-existing conditions, to expand access to insurance for more than 30 million Americans, and to increase estimated National medical spending while lowering projected Medicare spending. This thesis sought to investigate and analyze the perceptions of senior citizens in Central Florida about PPACA and their perceived effects on the healthcare quality provided to them under this law. Four sections of PPACA bill, thought to specifically pertain to the elderly, were selected for this study; respondents were asked their opinions regarding PPACA's aspects of: (1) the reform on preventive healthcare services; (2) Medicare Part D (prescription drugs); (3) Medicare; and (4) Medicaid. This thesis employed both qualitative and quantitative methodologies; data were collected and analyzed with findings presented and discussed.

As the environmental problems worsen, green restaurants are an essential strategy for survival in the restaurant industry. Even though previous researchers have investigated the intention to visit a green restaurant with norm activation theory, they did not consider the characteristics of prosocial behavior and the green restaurant and the impact of other external factors, such as types of information cues and social class, was overlooked. Considering these points, the primary objectives of this study were to extend existing theory with perceived burdensomeness and social connectedness and to identify the difference in the impact of types of information cues and a moderating role of social cues. Using an experimental design with hypothetical scenarios, respondents were randomly assigned to one of two different scenarios (intrinsic cues vs. extrinsic cues). The results showed that the participants who received intrinsic cues responded lower than the participants who received extrinsic cues in the awareness of consequences, perceived burdensomeness, and social connectedness. Antecedents of personal norm in the extended norm activation theory had a positive impact on personal norm. In the case of the moderating role of social class, there were interaction effects between social class and information in every construct except perceived burdensomeness. Further discussion and implications are provided in the main body of this study.

Thesis (MEd)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / Bibliography / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Teachers in the South African educational context are being asked to meet an increasing number of professional demands. Teachers are expected not only to produce academic results and develop professionally, but also to play an affective role in the school. The paradigm used in this study is neo-liberalism. This allows the researcher to view the teacher as possessing technical or ‘hard’ skills as well as the less well-defined ‘soft’ or emotive skills. Here soft skills are defined as the interpersonal, human, people or behavioural skills needed to apply technical skills and knowledge in the workplace. A qualitative transcendental phenomenological research approach was selected in order to explore whether ‘excellent’ teachers from three schools in diverse economic settings in the Western Cape employed soft skills when teaching. The results of this study indicate that teachers perceived as ‘excellent’ exhibit intrapersonal behavioural, interpersonal conceptual and interpersonal affective soft skills. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Binne die huidige Suid-Afrikaanse konteks, word daar toenemend professionele eise aan onderwysers gestel. Daar word nie net van onderwysers verwag om akademiese resultate op te lewer en hulself te verbeter nie, maar ook om ‘n emotiewe rol in die skool te speel. Neo-liberalisme skep die paradigma vir die studie. Dit laat die navorser toe om die onderwyser te beskou as iemand wat oor tegniese of ‘harde’ vaardighede in die werkplek beskik, maar ook oor die minder omskryfde ‘sagte’ of mensvaardighede. Sagte vaardighede word gedefinieer as die interpersoonlike, menslike of gedragsvaardighede wat nodig is om tegniese vaardighede en kennis toe te pas in die werkplek. ‘n Kwalitatiewe transendentale fenomenologiese aanslag is ontwerp om te bepaal of onderwysers, wat gesien word as ‘uitstekende’ onderwysers, van drie skole in diverse ekonomiese omgewings in die Wes-Kaap, dieselfde sagte vaardighede gebruik wanneer hulle skoolhou. Die resultate van die studie dui aan dat onderwysers wat gesien word as ‘uitstekende’ onderwysers, intrapersoonlike gedragsvaardighede en interpersoonlike affektiewe sagte vaardighede ten toon stel.

The literature presented in the following pages explores the shortcomings of the American public education system in the context of creating long-term, sustainable social change. Using financial illiteracy and its relationship to low quality of life as an entry point, the first section exposes public schools’ shortcomings as agents of social change by delving into the hardships endured by the original public school promoters of the 19th century, the pitfalls of President George W. Bush’s 2001 enactment of No Child Left Behind, and the shortcomings of the financial literacy programming that found traction in urban schools following the subprime lending crisis. These examples render the public education system unfit to address social change, at which point the paper segues into a discussion of social enterprise and the new field’s demonstrated potential to capture social value. After a brief historical exploration of social innovation which examines some values and principles of this “fourth sector,” successful ventures and failed social organizations are scrutinized in the penultimate chapter. The comparisons made ultimately argue in favor of social entrepreneurship’s fitness, on both a structural and ideological level, in addressing the complex social, environmental, and cultural issues of our time.

The present study posed two research questions. Because of limited research regarding leadership in arts and culture organizations, the background question to contextualize the study was: How do nonprofit arts and culture leaders in the Jacksonville, Florida, metropolitan area perceive their roles within their organizations? The foreground question was: How do leaders of nonprofit arts and culture organizations in the Jacksonville, Florida, metropolitan area understand their roles in providing underserved K-12 students access to and opportunity for arts education? The research questions warranted a qualitative research design using semi-structured, in-depth interviews. The review of the literature documented the importance of arts education for all and how school policy mandates have led to a reduction in access to and opportunity for arts education, especially in schools with high poverty rates and students of color. Interview data were collected from 11 leaders of nonprofit arts and culture organizations. Data analysis involved identifying five typologies that organized the description and interpretation dimensions of Eisner’s process of educational criticism (1998): arts education, programs, and services; advocacy and engagement for the arts; challenges to providing access to and opportunities for arts education; the role of partnerships; and nonprofit arts and culture organizational development. Data analysis corroborated that the problems of inequitable arts education is still pervasive in K-12 education. The participants perceived their missions as focused on arts education for all and as contributing to filling the gap in providing equitable access to and opportunities for arts education for underserved K-12 students. The present study concluded that nonprofit arts and culture organizations can provide a unique set of contributions, such as programs for K-12 students, arts leadership development, and partnerships with schools and with each other in delivering equitable access to and opportunities for arts education for underserved K-12 students.

New Zealand's tertiary education sector has experienced political reform, social changes, economic changes and globalisation in the last two decades, and the sector has become more internationally competitive. DeShields, Kara, and Kaynak (2005) recommended that management of higher education should apply a market-oriented approach to sustain a competitive advantage. Therefore, understanding and managing students' satisfaction and their perceptions of service quality is important for university management if they are to design and implement a market-oriented approach. The purpose of this research is to gain an empirical understanding of students' overall satisfaction in a university in New Zealand's higher education sector. A hierarchal model is used as a framework for the analysis. Fifteen hypotheses are formulated and tested to identify the dimensions of service quality as perceived by university students, to examine the relationship between students' overall satisfaction with influential factors such as tuition fees (price) and the university's image, and to determine the impact of students' overall satisfaction on favourable future behavioural intentions. In addition, students' perceptions of these constructs are compared using demographic factors such as gender, age, and ethnicity. The findings of the study are based on the analysis of a sample of 223 students studying at Lincoln University. Support is found for the use of a hierarchical model and the primary dimensions; Interaction Quality, Physical Environment Quality, and Outcome Quality, as broad dimensions of service quality. Ten sub-dimensions of service quality, as perceived by students, are identified. These are: Academic Staff, Administration Staff, Academic Staff Availability, Course Content, Library, Physically Appealing, Social Factors, Personal Development, Academic Development, and Career Opportunities. The results indicate that each of the primary dimensions vary in terms of their importance to overall perceived service quality, as do the sub-dimensions to the primary dimensions. In addition, the statistical results support a relationship between service quality and price; service quality, image, and satisfaction; and satisfaction and favourable future behavioural intentions. However, there is no statistical support for a relationship between price and satisfaction. The results also suggest that students' perceptions of the constructs are primarily influenced by their ethnicity and year of study. The results of the analysis contribute to the service marketing theory by providing an empirically based insight into the satisfaction and service quality constructs in the New Zealand higher education sector. The study also provides an analytical framework for understanding the effects of the three primary dimensions on service quality and the effects of service quality on constructs including price, image, satisfaction, and favourable future behavioural intentions. This study will assist management of higher education to develop and implement a market-oriented service strategy in order to achieve a high quality of service, enhance students' level of satisfaction and create favourable future behavioural intentions.

Un banco del tiempo (BDT) es el nombre formal que se le da a unas instituciones comunitarias que operan con horas de tiempo personal y laboral como moneda oficial. Son sistemas organizados de moneda social que permiten a sus usuarios intercambiar su propio tiempo y destreza en forma de créditos de servicio. La unidad de moneda es una hora de trabajo. Los BDT son parte de la categoría de moneda alternativa social y representan una evolución moderna de entidades clásicas como los trueques. Los BDT valoran conceptos como compartir, igualdad y mutualismo. Así, funcionan como un sistema alternativo a los bancos tradicionales, y pueden así complementar a la moneda oficial de un país. El mercado no valora o recompensa muchos tipos de trabajo imperativo, como criar niños, constituir familias fuertes, revitalizar vecindarios y preservar el medio ambiente entre otros. Los BDT proveen un vehículo para recompensar, honrar y registrar este tipo de trabajo imperativo. Un caso contemporáneo que retrata perfectamente la implementación y los beneficios de los BDT se encuentra con España. En este país, los BDT se están usando para combatir los efectos de su reciente recesión y la crisis económica de los últimos seis años. Esta tesis tiene el propósito de examinar los beneficios de la adopción progresiva de los bancos del tiempo por todo el mundo, y en ella se analizará el caso de España como modelo ideal. Ya que estos bancos constituyen instituciones bastante nuevas, el propósito principal es estudiarlos para promover más investigación.

No description available.