This treatise is a historical policy study, empirical in nature, evaluating how Texas community college governance boards' roles have changed over the last 4 decades. Texas was chosen because trustees are elected; as the second largest state in the nation, demographic shifts are rapidly changing and trustees represent a very different constituency from 40 years ago; and, Austin Community College District was the case study evaluated. Community college trustees are lay members of boards who oversee governance of 50 districts in Texas. The long time consensus has been that boards are "rubber stamps" of a CEO's directional design, and trustees have been historically White, wealthy, businessmen, who have little educational knowledge regarding community colleges or the students served. Success for community colleges in Texas, and funding, has always been based on enrollment, never before on student achievement or graduations. Research questions addressed how trustees roles have changed in 40 years and if student success initiatives had impacted those responsibilities. The answers are interesting. Trustees duties, as prescribed by the Texas Education Code have not changed at all, but trustees are spending more time in only a few of those duties on a regular basis. Demographic attributes have also changed very little in 40 years. Yet, trustees of the 21st century have become more attuned to the financial deficits that exist and will escalate if student success is not made a priority. Utilizing research from the Texas Education Code, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, The Texas Association of Community Colleges, the Community College Association of Texas Trustees, and researchers who have documented trustees' roles and responsibilities since the early 1970s, and including a case study that evaluated one college's minutes from board meetings over a 40 year span to determine how trustees utilize their time, this study shows that boards are evolving, but need additional and continual training. Because some trustees still micromanage, what results from this study as a benefit to society is a final guide that addresses the humanistic roles that trustees should have that intertwine with the legal duties defined by the State. / text

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Productivity and efficiency are the tools used in managing performance. This study researches and implements best practices that lead to best performance. A customer quality defined standard has to be created by benchmarking the Information Technology Service Regions which may be used to help decision-makers or management make informed decisions about (1) the effectiveness of service systems, (2) managing the performance of Information Technology Service Regions. Waiting lines or queues are an everyday occurrence and may take the form of customers waiting in a restaurant to be serviced or telephone calls waiting to be answered. The model of waiting lines is used to help managers evaluate the effectiveness of service systems. It determines precisely the optimal number of employees that must work at the centralised service desk. A Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) methodology is used as a benchmarking tool to locate a frontier which is then used to evaluate the efficiency of each of the organizational units responsible for observed output and input quantities. The inefficient units can learn from the best practice frontier situated along the frontier line. / Thesis (M.Sc. (Computer Science))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2009.

Productivity and efficiency are the tools used in managing performance. This study researches and implements best practices that lead to best performance. A customer quality defined standard has to be created by benchmarking the Information Technology Service Regions which may be used to help decision-makers or management make informed decisions about (1) the effectiveness of service systems, (2) managing the performance of Information Technology Service Regions. Waiting lines or queues are an everyday occurrence and may take the form of customers waiting in a restaurant to be serviced or telephone calls waiting to be answered. The model of waiting lines is used to help managers evaluate the effectiveness of service systems. It determines precisely the optimal number of employees that must work at the centralised service desk. A Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) methodology is used as a benchmarking tool to locate a frontier which is then used to evaluate the efficiency of each of the organizational units responsible for observed output and input quantities. The inefficient units can learn from the best practice frontier situated along the frontier line. / Thesis (M.Sc. (Computer Science))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2009.

abstract: ABSTRACT Research literature relating to the use of humor as a teaching method or curricula specifically designed to include humor was reviewed to investigate the effects of humor on student learning in various environments from elementary schools to post-secondary classrooms. In this multi-method study, four instruments and a humor treatment were selected to test the hypothesis that students who receive humor-embedded instruction would perform better on assessments than students who did not receive humor instruction. These assessments were analyzed to show student growth in achievement and memory retention as a result of humor-embedded instruction. Gain scores between a pre- test and two post-tests determined student growth in achievement and memory retention. Gain scores were triangulated with student responses to open-ended interview questions about their experiences with humor in the classroom. The gain score data were not statistically significant between the humor and non- humor groups. For the short-term memory gain scores, the non-humor group received slightly higher gain scores. For long-term memory gain scores, the humor group received higher gain scores. However, the interview data was consistent with the findings of humor research from the last 20 years that humor improves learning directly and indirectly. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ed.D. Educational Administration and Supervision 2011

Mergers and acquisitions have been demonstrated to create synergies, but not in all cases. Current research reveals that where synergies exist, these seem to accrue to the shareholders of the selling companies. Given the limitations of our qualitative research design, we find that it is important to quantify synergy before the acquisition, preferably by applying certain best practices. In an attempt to enhance understanding of the phenomenon, we find that several types of synergy exist and that their origins include efficiencies, such as economies of scale and economies in innovative activity. We further find that the bid price is an important indicator of success and that its maximum should not exceed the intrinsic value of the target, plus the value of synergies between the bidder and target. We further find that best practices exist in quantifying cost and revenue synergies and describe these separately per origin. / Management Accounting / M.Com. (Accounting)

As pequenas empresas vêm ganhando destaque no contexto econômico brasileiro dado o importante papel que desempenham. Dentre estas empresas, destacam-se as pequenas empresas de base tecnológica (PEBTs), as quais são caracterizadas por focalizar a estratégia competitiva na inovação, participar ativamente das mudanças tecnológicas e atuar como fornecedores em diferentes cadeias produtivas. O processo de desenvolvimento de produtos (PDP) representa o conjunto de atividades pela qual as informações sobre o mercado são transformadas em requisitos de produto. É um processo complexo e com um elevado grau de incertezas. Grande parte da literatura sobre o tema está relacionada com o contexto das grandes empresas, entretanto, uma série de particularidades torna a realidade das pequenas empresas bastante diferente. Sendo assim, o objetivo deste trabalho é explorar as particularidades do PDP das PEBTs. Foi conduzido um levantamento dos fatores críticos de sucesso de PEBTs através de uma pesquisa qualitativa. Na sequência, foi realizado um mapeamento de artigos publicados em periódicos internacionais, entre os anos de 2002 e 2011, sobre a velocidade do PDP. Por fim, foi efetuado um estudo quantitativo para identificar associações entre as melhores práticas de gestão e os problemas mais frequentes encontrado no PDP destas empresas. / Small businesses are gaining prominence in the brazilian economic context given the important role they play. Among these firms, there are the small high technology companies, which are characterized by the competitive strategy focused on innovation, by the actively participation in technological changes and as suppliers in different production chains. The new product development (NPD) is a set of activities in which information about the market are transformed into product requirements. It is a complex process with a high degree of uncertainty. Most part of the literature on the topic is related to the large companies context, however, a variety of particularities makes the reality of small firms quite different. Therefore, the aim of this work is to explore the particularities of the NPD small high technology firms. It was conducted a survey of critical success factors through qualitative research. Further, a research mapping the articles published in international journals, between the years of 2002 and 2011, about the speed of the NPD. Finally, a quantitative study was conducted to identify associations between best management practices and most common problems found in the NPD of these companies.

Magister Legum - LLM (Criminal Justice and Procedure) / As states continue to rapidly transition from conflict or autocracy to democracy, there has been need to address past gross human rights violations. To address these past egregious violations, transitioning countries often relied on immunities and prosecutions. However, prosecutions and amnesties presented several challenges that necessitated a recourse to truth and reconciliation commissions (hereafter TRCs). Since then, TRCs have evolved to be an essential accountability mechanism in transitional justice. Given the important role that TRCs play in transitioning countries, the composition of TRCs should be of credible character in the eye of the public. The selected and appointed truth commissioners (hereafter commissioners) play a key role in the truth-finding process and the importance of having a constraint-free and reliable work plan of selecting these commissioners cannot be overestimated. However, in practice the selection and appointment of the commissioners has proven to be a challenging exercise.

Magister Legum - LLM (Criminal Justice and Procedure) / In the early 1990s Botswana faced rising levels of grand corruption and economic crimes in general. The laws could not cope with the high incidence of economic criminality, especially as regards the confiscation of dirty assets. At the time, the government relied solely on laws regulating the forfeiture of prohibited property and instruments of crime, given that there were no laws authorising the confiscation of proceeds of crime. The drivers of the said forfeiture laws are the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), the Botswana Police Service (BPS) and the Botswana Unified Revenue Service (BURS). Parliament then enacted the Proceeds of Serious Crime Act No. 19 of 1990 (PSCA). The PSCA was a three-pronged tool in that it introduced the offence of money-laundering, enhanced investigative powers, and authorised conviction-based confiscation of proceeds of crime. The DPP was tasked with conducting criminal prosecutions and applying for confiscation orders. The BPS was mandated to conduct financial investigations.

Magister Legum - LLM (Criminal Justice and Procedure) / As states continue to rapidly transition from conflict or autocracy to democracy, there has been need to address past gross human rights violations. To address these past egregious violations, transitioning countries often relied on immunities and prosecutions. However, prosecutions and amnesties presented several challenges that necessitated a recourse to truth and reconciliation commissions (hereafter TRCs). Since then, TRCs have evolved to be an essential accountability mechanism in transitional justice.