A growing number of Jewish women are participating in adult bat mitzvah ceremonies in many synagogues across the United States. Little is known about the reasons why women choose to participate in a bat mitzvah ritual as an adult. It is also unclear if women of different ages have different reasons for participating in bat mitzvah.Older women were often not given the opportunity to participate in the bat mitzvah ritual as a young adult, and it is unknown why older women choose to accept the challenge of bat mitzvah. It may be suspected that Jewish women are interested in adult bat mitzvah for a variety of reasons; it could be related to childhood experiences, identity concerns, learning opportunities, or any other number of reasons. Erikson's theory of human development was chosen to explore possible reasons why middle-aged and older women chose to participate in bat mitzvah as an adult because Jewish tradition views the bat mitzvah as a human development issue, and Er ikson recognized the importance of ritual and religion in people's lives.An exploratory case study design used to gather a) interviews with middle-aged and older women who participated in bat mitzvah, b) interviews with their teachers, and c) information from the women's writings about their bat mitzvah experience. This research explored whether these women were using the bat mitzvah ritual to address life stage crises as delineated by Erikson's theory of human development. Analyses of data sources indicated that the majority of women were dealing with issues during their bat mitzvah experience that were consistent with the Erikson stage they were in, as well as revisiting earlier life stages, which is suggested by the concept of epigenesis as part of normal human development. Emergent themes also explored were the use of bat mitzvah as an aging ritual and conversion. Suggestions for further research include expansion of the interview protocol to include questions related to more Erikson stages, and the examination of the role of additional Jewish rituals in human development.

One of the major issues associated with taxation are the costs incurred by taxpayers when they comply with their tax obligations, this is particularly important for smaller business taxpayers. Compliance costs are found to be regressive, falling with disproportionate severity on smaller businesses. This trend can be found across the globe and more importantly, in New Zealand. Prior research has shown that the severity of the regressiveness has increased over time. The current, “one-size-fits-all”, approach used in the New Zealand tax system, and others alike, have created undue complexity for small businesses. This study reviews small business tax regimes and concessions currently implemented (or proposed) in different countries to relieve the compliance burden for smaller businesses. Australia, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States have either implemented a separate tax regime, or offers tax concessions to smaller business taxpayers. New Zealand on the other hand, presents minor ad hoc tax concessions for small business taxpayers, but since 2009, there have been proposals to change this system. This study evaluates and compares all the implemented (or proposed) regimes and concessions of the selected countries. Following from the case studies, interviews are conducted with tax professionals that have worked closely with smaller businesses, in order to shed light on the possibility of implementing a similar regime in New Zealand. The findings show that a small business tax regime has many avenues to consider, however, there is general consensus that suggests small business taxation should be kept as simple as possible. This thesis puts forward a baseline for further discussion and development of a small business regime to reduce compliance costs for smaller businesses.

This dissertation is a case study dealing with a school development project that took place in an upper secondary school as a result of a merger of two schools with different cultures. The project used a method called “Frirumsmodellen” and was planned to be conducted in three steps. The first was to carry out a cultural analysis in order to map the preconditions to start a school development project. The second was to carry out concrete actions and finally study eventual effects from such activities by doing a second cultural analysis. My role was to be a supervisor in the school development work, but at the same time study how this work was conducted and its impact in the ordinary school day. The dissertation takes its departure in the fact that schools are political governed. The mission of schools is never neutral; it is always an expression of behind laying social forces, ideologies and ideals of the contemporary society. Of this reason, there is a close connection between the macro political level and the micro political level. Another point of departure is the transition from a modern to a post modern society that gives the character to the changes that take place in schools. Steering of schools has partly been treated as a technical implementation problem. Schools contain on going conflicts between different interest groups that, more or less regularly, end up in educational reforms. These reforms generate school development activities in the single school. Undoubtedly, this makes school development to a complex process. At a rather late stage of the study I decided not to fulfil my task to follow the original plan. I instead let the school development project as a model to be in focus. The over all purpose was formulated: How is it possible to understand what happened in the school development project in the Falkgymnasiet and why was it not possible to carry it out as it was said in the project plan? To interpret what took place during the project I did create an interpretation frame of implementation and complexity theory that also made it possible to critically scrutinise the “Frirumsmodellen”. Already in an early stage of the process it was obvious that the “Frirumsmodellen” did not supply any tools to use and it became disconnected from the project. The project in it selves was marginalised and made invisible. The headmaster used the situation to change things she thought were important to develop. As a result, things happened, but most of the involved people did not at first hand connect this to the project. It is, of course, difficult in detail to say what caused what. The complexity theory successively made the hidden patterns revealed, hidden unofficial potentates visible, as well as unpredictable conditions that generated reactions from the personnel in front of a development work. Together this was rather efficient obstacles for not changing this school. I also discuss school development and implementation problems on a general level, for example, the possibility to transform a top-down initiated project to be bottom-up driven and using project as a tool for school development work. It was obvious that headmasters and teachers must be prepared to handle the ideological dimensions of problems schools have to face. Consequently, development work is about making problems visible and to handle these in the intersection point between the intentions of educational policies, pedagogical researchers, school administrators, headmasters, teachers and pupils. The ideological dimension also contains an existential issue. Do I as a teacher share the intentions for the development work? If not, how must I act? / <p>Finns som talbok. Inläst ur Växjö University Press, 2008 av talsyntes. Talboken omfattar 1 CD-ROM (18 tim., 33 min.)</p>

This study aims to examine Ukraine’s relations with the EU and Russia, and explains the different actions taken place between the years of 2004 and 2014. The study is a descriptive case study where the case Ukraine can be used to draw general conclusions for future research.To pursue the aim, the following questions were asked: How has the EU acted towards Ukraine, and why? How has Russia acted towards Ukraine, and why? In this study, the theories of international relations were applied, namely liberalism and realism. The empirical material of this study is based on books, EU webpage and news articles.The conclusion of this study shows that both the EU and Russia have taken many actions to influence Ukraine. The most important actions made by the EU have been the startup of the Eastern Partnership and the Association Agreement, which are both developing an easier transition for Ukraine into the EU. For Russia, the most important actions taken have been to make Ukraine depending on Gazprom, and the rental agreement for the military navy base kept on Crimea. All these actions are taken because of the fact that Ukraine serves as a link between the EU and Russia.

Many good software practices are often discarded because of the syndrome “there is not enough time, do it later”, or “it is in our head and there is no time to write it down.” As a consequence, projects are late, time frames to complete software modules are unrealistic and miscalculated, and traceability to required documents and their respective stakeholders do not exist. It is not until the release of the application that it is determined the functionalities do not meet the expectations of the end users and stakeholders. The effect of this can be detrimental to the individuals of the development team and the organization. Associating measurement and metrics to internal software processes and tasks, followed by analysis and continual evaluation, are key elements to close many of the repeated gaps in the life cycle of software engineering, regardless of the software methodology. This report presents a usability case study of a customized application during its development. The application contains internal indicator modules for performance measurement processes captured at the level of a Request System application within a horizontal organizational group. The main goals for the usability surveys and case study were (1st) to identify, define and evaluate the current gaps in the system and (2nd) find new approaches and strategies with the intent to move the project in the right direction. Gaps identified throughout the development process are included as indicators for process improvement. The result of the usability case study creates new goals and gives clear direction to the project. Goal-driven measurements and the creation of a new centralized collaborative web system for communication with other teams are parts of the solution. The processes and techniques may provide benefits to companies interested in applying similar tactics to improve their own software project processes. / text

This case study examines the history and structure of Art from the Streets (AFTS) a community-based art (CBA) program in Austin, Texas that for the past twenty years has offered art classes twice a week to the local homeless community. The purpose of this study is to determine if and how well AFTS integrates essential CBA components that define best practices of CBA programs that serve the homeless into their program. This study combines researcher observations with the firsthand perspective of the AFTS program, volunteers, and participants secured through class observations and interviews conducted to gain knowledge about the inner workings of the AFTS program. / text

This dissertation is an empirical study of the actors and organizations working in criminal and drug courts. Specifically, the dissertation examines the structure (as defined by the interactions and relationships of players) of a criminal court and a drug court operating under a state trial court system in the United States. Recent reforms to trial courts indicate that the organizational structure of a typical trial court has changed in many states. Separately, specialty courts which help coordinate treatment for offenders like drug users and mental patients in many jurisdictions have changed the structure, process, and the nature of trial courts.The study is an inductive study using a case method research strategy to build new theory from past findings of organizational studies of criminal courts and from the little we know about drug courts as organizations. The method of inquiry in the study is a triangular research strategy that incorporates both qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis. The qualitative data collection methods include primarily participant observations of drug team meetings and court proceedings, and semi-structured interviews with actors representing organizations participating in both criminal and drug courtrooms. The study uses network analysis as the primary method for analyzing quantitative data. The research site is the Arizona Superior Court in Pima County, located in Tucson, Arizona.I found that the most important central actors across all phases of the criminal court case disposition process are judges, prosecutors, and defense attorneys, and that measuring core workgroup actors across all phases give a more accurate picture of the criminal court case disposition process. I also found that defense attorneys may be less familiar with other court actors than prosecutors because they may enter the criminal justice system from many different sponsoring organizations. As for the drug court case disposition process, the study shows that the most central player is not always the judge. In addition, the study reveals that drug courts, as court reforms, have little overall connection to overall criminal court organization. Important policy implications and theory inferences, as well as recommendations for future court studies, are discussed.

Developing countries are quite attractive destinations for foreign investments in various economic sectors.Whether an MNC can successfully enter these markets embodies the aptitude to understand the external macroeconomic and social environment of the host country. An MNC must adjust their competitive stance, decipher adequate market potential and uncover the relevant entry strategy to acquire operational success. We have built a framework surrounded by essential operational strategy. This concerns matching a firm's resources and capabilities to the opportunities that arise in the external environment. In most common literature, emphasis lies within identification of profit opportunities in the external environment of the firm. Imperative emphasis shifts from the interface between strategy and the external environment; towards the interface between strategy and the internal environment. In this context, the concentration of the organization's resources and capabilities is targeted to combat turbulent external environments and devise a secure foundation for long term strategy. To understand why the resource-based view has had a major impact on strategy assessment, a preceding glimpse for strategy formulation can be considered. Conventionally, firms have answered the question “who are our customers?” “What are their needs we're seeking to serve?” “Who are our Competitors?” “How can gain a competitive advantage?” Through answering these questions in conjunction with macroeconomic analysis are inevitable prerequisites for pinpointing the key success factors (KSF) for the individual market segments. The KSF are the factors within the company's market environment that determine its ability to prosper and survive exploiting its core resources.

This study examines the changing context and implications for evaluation practice of social program and service delivery devolved to small nonprofit and grassroots organizations. The setting is explored through a critical reflection-on-practice of over twenty years experience conducting evaluation. Using a multiple case study approach, the dissertation examines nine broad themes through two broad composite scenarios and twenty-five detailed vignettes that portray the challenges of working as a consultant with and for small nonprofit and grassroots organizations as they grapple with growing demands for accountability through evaluation. The multiple case study analysis is complemented by an analysis of case studies in two broad areas of literature; one on the impacts of devolution in the nonprofit sector, and the other examining recent trends in evaluation conducted in challenging settings, including community-based and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The five broad themes addressed through the case studies and literature on devolution are: 1) accountability, 2) capacity, 3) mandate drift, 4) competition, and 5) complexity. The four broad themes addressed through case studies and literature on evaluation are: 1) theory-based evaluation, 2) inclusiveness (participatory approaches), 3) the changing and multiple roles of evaluators, and 4) the use of dialogue, deliberative and democratic approaches in evaluation practice. The study contends that the ‘rough ground’ of nonprofit settings provides a useful lens for understanding broader challenges and trends in evaluation practice; that evaluators provide more than just technical skills and knowledge, but undertake important roles in linking communities, mediating among stakeholders, fostering dialogue and deliberation about programming, and mitigating some of the more egregious impacts of devolution experienced by nonprofit and grassroots organizations. By acknowledging and supporting the development of such roles and responsibilities, the profession and evaluators working in these settings can provide meaningful contributions to public discourse about the nature of accountability, the broad context of social programming, the complex capacity challenges being faced by nonprofit organizations, and the role of evaluation in exacerbating or potentially mitigating such effects.

What is e-leadership and how can it be framed in a distance context? How can work motivation be understood as a correlated theme? In prior leadership research and theory it has been taken for granted that leadership occurs in a face-to-face environment, so how to study leadership in a remote context? According to recent research, e-leadership defines this leader-member relation in this new arena, and a central focus of this research has been on communication. Communication is a central theme in the remote setting because it is the only interaction arena which allows leadership to be seen and understood. By conducting a case study in a multi media organization with distance working journalists as focus group this essay aims to bring a deeper understanding of how e-leadership works and how it effects work motivation. The field of media organizations is interesting to study as distance work is not an unusual working environment for journalists, and research has indicated that work motivation needs for these highly specified creative workers are somewhat differentiated from other, for example industrial workers, which implies that motivation theories urges an update. The data was collected by individual interviews which later were transcribed and categorized into emerging themes. The themes were then analyzed through the theoretical framework. The results from this case study implies that the distance working context includes several challenges and more responsibilities in a comparative to a physical environment where there are other service units. For example the social aspects of having meaningful social relationships to coworkers and leaders is a challenge in a context where there are few, if any physical meetings. The time pressure in the daily work makes the communication mostly work based, and there is little time over for small talk. The distance work environment also includes more responsibilities in terms of watering the flowers at the office, filling up the printer with paper and other responsibilities not strictly attached to the work assignments, but still a part of them.