M. Tech (Department of Information and Communication Technology, Faculty of Applied and Computer Sciences) Vaal University of Technology. / The author addressed the need of parents, school teachers and athletic coaches to be able to assess the level of performance and to compare performances of individual athletes of either gender and in any age group. This was achieved by creating formulas for the following areas in track and field athletics: • Correctly set base standards for all events from the results of 5 year weighted average performances. • Use the base standards to determine comparative standards for all events in all age groups. • Define a function to compare male and female performances in all events. • For all events, generate tables with a range from 0 to 1000 as a comparative measurement. These formulae were created using data from international and national meetings. Different case studies were used for each of the areas and the results were evaluated using the data. In all four areas, it was possible to define hybrid functions with a confidence factor better than 99%. The final performance tables can be updated during revision periods (every 2 to 4 years) by using the national results for the last 5 years. These revisions will be required as implements, tracks and training methods change with time and this will then in turn influence the performances. This is evident from the continuous improvement of records in all events. These tables will not only assist coaches to improve training techniques but it will also facilitate team managers to improve team selections, and it will open the options of meeting organizers to arrange meetings using different formats. As this is a new and unique formulation for measuring performances at junior level in world athletics it can be used as a basis for future improvements in the field of comparative measurement for athletics. Using these tables at senior level it may assist to settle arguments of performance comparisons that are not addressed by the current tables used by the International Amateur Athletics Federation (IAAF). It will also avoid the use of different tables for the same events in standard track and field athletics compared to those used for combined event competitions. The author of the tables used by the IAAF has recognised this work as a new and unique development. Future development will include the automatic update of all functions and creation of tables for publication from a standard Windows® based application. A companion application, using the results from this research, will be developed. This application will address all the administration functions required to conduct a meeting. It will include the preparation for the meeting, capturing of results during the meeting and result reporting after the meeting.

Medborgardialoger är ett allt vanligare inslag inom planering, och framhålls ofta som ett viktigt verktyg för att främja den lokala demokratin och medborgarnas inflytande över planeringen. Inte sällan finns det stora förväntningar på medborgardialogers potential, då inte bara för ökad demokrati, utan även på den ska bidra till en ökad effektivitet i planeringsprocessen eller ge legitimitet till ett planförslag. Samtidigt är syftena med specifika dialogprojekt ofta är oklart definierade, och många dialogprojekt lider av problem med bristande representativitet och lågt inflytande över den fortsatta planeringen. Stadskärnan i Sundbyberg norr om Stockholm ska genomgå stora förändringar i och med att Mälarbanan kommer dras ner i tunnel och Sundbybergs stad har arbetat med en vision för den nya stadskärnan sedan våren 2013. En del av det arbetet har handlat om att genomföra ett dialogprojekt för att ge Sundbybergsborna en möjlighet att bidra till visionen. För att bättre nå unga i det arbetet genomfördes idétävlingen Ung C Sundbyberg under våren 2015. Jag har gjord en kvalitativ fallstudie över Ung C Sundbyberg som ett atypiskt fall av ambitiösa dialogprojekt som riktar sig specifikt mot unga, med syftet att få en djupare förståelse för spelrummet i frågeställningen och motiven bakom dialogprocesser, då särskilt ungdomsdeltagande. Genom fältstudier där jag närvarat på, gjort observationer och till en begränsad del deltagit i fem workshopar som genomförts i den första deltävlingen i Ung C Sundbyberg söker jag svara på frågor om varför unga var en viktig grupp att nå, hur tävlingsuppgiften ramades in av processledarna och hur tävlingen förhöll sig till ideal om hur en ”god” dialog ska uppnås. Trots de initiala ambitionerna med tävlingen går det inte att förstå fallet som en medborgardialog som ska bidra till ett större demokratiskt inflytande över visionsarbetet för Sundbybergs nya stadskärna. En del av materialet tyder också på att intresset för ungdomar som grupp går att ifrågasätta, istället handlar det snarare om ett dialogarbete nära besläktat med marknadsundersökningar, med ambitioner att skapa uppmärksamhet kring stadsomvandlingen i Sundbyberg. / Citizen dialogues are an increasingly common feature in planning, and are frequently declared to be an important tool to promote local democracy and citizens' influence in the planning. Not seldom, there are great expectations for the potential of citizen dialogue, not only for increased democracy, but also on contributions to an increased efficiency in planning or better legitimacy to a propose plan. At the same time the objectives of the specific dialogue projects are often vaguely defined, and numerous dialogue projects suffer from problems with lack of representativeness and low influence on the future planning. The city centre of Sundbyberg, north of Stockholm will undergo major changes when Mälarbanan will be drawn down into a tunnel, and Sundbybergs stad has worked with a vision for the new city centre since spring 2013. Part of the work has focused on implementing a dialogue project to give residents in Sundbyberg an opportunity to contribute to the vision. To better reach young people in the work with this vision, an idea competition called Ung C Sundbyberg was carried out in the spring of 2015. I have made a qualitative case study of Ung C Sundbyberg as an atypical case of ambitious dialogue projects aimed specifically at young people, with the aim to gain a deeper understanding of the scope of, and motives behind the dialogue process, and especially youth participation. Through field studies where I attended and made observations at, and to a limited extent participated in five workshops conducted in the first round of Ung C Sundbyberg I seek to answer questions about why young people was an important group to reach, how the competition task was framed by the process managers and how the competition is related to ideals of how a "good" dialogue can be achieved. Despite the initial ambitions of the competition, you cannot understand the case as a citizen dialogue that will contribute to greater democratic control over the visionary work of Sundbyberg's new city centre. Some of the material also suggests that the interest in young people as a group is questionable, rather it is more about the dialogue work is closely related to market research, with ambitions to draw attention to urban transformation in Sundbyberg.

Esta tesis doctoral aborda el concurso de arquitectura como objeto de estudio acotado en un marco espacial y temporal: España, 1950-200X. Se propone como hipótesis de partida la idea de que el concurso de arquitectura opera como un imaginario sistémico a través de su difusión en las revistas profesionales. En este sentido, los concursos publicados constituyen un fragmento de la cultura arquitectónica muy significativo y, sin embargo, poco estudiado hasta la fecha, que permite observar sus dinámicas como espacios de acción y de influencia disciplinar, y, por tanto, posibilita reconstruir el relato asociado a dichas competiciones a través de sus editoriales. De manera general, los principales objetivos de la investigación son: completar y sistematizar el vacío de conocimiento específico en relación al tema; inventariar los concursos nacionales difundidos en las revistas periódicas de impacto de edición española (1950-200X); analizar los discursos en torno al concurso de los medios en correspondencia con sus políticas editoriales; relacionar su interés con el de las propias publicaciones que se hacen eco para analizar su instrumentalización; comprender las dinámicas del concurso como campo de producción cultural y evidenciar sus imaginarios. El estudio comienza con una primera aproximación teórica en la que el concurso de arquitectura se determina como objeto material y objeto formal de conocimiento, es decir, se expone el proceso histórico mediante el cual cristaliza como institución, y se realiza una aproximación a los distintos posicionamientos epistemológicos existentes en torno a este. De dicho acercamiento se extrae una metodología específica cuyo corpus de estudio lo constituye la difusión del concurso en las revistas profesionales. Estos principios metodológicos se han llevado a cabo según una lógica cuantitativa y cualitativa basada en la caracterización de cada medio y la selección de 100 casos de estudio -constituidos como ‘colección’- de entre el millar de concursos vaciados en los índices de más de 2.000 números de revistas. Los resultados de todo el material compilado y el procesamiento de sus datos se muestran de forma diagramática con el fin de objetivar la máxima información y caracterizar cada revista. Atendiendo a estas hipótesis, objetivos y metodología, la tesis doctoral queda compuesta por dos tomos que mantienen un vínculo indisoluble. El primero lo constituye el cuerpo del trabajo de investigación y, el segundo, la ‘colección’, es decir, su base documental. Dicha colección ha permitido construir un relato analítico transversal que, a modo de propuesta historiográfica y crítica, establece cuatro etapas diferenciadas según la instrumentalización del concurso en los medios: contiendas por la modernidad entre autarquía y desarrollismo (1950-196X); concursos como espacios de investigación para el aperturismo y la transición (196X-198X); convocatorias para los acontecimientos icónicos del cambio (198X-199X); competiciones como escenografías del espectáculo global (199X-200X). Finalmente, el epílogo cierra la tesis con unas breves conclusiones que enumeran las principales aportaciones de la investigación, así como sugerencias para sus futuros desarrollos. / This doctoral thesis explores the architecture competition as a delimited object of study within a spatial and temporal framework: Spain, 1950-200X. The starting hypothesis suggests that the architecture competition functions as a systemic imaginary through its dissemination in professional magazines. In this sense, the published competitions constitute a significant, yet understudied, fragment of architectural culture that allows observing their dynamics as spaces of action and disciplinary influence, and, consequently, enable the reconstruction of the narrative associated with these competitions through their editorials. In general, the main objectives of the research are: to fill and systematise the specific knowledge gap related to the topic; inventory national competitions disseminated in Spanish-language influential periodicals (1950-200X); analyse discourses surrounding competitions in the media in correspondence with their editorial policies; relate their interest to the publications themselves that echo them to analyse their instrumentalisation; understand the dynamics of the competition as a field of cultural production and highlight its imaginaries. The study begins with a theoretical approach in which the architecture competition is defined as both a material and formal object of knowledge, i.e., the historical process through which it crystallises as an institution is presented, and various epistemological positions around it are explored. A specific methodology is derived from this approach, with the corpus of the study being the dissemination of the competition in professional magazines. These methodological principles have been carried out through quantitative and qualitative logic, characterising each medium and selecting 100 case studies -constituting a ‘collection’- from the thousands of competitions listed in the indices of over 2,000 magazine issues. The results of the compiled material and the processing of its data are presented diagrammatically to maximise information objectification and characterise each magazine. In line with these hypotheses, objectives, and methodology, the doctoral thesis is composed of two volumes that are indissolubly linked. The first volume constitutes the body of the research work, and the second is the ‘collection’, i.e., its documentary basis. This collection has allowed the construction of a transversal analytical narrative that, as a historiographical and critical proposal, establishes four stages differentiated by the instrumentalisation of the competition in the media: struggles for modernity between autarky and developmentalism (1950-196X); competitions as research spaces for openness and transition (196X-198X); calls for iconic events of change (198X-199X); closed competitions as scenographies of the global spectacle (199X-200X). Finally, the epilogue concludes the thesis with brief conclusions listing the main contributions of the research, along with suggestions for its future development.

This dissertation comprises three essays on theoretical analysis of middlemen in intermediated markets. Chapter 1 gives a brief survey on the market intermediation literature and also briefly describes the subsequent chapters. In Chapter 2 I study the role of horizontally differentiated middlemen in a bilateral search market in which heterogeneous agents of each group possess private information concerning the value of joint production. I focus on the effect of the middlemen on agents' search efforts and on pricing decisions by middlemen. In particular, I show that the middlemen intensify agents' search activities. I also provide an explanation for why middlemen often use asymmetric pricing for two groups in a market. In Chapter 3 I study a model of platform competition when both indirect network effect and the desirability concerns of the agents are present. The desirability concerns are defined as the perceived quality of platforms. A platform with a higher proportion of high-type agents is regarded as a platform with a better quality. Under these circumstances, I derive conditions for the existence of equilibrium. In a dominant platform equilibrium, I show that some agents may not be served by the dominant platform. I also show that two platforms with different perceived quality may coexist in equilibrium. It suggests that endogenous market segmentation may arise in two-sided markets. In chapter 4 I study the effort-maximizing contest rule when there is a positive externality between aggregate efforts and the contest audience: the audience is more willing to pay for watching a contest if each participating contestant expends more effort. The Tullock rent-seeking contest with endogenous entry is extended by incorporating the contest audience into the model. In order to fund the contest, the organizer with no budget has to collect fees from one or both of two groups. It is shown that the effort-maximizing contest rule under a positive externality attracts only two entrants and, in the unique subgame perfect equilibrium, the entrants are always subsidized regardless of the size of entry costs, and the audience pay a positive fee. / Ph. D.

No description available.

This study was carried out in the Banco Popular de Ahorro, in Santiago de Cuba. Duringthree years, different Profiles of Directive Competitions were made as well as a Unique or Generic Profile, adaptable to any executive of this or other organizations. Different con- ceptions of competitions were obtained and confirmed, such as simple, compound, basic, secondary, generic and specific competitions. Various experiences were confirmed, such as the importance of establishing their dimensions, contradictions and similarities between competitions and values, their possibility to focus on different organizational tasks, such as the improvement of the environment, the quality in the performance of top and intermediate management, technicians and workers, with the objective of improving the performance of the employees and the organization. / La investigación se desarrolló en el Banco Popular de Ahorro, en Santiago de Cuba, donde durante tres años se trabajó en la conformación de diversos Perfiles de Competencias Directivos y un Perfil Único o Genérico, adaptable a cualquier directivo de esta institución y otras organizaciones. Se obtuvieron y confirmaron diversas concepciones de competencias como las simples, compuestas, básicas, secundarias, genéricas y especificas, importantes y claves, y diversas experiencias como la importancia de establecer sus dimensiones, las contradicciones y similitudes entre competencias y valores, su posibilidad de enfocarse hacia diversas tareas organizacionales, como el mejoramiento del medio ambiente, la calidad del trabajo de mandos superiores, intermedios, técnicos y obreros, con el objetivo de perfeccionar la gestión del desempeño de los trabajadores y la organización.

Thesis (MMus (Music))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / The purpose of this thesis is twofold. In the first instance, it is to document the origins and history of the eisteddfod in general, and more specifically, in South Africa. In the second instance, this thesis will attempt to describe the meaning and role of the eisteddfod in South Africa. This will be achieved with the help of a case study, which will require that a local eisteddfod be researched and discussed. As a result of involvement with eisteddfods over a period of twenty-five years (first as a participant and later as a teacher and a member of the judging panel), the writer has, over time, become increasingly fascinated with the phenomenon of the eisteddfod. Some of the questions that have arisen include: Why do eisteddfods still take palce in South Africa? What role do they play in the present-day cultural education of learners? Do they still bear relevance in current musical (specifically vocal) practice? This thesis is aimed at determining why such high value is attached to eisteddfods in certain communities. Why did this centuries-old tradition, brought from the northern hemisphere to South Africa, survive for so long? And why is it so important for some teachers, parents and children that they must participate? There is a large volume of literature concerning the international history of the eisteddfod. As this general history is already comprehensively described, it will only be presented in this thesis as a broad historical framework for the more specific history of the eisteddfod in South Africa. The local history of the eisteddfod is, however, poorly covered by published information. The literature in existence is often incomplete, and in most cases covers only up to the 1960‟s. News and magazine archives can only really help to identify the location and date of various eisteddfods, and to highlight some interesting aspects thereof. The latest academic literature was published as far back as 1994. The hypothesis of the current study relates to the suspicion that significant change has taken place in the last thirteen years (since 1994) regarding the meaning and vi function of the eisteddfod in South Africa. As the literature relating to this period is so sparse, this hypothesis will be empirically tested in a case study. To place the eisteddfod in South Africa in a historical context it is important to first investigate its origins. Its origin in Wales and subsequent development will be examined. This background study will assist in determining how eisteddfods in South Africa compare with those in other countries. To describe the development of the eisteddfod in South Africa is more complicated, due to the lack of an accurately described history. The defined scope of this thesis does not, however, include the production of an accurate history. Rather, a partial history is compiled using contemporary sources such as newspapers and magazines, as well as secondary sources. The most important and possibly the most challenging aspect of this thesis concerns an in-depth investigation of the Paarl-Valley Eisteddfod. The purpose of this investigation was an empirical study to collect information regarding a specific eisteddfod as well as the community that participate and support it. This information was used to form interpretations as to whether an institution like the eisteddfod is still relevant, and if it still adds value to the development of children, learners and musicians. It also helped to direct speculation about the meaning and function of the eisteddfod to participants, parents and teachers.

Thesis (MBA (Business Management))--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Successes at local and international wine competitions are frequently used to achieve differentiation in the market place. Acting like third party credentials, award medals are meant to support a producer’s claim of superior quality. Over the past decade, there has been a notable increase in the number of wine competitions to which producers are encouraged to submit their wines. Producers are promised recognition for their success, while the organisers gain from the entry fees that producers pay, regardless of their success. It is the purpose of this study to examine, whether in the mind of the consumer wine awards do indeed play a significant role in influencing consumer choices. Initially, a literature review was conducted to establish the role of wine awards in the context of wine marketing. Based on the findings, a survey was conducted among South African wine consumers. The data was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistical methods. The analysis showed that while wine awards are indeed recognised by the consumer as a cue that shapes their choices, their importance is relatively low compared to other cues. Yet, having established that decision-making is a complex set of interactions, wine awards do nevertheless play a role in supporting a decision in certain circumstances and for certain customer segments. Generally speaking, it was found that the more sophisticated a consumer is, the less regard exists for wine awards. Not only do wine awards have lesser power in shaping decisions, but also attitudes towards the concept of wine awards are more negative. Lesser informed consumers tend to take more guidance, and are less opinionated about the concept of third party ratings. It was also shown that a few industry-specific issues undermine the value and potential impact of wine awards. Firstly, the increasing number of wine competitions appears to dilute the value of wine awards as a marketing tool. Secondly, consumers are sceptical regarding honesty that producers apply in marketing their awards; an independent monitoring authority is seen as a solution to raise the profile of wine awards in South Africa, thus creating more credibility and power for this tool. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Suksesse behaal by plaaslike en internasionale wynkompetisies word dikwels gebruik om differensiasie in die markplek te verkry. Net soos getuigskrifte van ‘n derde party, word toekennings gebruik om ‘n produsent se aanspraak op uitmuntende gehalte te ondersteun. Oor die afgelope dekade was daar ‘n aansienlike toename in die getal wynkompetisies en produsente word aangemoedig om hulle wyne daarvoor in te skryf. Produsente word erkenning vir hulle sukses beloof, terwyl die organiseerders voordeel trek uit die inskrywingsgelde wat produsente betaal ongeag of hulle sukses behaal of nie. Dit was die doel van hierdie studie om te ondersoek of wyntoekennings wel na die oordeel van die verbruiker ‘n belangrike rol speel om die verbruiker se keuse by wynaankope te beïnvloed. ‘n Literatuuroorsig is aanvanklik uitgevoer om die rol van wyntoekennings in die konteks van wynmakery te bepaal. Met daardie bevindings as grondslag is ‘n opname onder Suid-Afrikaanse wynverbruikers uitgevoer. Hierdie data is ontleed met behulp van beskrywende en afgeleide statistiese metodes. Die ontleding het aangetoon dat, hoewel wyntoekennings wel deur die verbruiker erken word as ‘n riglyn by hulle keuses, die belangrikheid daarvan relatief laag is vergeleke met ander riglyne. Nogtans, aangesien daar bepaal is dat besluitneming ‘n komplekse stel interaksies behels, speel wyntoekennings wel ‘n rol om ‘n besluit te ondersteun onder sekere omstandighede en by sekere kliëntsegmente. Oor die algemeen is daar bevind dat hoe meer gesofistikeerd ‘n verbruiker is, hoe minder waarde word aan wyntoekennings geheg. Nie alleen dra wyntoekennings dan minder gewig by die beïnvloeding van keuses nie, maar die houding teenoor die konsep van wyntoekennings is meer negatief. Minder ingeligte verbruikers is geneig om hulle meer te laat lei deur die konsep van ‘n derde party se oordeel en het minder van ‘n eie mening daaroor. Daar is ook aangetoon dat ‘n paar kwessies spesifiek tot die wynindustrie die waarde en potensiële impak van wyntoekennings ondermyn. Eerstens lyk dit asof die toenemende getal wynkompetisies die waarde van wyntoekennings as ‘n bemarkingsinstrument verwater. Tweedens is verbruikers skepties oor die eerlikheid van produsente by die bemarking van hulle toekennings. ‘n Onafhanklike moniteringsgesag word gesien as ‘n oplossing om die profiel van wyntoekennings in Suid-Afrika te verbeter en sodoende groter betroubaarheid en mag vir hierdie bemarkingsinstrument te bewerkstellig.

The purpose of the study was to compare the attitudes of 4-H youths and their parents concerning 4-H competitiveness. The sample was composed of seventy-nine 4-H youths and their parents from three North Texas Counties. The instruments, which consisted of an "Opinionnaire for Parents" and an "Opinionnaire for 4-H'ers," were designed to obtain the 4-H'ers' and parents' attitudes about 4-H competition. The study revealed no significant difference in competitive attitudes between 4-H youths' and their parents' or between younger and older 4-H'ers. 4-H boys were found to have more competitive attitudes than 4-H girls. No significant relationship was found between parents' level of competitiveness and length of 4-H service.

Os festivais/concursos de samba-enredo são competições que normalmente acontecem nas cidades onde existem disputas entre as agremiações carnavalescas. São eventos amplamente divulgados que levam às Quadras das escolas de samba milhares de pessoas para a escolha dos sambas que irão musicar os enredos e que serão, mais tarde, transformados em samba-enredo. Esses sambas disputados nas Quadras das escolas, juntamente com as baterias e suas sonoridades, compõem as linguagens sonoro-musicais que possibilitam a emergência de discursos musicais que através das escolas pesquisadas, Protegidos da Princesa, de Florianópolis, General Telles, de Pelotas e Imperadores do Samba, de Porto Alegre, ecoam enquanto falas produzidas pelos negros na diáspora, no sul do Brasil. Essas sonoridades criadas pela percussividade das baterias e pela melodia dos sambas engendrados nas Quadras são sentidos pelos sambistas, intérpretes, passistas, baianas e foliões, a partir das síncopes e dos efeitos que criam nos corpos dos partícipes das escolas de samba, produzindo um tipo de sujeito no sul do Brasil, que se cria e se recria por meio da ancestralidade nos festivais de samba-enredo, nos momentos em que os sambistas compõem suas obras para as competições e nos espaços da Dispersão. / Samba enredo festivals or competitions take place in the cities where there are disputes between carnaval associations. These are widely publicized events, which bring thousands of people to the samba schools on the days that the choosing of the best samba takes place. The winning samba will provided the music for the enredo - the ‘plot’ - of the samba schools and will be latter transformed in the samba enredo. The sambas that partake of the competitions, along with the bateria - the percussion ensamble - and its sonority, compose the musical-sonic language that brings forth the musical discourses of the Protegidos da Princesa (Protégés of the Princess, Florianópolis, Santa Catarina); General Telles (Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul) and Imperadores do Samba (Emperors of Samba, Rio Grande do Sul), the samba schools where this research was carried out. Such musical discourses resonate as diasporic speech, produced by blacks in southern Brazil. These sonorities, produced by the percussiveness of the drumming ensembles of the samba schools and the melody of the sambas, are felt by the sambistas, the singers (intérpretes); dancers (passistas), baianas; and samba revelers, through the syncopation and the effects they produce on the body of these practitioners. Such sonority engenders particular subjects, who are created and recreated by the ancestry expressed in the samba enredo festivals, when samba composers bring forth their work for the competitions, and at the dispersão, the space and time of end of the formal structure of the public parade of the samba schools and the momento of dispersal of dancers and musicians.