Despite calls for concerted, two-way engagement and for the development of reciprocal partnerships between institutions of higher education (IHE's) and their communities, IHE's continue to implement a disparate menu of activities that prove largely ineffective at addressing society's most challenging social and environmental problems. A relatively new conception of engagement lays out a framework by which IHE's engage with communities in democratic ways. Democratic engagement values inclusive, reciprocal problem-oriented work that brings together university and community stakeholders as co-generators of knowledge and solutions. The resulting democratically engaged partnerships position diverse members to take on roles as collaborators and problem solvers. They are mutually transformed through the processes of reciprocation, power diffusion, and knowledge generation. <br>How these democratically oriented roles and processes emerge and come to be enacted is unknown. Neither the literature on democratic engagement nor that on community-university partnerships addresses this gap. This dissertation study purposefully selected a case of community-university partnership that has a high degree of democratic engagement. Through interviews, observation, and document review, qualitative evidence was collected of the ways in which the roles and processes of democratically engaged partnerships emerged and were enacted. Atlas.ti 6.2 was used to code and retrieve themes related to democratic and technocratic engagement, stakeholder roles and processes, and the emergence and application of roles and processes. <br>Understanding how democratically oriented roles and processes emerge and are adopted is critical to building democratically engaged partnerships that support systems of democratic engagement. If we do not know how to be democratic within our partnerships, and if we cannot teach others, we will not be able to answer the calls for more purposeful, reciprocal engagement with our communities. / School of Education; / Interdisciplinary Doctoral Program for Education Leaders (IDPEL) / EdD; / Dissertation;

This social work research study explore sexual exploitation in the form of child pornography. The grooming process, a process where the perpetrator engages his victim in a relationship, whereafter he uses this relationship to abuse his victim is investigated. The research is conducted by means of a case study. / Thesis (M.A. (Social Work))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.

Abstract This qualitative interview study was designed to understand how early literacy experiences continue to influence individuals as they become adult readers. The study utilized a case study methodology that allowed detailed descriptions of participants’ recollections of early literacy experiences and descriptions of the participants’ current reading habits. The researcher, working from a constructivist paradigm, worked to find evidence to explore what features of early reading experiences might compel an individual to turn to reading again and again, or to choose to abstain from reading. The following research questions guided this study: “What specific memories do adult readers recall about early reading experiences?” “What is the nature of the influence of early reading experiences on lifelong reading habits as reported by adults?” and “What is the nature of the influence of lifelong reading habits on social and professional life as reported by adults?” Seven participants shared their earliest memories of literacy experiences, as rooted in family and school contexts, along with explanations of the uses of reading in their adult lives. The researcher employed a typological analysis to determine how participants’ memories of early literacy experiences impacted their adult reading habits. The many facets of early reading experiences that influenced the participants’ reading habits could be categorized as positive, neutral, or negative. Most individuals experienced a combination of positive and negative literacy experiences, and the nature of these experiences influenced the participants’ adult reading habits in particular ways. The results of the analysis supported prior research in the field about the influence of teachers and the importance of early literacy instruction, and highlighted in particular, the emotional impact of successes or perceived failure in learning to read.

Problem: The online betting industry has erased the importance of national borders and opened up the world, which has lead to a more diversified perspective of the company. In this master thesis we wanted to broaden and develop the topic of corporate valuation with regard to the on-line gambling industry. In order to do that, a case study of the on-line betting firm Unibet and its core betting activities has been carried out. Purpose: The study aims to identify factors in the strategic, SWOT and financial analysis that will be used in the cash flow valuation model in order to derive the company value. Method: A case study has been chosen to collect empirical data to our study. Conclusion: A cash flow valuation in different scenarios was carried out. With the assumptions made in the “probable” scenario a value of approximately GBP 85 million was reached, which was significantly lower than the listed value. This is mainly due to the fact that we believe that the increased competition will make it difficult for Unibet to maintain its strong growth in sales in the future. The assumptions have been based on the information gained from the strategic analysis, the SWOT analysis and the development in financial ratios.

This thesis examines how cultural diversity within an organization might influence managers‟ information-handling process. The models used are; Geert Hofstede‟s five dimensions of national culture, to represent the cultural diversity; and Henry Mintzberg‟s definition of the manager‟s informational roles, to represent the managers‟ information-handling.To show this empirically, a case study of a half-Swedish, half-Vietnamese-owned retail company, UMA Ltd Co, was conducted. This company is situated in Vietnam and employs a range of different nationalities. Interviews were conducted with seven of UMA‟s managers to gain an understanding of their opinions concerning their informational roles, as well as to identify issues and benefits within the company caused by the cultural diversity.The results of the interviews revealed some relevant cultural issues and benefits of working in a culturally diverse company. It was evident through the analysis, in which the cultural dimensions were applied onto the informational roles, that there are a number of problems at UMA in need of repair. For instance, differences in employees‟ perception of the power distance dimension seem to affect how information is spread and gained. This is also caused by the unclear organizational structure of the company, where employees, instead of realizing who they are obliged to answer to, rather follow their culturally given hierarchical system. Further issues caused by the cultural diversity at UMA are presented in the conclusion of this thesis.

Background: Around the world, markets deregulates, which leads to increased competition. Meetings between the consumer and the employees of a company determine how the customer perceives the company and / or its brand. This has result in that many companies have realized the importance of internal using the same marketing skills that are used externally. In 2009, pharmacy market went from being a monopoly market to be a regulated competitive market. Problem: Is there any internal conditions for a private company, whose culture and structure was formed under a state monopoly, to create a strong corporate brand? Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to, through a case study, analyze and evaluate the internal marketing in a company which has undergone a change of ownership and retained the same staff. Method: Through interviews with key personnel and staff , data was gathered for the case study, which means that the method is qualitative. Only one of the company's pharmacies has been included in the study. Conclusions: The authors of this paper perceive that company has the required internal conditions to create a strong corporate brand, since the company i.e. has taken into consideration the history of the pharmacy staff, the management shows a personal commitment, campaigns are communicated internally, staff and customers consciously or unconsciously may be involved in shaping the content of the corporate brand, and that dialogue exists between staff and management so that management can have an understanding of how staff perceive the company's vision and corporate brand, which in turn leads the company to form a brand that staff can accept and understand because their norms and values has been taken into consideration.

Due to the advancement of web-based technologies, using LMS to support both asynchronous and synchronous learning has become more and more popular. Another new trend is to combine physical classroom and cyber classroom into a mixture learning environment, that is why blended learning has become an important research topic in e-learning domain. According to the literature survey, blended learning can create a flexible learning environment and improve the learning effects. Besides, blended learning can also reduce the cost, increase the benefit, and extend the outcomes. However, most teachers are not familiar with this kind of blended synchronous learning environment; they have no ideas about how to conduct teaching and learning activities in this kind of environment. The aims of this study are to explore the proper setup of a blended learning environment and to propose some important blended learning models for teachers. We use case study approach for our research. Two online successful courses were chosen as the study cases. These two courses are ¡§E-learning Theory and Practice¡¨ and ¡§Computer Networks and the Internet¡¨ which were instructed by Dr. Nian-Shing Chen at National Sun Yat-Sen University. Observation method and interview method were used to gather the study data. Moreover, the gathered data was analyzed by qualitative methods. The contributions of this study are the setup guideline for blended synchronous classroom and the proposed five blended synchronous learning modes. These results could provide valuable references for administrators to setup appropriate blended learning environments and for instructors to design better blended learning courses.

In the 2010/11 academic year, more than one fifth of international students in the American higher education institutions were from Mainland China. However, these Chinese students were often addressed by American professors as "passive listeners" or "inactive learners": they were quiet in the classroom and seldom asked question. In this paper, the investigator examined five Chinese graduate students in an American university on their experiences and perceptions on asking question in the American classrooms. A qualitative multiple case study was conducted with individual face-to-face interview as the major data collection instrument. The two research questions are: 1) What are the experiences of Chinese international students about asking questions in graduate level classes in the United States? 2) How do Chinese international graduate students feel about asking questions in the American classroom? It was found that the major issues influenced the participants' question-asking behavior were: 1) English deficiency, 2) cultural differences between China and America, and 3) the different educational environment between these two countries. Specifically, the participants' motivation and opportunity to ask question in the classroom was influenced by their belief that teacher should be respected, the value of question, and the Chinese concepts of thinking and speaking. The classroom environment in terms of the classroom behavior of American professors and other students also had impacts on the participants' question-asking behavior as an external contextual factor. Based on the findings of this study, recommendations were offered for American faculty members and staffs working with international students and incoming Chinese students. This study might help American professors better understand the unique learning styles of their Chinese students and inform institution administrators to improve the services for international students. The results may also help Chinese students adapt to the American educational community smoothly. Suggestions for further study were also provided for researchers who were interested to increase international/ Chinese students' classroom participation.

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?

Financial Institutions have been regarded to be the core area of economic development. However, Nepal could not achieve satisfactory level of economic development and growth due to Maoists war (1996-2006) and the political instability. The increase in size and number of commercial banks are limited only in the urban areas so that banking services are not accessible to the general public. This paper examines interaction between financial development and economic growth in Nepal employing correlation analysis, regression analysis, financial ratios and other related theories. As we found that financial institutions have grown rapidly which has implication in overall economy of the nation. The economic indicators such as GDP, GDP per capita, loan assets of commercial banks, investment, deposit, number of commercial banks, and inflation rate from fiscal year 2001 to 2007 are used for the analysis of this study. The relevant ratios of commercial banks such as deposit, investment, and profitability are found to be in increasing trend. The growth rate of GDP/capita is however volatile in the study period, the regression result of Deposit/GDP is weakly significant under the study period {(0,06)*}. The investment growth rate is not significant at all possibly due to the time lag of the effect of investment on the economic development. Furthermore, correlation between Growth rate of GDP and deposit/GDP (ρ=0.49). The Growth rate of GDP and investment over GDP is positive related with a correlation coefficient of 0.82. This has confirmed our beliefs in the set out of the thesis.