The environmental governance sphere in South Africa is fragmented. This fragmentation is exacerbated in the provinces. Fragmentation manifests in various ways, including, inter alia, structural fragmentation between the various spheres and line functions of government, fragmented environmental legislation which is silo-based and issue-specific, jurisdictional overlaps, and duplication of procedures and processes. Fragmentation poses several disadvantages and may ultimately hamper effective and sustainable service-delivery by government. The problem of fragmentation forms the crux of this study. The principal objective of this thesis is accordingly to investigate possible solutions to address fragmentation and to propose a more sustainable strategy to achieve integration of currently fragmented environmental governance efforts in South Africa and the North-West Province (NWP). The NWP has specifically been chosen as a case study in this regard since problems of fragmentation are exacerbated in the provinces. The first step in this thesis is to analyse the theoretical concept of sustainability in order to establish the eventual objective of what integrated environmental governance efforts should achieve. The concept of fragmented governance and possible generic reasons for fragmentation, including unco-operative and unsustainable organisational behaviour, are also investigated to highlight the nature and disadvantages of fragmentation and other factors that may contribute to it. A further component of the theoretical analysis includes an investigation of the concepts of integrated, or holistic governance, and an investigation of the concepts integrated environmental management (IEM), co-operative environmental governance (CEG), and integrated pollution prevention and control (IPPC). These concepts are investigated in order to ascertain the possible solutions for integration that they may pose. Secondly, this thesis investigates the current state of the fragmented environmental governance regime in South Africa and the NWP. The extent and reasons for fragmentation are discussed; and unco-operative organisational behaviour patterns in the national, provincial and local spheres of government are investigated. The concepts of IEM, CEG and IPPC, as they are established in South African law, are also discussed. Thirdly, this study investigates integrated approaches to environmental governance in the international sphere by way of a comparative study. For this purpose, the relevant provisions of the European Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control Directive, 1996 are discussed. The comparative study is concluded with an investigation of the provisions of the Directive as they are applied in national legal frameworks in the EU, with specific reference to Finland and the Netherlands. The main objective of this part of the study is to ascertain whether established solutions for integration of governance efforts are available in practice, and if so, to what extent they are employed to address fragmentation. This study concludes with recommendations on how the fragmented environmental governance sphere in South Africa may be integrated. These include short-, medium-and long-term scenarios, namely: a less radical strategy which must aim to optimise the current environmental governance regime by employing established concepts such as IEM, CEG and IPPC; a more radical strategy, which aims to establish a single act to regulate all procedural aspects relating to environmental governance and authorisations, and a single authority that is responsible for all procedural aspects in terms of the act; and an extremely radical strategy, which aims to establish a one-stop environmental governance shop, with a single act regulating all procedural and substantive aspects, and a single lead agent responsible for regulation in terms of this act. / Thesis (LL.D. (Estate Law))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2006.

Milton Friedman’s theory of free market corporate responsibility, which states that the maximizing of profits is the only social responsibility a law-abiding business has, is clearly a concept of the past. A concept that is very relevant today, is the concept of sustainable development, which may be defined as development that meets the needs of the present world without forfeiting the ability of future generations to meet their personal needs. This concept recognises that stakeholders and shareholders require forward-looking information to attend to the economic, environmental and social aspects of a business’s activities. Previous research has indicted that the financial performance of a business alone isn’t the sole reason for its success. This demonstrates the change from a single-bottom-line management and reporting approach to a triple-bottom-line management and reporting approach. The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) developed a Sustainability Reporting Framework that is generally considered the most widely used framework in terms of social responsibility reporting. In this research project, the unique set of business principles and values of co-operatives were analyzed and evaluated, and congruence were found between sustainable development and co-operative governance. Co-operatives in their diverse forms support the fullest participation in the economic and social development of people since they put people at the centre of their business and not capital. The primary objective of this study was to determine the extent to which the GRI guidelines, as a reporting framework, are feasible or applicable to cooperatives as a business model. In this research project, the abovementioned GRI guidelines are applied on a selected cooperative’s activities. The empirical case study, based on the agricultural co-operative Agri- Com, illustrated that the Level C Reporting Framework as per the GRI, can be used very successfully in the co-operative business model. In the case of Agri-Com, it was found that even though it is a co-operative, its primary management and reporting focus remained primarily on the financial aspects. It can therefore be recommended that in this instance, the guidelines per the Level C Reporting Framework, be considered as a method to better embrace the principles of the co-operative business model. / Thesis (MCom (Management Accountancy))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

Milton Friedman’s theory of free market corporate responsibility, which states that the maximizing of profits is the only social responsibility a law-abiding business has, is clearly a concept of the past. A concept that is very relevant today, is the concept of sustainable development, which may be defined as development that meets the needs of the present world without forfeiting the ability of future generations to meet their personal needs. This concept recognises that stakeholders and shareholders require forward-looking information to attend to the economic, environmental and social aspects of a business’s activities. Previous research has indicted that the financial performance of a business alone isn’t the sole reason for its success. This demonstrates the change from a single-bottom-line management and reporting approach to a triple-bottom-line management and reporting approach. The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) developed a Sustainability Reporting Framework that is generally considered the most widely used framework in terms of social responsibility reporting. In this research project, the unique set of business principles and values of co-operatives were analyzed and evaluated, and congruence were found between sustainable development and co-operative governance. Co-operatives in their diverse forms support the fullest participation in the economic and social development of people since they put people at the centre of their business and not capital. The primary objective of this study was to determine the extent to which the GRI guidelines, as a reporting framework, are feasible or applicable to cooperatives as a business model. In this research project, the abovementioned GRI guidelines are applied on a selected cooperative’s activities. The empirical case study, based on the agricultural co-operative Agri- Com, illustrated that the Level C Reporting Framework as per the GRI, can be used very successfully in the co-operative business model. In the case of Agri-Com, it was found that even though it is a co-operative, its primary management and reporting focus remained primarily on the financial aspects. It can therefore be recommended that in this instance, the guidelines per the Level C Reporting Framework, be considered as a method to better embrace the principles of the co-operative business model. / Thesis (MCom (Management Accountancy))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

The environmental governance sphere in South Africa is fragmented. This fragmentation is exacerbated in the provinces. Fragmentation manifests in various ways, including, inter alia, structural fragmentation between the various spheres and line functions of government, fragmented environmental legislation which is silo-based and issue-specific, jurisdictional overlaps, and duplication of procedures and processes. Fragmentation poses several disadvantages and may ultimately hamper effective and sustainable service-delivery by government. The problem of fragmentation forms the crux of this study. The principal objective of this thesis is accordingly to investigate possible solutions to address fragmentation and to propose a more sustainable strategy to achieve integration of currently fragmented environmental governance efforts in South Africa and the North-West Province (NWP). The NWP has specifically been chosen as a case study in this regard since problems of fragmentation are exacerbated in the provinces. The first step in this thesis is to analyse the theoretical concept of sustainability in order to establish the eventual objective of what integrated environmental governance efforts should achieve. The concept of fragmented governance and possible generic reasons for fragmentation, including unco-operative and unsustainable organisational behaviour, are also investigated to highlight the nature and disadvantages of fragmentation and other factors that may contribute to it. A further component of the theoretical analysis includes an investigation of the concepts of integrated, or holistic governance, and an investigation of the concepts integrated environmental management (IEM), co-operative environmental governance (CEG), and integrated pollution prevention and control (IPPC). These concepts are investigated in order to ascertain the possible solutions for integration that they may pose. Secondly, this thesis investigates the current state of the fragmented environmental governance regime in South Africa and the NWP. The extent and reasons for fragmentation are discussed; and unco-operative organisational behaviour patterns in the national, provincial and local spheres of government are investigated. The concepts of IEM, CEG and IPPC, as they are established in South African law, are also discussed. Thirdly, this study investigates integrated approaches to environmental governance in the international sphere by way of a comparative study. For this purpose, the relevant provisions of the European Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control Directive, 1996 are discussed. The comparative study is concluded with an investigation of the provisions of the Directive as they are applied in national legal frameworks in the EU, with specific reference to Finland and the Netherlands. The main objective of this part of the study is to ascertain whether established solutions for integration of governance efforts are available in practice, and if so, to what extent they are employed to address fragmentation. This study concludes with recommendations on how the fragmented environmental governance sphere in South Africa may be integrated. These include short-, medium-and long-term scenarios, namely: a less radical strategy which must aim to optimise the current environmental governance regime by employing established concepts such as IEM, CEG and IPPC; a more radical strategy, which aims to establish a single act to regulate all procedural aspects relating to environmental governance and authorisations, and a single authority that is responsible for all procedural aspects in terms of the act; and an extremely radical strategy, which aims to establish a one-stop environmental governance shop, with a single act regulating all procedural and substantive aspects, and a single lead agent responsible for regulation in terms of this act. / Thesis (LL.D. (Estate Law))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2006.

Examensarbetets fokus är hur små barn mellan ett till tre år interagerar och samlär tillsammans i svensk förskola. Det övergripande syftet var att undersöka hur de yngsta förskolebarnens samspel, samlärande, kommunikation samt kamratrelationer gestaltas i lek och vardagliga situationer på förskolan. Detta för att öka kunskapen om de yngsta barnens sociala värld tillsammans med andra barn och vuxna i förskolan. En kvalitativ undersökning genomfördes på en småbarnsavdelning med 16 barn, där 7 var flickor och 9 var pojkar. 14 av de 16 barnen var även nyinskolade på avdelningen. Videoobservationer och fältanteckningar under en veckas tid användes för datainsamlingen. Videomaterialet bestod av totalt 90 minuter film i både inomhus- och utomhusmiljö. Teoretiskt vilar studien på ett sociokulturellt perspektiv, i vilket barn framstår som sociala aktörer där samspel och lärande sker utifrån interaktion och deltagande i sociala sammanhang. Resultatet stöder också detta perspektiv där de allra yngsta barnen på förskolan verkar har en inneboende vilja att interagera tillsammans med andra barn. I mötet med de andra barnen använder barnen framförallt en icke verbal kommunikation där kropp, gestaltning och mimik är de aktiva redskapen för förståelse för varandra. Barnen visade genom sitt sociala samspel att de verkar ha förmåga att imitera varandra, ta varandras perspektiv, hjälpa varandra, frambringa konflikter med varandra, skapa kontakt med varandra samt lära av och med varandra. Resultatet tycks även visa hur de yngsta förskolebarnens gemenskap uttrycks av glädje för varandra och hur de ständigt verkar vilja vara i en mänsklig samvaro för att bygga relationer till varandra.

Despite claims made by the UK Government in 2015 that the process of banking reform had come to an end, the debate about how to reform banks very much continues. There is now an increasing willingness to question both whether banks should be owned by, and run for, their shareholders, and whether the role they play in creating and allocating credit can safely be left to be determined solely by private interests. Where banking reform goes from here is not entirely certain. It could even be said to have reached something of a fork in the road. The obvious way open to us is to continue down the path forged by the neoliberal agenda, trusting market forces to determine credit-creation and allocation, and continuing to champion the banking sector as a sort of national treasure to be preserved in its own right. An alternative course could be to more radically control what banks do, to have more of a say about what activities they should finance more or less generously and to treat the sector not as an end in itself, but more as a means, an essential engine for economic growth which needs to be more carefully controlled and driven. Whichever way we go from here, the question of 'ownership' and whether it needs to be reformed remains relevant. Indeed, it is doubtful whether banks can really be trusted to behave themselves and to serve our interests if the requirement to maximise shareholder returns provides conflicting incentives for them to be reckless, self-serving and exploitative. Ultimately, how important the issue of ownership is depends upon how far the way banks are owned drives them to misbehave. This thesis seeks to explore that relationship and its relevance to banking reform. It does so by looking at how pressures arising from the way banks are owned encourage bad strategic decisions and bad behaviours in a number of UK banks. It conducts case studies of two stakeholder-owned banks and two shareholder-owned banks, and analyses a body of evidence which tends very strongly to suggest that the way banks are owned is indeed liable to contribute towards the adoption of unsafe strategies, and bad behaviours. The thesis proceeds to argue that we still need to tackle this 'ownership' problem which continues to drive much of the dysfunctionality in banking. Fixing 'ownership' will not necessarily ensure that credit is created in sensible quantities and allocated in sensible ways where needed in the economy, and it will not be the only reform needed to discourage bad behaviour. It is however a necessary reform, and one which still needs to be made. The entire notion that banks are owned by and should be run for their shareholders needs radically to be reigned in, and we need to be far more experimental and creative in exploring ways of making banks act more like stewards or trustees administering other people's assets - and in safe and productive ways which are in fitting with the interests of the state, its citizens and tax-payers. This thesis explores ways of doing that by making banks more 'ownerless', including creating any National Investment Bank, such as that recently proposed by the Labour Party, as a truly 'ownerless' institution.

This study sets out to examine whether the "new'' provincial governments in South Africa are in practice functioning as "quasi-federal" power bases. The study starts with an appraisal of the core constitutional concepts critical to provincial government as a prelude to the enquiry into the practical status of the provincial governments. An enquiry is made into the application of certain provisions of the interim Constitution pertaining to provincial government. Thereafter certain provisions of the final Constitution pertaining to provincial government are compared with the corresponding provisions of the interim Constitution. The issue of provincial powers in practice and the problems experienced by provincial governments are also dealt with. The study concludes that provincial governments are currently not functioning as "quasi-federal" power bases and that it is even doubtful whether that situation will present itself in the foreseeable future. / Law / LL. M.

The master thesis deals with needs and expectations of consumer co-operative´s customers in the Tábor. The main aim is to find out degree of satisfaction of customers of the co-operative´s customers in the visited store and to determine their expectations from the point of view of the development of the supply of goods and services. The secondary aim is to find out if customer has enough stores at the place of his residence. Then to find out if the reason of person which does not buy here is the lack of COOP stores at the place of his residence. The diploma thesis is divided into two parts. The theoretical part is carried out by the external sources. It describes the terms of customer behaviour, customer´s satisfaction or cooperative and consumer cooperatives. The second part is the practical part. In this section a marketing research is realized. The data are assemble by the questionnaire survey. After that, recommendations are suggested for increase satisfaction of the consumers and co-operative´s customers.

- Criteria for a definition of a full function joint venture in the decision-making of the Commission This thesis focuses on the progress in the Commission's approach towards full functioning joint ventures and on criteria for their determination. A full functioning joint venture is a joint venture type that fulfils criteria given by the Commission of the European Union - joint control and full functioning, that consists of functional autonomy, lasting basis and resources. The first, inductive part provides a short joint venture typology and explains ways by which the European law regulates those concentrations. The second part of the thesis serves as a necessary historic excursus to the progress in the European Union Commission's view on cooperative and concentrative concentrations and its goal is to clarify on the basis of which factors and how this approach has developed from 1968 to the present. The third, main, part of the thesis is an analysis of particular full functioning joint venture determination criteria. Each criterion is analysed separately with regards to specialised publications, regulations, reports and directives, especially by analysing European Union Commission's rulings, as the result of the application of the approach towards full functioning joint ventures by the European...

Abstract This paper aims to determine the validity of the hypothesis that the effective and eloquent use of language can result in shaping beliefs and altering people’s perception of certain phenomena. In order to explore this hypothesis, a speech given by George W. Bush concerning the Iraq war is examined, followed by a brief study of two corpora, the Time Magazine Corpus and the Corpus of Contemporary American English, where the collocationpatterns of the words Iraq, evil and terror are examined. The paper starts by presenting the main concepts upon which this study is based, i.e. mental frames, the co-operative principle and conversational maxims and finally, various rhetoric devices. An analysis section follows, where George Bush’s speech is examined with the help of the concepts mentioned above and the analysis continues with the corpora-study. One of the conclusions drawn in this study is that, indeed, it is possible that language can be successfully used in order to achieve political means, and that there seems to be a shift in the American public’s perception of concepts such as Iraq and terror, visible in the use of language. However, it cannot be said with certainty whether the Bush Administration has managed to dominate public discourse, through a study as minor as this one.