The Canadian population is aging, as is the Canadian workforce. Today, four generations find themselves cohabiting in the workforce together. This may have an impact on workplace collaboration and communication, as both of these processes are influenced by group perceptions. Academic research has focused upon workplace interactions mainly from a younger worker’s perspective; hence, the older worker’s voice has been overlooked. The objective of this study is thereby from an older worker’s perspective, to understand how generations perceive each other in the workplace, and further, understand how these perceptions influence intergenerational communication and collaboration. To do so, we have relied upon Communication Accommodation Theory and Social Identity Theory, and have conducted a survey to measure the influence of ageist stereotypes on communication and its accommodation, in addition to such influences on knowledge transfer. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

The Canadian population is aging, as is the Canadian workforce. Today, four generations find themselves cohabiting in the workforce together. This may have an impact on workplace collaboration and communication, as both of these processes are influenced by group perceptions. Academic research has focused upon workplace interactions mainly from a younger worker’s perspective; hence, the older worker’s voice has been overlooked. The objective of this study is thereby from an older worker’s perspective, to understand how generations perceive each other in the workplace, and further, understand how these perceptions influence intergenerational communication and collaboration. To do so, we have relied upon Communication Accommodation Theory and Social Identity Theory, and have conducted a survey to measure the influence of ageist stereotypes on communication and its accommodation, in addition to such influences on knowledge transfer. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

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Cross-border information technology (IT) outsourcing continues to rise due to the demand for business process outsourcing. Issues such as miscommunication and management problems have emerged because of cross-cultural disparities between clients and vendors across national borders. The theoretical framework of this study was based on the organizational culture model studies of Meek, Spradley, Smith, and Draft for examining and understanding complex organizational practices. The purpose of this mixed-methods explanatory sequential case study was to qualitatively identify and quantitatively determine the management approaches that are effective in managing cross-cultural differences and the constitution of the elements of global adjustment, motivation, mindset, and communication patterns involving outsourcing business leaders in the United States. Ten IT leaders participated in-depth face-to-face interviews, while 120 IT outsourced service providers from the United Kingdom, Canada, Singapore, and India completed the survey. Pearson's correlation analysis was performed on quantitative survey data. Qualitative data from interviews were organized, coded, and the results generated 6 themes. The themes included no management issues in the current processes, a lack of formal management approaches to resolve cross-cultural issues, an intent to provide a strong management partnership platform, and a positive relationship between approaches. Quantitative results showed that formal management approaches positively correlated with global adjustment, motivation, mindset, and communication pattern. Results could be socially significant to IT business leaders, as these results will equip them with knowledge of effective practices and management approaches to address cultural diversity issues, programs, and policies in the industry.

Real world systems like biological, social, technological, infrastructural and many others can be modeled as networks. The field of network science aims to study these complex networks and understand their structure and dynamics. A common feature of networks across domains is the distribution of the degree of the nodes according to a power-law (scale invariance). As a consequence of this skewness, the high degree nodes dominate the properties of these networks. The rich-club phenomenon is observed when the high degree or the rich nodes of the network prefer to connect amongst themselves. In the first part, the thesis investigates the rich-club phenomenon in higher order neighborhoods of the network by providing an elegant quantification using a geodesic distance based approach. This quantification helped in identifying networks where the trend and intensity of the rich-club phenomenon is significantly different in higher order neighborhoods compared to the immediate neighbors. The thesis also proposes a quantification of the importance of the non-rich nodes in the communication structure of the rich nodes, and broadly classify networks into core-periphery or cellular. Further a lack of universality is noticed in the structure of the networks belonging to a particular domain. It has been observed in the previous literature that the rich club connectivity dominates assortativity, a measure quantifying the mixing patterns in complex networks. Thus, assortativity is biased. To overcome such drawbacks, in the second part of the thesis proposes a novel measure called regularity. The analytical bounds on regularity and formulation of regularity for different network models are provided. Along with this a measure to quantify the mixing patterns of the neighborhood of a node called local regularity is also defined. The analysis on real-world network based on local regularity and degree distribution shows presence of both type of network, uniformly and non-uniformly mixed across different regions. Further normalized regularity is proposed to quantify the extent of preferential mixing in networks discounting the effect of degree distribution.

Using the tools of structural and network analysis developed by Ronald R. Burt and others, this study investigated the communication patterns among corporate officers of American Telephone and Telegraph Corporation (A.T. & T.) and United Telecommunications Corporation (Sprint). Data on contacts, efficiency, network density, and constraint indicate that opportunities for power and constraint have remained relatively stable at United Telecommunications between 1980 and 1990. A. A.T. & T., on the other hand, was more affected by the drastic changes in the telecommunication industry. The span of A.T. & T. has grown smaller and the potential for constraining relations among A. T. & T. and financial institutions has increased during the period 1980 and 1990.

<p>Health communication is a growing field of research under interpersonal and family communication. Gaining enough health information is primarily the duty of healthcare providers. However, our immediate source of health information is family members; but most people decide to privatize and keep their health information from other relatives. The criterion for withholding health information, what contributes to the information shared, and how communication patterns affect health communication were all examined to understand the reasons behind this action.</p> <p>This qualitative study used the narrations on health communication from various families to form themes. In addition,  responses were mostly from non-Western cultures, which helps to expand the applicability of the theory used.</p> <p>Some of the results were consistent with the criteria within the theory. However, other criteria were found that expand the theory in relation to health information. The new criteria found were when disclosing the information, age matter, I don’t understand the condition myself so how can my family, the number of people in the family matters. Also, reasons such as anticipated reactions from family members, and the severity of the condition came up when exploring what impacts how much health information family members share with one another. Finally, the frequency of communication and the initiator of conservations were found to influence health communication in families.</p> <p>To conclude, healthy communication in the family may impact individual communication on health. </p>

Die wissenschaftspolitischen Akteure in Deutschland sind daran interessiert, dass die von der öffentlichen Hand investierten Gelder den größtmöglichen wirtschaftlichen und gesellschaft-lichen Nutzen generieren. Forschende müssen darum u.a. im Rahmen sog. Evaluationen belegen, dass sie qualitativ hochwertige Arbeit leisten. Zum Zweck dieser Evaluationen werden häufig Daten des Web of Science bzw. der Datenbank Scopus genutzt. In der vorliegenden Arbeit wird untersucht, wie repräsentativ Veröffentlichungen in diesen Datenbanken sowie im Reference Management System Mendeley und in ausgewählten Bibliothekskatalogen für das Publikations- und Kommunikationsverhalten in der deutschen Kunstgeschichte sind und welche potenziellen Effekte die Nutzung dieser Referenzsysteme in Evaluationsverfahren auf die deutsche kunsthistorische Forschung haben. Zu diesem Zweck wurden die Publikationslisten deutscher kunsthistorisch Forschender im Hinblick auf die verwendeten Publikationstypen und die Sprache ausgewertet und in Interviews die Bedeutung der Publikationstypen im Kommunikationsprozess erfragt. Die Veröffentlichungen der untersuchten Forschenden verteilen sich im betrachteten 10 Jahreszeitraum in der Reihenfolge der Häufigkeit auf 52% Sammelbandaufsätze, 13% Katalogeinträge, 12% Zeitschriftenaufsätze, 10% Rezensionen, 7% Monografien, 3% Beiträge in Nachschlagewerken sowie 3% Artikel in Tageszeitungen. In den Datenbanken des Web of Science sind nur 3,8%, in Scopus 2,1% und in Mendeley 0,4% des Gesamtpublikationsoutputs der analysierten Personen enthalten. Die untersuchten Datenbanken sind daher weder im Hinblick auf die Anzahl noch auf die Verteilung der Publikationstypen repräsentativ. / To German research policy makers it is most important that public funds generate maximum economic and social benefits. Researchers in all academic areas are therefore obliged to take part in research evaluation procedures to prove that their work is of high quality. Most of these evaluations are based on data from Web of Science or Scopus. The present study examines the representativeness of Web of Science, Scopus, the Reference Management System Mendeley and selected library catalogs in terms of publication and communication behavior of German Art Historians. Potential effects of using these reference systems for research evaluation of German Art History will also be analyzed. Hence, the publication lists of German researchers in Art History were downloaded and categorized with regard to different publication types and language. Interviews with selected Art Historians were conducted to inquire their assessment of the role of distinct publication types in research communication. In the observed 10-year-period the publication types of the investigated researchers constitute as follows: 52% essays in collected editions, 13% catalog contributions, 12% journal articles, 10% reviews, 7% monographs, 3% encyclopedia contributions and 3% newspaper articles. Only 3.8% of the total research output of the analyzed Art Historians is covered in Web of Science, 2.1% is covered in Scopus and 0.4% is part of Mendeley. The analyzed databases are biased in terms of number and distribution of publications. In contrast to the empirical analysis of the publication lists, the interviewees do not consider essays in collected editions as most crucial in research communication processes.

This study sought to explore gender issues affecting management promotions in Malawi's health care services, utilising both qualitative and quantitative techniques in data collection and analysis. Promotion patterns were compared and contrasted for male and female managers. The study was based on the assumptions that • both men and women were aware of experiences that affected their promotion opportunities • promotion patterns showed fewer variations than did cultural, social and gender factors • male prejudices were maintained which oppressed women's promotions • increased decision-making power lowered stress about professional growth and development The findings supported the first two assumptions, but not the last two. The findings suggested that males and females encountered similar experiences concerning managerial promotions in Malawi's health care services. Factors that enhanced management successes for both males and females included management orientation and mentorship. Unclear promotion policies and procedures hindered management promotions. Information derived from this research could enable policy-makers to establish an environment that increases supportive networks and interactions between male and female managers in Malawi. Furthermore, to ensure equal opportunities in the health care services management, monitoring strategies by Malawi's Ministry of Gender, the Department of Human Resources Management and Development, and the Ministry of Health and Population need to be established and implemented. / Health Studies / D.Litt. et Phil. (Health Studies)

This study sought to explore gender issues affecting management promotions in Malawi's health care services, utilising both qualitative and quantitative techniques in data collection and analysis. Promotion patterns were compared and contrasted for male and female managers. The study was based on the assumptions that • both men and women were aware of experiences that affected their promotion opportunities • promotion patterns showed fewer variations than did cultural, social and gender factors • male prejudices were maintained which oppressed women's promotions • increased decision-making power lowered stress about professional growth and development The findings supported the first two assumptions, but not the last two. The findings suggested that males and females encountered similar experiences concerning managerial promotions in Malawi's health care services. Factors that enhanced management successes for both males and females included management orientation and mentorship. Unclear promotion policies and procedures hindered management promotions. Information derived from this research could enable policy-makers to establish an environment that increases supportive networks and interactions between male and female managers in Malawi. Furthermore, to ensure equal opportunities in the health care services management, monitoring strategies by Malawi's Ministry of Gender, the Department of Human Resources Management and Development, and the Ministry of Health and Population need to be established and implemented. / Health Studies / D.Litt. et Phil. (Advanced Nursing Sciences)