Recent government policy has identified Speech, Language and Communications (SLCN) as key and essential to each child’s potential to achieve in school. The Bercow Report (Bercow 2008) was commissioned in order to review support for SLCN in the UK. Following a systematic review, Bercow highlighted (amongst other issues) a level of inconsistency associated with SLCN support in UK secondary schools . Despite general agreement that input is required in order to improve “communication” in secondary schools, a productive discussion in number of subsequent publications is limited (see Lindsay 2008 and discussion in literature review section in Appendix K), seemingly due lack of clarity regarding the precise definition of the term and the types of issues that interventions need to address. Furthermore, school based communication interventions to date have only focused on teacher-child communication, therefore, the current research aims to specify and investigate the concept of “communication” in a school setting on two different levels: within individual (self) and perceptions of others (leading to a more systemic perspective). First, on a personal level, a pupil’s own self concept of communicational abilities is assessed (paper 1). Second, on an organisational level, the way in which pupils and teachers as well as senior managerial staff view the quality of communication in the school (paper 2). This research assumes a view of communication which stretches beyond traditional models of language processing e.g. referring to syntax, phonology, morphology and pragmatics and interprets the term more widely to refer to any barrier (cognitive or otherwise) which disrupts the understanding or processing of language. The research presented in this thesis refers to one area in particular (communication self-concept) which falls inside this definition but would not be considered on most language audits and assessments (and is therefore unlikely to be considered in secondary schools). The term “Communication Self Concept” (CSC) refers to a person’s own views of their communicative ability and in this instance was borne initially out of more general work around “academic self-concept” by Marsh (1990) (see section 2.2 for discussion). Academic self-concept has been subdivided into a range of subject specific constructs which have been found to be highly predictive of academic attainment (Valentine et al 2004). Given the principal role of communication across a range of different disciplines it was considered that communication self-concept may have the potential to be highly predictive of academic attainment in school (see section 2.2 for discussion). Paper one therefore was split into two parts, the first part aimed to create a measure of communication self-concept and in the second to look at the extent to which it is able to uniquely predict academic attainment in English (see section 2.4.2 for discussion). Paper one concludes that the Communication Self Concept Questionnaire (CSCQ) is able to significantly predict academic attainment in English and is distinct from other predictors, such as English self-concept and Communication competence. Paper two continues to build on the theme of communication within secondary schools by exploring the views of children in two schools about communication in order to gain a wider perspective on potential barriers to communicating, which may also impact on their levels of communication self-concept. In addition to this, the paper also explores communication from an organisational perspective via interviews with senior management and staff. The aim of conducting interviews with staff was to gain an impression of the general issues surrounding communication from an institutional and inter-staff level. A range of themes were identified on a staff and child level. Themes related centrally to poor mutual (staff to staff, child to staff) awareness of each other’s respective roles and responsibilities at school. Sources of this issue appear to partly relate to time pressure and inconsistent staffing, both of which also contributed independently to poor communication in school. More crucially however, staff generally discussed feeling unable to communicate with their peers (i.e. other members of staff) for similar reasons to the children which was indicative of poor communication self-concept as defined in the previous study. Whilst the work in this thesis is exploratory in nature, it establishes the potentially important role of communication self-concept alongside more traditional communication related constructs (discussed in section 2.2 and appendix K). Furthermore, the thesis highlights the need for communication intervention to encompass an entire institution and questions the value of school based communication interventions which only focus on teacher-child communication. Questions regarding the extent to which communication self-concept on an organisational / staffing level impacts on child communication self-concept are discussed with respect to Social Cognitive Theory and Self-Efficacy Theory (Bandura 1982;1989).

D.Com. / Public relations is an organisational function in transition, but for that matter the whole management function is currently experiencing a period of change. Had public relations already been an established field of study at the beginning of this transition period, the necessary adjustments to existing practices and the adaptation to external environmental changes would have proceeded with less difficulty.

動態頻譜共享(dynamic spectrum sharing) 允許不具有執照的無線電用戶(坎級用戶)擇機使用具有執照的無線電用戶(主用戶)的頻譜，因此被認為是一種有效解決頻譜低效利用問題的方案。本論文研究次級用戶如何智能地實現高效率的動態頻譜共享。我們考慮兩種智能共享模式:社交智能(social intelligence) 以及個體智能(individual intelligence) 。 / 對於社交智能，次級用戶基於社交互動(social interactions) 來協作地共享頻譜。受到電子商務工業的推薦系統(recommendation sYstem) 的啟發，我們提出了一種基於推薦的社交頻譜共享機制。其中，次級用戶相互協作，彼此推薦良好的信道， 并動態接入信道。我們設計了種基於馬爾科夫決策過程( Markovdecision process) 的自適應信道推薦算法。該算法可突現良好的系統通信性能。同時，我們也提出種基於模仿(imitation) 的社交頻譜分享機制。其中，次級用戶根據自身觀察來估計自己的期望通信速率并彼此分享。如果鄰近用戶的期望通信速率更高，該用戶則模仿鄰近用戶的信道接入。我們證明該機制能夠有效地收斂到模仿均衡。如果次級用戶的數目較多，收斂的模仿均衡即是納什均衡(Nashequilibrium) 。該均衡是個次級用戶相互滿意的頻譜共享結果。 / 對於個體智能，次級用戶基於策略互動(strategic interactions) 來競爭地共享頻譜。對於基於空間複用(spatial reuse) 的競爭性頻譜共享，我們提出了種新穎的空間頻譜接入博弈框架。我們研究了不同的干擾圖形結構對於納什均衡的存在性的影響。同時，我們設計了種基於用戶自身觀察的分佈式學習算法。該算法適用於所有空間頻譜接入博弈，并能夠有效地收斂到近似納什均衡(approximateNash equilibrium) 。對於基於數據庫的電視頻譜(white-space spectrum) 無線AP(access point)網絡，我們運用博弈理論方法為分佈式AP 信道選擇問題以及分佈式次級用戶AP 連接問題建立理論模型。我們證明了分佈式AP信道選擇博奔以及分佈式次級用戶AP 連接博弈屬於勢博弈(potential game) 的範疇。基於勢博莽的有限改進性質(finite improvement property) ，我們設計了分佈式算法能夠有效地收斂到納什均衡。 / Dynamic spectrum sharing enables unlicensed secondary wireless users to opportunistically share the spectrum with licensed primary users, and thus is envisioned as a promising solution to address the spectrum under-utilization problem. This thesis explores the intelligence of secondary users for achieving efficient distributed spectrum sharing. We consider two types of intelligences: social intelligence and individual intelligence. / For the social intelligence, secondary users share the spectrum collaboratively based on social interactions. Inspired by the recommendation system in the electronic commerce industry, we propose a recommendation-based social spectrum sharing mechanism, where secondary users collaboratively recommend "good" channels to each other and access accordingly. We devise an adaptive channel recommendation algorithm based on Markov decision process, which achieves a good system communication performance. We then propose an imitation-based social spectrum sharing mechanism, where each secondary user estimates its expected throughput based on local observations, and imitates another neighboring user’s channel selection if neighbor’s estimated throughput is higher. We show that the mechanism can converge to an imitation equilibrium. When the number of users is large, the convergent imitation equilibrium corresponds to a Nash equilibrium, which is a mutually satisfactory spectrum sharing solution. / For the individual intelligence, secondary users share the spectrum competitively based on strategic interactions. To formulate the competitive spectrum sharing with spatial reuse, we propose a framework of spatial spectrum access game on general directed interference graphs. We investigate the impact of the underlying interference graph structure on the existence of a Nash equilibrium. We also design a distributed learning algorithm based on local observations that can converge to an approximate Nash equilibrium for any spatial spectrum access games. We then apply the game theoretic approach for modeling the distributed channel selection problem among the APs and distributed AP association problem among the secondary users in database-assisted white-space AP networks. We show that both the distributed AP channel selection game and the distributed AP association game are potential games. We then design distributed algorithms for achieving Nash equilibria by utilizing the finite improvement property of potential game. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Chen, Xu. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2012. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 180-188). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstract also in Chinese. / Abstract --- p.i / Acknowledgement --- p.v / Chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Motivation and Overview --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2 --- Thesis Outline --- p.5 / Chapter I --- Social Intelligence For Distributed Spectrum Sharing --- p.7 / Chapter 2 --- Recommendation-based Social Spectrum Sharing --- p.8 / Chapter 2.1 --- Introduction --- p.8 / Chapter 2.2 --- System Model --- p.12 / Chapter 2.3 --- Introduction To Channel Recommendation --- p.13 / Chapter 2.3.1 --- Review of Static Channel Recommendation --- p.14 / Chapter 2.3.2 --- Motivations For Adaptive Channel Recommendation --- p.16 / Chapter 2.4 --- Adaptive Channel Recommendation With Channel Homogeneity --- p.18 / Chapter 2.4.1 --- MDP Formulation For Adaptive Channel Recommendation --- p.19 / Chapter 2.4.2 --- Existence of Optimal Stationary Policy --- p.21 / Chapter 2.5 --- Model Reference Adaptive Search For Optimal Spectrum Access Policy --- p.22 / Chapter 2.5.1 --- Model Reference Adaptive Search Method --- p.23 / Chapter 2.5.2 --- Model Reference Adaptive Search For Optimal Spectrum Access Policy --- p.24 / Chapter 2.5.3 --- Convergence of Model Reference Adaptive Search --- p.29 / Chapter 2.6 --- Adaptive Channel Recommendation With Channel Heterogeneity --- p.30 / Chapter 2.7 --- Numerical Results --- p.33 / Chapter 2.7.1 --- Simulation Setup --- p.33 / Chapter 2.7.2 --- Homogeneous Channel Recommendation --- p.34 / Chapter 2.7.3 --- Heterogenous Channel Recommendation --- p.35 / Chapter 2.8 --- Chapter Summary --- p.38 / Chapter 2.9 --- Appendix --- p.39 / Chapter 2.9.1 --- Proof of Lemma 2.1 --- p.39 / Chapter 2.9.2 --- Derivation of Transition Probability --- p.40 / Chapter 2.9.3 --- Proof of Theorem 2.1 --- p.41 / Chapter 2.9.4 --- Proof of Theorem 2.2 --- p.42 / Chapter 2.9.5 --- Proof of Theorem 2.3 --- p.47 / Chapter 2.9.6 --- Proof of Theorem 2.4 --- p.50 / Chapter 3 --- Imitation-based Social Spectrum Sharing --- p.52 / Chapter 3.1 --- Introduction --- p.52 / Chapter 3.2 --- Spectrum Sharing System Model --- p.55 / Chapter 3.3 --- Imitative Spectrum Access Mechanism --- p.58 / Chapter 3.3.1 --- Expected Throughput Estimation --- p.59 / Chapter 3.3.2 --- Information Sharing Graph --- p.63 / Chapter 3.3.3 --- Imitative Spectrum Access --- p.63 / Chapter 3.4 --- Convergence of Imitative Spectrum Access --- p.65 / Chapter 3.4.1 --- Cluster-based Representation of Information Sharing Graph --- p.65 / Chapter 3.4.2 --- Dynamics of Imitative Spectrum Access --- p.67 / Chapter 3.4.3 --- Convergence of Imitative Spectrum Access --- p.71 / Chapter 3.5 --- Imitative Spectrum Access with Innovation --- p.73 / Chapter 3.6 --- Imitative Spectrum Access With User Heterogeneity --- p.75 / Chapter 3.7 --- Simulation Results --- p.77 / Chapter 3.7.1 --- Large User Population --- p.78 / Chapter 3.7.2 --- Small User Population --- p.82 / Chapter 3.7.3 --- Markovian Channel Environment --- p.85 / Chapter 3.7.4 --- Imitative Spectrum Access With User Heterogeneity --- p.88 / Chapter 3.8 --- Chapter Summary --- p.88 / Chapter 3.9 --- Appendix --- p.89 / Chapter 3.9.1 --- Proof of Theorem 3.1 --- p.89 / Chapter 3.9.2 --- Proof of Theorem 3.2 --- p.91 / Chapter II --- Individual Intelligence For Distributed Spectrum Sharing --- p.93 / Chapter 4 --- Spatial Spectrum Access Game --- p.94 / Chapter 4.1 --- Introduction --- p.94 / Chapter 4.2 --- System Model --- p.97 / Chapter 4.3 --- Spatial Spectrum Access Game --- p.101 / Chapter 4.4 --- Existence of Nash Equilibria --- p.102 / Chapter 4.4.1 --- Existence of Pure Nash Equilibria on Directed Interference Graphs --- p.103 / Chapter 4.4.2 --- Existence of Pure Nash Equilibria on Undirected Interference Graphs --- p.108 / Chapter 4.5 --- Distributed Learning For Spatial Spectrum Access --- p.113 / Chapter 4.5.1 --- Expected Throughput Estimation --- p.114 / Chapter 4.5.2 --- Distributed Learning Algorithm --- p.115 / Chapter 4.5.3 --- Convergence of Distributed Learning Algorithm --- p.117 / Chapter 4.6 --- Numerical Results --- p.121 / Chapter 4.7 --- Chapter Summary --- p.126 / Chapter 4.8 --- Appendix --- p.127 / Chapter 4.8.1 --- Proof of Theorem 4.2 --- p.127 / Chapter 4.8.2 --- Proof of Theorem 4.3 --- p.129 / Chapter 4.8.3 --- Proof of Lemma 4.4 --- p.131 / Chapter 4.8.4 --- Proof of Lemma 4.5 --- p.133 / Chapter 4.8.5 --- Proof of Theorem 4.5 --- p.136 / Chapter 4.8.6 --- Proof of Theorem 4.6 --- p.139 / Chapter 5 --- Distributed AP Channel Selection Game --- p.141 / Chapter 5.1 --- Introduction --- p.141 / Chapter 5.2 --- Distributed AP Channel Selection --- p.144 / Chapter 5.2.1 --- Problem Formulation --- p.144 / Chapter 5.2.2 --- Distributed AP Channel Selection Game --- p.146 / Chapter 5.3 --- Distributed AP Channel Selection Algorithms --- p.149 / Chapter 5.3.1 --- Distributed AP Channel Selection Algorithm With Information Exchange --- p.149 / Chapter 5.3.2 --- Distributed AP Channel Selection Algorithm Without Information Exchange --- p.151 / Chapter 5.4 --- Numerical Results --- p.157 / Chapter 5.4.1 --- Distributed AP Channel Selection With Information Exchange --- p.157 / Chapter 5.4.2 --- Distributed AP Channel Selection Without Information Exchange --- p.159 / Chapter 5.5 --- Chapter Summary --- p.161 / Chapter 5.6 --- Appendix --- p.162 / Chapter 5.6.1 --- Proof of Theorem 5.2 --- p.162 / Chapter 6 --- Distributed AP Association Game --- p.165 / Chapter 6.1 --- Introduction --- p.165 / Chapter 6.2 --- Distributed AP Association --- p.166 / Chapter 6.2.1 --- Channel Contention Within an AP --- p.167 / Chapter 6.2.2 --- Distributed AP Association Game --- p.168 / Chapter 6.2.3 --- Distributed AP Association Algorithm --- p.170 / Chapter 6.3 --- Numerical Results --- p.172 / Chapter 6.4 --- Chapter Summary --- p.175 / Chapter 7 --- Conclusions and Future Work --- p.176 / Bibliography --- p.180

As the nature of work is rapidly changing, organizations in developed nations all over the world are experiencing shifts in the age composition of their workforces. These changes, which include an aging workforce that is becoming increasingly age-diverse, indicate that organizational researchers and practitioners need to be better aware of how age differences manifest themselves in the workplace and what implications this has for effective employee management. In the current study it is proposed that employees of different ages react differently to various elements of a formal performance feedback event. Specifically, Carstensen's developmental Socio-emotional Selectivity Theory is used as a theoretical backing for explaining how and why employees of different ages perceive and react to performance feedback differently based on their perceptions of the valence, content quality, and delivery quality of the feedback. The results show evidence of age differences in feedback reactions, with younger adults being particularly concerned with information that will benefit them in the future and older adults being particularly concerned with information that conveys a positive relationship with one's supervisor. These findings have both conceptual and practical implications as we seek to build workplace aging theory and find ways to better manage and retain valuable employees of all ages in a changing world of work.

This study explored perceptions of performance feedback communicated by Japanese supervisors to their U.S. subordinates in Japanese subsidiaries in the U. S. Individual face-to-face interviews were conducted with both Japanese supervisors and U.S. subordinates and their responses were tape-recorded. The purpose of the study was to assess perceptual similarities and differences held by participants in regard to appropriateness and effectiveness of positive and negative feedback. The participants were asked to give their opinions about the functions, timing, frequency, and specificity of positive and negative feedback as well as overall appropriateness and effectiveness of feedback. Other related issues such as U.S. subordinates' feedback-seeking behavior and perceptions of the relationship quality were asked as well. The descriptions given by the participants were interpreted and then compared and contrasted within companies and across cultural groups to find similarities and differences in perceptions. Perceived overall appropriateness and effectiveness, thus competence, of feedback reflected satisfaction or perceived appropriateness of each dimension of feedback; timing, frequency, and specificity. In addition to these dimensions, explicitness and manner of delivery emerged from the participants' responses, especially from U.S. participants'. Japanese supervisors tended to emphasize timeliness, frequency, or specificity of their feedback to explain the overall competence of their feedback. U.S. subordinates, on the other hand, tended to focus on the extent of explicitness of feedback and manner of delivery to determine overall competence of feedback given by their Japanese supervisors. Overall satisfaction perceived by U.S. subordinates inversely related to their feedback-seeking behavior. When U.S. participants' needs for feedback were satisfied by their supervisor, they did not seek further information about their performance. An exception was that when U.S. subordinates did not find feedback meaningful in general, they did not seek feedback, despite their dissatisfaction with feedback given to them. Relationships were described by both Japanese supervisors and U.S. subordinates in terms of the extent of formality, professional quality, friendliness, and trust. Satisfaction with the relationship was positively related with U.S. participants' satisfaction with overall feedback. In relationships where communication flows continually in a transactional sense, and/or closeness and mutual trust was perceived, U.S. subordinates tended to find feedback from their Japanese supervisors to serve positive functions. / Graduation date: 1995

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2006. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 113-123).

Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 92-96).

Thesis (M.S.W.)--University of Hong Kong, 1975. / Typewritten.

published_or_final_version / Business / Master / Master of Philosophy

This thesis examines the optimal role for public relations practitioners to play in managing the communications of disclosure situations. The contribution to knowledge in this work is the clarification of decision-making around organizational disclosures and the role public relations practitioners play in these sometimes difficult and sensitive situations. Decision making around the disclosure of organizational information has not been given much attention in the public relations and communications management literature. While other fields such as medicine and finance have researched the merits of disclosure and transparency for a number of years, the topic has evaded in depth academic examination in communications literature. Given the involvement of public relations practitioners in organizational disclosures, it is somewhat surprising that a model for managing the communications of these situations has not been proposed previously in published research. This thesis closes this gap by proposing a normative, theoretical model that is grounded in practice, and uses ethical decision-making, to assist communicators in developing strategies for managing disclosure events and improving the transparency of their organizations to the public. Using the Strauss and Corbin (1998) approach to Grounded Theory, this thesis explored the topic of disclosure with senior level Canadian public relations practitioners to elicit key themes prior to the development of an initial model which was then tested through further empirical research and user-group contact. The model presented in this thesis is intended to help public relations practitioners and their organizations’ senior management teams, structure their thoughts about disclosing information and develop a communication strategy through a step-wise process that works to find a balance between the needs of the organization and the information needs of stakeholders to make an informed decision about the situation. This thesis provides unique insights into practitioner dilemmas and challenges; highlights a number of important themes and conceptual issues that have not received attention to date; and offers a model for practice.