This research study specifically addressed; how vocational preparedness programs effect the career aspirations of Black youth, within the context of the Middle Tennessee Council Boy Scouts of America’s Exploring program. The goal of this research is to represent Black youth participating in a vocational preparedness program. Interviews, journals, and rich, thick descriptions are utilized in this work. Using the lens of narrative inquiry and cultural studies, I hoped to further the field of career development through the experiences of some of its key players, African American youth. Within the context of their stories five major themes surfaced around the ideas: (1) Advancement via Individual Determination. (AVID), (2) Career Self-efficacy, (3) Roles of significant others in career development, (4) Perceptions of the Exploring program, and (5) what would you like to see happen in the Exploring program? Beyond themes expressed by the research participants, the following underlying factors also came to light; (1) giving voice to Black youth which are part of the marginalized minority population and restoring a sense of narrative power and authority to the youths telling the stories, (2) The Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) program as a significant influencer, (3) structure and organization of the Learning for Life program, (4) the role of Black women as significant others in the career decisions of participants, and (5) career choice – trade vs. careers.

A large Mexican-American population already exists in Los Angeles and, with each generation, it continues to rise. This Mexican-American community has maintained its connection to its heritage by playing and watching soccer, Mexico’s top watched sport. In this thesis, I analyze how Major League Soccer's Chivas USA serves as an outlet through which many Mexicans in Los Angeles have developed their ethnic identities. Since the early twentieth century, Mexicans in Los Angeles have created separate residential communities and sports organizations to strengthen their connections with one another. To appeal to Mexican-Americans, Chivas USA has branded itself closely to its sister team Chivas Guadalajara of Mexico. I explore how Chivas USA's Mexican-American fans have responded to the team's arrival in Los Angeles by forming three different supporter groups — Legion 1908, Union Ultras, and Black Army 1850. By interviewing members of the Union Ultras and Black Army 1850, I learned their beliefs towards a range of issues, including: why they support Chivas USA rather than the Los Angeles Galaxy and how they view the poor representation of Mexican-American players on the United States National Soccer Team. As I conclude, these supporter groups have increased in number and diversity as Chivas USA has grown in popularity. To increase its Mexican-American fan base and to sustain professional soccer in Los Angeles, Chivas USA should relocate to a new stadium for the Major League Soccer's 2013 season and consider rebranding its name to "Chivas Los Angeles."

While aiming to reach results (such as improved health status) humanitarian workers in aid organizations such as Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (RCRCM)[1], make use of outcomes in related global forums, standards and networks. Common concepts discussed related to humanitarian action are the following ones: effectiveness, local ownership and mutual accountability. In addition, concepts such as Results Based Management (RBM), highlighting the importance of delivering and accounting for results influences humanitarian organizations. Donors such as governments are pushing for RBM. The RBM reform impacts Swedish aid policy and RCRCM in Sweden, represented by Swedish Red Cross. However researchers and civil society actors find that RBM is not a silver bullet to facilitate results.   Dialogue with beneficiaries goes back to the beginnings of humanitarian action, but dialogue using social media to capture beneficiaries’ views started only around a decade back.   In this case study, I investigate RCRCM and focus on Swedish Red Cross. In particular I explore the following research problem: how does beneficiary communication and accountability using social media contribute to reaching and measuring results?   My data includes individual and focus group interviews and RCRCM guiding documents. Conclusions include that: indeed beneficiary communication and accountability contributes to reaching results and have potential to better capture results. Direct RCRCM organizational benefits are potentially huge given RCRCMs extensive worldwide community level network. The benefits include better access, more relevant activities and funding opportunities. However challenges include perceived lack of expertize, management commitment and generally slow change of mind set with regards to downward accountability. [1] A) The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), B) the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and C) national societies in 189 countries around the world (see section 2.1) / När biståndsarbetare i hjälporganisationer som rödakorsrörelsen (RCRCM)[1], arbetar för att nå resultat (såsom bättre hälsa för utsatta människor) använder de sig ofta av de ambitioner som vuxit fram i biståndsrelaterade globala fora, nätverk och standards såsom: effektivitet, lokalt ägarskap samt ömsesidigt ansvarsskyldighet och ansvarsutkrävande. Samtidigt har begrepp som ”result based management” (RBM) fått stort inflytande på humanitära organisationer när det gäller vikten av att nå och visa på konkreta resultat. Finansiärer, såsom regeringar, ställer allt tuffare krav på RBM metodik används genom ett starkt inflytande på svenskt bistånd och därmed på RCRCM i Sverige, företrätt av Svenska Röda Korset. Dock finns både forskare och humanitära organisationer civila som hävdar att RBM knappast är någon patentlösning vare sig för att nå eller visa på resultat. Medan dialog med biståndsmottagare funnits så länge bistånd funnits har systematisk dialog med hjälp av sociala medier för att få förmånstagarnas synpunkter bara skett ett tiotal år. I denna fallstudie undersöker jag RCRCM med fokus på Svenska Röda Korset. I synnerhet studerar jag följande forskningsproblem: hur bidrar dialog med och ansvarighet gentemot förmånstagare som sker med sociala medier till att nå och mäta resultat?Mitt material inkluderar individuella- och fokusgruppsintervjuer samt studier av RCRCMs styrdokument. Slutsatser inkluderar att: direkta organisatoriska fördelar för RCRCM av dialog med mottagare är potentiellt enorma givet RCRCM världsomspännande lokala nätverk. Fördelarna inkluderar ökad möjlighet att nå de mest utsatta, mer relevanta insatser och bättre finansiering. Bland utmaningarna som lyfts är brist på expertis och ägarskap hos organisatio-nens ledning och svårighet till byte av ’mind set’ vad gäller nedåtgående ansvarighet. [1] A) Internationella rödakorskommittén (ICRC), B) Internationella rödakors-och rödahalvmånefederationen (IFRC) och C) nationella föreningar in 189 länder i världen (se sektion 2.1)

In eastern Kentucky, as in much of central Appalachia, current local storylines narrate the frictions and contradictions involved in the structural transition from a post-WWII Fordist industrial economy and a Keynesian welfare state to a Post-Fordist service economy and Neoliberal hollow state, starving for energy to sustain consumer indulgence (Jessop, 1993; Harvey, 2003; 2005). Neoliberalism is the ideological force redefining the “societal infrastructure of language” that legitimates this transition, in part by redefining the key terms of democracy and citizenship, as well as valorizing the market, the individual, and technocratic innovation (Chouliaraki & Fairclough, 1999; Harvey, 2005). This project develops a perspective that understands cancer prevention and control in Appalachiaas part of the structural transition that is realigning community social ties in relation to ideological forces deployed as “commonsense” storylines that “lubricate” frictions that complicates the transition.

A wide range of research fields have studied how emotions and behavior are affected by the physical environment. This gestalt theorist approach of experimental research as well seeks to measure emotion (using the valence-arousal scale) and micro-scale community development interactions when weighted physical environment factors are adjusted. Community development (CD) interactions at the micro-scale have received but slight attention from scholars in the CD research field and this study aims partially to investigate developing objective measures from social observations. CD interactions from recordings along with self-reported emotion through surveys in four quasi-experimental groups (where the environments were constructed based on peer-reviewed literature to cause emotional reactions) and one control group made up the data collected for this experiment. While the results of this experiment displayed apparent convincing quantitative differences in both CD interactions and emotion when the physical environment was manipulated, the results of a one-way ANOVA indicated no statistical significance to either dependent variable. The conclusions suggest limiting the physical factors of the environment to produce more precise changes as a result of the manipulated quasi environments.

本研究之目的在於探討線上社群協作與其前置因素之關係，並且檢驗社群投入度之中介效果。首先，本研究應用角色內與角色外行為分類，提出角色內與角色外線上社群協作之類型。其次，依據社會認知理論與社會交換理論，本研究提出線上社群協作之前置因素，包括對個人之結果預期、對社群之結果預期、知覺社群信任、知覺社群規範、知覺社群支持與知覺社群認同。最後，本研究基於投入度觀點，檢驗社群投入度對於線上社群協作及其前置因素之中介效果。 本研究之研究情境為玩家公會社群，本研究自一知名大型多人線上遊戲中收集340份有效問卷進行資料分析與假設檢驗，研究結果顯示：(1) 除社群禮貌外，社群投入度對於社群合作行為、助人行為與運動家精神皆有正向影響；(2) 對個人之結果預期與線上社群協作行為之關係，會受到社群投入度所中介；(3) 對社群之結果預期與線上社群協作行為之關係，會受到社群投入度所中介；(4) 知覺社群信任與線上社群協作行為之關係，會受到社群投入度所中介；(5) 知覺社群規範與線上社群協作行為之關係，會受到社群投入度所中介，但社群規範對於運動家精神亦有直接負向效果；(6) 知覺社群認同與線上社群協作行為之關係，會受到社群投入度所中介，但社群認同亦會直接正向影響社群合作與助人行為；(7) 然而，知覺社群支持與線上社群協作行為之關係，並不會受到社群投入度所中介。針對上述之研究結果，本研究進一步闡述其學術研究意涵、實務管理意涵，以及研究限制與未來研究方向。 / The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationships between online community collaboration and its antecedents by examining the mediating effect of community engagement. First, this study proposes a classification of online community collaboration by following the typology of in-role and extra-role behaviors. Accordingly, this study will further examine some of online community collaboration behaviors, including community cooperation, helping behavior, community courtesy, and sportsmanship. Second, drawing upon social cognitive theory and social exchange theory, this study identifies several antecedents of online community collaboration, including person-relevant outcome expectancy, community-relevant outcome expectancy, perceived community trust, perceived community norms, perceived community support, and perceived community identification. Finally, from the perspective of engagement, this study will examine the mediating effect of community engagement on the proposed model. The research setting of this study is online gaming communities. After collecting 340 valid responses from a famous Massive Multiplayer Online Game (MMOG), our results show that (1) community engagement affects community cooperation, helping behavior and sportsmanship positively, but does not have a significant effect on community courtesy; (2) the relationships between person-relevant outcome expectancy and three online community collaboration behaviors are mediated by community engagement; (3) the relationships between community-relevant outcome expectancy and three online community collaboration behaviors are mediated by community engagement; (4) the relationships between perceived community trust and three online community collaboration behaviors are mediated by community engagement; (5) the relationships between perceived community norms and three online community collaboration behaviors are mediated by community engagement, but perceived community norms also has a direct and negative impact on sportsmanship; (6) the relationships between perceived community identification and three online community collaboration behaviors are mediated by community engagement, but perceived community identification also has direct and positive impacts on community cooperation and helping behavior; (7) the relationships between perceived community support and online community collaboration behaviors are not mediated by community engagement. According to these findings, this study concludes with research implications, managerial implications, research limitations and future research directions.

本研究以社會資本理論為基礎，探討品牌社群中社會資本對於品牌共鳴的影響，並以多種產業的品牌社群為研究對象，針對九個品牌社群發放問卷，抽樣方式為便利抽樣，共計回收250份有效問卷。所有樣本以線性結構模式進行分析(LSREL)後，獲得下列結論： 1. 社會資本的形成 社會資本的形成是有順序性的，必須先從結構面開始，進而影響群體的認知面，最後促進關係面，如此才可以讓成員對社群發展高參與和承諾。 2. 社群參與無法正向影響品牌社群承諾 積極參與品牌社群的活動，有可能只是為了滿足成員自己的關係需求。因此，不一定能把社群成員對其他成員的承諾轉為對整體品牌社群的承諾。 3. 品牌社群承諾的前因後果 社會資本的關係面與認知會提升成員的品牌社群成承諾，而品牌社群承諾會正向影響抵抗性與品牌愛慕。 4. 抵抗性、品牌愛慕與品牌共鳴的互相關聯 (一)、抵抗性與品牌愛慕正向影響品牌共鳴 品牌愛慕能正面影響顧客的品牌忠誠度、口碑效應，讓顧客對品牌事務有更高的參與動機；抵抗性則能加深成員對於品牌的情感，促使成員對於品牌的信念更加堅定。本研究證實，抵抗性與品牌愛慕都能幫助品牌共鳴的發展。 (二)、抵抗性正向影響品牌愛慕 顧客在抵抗針對品牌的負面訊息的過程中，抵抗性可以幫助顧客加深自身對於支持品牌的態度，使自己的信念更加堅定，有助於顧客對品牌產生更深層的情感。因此，本研究結果證實抵抗性能夠幫助品牌愛慕的發展。

The need for constructive and effective sustainable community development in South Africa is recognised as a cornerstone for national development. Having a clear understanding of sustainable development and sustainable community development is a prerequisite in developing sustainable communities. A current rate of unemployment and low skills level pose a threat to sustainable development within the communities. There is growing interest within businesses and organisations to contribute towards corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes and initiatives. However, this is an enormous task to address socioeconomic challenges in South Africa due to limited resources and high expectations. The businesses should implement well-structured plans for corporate social responsibility. Furthermore, planned initiatives generally tend to appropriately promote social harmony within targeted community. Skeptics of CSR often claim that business should focus on profits and let the government or non-profit organisations deal with social and environmental issues. The Eskom’ power stations under this study do make some contribution to social and economic development in South Africa, which is realised through corporate social responsibility (CSR) policy within the areas of Ermelo and Balfour. Most people in these communities feel they have been neglected for a long time as their social concerns have not been resolved. The community have recently pressurised these power stations to become corporate citizens; to take on CSR and work towards sustainable community development in their areas. There is a perception within the community that the management of Camden and Grootvlei power stations is not actively involved in executing CSR programmes; hence the intention of the study is to present an interesting analysis of these perceptions by exploring the experienced outcome of CSR initiatives around Ermelo and Balfour in improving the livelihood of the people, inter alia: unemployment and education. The case study research design was adopted for this research and employed a qualitative approach to understand the individual perceptions about the phenomenon under study. The data were collected by means of semi-structured interviews and electronic email. The responses from the participants were analysed using ATLAS.ti software to identify codes and patterns in primary data. The total selected sampling was 25, but those who participated were only 17. From the key findings, it was evident that these power stations do make some contributions towards CSR within their community. However, this study revealed a gap in the way CSR is practiced and implemented: social responsibility and real sustainable development do not reach the community. The findings also brought to light vast differences in the perceptions of various stakeholders regarding available programmes that support sustainable development within the community. These vast differences could mean that this study represents the start of a long-term process. Moreover, the study suggests some critical underlying factors that should be dealt with to close this gap: communication, awareness of available programmes, budget challenges and commitment, and identifying who should take responsibility for various aspects of development. The outcomes of this study are based on how stakeholders view community development needs and challenges by means of three cases that emerged during data analysis: case 1) community; 2). CSR project manager; 3) Top Management. Overall, this study contributes to the applied research area of; proper community engagement programmes, management engagement, employment, training and development, and education. / Business Management / M. Tech. (Business Administration)

No description available.

The work motivation construct is central to the theory and practice of many social science disciplines. Yet, due to the novelty of validated measures appropriate for a deep cross-national comparison, studies that contrast different administrative regimes remain scarce. This study represents an initial empirical effort to validate the Public Service Motivation (PSM) instrument proposed by Kim and colleagues (2013) in a previously unstudied context. The two former communist countries analyzed in this dissertation—Belarus and Poland— followed diametrically opposite development strategies: a fully decentralized administrative regime in Poland and a highly centralized regime in Belarus. The employees (n = 677) of public and nonprofit organizations in the border regions of Podlaskie Wojewodstwo (Poland) and Hrodna Voblasc (Belarus) are the subjects of study. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed three dimensions of public service motivation in the two regions: compassion, self-sacrifice, and attraction to public service. The statistical models tested in this dissertation suggest that nonprofit sector employees exhibit higher levels of PSM than their public sector counterparts. Nonprofit sector employees also reveal a similar set of values and work attitudes across the countries. Thus, the study concludes that in terms of PSM, employees of nonprofit organizations constitute a homogenous group that exists atop the administrative regimes. However, the findings propose significant differences between public sector agencies across the two countries. Contrary to expectations, data suggest that organization centralization in Poland is equal to—or for some items even higher than—that of Belarus. We can conclude that the absence of administrative decentralization of service provision in a country does not necessarily undermine decentralized practices within organizations. Further analysis reveals strong correlations between organization centralization and PSM for the Polish sample. Meanwhile, in Belarus, correlations between organization centralization items and PSM are weak and mostly insignificant. The analysis indicates other factors beyond organization centralization that significantly impact PSM in both sectors. PSM of the employees in the studied region is highly correlated with their participation in religious practices, political parties, or labor unions as well as location of their organization in a capital and type of social service provided.