The phenomenon of strategy implementation is crucial to the improvement of learner performance, and to the effectiveness of schools. Literature reveals that research on strategy implementation has received much attention in business studies. However, little attention has been given to it in schools. It is this gap which this study endeavours to fill. The key research questions for this study aimed at garnering evidence on factors that influence strategic plan implementation. In the empirical study, two secondary schools and three education offices were purposively selected. A mixed methods research design was adopted, and in this regard, data was collected using interviews, focus group discussions, document analysis, participant observation and questionnaires. Data was analysed by means of organising, coding and categorising. The main findings of the study are that the factors that affect School Strategic Plans (SSPs) implementation are largely related to education management at all levels. There is also anecdotal evidence that teacher, learner and external stakeholder factors affect the implementation of SSPs. In all these factors, monitoring was the major factor. One recommendation proposes that the education managers at provincial and district levels and implementers at school levels should all be empowered with skills and knowledge on effective strategy implementation. / Educational Leadership and Management / M. Ed. (Education Management)

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A investigação dos reflexos condicionantes da Parte Geral da Lei 8.078/90 na formatação do direito material positivo das relações de consumo se vincula diretamente à sistemática legislativa empregada na confecção do CDC, notadamente quanto aos seus dez primeiros artigos e à opção de neles se inscreverem as vigas mestras estruturantes de todo o seu sistema protetivo. É dizer: o direito material positivo das relações de consumo não pode ser visto de forma dissociada da Parte Geral da Lei 8.078/90, lídima regra de interpretação dirigida a fixar o alcance e a profundidade desse arcabouço jurídico instituído, por determinação constitucional, para amparar esse específico sujeito que é o consumidor; mais que isso, inclinado a buscar a materialização do equilíbrio nas relações obrigacionais que gravitam em torno do mercado. A ideia é visusalizar a Parte Geral do Código como um fator condicionante das regras de direito material privado criadas no intuito de concretizar a vontade do Poder Constituinte originário de defender o consumidor, operando uma espécie de justiça distributiva em uma relação jurídica historicamente desequilibrada, relegando-se às demais regras da parte especial função meramente explicativa. Nessa linha de raciocínio, foram examinados a dogmática positiva, as balizas de incidência do Código, a política nacional das relações de consumo, a boa-fé objetiva como mínimo ético exigível, os direitos básicos do consumidor e o risco como elemento de responsabilidade civil. Arremata-se com um resumo analítico da proposta, a identificar conclusões diretas sobre os problemas teóricos e práticos examinados. Torna-se imprescindível, assim, compreender a real amplitude dos direitos materiais outorgados aos consumidores e, para tanto, só há um caminho: investigar profundamente os reflexos condicionantes da Parte Geral da Lei 8.078/90 na formatação daquilo que de melhor se pensou, em termos legislativos, para promover a defesa do consumidor. / The investigation of constraining reflexes of the General Part of Act 8.078/90 in formatting the positive substantive law of consumption relationship is directly related to the legal systematic employed in the CDC confection, especially regarding the first ten articles and the option to enroll in them the main structuring foundations of the whole protective system. Indeed, the positive substantive law of consumption relationship cannot be dissociated of the General Part of Act 8.078/90, true interpretation rule aimed at setting the range and depth of this legal framework, established by constitutional determination to support this specific subject, the consumer, beyond that, inclined to search the real balance in the obligational relations focused on the consumption market. The main purpose is to visualize the Codes General Part as a constraining factor of substantive private law rules created in order to materialize the Congress originary will to protect the consumer, working as a distributive justice in a historically unbalanced legal relation, demoting the remaining special part rules to a purely explanatory function. Moreover, the positive dogmatic, the Code applicability limits, the Consumption Relationships National Policy, the objective good-faith as a minimum ethical demandable, the consumers basic rights and the risk as an element of civil liability were examined. At the end, a purpose analytical summary is presented, identifying direct conclusions concerning the theoretical and practical problems examined. It becomes imperative to comprehend the real dimension of the substantive rights granted to consumers and therefore, the only path is to deeply investigate the constraining reflexes of the General Part of Act 8.078/90 in structuring the best consideration in legal terms to promote consumer protection.

La durée du séjour pour des soins pédiatriques hospitaliers est de plus en plus courte ce qui a pour conséquence que des soins sont prodigués en soins ambulatoires ou à la maison. Les infirmières en soins ambulatoires doivent réaliser des interventions éducatives en vue de préparer les familles à administrer certains soins à l’enfant. Le but de cette étude était d'explorer les éléments contraignants et facilitants les interventions éducatives d’infirmières oeuvrant en soins ambulatoires d’un centre hospitalier universitaire pédiatrique. Le Modèle de Partenariat Humaniste en Santé (MPHS) a été utilisé comme perspective disciplinaire, alors que le modèle d'une intervention éducative en matière de santé de Ndengeyingoma et al. (2017) a guidé cette étude par la mise en évidence des moments éducatifs charnières. Utilisant une approche qualitative et un devis descriptif exploratoire, cette étude a permis d’explorer la perception de sept infirmières (n=7), et ce, dans leur milieu naturel. Les méthodes de collecte de données qui ont été utilisées sont le questionnaire sociodémographique, l’entrevue semi-structurée, le journal de bord et la validation du sommaire des entrevues. Les résultats de cette recherche ont permis d’identifier quatre grandes catégories d’éléments contraignants et facilitants les interventions éducatives d’infirmières oeuvrant en soins ambulatoires d’un centre hospitalier universitaire pédiatrique, soit 1) le rôle de l’infirmière, 2) la famille, 3) la gestion des ressources humaines et matérielles, et 4) les stratégies éducatives. Cette étude apporte un nouvel éclairage quant aux connaissances déjà existantes sur la pratique clinique des infirmières en soins ambulatoires, particulièrement au niveau des interventions éducatives réalisées auprès des familles qui doivent apprendre à prodiguer des soins à la maison. Ces résultats offrent d’abord une meilleure compréhension de la pratique clinique d’infirmières en soins ambulatoires, en plus de faire avancer l’état des connaissances sur les soins ambulatoires. Ensuite, elle permet de mieux comprendre la réalité des familles, de proposer des stratégies afin d’améliorer les interventions éducatives réalisées auprès d’elles, de proposer des avenues de recherche prometteuses, de dégager des pistes de développement pour la formation infirmière dans une approche d’amélioration continue, de conscientiser les gestionnaires de soins ambulatoires pour une gestion efficiente des soins et services de santé offerts en soins ambulatoires. / The care previously provided in hospitals to the family, has been redirected to the home. Before returning home, the family must learn how to provide the care required by the child's illness. Ambulatory care nurses carry out educational interventions to prepare families for these new responsibilities. The aim of this study was to explore the constraining and facilitating elements of the educational interventions of nurses working in ambulatory care in a pediatric university hospital center. The Humanistic Partnership Model in Health Care (HPMHC) was used as a disciplinary perspective, while the model of a health education intervention by Ndengeyingoma et al. (2017) guided this study by highlighting key educational moments. Using a qualitative approach and an exploratory descriptive design, this study explored the perception of seven nurses (n = 7), in their natural environment. The data collection methods used were the socio-demographic questionnaire, the semi-structured interview, the logbook and the validation of the interview summary. The results of this research made it possible to identify, in four main themes, the constraining and facilitating elements of the educational interventions of nurses working in ambulatory care of a pediatric university hospital center, namely 1) the role of the nurse, 2) the family, 3) the management of human and material resources, and 4) educational strategies. This study sheds new light on the already existing knowledge on the clinical practice of ambulatory care nurses, particularly at the level of educational interventions carried out with families who must learn to provide care at home. These results first provide a better understanding of the clinical practice of ambulatory care nurses, in addition to advancing the state of knowledge on ambulatory care. Then, it makes it possible to better understand the reality of families, to recommend approaches to improve the educational strategies carried out with families, to propose other promising avenues of research, to identify interesting avenues for nursing training and, in a continuous improvement approach, to make ambulatory care managers aware of the efficient management of health care and services offered in ambulatory care.

This dissertation explores how middle managers use their micro-strategising practices of agency and sense-making to shape strategic outcomes during and after strategic change implementation within an enabling and/or constraining organisational social structure. The researcher examined this phenomenon through the theoretical lenses of strategy-as-practice perspective and sense-making. The qualitative case-study research design with an interpretivist, social constructionist paradigm captured the lived organisational social reality of the administrative middle managers over time at a for-profit educational brand of a private higher education (PHE) provider. A thematic data analysis approach integrated manual coding with electronic coding to analyse data gathered through an emergent research design of text messages and e-mail journals over a four-month period. Data-driven inductive coding was synthesised with structural deductive coding in response to the research questions. The dissertation concludes that administrative middle managers use micro-level strategising practices of retrospective and prospective cognitive and emotional sense-making and the practical coping of agency, or embodied sense-making, to navigate a complex and contradictory organisational socio-cultural context that is both enabling and constraining. A further contribution of the current study speaks to the embedded practices between the two discrete levels of organisation and individual, which has been interpreted through the contradictions following the equivocal signals that these two main levels demonstrate. The porous inter-dependency between the two levels of organisation and individual creates an inter-woven entity where the strands of individual and organisational action are difficult to pull out and name distinctly, without unravelling the tapestry that is the organisational entity. These contributions affirm the intellectual puzzle which sought to understand and/or restore the balance of the individual within an organisational socio-cultural context to attain organisational security and equilibrium after organisational change. The findings of this current study is not generalisable to the other seven educational brands of the PHE provider. / Boithuto bona bo shebana le tsela eo ka yona baokamedi ba mahareng ba sebedisang ditlwaelo tsa ketso ya meralo e menyane (micro-strategising) ya diejensi le ketso ya moelelo ho bopa diphetho tsa meralo nakong ya le kamora ho kenngwa tshebetsong ha phetolo ya moralo kahare ho sebopeho se dumellang le/kapa se thibelang sa setjhaba. Mofuputsi o hlahlobile mohopolo ona ka leihlo la thiori ya moralo-jwalokaketso le ketso ya moelelo. Sebopeho sa dipatlisiso tsa phuputso ya boleng se nang le saense ya setjhaba le paterone ya kgaho ya setjhaba se hapile mokgatlo wa setjhaba wa sebele o phetsweng wa baokamedi ba mahareng ba tsamaiso nako e telele letshwaong la thuto la phaello ho mofani wa thuto e hodimo ya poraefete (PHE). Katamelo ya manollo ya pokello e amanang le thuto e ikgethang e kopantse tokiso ya tokomane ka letsoho le ka elektoniki ho manolla pokello e bokelletsweng ka sebopeho sa dipatlisiso se qalang sa melaetsa ya mongolo le di-emaili nakong ya dikgwedi tse nne. Mongolo wa qaleho o tsamaiswang ke pokello o ile wa hlahiswa ka elektoniki le mongolo o latelang dikarolo tse itseng tsa molao o akaretsang ho araba dipotso tsa dipatlisiso. Thuto e phethela ka hore baokamedi ba bohareng ba tsamaiso ba sebedisa ditlwaelo tsa mekgwa e boemong bo tlase ba ketsahalo ya moelelo boiphihlelong ka ho kgutlela morao le ho nahanela pele ka kellelo le maikutlo le ho sebetsa ho kgonehang ha mokgatlo, kapa ho fana ka moelelo boiphihlelong ho kopantsweng ho batlisisang maemo a rarahaneng le a hananang a moetlo wa mokgatlo a nolofatsang le a thibelang ka bobedi. Monehelo o eketsehileng wa thuto ya morao-rao o bua ka ditlwaelo tse keneletseng dipakeng tsa maemo a mabedi a fapaneng a mokgatlo le a motho ka mong a tolokuweng ka ho hanyetsana ho latela matshwao a ka tolokehang ka ditsela tse fapaneng tseo maemo ana a mabedi a ka sehloohong a di bontshang. Ho emelana hona ho kenellanang ho dipakeng tsa maemo a mabedi a mokgatlo le motho ka bo mong ho theha mokgatlo wa kgokahano oo ho ona dikgwele tsa motho ka bo mong le kgato ya mokgatlo di bang thata ho hulwa le ho reha ka tsela e hlakileng kantle le ho senya lesela leo e leng mokgatlo. Menehelo ena e netefatsa selotho se neng se batla ho utlwisisa le/kapa ho tsosolosa tekanyo ya motho kahare ho maemo a setso sa setjhaba sa mokgatlo ho fumana tshireletso ya mokgatlo le boikgutso kamora ho fetoha ha mokgatlo. Diphumano tsa thuto ena ya morao-rao ha di akareletswe ho matshwao a mang a thuto a supileng a mofani wa PHE / Lolu cwaningo lucubungula udaba lokuthi izimenenja ezisezikhundleni ezimaphakathi zizisebenzisa kanjani izinkambiso zazo zokwenza amaqhinga namasu emazingeni aphansi okusebenzisa ikhono lazo lokuzikhethela nokuthatha izinyathelo ngokuzimela (agency) nokwenza kuzwakale futhi kuqondakale lokho ezikwenzayo nezikushoyo (sense-making) ngenhloso yokubumba imiphumela enobuqhinga ngaphambi kokuba kuqaliswe uguquko olunobuqhinga futhi nangenkathi sekuqaliswa uguquko olunjalo olwenzeka ngaphakathi ohlakeni lwesakhiwo senhlalo esivumelayo kanye/noma esivimbelayo. Umcwaningi wakuhlaziya futhi wakuhlolisisa lokhu esebenzisa indlela yokubheka izinto ngokwethiyori yokusebenzisa iqhingasu njengenkambiso (strategyas- practice perspective) kanye nokwenza kuzwakale futhi kuqondakale lokho okwenziwayo nokushiwoyo. Idizayini yocwaningo lwesigameko olukhwalithethivu olugxile ekutheni izimenenja zibheke izinto njengoba zinjalo ngokweso lezigameko ezidlule kuzona izimenenja, ngokuqhubeka kwesikhathi, ekuxhumaneni nasekusebenzeni kwazo nabanye abantu esikhungweni semfundo ephakeme esithile esizimele esiqhuba umsebenzi wokuqeqesha ngenhloso yokungenisa imali nokwenza inzuzo, phecelezi umhlinzeki we-private higher education (PHE). Ucwaningo lwasebenzisa indlela yokuhlaziya idatha ngokucubungula nokuqopha amaphethini, okuyindlela eyadidiyela ukuhlelwa nokuhlungwa kwedatha ngesandla nangobuchwepheshe bekhompyutha ngenhloso yokuhlaziya idatha eqoqwe kusetshenziswa i-emergent research design yemiqhafazo (text messages) kanye namajenali ama-imeyili esikhathini esiyizinyanga ezine. Ukuze kuhlinzekwe ngezimpendulo emibuzweni yocwaningo kwahlanganiswa indlela yokuhlela nokuhlunga idatha esuselwa kuhlobo lwedatha eqoqiwe (inductive) kanye nendlela yokuhlunga ngokusebenzisa uhlelo olwenziwe ngaphambi kokuqoqwa kwedatha (deductive). Ucwaningo luphetha ngokukhipha umbono wokuthi izimenenja ezisezikhundleni ezimaphakathi zisebenzisa izinkambiso zazo zokuqhamuka namaqhinga namasu emazingeni aphansi okwenza izinto ziqondakale ngokusebenzisa ingqondo nemizwa mayelana nezigameko ezenzeke esikhathini esedlule, nalezo ezingahle zenzeke esikhathini esizayo kanye nokubonela kwikhono lomunye umuntu, njengoba linjalo, lokuthatha izinyathelo nokwenza izinto ngokuzimela noma ukwenza izinto ziqondakale, okuyingxenye yalokho, ngenhloso yokuchusha nokuthubeleza esimweni senhlalo-masiko esiyinkimbinkimbi futhi esiziphikisayo, esikwenza kokubili ukuvumela kanye nokuvimbela. Elinye futhi igalelo lalolu cwaningo lwamanje liphathelene nezinkambiso ezifakwe zagxila emazingeni amabili ahlukene ngokucacile phakathi kwenhlangano kanye nomuntu ngamunye, ahunyushwe ngokuphikisana okulandela izimpawu eziyindida futhi ezingaqondakali kahle eziboniswa yilawa mazinga amabili amakhulu. Ukuncikana nokuxhasana okuntekenteke phakathi kwalawa mazinga, okuyinhlangano kanye nomuntu ngamunye, kwakha uhlaka oluxhumene lapho kunzima ukutomula nokugagula ngokucacile izingxenye ezakhe izenzo nezinyathelo zenhlangano ezingxenyeni ezakhe izenzo zomuntu ngamunye, ngaphandle kokuqaqa nokuhlukanisa ingxenye ngayinye eyakhe inhlangano ebumbene. Lawa magalelo ocwaningo aqininisekisa futhi asekele indida-mqondo (intellectual puzzle) ebihlose ukuqonda kanye/noma ukubuyisa ukuzimelela komuntu ngamunye esimweni senhlalo-masiko yenhlangano ukuze kuzuzwe ukuvikeleka kwenhlangano nozinzo-kulingana (equilibrium) emva koguquko olwenzekile enhlanganweni. Imiphumelangqangi etholakale kulolu cwaningo lwamanje ayinakuthathwa njengemiphumela engaphinde isetshenziswe futhi iqondaniswe nezimo ezitholakala kwezinye izikhungo eziyisikhombisa zomhlinzeki we-PHE. / Business Management / M. Com. (Business Management)

Family life is organized by rules, and most of them are unspokenly agreed-upon by family members and may be even out of awareness. Implicit family process and couple rules may facilitate or constrain family relationship and intimate couple relationship growth. Prevalence of family rules may be different across cultures. Family members may perceive their rules and family functioning differently according to their family position and gender. Married couples may view their relationship rules differently than couples who cohabit. This study utilized the Family Implicit Rules Profile (FIRP) and the Couples Implicit Rules Profile (CIRP) Questionnaires to answer these research questions. The questionnaires were translated into Hungarian, and the content validity of the Hungarian translation was established. Hungarian non-clinical families and couples were compared to American (U.S.) non-clinical families and couples to examine how prevalent implicit rules were in the two cultures. According to the findings, Hungarian families and couples scored lower on the total FIRP and CIRP scores. Hungarian families perceived implicit family rules regarding kindness and monitoring less prevalent, and rules regarding constraining their thoughts, feelings and self more prevalent than American families. No differences were found in expressiveness and connection and inappropriate caretaking of parents between the two cultures. Hungarian couples perceived their implicit relationship rules regarding kindness, expressiveness and connection and monitoring less prevalent than American couples. No differences in implicit rules about constraining thoughts, feelings and self and inappropriate caretaking of partner were found between the two cultures. Mothers in both cultures viewed their families in a more positive light than other family members, and female family members (mothers and daughters) were more positive than their male counterparts (fathers and sons) about rules in their families in both cultures. Sons in both cultures perceived more responsibility to protect their parents emotionally than did daughters. Married couples in both cultures perceived their relationship rules more favorably in terms of kindness and monitoring than cohabiting couples. Results were interpreted in the context of cultural differences between the American and the Hungarian cultures. Limitations and the possibility of future research are discussed.

This thesis presents work around 3 themes: dark energy, gravitational waves and Bayesian inference. Both dark energy and gravitational wave physics are not yet well constrained. They present interesting challenges for Bayesian inference, which attempts to quantify our knowledge of the universe given our astrophysical data. A dark energy equation of state reconstruction analysis finds that the data favours the vacuum dark energy equation of state $w {=} -1$ model. Deviations from vacuum dark energy are shown to favour the super-negative ‘phantom’ dark energy regime of $w {< } -1$, but at low statistical significance. The constraining power of various datasets is quantified, finding that data constraints peak around redshift $z = 0.2$ due to baryonic acoustic oscillation and supernovae data constraints, whilst cosmic microwave background radiation and Lyman-$\alpha$ forest constraints are less significant. Specific models with a conformal time symmetry in the Friedmann equation and with an additional dark energy component are tested and shown to be competitive to the vacuum dark energy model by Bayesian model selection analysis: that they are not ruled out is believed to be largely due to poor data quality for deciding between existing models. Recent detections of gravitational waves by the LIGO collaboration enable the first gravitational wave tests of general relativity. An existing test in the literature is used and sped up significantly by a novel method developed in this thesis. The test computes posterior odds ratios, and the new method is shown to compute these accurately and efficiently. Compared to computing evidences, the method presented provides an approximate 100 times reduction in the number of likelihood calculations required to compute evidences at a given accuracy. Further testing may identify a significant advance in Bayesian model selection using nested sampling, as the method is completely general and straightforward to implement. We note that efficiency gains are not guaranteed and may be problem specific: further research is needed.

Performance measurements have been described as a tool by which management can communicate expected standards of behavior as well as a shared meaning among members regarding the intended direction of the firm. In parallel, the organizational identity field relies on the premise that members can answer the question “who are we as an organization?” through a sense of shared understanding. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the implications a performance measurement system has on the employees’ perception of “who we are“, related to the theoretical framework of organizational identity. This paper utilizes a qualitative research method, a case-based approach of a Swedish life science company which is conducted in an exploratory manner. The case company is chosen due to its contextual setting regarding the newly implemented performance measurement system, along with the inherent characteristics of the industry in general, which is typically considered to be incongruent with such quantitative measurements. The empirical data is collected through eight interviews with members from the chosen case company, as well as through internal documents describing its performance measurement system. The authors propose a revised theoretical framework in which performance measurements and organizational identity are investigated through a conceptual model which explores their dynamic relationship. The findings reinforce well-known ideas of performance measurements and organizational identity, along with providing new insights on the dynamics between them. Keywords: Organizational Identity, Performance Measurement System, Performance Management, Identity-Dynamics