This study of CEOs in Nigeria sought to discover the practices that CEOs engaged in as relevant and effective in an emerging economy. Twenty eight CEOs of national and expatriate extraction running national and multi-national companies were interviewed to understand their experiences of the contextual influences of an emerging economy and how this impacted what they did, ie. their practices. In support of contingency theories that seek to explain how effective leadership is the result of appropriateness of fit between particular behaviours and particular situations , CEO practices in an emerging economy were found to be attributable to the macro influences of an emerging economy, discovered in the Nigerian environment to include: - undue government influence, unwholesome competitor practices, short supply of skills and talent, inadequate social and physical infrastructure, a large untapped market and poor government capacity to implement policies and laws. The inclusion of previously unresearched but potentially relevant meso and micro influences of company type and CEO nationality status led to the discovery of additional CEO practices that were perceived to be relevant in an emerging economy context and the attribution of differences in CEO practices to the individual or combined influence of these contexts. A conceptual model derived from the findings of this study provided a new understanding of the relationship between the macro influences of an emerging economy, the meso influence of company type and the micro influence of CEO nationality status on CEO practices and the intended outcomes of those practices. Practical knowledge about the development of business leaders in an emerging economy has been extended as a result of deeper insights into the contextually influenced and relevant CEO practices in an emerging economy.

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This study of CEOs in Nigeria sought to discover the practices that CEOs engaged in as relevant and effective in an emerging economy. Twenty eight CEOs of national and expatriate extraction running national and multi-national companies were interviewed to understand their experiences of the contextual influences of an emerging economy and how this impacted what they did, ie. their practices. In support of contingency theories that seek to explain how effective leadership is the result of appropriateness of fit between particular behaviours and particular situations , CEO practices in an emerging economy were found to be attributable to the macro influences of an emerging economy, discovered in the Nigerian environment to include: - undue government influence, unwholesome competitor practices, short supply of skills and talent, inadequate social and physical infrastructure, a large untapped market and poor government capacity to implement policies and laws. The inclusion of previously unresearched but potentially relevant meso and micro influences of company type and CEO nationality status led to the discovery of additional CEO practices that were perceived to be relevant in an emerging economy context and the attribution of differences in CEO practices to the individual or combined influence of these contexts. A conceptual model derived from the findings of this study provided a new understanding of the relationship between the macro influences of an emerging economy, the meso influence of company type and the micro influence of CEO nationality status on CEO practices and the intended outcomes of those practices. Practical knowledge about the development of business leaders in an emerging economy has been extended as a result of deeper insights into the contextually influenced and relevant CEO practices in an emerging economy.

The engineering design process transforms stakeholders’ needs and desires into design specifications. In this process, manufacturers make decisions that impact how much value can be generated from a new product/service. Clear design specification can enhance the value of a product/service. This research study focuses on the engineering design process for systems of products and services - product-service systems (PSSs). An unambiguous PSS classification could help manufacturers to produce clearer design specifications, however there is a lack of clear PSS classifications for engineering design. Existing classifications rely on an out-dated distinction between tangible objects as products, and everything else as a service, a division that inappropriately classifies digital products as services. To develop a coherent PSS classification, it is necessary to understand which characteristics of PSS can clarify its design specification. This research addresses this problem by determining the PSS characteristics that are useful for clarifying the design specification. The research aims to develop a PSS characterisation scheme and explore how the scheme influences design specifications. To achieve these aims, case study and action research methods are employed. This study has developed a PSS characterisation scheme that clarifies design specifications and a method to systematically apply this scheme, the PSS characterisation approach. This approach proves useful for practitioners to clarify design specifications, and has extended the application of the theory of technical systems to instruments supporting the engineering design process. The PSS characterisation scheme comprises four characteristics: customer perceived value level, ‘connectivity number’, type and degree of connectivity and configuration type. The scheme does not use the ‘tangibility’ distinction, but incorporates concepts of value creation and interdependencies within a PSS and between a PSS and its environment. This novel characterisation scheme contributes to the development of a PSS classification scheme for engineering design and also to the literature of PSS classifications.

Career development theory has traditionally focused mainly on career decision- making and work behaviors and patterns, rather than psychological reasons for working. Blustein (2006) has stepped in to close this gap by providing a taxonomy of three core psychological functions of work: work as a means of survival and power, social connection, and self-determination. Blustein proposes these functions of work are influenced by contextual variables such as access to resources and opportunities. Although it is impossible to measure and define all circumstantial influences that affect core work functions, it is possible to explore how contextual variables, such as age, gender, education, and personality type, affect objectives sought through work, measured as career values. In the current study, secondary data analysis was conducted on data collected from on-line participants who had completed the Career Values Scale (CVS). Three principal components, conceptually aligned to Blustein‘s three core functions of work, were extracted from the CVS: Self-Expression, Extrinsic Rewards, and Working with Others. A series of Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) tests were conducted on these component scores to test hypotheses about how work objectives were influenced by the contextual variables of age, gender, education, and personality type. Age, gender, and education differences accounted for a small, but significant amount of the variance in the career values component scores. Differences in personality type preferences accounted for a greater amount of the variance in the component scores, emphasizing the need to look at personal characteristics as well as contextual variables when considering reasons for working.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore the way(s) in which family management of childhood asthma is affected by contextual influences as described in the Family Management Style Framework (FMSF) and to explore additional factors that affect family asthma management. Specific Aims: The specific aims of this study were 1) to describe the everyday experiences of childhood asthma management within families, 2) to explore the way(s) in which family management of childhood asthma is affected by contextual influences (social network, care providers & systems and resources) as described in the FMSF, and 3) to explore additional sociocultural factors (supported by the literature but not currently described in the FMSF) that affect asthma management in families. Framework: The Family Management Style Framework guided this study. Design: A qualitative descriptive design was used to gather data from a purposive sample of female primary caregivers. Demographic data were collected, and individual interviews were conducted using a flexible interview guide. Results: The findings support the contextual influences as described in the FMSF. An additional three contextual themes were identified: environment, emerging threats to health and work-life conditions. The themes are interrelated demonstrating the complexity of asthma management. Conclusion: Family management of asthma is challenging and complex. The findings move towards understanding the connection between family asthma management and the social determinants of health. Nurses can support families managing childhood asthma by considering each of the contextual influences when planning interventions and working on policy initiatives that support the health of children with asthma.

Stimuli outside classical receptive fields have been shown to exert significant influence over the activities of neurons in primary visual cortexWe propose that contextual influences are used for pre-attentive visual segmentation, in a new framework called segmentation without classification. This means that segmentation of an image into regions occurs without classification of features within a region or comparison of features between regions. This segmentation framework is simpler than previous computational approaches, making it implementable by V1 mechanisms, though higher leve l visual mechanisms are needed to refine its output. However, it easily handles a class of segmentation problems that are tricky in conventional methods. The cortex computes global region boundaries by detecting the breakdown of homogeneity or translation invariance in the input, using local intra-cortical interactions mediated by the horizontal connections. The difference between contextual influences near and far from region boundaries makes neural activities near region boundaries higher than elsewhere, making boundaries more salient for perceptual pop-out. This proposal is implemented in a biologically based model of V1, and demonstrated using examples of texture segmentation and figure-ground segregation. The model performs segmentation in exactly the same neural circuit that solves the dual problem of the enhancement of contours, as is suggested by experimental observations. Its behavior is compared with psychophysical and physiological data on segmentation, contour enhancement, and contextual influences. We discuss the implications of segmentation without classification and the predictions of our V1 model, and relate it to other phenomena such as asymmetry in visual search.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / The purpose of the study was to gather validity evidence for a South African developed instrument designed to measure individual and contextual factors associated with adolescent substance use in low socio-economic status communities in the Western Cape, South Africa. Studies report high rates of substance use in these communities. This possibly points towards the impact of typical post-apartheid contextual factors on the development of adolescent substance use. The South African Substance Use Contextual Risk Questionnaire (SASUCRQ) measures adolescents’ subjective experiences of their own psycho-social and their communities’ functioning.