CoordenaÃÃo de AperfeÃoamento de Pessoal de NÃvel Superior / CoordenaÃÃo de AperfeiÃoamento de Pessoal de NÃvel Superior / A proposta da nossa pesquisa à analisar a relaÃÃo de sustentaÃÃo recÃproca entre filosofia e literatura em Sartre por via da leitura dos textos filosÃficos e das obras de ficÃÃo A nÃusea e O muro, observando no pensamento de juventude de Sartre a predominÃncia da questÃo Ãtica. Relacionando filosofia e literatura, almejamos, desta forma, esclarecer as correspondÃncias e os entrelaces dos questionamentos Ãticos que unem o plano teÃrico e a investigaÃÃo sobre a concretude da vida humana, ambos, instrumentos interdependentes de um projeto filosÃfico-literÃrio de fundo Ãtico. Observaremos tambÃm as condiÃÃes Ãticas do compromisso histÃrico que se estabelece por via do engajamento do escritor: compromisso recÃproco assumido entre o escritor e o leitor a partir da liberdade situada.

Islamic banking system is one of the fastest growing segments of the international financial industry. This system has been receiving a growing attention nowadays especially after the global financial crisis which gave Islamic banks an opportunity to prove their resilience and contribution to financial and economic stability. The beginning of the Islamic banking in its contemporary mode was in the sixties of the past century by the first modern Islamic banking experiment which was undertaken in Egypt in 1963 by Ahmad Al-Najjar. Islamic financial institutions are established to operate commercial banking activities within an Islamic teaching perspective which depends on the elimination of any prohibited element in Islamic Shariah jurisprudence such as interest, gambling, speculation, dealing in pork or alcohol. The very distinct nature of Islamic banking led to a growing interest in determining the success factors of such type of banks especially that in most of the cases they operate with conventional banks vis a vis within the same market and sometimes under the same regulatory framework. The aim of this research is to make a comparative study between the performance of Islamic banks and conventional banks in the Egyptian financial market. The study is an attempt to determine the internal and external contingent factors that affect the profitability of Islamic banks in Egypt in comparison to conventional banks while taking into consideration the fact that both types of banks operate under the same rules and regulations. The goal is to discover whether the different nature of operations between the two types of banks is likely to affect their determinants of performance. The main motivation for undertaking this research is to fill the gap in literature and provide some information that might benefit both academics and practitioners in this field. A thorough revision of the literature suggested contingency perspective as the most suitable and appropriate theoretical framework for this type of research (Thomas, 1991; Schweikart, 1985; Otley, 1980). Data were gathered in this research through the collection of annual financial reports for the two Islamic banks working in Egypt and a sample of eleven conventional banks registered in the stock market. The study covered the period from 2002 to 2010. The findings indicate that in general, the performance of conventional banks in Egypt outweighed that of their Islamic counterparts. Moreover, it can be concluded from the results of the study that there are differences between the profitability determinants of Islamic banks and conventional banks. And eventually, it can be inferred that the nature of operations has an effect on the determination of profitability in Islamic banks and conventional banks.

5 p. / an easy to use framework to help develop a contingency plan for drought

Recent findings indicate that bimodal-redundant stimulation promotes perceptual learning and recruits attention to amodal properties in non-human as well as human infants. However it is not clear if bimodal-redundant stimulation can also facilitate memory during the postnatal period. Moreover, most animal and human studies have employed an operant paradigm to study memory, but have not compared the effectiveness of contingent versus passive presentation of information on memory. The current study investigated the role of unimodal versus bimodal presentation and, the role of a contingent versus passive exposure in memory retention in the bobwhite quail (Colinus virginianus). Results revealed that contingently trained chicks demonstrated a preference for the familiarized call under both unimodal and bimodal conditions. Between-group analyses revealed that the contingent-bimodal group preferred the familiarized call as compared to the passive-bimodal group. These results indicate that the contingency paradigm accompanied with the bimodal stimulus type facilitated memory during early development.

This strategic compensation model based on contingency theory of organizations proposes that a fit between the organization's business environment and compensation system will affect the firm's performance (Rockmore, 1991; Rockmore and Scarpello, 1994). This proposition was tested with a set of Korean sample data of seventy-five publicly traded companies within thirty-four three-digit Standard Industrial Classification codes. The cluster analysis applied to the 7-item task environment uncertainty components resulted in two group classifications that face relatively ‘more certain’ and ‘more uncertain’ environments. Principal component factor analysis of the 8-item compensation system components resulted in three compensation system factors and subsequent cluster analysis classified firm pay plans into two clusters, which we labelled ‘more traditional’ and ‘more innovative’. Discriminant analysis confirmed the resulting classifications of both task environment and compensation system types. With both ROA and EPS measures, significantly more ‘fits’ (firms in stable environment that use traditional compensation system or firms in uncertain environment that use innovative compensation system) showed financial gains compared with ‘nonfits’. This financial impact of the contingency was more salient for those firms that face uncertain environment. The same results were obtained when ANOVA was performed.

Tensions and conflicts are a regular, but complex, part of organizational life. Triangulating multiple related theories is useful in gaining deeper insights into the complexities of tension or conflict management processes in organizations. This dissertation consists of three related essays that collectively contribute to answering a common research question: How and why tensions or conflicts are experienced and managed in different organizational contexts? The focus is on how three theoretical perspectives (contingency, paradox and dialectic) can be deployed to understand tension or conflict management in different contexts. This topic is relevant for three reasons. First, recent evidence demonstrates that both tensions and conflicts have constructive potential for individual and/or organizational change. Second, conflict studies have been shifting from short-term focused resolution to long-term-oriented transformation. This trend suggests that conflict studies might benefit from tension research, which is often long-term oriented due to the persistence of organizational tensions. Third, the advancement of tension research at the organization level calls for more tension research at the individual level. This presents a good opportunity to complement conflict studies, which mainly focus on individual and team level analyses. The dissertation uses a multi-perspective framework to analyze tension or conflict management in three organizational contexts that are rich in tensions and conflicts: family businesses, innovation in government, and the entrepreneurial university. The contingency perspective features either-or thinking that stresses the importance of making either-or choices according to contingencies. The paradox perspective features both-and thinking which favours strategies that address competing demands simultaneously. The dialectic perspective involves more-than thinking that aims to transcend tensions or conflicts through third parties, reframing, or other workarounds. The study of three different contexts (family business, government, and the university) allows for a better understanding of how different contexts shape the manifestation of tensions and conflicts and influence the choice of tension and conflict management strategies. The first essay (presented in chapter 2 and co-authored with Professor Mark Freel) is based on a literature review of family-related conflicts and how these conflicts are managed in family businesses. The review illustrates how the popularity of certain conflict management strategies is associated with some unique aspects of family businesses, such as the prevalence of relationship conflicts and the relatively high emotional bonding in families. The second essay (presented in chapter 3 and co-authored with Professor Samia Chreim) uses a longitudinal case study to examine how tension management evolves regarding two tensions observed in a government innovation diffusion process: control versus resistance and competing interests among stakeholders. The study demonstrates how tension management strategies evolve from simple to complex through a mechanism of joint learning between innovators and the government. The study also finds that tensions can be leveraged strategically to move the innovation project forward. The third essay (presented in chapter 4 and co-authored with Professor Samia Chreim and Professor Mark Freel) explores how academic and non-academic staff in two Canadian universities manage the reward and resource tensions associated with entrepreneurship-related activities. The study finds that individuals' strategies in managing the reward tension influence the type of entrepreneurship-related activities they engage in, and individuals' strategies in managing the resource tension influence the scale and scope of entrepreneurship-related activities at the university level. The study also illustrates that power relations are dynamic and that the implementation of both-and strategies can help balance power relations in a tension context. Collectively, the three essays in this dissertation shed light on how organizations, teams or individuals manage tensions or conflicts in three organizational contexts featuring hybrid logics (family and business; innovation and bureaucracy; entrepreneurship and scholarship). The multi-perspective framework has proved useful as a tool for analyzing both tension and conflict management. It also helps to frame important new research questions around topics such as how constructive potential is realized, why certain management strategies are more or less popular, and how strategies evolve with different types of tension or conflict.

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The experiment was designed to study the effect of conditionality on the growth and decline of expectancy scores during acquisition and extinction The results revealed that conditionality affects the growth of expectation during acquisition for both direct and vicarious tasks but has no effect on variation scores, Percentage of reinforcement is also effective, the expectancy scores for the 100% reward groups rising to a higher level in acquisition and dropping off more rapidly in extinction than for the 50% reward groups. Problems arising from the differential effect of conditionality on expectancy scores and variation indices, and from differential expectancy levels at the end of acquisition were discussed. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA)

Some studies have demonstrated that the effects of a drug may be different, depending on whether the drug is self-administered or passively received by the subject. Most of the studies which have examined this phenomenon have not examined the effects of a drug following each of a series of administrations. Moreover, the mechanism mediating differences between self-administered and passively received drugs has not been determined. The present experiments used a yoked-control design to examine the development of tolerance to the ataxic effects of heroin and of ethanol in rats that self-administer the drugs and rats that passively received them. Results demonstrate that rats that passively received heroin, but not those that self-administered the drug, were significantly impaired following the initial administrations. During the first administration sessions, rats that self-administered ethanol were as impaired as their partners that passively received, but within a few sessions self-administering rats developed tolerance to the ataxic effect of the ethanol, while their yoked partners did not. The results also suggest that the faster tolerance development in rats that self-administered ethanol may have been mediated by differences in Pavlovian conditioning in these subjects, which demonstrated larger compensatory conditional responses in the form of “hypertaxia” than did their yoked partners. The results indicated that some component of the self-administration process contributed to the Pavlovian conditioning, and hence, faster tolerance development, of self-administering animals. The data suggest that studies in which drugs are passively received may overestimate the dose that is necessary to produce tolerance in self-administering animals. Models based on such studies, then, may require modification before they are applied to situations which involve self-administration of drugs. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

The purpose of this research is to develop a comprehensive, IS assessment framework using existing IS assessment theory as a base and incorporating suggestions from other disciplines. To validate the framework and to begin the investigation of current IS assessment practice, a survey instrument was developed. A small group of subject matter experts evaluated and improved the instrument. The instrument was further evaluated using a small sample of IS representatives. Results of this research include a reexamination of the IS function measurement problem using new frameworks of analyses yielding (a) guidance for the IS manager or executive on which IS measures might best fit their organization, (b) a further verification of the important measures most widely used by IS executives, (c) a comprehensive, theoretically-derived, IS assessment framework, and by (d) the enhancement of IS assessment theory by incorporating ideas from actual practice. The body of knowledge gains a comprehensive, IS assessment framework that can be further tested for usefulness and applicability. Future research is recommended to substantiate and improve on these findings. Chapter 2 is a complete survey of prior research, subdivided by relevant literature divisions, such as organizational effectiveness, quality management, and IS assessment. Chapter 3 includes development of and support for the research questions, IS assessment framework, and the research model. Chapter 4 describes how the research was conducted. It includes a brief justification for the research approach, a description of how the framework was evaluated, a description of how the survey instrument was developed and evaluated, a description of the participants and how they were selected, a synopsis of the data collection procedures, a brief description of follow-up procedures, and a summary. Chapter 5 presents the results of the research. Chapter 6 is a summary and conclusion of the research. Finally, included in the appendices are definitions of terms, and copies of the original and improved survey instruments.