Thesis (Ph. D.)--Rutgers University, 1997. / Includes vita and abstract. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (p. 201-213).

Liberalization of the Indian economy in 199I increased the intensity of international competition and changed the internal information needs of Indian managers. This paper explores the evolution of a broad range of management accounting practices in 14 firms using a contingency theory framework. Differences in management accounting practices in 1996 are examined in relation to firms' experience and exposure to world markets prior to liberalization and as a function of contemporaneous differences in competitive strategy. We find evidence of changes associated with shifts in the external environment. / University of Michigan Business School

Physical inactivity is a widespread problem associated with numerous health problems. Individuals with intellectual disabilities are at a high risk of living a sedentary lifestyle. Although a few studies have examined interventions consisting of goal-setting and reinforcement for increasing PA, no studies have evaluated the use of monetary reinforcement. Interventions using monetary reinforcement have been shown to be effective for increasing PA with typically developing adults. The present studies evaluated monetary reinforcement for increasing PA in adults with intellectual disabilities. Study 1 evaluate a session-based intervention where participants earned monetary rewards for attaining step count goals as recorded by pedometers. The intervention increased the rate of walking for all five participants, demonstrating experimental control with four participants. The study also found that a staff member implemented the intervention with fidelity and rated it as highly acceptable. Study 2 evaluated a whole-day intervention where participants earned monetary rewards for attaining daily step goals as measured by wrist-worn Fitbit Alta™ accelerometers. The whole-day intervention resulted in noticeable increases in daily steps for only two participants, with experimental control demonstrated for one participant. Discussion includes the advantages and limitations of the approaches in each study and recommendations for future studies.

O presente trabalho versa sobre a recepção do pensamento político de Maquiavel pela chamada Escola de Cambridge, notadamente seus membros mais proeminentes: Quentin Skinner e John Pocock. Proponho examinar desde (i) a rica contribuição de Pocock e Skinner para uma metodologia da história intelectual (que é o que precisamente conforma a Escola), passando por (ii) suas interpretações de Maquiavel como um autor fundamentalmente republicano, e chegando até mesmo a (iii) uma filosofia política normativa despontada daqueles dois primeiros movimentos e com eles entremeada. A tese principal do trabalho é que uma noção de contingência (a anterioridade do particular sobre o universal, do criado sobre o espontâneo, do artificial sobre o natural, enfim, do contingente sobre o necessário) perpassaria e pautaria esses três estágios de seus comentários. Para elucidá-lo, procuro esquadrinhar como isso funciona estruturalmente entre os três diferentes momentos e também no diálogo estabelecido entre os dois intérpretes, a fim de evidenciar seus afastamentos e convergências. Por fim, investigo os limites e forças de ambas as posições teóricas quando do contato com críticas externas à dita Escola; sempre contando com a própria noção de contingência como critério de avaliação. Avaliações essas que me levam a concluir, especificamente no que tange aos segundo e terceiro movimentos das interpretações aqui tematizadas e essa é a tese secundária do trabalho , por uma espécie de vantagem teórica da interpretação de Skinner com relação à de Pocock. / This study discusses the reception of Machiavelli\'s political thought by the Cambridge School, more specifically its most prominent members, Quentin Skinner and John Pocock. I explore the question from three different instances or moments: (i) Pocock and Skinner\'s rich contribution to a methodology of intellectual history (precisely what conforms the \"School\"), (ii) their interpretations of Machiavelli as essentially a republican author, and (iii) the latter establishment of a normative political philosophy that is a result and a fundamental component of the above mentioned. My main thesis is that the notion of contingency (the priority of the particular over the universal, of the created over the spontaneous, of the artificial over the natural, of the contingent over the necessary) permeated and guided these three steps of their analysis. To shed light on the matter, I examine how this applies structurally in the three different moments and also in the dialog established between the two interpreters, seeking to evidence the similarities and differences in their positions. Finally, I explore the limitations and strengths of both theoretical positions while in contact with external criticism, always relying on the notion of contingency as an evaluation criteria. As a result, I suggest that, when talking specifically about the second and third moments here discussed and this is my secondary thesis Skinner\'s theories are in a privileged position when compared to those of Pocock.

Este estudo investiga, sob a ótica da teoria da contingência, os efeitos dos fatores contingenciais sobre o perfil do sistema de controle gerencial (SCG) das empresas brasileiras tendo como objetivo compreender as características do SCG, em função dos fatores contingenciais. São examinados os efeitos diretos e interativos dos fatores contingenciais internos estratégia, estrutura, tecnologia da informação e estágio do ciclo de vida organizacional e do ambiente no perfil do SCG. Avalia-se também o efeito do SCG no desempenho organizacional. Esta pesquisa defende a tese de que os fatores contingenciais internos e externos influenciam o perfil do SCG que possui associação com o desempenho, sendo possível estabelecer arranjos (fit) entre fatores contingenciais, características do SCG e desempenho organizacional. As hipóteses relativas aos efeitos dos fatores contingenciais no SCG preveem que o ambiente, fator contingencial externo, possui associação com os fatores contingenciais internos i) estratégia, ii) estrutura, iii) estágio do CVO e iv) tecnologia da informação; que o ambiente e os fatores contingenciais internos possuem associação com o perfil do SCG e que o SCG possui associação com o desempenho. A amostra envolveu 120 empresas brasileiras de grande porte e os dados para obtenção de informações sobre as mesmas foram coletados através de uma survey (levantamento). Para o tratamento dos dados, foram utilizadas as técnicas estatísticas de análise fatorial, análise de clusters e modelagem de equações estruturais. Os resultados indicaram que quando analisadas em um único grupo de empresas, não foi possível identificar associação entre os fatores contingenciais e o SCG e deste com o desempenho organizacional, rejeitando-se as hipóteses estabelecidas. Entretanto, ao separar as empresas em dois grupos distintos, i) indústria e ii) comércio e serviços, a hipótese de associação entre o fator contingencial ambiente e o SCG foi aceita. Também foram aceitas as hipóteses de: i) associação do ambiente com os fatores contingenciais internos da organização, ii) de associação dos fatores contingenciais internos com o SCG e, finalmente, iii) do SCG com o desempenho organizacional. A validação das hipóteses da pesquisa indica que a escolha e a utilização dos artefatos do SCG sofrem influência dos fatores contingenciais vivenciados pela empresa. Os resultados da pesquisa estão sujeitos a algumas limitações: i) as respostas refletem a percepção dos profissionais de controladoria das empresas, ii) a amostra não é probabilística e, portanto, todas as inferências não podem ser generalizadas para a população. Entretanto, considerando o atual estágio da pesquisa em contabilidade gerencial no Brasil, a pesquisa fornece uma visão importante de um grupo de empresas classificadas entre as maiores do País. Esta análise pode ser o ponto de partida para futuras pesquisas que utilizem a teoria da contingência. / This study investigates, from the perspective of contingency theory, the effects of contingency factors on the profile of the management control system (SCG) of Brazilian companies. The study examines the direct and interactive effects of internal contingency factors - strategy, structure, information technology and stage of organizational life cycle - and the environment in the profile of the SCG. It also evaluates the effect of SCG on organizational performance. This research supports the view that the contingent factors internal and external influence the profile of the SCG that has membership to the performance, it is possible to make arrangements (fit) between contingency factors, characteristics of the SCG and organizational performance. The assumptions of the effects of contingency factors in the SCG predict that the environment, external contingency factor, has association with membership to the internal contingency factors i) strategy, ii) structure, iii) stage of the CVO and iv) information technology, the environment and the internal contingency factors are associated with the profile of the SCG and the SCG has association with the performance. The sample involved 120 Brazilian companies large and the data to obtain information about them was collected through a survey (survey). For the treatment of data, we used the statistical techniques of factor analysis, cluster analysis and structural equation modeling. The results showed that when analyzed in a single group of companies, we could not identify an association between contingency factors and the SCG and this organizational performance, rejecting the hypotheses. However, the separate companies in two distinct groups: i) industry and ii) trade and services, the hypothesis of association between the environment and contingency factor SCG was accepted. We also accept the following hypotheses: i) linking the environment with the contingency factors internal to the organization, ii) the association of contingency factors internal to the SCG and, finally, iii) the SCG with organizational performance. The validation of the hypotheses of research indicates that the choice and use of artifacts from the SCG are influenced by the contingent factors experienced by the company. The survey results are subject to some limitations: i) the responses reflect the perceptions of professionals controlling companies, ii) the sample is not probabilistic and, therefore, all inferences can not be generalized to the population. However, considering the current state of research in management accounting in Brazil, the study provides important insight into a group of companies ranked among the highest in Brazil. This analysis can be the starting point for future studies using the contingency theory.

Neste trabalho foi realizada uma revisão bibliográfica acerca das metodologias encontradas na literatura de como são aplicados os métodos para o uso analítico de dados provenientes de pesquisas que envolvem esquemas amostrais complexos. Objetivou-se mostrar e discutir alguns estudos que avaliam o impacto de ignorar o plano amostral na análise dos dados. Foi feito também um levantamento de artigos com o objetivo de fazer um estudo de trabalhos publicados em jornais, revistas ou periódicos, cujos assuntos abordados tratam da incorporação da estrutura complexa da amostra na análise. Essa revisão evidenciou que os métodos clássicos de análise, ou seja, aqueles que supõem que os dados provém de uma amostragem aleatória simples, podem levar a resultados incorretos produzindo conclusões errôneas ou equivocadas quando os dados provém de esquemas amostrais complexos. / This work was carried out a literature review about the methodologies found in the literature of how the methods for data analytical use from research involving complex sampling schemes are applied. It was aimed to show and discuss some studies that assess the impact of ignoring the sampling scheme in the data analysis. It was also made a survey of articles in order to make a study of works published in newspapers, magazines or periodicals, which addressed issues dealing with the incorporation of the complex structure of the sample in the analysis. This review shown that the classical methods of analysis, i.e. those who assume that the data comes from a simple random sampling can lead to incorrect results producing quite erroneous and misleading conclusions when the data come from complex sample schemes.

O principal objetivo desta pesquisa é analisar alguns das principais idéias envolvidas no labirinto da liberdade, um dos assuntos de grande destaque dentro da filosofia leibniziana. Por um lado, Leibniz sempre defendeu a máxima racionalidade de todos os fatos, o que acaba por indicar que todos estes estão absolutamente predeterminados. Por outro, ele procurou mostrar que todos os seres racionais são moralmente responsáveis pelos seus atos conforme suas vontades. Por meio de um grande esforço conceitual, Leibniz procurou conciliar a idéia de um destino, racionalmente delineável, junto à idéia de liberdade das ações dos seres racionais; ele não quis defender nem a pura necessidade e nem o puro acaso. O principal aliado nessa tarefa foi o Princípio de Razão Suficiente. Este princípio ganhou foi fortalecido a partir do desenvolvimento do conceito das infinitas substâncias completas (entelechia, substância individuais, mônadas), que foi elaborado gradualmente ao longo da sua vida filosófica. Uma reconstrução básica de algumas das principais teses da metafísica leibniziana permite observar como as criaturas (especialmente as racionais) passaram a ser consideras as legítimas responsáveis por suas ações, sem que o mundo representasse uma espécie de caos. / The main goal of this dissertation is to investigate some aspects of the Labyrinth of Freedom, a key subject in the Philosophy of Leibniz. On one hand, Leibniz supported the maximum rationality of all events, meaning that they are all absolutely predetermined. On the other, he tried to show that rational beings are morally responsible for their actions, and that requires free will. Through an act of great intellectual effort Leibniz tried to conciliate an idea of all embracing destiny (rationally understood) and the concept of freedom. He resisted admitting a vision of the world driven either by absolute necessity or lost to pure chance. His main ally in this task was the Principle of Sufficient Reason. This principle gained strength from the development of the concept of infinite substances (entelechia, individual substance, monades) that was gradually forged throughout the philosopher\'s life. A brief reconstruction of some of the main features of Leibniz´s metaphysics allows us to perceive how all creatures (especially rational ones) could be seen to be truly responsible for what they do and the choices they make in a rationally structured world.

The aim of the diploma thesis was to create independently an application, automating a correspondence analysis calculation using MS Excel and taking advantage of VBA programming language. The application was then used to analyse Slovak banking sector. The created application is based on macro sets which can be split up to two parts. The first part produces a contingency table and converts it into a format usable in the second part. Then there is executed the Correspondence Analysis calculation itself. Supplement Matrix is being used, that allows to discharge functions from matrix and linear algebra. The application allows to process any matrix dimension. Dialog window offers four normalization types, shortened and also full output and it is possible to display row or column variable categories, eventually both. The analysis subject was to find out which of the products are typical for considered banks and for which clients, divided into age categories, is attractive particular bank and/or product. A starting point is a product usage data matrix at a particular bank. There was made a conclusion, that it is possible to divide banks into more traditional or modern type institutions and also that each bank has a typical product.

The effects of deadlines in contingency-specifying stimuli among nine 4 to 5 year old children were investigated. Each child was given verbal statements differing in the specified deadline, the delivery of the reinforcer, and the opportunity to respond. The results indicated: (a) statements not specifying deadlines or reinforcers failed to control the children's behavior reliably, (b) specifying deadlines, either immediate or delayed, and immediate reinforcers exerted reliable control over the children's behavior when the opportunity to respond was immediately available, and (c) specifying delayed deadlines or no deadlines and immediate or delayed reinforcers did not reliably control the children's behavior when the opportunity to respond was delayed.

The main objective of the dissertation is to evaluate and compare higher education financing instruments in regard to their practical advantageousness. None of the publications covering higher education financing so far have dealt with the question of practicability and market acceptance of the different higher education financing instruments currently being offered. The author intended to close this gap, providing a practical analysis of the mode of operation as well as a thorough comparison of private higher education financing instruments in respect to their applicability.