In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries Progressive reformers attacked the problem of corruption and lack of efficiency in city government. Reform groups in individual cities banded together in the National Municipal League and, because they believed that partisan politics were the root of the problem, attempted to devise a system which would remove politics from municipal government. Their work culminated in the introduction of the city manager, or as it is often called council-manager, form of city government. Under this plan, which closely resembles the organization of a business corporation, the elected council would serve as a board of directors and the city manager as the operating head of city government. Reformers hoped that by taking the day-to-day decisions out of the hands of elected officials and placing them in the hands of a professionally trained manager they might remove the stigma of corruption and partisanship from city government and promote efficiency. Whether this plan as it was originally conceived was or was not successful in Dallas is the subject of this thesis.

It was Woodrow Wilson who played the dominant role in the Council of Four. With his dedication to the vague, often contradictory Fourteen Points, and with the power of the office of President of the United States supporting him, he determined the very nature of the treaty. Wilson's use, and misuse, of his influence over his colleagues makes him responsible for much of the final form of the Treaty of Versailles.

Faculty of Arts School of Humanities 0400617v mosmakoso@yahoo.com Degree of master housing / The aim of the study was to investigate, how Welkom council is responding to street homelessness in Welkom. The democratic government adopted, the Reconstruction and Development Programme, as an integrated socio-economic policy framework, to mobilize national, and human resources, towards a sustainable housing for urban, and rural poor. However, despite, the government’s concerted commitment to providing massive housing for its citizens, the problem of homelessness, remains pervasive. Three themes, which emerged as critical during the study, are discussed in detail, namely, lack of housing policy, addressing specifically street homelessness; lack of financial and legal mandate, by the local council, to house street homelessness; and lack of research department, and human resources for effective conceptualization of the issue. It is argued that the department of research is critical in providing strategic research facilities, in areas of housing policy, and legislation frameworks. Equally critical, is the need for skilled human resources, necessary for strategic and holistic provision of efficient and effective services. The study suggests complete overhaul of the national housing policy making it holistically inclusive. Equally suggested, is capacity building necessary for sustainable, efficient, and effective housing delivery and eradication of homelessness.

No description available.

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is an international organisation established in 1981 between six Gulf countries, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). According to the GCC Supreme Council, it was established to foster and manage cooperation between these countries and to serve their common interests. This thesis explores another factor, that it was established in response to specific security concerns in the context of the energy crisis that arose after the 1970‟s war between Egypt and Israel, the Soviet attack on Afghanistan and the Iranian revolution which was followed by the Iran-Iraq war. It is a doctrinal study that aims to determine where the GCC fits as an international institution within the framework of international law and international institutions particularly. Accordingly, the aim of this thesis is to analyse critically what the GCC is and does exactly. More specifically, it examines the type of organisation the GCC is, its relationship with member states and other international organisations and considers its future role as a key regional organisation. This thesis analyses the reason for its establishment, leaders‟ opinions about its nature, the GCC's methods for producing collective political attitudes and economic cooperation. It also assesses the kinds of laws the GCC produces, their status, whether hard and soft law, as well as their enforcement. This analysis is conducted from a combined legal positivist and international relations framework. From Nasserism to the Arab Spring, the GCC has withstood the waves of political movements in the Middle East. This thesis provide a critical analysis of the GCC‟s overall achievements and aims, with a particular focus on its response to key political developments such as these. This thesis argues that GCC members have been using the GCC as means to achieve their own ends. Due to the nature of their governing systems – absolute monarchy – they are using the GCC to maintain the security and stability of their own ruling systems. However, while the GCC has always focused on security and economic cooperation, its achievements are stronger in the latter because security is linked to external factors.

An alignment or “fit” between an organization’s objectives and knowledge management (KM) practices should be established in order for the organization to fully utilize its knowledge assets and to derive competitive advantages. The organization should deploy a holistic approach for KM that spans business strategy, information system (IS) strategy, organization culture, and human factors. This research has investigated the strategic alignment between knowledge strategy and business strategy - KMBS-SA and the strategic alignment between knowledge strategy and IS strategy - KMIS-SA in the banking sector among the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. Using the proposed model, the study explored the impacts of KMBS-SA and KMIS-SA on the organizational performance. The main hypothesis of this research is that knowledge is the main resource in an organization, and by aligning this resource with the business strategy and IS strategy, the alignment will contribute positively on the performance of the organization. The research model was illustrated in two different conceptualizations hypothesizing the different relationships between knowledge strategies, business strategy and IS strategy. The first conceptualization illustrates the KMBS-SA and KMIS-SA, and an investigation on the contribution of theses alignments on the organizational performance. The second conceptualization of the research model aims at investigating the impact of different types or profiles of KMBS-SA and KMIS-SA on the organizational performance. This study examined different alignments between two profiles of knowledge strategy - Aggressive Knowledge Strategy (AKS) and Conservative Knowledge Strategy (CKS), with various types of business strategy according to Miles and Snow’s (1978) strategic typology, and, the alignment of the two profiles of knowledge strategy with various IS strategy based on the STROIS approach by Chan et al. (1997). Using both conceptualizations, the role of knowledge strategy as a moderator or a mediator in the contribution of the business strategy and IS strategy towards the organizational performance was examined. The primary data for this study was collected through a survey of 106 banks from the six Gulf countries: Kingdom of Bahrain, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Oman. The first overall conclusion demonstrated that there is a strong association between knowledge strategy and business strategy and that KMBS-SA clearly influenced the organizational performance. The second overall result of this research shows that in the context of GCC countries, knowledge strategy received stronger support as moderator of the IS congruence association with performance and that KMIS-SA is the primary determinant of the effectiveness of IS in the GCC banks. From the finding, it is recommended that the GCC banks should take KMBS-SA and KMIS-SA challenge seriously and should consider the alignment implication before moving ahead to implement a strategic plan. Furthermore, the research finding revealed that GCC bank should not ignore the different dimensions of knowledge strategic choices. The banks need to determine different profiles for their knowledge strategy in order to support all aspects of business strategy and IS strategic dimensions that are most important for the organization. They should then direct the organizational knowledge resources to support these profiles. Finally, it is recommended that the banks should define and establish a position in KM in order to oversee the knowledge strategy and KM issues.

Thesis (M.A.) -- University of Texas at Arlington, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 204-224). Also available on the Internet.

Although the 1837-38 Rebellions and the Union of the Canadas have received much attention from historians, the Special Council—a political body that bridged two constitutions—remains largely unexplored in comparison. This dissertation considers its time as the legislature of Lower Canada. More specifically, it examines its social, political and economic impact on the colony and its inhabitants. Based on the works of previous historians and on various primary sources, this dissertation first demonstrates that the Special Council proved to be very important to Lower Canada, but more specifically, to British merchants and Tories. After years of frustration for this group, the era of the Special Council represented what could be called a “catching up” period regarding their social, commercial and economic interests in the colony. This first section ends with an evaluation of the legacy of the Special Council, and posits the theory that the period was revolutionary as it produced several ordinances that changed the colony’s social, economic and political culture This first section will also set the stage for the most important matter considered in this dissertation as it emphasizes the Special Council’s authoritarianism. During this period, Lower Canadians lost all political rights and the decisions taken by the Special Council were made by non-elected councilors. The second section therefore considers the various ordinances the council passed, its obvious favoritism and authoritarianism, and the opinions of Lower Canadians towards them. The following questions are considered: did the British and French-Canadians react differently to the dissolution of their legislature and the suspension of their constitution? Considering the fact that many people, habitants and British alike, did not support the rebellion, did they view the council as a necessity in restoring peace and stability to the colony, and therefore accepted its authoritarianism, and even supported it? More importantly, did French-Canadians submit to the Special Council and all of the new laws and institutions it imposed in the years following the failed rebellions? Evidence suggests that French-Canadians were very vocal in their opposition to the Special Council.

The purpose of this study was to explore the role a school council played in encouraging community involvement in a K to 12 school located within a bedroom community. This qualitative case study included data collected from 35 semi-structured individual interviews conducted with Sunshines School Community Council (SCC) members, teachers, and community members. Augmented data collection incorporated my attendance at three SCC meetings, 11 community and school visits, and the maintenance of a personal journal during the interview process. Data results were analyzed through Putnams concept of social capital theory.<p> During the time of this study, the impact that Sunshines SCC had on community involvement in school was evolving. The SCC was new to the school community; Sunshines SCC members displayed nascent levels of trust between themselves and with community members. The SCC predominantly focused its attention on fulfilling the provincially-mandated requirement of contributing to the schools Learning Improvement Plan. Since supporting the schools centralized goals consumed much of the SCCs time and attention, the association was less able to promote traditional forms of community involvement in school.<p> Most participants perceived traditional forms of community involvement in school to positively impact the social cohesion of the school community. Parents believed there were multiple benefits associated with traditional forms of community involvement in school, including improved parent-to-parent relationships, improved school-home relationships, additional support for school curricula, and improved student performance in school. Based on social capital theory, socialization during community events generates social capital between community members, which encourages further community involvement in school. The forging of bonding, bridging, and linking social capital, through a variety of traditional means, was a fundamental component needed to create, complement, and sustain community involvement in the school.<p> The majority of SCC participants perceived that the formal components of SCC policy were misaligned with their desire to promote traditional forms of community involvement. Most participants believed that bureaucratic aspects of the SCC policy (and similar organizations) negatively affect productivity. Social capital theory supported the idea that bureaucracy deters the establishment and utilization of trust and social capital.<p> Sunshine was a bedroom community and the socialization tendencies of the community appeared to negatively influence community involvement. Convenient access to urban amenities, the influx of new community members, and a generational shift of values and lifestyles appeared to deter the creation and utilization of personal and professional stocks of social capital within the community. In contrast, the impact of child-focused events and sporting activities appeared to unite community members and positively influence the creation and utilization of social capital within the community.<p> Implications arising from this study pinpoint the importance of fostering trusting relationships not only between SCCs members but between SCCs and their communities. In order to generate higher levels of trust, and thereby strengthen the potency of social capital, Sunshines SCC members need decentralized authority to self-create local goals. The procedure of annual SCC elections also needs reviewing as an annual influx of new members to the SCC negates the sustainability of high levels of trust. On a practical level, Sunshines SCC, the school administration, and the school division need to promote SCC communication with the school community.

Although the 1837-38 Rebellions and the Union of the Canadas have received much attention from historians, the Special Council—a political body that bridged two constitutions—remains largely unexplored in comparison. This dissertation considers its time as the legislature of Lower Canada. More specifically, it examines its social, political and economic impact on the colony and its inhabitants. Based on the works of previous historians and on various primary sources, this dissertation first demonstrates that the Special Council proved to be very important to Lower Canada, but more specifically, to British merchants and Tories. After years of frustration for this group, the era of the Special Council represented what could be called a “catching up” period regarding their social, commercial and economic interests in the colony. This first section ends with an evaluation of the legacy of the Special Council, and posits the theory that the period was revolutionary as it produced several ordinances that changed the colony’s social, economic and political culture This first section will also set the stage for the most important matter considered in this dissertation as it emphasizes the Special Council’s authoritarianism. During this period, Lower Canadians lost all political rights and the decisions taken by the Special Council were made by non-elected councilors. The second section therefore considers the various ordinances the council passed, its obvious favoritism and authoritarianism, and the opinions of Lower Canadians towards them. The following questions are considered: did the British and French-Canadians react differently to the dissolution of their legislature and the suspension of their constitution? Considering the fact that many people, habitants and British alike, did not support the rebellion, did they view the council as a necessity in restoring peace and stability to the colony, and therefore accepted its authoritarianism, and even supported it? More importantly, did French-Canadians submit to the Special Council and all of the new laws and institutions it imposed in the years following the failed rebellions? Evidence suggests that French-Canadians were very vocal in their opposition to the Special Council.