Gamification and sustainability are two topics that have gained a lot of attention in the past few years, both from the corporate sector and the academic community. Yet, the connection between the two concepts has seldom been made. This study addresses this research gap, by presenting the novel concept of gamification and connecting it to established theories in the field of organisational change. It then creates a discussion around the question of the potential of gamification as a tool to foster sustainability practices within organisations.To answer this question, this thesis followed a qualitative research design. By performing semi-structured interviews with experts in the field of gamification, the study explored different aspects of gamification, namely its definition, the opportunities and challenges it faces in regards to sustainability, the organisation’s responses towards the concept and the hypotheses for the further development of gamification.The results of this study suggest that gamification has great potential to foster sustainable practices within organisations. With its element of fun, gamification has the power to engage employees in sustainability issues, create a deeper understanding of the topic and relate it directly to the employees’ personal values and decision-making process. By offering different perspectives and helping employees see the bigger picture, gamification can inspire a sense of meaningfulness and contribution to something bigger than oneself. However, this can only happen when the tools are designed and used in the right way. Building an understanding of the user and implementing the fitting game design elements to create an impactful experience for the player is, however, a complex and time-consuming process, and therefore put forth as one of the biggest challenges. Furthermore, gamification should strive to expand beyond the commonly used game design elements of points, badges and leaderboards to tap into the user’s intrinsic rather than extrinsic motivation.

Tragic, life-changing, and fatal incidents are a reality on large-scale, civil construction projects. Despite a decline following the enforcement of the 1971 Occupational Safety and Health Act, serious and fatal incidents on heavy construction projects remain higher than that of the active military and have not declined in any notable way in the past decade. Industrial-organizational literature suggested a lack of applied testing for the well-developed theory of authentic leadership (AL) to impact safety outcomes. This quasi-experiment combined the constructs of authentic leadership with safety climate perception as quantifiable measurement of potential safety outcomes in the workplace. The research question focused on whether AL would impact safety climate, thus, reducing injury and fatalities on the job. The researcher examined 1 of the 4 segments that comprised a $1 billion freeway improvement project. Perceptions of 108 field craft personnel were collected on a Likert-type instrument before and after their supervisors attended a brief AL workshop. Utilizing an ordinal scale, statistical significance was calculated pre- and postintervention by computing a Mann-Whitney U for independent samples. Significant improvement was found following the supervisor workshop. The reduction in incidents, when compared to the jobsite's history and the other 3 jobsite segments associated with the highway improvement project, suggests a potential for this framework to support positive social change, that is, to reduce the human cost and suffering associated with industrial accidents.

For the Himba, deeply embedded cultural symbols—traditional daily way of life, traditional beliefs about the sacredness of cattle, and religious beliefs of ancestral worship—are of ancient origin and have been retained in their culture throughout all of recorded history. While they still exist in Himba society today, some scholars have observed a potential widespread generational shift in adherence to these core cultural values and beliefs. This study presents the findings of 41 in-depth interviews with members of the Himba tribe in northern Namibia—specifically Opuwo and Otutati—ages 18 to 65. It examines the degree to which cultural differences are emerging as a result of exposure to various influences including modern media. Special attention is given to differences among generational groups—young, middle-aged, and older Himba—that have occurred in the Himba daily way of life. Cultural differences are indicated by beliefs regarding dress and living style, cattle, and ancestral worship—the three major, deep-rooted Himba cultural symbols. Three theoretical explanations for culture change are discussed in order to explain observed differences among generational groups. Implications for culture change are provided as well as areas requiring future study. This study is unlike any other conducted among the Himba in that it formally addresses the degree to which cultural change of core cultural values exists. Himba culture has proven to be resilient to foreign influences, but some observers suggest that this is changing. Given the resources, times, and methodological restraints involved in this study, it was necessary to limit its scope to just an exploration of the existence of a potential widespread generational difference in Himba cultural values, and not an in-depth exploration of the reasons behind it. This research hopes to provide a foundation of research from which subsequent researchers can progress in our collective understanding of what Himba generational changes are occurring and how these potentially unprecedented changes have occurred.

This comparative case study examines alliance memberships’ impact on two states’ strategic culture. It focuses on changes in Danish and Norwegian strategic culture during 2008-2012, examining if and how NATO membership and specifically NATO's 2010 strategic concept impacted potential changes in the states’ strategic culture. The dependent variable, strategic culture, is broken down into three sub-beliefs used to identify relevant content in the analysed material. Using national defence white papers published before and after the strategic concept as material, a qualitative content analysis is then conducted to identify changes to the sub- beliefs before and after the release of the strategic concept. The sub-beliefs are also used to analyse the 2010 strategic concept to identify themes, which are then compared to changes in strategic culture found before and after the release of the concept. The analysis found that after the release of the concept all three of the Norwegian sub-beliefs changed in several ways that were consistent with the main themes identified in the concept, as well as using the concept as justification for changes and prioritisations in policies. Based on this the thesis makes the claim that the strategic concept likely impacted Norwegian strategic culture in several ways. While Danish sub-beliefs did change in some areas that were consistent with themes in the strategic concept, the changes were not conclusive enough to make the claim that the strategic concept had any meaningful impact on Danish strategic culture.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Hospitality Management and Dietetics / Deborah D. Canter / The culture-change movement in skilled nursing facilities is challenging foodservices to consider their role in supporting the paradigm shift to person-centered care. Optimal nutrition for residents supports physical and emotional health of institutionalized older adults. The purpose of this study was to explore factors associated with resident dining in skilled nursing facilities that have transitioned from a traditional foodservice system to restaurant-style dining. The study investigated foodservice employee perceptions of resident satisfaction with foodservices, foodservice employee job satisfaction, and effect of the delivery system transition on employee intent to leave. The study was conducted in two phases. Phase I was a case study of one skilled nursing facility’s transition from the traditional foodservice to restaurant-style dining. Phase II consisted of a survey of residents and employees in seven skilled nursing facilities utilizing restaurant-style dining. Two questionnaires, addressing the constructs of food quality, service quality, and customization relating to resident satisfaction with foodservices, were developed and administered to residents and foodservice employees. The Phase 1 case study revealed differences in financial and unintended weight loss data from pre- to post-menu transitioning. Focus groups provided insight into resident satisfaction with food and foodservices. In both phases, residents were satisfied with restaurant-style dining. Statements regarding the ability to choose foods at meals times scored highly. Service statements such as “Being treated respectfully by employees” were rated high by the residents. Portion sizes and food quality consistency were rated lower by residents. Employee perceptions of resident satisfaction were consistent with the resident ratings of satisfaction. Foodservice employee job satisfaction was high and intent to leave was low. Job satisfaction mediated the relationship between the employee perception of resident service and their intent to leave. Overall, restaurant-style dining appears to be a positive alternative to the traditional foodservice system in skilled nursing facilities. Implications and future research are discussed.

The original Yukpa are an indigenous community who have inhabited the lands of the Sierra de Perij a (mountain range of Perij a) in Venezuela since prehistoric times. The sovereignty of the Yukpa on their ancestral territories was protected from non-indigenous people until the arrival of Spanish Capuchin missionaries during the seventeenth century. The presence of the Capuchin missionaries furthered the entrance of non-indigenous people, who explored the area and discovered the fertility of the soil and a rich variety of natural resources. In the 1930s, ranch owners started the progressive occupation of Yukpas' ancestral lands, taking advantage of the Venezuelan government's indi erence to indigenous communities. The Yukpa started to resist the ranch owners. In retaliation, ranch owners responded with violence to intimidate and expel the Yukpa from what they claimed to be their property. The Yukpa have also been harassed by insurgent Colombian groups and drug dealers, who nd the Sierra de Perij a an ideal place to cultivate marijuana and opium poppy owers. To avoid the violence in the Sierra de Perij a, a signi cant number of Yukpa moved during the eighties to the city of Maracaibo in northwestern Venezuela. These displaced Yukpa have settled in lots located in the vicinities of the Hospital General del Sur, in Maracaibo, where they continue to live. For many indigenous communities, land and culture are interdependent. Land represents for many indigenous people their origin and continuity. Some authors claim that the forced displacement to areas distinct from their place of origin may disrupt the continuity of traditions which are the essence of their culture (Maybury-Lewis 2001:31; UNESCO 2009:207). This study examines ethnographically the Yukpa settled in Maracaibo in order to identify the extent to which the involuntary displacement from their ancestral territories has a ected their autochthonous land-based culture. Furthermore, this study provides a biographic pro le of the Yukpa settled in Maracaibo along with a discussion of their current needs, and some recommendations for further studies / Anthropology and Archaeology / M.A. (Anthropology)

This research (the first long-term ethnographic study of FOI in Britain) investigates concepts at the heart of FOI - transparency, trust, secrecy, truth, private, public, power and agency. Eighteen months participant observation fieldwork, alongside policy-makers, practitioners, and end-users facilitated in depth, study of the radical subject-object transformations that FOI requires, and the aesthetics that underpin it. The introduction of FOI entailed a 'culture change' - from a culture of secrecy to one of disclosure - driven, in Scotland, by the Scottish Information Commissioner through conferences. These were an opportunity for practitioners to come into new knowledge about the Act, their shared knowledge dissolving the divisions between them. But new divisions then opened between practitioners and colleagues; culture change being in the replication of a form of a relationship that previously lay between government and citizens. In their replicated form, individual practitioners disappeared - were made 'transparent' - only to reappear on being differentiated, leaving them acutely aware of the personal relations this fissure disclosed, and throwing into sharp question a theory of people's division as indicative of their 'secrecy'. Transparency, here, depended on whether people were divided or combined - acting in their own capacity, or that of the organization. While making personal relations absent from new disclosures was necessary for FOI compliance, this concealment hid a complex network of relations, and turned knowledge into 'information'. Yet the division between information and knowledge was not crisp: end-users continued to read practitioners' personal relations in disclosed information, thus relations were both absent from and implied in the information released. Whether information was public (and accessible) depended on the undifferentiated status of those who created, handled, or were the subjects of, information. As people came into new knowledge, invoking their divided or common footing, they alternated between appearing 'private' or 'public' - person or thing - a division between individuals reflecting a division within each of them.

America's growing concern about fatness during the twentieth century developed in parallel with a society that made it increasingly harder to live a healthy lifestyle. Since the 1970s, sweeping political, economic, cultural, and familial changes have occurred in the United States. Many researchers argue that these changes have created an "obesogenic" environment that has contributed to the increased prevalence of overweight and obesity in America by favoring inactivity and the over consumption of highly-processed, calorie-dense foods and beverages. As a result, the field of public health has increasingly begun to recognize obesity as a "societal disease." In 2001, The Surgeon General's Call to Action to Prevent and Decrease Overweight and Obesity categorized the number of overweight and obese Americans as reaching "nationwide epidemic proportions." Since that time, America has waged an all-out "war on obesity." Instead of a broader emphasis on health promotion, some public health researchers have suggested that this heightened focus on obesity is 1) guided by America's historically-rooted social disdain for fatness and 2) insufficient to improve the healthy lifestyles of Americans. In searching for a solution to the so-called "obesity epidemic," a growing number of researchers have begun to look to models of social change. After an introductory chapter describing the scope of the problem, this dissertation provides an historical analysis of two, relevant social change models. The first historical case study is an examination of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's VERB social marketing campaign. The second study explores the model of social movements through the history of the aerobics "boom" of 1970s America. Based on these histories, this dissertation concludes by proposing a blended approach that harnesses the strengths of both models to organize and advance America's healthy living movement. / text

Throughout time organizations have adapted and implemented different technological solutions to streamline their operation. With the adaption of new technology, employees will have to change their current routines. This readjustment is challenging for organizations because of people’s dislike towards changes. Studies in recent years within organizational change has highlighted soft skills value in this situation. A consulting company in Scandinavia (IT-consulting firm AB) has recently invested in soft skills to manage organizational change. The aim of this study is to investigate how significant soft skills are within IT-related organizational changes, for IT-consulting firm AB and their customers. Our investigation was a qualitative case study involving six semi-structured interviews with employees on IT-consulting firm AB. The results showed that soft skills are hard to define but involves intrapersonal skills like flexibility, adaptation and communication. Soft skills are essential both for IT-consulting firm AB and its customers. Its value creation within IT-related organizational change is interconnected to human activity like relationship building and understanding human needs.

Submitted by Silvana Teresinha Dornelles Studzinski (sstudzinski) on 2015-06-30T15:54:35Z No. of bitstreams: 1 FernandaFerreiraCanfieldLuz.pdf: 8303053 bytes, checksum: f6893c05370e5f3d46784090ede6a9f9 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-06-30T15:54:35Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 FernandaFerreiraCanfieldLuz.pdf: 8303053 bytes, checksum: f6893c05370e5f3d46784090ede6a9f9 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011 / Nenhuma / Os movimentos sociais geralmente caracterizam-se como movimentos de contracultura, que busca, na sua luta cotidiana, provocar alguma mudança de paradigma, da cultura que os oprime no meio social em que atuam. O movimento de Lésbicas, Gays, Bissexuais, Transexuais e Travestis ó LGBT não é diferente. No município de Porto Alegre onde a investigação deste estudo ocorreu, os movimentos envolvidos, quais sejam: NUANCES ó Movimento pela Livre Expressão Sexual, SOMOS ó Comunicação Saúde e Sexualidade e Liga Brasileira de Lésbicas do Rio Grande do Sul ó LBL/RS, lutam por direitos e por reconhecimento social contra uma heteronormatividade imposta culturalmente. Essa heteronormatividade construída socialmente delimita e caracteriza a norma social pelo padrão heterossexual, excluindo quaisquer outras formas de manifestação da diversidade sexual expressa. No entanto, a discussão dessas diversidades conhecida como as homossexualidades não tem permitido um debate em relação aos direitos humanos de cunho afetivo e não apenas sexual, no que aparentemente concentram-se as lutas do movimento LGBT de Porto Alegre. Diante disso, o objetivo deste estudo é analisar se os movimentos sociais LGBT contribuem para uma mudança de cultura relacionada ao universo homossexual, principalmente no que tange a homo afetividade. Á proposição dos aportes teóricos que norteiam a temática, por intermédio do método comparativo foi realizada uma pesquisa qualitativa com entrevistas em profundidade, por meio de questionário estruturado com questões abertas, além da análise de documentos, discursos e matérias jornalísticas, os quais permitiram obter um panorama da realidade dos movimentos quanto as suas ações, objetivos e abrangência frente ‡ luta que travam no município, refletindo as ações dos movimentos como instrumentos de uma possível transformação cultural. A partir deste estudo, conclui-se que os movimentos sociais LGBT também se configuram como agentes de transformação cultural, contribuindo com suas ações para uma reflexo acerca da diversidade afetivo-sexual. / Social movements are usually characterized as a counterculture movement that seeks, in its daily struggle, causing a paradigm shift of the culture that oppresses them in the social environment in which they operate. The movement of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, Transvestites and Tansexuais - LGBT is no different. In the city of Porto Alegre where the investigation of this study occurred, the involved movements are: NUANCES ó Movement for Free Sexual Expression, SOMOS ó Health, Communication and Sexuality and Lesbian Brazilian League of Rio Grande do Sul ó LBL / RS. They fight for rights and social recognition against a culturally enforced heteronormativity. This socially constructed heteronormativity defines and characterizes the social norm by the heterosexual pattern, excluding any other manifestations of expressed sexual diversity. However, the discussion of these differences known as homosexuality has not allowed a debate on the emotional nature of human rights and not just sex, in which apparently are focused the struggles of the LGBT movement in Porto Alegre. Thus, the aim of this study is to analyze whether the LGBT social movements contribute to a culture change related to the homosexual universe, especially when it comes to homoaffection. To the proposition of the theoretical framework, which guide the subject, through the comparative method it was conducted a qualitative research with in-depth interviews through structured questionnaire with open questions, besides the analysis of documents, speeches and newspaper articles, which have yielded a picture of the reality of those movements and their actions, objectives and scope of their fight in the city, reflecting the actions of movements as instruments of a possible cultural transformation. From this study, we conclude that the LGBT social movements also stand as cultural transformation agents, contributing their shares to a reflection on the affective and sexual diversity.