The purpose of this research is to see if the peer mentors make a difference in the leadership development of students, their feelings about peer mentors, the Leadership Living Learning Community, and their acclimation to Texas A&M University. Leadership is defined as an interaction between members of a group in which individuals, in the name of the group, act as agents of change, persons whose acts affect other people more than other peoples’ actions affect them. The five leadership skills studied were working in groups, positional leadership, communication, decision-making, and understanding self. A post-then methodology was utilized with self-reporting as the process by which data was collected following completion of an academic leadership learning community. The findings from years one and two participants were computed individually and then compared to see if the addition of peer mentors during the second year yielded any significant findings. The major findings for this study were as follows: Year one participants in the learning community indicated improved leadership skills after participation in the learning community for the first semester, as measured by the Leadership Skills Inventory. In addition, year two participants in the learning community indicated a similar increase of leadership skills after the first semester. Year one participants indicated a more statistically significant increase when compared to year two on their leadership skills on the individual questions, while year two participants were found to have more statistically significant findings relating to the five leadership skills or Leadership Skills Inventory scales. Responses by year two participants indicated that the peer mentors who helped them were supportive, gave positive feedback, were good role models, were knowledgeable about Texas A&M University, were easy to communicate with, and did not use peer pressure to persuade them to do anything negative.

Currently, many researchers and stakeholders believe that effective delivery systems for construction projects are key to improving project quality and value in the construction industry. Therefore, it is important that owners use the best project delivery system because there are significant consequence due to differences in contracting processes and roles and responsibilities among contracting parties. For the reason, this research aims to compare the efficiency of DB with that of CMAR, as two methods used to select or deny expectations, specifically through quantitative and qualitative analysis. In order to do that, the researcher identified performance data and benefits, drawbacks, and success factors of DB and CMAR through survey and case projects and also analyzed performance data collected from two case projects. Consequently, owners will be able to understand characteristics, differences, and success factors of two different PDSs based on the comparative study. Furthermore, this research could be used to develop a decision support system for owners to select an appropriate PDS.

<p>Introduktion: Strategikonceptet har funnits i tusentals år och kan återfinnas i många olika situationer. Konkurrensen inom marknaden utgör en av dessa situationer. En mängd teorier har framkommit i försök att förstå betydelsen av strategiskapande. Två av dessa teorier är två skolor som handlar om strategiskapande: en som fokuserar på planering - Positioneringsskolan och en som fokuserar på lärande - Lärandeskolan. Dessa skolor kan även påverka flexibiliteten inom ett företag. </p><p>Syfte: Syftet är att undersöka hur företag ser på strategiskapandeprocessen och hur denna syn påverkar företagets flexibilitet. </p><p>Tillvägagångssätt: Vi har genomfört en kvalitativ fallstudie. Två fall inom återförsäljningsbranschen har studerats: H&M och KappAhl. Informationen samlades in genom intervjuer och även publicerat material användes. Med hjälp av två hypoteser nådde vi två slutsatser. </p><p>Slutsatser: De två företag vi studerade uppvisade tendenser som tydde på att de tillhörde en av skolorna: H&M till Lärandeskolan och KappAhl till Positioneringsskolan. Däremot hör inget företag helt och hållet till den ena eller den andra skolan utan påverkas till viss del av båda. Dessutom är båda företagen flexibla och synen på strategiskapande påverkar därmed inte flexibilite</p> / <p>Introduction: The idea of strategy has been around for milleniums. It has been present in many situations, one of those being in competitive business. Countless theories have surfaced in an attempt to understand strategy formation. Two of these are two schools of strategy formation, one focusing on planning – the Positioning school, and the other focusing on learning – the Learning school. These schools may also have an influence on the flexibility a company can enjoy. </p><p>Purpose: The purpose of this investigation is to explore how companies perceive the formation of strategy and how this perception affects the company’s flexibility. </p><p>Mode of procedure: We have conducted a qualitative case study. Two cases have been studied in the retail market: H&M and KappAhl. The information has been collected through interviews as well as other written material. With the help of two hypotheses we reached two main conclusions. </p><p>Conclusions: The companies we studied each had tendencies towards one of the schools – H&M towards the Learning and KappAhl towards the Positioning school although neither company adheres completely without influences of the other school. Further, both companies were able to be flexible and thus the choice of school does not affect the level of flexibility that a company within the garment retail business can enjoy.ten i ett företag i denna bransch.</p>

This report is an in-depth analysis of the media coverage of the 1999 collapse of the Texas A&M Bonfire. The report also provides insight, through extensive interviews with journalists involved in the coverage, of how reporters handle the personal emotions associated with tragedy reporting. Through the interviews, I paint a picture of what it was like to arrive on the scene in College Station on Nov. 19, 1999 and detail some of the different strategies and philosophies journalists used to cover the event. The final part of the report is dedicated to exploring the relationship between media and communities in tragedy. The Bonfire collapse and the Columbine school shootings in Littleton, Colo., serve as case studies to analyze the effect of media on a community and vice versa. To conclude, the report attempts to paint a picture of the reality of the Bonfire coverage – its difficulties, its successes and, in some areas, where the media failed. / text

Purpose – The purpose of this work is to examine the actual CSR situation in low wage countries of the textile industry and to identify obstacles and suggestions for improvements of the working conditions. In order to achieve that approach, different sources and various articles, magazines, books and related websites are being researched to get a wide range of information and to avoid a partial reflection. Furthermore an exemplary discussion of the CSR activities of two leading fashion retailers, Bestseller and H&amp;M will be implemented by having a look on their company homepages as well as their current and previous annual reports and stated CSR activities. In addition, interviews with international operating NGO’s, fair trade unions and human right foundations will be conducted to receive widely independent information, deeper insights and critics concerning CSR and Human Development in the textile business. These interviews are of crucial importance for this work, since they provide widely independent assessments of the actual state of CSR implementation within the industry. By considering all the different information, this work provides ultimately indications for grievances and proposals for improvements in Human Development. Methodology – Using a qualitative research strategy, this work begins with a definition of CSR and Human Development, which provides a necessary background knowledge to approach CSR in the textile business. In order to get an idea of some of the industry wide activities and obstacles, this work contains an exemplary description of the CSR work of the two leading fashion retailers, Bestseller and H&amp;M, using their company home pages as well as their current and previous annual reports and an outline of their reflection of the current stage of affairs regarding Human Development. Based on the findings from the homepages of H&amp;M and Bestseller and the companies’ claim, different researched articles and the latest accidents in the news, eleven different interview questions were developed, regarding the actual textile production situation in the RGM industry. These questions are being used for semi-structured in-depth interviews with three different experts of the International Labour Organization, the German NGO Südwind Institute and the Confederation of the German Textile and Fashion Industry to get first hand information about the already achieved progress of the working conditions, as well as crucial driving forces and challenges within the Human Development “sector” of CSR in low wage countries. By considering all the different information, this work finally reveals grievances in CSR and gives proposals for improving the working conditions of the textile factory workers in emerging countries. Findings – The findings show the complexity and necessity of a controversy about CSR approaches in the textile and garment sector of developing countries. Recent accidents and different investigations by independent organizations are supporting the impression of an existing gap between the CSR policies of fashion companies on the one hand and the reality in the firms on the other hand. Different NGO’s are complaining about insufficiently implemented approaches and Codes of fashion brands and retailers within the supply chain. This work provides different suggestions for improving the working conditions of the textile factory workers in emerging countries. Possible ways for a human friendlier textile production are for example the strengthening of trade unions and worker advocacies, the ensuring of a social dialogue and closer collaborations between all the different stakeholders within the industry - including the governments, as well as more legal bindings and stricter regulations. Research limitations/ implications – The findings from this study are limited to the “sector” of Human Development and most of the results or hypotheses are not conclusively audited, due to the difficult validation. Additionally, the study is mainly focusing on the worker situation in selected low wage countries and does not provide global conclusions. Further research should aim to gain even further insights, for instance on a local company or local supplier level.

Operations and maintenance (O&amp;M) activities represent a significant share of the expenses during the lifetime of offshore wind farms. When compared to onshore wind farms, O&amp;M costs are increased for the offshore case, as specialized vessels, weather windows and rough conditions mean more failures, downtime (decreasing availability), spare parts, and man-hours.This study comprises an analysis of the available O&amp;M data from a selected offshore wind farm. The results and conclusions from this investigation could then be used to evaluate possible reliability improvements and compare options for the maintenance strategies, as well as to ponder the convenience of warranty periods and O&amp;M agreements between wind farm operators and wind turbine manufacturers or O&amp;M service providers.The life-cycle cost (LCC) concept is utilized in the analysis of the wind farm survey for this thesis. LCC analysis could be the starting point to make decisions regarding specific wind turbine models, as selecting the turbines with the lowest initial cost may not be necessarily the scenario which also costs the least amount of money when taking into consideration the whole life cycle. It may also be a great tool to forecast future operational incomes and expenses of offshore wind farms.

Klädbranschen är präglad av långa, världsomspännande produktionsled vilket gör det intressant och viktigt att se hur stora, internationella företag arbetar med CSR. Kraven på att företag tar socialt ansvar ökar samtidigt som företag är påverkade av sin historia, kultur och specifika omständigheter som kan påverka vad som är viktigt för företaget. I denna studie undersöks vad fyra klädföretag, H&amp;M, Gap, Uniqlo och Zara, alla från fyra olika länder, väljer att betona i sitt CSR-arbete. Information publicerad på företagens hemsidor samt rapporter har legat till grund för empiri som analyserats utifrån ett teoretiskt ramverk. Den insamlade informationen har ställts mot EU-kommissionens definition av CSR och analyserats utifrån teorierna. Resultatet visade att likheterna gällande företagens valda CSR-betoning var fler än skillnaderna och att imitation kan vara en anledning till att företag väljer att fokusera på liknande saker i sina redovisningar, samt en vilja att ta hänsyn till och verka legitima i alla intressenters ögon.

In recent decades, the use of construction manager-at-risk (CMAR) has surged as an innovative construction project delivery method in comparison to traditional competitive bid procurement methods. The conceptual pros and cons of the method are widely accepted throughout the construction industry; however, very little quantitative research exists validating such beliefs. The study presented in this technical paper empirically compares the performance of CMAR to that of the more traditional method of competitive sealed proposal (CSP) in the construction of higher educational facilities. In a study of 33 projects constructed by The Texas A&M University System, 19 procured using CMAR and 14 procured using CSP, observed results show a reduction in schedule growth and change order quantity when using CMAR over CSP. However, additional results show that CSP is more apt to result in decreased project and construction costs than CMAR. Business practices of The Texas A&M University System, statistical significance testing of research data, and practical applications of research findings are included.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Texas A&M University, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 128-130). Also available online.

Studiens syfte är att göra en kvantitativ undersökning av konsumenternas åsikt mot Corporate Social Responsbility med en avgränsning till modeföretaget H&amp;M med målet är att kunna kartlägga en generaliserande åsikt bland konsumenterna. Till hjälp kommer det användas teorier om CSR, Public Relations och innebörden av Varumärket. Studiens fokus kommer rikta sig mer åt områdena inom CSR som är ekonomisk, socialt och miljömässigt ansvarstagande. Den utvalda metoden för att samla in information var med en webbenkät som skickades ut till utvalda Facebook grupper med inriktningen på mode och skönhet. Enkätens struktur består av fyra delar som inriktar sig på olika områden. Första delen handlar om respondentens vanor kring företaget som sedan följs upp av frågor om H&amp;Ms Image i både reklam och nyhetsmedier. Sedan följs det upp av en CSR del men med andra ordval eftersom alla inte har kunskapen av begreppet CSR och avslutningsvis kommer en demografi del. Majoriteten av de som besvarat enkäten har aldrig läst H&amp;Ms hållbarhetsrapport som finns tillgängligt på deras hemsida. Detta kan bero på omedvetenheten om vad CSR är men det som resultatet indikerar är att de ändå har starka åsikter om H&amp;Ms arbete inom hållbarhet. I både frågorna om arbetsförhållanden och mänskliga rättigheter fanns en tydlig tendens att åsiktenen mot H&amp;M är negativ men när det gäller det miljömässiga ansvarstagandet var det inte lika tydlig. Det skiljde sig även mellan könen då kvinnorna var mer kritiska till detta. Det var även en skillnad mellan olika utbildningsnivåer då högre utbildade var mindre kritiska än dem med en gymnasienivå. När det gäller åsiktenen mot den image som H&amp;M speglar sig själva i sin reklam var det övervägande fler som ansåg att den är positiv än negativ. Denna frågan gav även möjligheten att motivera med egna ord. Svaren var delvis splittrade med att H&amp;Ms reklam är modern men även att de använder sig av stereotypiska smala kvinnor kroppar. Det resultat som studien visar är att konsumenterna anser att H&amp;M bör arbeta mer med sitt sociala ansvarstagande.