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Since the Chinese economic reform in 1979, there have been various types of enterprises being established instead of the period when the market was mainly dominated by state-owned enterprises (SOEs). Nowadays, except for the government (GOV) departments, the three main types of enterprises are state-owned enterprises (SOEs), private-owned enterprises (POEs) and foreign-owned enterprises (FOEs). In the paper, the aim is to compare the difference in empowering and coaching of the leadership style from employees’ perspective across different types of enterprises and government in Shanghai and find out the potential reasons for the differences. To make the suggestions for improvement in leadership, the paper has compared the existing condition with the employees’ preference in both empowering and coaching leadership style. 144 Questionnaires have been collected in order to make quantitative tests. The questionnaires have been distributed to both employees and managers in different types of companies and government in Shanghai. SPSS 19.0 were used to deal with the data and helped to draw the conclusion.   Based on the literature reviews, the paper proposed three hypotheses. The results show that some of the hypotheses are confirmed; however, some of the hypotheses are rejected. For the rejected ones, the paper give the possible explanations and at the same time, based on other variables of the information of respondents, further analysis has been done to find out how the ideal and actual leadership styles affected by other variables in different groups.

Uppsatsens syfte var att undersöka vilka uppfattningar skidskyttetränare och utövare har, om hur en yttre feedback kan påverka utövarnas självförtroende. För att få mer information om hur utövarna reagerar på feedback togs även tränarnas upplevelser och tankar med, eftersom det kan vara svårt att som individ analysera sitt eget självförtreonde och se vad som påverkar en själv. Utifrån intervjuer med 8 skidskytteutövare och 3 skidskyttetränare som verkat på internationella tävlingar för Sverige, samlades information in om deras tankar och upplevelser inom yttre feedback och dess påverkan på utövarnas självförtroende. Resultatet visade att yttre feedback påverkar utövarnas självförtroende, varav en direkt yttre feedback ansågs mest kunna påverka självförtroendet. En indirekt yttre feedback ansågs vara bra för självförtroendet i längden, om den innehöll konstruktiv information. Yttre feedback som gavs från personer utövarna hade nära relation med eller såg upp till, som tränare eller familj, ansågs kunna ge mest effekt. Feedback ansågs kunna påverka individer på olika sätt samtidigt som tränarnas upplevelser inte skilde sig väsentligt från utövarnas egna upplevelser. En ökad kunskap hos tränare om hur användningen av yttre feedback påverkar individer beroende på hur den används, samt hur tränarna kan utveckla en trygg miljö, tycks kunna påverka utövarnas självförtroende positivt.

The intent of this thesis was to study the anxiety levels of college softball coaches. Previous research suggests that high levels of anxiety interfere with optimal performance and consequently decrease chances of success. This study compared college softball coaches' sex and career winning percentage to their anxiety level. The hypotheses which were tested are:a)Coaches with career records in the upper quarter of all returned questionnaires will score lower in competitive trait anxiety than coaches with less successful records.b)Female coaches will score higher in competitive trait anxiety than male coaches.The instrument used to measure competitive trait anxiety was Martens (1977) Sports Competition Anxiety Test, which was disguised as the Illinois Competition Questionnaire. Through self-report, the sex and career records were obtained.Of the 224 questionnaires mailed, 146 (65%) were returned. Using plannedcomparisons and analysis of variance, no significant differences were found and both hypotheses rejected. Although not a main hypothesis, further investigation indicated that female coaches score significantly lower than the norm of females in the general population (a = 8.81, p < .0001). It was suggested that through the process of self selection, females with low sport competition anxiety choose the occupation of coaching rather than some alternate career.Recommendations for further study are to replicate this study using a different criterion to measure coaches' success rate; to use Division I coaches only; to sample various sports; to track anxiety using a longitudinal method.

The purpose of this comparative study was to investigate the effect of coaching, as a nursing intervention, on comfort levels and blood sugar levels of individuals with diabetes. The hypothesis of the study was that individuals with diabetes who received coaching at specified intervals of time would have higher levels of comfort, as measured by the Diabetes Mellitus Comfort Questionnaire (DMCQ), and lower blood sugar levels, as recorded on the individual’s personal glucometer, than individuals with diabetes who did not receive coaching. Prior to conducting the study, approval of the university review board and hospitals was obtained. Participants were solicited from two accredited hospital-based diabetic education programs in a Midwestern city. Participation in the study was voluntary. The participants solicited from one hospital-based diabetic education program received coaching as a nursing intervention throughout the study while the participants from the other hospital-based diabetic education program did not. The participants were enrolled in the study the last day of the diabetic education program and completed a demographic data form, the DMCQ, and the Self Care InventoryRevised (SCI-R) to measure compliance. They also documented the average of their daily blood sugar levels from the past seven days as recorded on their personal glucometer. Two and four weeks after enrolling in the study participants from each group repeated the process of completing the DMCQ, the SCI-R, and documenting the average daily blood sugar levels over the past seven days as recorded on their glucometers. One hospital-based diabetic education group received coaching from the researcher via a telephone call two and four weeks after completing the formal diabetic education program and prior to completing the DMCQ, the SCI-R, and documenting their average daily blood sugar from the next seven days. Confidentiality of data collected from the participants was maintained. There was no risk of harm. Of the participants enrolled in the study, there were 30 participants who completed the study for one group and 35 participants who completed the study for the other group. Analysis of variance was used to analyze the data. Results showed no significant difference in comfort levels, compliance scores, or blood sugar levels between the two groups. The hypothesis of the study was not supported. Nonetheless, the information obtained from this study is valuable to nursing by contributing to the growing body of knowledge for developing cost-effective education and supportive strategies for individuals with diabetes to manage their condition. / Department of Educational Studies

The aims of this research were to describe the role that coaching plays in the development of educators and to make recommendations for the way in which schools can make use of coaching as an educator human resource development tool at the workplace. According to the findings from the literature review, coaching plays an important role in the success of novice educators. Educators who are coached typically develop a strong self-concept, become consistent in the implementation of policies and procedures, show a greater focus on the teaching and learning purpose within the classroom and display more confidence in themselves, which increases their personal ability and selfefficacy to help and develop learners, and thereby increasing the learners' love for learning and academic achievement. Educators who display the personal traits mentioned in the above paragraph, according to the findings from the literature study, become effective and expert educators who have something to offer to the learners and are recognized as professionals in their field. Various researchers in the reviewed literature stress the need for coaching for its inherent potential of being a panacea for educator attrition and turnover which are always the result of job dissatisfaction. The qualitative research method in the form of focus group interviews was used to elicit primary empirical data from a population sample of eighteen educator participants who were all at post level one. This educator participant population sample was engaged by the researcher on a three-day coaching session in Outcomes-Based Education and Training as a new teaching and learning system in South Africa. After this three-day coaching session, the participants were interviewed to determine the role that coaching plays in the development of educators, with a view to making recommendations for the way in which schools can make use of coaching as an educator human resource development tool at the workplace. The results of the empirical research revealed that educator participants who formed the population sample of this research experienced the three-day coaching session which the researcher conducted as follows: developmental; providing support and guidance; leading to paradigm shifts; setting aside any power differences to offer a relaxed atmosphere; and eventful. Recommendations for educational practice and further research were made. / Thesis (M.Ed.)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2006.

This study investigated elementary mathematics coaching from the point of view of two coaches, five elementary classroom teachers, and two principals in an urban school board in Ontario. Case studies were conducted of the two coaches and their work with their respective teachers. Qualitative data was collected through a series of ongoing observations of both teachers and coaches. Additionally, interviews were conducted near the beginning and end of the study with each coach, teacher, and principal. The teaching experience of the teachers in the study ranged from three to seventeen years and from kindergarten through grade five. The coaching program in the school board was in its fourth year of implementation. One coach had been working as a coach since the inception of the program and the other was in her third year of coaching. Evidence from the study leads to six major findings: (1) all participants indicated that engaging in coaching brought about change in the teachers’ classroom practices; (2) all participants were unable to clearly define a change in student learning due to coaching; (3) trusting and collaborative relationship between teachers and coaches is important to teacher engagement in coaching; (4) co-teaching and model lessons are the coaching structure with most impact; (5) time is the major barrier to coaching; (6) high quality professional development designed to meet the coaches’ learning needs and the existence of a coaching network to offer support are fundamental to sustaining a coaching program over time. Implications from this study suggest that coaching programs that include an emphasis on collaboration through reflective discussion and co-teaching are likely to bring about identifiable changes in teacher practice. School boards will need to find ways to ease the challenges that time presents to working with a coach in order for the changes to spread across the district. This study suggests that it is imperative that school boards identify and provide quality professional development to their coaches in order to sustain the changes that occur in practice. Suggestions for stakeholders implementing coaching programs and future research on coaching are included at the end of the study.

This study investigated elementary mathematics coaching from the point of view of two coaches, five elementary classroom teachers, and two principals in an urban school board in Ontario. Case studies were conducted of the two coaches and their work with their respective teachers. Qualitative data was collected through a series of ongoing observations of both teachers and coaches. Additionally, interviews were conducted near the beginning and end of the study with each coach, teacher, and principal. The teaching experience of the teachers in the study ranged from three to seventeen years and from kindergarten through grade five. The coaching program in the school board was in its fourth year of implementation. One coach had been working as a coach since the inception of the program and the other was in her third year of coaching. Evidence from the study leads to six major findings: (1) all participants indicated that engaging in coaching brought about change in the teachers’ classroom practices; (2) all participants were unable to clearly define a change in student learning due to coaching; (3) trusting and collaborative relationship between teachers and coaches is important to teacher engagement in coaching; (4) co-teaching and model lessons are the coaching structure with most impact; (5) time is the major barrier to coaching; (6) high quality professional development designed to meet the coaches’ learning needs and the existence of a coaching network to offer support are fundamental to sustaining a coaching program over time. Implications from this study suggest that coaching programs that include an emphasis on collaboration through reflective discussion and co-teaching are likely to bring about identifiable changes in teacher practice. School boards will need to find ways to ease the challenges that time presents to working with a coach in order for the changes to spread across the district. This study suggests that it is imperative that school boards identify and provide quality professional development to their coaches in order to sustain the changes that occur in practice. Suggestions for stakeholders implementing coaching programs and future research on coaching are included at the end of the study.

The thesis is a case study that seeks to understand the democratic coaching style by observing the practices of a specific democratically-minded girls’ varsity hockey coach at a private secondary school in the Greater Toronto Area. The study first characterizes a democratic coach by comparing the democratic leadership style with other styles of leadership; the study then offers a clear understanding of the methods and practices of the case study coach by organizing the findings of the study into four categories: communication techniques, organizational structure, coaching decisions and strategies, and the environment created. Within these four categories, themes emerged that helped answer the following research question: How is democratic coaching understood and practiced by a democratically-minded coach?

The purpose of this study was to investigate the attributes and experiences that are perceived priorities for recruitment to become a high performance coach in the sport of Softball in Australia. The study was undertaken in the form of 10 cases of nationally identified coaches and administrators (men and women). Each participant was interviewed using semi-structured questions. The interpretive study gave an intensive description and analysis of coach experiences, attributes and qualifications that are perceived as highly desirable for coach selection by Softball Australia for high performance coaches. The basis for collection and analysis of information was via individual cognitive perspectives and perceptions (through interviews) and individual behaviours (through observation) with the intention to interpret and consider the presence of common themes. Findings may serve to identify, support and direct potential high performance coaches and contribute to the effectiveness of formal coaching education programs. The study focused on the sport of softball which has had a mixed profile over time, from one of almost obscurity to that of an Olympic sport. Australia has had an extremely impressive record internationally. It is currently ranked as the world’s best softball nation based on international performances by the Australian under 19 Men, Open Men, under 19 Women and Open Women’s Teams (SA 2008). Australia was the only country ranked in the top three in all age groups competing in World Championships. The importance of this study to softball coaches was to encapsulate the reality of how selectors make determination on performance coaching selections, and was this in line with what performance coaches perceive as the priorities. This may have two direct effects on the performance coach. Firstly, it may allow the coach to develop a career path that may best suit their qualities and attributes. Secondly, it may allow the coach to undertake further learning and development in the areas that the selectors perceive the coach does not meet the required standard of merit.