This thesis deals with non-profit organizations in education sector, it is focused primarily on their tax and accounting aspects. The aim of this thesis is to describe the system of taxation and accounting for nonprofit organizations in education sector, to focuse on specific examples and find out how much tax and accounting aspects of nonprofit organizations differ from aspect of entrepreneurs.

This thesis draws upon the qualitative findings of 20 interviews undertaken with female teachers in order to explore the topic of workplace friendships between women in an all-female organisational setting. The interview data sheds light on these friendships within the all-female workplace context, examining how the workplace setting can influence the forms of friendship women build with one another. This thesis explores this topic across three main areas: 1) the way in which women develop workplace friendships, and the forms that women-women relations take in all-female workplaces; 2) the importance of workplace friendships and the meanings attached to these friendships; and 3) the blurred boundaries between family and friends, which result in unique workplace-friendship relationships. This study contributes to current knowledge on friendship development and, specifically, the issues associated with women’s development of friendships within the all-female workplace context. The findings highlight the difficulties that some women experience in creating and developing friendships based on cultural boundaries. The findings also emphasise the weaker utility in female friendships, which remains both unacceptable and unchallenged yet nonetheless recognised by women. Furthermore, women are argued to create “other-self” friends and to experience another form of suffusion process in the workplace context. This study also contributes to the current literature on the barriers and opportunities associated with female friendship-building by highlighting how female misogyny employed in the workplace and that workplace friendship is a surviving tool used, adopting a sociological perspective to explore and analyse the findings.

Yes / Human Resource Directorate

Selected aspects of occupational safety and health protection Abstract This thesis focuses on legal regulation of selected aspects of occupational safety and health (OSH) protection in the context of Czech law. This is a classical area of labour law whose importance grows together with the growing complexity of working practices. The aim of the thesis is to provide a description of the current regulation and subsequently to analyse selected aspects related to the educational sector. The thesis is, apart from introduction and conclusion, divided into six chapters. In the first chapter, the historical development of OSH is outlined in order to give context to the consecutive chapters. The following chapter provides an overview of the sources of law, since the area of OSH is heavily influenced by the European as well as the international law and the regulation on the national level is considerably fragmented. In the third chapter attention is paid to the rights and obligations of the employer, which are analogous to the fourth chapter, concerning the rights and obligations of the employees (in the field of occupational safety and health). OSH is closely linked to the risk assessment, which is key to successful implementation of OSH standards and greatly helps to reduce occupational injuries and illnesses....

M. Tech. (Business Administration, Faculty of Management Sciences), Vaal University of Technology / Administrative staff members are important human capital in higher education because they perform diverse duties that are essential to the day-to-day operations of universities. As a result, their job satisfaction and organisational commitment are imperative to universities. However, there is a paucity of research focusing on the job satisfaction and organisational commitment of administrative staff members in the South African higher education sector. The primary objective of this study was to investigate the effect of overall job satisfaction on the organisational commitment of administrators at a university in Gauteng. To achieve the aforementioned objective, a quantitative survey approach was used to examine the relationship between overall job satisfaction and organisational commitment among 383 administrative staff members. Descriptive statistics was used to determine the levels of both job satisfaction and organisational commitment, results of which were significant, revealing that the administrative staff members were satisfied and committed to the university. Statistics using Spearman’s rho correlation analysis showed that there was a significantly strong correlation between job satisfaction and affective commitment; and significantly moderate correlations between job satisfaction and moral imperative and indebted obligation. However, weak correlations were found between job satisfaction and continuance commitment. Regression analysis revealed that job satisfaction contributed positively to the prediction of affective commitment, moral imperative, indebted obligation and continuance commitment. The findings suggest that managers at the university could enhance the commitment of the administrative staff members by increasing the levels of job satisfaction. The levels of job satisfaction of the administrative staff members at the university could be enhanced through job design, career advancement opportunities and the introduction of fair and transparent policies and rules. Organisational commitment could be improved through the provision of job security, equitable salaries and conducive working conditions.

In the thesis, the main focus is concentrated on the regulation of tertiary education sector by means of the accreditation. According to The Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), there are chosen the countries with the highest representation of universities in Top20-Top500. Especially in the point of view of their regulation, the systems of tertiary education of those countries are analyzed and divided into two groups: (1) In the first group, there are systems running liberally (or on more liberal base); and (2) In the second one, there are the systems considered as behaving more regulative to tertiary sector. The comparison of those two groups is trying to answer the question if the regulation might be the reason of successfulness or unsuccessfulness of the given group. In comparison of world's best practice, special attention is dedicated to the Czech Accreditation Committee and accreditation process transparency in the Czech Republic. Due to the lucidity, there is to found the illustration of the systems according to each analyzed country at the end of the thesis.

Many information technology (IT) project managers (PMs) and other business leaders lack effective strategies for enhancing communication among their project team members, thereby reducing profitability and organizational cohesion. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore communication strategies that IT PMs used to successfully complete IT mobile device projects. The conceptual framework for this study was McQuail's mass communication, Craig's communication, and Deming's profound knowledge theory. Purposive sampling method was used to identify 6 successful IT PMs and leaders who worked at 2 leading educations settings located in southeastern South Carolina. Data gathered from the semistructured interviews and collected from publicly available documents were analyzed using coding techniques, constant comparison, and keyword phrases. After methodological triangulation of the data sources collected and completion of Yin's 5-step process of data analysis, 3 key themes emerged from data analysis: standardized project communication, project team building, and positive customer focus. Findings from this study may contribute to positive social change by providing IT PMs with evidence to support efficient communication strategies in the education sector to increase organizational performance and profitability, which may positively contribute to improving quality of life for employees, driving economic development, and improving community relations.

In early December 2006, the Fijian military seized power in a coup led by the Armed Forces commander Commodore Frank Bainimarama. It was a coup long expected, and Fiji’s fourth since 1987. Internationally, the response was swift imposing sanctions and removing or delaying international aid programmes. This has a potentially significant impact on Fiji because it is one of the largest per capita recipients of developmental aid funding in the world. However, it may also have little impact because, despite such assistance, the Fijian GDP has stagnated with an average growth of under 1% for the last 20 years. Other developmental indicators are also bleak. This thesis thus examines the dichotomy between Fiji’s ODA and its apparent inability to arrest the decline of the Fijian lifestyle and economy. However, to review all international developmental programmes across all sectors of Fijian society, while maintaining contemporary relevance and coherency, is untenable. Therefore, the thesis will focus on the European Union and its external relations with Fiji. The EU is one of the most influential partners for Fiji and is often overlooked by scholars, allowing this thesis to make a valuable contribution to developmental studies in the pacific region. The thesis has selected and examines four sectors of Fijian society, that of the Economy, Governance, Sugar, and Education sectors. This is because they are the sectors that the European Union is presently devoting most attention. Therefore, these areas best illustrate Fijian reaction to the importance and effectiveness of EU involvement. Overall, the thesis intends to demonstrate both the efficacy and the attitudes of local representatives to foreign aid programmes, and ultimately provide a unique ‘inside looking out' perspective not typical of publications about Fiji.

Abstract This study focuses on practices of engagement and representation in North–South international partnerships, and in global and development education in Finland. The first objective was approached through a qualitative methodology involving document analyses, and interviews with northern and southern partners engaged in education sector partnerships in Zambia from 2003 to 2007. The second objective discusses challenges and possibilities for more ethical North–South partnerships in global and development education policies in Finland. This doctoral study report consists of four articles and a thesis summary. This study draws on three fields of scholarship: postcolonial studies, development studies and global and development education studies. Postcolonial theory is used selectively as a ‘tool for thinking’ that connects critical examinations of North–South engagements and representations with educational possibilities. The methodological framework consists of a combination of different qualitative methods including ethnography and content analysis of three sets of data: 1) 19 semi-structured theme interviews, 2) five open-ended narrative interviews and 3) selected Finnish global and development education policy documents. In the analysis of structures, narratives and relationships in educational partnerships in Zambia, this study outlines tensions and paradoxes that point to the need for more ethical practices that can move beyond hegemonic, ethnocentric and paternalistic patterns of representation and engagement in international development work. The study concludes that ethical engagements in North–South education sector partnerships require an approach that goes beyond individual skills, knowledge and competencies. The importance of systemic analyses of power and knowledge production, of acknowledging the historical and cultural referents that frame possibilities of understanding, and of acknowledging the complexities that are present in North–South engagements are emphasized. Furthermore, the importance of self-reflexivity is suggested as a starting point for understanding the limits of universalised forms of knowing to support ethical engagements. / Tiivistelmä Tässä tutkimuksessa tutkitaan pohjoinen–etelä -yhteistyötä Sambian opetussektorilla ja siihen liittyvää tematiikkaa globaali- ja kehityskasvatuksessa Suomessa. Tämä kvalitatiivinen tutkimus analysoi Sambiassa vuosina 2003–2007 koulutussektorin kumppanuusohjelmiin osallistuneiden sambialaisten ja eurooppalaisten kehitysyhteistyöntekijöiden haastatteluja sekä kehitysyhteistyöhön, globaali- ja kehityskasvatukseen liittyviä asiakirjoja. Tutkimus käsittelee haasteita ja mahdollisuuksia pyrittäessä eettisempiin pohjoisen ja etelän välisiin kumppanuuksiin koulutussektorin kehitysyhteistyössä sekä globaali- ja kehityskasvatuksen alueella Suomessa. Väitöskirjatutkimus koostuu tiivistelmästä ja neljästä artikkelista. Tutkimus hyodyntää kolmea tutkimusalaa: postkolonialistista tutkimusta, kehitystutkimusta sekä gloobaali- ja kehityskasvatusta. Tutkimuksen teoreettinen viitekehys perustuu postkolonialistiseen teoriaan, joka tarkastelee krittisesti pohjoisen ja etelän välisiä kumppanuuksia ja niissä ilmeneviä koulutuksellisia mahdollisuuksia.Tutkimuksessa käytetään postkolonialistisia käsitteitä ja näkemyksiä ’ajattelun työkaluina’. Tämän tutkimuksen metodologinen viitekehys yhdistää useita kvalitatiivisia menetelmiä, kuten etnografiaa, sisällönanalyysia ja narratiivisuutta. Etnografian avulla pyritään ymmärtämään tutkimuksen tärkeintä kontekstia, Sambian koulutussektoria. Tämän tutkimuksen ensimmäinen primääri aineisto kerättiin puolistrukturoiduilla teemahaastatteluilla (19). Toinen käytetty tutkimusaineisto sisältää avoimia haastatteluita (5), joissa hyödynnettiin narratiivista aineistonkeruumenetelmää. Kolmas tutkimusaineisto sisältää suomalaisia globaali- ja kehityskasvatuksen asiakirjoja. Näitä kolmea tutkimusaineistoryhmää analysoidaan kvalitatiivisen sisällönanalyysin keinoin. Sambian koulutussektorin kumppanuuksien rakenteiden, narratiivien ja suhteiden analyysi paljastaa jännitteitä sekä paradokseja. Tutkimusanalyysi osoittaa, miten tarkeää on tiedostaa historiallisia ja kulttuurisia seikkoja, jotka ulottuvat yksilöiden taitoja, osaamista sekä pätevyyksiä syvemmälle tasolle. Tutkimus esittää, että refleksiivisyys (self-reflexivity) on hyvä lähtökohta tiedon, taitojen ja osaamisen suhteellisuuden ymmärtämiseen eettisempien pohjoisen ja etelän välisten kumppanuuksien tukemisessa koulutussektorin kehitysyhteistyössä sekä globaali- ja kehityskasvatuksessa Suomessa.

This research investigates capacity building initiatives in developing countries’ ability to aid in a transition toward sustainability. A key system, the education sector, enables and creates human capacity. Teacher Training Initiatives (TTIs) are an organized effort to build the capacity of teachers within the education sector. Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are a rising addition to TTIs that can expand the network, knowledge-sharing, and communication potential of TTIs. Yet, is this growing trend aiding in building capacity at the expense of long-term sustainability? Utilizing the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development, this research employs literature reviews, interviews, data analysis, workshop participation, and an expert panel to illuminate how ICT enabled TTIs can contribute to sustainability. An intervention in the current planning process was identified as a key leverage point to shift the system toward sustainability. Taking a whole systems perspective when planning initiatives better equip stakeholders to build effective programs today that will not compromise the capacity building of the future. This upstream approach may build the foundation to move toward a strategic ICT enabled TTI, but it is not the only major factor. ICT enabled TTIs function within complex systems, requiring ongoing strategic planning and management toward sustainability. / <p>Address: Tiffany Finley 1306 Bohland Place St. Paul, MN 55116 USA OR Susan McCormack 1145 Hartwell Road Manotick, Ontario Canada K4M 1E5</p>