In this era of globalization, small medium-sized fast-growth enterprises are central and pivotal to economic growth and prosperity, and firms that grow are most likely to survive, become successful and be competitive. Significant variables have been identified to impact on the growth of SMEs. The key influential factors of business growth include elements drawn from the entrepreneur and their resource variables. However, the influence of the external environment relative to the growth of SMEs, though imperative in the academic inquiry, has not been studied extensively particularly in the case of developing economies. It is against this backdrop that this thesis seeks to fill this knowledge gap by inquiring into the factors that affect the development and growth of SMEs in the context of a developing African country, Ghana. The thesis draws mostly on three research approaches to SMEs growth organized on analytical distinctions between the entrepreneur and their resources, the business level and the business strategy. At the empirical level, the research makes use of 75 SMEs owner/managers in Ghana in investigating the subject in detail. The study uses thematic analysis to analyse the interview transcripts. Findings indicate that the development and growth of SMEs was greatly influenced by the level and cost of energy (electricity) supply. The erratic energy supply with its huge tariffs, and resulting in acute energy crisis constrains business performance and pushes a host of SMEs out of business. The findings further show that government policy on taxes greatly affects the development and growth of SMEs. Unfavourable tax policy where businesses are taxed at the local government level as well as the national level, and high customs duties constrain the development and growth of SMEs. The findings, again, unravel that competition influences the performance of SMEs; hostile competition from direct and indirect foreign activities (imports) adversely affect the entrepreneurial activities of local producers. The study also shows that economic factors greatly influence the development and growth of SMEs. Sustained inflation adversely affects the operations cost of businesses, suppresses profit levels and ultimately inhibits expansion through plough-back profit. The study disputes the influence of the adoption and use of web technology (e-commerce) identified in literatures, but affirms the influence of education, while new factors are identified, showing that context impacts on the development and growth of SMEs. The study recommends sustained and affordable energy supply, measures to control or defuse hostile competition, review lending and borrowing regulations, review tax policies and suppress sustained inflation. This study therefore enhances the ongoing development relative to the understanding of factors that affect the development and growth of SMEs. More significantly, the role of context is of essence in SMEs research and entrepreneurship as a whole.

Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) have been criticised by employers, government and graduates themselves, for not adequately developing required work skills. An example of practice that does develop student skills is a short industrial placement (SIP) where students are expected to solve a real problem in a company, in two weeks, working with one other student. This practice occurs in a one year Masters programme at Cambridge University Engineering Department. This work studies the SIP practice to understand why it is effective and determine lessons that could contribute to solving the wider skills problem. A five year research timeframe, coupled with an annually run programme, enabled a multi-stage study using an Engaged Scholarship methodology. The first-stage was an exploratory study that investigated the initial development of SIP skills, using simulated experiences, in a taught HE based module. Skills development was found to be a complex multi-component process. A theoretical skills development framework was constructed from literature and compared with practice. It was determined that five simulated SIP experiences provided the student with sufficient skills to undertake a SIP in practice and, the most significant problem was that SIP skills were not well defined. The second-stage focussed on defining skills. Skills were found to be context specific and defining skills required both the associated task and its context to be known. With tasks found to be both essential to defining skills and effective in describing what graduates do in practice, a SIP task framework was constructed which was tested on 80 different SIPs in one academic year. The resulting framework comprised twelve problem-solving process-stages, that in total contained 64 different tasks, and five generic task domains. These generic domains were investigated in the third-stage of this research. These were found to be more extensive and complex than anticipated resulting in a reconfiguration of the SIP framework, the generation of SIP specific domain descriptions and partial completion of task frameworks to describe each domain. This research has generated a plausible skills development theory for HEIs, and task frameworks to describe a SIP. Further work has been identified to refine the task frameworks and to continue work on the proposed skills development theory.

This paper assesses the role of literacy skills as an equalizer in both educational outcomes and educational opportunities. First, by linking two surveys of adult skills for 11 OECD countries (PIAAC - Survey of Adult Skills (conducted in mid-1990s) and IALS - International Adult Literacy Survey (conducted in 2011)), the relationship between performance (average literacy test scores) across countries and within-country skill inequality (dispersion in literacy test scores) is examined. Although Okun's style tradeoff could suggest that there is a tradeoff between efficiency and equality, in this analysis the opposite holds true. Countries with higher average literacy test scores have, at the same time, higher equality in literacy test scores. Second, the role of intergenerational educational mobility (one aspect of equality of opportunity) across countries on both average literacy scores and equality in literacy scores is estimated. There is a significant effect of parental educational levels on children's test scores in all countries, but there is a substantial cross-country variation in the size of the coefficients, which suggests that families play different roles in the transmission of educational skills across countries. Furthermore, this paper finds that an increase in average literacy scores (particularly, improvement in the literacy skills of the low-skilled adults) is positively associated with higher intergenerational educational mobility and higher equality of literacy test scores. Third, by decomposing differences in average literacy scores between the surveys, this paper finds that although increasing educational attainment was the primary driver behind the rise in average literacy scores, literacy scores for each educational age group declined in all countries, which may imply a decrease in educational efficiency. From a policy perspective, increases in access to education and rises in educational attainment alone (although extremely beneficial) are not enough. A focus on educational reform and better quality of education are required in order to improve educational efficiency. Additionally, family policies and an active welfare state may be necessary in order to tackle inequalities. / Series: INEQ Working Paper Series

Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Western Sydney, 2004. / Title from electronic document (viewed 15/6/10) Presented for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, University of Western Sydney, 2004. Includes bibliography.

In der aktuellen Bildungspolitik nimmt die Kompetenzorientierung eine große Bedeutung in der Planung von Unterricht ein. Aus diesem Anlass ist es wichtig, dass für die Planung von Unterricht neue Wege erschlossen werden, wie Kompetenzen gezielt gefördert werden können. Für den Geschichtsunterricht kann in diesem Zusammenhang das Brettspiel als Medium benannt werden, welches neue Unterrichtsformate ermöglicht. Für den gezielten Einsatz im Unterricht eignen sich jedoch marktübliche Brettspiele nicht immer, weshalb es notwendig ist, Brettspiele zu entwickeln, welche geeignet sind für einen Einsatz im Unterricht. Das Ziel dieser wissenschaftlichen Arbeit ist es, ein Brettspiel zu entwickeln, mit welchem ein kompetenzorientierter Geschichtsunterricht realisiert werden kann. Im Detail entstand dadurch die folgende Forschungsfrage: Welche Potenziale bietet der Einsatz eines selbst entwickelten Brettspiels im Hinblick auf einen kompetenzorientierten Geschichtsunterricht in der Sekundarstufe II. Für die Beantwortung der Forschungsfrage, wurde zunächst die Theorie hinter einem kompetenzorientierten Geschichtsunterricht zusammengefasst sowie ein Überblick über den Einsatz von Brettspielen im Unterricht konzipiert. Anschließend wurde ein Brettspiel entwickelt, welches die Soziale Frage in der Industrialisierung als Thema hat. Dabei wurden die didaktischen Überlegungen hinter dem Spiel dargelegt und das Spiel einem Praxistest unterworfen. Um es vorwegzunehmen, handelt es sich nicht um empirische Studien zum Kompetenzerwerb, sondern lediglich das Testen der Spieltauglichkeit wurde untersucht. Das entwickelte Brettspiel ist dabei das Ergebnis dieser wissenschaftlichen Arbeit. Durch das Lesen der Arbeit kann das Spiel kennengelernt werden. Außerdem sind didaktische Überlegungen zur Spielgestaltung dargestellt sowie Möglichkeiten des Einsatzes im Unterricht diskutiert worden. Zudem wurde erörtert, welche historischen und überfachlichen Kompetenzen durch das entwickelte Medium gefördert werden können.:Abstract 1 Vorwort und Danksagung 2 1 Einleitung 3 1.1 Ausgangssituation und Problemstellung 3 1.2 Ziele und Aufbau der Arbeit 4 Teil I: Theoretische Grundlagen 6 2 Kompetenzorientierter Geschichtsunterricht 6 2.1 Kompetenz – ein weiter Begriff 6 2.2 Kompetenzmodell – Was verbirgt sich dahinter? 8 2.3 Auswahl des Kompetenzmodells als Basis der Arbeit 9 2.4 Das FUER-Kompetenzmodell – eine Kurzvorstellung 14 2.5 Merkmale eines Kompetenzorientierten Geschichtsunterrichtes 19 2.6 Überfachliche Kompetenzen in Sachsen 23 3 Brettspiele im Geschichtsunterricht 25 3.1 Brettspiel – ein Begriff 25 3.2 Merkmale und Komponenten von Brettspielen 27 3.3 Das Medium Brettspiel im Geschichtsunterricht 29 3.3.1 Potenziale des Brettspieles gegenüber anderen Medien 30 3.3.2 Kritische Aspekte des Brettspieleinsatzes 35 3.4 Kompetenzerwerb durch Brettspiele im Geschichtsunterricht 39 3.5 Grundlagen zum Einsatz von Brettspielen im Unterricht 43 3.6 Empirischer Stand des Brettspieleinsatzes im Unterricht 46 4 Analyse der geschichtlichen Inhalte des Brettspieles 48 4.1 Sachanalyse – Soziale Frage in der Zeit der Industrialisierung 48 4.2 Didaktische Reduktion auf Unterrichtsniveau nach Sächsischen Lehrplan 54 Teil II: Das eigen entworfene Brettspiel für den Geschichtsunterricht 56 5 Vom ersten Pixel bis zum fertigen Brettspiel- der Entwicklungsprozess 56 5.1 Die Entwicklung der Brettspielidee 56 5.2 Die Herstellung der verschiedenen Spielmaterialien 58 5.3 Das Brettspiel – Vorstellung der wichtigsten Elemente 59 6 Didaktische Grundlagen des eigenen Brettspieles 64 6.1 Theoretische Grundlagen 64 6.1.1 Theoretischer Hintergrund der generellen Gestaltung des Brettspieles 64 6.1.2 Theoretischer Hintergrund der Brettspielelemente 69 6.1.3 Lehrplanbezug 79 6.2 Einsatzmöglichkeiten im Unterricht 81 6.3 Einsatzmöglichkeiten im privaten Bereich 88 6.4 Förderung für historische Kompetenzen 89 6.5 Überfachliche Kompetenzförderung 95 6.6 Kritische Aspekte 97 7 Praktische Erfahrungen 101 7.1 Praktische Erfahrungen außerhalb der Zielgruppe 101 7.2 Praktische Erfahrungen innerhalb der Zielgruppe 103 8 Schlussbetrachtung 106 8.1 Darstellung des Ergebnisses.. 106 8.2 Ausblick 110 Literaturverzeichnis 111 Anlagenverzeichnis 116

Submitted by Carolina Neves (carolinapon@uefs.br) on 2017-02-17T00:15:32Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Disserta??o Vanessa B. Mascarenhas.pdf: 2518585 bytes, checksum: 04f246829b7f834d81fd9d4993d81fdb (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-02-17T00:15:32Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Disserta??o Vanessa B. Mascarenhas.pdf: 2518585 bytes, checksum: 04f246829b7f834d81fd9d4993d81fdb (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-06-20 / This research aimed to discuss the concepts of training young ProJovem Urban and their possible implications as Collaborative Policy from 2005 to 2013. The study was guided by the following question: What youth education conceptions ProJovem Urban and to what extent the views set out constitute expressions and as vectors of "Collaborative Policy" that has been guiding the Brazilian educational policies within the framework of the Skills education? This is on the assumption that public policies as a product of tensions, gives us in his studies reflect on the role of the state and society of competing projects. As a general objective sought to analyze the youth education conceptions of this program and its possible implications as Collaborative Policy. It was assumed as epistemological orientation a historical-critical perspective, in dialogue with authors such as Neves (2005), Ramos (2006) and Shiroma, Garcia and Campos (2011). In this context, the work has the categories of Youth analysis, Collaborative Policy and Education Skills. For the implementation of this research was used qualitative methodology and how the documentary research technique through content analysis method. The study was to sources, print and digital official documents that governed the ProJovem in the period 2005-2013, such laws, reports, projects, manuals and program advertising pieces, taking into account the context in which they were produced. The research showed that the ProJovem Urban presented as official discourse the prospect of full training, with emphasis on education of participatory citizen and entered the world of work, from the development of youth leadership. The study of the program revealed, however, that the concept of implicit training the proposal is based on the perspective of adaptation of young people to capitalist lines, by adapting to the demands of the labor market, aimed at the development of skills and values ??development cooperation consistent with the Collaborative Policy. Thus, this program is in line with the formation of a collaborator man who seeks to exercise a new quality citizenship, but without questioning the essence of capitalism and social inequality whose results from it, the ProJovem Urban in its proposal for comprehensive training has implications as Collaborative Policy. Thus, the purpose of overcoming program the exclusion of young people is not made, the first not to be that the real intent of the program and secondly because the IBGE data indicate that young people, the program's target audience, remain in precarious social conditions with low income and inability to balance work and study. / A presente pesquisa buscou problematizar as concep??es de forma??o de jovens do ProJovem Urbano e suas poss?veis implica??es como Pol?tica Colaborativa no per?odo de 2005 a 2013. O estudo foi orientado pela seguinte quest?o: Quais as concep??es de forma??o de jovens do ProJovem Urbano e em que medida as concep??es enunciadas se constituem como express?es e vetores da ?Pol?tica Colaborativa?, que vem orientando as pol?ticas educacionais brasileiras no marco da Pedagogia das Compet?ncias? Parte-se do pressuposto que as pol?ticas p?blicas como produto das tens?es, nos proporciona em seus estudos refletir sobre o papel do Estado e os projetos de sociedade em disputa. Como objetivo geral buscou-se analisar as concep??es de forma??o de jovens desse programa e suas poss?veis implica??es como Pol?tica Colaborativa. Assumiu-se como orienta??o epistemol?gica uma perspectiva hist?rico-cr?tica, em di?logo com autores tais como Neves (2005), Ramos (2006) e Shiroma, Garcia e Campos (2011). Neste marco, o trabalho teve como categorias de an?lise Juventude, Pol?tica Colaborativa e Pedagogia das Compet?ncias. Para execu??o dessa pesquisa foi utilizada a metodologia qualitativa e como t?cnica a pesquisa documental por meio do m?todo de An?lise de Conte?do. O estudo teve como fontes documentos oficias impressos e digitais que regeram o ProJovem no per?odo de 2005 a 2013, a exemplo de leis, relat?rios, projetos, manuais e pe?as de propaganda do programa, levando em considera??o o contexto em que foram produzidos. A pesquisa evidenciou que o ProJovem Urbano apresenta como discurso oficial a perspectiva de forma??o integral, com ?nfase na educa??o do cidad?o participativo e inserido no mundo do trabalho, a partir do desenvolvimento do protagonismo juvenil. O estudo com o programa revelou, todavia, que a concep??o de forma??o impl?cita ? proposta ? fundada na perspectiva de adapta??o dos jovens aos moldes capitalistas, por meio da adequa??o ?s demandas do mercado de trabalho, voltado para o desenvolvimento de compet?ncias e desenvolvimento de valores de coopera??o condizentes com ? Pol?tica Colaborativa. Nesse sentido, esse programa est? de acordo com a forma??o de um homem colaborador, que busca exercer uma cidadania de qualidade nova, mas sem questionar a ess?ncia do capitalismo e a desigualdade social que dela prov?m, ou seja, o ProJovem Urbano em sua proposta de forma??o integral, possui implica??es como Pol?tica Colaborativa. Assim, a proposta do programa de supera??o da situa??o de exclus?o dos jovens n?o ? efetivada, primeiro por n?o ser essa a real inten??o do programa e segundo porque os dados do IBGE indicam que os jovens, p?blico alvo do programa, permanecem em condi??es sociais prec?rias, com baixa renda e impossibilidade de conciliar trabalho e estudo.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Victoria University (Melbourne, Vic.), 2006. / Includes bibliographical references.