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In the United States, faith-based and other small credit unions are vanishing at the rate of nearly a credit union each workday. The purpose of this causal-comparative study was to provide managers of faith-based credit unions with information about differences in financial performance and risk tolerance between faith-based and non-faith-based credit unions in order to improve their investment strategy and long-term sustainability. The study included a comparison of ratios measuring the financial performance and risk tolerance of randomly selected faith-based credit unions in the United States with the corresponding ratios of non-faith-based credit unions of similar size and location from 2003 to 2012. The data were collected from the National Credit Union Association, the U.S. government regulator of federally insured credit unions. The data analysis involved t tests and one-way ANOVAs to determine the differences in mean ratios of financial performance and risk tolerance between faith-based and non-faith-based credit unions. The findings demonstrated mixed support for the theoretical framework based on the Protestant ethic theory, which holds that certain traits associated with religion (e.g., thrift and debt avoidance) might influence financial performance and risk tolerance. The findings revealed significant differences between faith-based and non-faith-based credit unions in capital adequacy, liquidity risk, and credit risk, but not in profitability and interest rate risk. The implications for social change include the potential to strengthen the risk management and investment strategies for faith-based credit unions, thereby helping to ensure the continuation of vital financial services valued by members and their communities.

L'œuvre de Lorand Gaspar manifeste constamment le souci de proposer une approche poétique du fait de vivre fondée sur la non-discrimination, du corps aux idées, des cultures à la nature. L'objet de cette thèse est d'analyser les modalités de cette approche comme correspondant à un ensemble de relations, afin de dégager certains principes, poétiques mais aussi éthiques, en tant que cherchant à promouvoir une conception exigeante et heureuse de l'individu en prise avec le réel. Pour cela, une lecture des œuvres poétiques qui ont paru les plus représentatives a dans un premier temps été privilégiée, afin de dégager, par l'étude des textes, en particulier philologique, un cheminement de l'ensemble de l'œuvre comme mettant en place des représentations évolutives de l'existence. Ces représentations reposant sur des relations, entre le sujet locuteur, son environnement et des figures d'altérité, il a semblé dans un deuxième temps utile de revenir sur certaines relations particulières dans la pratique poétique elle-même, aux arts visuels, à des disciplines telles que les sciences naturelles, l'histoire de la médecine, l'histoire et l'ethnologie, enfin à d'autres poètes, notamment Georges Séféris et Rainer Maria Rilke. En s'attachant toujours à lire les textes dans leur détail, avec une attention particulière portée aux polysémies possibles et aux intertextes, ces lectures, s'appuyant sur certaines œuvres poétiques et récits, ont cherché à mettre en évidence les enjeux éthiques de la représentation des figures d'altérité. Enfin, un troisième volet de la réflexion, articulant la lecture philologique à une approche thématique, en examinant le traitement dans des œuvres de poésie et des essais de questions telles que la violence et le sens de l'histoire, l'Orient et ses habitants, et la poésie comme engagement humaniste, vise à étudier dans l'œuvre l'élaboration d'une éthique à la fois poétique et existentielle, et à souligner son importance dans des débats d'idée contemporains. / The work of Lorand Gaspar shows a constant concern about proposing a poetical approach of the fact of living founded on non-discrimination, from the body to ideas, from cultures to nature. The purpose of this dissertation is to analyze the modalities of this approach, in order to clarify some of its main principles, poetics but also ethics, as aiming to promote a both demanding and harmonious conception of the individual facing reality. For this, a reading of the poetic works which have seemed the most representatives has first been chosen, in order to identify, through the study of texts and especially philological study, a global progress of the work as performing dynamical representations of existence. Those representations being based on relations, between the subject, his environment and figures of otherness, it has seemed relevant, in a second time, to study more specific relations in the poetical practice itself, relations to the visual arts, to disciplines such as natural sciences, history of medicine, history and ethnology, and finally to other poets, particularly George Seferis and Rainer Maria Rilke. Always as much as possible focused on the detail of the texts, with a particular attention to the possible polysemies and intertexts, those readings, based on both poetical and narrative writings, have tended to highlight the ethical purpose of representing the otherness. Lastly, a third step of the reflection, joining the philological reading to a thematic approach, through a review of the treatment in some poetic writings and essays of questions such as violence and the meaning of history, Orient and its inhabitants, and poetry as a humanist commitment, aims to study in the work of Lorand Gaspar the process of an ethic both poetical and existential, and to point out its importance in contemporary debates.

This thesis report details my exploration into the topic of hustle culturewith the goal of opening conversations. This exploration centres around myprocess of producing an animated short film Pursuit and aims to address thequestion, “what does it mean to be productive”?Hustle culture is introduced as a masochistic work-ethic way of life thatcauses productivity to become toxic and self care to get lost in the noise. Itake a closer look at other creators who inspire my work and why in orderto position myself as a change agent in relation to visual communication.This report touches upon the disparities and similarities between workculture now vs in the past, taking into consideration the longer historical,social and economic influence of work culture over time. It also investigatesthe phenomenon of increasing speed that media/information is spread andabsorbed today and emerging practices of resistance like the concept of slowliving. This thesis report concludes that even though there is no one size fitsall solution, tangible change can still be made to mend our relationship withtime and productivity by first talking about it.

The corporate world today is highly competitive and in order for organizations to survive and remain competitive, they must constantly evolve through change. However, the majority of organizational changes neither result in successful implementation or foster sustained change. It is suggested that the success of changes are highly contingent on employees’ responses towards them. To this end, Islamic Work Ethic (IWE) has become a subject of growing interest amongst academia and human resource literature attempting to understand and predict employees’ responses towards organizational change, particularly in Muslim societies. Despite this, studies attempting to uncover IWE’s influence on characteristics of employees’ responses towards change have revealed varying outcomes. Thus, the nature of the relationship remains ambiguous. To tackle this gap, this study contributes to knowledge by developing a conceptual model that assists in identifying the influence of IWE on employees’ responses towards change in the shape of their commitment to change and organizational deviance behaviors. The testing of these relationships was carried out in the ever changing and developing Islamic banking industry within the Middle Eastern context of Kuwait. Through a quantitative case-study approach, data was collected from 398 branch-level employees via questionnaires. The outcomes revealed that the extent of IWE’s influence on employee commitment to change varied greatly across different components (affective, normative and continuance). On the other hand, IWE was found to negatively influence employee engagement in organizational deviance towards change. Due to such findings, several theoretical implications, practical recommendations and future research directions are put forward.

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This qualitative single-site case study examined the philosophy, decisions, and behaviors of a particular male school principal who subscribed to a form of care-based leadership practice. A Pennsylvania high school principal with a distinct leadership philosophy centered on the ethic of care was chosen to participate in this study. The purpose of this study was to explore the role of emotion as it relates to leadership philosophy and the enactment of leadership decisions and actions. Additionally, the short and long-term organizational effects of leader behavior were examined. Semi-structured interviews with the principal, administrators, teachers, staff, parents, community members, and graduated students were utilized to examine how the principal's leadership philosophy was perceived and carried forth in school operations. Additionally, on-site observations and document reviews were utilized to aid the data collection process. The observation and analysis of the male school principal's leadership behavior was filtered through the lens of Goleman's, Boyatzis', and McKee's (2002) primal leadership theory and also through Gross' (1998, 2004, 2006) turbulence theory. Additionally, Wilson's (1998) theoretical conception of consilience was utilized as the physiological, psychological, ethical, social, emotional, and spiritual aspects of leadership were considered. These theoretical perspectives allowed for the review of principal leadership behavior in the context of unstable organizational conditions and accounted for the various elements involved with the leadership process. In turn, the male school principal's ability to implement his leadership philosophy was explored. This examination aimed to increase understanding of the intentions, actions, perceptions, and outcomes that arise from male school principal conduct that proposes to be aligned with a care-based leadership philosophy. The findings indicated the male school principal was able to successfully implement a care-based form of leadership practice. The results suggest that a particular leadership acuity, involving various rational, emotional, social, and moral competencies, was necessary for the school principal to experience success. Principal aptitude in these domains allowed the school leader to successfully lead his school organization during both stable and highly turbulent conditions. The findings suggest that the ethic of care, specifically in relation to Sernak's (1998) conception of caring power, should serve as the foundation for school organization leadership practice. Also, the findings offer various care-based school leadership aptitudes and behaviors that may be beneficial for school leadership theorists and practitioners to explore and consider. / Educational Administration

This case study investigated the ethic of the profession, one of the four ethical frameworks used for ethical decision-making in education. Typically, this line of research is applied to school administrators; however, this investigation extended this research to teacher leaders by examining their daily practice. Out of a pool of thirty-six respondents, nine teachers were chosen to participate in the study. These teacher leaders were employed in urban, exurban, and suburban school districts, with experience levels varying from three to thirty-three years. Participants were required to complete the following: the Self-Assessment to Assess Readiness for Leadership, creation of personal code of ethics, and the creation of professional code of ethics. An in-depth interview to discuss the codes, and clashes between codes was conducted, as well as a second interview to address an ethical dilemma identified by the participants. Categorical analysis was used to recognize recurring themes. A conceptual model of the decision-making process was developed to explain the phenomena observed in these data. In addition, recurring themes were identified through analysis of the interview data. Themes included a prevailing concern for fairness, student welfare, educational equality, safety, and student discipline. When responding to critical events that triggered ethical dilemmas, these participants habitually used their personal and professional codes of ethics to determine a course of action. Participants exhibited a sophisticated decision-making approach which moved participants past the reliance on one ethical frame of justice, critique, or care, into the use of multiple paradigms to solve ethical dilemmas. In the final analyses, the ethic of the profession was demonstrated by these nine teacher leaders through reflection and reliance on personal and professional codes of ethics, and by placing students at the center of the ethical decision-making process. / Educational Administration