Thesis (DPhil)--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / This study about formality in business texts is situated within the field of document design. For this reason, the definition of formality and the operasionalisation thereof in business texts are approached from a functional framework, which can lead to the realisation of useful guidelines to text producers based on the conclusions drawn from the research. With these guidelines, informed decisions can be made about formality in texts. In this study formality is defined and operasionalised in terms of the two notions context (in)dependency and deixis. Formality and deixis both involve distance. Greater distance between die text/writer and the reader or interlocutors mutually is associated with a higher degree of formality. On the other hand, a higher frequency deictic referential words such as personal pronouns (you, he, we, they), adverbs of place (here, there), direction (forwards, outside) and time (just now, only just, at present) implies a shorter social and spatio-temporal distance, and therefore a higher degree of informality. The reason for this is that deictic referential words (you, here, outside, now) and the reference to which such words refer should be deduced from the context immediately in order for the message to be understood unambiguously. For this reason, deictic referential words are context dependent in this study and because the context is immediately available and the distance thus shorter, these words are markers of informality. On the other hand, nondeictic referential words imply a greater distance and therefore a higher degree of formality. Grammatical variables that possibly have an effect on the degree of formality in annual reports and brochures, such as nouns, objective and subjective adjectives, verbs and pronouns, are divided in terms of their context dependence or context independence into one of two categories, namely a nondeictic category that is associated with context independence and formality, or a deictic category that is associated with context dependence and informality. Based on the frequencies of the various language variables in the two categories (context independent, nondeictic category and context dependent, deictic category) an empirical measure of formality is proposed with which formality (F-index) can be measured in Afrikaans business texts. Although the proposed measure should be refined, the study illustrates, among others, that the measure exhibits the capacity to point out variation based on differences in formality between the text types. The study further indicates that advice based on intuition should be regarded with caution. A survey aimed at readers showed that variables such as subject, tone, style, word choice and language usage play a greater role in the evaluation of the degree of formality of texts than grammatical variables such as the passive voice. In conclusion, the study gives clear guidelines as to how the language variables that were part of this study should be dealt with and in a sense be manipulated to ensure a suitable degree of formality of a text and thus the effective transfer of communication.

O objetivo deste estudo é investigar a relação entre a formalização integral e o desempenho econômico-financeiro em micro e pequenas empresas brasileiras (MPEs).A formalização integral foi considerada sob as dimensões: societária, gerencial e fiscal.A formalização societária contempla ações entre os proprietários que poderão levar ao bom andamento da sociedade empresarial e à remuneração adequada do capital investido na empresa. A base conceitual é a profissionalização da sociedade (MOREIRA JÚNIOR, 2006; DRUCKER, 1995; BERNHOEFT e CASTANHEIRA, 1995, entre outros) e a observação de normas civis brasileiras que tratam das relações entre pessoas físicas e jurídicas. Os conceitos planejamento e controle financeiro (FREZATTI, 2003; WELSCH, 1983) e competências gerenciais (LE BOTERF, 2003; DUTRA, 2004; FLEURY e FLEURY, 2001) foram abordados para dar sustentação à formalização gerencial. A formalização fiscal, entendida pela estruturação da empresa, física e financeiramente, para o cumprimento das regras estabelecidas pelos governos e passíveis de fiscalização e autuação (MONTAÑO, 1999; ZANGARI JÚNIOR, 2007). Os conceitos relativos ao desempenho econômico-financeiro foram analisados no sentido de evidenciar a relação deste com a competitividade, ganho de eficiência e eficácia, criação de valor para o negócio, geração de caixa para os investidores e continuidade do negócio (COPELAND, et al., 2002; RAPPAPOR, 2001; EHRHARDT e BRIGHAM, 2012; ELKINGTON, 1999). A amostra deste estudo é não-probabilística e formada por 100 empresas que manifestaram o interesse em participar. Foram utilizados dados primários, coletados por levantamento de campo (survey), utilizando entrevista focalizada e a técnica do balanço perguntado(MARTELANC, 1998). Submeteram-se os dados a técnicas descritivas multivariadas, inclusive modelagem de equações estruturais. As hipóteses foram construídas na suposição de que o desempenho econômico-financeiro se dá pela formalização societária, gerencial e fiscal e que a expectativa de sobrevivência aumenta com melhor desempenho econômico-financeiro. Os resultados comprovaram que a formalização societária, a gerencial e a fiscal têm relação estatística positiva, significante e indireta com o desempenho econômico-financeiro e este explica a expectativa de sobrevivência das empresas estudadas. O achado é relevante visto que traz um novo meio para tratar dos problemas da informalidade e sobrevivência das micro e pequenas empresas brasileiras, porém requer avanços e novos estudos. / This study aims to investigate the relationship between full formalization and economic and financial performance of Brazilian micro and small companies (MSCs). The full formalization was considered under tree the dimensions: corporate, managerial and fiscal. The corporate formalization encompasses actions among the owners that may lead to the good progress of the corporate society and the adequate remuneration of the capital invested in the company. The conceptual basis is the professionalization of society (MOREIRA JÚNIOR, 2006; DRUCKER, 1995; BERNHOEFT and CASTANHEIRA, 1995, among others) and the observation of Brazilian civil norms that deal with relations between individuals and legal entities. The concepts of planning and financial control (Frezatti, 2003; Welsch, 1983) and managerial competencies (LE BOTERF, 2003; DUTRA, 2004; FLEURY and FLEURY, 2001) were approached to support management formalization. The fiscal formalization, understood by the structuring of the company, physically and financially, for the fulfillment of the rules set up by the governments and are subject to inspection and assessment (MONTAÑO, 1999; ZANGARI JÚNIOR, 2007). The concepts related to economic and financial performance were analyzed in order to show the relationship between this and competitiveness, achieve efficiency and effectiveness, create value for the business, generate capital for investors and business continuity (Edwards et al., 2002). Sample of this study is non-probabilistic and consists of 100 companies that showed interest in participating. The primary data employed was collected by field survey, using a focused interview and the requested balance technique (MARTELANC, 1998). Data were submitted to multivariate descriptive techniques, including modeling of structural equations. The hypotheses were constructed under the assumption that economic and financial performance is obtained through corporate, managerial and fiscal formalization, and also that the expectation of business survival increases with a better economic-financial performance. The results showed that corporate, managerial and fiscal formalization have a positive, significant and indirect statistical relationship with economic and financial performance and this explains the expected business survival of the companies studied. The finding is relevant since it brings a new way of dealing with the problems of informality and business survival of micro and small Brazilian companies, but it requires advances and new studies.

<p>The aim of this thesis is to find out if there is a gap between the formalization level and the realization level in the Namibian school system. Moreover, our aim is to figure out how we, as visiting teaching students, interpret the relationship between steering documents and the teaching in the classroom. In turn, the aim was used to formulate three different research questions: What can we experience while observing in the class room/at school? What do the interviewed teachers express concerning our asked questions? What are the main differences between the two latest steering documents?</p><p>The reason why we decided to do a study about the school system in Namibia is because it is a young country, it was proclaimed independent in 1990. Therefore we think it is interesting to study how the school system and its political steering documents have developed over the years.</p><p>Our theoretical framework includes the concept of curriculum, reconceptualism and cultural issues. Our focal point has been on the following three perspectives, democracy, gender and learner centred education.</p><p>The method we used in this study is triangulation, in this case analyzing political steering documents, interviewing teachers and other people connected to the school and finally class room observations. The attitudes to the three above mentioned perspectives vary amongst the interviewed personnel This study as come to the conclusion that there is a gap between the formalization level and realization level.</p>

We present a formally specified event specification language (Solicitor). Solicitor is suitable for real-time systems, since it results in resource-predictable and efficient event monitors. In event monitoring, event expressions defined in an event specification language control the monitoring by matching incoming streams of event occurrences against the event expressions. When an event expression has a complete set of matching event occurrences, the event type that this expression defines has occurred. Each event expression is specified by combining contributing event types with event operators such as sequence, conjunction, disjunction; contributing event types may be primitive, representing happenings of interest in a system, or composite, specified by event expressions. The formal specification of Solicitor is based on a formal schema that separates two important aspects of an event expression; these aspects are event operators and event contexts. The event operators aspect addresses the relative constraints between contributing event occurrences, whereas the event contexts aspect addresses the selection of event occurrences from an event stream with respect to event occurrences that are used or invalidated during event monitoring. The formal schema also contains an abstract model of event monitoring. Given this formal specification, we present realization issues of, a time complexity study of, as well as a proof of limited resource requirements of event monitoring. We propose an architecture for resource-predictable and efficient event monitoring. In particular, this architecture meets the requirements of realtime systems by defining how event monitoring and tasks are associated. A declarative way of specifying this association is proposed within our architecture. Moreover, an efficient memory management scheme for event composition is presented. This scheme meets the requirements of event monitoring in distributed systems. This architecture has been validated by implementing an executable component prototype that is part of the DeeDS prototype. The results of the time complexity study are validated by experiments. Our experiments corroborate the theory in terms of complexity classes of event composition in different event contexts. However, the experimental platform is not representative of operational real-time systems and, thus, the constants derived from our experiments cannot be used for such systems.

This thesis investigates organizational formalization within the context of young Swedish high-technology ventures. The research provides four longitudinal case studies which approach the formalization process in vivo through multiple actor engagement, including a retrospect understanding of the initial development. Formalization has been considered an irrelevant lens for understanding the organization of new ventures and the development of formalized structures. If discussed at all it has been treated as a legitimacy challenge or a consequential problem of growth. A new strand of research gives other indications; it argues that the formalization of structures is among the earliest decisions taken during high-technology venturing. It is also suggested that the earliest decisions direct increased formalization. Emergent knowledge about early formalization, while an important platform, only captures part of the complex formalization process. The results of my research indicate that formalization is an ongoing process that develops in parallel through dual-actors. Management on the one hand, is hesitant and indecisive about how to increase formalization, but uses formalization as an instrument to direct focus among the employees. Employees, on the other hand, pursue formalization through a continuous mapping of core processes. These findings are brought together to reconceptualize formalization from a new venture perspective. The thesis offers a new research framework for future empirical investigation and theory development. / <p>Diss. Stockholm : Handelshögskolan, 2008</p>

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between the formalization of inter-organizational partnerships and collaboration among staff members working together across primary care, mental health and addition organizations to provide services to adults with complex mental health and addiction needs. Phase I of the study provided an environmental scan of existing partnerships among Family Health Teams (FHTs) and Community Health Centres (CHCs), and the Mental Health and/or Addiction (MHA) organizations they partner with, in the province of Ontario (Canada). Phase II explored the relationship between formalization and a) administrative collaboration and b) and service delivery collaboration. The hypotheses proposed that staff members who are part of formalized partnerships would report higher levels of collaboration. Phase III explored how formal and informal partnerships and collaboration are experienced by the administrative and service provider staff members who work across FHTs, CHCs and MHAs organizations. Using a mixed methods approach, data were collected using electronic surveys and telephone interviews. The results of Phase I indicated that FHTs and CHCs in Ontario have between 1-3 partnerships with MHA organizations. Most are informal partnerships, have existed for less than 5 years, and most staff members (partners) interact on a monthly basis. The quantitative results of Phase II showed no significant relationship between formalization and either form of collaboration. The qualitative findings from Phase III provide two key contributions. First, the results of the interviews may help explain why collaboration was not higher in formalized partnerships, as demonstrated by the range of advantages and disadvantages experienced by administrators and service providers in both formal and informal partnerships. Second, the findings illuminate factors related to the process of creating and/or formalizing partnerships, suggesting that there may be other factors that mediate or have a direct impact on the relationship between formalization and collaboration. By bringing together the study findings, the study addresses a gap in the literature by proposing a pathway through which formalization may be associated with collaboration. The results of the study provide opportunities for future research to help improve the quality and accessibility of services to adults with complex mental health and addiction needs.

The aim of this thesis is to find out if there is a gap between the formalization level and the realization level in the Namibian school system. Moreover, our aim is to figure out how we, as visiting teaching students, interpret the relationship between steering documents and the teaching in the classroom. In turn, the aim was used to formulate three different research questions: What can we experience while observing in the class room/at school? What do the interviewed teachers express concerning our asked questions? What are the main differences between the two latest steering documents? The reason why we decided to do a study about the school system in Namibia is because it is a young country, it was proclaimed independent in 1990. Therefore we think it is interesting to study how the school system and its political steering documents have developed over the years. Our theoretical framework includes the concept of curriculum, reconceptualism and cultural issues. Our focal point has been on the following three perspectives, democracy, gender and learner centred education. The method we used in this study is triangulation, in this case analyzing political steering documents, interviewing teachers and other people connected to the school and finally class room observations. The attitudes to the three above mentioned perspectives vary amongst the interviewed personnel This study as come to the conclusion that there is a gap between the formalization level and realization level.

Workflow management promises a solution to an age-old problem: controlling,monitoring, optimizing and supporting business processes. What is new about workflow management is the explicit representation of the business process logic which allows for computerized support. In the light of this support, many researchers developed different approaches to model new systems with different capabilities to solve this age-old problem. One of the approaches is using logicbased methodology for the specification and execution of workflows. Here, the event calculus, a logic programming formalism for representing events and their effects especially in database applications, is used for this approach. It is shown that the control flow graph of a workflow specification can be expressed as a set of logical formulas and the event calculus can be used to specify the role of a workflow manager through a set of rules for the execution dependencies of activities. Constructed workflow formalization through Event Calculus is realized by using recent technologies, and the resulting product is named as EventFlow,including some administrative interfaces to manage system and workflow engine. The thesis describes the architecture and implementation details of EventFlow, an editor developed for graphical representation of control flow graph, and technologies used in the implementation. And an example application is built to show the usability and execution of the implemented system.

Kiekvienos sistemos kūrimo tikslas yra veikianti, gyvybinga ir saugi sistema, teikianti norimus ir patikimus rezultatus. Sistemos saugumas – tai sistemos savybė, reiškianti, kad sistemos funkcionavimo metu neįvyks jokia nenumatyta situacija. Gyvybingumas – sistemos reakcija į tam tikrus įvykius ir sugebėjimas atlikti nustatytas užduotis bei pateikti teisingus sprendimus arba rezultatus. Norint sukurti tokią sistemą, kuri ateityje tenkins nustatytus reikalavimus, yra labai svarbu iš anksto nustatyti jos formalią reikalavimų specifikaciją, nes nuo to priklauso galutinis produktas – kiek įvairių situacijų, į kurias sistema gali patekti, ar bus numatyta, kaip ji susidoros su atitinkamais išoriniais ar vidiniais įvykiais. Tokią specifikaciją galima praplėsti įvairiomis modifikacijomis, kurios gali padėti aptikti potencialias klaidas sistemoje, kurias įvertinus kūrimo metu, galima sistemai suteikti tolerancijos klaidoms savybę. / In order to create a fault tolerant system, very clear requirements should be prepared and all possible fault events should be analyzed. It can be properly made by using any of system modeling formalism. In this work alternating bit protocol system was chosen to formalize and analyzed in fault tolerant software aspects. Alternating bit protocol was modified in two ways – it’s functionality under perfect circumstances and with added faults, in order to make the system fault tolerant. These both cases were formalized by PLA and DEVS formalization methods. After the research of different formalisms and adjusting FDEVS to alternating bit protocol, FPLA formalization method was created.

Magistro baigiamajame darbe tyrinėta verslo informacinė sistema jos išsivystymas ir metodologija panaudojant komponentais pagrįstą metodą. Metodas parodo kaip naudoti komponentais - orientuotą paradigmą, kad išvystytume sistemą visuose trijuose verslo lygmenyse. Darbe pristatoma pati sąvoka ir jos principai, paradigmos verslo plėtojimo kontekste. Metodas siūlo naudoti komponentų abstrakciją kaip realizavimo techniką daugumos bendrų taikomųjų principų, kurie gali sumažinti integruotos verslo informacinės sistemos plėtojimo sudėtingumą ir palaikymą. Integruotos organizacijų informacinės sistemos į darnią visumą sujungia verslo informacijos apdorojimo ir programinės bei techninės įrangos komponentus. Tokių sistemų kūrimas, sudėtinės dalys, modulinė architektūra turi savo specifinių ypatumų. Šio darbo tikslas – ištirti komponentinės paradigmos taikymo galimybes organizacijų integruotoms informacinėms sistemoms kurti, suformuluoti svarbiausias problemas, kurias reikia spręsti, norint projektuoti ir realizuoti šitokias sistemas. Magistro darbe pateiktos problemas, kurios egzistuoja formalizuojant integruotas verslo sistemas remiantis komponentine paradigma. Nagrinėjama komponentinė sistemų kūrimo paradigma, siekiant perkelti komponentinių programų sistemų kūrimo idėjas į organizacijų integruotų informacinių sistemų lygmenį. Nagrinėjamos komponento ir jo pagrindinių dalių sampratos, įvairių abstrakcijos lygmenų komponentų ypatumai, jų jungimo būdai. Suformuluoti reikalavimai... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / This final master degree paper analysis the integrated enterprise information system, its development and methodology using component based method. This method shows how the component - oriented paradigm can be used for developing system in all three layers of enterprise. The paper presents the main concept and its principles, context of paradigm through the enterprise development. The method offers the usage of component abstraction like the technique of realisation. The main principles can reduce the difficultness and maintenance of integrated enterprise information system. The integrated enterprise information system connects enterprise information treatment, software and hardware components to the totality. The establishment of this kind of systems, its components, modular architecture has its specific peculiarities. The main objective of the paper – is to research a possibility of using the componentised paradigm in the establishment of the integrated enterprise information systems. Also, to analyse the main problems, which has to be solved if you want to engineer and implement this kind of systems. The master degree paper shows the problems, which exists in formalization of integrated enterprise systems based on the componentised paradigm. It analysis the componentised system development paradigm, persuading the transferring of componentised system establishment ideas into the integrated information system layer. The paper analysis the main concepts of the component... [to full text]