Today a majority of business organizations utilize work team designs in an effort to gain a competitive edge. A multitude of factors exert varying levels of influence on work teams, however, few are as potentially pernicious as conflict. Although conflict in work teams has received much attention within the literature, there is notable absence of investigations that have considered the influence of interpersonal factors on conflict within team settings. The present longitudinal, field investigation sought to address this deficit by examining the influence of interpersonal flexibility on work team conflict and conflict-related consequences in 20 naturally occurring M.B.A. project teams. The following research questions were addressed: (1) What is the relationship of interpersonal flexibility to team conflict? (2) What is the relationship of interpersonal flexibility to team outcome? (3) To what extent does interpersonal flexibility predict team conflict occurrence? (4) To what extent does interpersonal flexibility predict team outcome? (5) What is the trajectory of team conflict and outcomes over time based on member interpersonal flexibility? In addressing the questions, a series of Pearson correlations, one-way ANOVA, and GLM repeated measure analyses were conducted. Results suggest a connection between interpersonal flexibility and the experience of work team conflict. Interpersonal flexibility was negatively associated with conflict occurrence and positively associated with satisfaction, commitment, and effectiveness at some points in time. More importantly, interpersonal flexibility seems to explain a small to moderate amount of variance in the conflict and team outcome variables. Individuals and teams with a higher degree of interpersonal flexibility tended to report lower levels of conflict within their work teams and more satisfaction with their team membership. A consistent relationship between interpersonal flexibility level and member commitment or team effectiveness was not established. In addition, team interpersonal flexibility was not demonstrated to be predictive of team performance. The present investigation suggests that interpersonal flexibility exerts an important influence in work teams. However, additional research is essential toward fully understanding how and to what degree work team functioning can be explained by interpersonal flexibility.

Large complex construction projects such as building an interstate highway, a dam, a chemical plant, an off-shore oil rig and a waste-to-energy plant often include unpredictable geological conditions, labor supplies, material deliveries, and weather that cause uncertainty. Effective and efficient acquisition and construction require the proactive management of these and other uncertainties to meet performance, schedule, and cost targets. Flexibility in the form of real options can be an effective tool for managing uncertainty and thereby adding value to construction projects. But flexibility can be expensive to obtain, maintain, and implement. Real options theory suggests a general approach and has developed precise valuation models. But these models of simplified real options (compared to managerial practice) have failed to significantly improve practice, partially because of a lack of knowledge of real options use by practicing managers. In contrast, the majority of managerial real options applications are identified, designed, valued, and implemented tacitly by construction managers. Understanding current practice and its similarities and differences with theory is critical for developing operational real options theories that can improve construction practice. Few descriptions of managerial real options practice exist as a basis for improvement. To address this need the current research has experiment subjects manage a simple but uncertain installation project with managerial flexibility. Subjects repeatedly value an option to avoid a slow and expensive system integration failure. Real options theory is used to explain their behaviors by customizing the model of uncertainty to reflect themanagement context. To further analyze managerial real options practice, a system dynamics simulation model of the experimental installation project is developed. Policies for using flexibility to manage uncertainty that are applied by subjects are modeled and performances are simulated across a range of uncertain conditions to evaluate and compare policy effectiveness. All 21 subjects that participated in the research perceived flexibility as an effective tool in managing uncertain projects. But they are not aware of the factors that impact flexibility value. They correctly identified the relationship of some factors with flexibility value but not all of them and not the magnitude of impaction. Further research and development needs for expanding real options theory into the operational management of construction are discussed based on experiment and simulation results.

Two key architectural concepts that must be taken into account in every design are sustainability and flexibility. These two ideas are inherently tied to one another. Sustainability refers to ideas and processes that provide solutions meant to better our built environment by using renewable resources, and reducing the amount of energy used in order to ensure our planets well-being for future generations. Flexibility refers to the capability of adaptation in order to accommodate different situations and circumstances. Users will always change through time, while a structure remains the same. The goal of flexibility is to allow a building to evolve as its users do in both long and short term. Rooms can be added or removed, exterior connections can change, and uses of rooms can change throughout the day as spaces are used differently. Flexibility will extend a building's entire life cycle and reducing the need for expensive renovations by making every space multi-use. Each building's entire life cycle should be taken into account during the design phase, and no building should serve as a single use, this idea will also make them more sustainable. These two concepts will also have very important social and economical implications for the users.

Buildings are largely static objects, while the people and programs that inhabit them and the landscapes surrounding them belong to a set of more dynamic, shifting and interconnected systems. The intention of the thesis is to demonstrate a sympathetic resonance between landscape and body, as architecture. This will be explored through the design of a dance performance and rehearsal space at The Ross Creek Centre for the Arts in Ross Creek, Nova Scotia, Canada.

Flexibelt arbete blir ett alltmer vanligt sätt att arbeta. Tekniken gör det allt svårare att urskilja gränserna mellan privat- och arbetsliv. Därför blir det intressant att undersöka om flexibelt arbetet har någon relation till privatlivet samt om stress har något samband till flexibelt arbete och privatliv. En enkätstudie genomfördes på två organisationer, undersökningen innehöll 136 deltagare varav 78 kvinnor. Enkäten innehöll frågor om stress, privatliv och flexibelt arbete. Resultatet visar att kvinnor i åldrarna 35-46  arbetade mer flexibelt än andra kvinnor i studien. Männen i studien arbetade mest flexibelt i åldrarna 56-65 och de som var i åldrarna 35-46. Det flexibla arbetet hade en relation till privatlivet och det tenderade att finnas ett negativt samband mellan flexibelt arbetet och stress. En av slutsatserna för studien är att det bör vara upp till var och en att bestämma om flexibelt arbetet är något för dem.

Studien avser att ur ett ledningsperspektiv undersöka vilka faktorer som påverkar privata företag samt hur företagen arbetar för att vara flexibla och skapar förhållningssätt i relation till dessa. Vidare vill vi jämföra det empiriska materialet med det teoretiska resonemang som producerats i den vetenskapliga arenan för att bidra med insikter som kan utveckla forskning inom området. Det empiriska resultatet bygger på åtta kvalitativa intervjuer med representanter från HR-funktionen i företag inom privat sektor. Både resultat och vetenskaplig genomgång har visat på variationer av såväl påverkan som förhållningssätt. Företagens val av förhållningssätt eller strategi har gjorts med bakgrund av varierande orsaker och har lett till olika effekter beroende på verksamhetsspecifika förutsättningar. Detta medför svårigheter avseende definitionen av vad som påverkar, hur det påverkar samt hur företag bör förhålla sig. Vissa strategier visade sig fungera bra i en typ av verksamhet medan samma typ av strategi inte påstods vara möjlig i andra. Sammanfattningsvis kan vi konstatera att företagens möjlighet att förhålla sig till förändrade förutsättningar utgör deras överlevnads förmåga. Vidare har det visat sig att detta omfattar både företagets flexibilitet och dess förmåga att minska flexibilitetsbehovet.

Psychological flexibility has been identified as an important construct within Relational Frame Theory and the examination of third-wave behavioral therapies. While psychological flexibility is defined within the context of relational responding, there is no research that directly assesses its relationship to measures of equivalence. The current study examined the relationship between PEAK Equivalence Pre-Assessment and scores of psychological inflexibility (via the AFQ-Y) in school-aged children with disabilities. Pearson correlations were utilized to examine the relationships between scores on PEAK and the AFQ-Y, as well as to examine the correlations among PEAK subtests. A large negative and statistically significant correlation (r =-.64, p < .05) was found between measures of psychological inflexibility and PEAK equivalence scores. Correlations among PEAK Equivalence Pre-Assessment subtests were line with previous research by Dixon, Belisle, & Stanley (in review), providing additional information for the relationship among measured components of equivalence. These findings have implications for guiding educational and therapeutic intervention, as well as provide additional evidence of the utility of the PEAK Equivalence Module.

Research surrounding psychological flexibility has begun to develop in recent decades. It has proven to be an important construct within the examination of third wave behavioral therapies and Relational Frame Theory. Though defined within the context of relational responding, there is little research directly assessing the relationship of psychological flexibility to measures of equivalence. The current study compared the scores of the PEAK Equivalence Pre-Assessment (to measure equivalence) and the scores from the AFQ-Y (to measure psychological inflexibility) to examine this relationship in school-aged children with ASD. The relationship between the total scores of the PEAK assessment and the scores of the AFQ-Y was examined by using a Pearson correlation. Results showed a statistically significant negative correlation (r = -.63, p<.05) between these measures. A Pearson correlation was then also used to examine the correlations among the PEAK subtests. As anticipated, the results showed a significant positive correlation among each of the components of equivalence providing additional information regarding the relationship among measured components of equivalence. These findings support recent research, and can help guide future educational and therapeutic interventions. Keywords: Autism (ASD), equivalence, PEAK, psychological flexibility

The thesis deals with flexible forms of employment which are used in practice most. First it puts the concept of flexibilisation into context. The thesis defines the basic concepts and classification in connection with flexibility. Then it explains steps which led to the development of flexibility in the Czech Republic. The thesis has two main aims. The first aim is to evaluate the functioning of chosen flexible forms of employment in practice and to reveal their strengths and weaknesses by way of examples from practice. The second aim of the thesis lies in judging the impact of flexibilisation on individual classes of society and in drawing conclusion whether the flexibilisation is a positive or negative phenomenon for given groups in society.

This study was to determine the effects of a six-week program of dynamic weight training upon flexibility.