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Sustainability reporting by companies can serve as a communication tool with potential to build trust, influence the attitudes and perceptions of stakeholders. However, reporting without adding value and meeting the needs of the targeted stakeholders has been labelled a fad or meaningless by some scholars. The objective of this research was therefore to understand from a stakeholder‟s perspective; if indeed sustainability reporting is meeting their needs and creating value for them. A qualitative approach was used to illicit perspectives of multiple stakeholder groups on the value of sustainability reporting by two companies belonging to the mining sector. A total of sixteen different stakeholders belonging to different stakeholder groups and two sustainability experts from the two companies were interviewed to compare the company perspectives on value created with that of other stakeholders. The results highlighted that the relationship between the company and a stakeholder group, influences how that particular stakeholder group is prioritised and engaged. Stakeholder groups that are economically powerful, have higher saliency and those with potential to influence the business were prioritised and effectively engaged compared to those with low economic power and low legitimate claim over the company. The perceived benefit of sustainability reporting varied per stakeholder group and the company perspective of value differed from stakeholder perspective for some stakeholder groups. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

Over the past two decades, holistic and systemic approaches to second language development have begun to draw the attention of scholars in the field of SLA. These studies are primarily informed by complexity theory, which emerged from the general systems theory. General systems theory, however, has another important theoretical offshoot in social sciences, namely autopoietic systems theory. An investigation of conceptual tools drawn from the latter theory has been absent in the field of second language education. This paper seeks to explore how systemic thinking has improved the field’s understanding of the complexity of the L2 development. It then explores the possibilities for incorporating autopoietic systems theory into complexity thinking to better understand the dynamics of L2 development at personal and social levels. Finally, it will highlight two insights from a systemic analysis of language development in L2 classroom groupings. These insights build on each other to describe L2 development from a systemic perspective. By exploring and bringing together these theoretical perspectives, this paper hopes to shed light on how complexity theory can provide a systemic description of L2 development.

<p>Recent research in classrooms has often had its focus on the pupil, the individual, and not on the different groups of students that exist. In a classroom there are normally several different groupings, each one having its own personal attitude towards the current lesson. If there had been more research we would find it easier to understand why pupils sometimes behave the way they do.</p><p>The purpose of this essay is to analyze how pupils` social relations create groupings. Furthermore I intend to investigate how and why pupils show their belonging to a certain group.</p><p>The two questions of the essay are:</p><p>1. How pupils’ social relations appear in a classroom?</p><p>2. What strategies do the pupils use to indicate their belonging to a grouping?</p><p>My final conclusion is that the pupils’ social relations appear in groupings, in which a certain standard dominates how the pupil should behave during a lesson. The members of a group use the same strategies to show their group belonging. For example, it can be different attitudes to the teacher’s lesson that mark a grouping.</p>

Recent research in classrooms has often had its focus on the pupil, the individual, and not on the different groups of students that exist. In a classroom there are normally several different groupings, each one having its own personal attitude towards the current lesson. If there had been more research we would find it easier to understand why pupils sometimes behave the way they do. The purpose of this essay is to analyze how pupils` social relations create groupings. Furthermore I intend to investigate how and why pupils show their belonging to a certain group. The two questions of the essay are: 1. How pupils’ social relations appear in a classroom? 2. What strategies do the pupils use to indicate their belonging to a grouping? My final conclusion is that the pupils’ social relations appear in groupings, in which a certain standard dominates how the pupil should behave during a lesson. The members of a group use the same strategies to show their group belonging. For example, it can be different attitudes to the teacher’s lesson that mark a grouping.

Uppsatsen syftar att undersöka skolhälsopersonalens uppfattning av barns grupperingar och statusordningar, hur skolan och skolhälsopersonalen hanterar utanförskap och mobbing samt hur de arbetar med skolans värdegrund. Kvalitativa intervjuer genomfördes med anställda i skolhälsovården. Resultatet visar att skolhälsopersonalen har god insyn i barns statusordningar samt att statusarbetet är komplext. Två typer av popularitet framkom, den negativa populariteten karaktäriseras av en tuff attityd och ett manipulativt beteende. Den positiva populariteten karaktäriseras av hjälpsamhet och vänlighet. Populära barn har sociala förmågor och impopulära barn uppvisar brister på dessa. Barnens grupperingar uppvisar olika mönster, fokus i uppsatsen är på könsskillnader och ledarroller. Negativa konsekvenser av barns statusarbete är exempelvis kränkningar och mobbning. En könsskillnad gällande mobbning är att flickors mobbning är dold och pojkars är synlig. Skolan hanterar utanförskap och mobbning med ett förebyggande värdegrundsarbete, där barn utbildas i människors lika värden. De skolor som aktivt arbetade med värdegrunden tenderade att ha en bättre stämning. Vi uppfattar en förgivettagen sanning där ett normbrott är att inte vara del av en grupp och ensamma barn bör vara missnöjda med utanförskapet. / The purpose of this essay is to study how school health staff perceives grouping and status mechanisms amongst children. It also aims to get an understanding of how the school handles exclusion and bullying. We are also interested in the work with how the school works with values stated in the curriculum for Swedish schools. Qualitative interviews were conducted with employees of the school health staff. The results show that the staff has a good understanding of status among children, it also shows that children’s construction of status is complex. Two types of popularity were revealed, one negative form of popularity that is characterized by an attitude of toughness and manipulative behaviour. The positive popularity, on the other hand, is characterized by kindness and a willingness to be helpful. Popular children have a good social capability and unpopular children show a lack thereof. The groupings among children shows patterns, this essays focus on sex differences and roles of leadership. Negative consequences that derive from the construction of status among children are for example abusive behaviour and bullying. A difference between the sexes is that bullying among girls is less visible than among boys. The school deals with exclusion and bullying through a preventive work with the values stated in the curriculum for Swedish schools, the children are educated in everyone’s equal value. We found that the schools that actively work with these values tend to have a better atmosphere. We perceive an underlying perception that it is in violation with the norm to not be a part of a group and that children who are alone should be discontented with their exclusion.

Submitted by Tatiana Lima (tatianasl@ufba.br) on 2016-07-07T21:56:05Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Bulhosa, Rebeca Ribas.pdf: 1480021 bytes, checksum: 8057684b62813a673ca39990f8a7cfc3 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Tatiana Lima (tatianasl@ufba.br) on 2016-07-08T18:26:41Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Bulhosa, Rebeca Ribas.pdf: 1480021 bytes, checksum: 8057684b62813a673ca39990f8a7cfc3 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-07-08T18:26:41Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Bulhosa, Rebeca Ribas.pdf: 1480021 bytes, checksum: 8057684b62813a673ca39990f8a7cfc3 (MD5) / O presente trabalho tem como objetivo estudar a formação de grupos políticos que acontecem no âmbito dos conselhos gestores. Para isso pretende analisar o desenho formal dos processos eleitorais do Conselho Nacional de Juventude (Conjuve) e as composições que deles se resultam. O estudo analisou documentos e marcos legais do Conselho, assim como realizou observação da Assembleia Eleitoral e aplicou instrumento, buscando identificar a percepção dos conselheiros acerca dos grupos por eles formados. Tudo foi complementado com dados da vivência da pesquisadora, enquanto conselheira nacional de juventude. Entre os achados desse estudo está o reconhecimento da existência dos grupos pelos conselheiros e sua classificação de acordo com o que os identifica. A análise do desenho dos processos eleitorais do Conjuve permitiu a percepção de que não é ele o fator determinante para a formação dos grupos, embora seja um disparador inicial na medida em que convoca determinados atores e não outros. Por fim, o estudo levantou questões sobre as possibilidades de influência dos grupos na ação do Conselho. / This work aims to study the formation of political groups inside management councils. It will analyze the formal design of elections of the National Youth Council (Conjuve) and the compositions that result, as well as legal documents and milestones of the Council, making note of the Electoral Assembly and applied instruments, seeking to identify the perception of directors about the groups they formed. Everything was supplemented with data from the experience of the researcher, while national youth counselor. Among the findings of this study is the recognition of the existence of the groups by the counselors and their classification according to what identifies them. The analysis of the design of the electoral process of the Conjuve showed that it is not the determining factor for the formation of groups, but an initial trigger, because it calls for certain players and not others. Finally, the study raised questions about the possibilities of influence of these groups in the Council's actions.

Significant and influential sociologist Max Weber was one of the earliest scientists to conduct studies and establish a definition of a sect. The main characteristic of a sect is a religious and rebellious movement that defies the current and ruling societal norms and values. The study examines three focal points through a qualitative method with a deductive approach; how research defines sects, psychological factors that encourage an individual to pursue a membership and the recruitment process.Using empirical data collected from two documentaries; Jonestown: Terror in the jungle and Wild Wild Country, a total of 9 hours 19 minutes of empirical data have been processed in order to critically review sects. Results demonstrated that members who seek out sects come from a wide range of social classes and backgrounds. The common denominator is the pursuit of safety, love and community in a bid to fulfill a void and feelings of meaningless brought on by hard times. Previous members of sects describe a wide range of factors, such as marital problems, a modernized world, war, poverty and racial tensions. The weakened state of the individual during difficult times is used and exploited by members of a sect in order to attract a new member.

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No / This paper examines the linkage effects of foreign direct investment (FDI) on firm-level productivity in Chinese manufacturing. It is found that FDI generates positive vertical linkage effects in Chinese manufacturing at both the national and regional levels, and limited positive horizontal spillovers at the regional level. While OECD firms gain from both vertical and (probably) horizontal linkages, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwanese firms benefit only from backward linkage effects. In the domestic sector, in which we are most interested, both state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and non-SOEs are hurt by competition from foreign firms in the same industries. While SOEs gain from vertical linkages with foreign firms, non-SOEs are unable to do so. The patterns of productivity spillovers from FDI in Chinese manufacturing seem to be determined by one key factor ¿ the technological capabilities of the firms involved. Important data limitations and policy implications of this research are discussed.