Domestic violence has been gradually increasing globally with developing countries across Sub-Saharan Africa being the most affected (WHO, 2013). Uganda, in particular, ranks highest in relation to the incidence of domestic violence (UNICEF, 2000). This situation led to the enactment of the first domestic violence legislation in the country, the Domestic Violence Act, 2010; this makes domestic violence a crime and is particularly focused on reducing violence to women (Uganda GBV Guidelines, 2013). Women make up the majority of victims of domestic violence in Uganda and are subject to gender inequality within a patriarchal society that particularly disadvantages them. However, the argument of this thesis is firstly, although there are strong cultural factors implicated in violence against women, notably practices of wife inheritance, forced marriage and societal sanctioning of wife beating, there has been an over-reliance on cultural explanations for the problem (Bowman, 2006, Speizer, 2010) at the expense of exploring psychological factors. It is argued that understanding psychological issues related to domestic violence is particularly important in post-conflict settings since the literature shows that wars and violence at the societal level often get played out in the domestic sphere and can contribute significantly to the generation of psychological harm and personality issues (Saunders et al., 1999). Victims often use different coping behaviours-strategies to protect themselves from negative feelings and thoughts (Fritsch & Warrier, 2004) but what remains unclear is how both genders engage coping styles. Secondly, in an attempt to address the needs of women as victims, policy and practice in Uganda has failed to recognise the way that women can contribute to the victimisation of other women (particularly relevant in a context in which polygamous households and co-wives are normative) and also to men, who in such a patriarchal society may experience difficulties acknowledging victimhood and seeking help. Using non-coercive questionnaires administered to 60 victims and 60 perpetrators of both genders in an urban area in Uganda, this study aimed to explore the relationship, impact of gender and role in domestic violence based sub-scales on: attitudes to coercion (private matter, men’s right to control, women exaggerate, women’s behaviour used to justify, no big deal), self-reported victimisation (physical, psychological and sexual, personality traits (neuroticism, extroversion and psychoticism) and coping styles (problem solving, social support and avoidance)). Participants faking good (Lie) was controlled as a covariate according to Francis et al, 1999. This quantitative study employed 2x2 factorial design [gender vs role]. MANCOVA analysis was used to test hypotheses on differences and interactions and a Pearson product moment correlation analysis was conducted to test hypotheses on group relationships. Since results can be significant by chance, as recommended by Pallant 2013 p.217 this study applied Bonferroni correction-adjustment to the alpha levels which are used to judge statistical significance on 14 dependent variables. The findings revealed statistically significant role (victim and perpetrator) differences but no major gender differences. Results also revealed no interaction and no effect between gender and role on all aforementioned dependent variables. However, there were statistically significant correlational findings based on role as (victims and perpetrators) and gender for (males and females) on most sub-scales on attitude to coercion, self-reported victimisation and coping styles except personality traits. The only significant correlations for personality traits were between perpetrators neuroticism trait scores and psychological violence. Overall, exploring the psychological behaviour patterns, the study provides insights into the psychological characteristics of victims and perpetrators of both genders in the Ugandan sample. These results were then compared with western published studies and both commonalities and differences were identified. Studying the responses of both male and female victims and perpetrators represents the first such research in a post-conflict African context and makes a significant contribution to knowledge. Though specific to Uganda, the study findings point to the need for a greater awareness of the significance of psychological factors in exploring domestic violence in Africa, especially in countries where the population has been exposed to violence at a societal level, such as war. Furthermore, a major contribution is made by this study in its conclusion that there is need for a gender sensitive approach to domestic violence in African context, one that takes account of the differential needs of men and women as both victims and perpetrators. Finally, in opening up psychological explanations for domestic violence in addition to cultural factors and gender inequality, the way is paved for a synergistic approach for addressing domestic violence –one which addresses these as interlinking elements of the problem requiring simultaneous attention.

This thesis investigates a contemporary issue in developing countries within the context of the Cameroon North-West Region. It seeks to understand how government policy and development organisations in Cameroon are empowering women and promoting their role in the community development (CD) process. It investigates and analyses the causes of gaps between policy implementation at the grassroots level which prevents women benefiting fully from the programmes initiated by government at the central level. The research is an empirical study which employs a qualitative approach with a case study design, informed by feminist paradigms and guided by the Interpretivists epistemological stand point. The case is the North-West Region of Cameroon, with particular focus on women’s development Non-Governmental Organisations and Women’s Groups. Semistructured interviews, questionnaires, focus groups and documentary analysis were the main methods of data generation. In seeking to understand why women’s role in the process of CD is still limited to basic activities at the household and local community levels it has become necessary to examine gender roles within the Cameroon socio-cultural milieu to observe how these are affecting the overall development process. The Government’s initiative to empower women all over Cameroon and promote their influence in the community is in recognition of the pivotal role they play in uplifting living standards and alleviating poverty particularly in the rural communities, which also falls within the government’s overall development plan for the nation. The research has found that recent efforts to promote this through policy and targeted programmes for women at the grassroots have been thwarted by a severe deficiency in financial and human resources, poor communication networks, high rates of illiteracy among women, corruption, politics of ethno-regional segregation and the lack of a mechanism for enforcing legislation. The thesis has thus, unpacked the rhetoric of government initiated programmes and the gaps between policy and implementation at the grassroots level. A new understanding or perception to the concept of empowerment which focuses on economic and welfare needs, different from the conventional meaning has been brought out through this research. This suggests that definitions of concepts such as empowerment must be brought within a specific sociocultural and political context. The thesis has made recommendations for what is required to be done if women are to be in the driving seat for rural development in Cameroon and the North-West Region in particular. The thesis concludes that Community Development and Women’s Empowerment are two complementary processes in Cameroon. While Community Development has a long history in the country and has been hailed as the total approach to development especially in the North-West Region, women’s empowerment on the other hand is generally considered a secular concept from the West which still has no place yet in any of Cameroon’s sub-cultural groups not least in the North-West Region. Local perceptions are that women should be empowered if only this means increasing their economic opportunities to earn and bring more money into the family and community and not more

Este trabajo nació de la inquietud personal de la autora a partir de algunos cursos y lecturas en torno al binómio litaratura-mujeres. En el primer capítulo la autora hace una revisión del feminismo y las teorías literarias feministas, las cuales sirvieron para respaldar la bibliografía contenida en esta tesis. En el segundo capítulo se presenta un estudio sobre la sintaxis, semántica y los principios de la división del conocimiento a los que obedece el sistema el Clasificación LC, particularmente la subclase HQ, de la clase H, a partir de implicaciones ideológicas y la reproducción de esquemas de dominación a través de instrumentos técnicos. En el tercer capítulo se muestran las relaciones bibliográficas de las obras de cinco escritoras latinoamericanas y una bibliografía de textos escritos por mujeres en América Latina. Estas cinco escritoras fueron elegidas basandose en conocimiento y gustos personales de la autora. El alcance de esta tesis termina con una aproximación bibliografía de carácter geográfico-temporal de la mujeres latinoamericanas del siglo XX.

Submitted by Socorro Pontes (socorrop@ufersa.edu.br) on 2017-03-10T12:54:12Z No. of bitstreams: 1 JeffersonBCS_DISSERT.pdf: 1486317 bytes, checksum: f7580d6ec5ee35a2be605d2dd55fbfdf (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-03-10T12:54:12Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 JeffersonBCS_DISSERT.pdf: 1486317 bytes, checksum: f7580d6ec5ee35a2be605d2dd55fbfdf (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-02-16 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Honey bees play an important role in both economic and environmental part. However, in recent years there has been observed a decline in the worldwide bee colonies, causing concern among researchers and beekeepers. Exposure to pesticides can cause serious problems for bees and pollination services. Therefore, it is extremely important to determine the toxicity of insecticides, which are used for pest control. The aim of this study was to determine the toxicity of the products (Actara® 250 WG - Thiamethoxam); (Evidence® 700WG - Imidacloprido1); (Orfeu® 200WG - Acetamiprid); (Focus® 500WG - Clothianidin) and (Nuprid® 700WG Imidacloprido2) on Apis mellifera, for it was evaluated some toxicological endpoints, such as lethal time (LT50) topical and oral lethal dose (LD50) topical and lethal concentration (LC50) by intake, and to determine the hazard ratio (HQ). For that bees were exposed to insecticides in different concentrations and mortality data submitted to analysis of survival and logit regression. Independent of all tested insecticides exposure caused the death of 100% of the bees with the TL50, ranging from 0.68 to 3.85h for topical exposure, and exposure for 4.2h at 0.64 with respect to CL50 and DL50, the Thiamethoxam , Imidacloprido1, Acetamiprid, Clothianidin, and Imidacloprido2, presented their values for LD50, 7.5, 38, 57, 131, 10.5 ng / bees and LC50, 5.56, 24.4, 278, 50.8, 6,8 ng.μl-1 . As for the risk coefficient (HQ) all regardless of culture or pest insecticides had a higher HQ to 50, ranging from 157.7 (Acetamiprid used in cotton for control of Aphis gossypii) to 66666.7 (thiamethoxam used in breakfast control Leucoptera coffeella and Dysmicoccus texensis), showing the highest level of danger of these pesticides to bees / As abelhas melíferas apresentam um importante papel tanto na parte econômica como ambiental. Entretanto, nos últimos anos tem sido observado um declínio em nível mundial das colônias de abelhas, causando preocupação entre pesquisadores e apicultores. A exposição aos agrotóxicos pode acarretar sérios problemas para as abelhas e aos serviços de polinização. Nesse sentido, é de extrema importância determinar a toxicidade de inseticidas que são utilizados para o controle de pragas. O objetivo desse trabalho foi determinar a toxicidade dos produtos (Actara® 250 WG – Tiametoxam); (Evidence® 700WG – Imidacloprido1); (Nuprid® 700WG Imidacloprido2); (Orfeu® 200WG – Acetamiprido) e (Focus® 500WG – Clotianidina) sobre abelhas Apis mellifera, tendo sido avaliados alguns parâmetros toxicológicos, como Tempo Letal (TL50) para a aplicação tópica e oral, Dose letal (DL50) para aplicação tópica e Concentração letal (CL50) por ingestão, além de determinar o coeficiente de periculosidade (HQ). Para isso abelhas foram expostas aos inseticidas em diferentes concentrações e os dados de mortalidade submetidos às análises de sobrevivência e regressão Logit. Independente da forma de exposição todos os inseticidas testados ocasionaram a morte de 100% das abelhas, com a TL50, variando entre 0.68 a 3.85h para exposição tópica e 0.64 a 4.2h para exposição oral. Para a DL50 e CL50, o tiametoxam, Imidacloprido1, imidacloprido2, acetamiprido, e o clotianidina apresentaram os respectivos valores para as DL50, 7.5, 38, 57, 131, 10.5 ng/abelhas e CL50, de 5.56, 24.4, 278, 50.8, 6,8 ng.μl-1 respectivamente. Quanto ao Coeficiente de Risco (HQ) todos os inseticidas independente da cultura ou praga apresentaram um HQ maior que 50, variando de 157,7 (acetamiprido utilizado no algodão para o controle do Aphis gossypii) a 66.666,7 (tiametoxam utilizado no café para o controle da Leucoptera coffeella e Dysmicoccus texensis), mostrando o altíssimo nível de periculosidade destes inseticidas para as abelhas / 2017-03-10

Submitted by Maike Costa (maiksebas@gmail.com) on 2016-08-01T13:52:03Z No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivo total.pdf: 4150181 bytes, checksum: 9579ab3ae61a9b8a3cae15a5525c6374 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-01T13:52:03Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivo total.pdf: 4150181 bytes, checksum: 9579ab3ae61a9b8a3cae15a5525c6374 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-10-05 / This qualitative research aims to build an intervention proposal for the development of writing skills with deaf student. Thus we conducted a study on the teaching and learning process of the Portuguese language, bringing some reflections on the appropriate methodology to do so with some issues surrounding the learning of a second language for deaf students in the school context. We believe that the Brazilian Sign Language - Libras should guide the learning Portuguese as a second language in the written form for the Deaf. Therefore, the work was based on authors of studies on the learning of writing as a second language for the deaf (Lodi, 2013; Fernandes, 1999; Faria, 2012; Skliar, 1997; Quadros, 1997.1999, 2011, 2012; Quadros ; Schimedt, 2006; Paperback, 2003; and others), genre (Bakhtin, 1986, 1997; Marcushi, 2002; 2008; Elias; Koch, 2012, 2014; Dolz, Noverraz; Schineuwly, 2004), genre Comic (Mendonça, 2010; Rama, 2014; Ramos, 2014 Vilela, 2014; Vergueiro, 2014) and Teaching Sequence (Dolz; Noverraz; Schineuwly, 2004) .The methodology applied a Teaching Sequence as an intervention measure, which developed activities written with the genre Comic Monica's Gang. These activities that were carried out in five stages: presentation of the situation, the initial production, the development of modules, the rewriting of the initial production and production of a comic book. The methodology was developed in Basic Education School Paulista / PE city, in a class of 5th year with a deaf student included. For data collection selected initial production, the rewriting of this initial production and written production of a comic book with the elements of the genre. We recognize the end of this research through the narrative of comics you can build appropriate teaching strategies for learning Portuguese as a second language for deaf. / Esta pesquisa de natureza qualitativa tem como objetivo construir uma proposta de intervenção para o desenvolvimento das habilidades de escrita com aluno surdo. Dessa forma realizamos um estudo sobre o processo de ensino e aprendizagem da Língua Portuguesa, trazendo algumas reflexões sobre a metodologia adequada para tal com alguns temas que circundam a aprendizagem de uma segunda língua por aluno surdo no contexto escolar. Acreditamos que a Língua Brasileira de Sinais – LIBRAS deve nortear o aprendizado da Língua Portuguesa como segunda língua na modalidade escrita para o surdo. Portanto, o trabalho fundamentou-se em estudos de autores sobre a aprendizagem da escrita como segunda língua para os surdos (Lodi, 2013; Fernandes, 1999; Faria, 2012; Skliar, 1997; Quadros, 1997,1999, 2011, 2012; Quadros; Schimedt, 2006; Brochado, 2003; e outros), gênero textual (Bakhtin, 1986, 1997; Marcushi, 2002; 2008; Elias; Koch, 2012, 2014; Dolz; Noverraz;Schineuwly,2004), gênero textual História em Quadrinhos (Mendonça, 2010; Rama, 2014; Ramos, 2014, Vilela, 2014; Vergueiro, 2014) e a Sequência Didática (Dolz; Noverraz; Schineuwly,2004).Como metodologia aplicamos uma Sequência Didática como proposta de intervenção, onde desenvolvemos atividades de escrita com o gênero textual História em Quadrinhos da Turma da Mônica. Atividades estas que foram realizadas em cinco momentos: apresentação da situação, a produção inicial, o desenvolvimento dos módulos, a reescrita da produção inicial e uma produção de uma história em quadrinhos. A metodologia foi desenvolvida na escola de Ensino Fundamental da cidade do Paulista/PE, em uma turma do 5º ano com um aluno surdo incluído. Para coleta de dados selecionamos a produção inicial, a reescrita dessa produção inicial e uma produção escrita de uma história em quadrinhos com os elementos que constituem o gênero. Reconhecemos ao final desta pesquisa que mediante a narrativa dos HQs é possível construir estratégias de ensino adequadas para aprendizagem da Língua Portuguesa como segunda língua para surdo.

Examensarbete, Civilekonomprogrammet med inriktning Controller, Ekonomihögskolan vid Linnéuniversitetet i Växjö, Vårterminen 2023. Titel: Sambandet mellan ekonomistyrning och bolagsstyrning: En studie om hur sambandet mellan ekonomistyrning och bolagsstyrning kom till uttryck vid kollapsen av HQ Bank. Författare: Alma Ekström & Ida Thuresson Examinator: Jan Alpenberg Handledare: Martin Holgersson Bakgrund: Det finns omfattande tidigare forskning som har studerat ekonomistyrning och bolagsstyrning som två skilda fenomen. Även om det har identifierats att det finns ett samband mellan ekonomistyrning och bolagsstyrning finns det begränsat med studier som utforskar hur detta samband kommer till uttryck. Det finns dock tidigare forskning som har belyst riktningen på sambandet mellan ekonomistyrning och bolagsstyrning, men även detta är något som har utforskats i begränsad utsträckning. Slutligen är det ännu färre som har studerat hur sambandet mellan ekonomistyrning och bolagsstyrning kommer till uttryck vid en större företagsskandal. Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att bidra till den övergripande förståelsen för sambandet mellan ekonomistyrning och bolagsstyrning genom att undersöka hur sambandet kommer till uttryck vid kollapsen av HQ Bank. Metod: För att uppfylla studiens syfte har vi utgått från en kvalitativ forskningsstrategi med en deduktiv ansats. Studien utgörs av en enfallsstudie av kollapsen av HQ Bank där det empiriska materialet till största del utgår från sekundärdata. Denna sekundärdata består av rättegångsmaterial, böcker, tidningsartiklar och olika rapporter. Inom ramen för den empiriska materialinsamlingen har det även genomförts två intervjuer. Slutligen har det empiriska materialet analyserats utifrån studiens konceptuella modell för att kunna presentera studiens slutsatser. Slutsats: Studien har identifierat att sambandet mellan ekonomistyrning och bolagsstyrning, vid kollapsen av HQ Bank, kom till uttryck som ett dubbelriktat och indirekt samband med ett inbördes samband mellan olika modererande faktorer (organisationskultur, intern kontroll och finansiell rapportering) som hade en förstärkande effekt på sambandet mellan ekonomistyrning och bolagsstyrning. Studien identifierade även hur riskhantering har dubbla roller vilket kan orsaka viss förvirring gällande riskhanteringens roll inom bolagsstyrning respektive riskhanteringens roll inom ekonomistyrning. Slutligen har denna studie identifierat en svårighet med att skilja på ekonomistyrning och bolagsstyrning som innebär att det kan finnas en nytta av att i relevanta delar av ekonomistyrningen ta hänsyn till gällande redovisningsregelverk. / Master thesis, Degree of Master of Science in Business and Economics, Controller, School of Business and Economics, Linnaeus University in Växjö, Spring term 2023. Title: The relationship between management accounting and corporate governance: A study on how the relationship between management accounting and corporate governance was expressed in the collapse of HQ Bank. Authors: Alma Ekström & Ida Thuresson Examiner: Jan Alpenberg Supervisor: Martin Holgersson Background: There is extensive previous research that has studied management accounting and corporate governance as two separate phenomena. Although it has been identified that there is a relationship between management accounting and corporate governance, there are limited studies that explore how this relationship is expressed. There is, however, previous research that has shed light on the direction of the relationship between management accounting and corporate governance, but this too is something that has been explored to a limited extent. Finally, even fewer have studied how this relationship between management accounting and corporate governance is expressed in a major corporate scandal. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to contribute to the overall understanding of the relationship between management accounting and corporate governance by examining how the relationship is expressed in the collapse of HQ Bank. Method: In order to fulfill the purpose of the study, we have used a qualitative research strategy with a deductive approach. This study is a one-case study of the collapse of HQ Bank with empirical material mostly based on secondary data. This secondary data consists of court materials, books, newspaper articles and different reports. Within the framework of the empirical material collection, two interviews were conducted. Finally, the empirical material has been analyzed based on the study’s conceptual model in order to present the study’s conclusions. Conclusion: This study has identified that the relationship between management accounting and corporate governance, at the time of the collapse of HQ Bank, was expressed as a bidirectional and indirect relationship with a interrelational relationship between differentmoderating factors (organizational culture, internal control and financial reporting) which had a reinforcing effect on the relationship between management accounting and corporate governance. The study also identified how risk management has dual roles, which can cause some confusion regarding the role of risk management in corporate governance and the role of risk management in management accounting. Finally, this study has identified a difficulty in differentiating between management accounting and corporate governance which means that there may be a benefit in taking accounting regulations into account in relevant parts of the management accounting

This study draws on in-depth semi-structured interviews with seventeen partnered mothers in Newcastle upon Tyne. All the study households contained a full time wage earner and had an income between 60 and 85% of the national median household income. The aims of the study were: 1) to establish how interviewees managed life on a limited income, both financially and emotionally 2) to investigate how this was connected to sources of household income, negotiations with their partner, and personal beliefs about money and gender 3) to discover how these women experienced and understood their own material deprivation and their role as household financial managers. Previous studies of intra-household income have looked at the whole population or those on benefit, but mothers in this income bracket had never been studied before. Moreover, after a decade of tax credit reform and women-into-work policies significant changes in the financial circumstances of this group of households seemed likely. An approach which placed the lived experience of the interviewees at the centre of the study was taken, rooted in the feminist qualitative tradition. A new method for revealing the material deprivation of individual household members was also pioneered. The key finding is that women in this income group were likely to be materially poor, although living in households officially defined as ‘not poor’, and the way they related to their money is similar to poor women in previous studies. This resulted both from the general inadequacy of household incomes and from the way resources were distributed within the household, with women often at the bottom of the spending hierarchy. Contrary to the findings of most previous studies, women did not ‘tag’ certain streams of household income, such as reserving Child Benefit for children; instead they ensured children were protected from material deprivation by their own sacrifices, sacrifices not always shared with their male partner. The lower the household income, the more likely this was to happen. Other findings include widespread desire to undertake paid work if it fitted around caring responsibilities, a marked decline in the proportion of household income from male earnings, a strong tendency for the mother to be the sole manager of household finances and therefore the carrier of resulting stress, and a powerful discourse that men could not be trusted with money which further increased women’s burden of worry. The women interviewed had a high level of financial skill, demonstrating many strategies to make money stretch further, but usually resources were simply inadequate to meet all household needs. Policy recommendations recognise the vital importance of tax credits and argue for increasing household incomes through supporting good quality paid work that fits with caring responsibilities. It is argued that better measurement of intra-household income distribution is also needed. The cultural issues underpinning the unequal burden of self-sacrifice within families are harder to tackle, but some suggestions are made.

Pubertal timing and relationships with parents and peers have each been linked to substance use in adolescent girls. However, to understand the origin of adolescent substance use in relation to these factors, it is important to focus on combined risk effects. As shown in the systematic review (the first part of this PhD project) only a few studies have tested the relationships between these factors in predicting adolescent substance use The aim of this thesis was to evaluate the main effects of pubertal timing and psycho-social factors (parent-daughter relations and peer deviance) on substance use. A second aim was to examine whether the links between pubertal timing and girl’s substance use are indirect via psycho-social factors (mediation) and whether the links between psycho-social factors and substance use differ across pubertal timing groups (moderation). Girls’ data from the population-based Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) was analysed. Pubertal timing was assessed yearly between ages 8 and 17, parent-daughter relations and peer deviance at age 15, and alcohol, cigarette and cannabis use at age 16. Additionally, analyses controlled for a set of a priori selected confounders. Late maturing girls had lower levels of cannabis use compared to on-time maturing girls. Late maturing girls had fewer alcohol drinking, cannabis using and delinquent friends than early maturing girls and fewer cannabis using friends than ontime maturing girls. Additionally, late maturing girls’ lower levels of alcohol use were partly explained by having fewer cannabis using and delinquent friends. To conclude, in late adolescence, the combined effects of peer deviance and pubertal timing are more influential than the combined effects of parent-daughter relations and pubertal timing, in predicting adolescent substance use. Collectively, the findings indicate the importance of creating targeted prevention programs that are sensitive to developmental stage in relation to the peer group.

This dissertation is the outcome of a 25-month long narrative inquiry-based study on experiences of living with motor neurone disease (MND). MND is an adult onset, incurable, neurodegenerative condition that is characterised by loss of voluntary muscle movement as a result of destruction of motor neurones, leading gradually to partial or complete paralysis and eventually to death. The aim of this study was to explore the experiences of people living with MND. Following a narrative inquiry methodology the focus of the study was to explore how specific people live in their local contexts. Data were collected through the use of multiple semi-structured interviews with people with MND and some of their partners. The findings illustrate the unique ways in which people with MND experience the disease and make sense of their life. The seven people who participated in this study were trying to construct a notion of normality in their everyday life, in the midst of what were sometimes perceived as difficult or even abnormal circumstances. Through seeking and trying out different solutions to the challenges they were facing, participants were trying to create a life they could describe as good. The findings highlight the intersubjective nature of illness experiences. For the three couples who participated in the study the experience of being in a long-term relationship was a vital part of who they were, and how they experienced MND. The findings also underline the importance of exploring the experiential knowledge that people living with MND develop through managing the disease and incorporating it in various ways in their daily life. This knowledge can help create a kind of life that people living with MND feel is worth living.

In networked MNCs where knowledge and power are distributed, corporate strategy processes benefit from input arising from many different levels of the organization. Recently, the regional (i.e., supra-national) level has been emphasized as an important additional source of knowledge and input, and as a bridge between local subsidiaries and global corporate headquarters. This paper builds theory on the antecedents to regional headquarters' influence on corporate decisions (i.e., organizational, behavioral, and motivational). Based on a survey of regional headquarters in Europe and their relations with MNC headquarters, we provide empirical evidence that a regional headquarters' autonomy and signaling behavior have significant effects on its influence on corporate strategy. Furthermore, we find support for our hypothesis that the regional headquarters' charter moderates such bottom-up influence. (authors' abstract)