Purpose: The purpose of this research is to investigate how companies address sustainability holistically and compare the practical results to theoretical findings. The holistic approach of sustainability includes four dimensions and five corporate system elements.   Methods: For creating the theoretical framework a literature review was executed. Empirical data was gathered from a multiple case study. In total five case companies have been selected and five interviews have been conducted. Furthermore the interview guideline included a small survey. Empirical data was complemented by information from sustainability reports and companies website.   Main findings: Sustainability is partly executed in differently in practical terms compared to theory research. The differences are mainly explained by the unique use of sustainability initiatives, which are adapted to companies circumstances.   Academic contributions: Previously, only a few researchers investigated the combination of initiatives to provide a holistic sustainability approach. Furthermore a lack of practical research in the field of sustainability has been identified. This thesis contributes to close this gap by investigating five case companies regarding the use of multiple initiatives.   Practical implications: Based on the findings a model was created by the authors. By applying this model and using recommended initiatives companies are able to establish a holistic sustainability approach, involving all sustainability dimensions and corporate system elements.   Limitations: The interviews have been translated from German or Dutch into English, which increases the risk of wrong interpretations. Further the interview involved only one representative per company. Additionally the number of small case study companies and case companies from the service sector might limit the generalization of the results.

This dissertation investigates the Preacher and his/her homiletic contribution to transformation, development and healing of human society. Descartes (1596-1650) is the father of modern thinking. A fragmented approach to life, which he accentuated reason above all other aspects of human endevour, thus derived the dichotomy that emphasizes the material and despises the spiritual as metaphysical. It appears that from this thinking, the preacher has been bombarded with misperceptions and misconceptions when confronted with the transformation, development and therapeutic issues of this modern; if not post modern era. The modern Church is not free of blame for enforcing this approach that sidelines the Preacher from his full balanced mandate that is God given, namely: work it and care for it. Meaning transform the earth for the better and heal it as a divine decree with a bearing of preparing people for the hereafter. The Preacher is crucial and pivotal to society’s transformation, development and the healing of the human condition, which is bedevilled by many natural and unnatural maladies that constantly challenge life as God ordained it. A holistic approach of the Preacher and his/her homilies is critical and is an important contribution to the unlocking, unfolding, releasing and unleashing of the hidden potential which can heal human society. This dissertation proposes the need for change /shift of mindset in order to embrace progress and healing of humans; as this is a very human phenomenon with transcendent help. This need is observed in the homilies that are preached in the rural villages; which lack balance in the holistic approach. The homilies of Billy Graham, Martyn Lloyd-Jones and ancient John Chrysostom are depicted to demonstrate how preaching has contributed to bring regeneration, progress and healing to human society. The case studies of three churches in Venda namely Tshigubu (Drum) Church (African Independent), Lutheran Church (Churches of Reformation) and Calvary Christian Church (charismatic church) are investigated with regard to changes they have brought within the Venda society. When the history of western/ modern civilization is traced from Sumerian and Graeco- Roman times, the Preacher features prominently; and even in rural Venda with its kings and chiefs; the Preacher remains critical to the phenomenon under study. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Practical Theology / unrestricted

The consumers of health care (patients) want their religious and spiritual needs to be addressed within the South African Government Hospitals’ (SAGH) settings. Similarly, the providers of health care (doctors, nurses, and other clinical staff in the multi-disciplinary health care teams) are not religious and spiritual experts to respond to these needs in the health care settings. Therefore, this challenge can be resolved by the Department of Health (DoH) by recognising and embracing the health care chaplaincy. On the same vein, the DoH must employ a holistic and patient-centred medical model in its clinical approach to care. This will translate into the patients’ religious and spiritual needs being provided by the religious and spiritual experts in the SAGH settings. This approach ensures that these services are not counter-productive to the medical approach. The other challenge is lack of trained and licenced providers of religious and spiritual care to practice in the clinical setting by employing the methods which are supported by scientific evidence. The purpose of this research is to investigate a need for the possible establishment of chaplaincy in South African Government Hospitals for holistic approach to care which includes the patients’ religious and spiritual dimensions of being, with a view to develop a chaplaincy model that is responsive to the patients’ religious and spiritual needs. The DoH is expected to provide a well-balanced, holistic and patient-centred health care to all the SA citizenry which resonates with the Constitution of the RSA (1996), the NPRC, the WHO (2010) principles, and global health care norms, standards and principles on addressing the patients’ religious and spiritual needs through the practice of the professional health care chaplaincy. The study employed a qualitative research designs of ethnography (participant observation), to gather first-hand information (data) at the research field, that helps to describe how the religious and spiritual needs are addressed in the SAGH settings; phenomenological approach, to gather information (data) that describe the meaning of the lived experiences of the caregivers and patients in the health care settings; and grounded theory, by analysing and interpreting data from research interviews, in order to explore theory of health care chaplaincy in the SAGH settings with a view to understand its phenomenon. The study followed Osmer’s four task of Practical Theological Interpretation (PTI) as a framework and plan to guide the process of the study, and on how to interpret and respond to the challenges of this research project. The researcher was a participant observer at the PHC research field, purposively sampled and conducted semi-structured interviews with 30 research participants at the PHC research field who consented. The researcher employed a computer spreadsheet to capture, code, analyse and interpret data from the research interviews. The researcher applied a collective social scientists’ approaches from Babbie (et al.), Corbin and Strauss, Flick (et al.), Neuman, Osmer, and Ritchie (et al.). The researcher followed the Limpopo Provincial Department of Health’s (LPDoH) approval letter, applied the ethical principles as prescribed by the University of Pretoria’s Research Ethical Committee (REC) in tandem with the World Medical Association Declaration (WMA) of Helsinki (2013), and the PHC protocol from the DoH and Social Development (SD)/ abbreviation DoHSD, during the entire course of this project. The findings of this research show that there is a need for the establishment of chaplaincy in South African Government Hospitals, and that the DoH need to review its health policy and the medical model with a view to embrace a professional chaplaincy, as experts to respond and address the patients’ religious and spiritual dimensions of being in the clinical health care settings, as member of a multi-disciplinary health care team. The findings provide recommendations towards addressing the patients’ religious and spiritual needs to ensure that the SAGH provides the holistic-patient-centred needs. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2020. / Practical Theology / PhD / Unrestricted

Nigerian women, especially those from the North-East sub-region continue to suffer preventable maternal mortality. Recent statistics places Nigeria as the highest contributor of maternal deaths globally. These avoidable deaths disproportionately affect women from the North-East due to socio-economic inequalities that are discriminatory. More so, the low socio-economic status of women in the region has been further worsened by humanitarian crisis with attendant increase in the incidence of maternal mortality. Maternal mortality has been framed a human rights issue that can be mitigated through a human rights-based approach. Thus this research engages with a multi-disciplinary approach in uncovering the factors that contribute to the worrisome statistics of maternal deaths in the North-East and investigates through a human rights-based perspective the need for a holistic approach to ending preventable maternal deaths in the sub-region. Findings reveal many interrelated socio-economic factors intersect to inflame the continued tragedy of maternal mortality in the region. For the North-East to break the negative cycle of maternal mortality, a holistic approach is imperative considering the complexities of the predispositions to maternal mortality, the socio-economic reality of the region and the inadequacies of legal framework. / Mini Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2019. / Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria. / Centre for Human Rights / LLM / Unrestricted

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Family Studies and Human Services / Sonya L. Britt / There has been increased interest in understanding the significant disparity in U.S. households’ retirement preparedness due to concern about the stability of Social Security benefits, the shift from defined benefit plans to defined contribution plans, and the decreased rate of saving. This dissertation explores a model that can be utilized to understand and enhance retirement preparedness by individuals, educators, practitioners, and policy makers. Retirement preparedness was measured in two different ways—using the income replacement rate and the capital accumulation ratio—for two separate empirical models. The general conceptualization of the framework is based on the retirement planning work of Hershey (2004). This study utilized the 2008 Rand version (Version L) of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) and 2006, 2008, and 2010 psychosocial and lifestyle questionnaire. The Rand HRS data file is a user-friendly version of the HRS data and contains cleaned data. The two hierarchical regressions were used to analyze the association between retirement preparedness and the theoretical concepts of cultural influence, environmental influence, task components, and psychological influence. Entering the conceptual components as four separate blocks allows for observation of changes in R[2] based on the addition of the conceptual components. This research investigates the following research questions: (a) How strongly are cultural influences associated with retirement preparedness?, (b) How strongly are environmental influences associated with retirement preparedness?, (c) How strongly are task components associated with retirement preparedness?, and (d) How strongly are psychological influences associated with retirement preparedness? Current retirement planning practices are often based on structural profiles such as financial resources, financial needs, and goals. The holistic approach used for this dissertation is based on the awareness of the influence of psychological and personal factors on financial decision making. The results showed that the variables positively associated with the retirement income replacement rate were self-perception of aging, homeownership, stock ownership, household pension ownership, IRA/Keogh ownership, and business ownership. Pre-retirement income log had a highly negative association with the retirement income replacement ratio. Big Five personality and perceived mastery were not significant. However, when asset ownership (excluding homeownership) was not controlled, conscientiousness and low emotional stability became significant and showed a positive association for conscientiousness and a negative association for low emotional stability. Self-perception of aging was a significant psychological variable in both models. The significant variables from the second model measured by the capital accumulation ratio were asset ownerships including homeownership, stock ownership, IRA ownership, real estate ownership, and business ownership. None of the psychological variables were significant, except for agreeableness, which was related negatively to the capital accumulation ratio when the asset ownerships (excluding home ownership) were not controlled. Other significant variables, when asset ownership was not controlled, were home ownership, pre-retirement income log, being non-White.

This study is centred on transformation towards sustainable living. It investigated how global education prepares learners to live a sustainable lifestyle. To explore this area, the concept of sustainability, global education and transformative learning were critically examined, with a view to finding their relationships. Literature on sustainability, transformative learning and global education were reviewed to find out how their relationships impact on international students learning about sustainable living. The focus of the thesis is on environmental sustainability, especially through management of anthropogenic factors. The mixed methods research, involving the collection of quantitative and qualitative data was employed for the study. Quantitative data collection was done using survey instruments while qualitative data collection was through face-to-face interview of research participants. Each set of data was collected and analysed separately. The outcomes of the analysis of the two sets of data were integrated at the stage of discussion of findings. The aim of the study was to find out whether global education transforms learners towards sustainable living. Findings from the study showed that global education field transforms students towards sustainable living. Evidence from the study suggests that global education help students to acquire the skills and knowledge required for living sustainably. Also, the actions and behaviours of international students were found to be influenced more towards sustainable lifestyle than those from the host country. The degree of transformation students experience was measured by attitude change, intention to change and actions of students toward the environment. This study contributed to the conceptual understanding of the relationship between global education and transformation of learners towards sustainable living. It made both theoretical and practical contribution to knowledge. The findings from the study will be of benefit to different impact groups. These groups include business organisations, policy makers in government, educational institutions, and individuals.

Automatic image annotation is the process of assigning keywords to digital images depending on the content information. In one sense, it is a mapping from the visual content information to the semantic context information. In this thesis, we propose a novel approach for automatic image annotation problem, where the annotation is formulated as a multivariate mapping from a set of independent descriptor spaces, representing a whole image, to a set of words, representing class labels. For this purpose, a hierarchical annotation architecture, named as HANOLISTIC (Hierarchical Image Annotation System Using Holistic Approach), is dened with two layers. At the rst layer, called level-0 annotator, each annotator is fed by a set of distinct descriptor, extracted from the whole image. This enables us to represent the image at each annotator by a dierent visual property of a descriptor. Since, we use the whole image, the problematic segmentation process is avoided. Training of each annotator is accomplished by a supervised learning paradigm, where each word is represented by a class label. Note that, this approach is slightly dierent then the classical training approaches, where each data has a unique label. In the proposed system, since each image has one or more annotating words, we assume that an image belongs to more than one class. The output of the level-0 annotators indicate the membership values of the words in the vocabulary, to belong an image. These membership values from each annotator is, then, aggregated at the second layer by using various rules, to obtain meta-layer annotator. The rules, employed in this study, involves summation and/or weighted summation of the output of layer-0 annotators. Finally, a set of words from the vocabulary is selected based on the ranking of the output of meta-layer. The hierarchical annotation system proposed in this thesis outperforms state of the art annotation systems based on segmental and holistic approaches. The proposed system is examined in-depth and compared to the other systems in the literature by means of using several performance criteria.

Sexual abuse causes incalculable damage to the life of the sexually abused person on all levels: emotional, spiritual and physical. God included children in His covenant with mankind. Jesus always gave a special place to children during his time on earth. Current statistics are shocking: One in every four girls and one in every six boys are being sexually abused. Considering that up to 43 children are raped each day in South Africa, it has to be acknowledged that sexual abuse in South Africa is reaching epidemic proportions. The spiritual/religious results of sexual abuse show that pastoral care is essential in the healing process. Traumatised children themselves express the need for this problem to be addressed pastorally. Children acknowledged that the problem of sexual abuse influenced their relationships with God. Every child also expressed a need for spiritual growth and spiritual knowledge. The most effective method of helping seems to be an eclectic approach. On the one hand it is important to take note of contributions from other sciences surrounding play therapy, which could be used effectively in the helping process. On the other hand pastoral guidelines should be fully utilised and adhered to. The solution thus lies in a holistic approach where attention is given to the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of the child. From the empirical data that was collected it is clear that a combination of pastoral care and play therapy is very effective. The uniqueness of this combination centres on the fact that God, the great Healer, works in a restorative and healing fashion in the lives of children through something that comes completely naturally to them, namely play. / Thesis (M.A. (Practical Theology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2006.

Sexual abuse causes incalculable damage to the life of the sexually abused person on all levels: emotional, spiritual and physical. God included children in His covenant with mankind. Jesus always gave a special place to children during his time on earth. Current statistics are shocking: One in every four girls and one in every six boys are being sexually abused. Considering that up to 43 children are raped each day in South Africa, it has to be acknowledged that sexual abuse in South Africa is reaching epidemic proportions. The spiritual/religious results of sexual abuse show that pastoral care is essential in the healing process. Traumatised children themselves express the need for this problem to be addressed pastorally. Children acknowledged that the problem of sexual abuse influenced their relationships with God. Every child also expressed a need for spiritual growth and spiritual knowledge. The most effective method of helping seems to be an eclectic approach. On the one hand it is important to take note of contributions from other sciences surrounding play therapy, which could be used effectively in the helping process. On the other hand pastoral guidelines should be fully utilised and adhered to. The solution thus lies in a holistic approach where attention is given to the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of the child. From the empirical data that was collected it is clear that a combination of pastoral care and play therapy is very effective. The uniqueness of this combination centres on the fact that God, the great Healer, works in a restorative and healing fashion in the lives of children through something that comes completely naturally to them, namely play. / Thesis (M.A. (Practical Theology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2006.

The objective of the presented thesis is to explore the impact of rheumatoid arthritis on the patient's life and to compare the subjectively perceived quality of life of such patients with that in healthy population. The set objectives were achieved through a combination of quantitative and qualitative research. The quantitative survey took place as part of the team research project GAJU No. 120/2012/S through the use of the standardized WHOQOL-100 questionnaire handed out to 200 patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis. In addition to further tests, the statistical data analysis included comparison of the quality of life in the aforesaid patient population with the quality of life in the control healthy population, which also participated in the above stated project. The qualitative survey used the technique of semi-structured interviews with 11 patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis. The research has shown that the patients with rheumatoid arthritis have a worse quality of life in the fields of physical condition and independence than healthy population. On the other hand, a better quality of life was found in the fields of milieu and spirituality. The results also referred to pain and fatigue as the major factors influencing the quality of life of such patients and drew attention to their interconnection with other dimensions. The qualitative survey supplemented the quantitative data with a practical detailed description of individual problems. Among other things, it detected factors that help the patients to overcome obstacles associated with the disease. For example, the research revealed the family influence or the compensation of restraints by adaptations of the environment or changes of the daily routine. Interesting conclusions have been derived from the information about the effect of adaptation to the disease; it was found out that in the course of their life with the disease, patients get used to certain difficulties, so they perceive them as less severe than in the beginnings of the disease. The thesis provides a complex view of the matters of the quality of life of patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis and refers to this disease not only as to a disease of the body but also to a disease of the human soul. Among other things, it provides evidence that the concept of the quality of life is applicable in the field of nursing. With regard to the above stated facts, the thesis is useful for the extension of the theoretical knowledge in the field of nursing as well as for the clinical practice.