The objective of the research was to explore the reasons why some coal mining companies in South Africa fail to get the benefits of outsourcing. The research aimed to achieve this by first establishing the critical success factors for outsourcing in coal mining and then discovering how well coal mines implement these factors.Managers from 55 coal mines were requested to rank on a Likert scale the importance of and their performance on these critical factors. The importance and performance on these factors were ranked based on the means and standard deviations of their responses. Findings include a list of the most critical success factors for outsourcing in coal mining. It was also discovered that the amount of effort going into these factors was disproportional to the level of importance of the factors. Only in 25% of the respondents was outsourcing a success. A framework was recommended to be used by coal mines to improve their outsourcing. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

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The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between outsourcing and development in Nairobi. The key research question for this study is what are the impacts of outsourcing practices conducted by organisations in Nairobi? Data were obtained from questionnaires distributed in December 2010. A total of 85 profit-making firms in Nairobi with a sample of 165 management employees were selected for this study. The empirical findings obtained relate to four outsourcing theories. Transaction Cost Analysis (TCA) Theory focuses on the cost savings that result from outsourcing. Agency Outsourcing Theory centres on outsourcing firms hiring agents to achieve productivity. Hiring agents may result in permanent staff being retrenched and additional outsourcing personnel being contracted and job creation and/or job loss results. Expectation Confirmation Theory (ECT) emphasises the importance of an outsourcing provider conforming to quality management principles. Resource Based Theory (RBT) proposes that organisations need a collection of resources and capabilities to execute outsourcing successfully. Findings further suggested that outsourcing can yield positive and/or negative outcomes depending on risks encountered, the business environment, company policies, function/s to be outsourced, and the competence and commitment of an outsourcing vendor. To further enhance the positive impact of outsourcing three improvements need to be executed: formulation of standard policies, price regulations, and commitment of outsourcing firms in adhering to set contract deadlines. It is suggested that the following would allow organisations to gain more from outsourcing in the future: the adoption of international/offshore outsourcing practices, more commitment by outsourcing consultants, the standardisation of charges for outsourcing contracts, and the use of new technology that would improve how outsourcing is conducted. It is concluded that the positive impacts of outsourcing would foster development to some extent while the possible negative impact of outsourcing would impede development.

Repetition is a ubiquitous compositional technique in Philip Glass's music. Repetition of specific gestures is used to mark regularly recurring structural points, which in turn affects the way a listener groups musical structures. The intent of this paper is to discuss grouping theories that have specific application to minimalist music, and to attempt to refine certain aspects of these theories, specifically those engaging the various functions of events within groups in terms of their roles as beginnings, middles and endings. Glass's Strung Out will be the principal analytical subject. Further implications of grouping functions of pitches are discussed in the concluding chapter, where memory and anticipation are seen to play a role in the listening experience, as a listener attempts to understand and appreciate the piece as a whole. / Arts, Faculty of / Music, School of / Graduate

This research was undertaken to explore the potential application of Human Resource (HR) Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) as an appropriate service delivery mechanism. The investigation included the identification of the primary internal drivers and external factors affecting HR departments, to craft the framework within which to consider HR BPO. Then the processes that could be delivered by HR BPO were identified. The study concluded with the identification of the critical success factors for implementing HR BPO and the expected benefits. The research was conducted by means of 26 in-depth, semi-structured interviews with senior HR managers and HR professionals. The respondents represented various industries and sectors and included leading South African organisations and a range of global organisations. The resulting findings first introduce the bridge principle, to ensure that HR transformation is not at the expense of line management. Secondly a decision model, which incorporates benefit realisation principles, was developed to assess the applicability of HR BPO for processes. The findings conclude with a success factor condition table that highlights the critical success factors and their dependencies. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

This investigation identified children whose noncompliant behavior was maintained by negative reinforcement through brief functional analysis conditions and then evaluated the effectiveness of a contraindicated treatment (i.e., time-out package) for decreasing the noncompliant behavior to developmentally appropriate levels. The current results provided initial supporting data that time-out, in conjunction with other treatment variables, can be an effective strategy in reducing escape maintained noncompliance. Brief experimental analysis conditions consistent with the methodology demonstrated by Northup and colleagues (1991), were utilized to identify escape as the maintaining variable for noncompliance. Following identification of the function of the behavior, baseline data were collected. Across all participants, the average percentage of intervals of noncompliance during baseline was above 60% of observed intervals, which has been defined as maladaptive (Forehand, 1977) and may be indicative of future externalizing behavior problems, as well as the inability to acquire appropriate academic and social skills (Forehand et al., 1978; Rhode et al., 1993). The time-out package consisting of time in, effective instructions, time-out, and escape extinction was then implemented. Inspection of the data revealed that all participants exhibited clinically significantly lower percentage of intervals of noncompliance during intervention phases that were developmentally acceptable. Follow up data revealed that developmentally acceptable levels of noncompliance were maintained at one month. Overall, these data support the findings that the treatment package was effective in reducing the percentage of intervals of noncompliance for each participant, thus, demonstrating the effectiveness of this time-out procedure (i.e., a contraindicated treatment) in reducing the occurrence of an escape-maintained behavior.

A young man moves in with his grandfather in order to recover from a sickness – upon which he finds he does not have any desire to return to the life he left behind. He finds himself instead surrounded by memories of his past, as if they were still present. The San Francisco Bay Area, – with its dense cities and remote mountains, its coasts and its caves, its redwoods and its own repressed past – has preserved that time for him to consider. He remembers a friend who he has fallen out of contact with – and decides to write down the history of their lost friendship, finally exposing it to words, to prove to himself that it – if nothing else – still has substance. During this journey, taken on long walks in the Santa Cruz Mountains, in night and day, and in his own notebook, the lines that discriminate and separate things from other things, weed from plant, light from dark, begin to blur, as he feels himself pulled more and more to those remote places which exist both inside – and far away.

Existing literature reveals that atheists are among the least accepted groups in America. This study examined the process atheists go through when disclosing their atheism to their religious family members. It is hoped that the information gained may benefit therapists who work with this population as they go through this potentially difficult time and adds to the currently insufficient body of research on atheism and atheists. Using the guided frameworks of grounded theory and social exchange and choice theory, a focus group was conducted with seven atheists and coded for themes. The data revealed the disclosure process as happening in three main stages which cover how the atheists arrived at the belief system, how it was disclosed and its reception, and how relationships have been impacted since the disclosure. The clinical implications of the findings and suggestions for future research are also discussed. / Master of Science

A corrida de rua é uma das atividades que obteve maior número de adeptos entre a população idosa. É sabido que, durante a corrida, idosos apresentam padrões diferente de adultos jovens, como um maior ângulo de toe-out. No entanto, não é conhecida a relação com a carga mecânica nas articulações dos membros inferiores. Muitos estudos apontam para uma relação entre o momento adutor externo do joelho e o ângulo de toe-out, inclusive como mecanismo de proteção em indivíduos com osteoartrite do joelho, doença comum em pessoas acima dos 65 anos. Assim, pretendeu-se investigar uma possível relação do ângulo de toe-out aumentado nesses indivíduos e o momento do joelho no plano frontal. Vinte e dois adultos jovens corredores, 23 idosos corredores e 13 idosos sedentários andaram a 5 km/h e correram a 7, 10 km/h e na velocidade média da última prova de 10 km. Na velocidade de 5 km/h e 10 km/h os indivíduos corredores realizaram também uma condição com o toe-out aumentado além do natural. Os indivíduos executaram estas tarefas em uma esteira instrumentada com duas cintas independentes e com duas plataformas de força de seis componentes operando a 600 Hz (Bertec, USA) e tiveram os movimentos dos membros inferiores registrados por um sistema de análise tridimensional do movimento composto por oito câmeras de infravermelho operando a 150 Hz (Motion Analysis Corporation, USA). Uma completa análise cinemática e cinética das tarefas foi realizada por meio dos softwares Visual3D (CMotion. Inc., USA) e Matlab (Mathworks, USA). Em particular, o ângulo de toe-out e o momento adutor externo do joelho foram mensurados em todas as condições e comparados entre as condições com e sem o toe-out aumentado e entre os grupos a partir de análise de variâncias fatorial mistas e ANOVA, respectivamente. Os ângulos e momentos artivulares foram comparados entre os grupos com testes de Wicoxon Signed-rank com correção de Bonferroni. Em geral, os adultos corredores, idosos corredores e idosos sedentários apresentaram diferenças nos padrões cinemáticos e cinéticos do movimento dos membros inferiores durante o andar a 5 km/h e durante o correr a 7 km/h. Também foram observadas diferenças, porém em menor número, durante a corrida a 10 km/h e a corrida na velocidade média da última prova de 10 km para os adultos corredores e idosos corredores. Quanto à relação do ângulo de toe-out e o momento adutor externo do joelho, contrariamente à literatura, nós não observamos um aumento deste ângulo para os idosos durante o andar ou correr em relação aos adultos, assim como uma relação inversa entre o ângulo de toe-out e o momento adutor externo do joelho, talvez pelas coletas terem sido realizadas sobre uma esteira com cinta dupla, o que pode ter levado à alteração do posicionamento natural dos pés (toe-out) / Running is one of the activities that had the highest number of participants among elderly population. It is known that during running, elderly have different patterns of young adults, as a greater toe-out angle. However it is still unknown the relationship between the mechanical loads at the joints of the lower limbs. Several studies point to a correlation between the external knee adduction moment and the toe-out angle, including as a protective mechanism among people with knee osteoarthritis, a common disease in people over 65 years old. Thus, we sought to investigate a possible relationship between the toe-out angle increased in these individuals and the knee moment in the frontal plane. Twenty-two young adult runners, 23 elderly runners and 13 sedentary elderly walked at 5 km/h and ran at 7, 10 km/h and at the mean speed of the last 10 K race. At the speed of 5 km/h and 10 km/h the individuals who were runners also performed a condition with the toe-out angle increased beyond the natural. The subjects did all tasks in an instrumented treadmill with independent two belts and two force plates with six components operating at 600 Hz (Bertec, USA) and had the lower limb movements registered by a tridimentional motion analysis system with eight infrared cameras operating at 150Hz (Motion Analysis Corporation, USA). A complete kinematics and kinectics analysis were made using Visual3D (CMotion. Inc., USA) and Matlab (Mathworks, USA) softwares. The toe-out angle and the external knee adduction moment were measured during all conditions and compared between the condition with and without the toe-out angle increased, and between the groups with a mixed effects modeling and ANOVA respectivelly. The joint angles and joint moments were compared between groups with Wilcoxon Signed-rank tests with Bonferroni correction. In general, young adult runners, elderly runners and elderly sedentaries had differences in kinematic and kinetic pattern of movement of lower limbs during walk at 5 km/h and run at 7 km/h. There were also differences, though in smaller number, during run at 10 km/h and run at mean speed of the last 10 K race between young adult runners and elderly runners. Contrasting the literature there was no relation between toe-out angle and external knee adduction moment and we didnt observe a greater angle in elderly than young adults during walk or run, it maybe can be explained by the fact that the tasks were above a double belt treadmill, what can lead to a different feet position (toe-out)

<p>The use of out-door pedagogy in the school has been frequently high-lighted during recent years. To which extent out-door education was practised in the school depends on the opinions among the active teachers. The aim of this study was to examine the opinions on out-door pedagogy among teachers in classes 4-6 of the elementary school and to find out to which extent the teacher used out-door teaching. The study was based on qualitatively structured interviews with 4 teachers having different lenght of teaching experience. The results of the interviews showed that the teachers had different opinions on the definition of out-door pedagogy. They claimed that out-door pedagogy was a way to explore nature, to link the out-door environment to theoretical subjects and to give the children an increased understanding on nature. In daily teaching, out-door pedagogy was practiced to a varying extent depending on weather, season, schedule and the teacher´s own experience of out-door teaching. The teachers stressed that out-door pedagogy was an interdisciplinary teaching method that offered a possibility to integrate different subjects.</p>