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  • About
  • The Global ETD Search service is a free service for researchers to find electronic theses and dissertations. This service is provided by the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations.
    Our metadata is collected from universities around the world. If you manage a university/consortium/country archive and want to be added, details can be found on the NDLTD website.
1

Models as cultural intermediaries: a discourse analysis of the program Britain and Ireland's Next Top Model

Jones, Jenna 14 January 2014 (has links)
This thesis addresses the question of whether the participants of Britain and Ireland’s Next Top Model act as cultural intermediaries. There is a gap in the literature surrounding the role of participants in reality television programs. Through this analysis, I found the ability of the participant-models to act as cultural intermediaries on BINTM is limited because of their lack of experience, knowledge, and skills. Although they develop their skills throughout the program, they are unable to move up the entrenched hierarchy that exists in the program and that is actively maintained by the judges and other program participants. The participant-models’ positions are constantly challenged as they struggle to prove themselves as models. Methodologically, I undertake a discourse analysis of series eight of BINTM and include two other data sources to give my research greater context and validity. By drawing on the work of Bourdieu and more contemporary scholars of cultural intermediaries, I examine how the participant-models struggle to gain cultural capital and briefly act as cultural intermediaries before the authority and status of the judges is reasserted. In order to address issues related to gender, I also draw on the work of feminist scholars who have expanded on the work of Bourdieu. The hierarchy of the program brings to the surface how the ability to act as a cultural intermediary can best be understood in terms of a continuum, and an individual’s position on the continuum is constantly shifting depending on their ability to frame goods, their level of expertise, and their impact on others. In other words, the ability to act as a cultural intermediary changes depending on the level of acquired cultural capital. Based on my findings, I argue that all models are not cultural intermediaries; rather, only the models that have a high status, acknowledged expertise and level of legitimacy are able to act as cultural intermediaries.
2

An examination fo the legal liabilities of insurance intermediaries and the insurance thereof

Mahomedy, Jowairiya 08 December 2011 (has links)
The insurance product is marketed by various distribution channels, most notably that of the insurance intermediary. The extent of the intermediary‟s role within the insurance transaction, exposes the intermediary to liability risks; these liabilities could arise either in contract, delict or statute or be sui generis. This dissertation sets out the extent of the legal liabilities exposure of insurance intermediaries within the South African market against an international background and the insurance thereof.
3

Factors Affecting Knowledge Reuse: A Framework for Study

Ma, Wei-ming 27 July 2005 (has links)
Knowledge is power, and in business, an essential part in creating a competitive edge. Throughout history, the acquisition and reuse of knowledge has always been the key to success. Today, the systems and infrastructure for knowledge reuse are in place and very effective, but we must abandon the reliance on technology to answer all our remaining needs in this area. Computer databases are only as good as the individuals who enter the data. It's time to refocus on the human, natures own mechanism, which holds in it, perhaps the most powerful and vast of all database systems, the brain. We must nurture, guide, encourage, and train it to fulfill its own amazing potential. The theme of this research is to explore Markus¡¦ (2001) nascent theory of knowledge reuse, which focuses on the greater importance of the system, rather than the individual. This research focuses on the individual, and a conceptual framework is developed for future empirical research. Within this framework, there are seven factors: characteristics of knowledge producers and re-users, the role of human intermediaries, social presence, knowledge quality, document quality, and organization factors all of which affect the intention of knowledge reuse. There are four human factors which stand at the forefront of improving knowledge reuse today: 1. The knowledge provider who can express tacit knowledge in the most explicit manner; 2. The intermediary who can not only grasp the importance contained within the source material, but anticipate how best to format it so it will be useful to a wide variety of re-users; 3. The level of feedback from re-user, and the willingness of providers and intermediaries to accept this feedback, and adapt to the ever-changing needs of the re-user; and 4. Social presence enhances the ability to obtain tacit knowledge and has a positive affect for strong intention of reuse.
4

The Intermediation Functions Connected to the Phases of a New Product Development Process : An Investigation of a Public and a Private Intermediary in a Micro Perspective

Ekerå, Malin, Hallbert, Sophie January 2015 (has links)
The process of innovation remains challenging for companies in general and for small firms in particular. Limited resources constitute an obstacle on the small firm’s path towards market launch and the need for supportive measures is evident. Today, as the technology is developing at an exponential speed, the time-to-market shortens, underlining that the innovation challenge of small firms is an urgent matter. Given the limited resources of the small firms, this thesis defines the access to external competence as well as an established new product development process as crucial factors for successful innovation. Providing these necessary functions, a public intermediary, originating from policies, is considered a viable solution. The contribution of this thesis lies in investigating whether or not a private intermediary, not supported by policies, can provide the same functions as a public intermediary. In addition, the thesis expands the knowledge about the intermediary functions present in the innovation process by relating them to specific phases in a generalized new product development process. The results in this thesis are qualitative, based on a profound literary study as well as a comparative case study, examining two diverse kinds of intermediaries in a micro perspective. The first case is a public intermediary, operating with a strong business focus, as its mission is to economically strengthen the Swedish industry. The second case presents a technology based consultancy firm, acting as a private intermediary and centered on questions related to R&D. Applying Howells’ (2006) intermediation functions to the two diverse cases, a comparative study of their offered functions has been performed. The micro perspective study has proved the acknowledged intermediation functions to be applicable to specific phases in a generalized new product development process. As several functions appear in multiple phases of the new product development process, the generalized process is observed to be iterative. This notion questions previous definitions of the intermediation functions during an innovation process, as the processes have been simplified as linear in prior research. Using the generalized new product development process as framework for a comparative analysis, it has been concluded that the private intermediary can provide the same functions as the public intermediary. In extension, the private intermediary is able to offer additional services, not legally permitted for the public intermediary, such as selecting external actors and negotiating agreements. As the private intermediary can provide an extended assortment of functions, while not being dependent on government funding, the question of whether or not the public intermediary still fills a necessary function has been raised. However, additional values, such as objectivity and a non-profit-interest have been linked to the public intermediary. As these attributes are valuable to the small firm, further studies on the support not incorporated in the investigated functions are needed.
5

The role of intermediaries in information sharing between government and communities in Western Cape

Nelwamondo, Murendeni January 2021 (has links)
Masters of Commerce / The use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to share information is rapidly increasing worldwide. The South African government uses ICT to extend sharing of information and provide services to communities through websites, portals, forums and other online platforms. However, there are still digitally divided communities – without access it these ICTs due to, among others, a lack of necessary computer skills and financial resources. Consequently, these communities miss opportunities to use ICTs to share information with the government. To address the digitally divided communities, the government established an initiative to build community ICT access centres (e-centres). These e-centres have become the intermediaries between government and communities as shared community facilities that provide access to ICTs and connect the digitally divided communities to government services with social and economic benefits. However, there seem to be disparities between the government's roles and the eventual roles played by intermediaries in information sharing between communities and the government. The disparity might lead to intermediaries not providing services expected by communities, which might affect how communities use intermediaries to communicate with the government.
6

Examining the influence of intermediaries in facilitating e-government adoption: an empirical investigation

Weerakkody, Vishanth J.P., El-Haddadeh, R., Al-Sobhi, F., Shareef, M., Dwivedi, Y.K. 11 June 2013 (has links)
Yes / The adoption and diffusion of electronic government is often impeded by many social and individual factors relating to citizens. In this respect, intermediaries have emerged as a new model for delivering e-government services to overcome such obstacles. This study aims to examine the role of intermediaries in facilitating e-government adoption and diffusion using a survey based empirical study of 502 participants in Madinah City in Saudi Arabia. An extended UTAUT model is used as the theoretical basis utlising trust in the Internet and Intermediaries. The results of this study show that there are significant relationships among the factors that influence intention to use e-government, namely, performance expectancy, effort expectancy, and trust of intermediary. In addition, the findings show that there is a significant relationship between facilitating conditions and usage behaviour proving that intermediaries can influence adoption of e-government services.
7

An evaluation of English Crown Courts with and without special measures implemented in Section 28 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act

Henderson, Hayden January 2019 (has links)
This series of studies was the first to evaluate the effects of the Section 28 pilot study on the treatment of vulnerable child witnesses in English Crown Courts. Section 28 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act implemented mandatory Ground Rules Hearings, during which the judge, lawyers, and intermediary (if applicable) discussed appropriate accommodations to be made for child witnesses, following which the cross-examination could be pre-recorded. Analyses examined 43 cases that implemented the special measures ('Section 28' cases) and 44 cases that did not implement the special measures ('Non-Section 28' cases) that took place between 2012 and 2016. Analyses revealed that children in the Section 28 cases experienced less systemic delay than their counterparts. In addition, the trial preparation in the Section 28 cases was more thorough and this was associated with less risky questioning in the cross-examinations. However, younger children experienced longer delays and had fewer accommodations made for them than older children, regardless of condition. Additional analyses demonstrated that the forensic interviews replaced the evidence-in-chief in most cases almost entirely, with prosecutors asking few substantive questions. In the Section 28 cases, defense lawyers used fewer suggestive questions and asked less complex questions than Non-Section 28 defense lawyers. However, both types of lawyers still predominantly asked option-posing questions. Regardless of condition, defense lawyers asked fewer suggestive questions than their counterparts in other common-law countries and they asked younger children less complex questions. Results indicate that, although the Section 28 pilot study has not fixed all of the existing problems, it has significantly reduced systemic delay and improved the treatment of child witnesses in Crown Courts and thus should be rolled out nationally. As well, regardless of condition, English lawyers and judges seem receptive to recent special measures and appear to be effectively implementing them.
8

The evolution of a pay-for-performance program : a case study of a Public School District's Collaboration with an Intermediary Organization

Shepherd, Julie Kate 01 July 2012 (has links)
Educational intermediary organizations, as defined by Honig (2004a), are characterized by their internal placement within schools as they mediate change among groups during the policymaking process. As intermediary organizations work to bring about internal changes, however, they are still performing their core external functions by operating as independent organizations. This case study examined the alliance between a school district and an intermediary organization and how together they designed and implemented a well-received pay-for-performance program that evolved into a wider school improvement program, using the following research questions: (a) How did ISIP act as an intermediary organization in the North Plains Community School District during the policymaking process to influence the program's success and influence the change beliefs of those it affected, (b) How did ISIP act as an intermediary organization in the North Plains Community School District during the professional development sessions to influence the change beliefs of those it affected and influence the program's success, and (c) How did the evolving school improvement efforts challenge the collaboration between ISIP and the North Plains Community School District? Data collection for this descriptive case study occurred during the 2008-2010 school years in the North Plains Community School District as it participated in a state-funded, pay-for-performance grant. District administrators and teacher participants were interviewed, state and district documents were reviewed, and observations were conducted of the pay-for-performance committee meetings and professional development series that accompanied the pay-for-performance assessment. Findings from this study demonstrate how the pay-for-performance policy was the vehicle for change that provided the opportunity and motivation for the school district, via the pay-for-performance committee, to develop and implement new programs. The district hired the intermediary organization to be the facilitator and driver of their change vehicle, giving the pay-for-performance committee the capability to design an accepted policy and implement it. In addition to facilitative duties, the intermediary organization performed its primary function by providing professional development to district teachers. Furthermore, the findings expand previous research of intermediary organizations by examining the challenges brought about by the unique and complicated internal-yet-external roles of intermediary organizations during the policymaking process.
9

A Cybermediary system for Collective Purchasing

Chuang, Long-Tai 23 July 2000 (has links)
With the development of the Internet, people can communicate with each other much more easily. Consumers with similar needs can conduct a collective purchase with potential suppliers by the Internet. Currently, there are many web sites providing collective purchasing for consumers. However, these collective purchasing functions have not fully taken the advantages of the Internet for either consumers or suppliers.Therefore, the first purpose of this research is to explore the possible online collective purchasing models. Based on the number of suppliers and the number of products, six collective purchasing models and related algorithms have been proposed. Further, a comprehensive cybermediary system architecture for collective purchasing was described. Finally, a prototype is built to demonstrate how these collective purchasing models work.
10

The impact of the media on the corporate financial information environment

Tsileponis, Nikolaos January 2017 (has links)
In this thesis, I examine how the corporate financial information environment is shaped by the financial media. The thesis consists of three essays. In the first essay, I examine the role of voluntary company-initiated disclosures about firm financial performance as a stimulus for coverage in the financial press. I provide evidence that media coverage is affected by firm level disclosure management. Specifically, a firm's issuance of press releases attracts more media articles about the firm leading to greater abnormal returns and trading volumes. I find that there is a spike of media articles on the same day and one trading day following firms' press releases. I use a unique experiment, which differentiates between the online and print versions of the Wall Street Journal, to establish a causal relation between press releases and media coverage. My findings challenge the common assumption in the literature that media coverage is exogenous to the firm. In the second essay, I find that the financial media plays a significant role in enriching a firm's information environment by moderating the tone of corporate press releases. Using textual analysis, I show that the press moderates both the positive and negative tone of corporate press releases. However, the effect is asymmetric with the media disproportionately downplaying the tone of favourable corporate press releases, in line with the premise that management's highly positive news disclosures are less convincing. In addition, I find that there is an abnormal market response to the linguistic content of financial media articles rather than to the content of corporate press releases, suggesting that the tone of press-issued information is more value relevant to market participants compared to that of management's disclosures. Overall, this study offers robust evidence supporting the view that the financial media plays an important role as an information intermediary. In the third and last essay, I investigate the information dissemination and information creation roles of the financial media by examining whether the rebroadcasting of firm-initiated news (parroting) and the creation of original information by the media influence the stock market reaction to news disclosures differently. Using textual analysis, I calculate the tone expressed in corporate press releases and related articles in the financial media, and further distinguish between parroted (from the press release) and non-parroted (i.e., original) media tonal language. I provide evidence supporting a dual role of the press that affects price formation through both its information dissemination and information creation roles. However, my findings are consistent with press-generated information having the most significant impact on market reaction. My results also indicate that there is an asymmetric market effect, with negative original media tone being more value relevant to market participants compared to managerial and media-parroted (positive and negative) tonal language. As such, my findings have important implications for studies on the role of the financial media as an information intermediary in capital markets, and suggest that market participants perceive a difference between simple dissemination of firm-initiated information and new reporter-generated information.

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