During the past two decades or more there have been many innovations in the teaching of modern foreign languages in the province of British Columbia. Perhaps the most significant change has been the added importance that has been placed on the aural-oral approach in foreign language teaching as opposed, to the reading approach introduced in the nineteen thirties. This new emphasis on oral work created a need for a means of providing suitable facilities whereby students could gain the drill and practice necessary in order to become reasonably proficient in understanding and speaking a foreign language. In an endeavour to provide this practice, teachers of foreign languages started supplementing their classroom work by the use of phonograph records and films. Since that time, there has been a steady increase in the use of these teaching aids. During World War II, as a result of the great demand for people who could understand, and speak foreign languages, training aids were used extensively by the Services in an attempt to introduce mass instruction in languages. This practice spread to the schools and colleges. On the phonograph records, which were used to supplement the text book, pauses were left during which the student repeated the phrases he heard. Thus, the principle of active participation rather than passive listening began to influence regular classroom teaching. This use of phonograph records provided the germ for the idea of the language laboratory which first came into being 1941 in the United States and in 1946 in Canada. Starting first in the universities and colleges, the idea soon spread to the high schools. The first high school language laboratory was installed in 1948 in the United States and in 1959 in Canada. The first language laboratory in British Columbia was installed in 1958 at the University of British Columbia, and the first high school laboratory was installed in 1961 in the Mount Elizabeth High School at Kitimat. However, a more primitive type of laboratory, a classroom laboratory, was started in 1959 in the Lester Pearson High School in New Westminster. The fundamental purpose of the language laboratory is to improve the student's ability to comprehend the spoken language and to increase the fluency with which he is able to speak it. The laboratory increases the time spent by each student in listening to and speaking a foreign language. It serves to increase the effectiveness of the time a student is with a teacher and gives the student a great deal more practice; the laboratory becomes the drill-master and leaves the teacher free to teach. One fact must be stressed, however, the language laboratory is merely an aid in language teaching; its purpose is to supplement the work done in the classroom, never to replace it. This survey discussed the origin of the language laboratory, explained the structure of the laboratories in use to-day, described the teaching methods used in the laboratory, provided a concise account of the laboratory with reference to cost, equipment, techniques, advantages and disadvantages to students and teachers alike, and gave some indication of the role of the language laboratory in the future, suggesting areas in which further research, study and experimentation are required. The survey revealed that, although there is definite proof that some students have shown improvement in two of the four language skills; aural comprehension and speaking, there is little or no definite proof that there has been any improvement in the other two skills; reading and writing. It further revealed that there is disagreement among teachers who are actually using a laboratory as to the best type of equipment, the most effective length of a laboratory period, the best techniques to use, the question of whether or not students should record their responses and how often this should be done, and various other problems. In view of these findings, the central contention put forward was that, although the language laboratory has some definite advantages, there are definite disadvantages as well and there if, therefore, an urgent need for more experimentation, and answers are required to several questions before it can be said that the language laboratory has a place in every high school in British Columbia. / Education, Faculty of / Graduate

Pfeffer (1981) contends that the role of the manager is chiefly symbolic. The purpose of this study was to investigate his claims that the manager's effect is primarily on symbolic outcomes and less on substantive outcomes; that external power holders have a small effect on symbolic outcomes; and that substantive and symbolic aspects of organizational activity are loosely linked. Two hospital laboratories in Western Canada (similar along many dimensions) were chosen for inclusion in the study. Through observation, interviewing and examination of records, the researcher obtained information on relationships between the actions of managers and other power holders and substantive and symbolic outcomes. Pfeffer's theory was used to form the classification system for categorizing findings. In addition to a deductive approach, the researcher attempted to discover patterns from the data. Steps were taken to check potential sources of invalidity. Study findings indicated that external power holders have a small effect on symbolic outcomes. Pfeffer's claim that management has a greater impact on beliefs, attitudes and feelings than on tangible outcomes was not supported. Reasons for this may be that managerial effect on symbolic outcomes is contingent on managerial motivation, type of symbolic action, level of management, type of organization and time in the organizational life cycle. There was little evidence to support Pfeffer's claim that substantive and symbolic aspects of organizational activity are imperfectly linked. The explanation of this appears to be that factors affecting the strength of coupling differ with the type of symbolic action employed and with the existence (or absence) of efforts to make the use of power unobtrusive. Concepts which emerged from data captured ideas not contained in Pfeffer's writings. For example, managers and external power holders may have an intentional and unintentional influence on beliefs and attitudes; and proximity to/distance from the organization influences the extent to which external power holders affect symbolic outcomes. Increased understanding of the variables affecting the relationship between symbolic and substantive outcomes and the magnitude of the manager's impact on substantive versus symbolic outcomes, may be utilized by future researchers. / Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies / Graduate

As the business evolves, organisations are faced with challenges as today’s customers have changed, and demand a value for the products and services purchased. Customer satisfaction is a key factor to business excellence. The health sector and its service providers are faced with such demands, having to ensure customer satisfaction with limited resources. The aim of the study was to investigate a business model that could be implemented within the public sector to render pathology services. Particular reference was given to the National Health Laboratory Service as a provider of choice for rendering medical laboratory services within public health institutions and related departments. The data has been collected using a self constructed questionnaire which has been distributed to the NHLS centers within the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality. 45 percent of the employees, in the region took part in the survey. The study tested the perceptions of the respondents with respect to the business model, specifically the determinants of a business model and its effects. The results of the empirical study revealed that a relationship exists between the business model, its determinants and customer satisfaction. Correlation analysis was done between the business model, customer relation management, continuous improvement, talent management, business process reengineering and customer satisfaction. Conclusions and recommendations have been drawn from the study. The NHLS needs to change its approach to business, invest in people education, training and development, improve its communication strategies with customers and realign its processes in order to maintain business excellence and provide a better service within the public sector

Multi-unit, multi-location organization is one of the most salient characteristics of contemporary enterprise. The transformation in the structure of enterprise from the independent, small-scale operation to the complex, multi-unit, multi-location system has been an integral part of wider societal change. Yet the current functioning of these systems and the processes underlying their transformation is not well understood. Particular deficiencies exist in our understanding of the relationship among the technology, organization and location of multi-unit enterprise. A case study of transformation in the British Columbia laboratory system between 1954 and 1984 shows that the spatial and organizational structure of enterprise is not driven by any single variable and, in particular, technology is not the "prime mover" behind structural change. The process of structural change is a synergistic one in which external environmental factors and strategic choice have a more dominant influence on transformation than does technology. Thus organizational and location options are not dictated, rather they are perceived and selected as a purposeful response to environmental conditions. This conclusion is reached from a critical evaluation of literature drawn from organization theory, decision-theory, cybernetics and the geography of enterprise; and from the case study. In particular, it is shown that in the 1950s and early 1960s, strategic decisions were taken that resulted in relative decentralization of laboratory activity, organizationally (down the hospital hierarchy) and geographically (towards the periphery). These decisions were taken in response to the changing political, social and medical environment. But these decisions clearly predate the availability of technologies that might encourage such dispersion, indicating that technology is not a necessary and sufficient condition for structural change. Technology can have an impact on the degree of centralization in multi-unit enterprise. In certain circumstances, the development and deployment of specific technologies coincides with a strategic decision to either centralize or decentralize activity. In such circumstances, equipment embodied technology can make a powerful contribution in transforming the relative centralization or decentralization of the system, but it does not determine the choice between centralized or decentralized. Rather, it amplifies the chosen direction. These findings have policy and research implications for society, for the urban system, for enterprise, in general, and for the future of the clinical laboratory system of B.C., in particular. / Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies / Graduate

Thesis (M.S.P.H.)--University of Michigan, 1941.

Thesis (M.H.A.)--University of Michigan, 1977.

Thesis (M.H.A.)--University of Michigan, 1977.

Thesis (M.S.P.H.)--University of Michigan, 1941.

Photocopy of typescript.

Thesis (M.Sc.)--Memorial University of Newfoundland, 2004. / Restricted until May 2005. Bibliography: leaves 109-115.