Entrepreneurial legitimacy and strategies employed to generate legitimacy are topical and pertinent to entrepreneurship. This study sought to understand the impact of formative stage strategic legitimisation employment on entrepreneurial success. Through a review of the literature, the study built a strategic legitimacy scale offering that allowed for historical empirical testing. Using non probability sampling, entrepreneurs were surveyed through a face-to-face questionnaire in an attempt to attain closed response data regarding their historical strategic legitimisation activities and growth indicators. The study provided empirical evidence for a positive relationship between formative stage strategic legitimisation employment and venture development. Furthermore the presence of exponential value returns against strategic legitimacy activities was exposed at low and moderate levels of legitimacy engagement. While volatile value returns were shown at high levels strategic legitimacy employment. Furthermore the effectiveness of formative stage strategic legitimacy activities was shown to not be effected by the maturity of the industry in which a venture started. Copyright / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

Throughout the world, entrepreneurship is viewed as a solution for struggling economies and a major engine of economic growth. As a result, the field of entrepreneurship research has captured the interest of scholars, educators and policy makers. A substantial amount of empirical studies over the last two decades has examined the role of personality in determining entrepreneurial outcomes. Concurrently, organisational legitimacy is perceived as a necessary organisational attribute for the survival and growth of new ventures. Strategic legitimacy of nascent organisations is important in explaining organizational emergence. The current study seeks to determine if there is a relationship between an entrepreneur’s personality and the strategic legitimisation activities they employ in creating a new venture. A multiple regression model tested four factors of entrepreneurs’ personality as antecedents of strategic legitimisation activities among entrepreneurs in South Africa. The empirical findings suggest that positive extraversion traits are strong predictors of entrepreneurial activities to gain strategic legitimacy for new ventures. More interestingly, negative agreeableness traits were found to be strong antecedents of strategic legitimisation activities. Such a conclusion is important in that it provides new grounds of theoretical nature to better understand the personorganisation interplay. Copyright / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

This thesis focuses on how the deviance and criminality associated with illegal drugs are negotiated by adult recreational drug takers. The empirical research incorporates twenty-six interviews with people aged between 30 and 59, who have taken drugs within the past year. The participant group comprised equal numbers of males and females in a variety of jobs in the private, public, and voluntary sector. Some were parents and many were in long-term partnerships. The analysis of the interviews employed discursive psychology, which is a form of discourse analysis that focused upon how drug taking is justified, reasoned and described by the participants. As a result of this analysis, six frameworks were formulated, which describe how drug use is legitimised by the participants. These are: the reformed hedonism; the planned celebration; the drug cultures; the socialisation; the moderation; and the situational opportunity frameworks. Each of the frameworks is unique and demonstrates differences in: drug taking choices and preferences, the social context in which drugs are taken, and how drug use is controlled and maintained within adult life. These frameworks are not representations of drug taking ‘identities’; nor are they designed to unearth the ‘truth’ about drug consumption patterns, but they illustrate how participants present themselves with reference to their behaviour. The thesis also introduces a newly developed concept termed, drugscrimination. This is where participants make reference to a level of unacceptable drug taking behaviour, which is out of control, dysfunctional and driven by the desire for extreme intoxication. Drugscrimination is a is ‘technique of neutralisation’ (Matza and Sykes, 1957) whereby participants justify their own drug use by outlining it as less risky than other types of drug taking behaviour. The participants did not view their own behaviour as morally wrong, nor were they widely condemned for it by their friends and family. Participants were mostly concerned about the impact knowledge of their drug use could have on their jobs and careers. In addition, parents with young children were concerned others would question their ability to effectively parent their children. Different discourses are utilised to reason opinions about the correct societal response to drugs. These relate to the discourses of: addiction, freedom, acceptance, tolerance, and conformity. Each discourse can be used to either support or reject drug law and policy, which demonstrates the complexities of understanding drug use in society. Participants feel they should be able to make their own rational decisions about their behaviour; however these should be responsible choices, which are respectful of individual health and well-being, and should not negatively impact others in society.

The diploma thesis aims to the problem of money laundering in Czech's law. At the beginning are explained the most frequent terms that are used in this work. The next part is dedicated to the analysis of law environment, institutions and international treaties. The last part contains information about actual methods used in legitimization of the proceeds. The aim of the thesis is to analyze methods of money laundering used in present and assess the quality of instruments used against it in the Czech Republic.

Yes / Irrespective of the fundamental role of legitimacy in industrial relations as well as social and organisational life, little is known of the subtle meaning-making strategies through which organisational concepts, such as employment relations and engagement, are legitimised in modern world of work, particularly in developing countries such as Nigeria, which results in managerial capture. As a result, this paper explores the discursive legitimisation strategies used when making sense of employment relations in Nigeria’s conflictual, non-participatory employment relations terrain. Relying on Leeuwen’s (1995) legitimisation strategies, critical discourse analysis (CDA) and call by Bailey, Luck & Townsend (2009) and Legge (1995) to widen employment relations discourse, we explore interview, focus group and shadow report data, and distinguish and analyse five legitimisation strategies. The strategies include authorisation, moralisation, mythopoesis, rationalisation, and management. Therefore, we contend that while these specific legitimisation strategies appear in separate data source, their recurrent manifestation and application underscores legitimising discourse of managerial capture in Nigeria’s employment relations.

This study was conducted by using a qualitative textual analysis on UNICEF Sweden’s website with the purpose of problematizing the role of UNICEF Sweden in today’s globalised society. This was done in the context of how organisations of civil society have gained influence. Following questions were answered: How does UNICEF Sweden legitimise its operation? Which strategies does UNICEF Sweden use to encourage involvement and donations? The study shows how UNICEF Sweden legitimises its work by promoting a unique influence, their unique methods of work and by showing how the organisation helps the most disadvantaged children. This is interpreted as strategies to establish donor trust. UNICEF Sweden encourages involvement and donations by packaging relief efforts into products that conveys a sensation of helping others, which can be understood in relation to the consumer society. UNICEF Sweden’s role in society appears to be significant. It is problematic though that the donor phenomenon tends to simplify the social problems and reduces aid efforts into commercialised products. / Denna studie genomfördes med kvalitativ textanalys av UNICEF Sveriges hemsida i syfte att problematisera den roll som UNICEF Sverige spelar i dagens globaliserade samhälle. Detta inom kontexten av att civilsamhällets organisationers inflytande har ökat. Följande frågeställningar besvarades: Hur legitimerar UNICEF Sverige sin verksamhet? Vilka strategier använder sig UNICEF Sverige av för att uppmana till engagemang och stöd? Studien visar att UNICEF Sverige legitimerar sin verksamhet genom att hävda sitt unika inflytandet, sin unika arbetsmetod samt genom att påvisa att organisationen hjälper de barn som är mest utsatta. Detta tolkas som strategier för att etablera givartillit. UNICEF Sverige uppmanar till engagemang och stöd genom att förpacka hjälpinsatser till produkter som förmedlar en upplevelse av att hjälpa, vilket kan förstås i relation till konsumtionssamhället. UNICEF Sveriges roll i samhället framstår som mycket betydelsefull. Emellertid är det problematiskt att givandefenomenet tenderar att förenkla sociala problem samt reducerar hjälpinsatserna till kommersialiserade produkter.

Background: Mixed-methods research (MMR) offers much to healthcare professions on clinical and research levels. Speech-language therapists and audiologists work in both educational and health settings where they deal with real-world problems. Through the nature of their work, they are confronted with multifaceted questions arising from their efforts to provide evidence-based services to individuals of all ages with communication disorders. MMR methods research is eminently suited to addressing such questions. Objective: The aim of this tutorial is to increase awareness of the value of MMR, especially for readers less familiar with this research approach. Method: A literature review was conducted to provide an overview of the key issues in MMR. The tutorial discusses the various issues to be considered in the critical appraisal of MMR, followed by an explanation of the process of conducting MMR. A critical review describes the strengths and challenges in MMR. Results: MMR is less commonly used or published in the fields of speech-language therapy and audiology. Conclusion: Researchers working in teams can draw on the strengths of different disciples and their research approaches. Such collaborative enterprises will contribute to capacity building. Researchers, SLTs and audiologists are encouraged to make use of MMR to address the complex research issues in the multicultural, multifaceted South African context. MMR makes an important contribution to the understanding of individuals with communication disorders, and in turn, researchers in the two disciplinary fields of speech-language therapy and audiology can contribute to the development of this research approach. MMR is well suited to the complexity of South African contexts and its populations, as it can provide multiple perspectives of a topic.

This is a study of how knowledge producing actors, like professors of economics, ecological economics and investigators at public institutions, portray the monetary system in general and fractional reserve banking specifically. The methodology of Political Discourse Analysis, with focus on argumentation and legitimisation, is used to identify and compare how different actors portray the monetary system. The outcome shows that there exist competing knowledge discourses that are diametrically different in how they define keywords and describe the relation between the monetary system, societal power relations and environmental impact. Some important concepts under academic debate include the origin of money, which actor (the state or commercial banks) controls the money supply and seigniorage (money issuer’s revenue), if private banks really are intermediaries and multiply central bank money, and if interest-bearing money is a cause of socioecological unsustainability. By critically analysing the moral norms within knowledge discourses that otherwise might be naturalised as portraying ‘facts’ or ‘truth’, this thesis helps identify needs for further research – especially regarding how the financial system can be better adapted for socioecological sustainability.

Given the doubtfulness of the legal justification of Crimea’s declaration of independence on March 11 2014, which was followed by a referendum on March 16 that culminated in the peninsula’s treaty with Moscow to join the Russian Federation, Mr Putin used his speech on March 18 to put historical arguments forward in an effort to legitimise the Russian course of action in front of his own population. The speech counters the international community’s legal assessment, which classified Crimea’s accession to Russia as an annexation, with a historical legitimisation full of symbolism and mysticism that blatantly reinterprets Russian history and delegitimises the territorial integrity of Ukraine. This article analyses Putin’s attempt to justify Russia’s annexation of Crimea and tries to infer the mindset and aims that lie behind his historic-political argumentation.

The Old Testament, which is one of the first books in the Malagasy language, plays an important role in the religious and cultural life of most people in Madagascar, for instance in an increasing tendency to use Old Testament texts in Malagasy religious contexts, which is noticeable both within and outside mainstream Christianity. The first such case illustrating this trend within the Church is the Malagasy Roman Catholic Church's (MRCC's) application of certain texts in the famadihana (turning of the dead), a custom reflecting traditional Malagasy practices in their strongest form. Almost all the Malagasy churches from their beginning have unsuccessfully attempted to abolish it. Therefore, the MRCC decided to base it on biblical texts and incorporated it in her liturgy in order to make it a Christian celebration. Among the texts used here are: Genesis 49: 33-50: 13; Exodus 13: 19 and Exodus 20: 12. The second case is the Malagasy Lutheran Church's (MLC's) employment of Old Testament texts to create certain items for Nenilava (Tall mother), the founder of the revival movement of Ankaramalaza, who was acknowledged by this Church and the members of this movement as a prophetess and priestess. To demonstrate these roles, and at the same time to confirm her consecration, the MLC and the `children of Ankaramalaza' made for her a priestly robe modelled on the high priest's garments described in Exodus 28 and a silver crown related to Deuteronomy 28. The use of the Old Testament outside the Church is illustrated by the third case, investigating traditio-practitioners' applications of Old Testament texts in their religious practices. Examples include: 1) Exodus 3:1-3; Leviticus 14: 1-8; Jeremiah 8: 22, used in traditional healing; 2) Exodus 3: 5b; Job 33: 6a; Psalm 121: 8a, employed as religious slogans; 3) Leviticus 1-6, applied in traditional sacrifices and offerings; and 4) Psalm 113: 5-6; Genesis 2: 18, 22, employed as references for morality. This project, which describes and analyses how and why the Old Testament is used by different people, Christian and traditionalist, in Malagasy religious contexts, is aimed at developing an interpretive model based on these three cases. More specifically, it seeks to show how the Old Testament can be interpreted and used in contemporary Madagascar/Africa. / Biblical and Ancient studies / D. Th (Old Testament)