This study was a descriptive-analytical survey of middle school principals' and full-time middle school teachers' responses to the Survey of Instructional Leadership Behavior (SILB). The study was undertaken to determine whether significant differences existed between the respondents in terms of their perceptions of the"actual" instructional leadership behavior and the"expected" instructional leadership behavior of middle school principals in the metropolitan area of Richmond, Virginia. Attention was given also to examining the relationship between selected demographic characteristics such as the sex, age, ethnic group, experience, educational background, and annual salary on the respondents and their perceptions of the middle school principals' instructional leadership behavior. The subjects for this study were identified from three governmental localities to make up a representative group of middle school principals, as well as full-time middle school teachers in the Richmond (Virginia) Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area (SMSA). Of the 532 who participated in the study, 391 (73%) were determined usable responses. Of this number, 11 of the responses were middle school principals and 380 were full-time middle school teachers. Five main hypotheses were developed and tested in order to guide the study: (1) There is no significant difference between the"actual" instructional leadership behavior of the principal as perceived by middle school principals when compared to the perceptions of full-time middle school teachers in the metropolitan area of Richmond, Virginia; (2) There is no significant difference between the"expected" instructional leadership behavior of the principal as perceived by middle school principals when compared to the perceptions of full-time middle school teachers in the metropolitan area of Richmond, Virginia; (3) There is no significant difference between the"actual" instructional leadership behavior and the"expected" instructional leadership behavior of the principal as perceived by middle school principals in the metropolitan area of Richmond, Virginia; (4) There is no significant difference between the"actual" instructional leadership behavior and the"expected" instructional leadership behavior of the principal as perceived by full-time middle school teachers in the metropolitan area of Richmond, Virginia; and (5) There is no significant relationship between each of the demographic characteristics of the respondents and their perceptions of the"actual" instructional leadership behavior and the"expected" instructional leadership behavior of the middle school principals in the metropolitan area of Richmond, Virginia. Each hypothesis presented in this study was tested at the .05 level of significance to determine which should be accepted and which should be rejected. Hypotheses 1 and 2 were tested using independent t-test values. Hypotheses 3 and 4 were tested using dependent t-test values. Hypothesis 5 was tested by conducting a multiway analysis of variance using all demographic data as independent variables. Of the five hypotheses presented, one was accepted (Hypothesis 1), three were rejected (Hypotheses 2, 3, and 4), and one was rejected in part (Hypothesis 5). The following conclusions are based on the findings of the study: (1) Middle school principals and teachers were in general agreement relative to their perceptions of the 0 actual" instructional leadership behavior of middle school principals in the metropolitan area of Richmond, Virginia. Although there was agreement, middle school principals' perceptions of their actual behavior are higher than the teachers' perceptions; (2) Middle school principals' perceptions of their"expected" instructional leadership behavior were significantly higher than the teachers' perceptions of how the principals were expected to behave; (3) Middle school principals' perceptions of their"expected" instructional leadership behavior were significantly higher than the middle school principals' perceptions of their"actual" instructional leadership behavior; (4) Middle school teachers' perceptions of their principals'"expected" instructional leadership behavior were significantly higher than their perceptions of the principals'"actual" instructional leadership behavior; (5) Sex, age, ethnic group, experience, number of years assigned to the school, degrees, and annual salary had no influence on the middle school principals' perceptions of their"actual" instructional leadership behavior nor their"expected" instructional leadership behavior; (6) Although sex, age, number of years assigned to the school, experience, and annual salary had no influence on middle school teachers' perceptions of the principals'"actual" instructional leadership behavior, the ethnic background tends to have some influence. Furthermore, the specific interaction between the number of years teachers were assigned to the school and the degrees held tended to influence their perceptions of the principals' actual behavior; and (7) Although sex, age, ethnic group, number of years assigned to the school, degrees and annual salary had no influence on middle school teachers' perceptions of the principals'"expected" instructional leadership behavior, the experience of the teacher tends to have significant influence. Furthermore, the specific interaction between the ethnic background of the teachers and the degrees held had a significant influence on their perceptions of the principals' expected behavior. / Ed. D.

In 1972 the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG) adopted a fair share plan for the purpose of allocating assisted housing among its sixteen member jurisdictions. The primary objectives of the plan were to avoid further undue concentrations of low and moderate income housing in the center of the area and to provide lower income families with housing opportunities in the area's suburban jurisdictions where many lower income jobs were being created. Reflecting these two objectives, both the original and revised formulas contained factors which served to allocate a large percentage of housing funds to those affluent suburban jurisdictions which had very little assisted housing. This skewed distribution, COG believed, would result in a balance of assisted housing throughout the area, resulting in increased potential mobility for the area's lower income. In spite of the plan's successful implementation, the potential mobility of the area’s lower income has not been greatly enhanced. The primary reason for this is the area's extremely high housing costs and the overwhelming need for assisted housing in all jurisdictions. Many of the area's moderate income families literally have been priced out of the housing market and must now compete with lower income families for the relatively scarce assisted housing. If the housing needs of the area's residents are ever to be met, and if fair share is to achieve the objectives for which it was designed, the area's moderate income families must once again become competitors in the housing market. / Master of Urban and Regional Planning

This study uses data on the fast-growing peripheral counties located in the 50 largest metropolitan areas to test the null hypothesis that counties located on the metropolitan fringe are demographically homogenous. Using multivariate analysis, the analysis statistically identifies distinct groups of counties in the metropolitan fringe. In contrast to much of the standard literature, the research rejects the null hypothesis and suggests that more than one exurbia exists. This study also explores the varying pressures and demands faced by the different exurban county types in response to massive and compounding growth stresses, recognizing the complexity of managing growth in the fringe and the implications for planners. It is expected that counties identified as "similar" will experience common-responses to different programs and policies addressing growth pressures. Similar counties should therefore use these results to facilitate information exchange concerning successful or unsuccessful strategies. / Master of Urban and Regional Planning

No description available.

M. Tech. Business Administration / In recent years, major cities in South Africa (i.e., Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg, and Pretoria) have experienced a mushrooming of private further education and training (FET) colleges. Clearly, the increasing number of private institutions has resulted in growing competition in the sector. Escalating competitive pressure, therefore, means that there is need for these institutions to find new ways of achieving competitive advantage. Marketing specialists agree that an effective strategy for a business to maintain competitive advantage in a highly competitive market depends on two factors. Firstly, the business needs to develop an understanding of customers' opinions on service quality, and secondly, applying such knowledge to create efficient services delivery systems for maximising consumer satisfaction. It is against this background that the purpose of this study was twofold: (a) assessing FET students' perceptions of service quality, and (b) investigating how the Servqual attributes influence satisfaction.

M. Tech. Business Administration / Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are increasingly seen as playing an important role in the economies of many countries. Thus, governments throughout the world focus on the development of the SME sector to promote economic growth. However, SMEs suffer from a high failure rate. The adoption of corporate governance is one of the factors that can help to improve the performance and reduce the high failure rate of SMEs in South Africa. The primary objective of this study was to establish the adoption of corporate governance principles by small and medium enterprises (SMEs). In addition, the study investigated the barriers to the adoption of corporate governance by SMEs. Principles adopted from the King 111 report were used to measure the corporate governance of SMEs. Four principles were used by this study to measure the adoption of corporate governance by SMEs. These were (1) Management of risk: this included accounting measures, control system and risk management. (2) Use of information technology. (3) Responsible and ethical leadership and (4) Compliance with applicable laws and rules. The study area was Tshwane Central Business District.

M. Tech. Business Administration / The City of Tshwane initiated and implemented a structural and infrastructural change process in recent years, by merging with Metsweding District, Cullinan and Bronkhorstspruit. One of the critical tools that influences the success or failure of a change process is communication. This study investigates how communication during the implementation phase was utilised and it impacted on the attitudes and behaviours of employees of City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality.

This study investigated leisure interests and leisure participation of executives in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. The Leisure Activities Blank and a questionnaire designed to collect demographic information were administered to twenty-five randomly selected executives. Five hypotheses were tested. Four were retained; one was rejected. Gold was found to be the favorite leisure interest of the respondents. They are currently engaged in eighteen leisure interests, and indicated a desire to participate in thirty-six leisure activities at some future time. Leisure interests which the respondents participated in during their past, or are currently engaged in, appear to be those they hope to continue in the future.

As regiões metropolitanas surgiram a partir do desenvolvimento do modo de produção capitalista do século XX e tiveram seu reconhecimento em textos normativos a partir da Constituição de 1967. A Constituição de 1988 coloca a cargo dos Estados a eventual instituição de regiões metropolitanas. A Região Metropolitana de São Paulo foi criada com a Lei Complementar nº 94/74, antes mesmo da atual constituição. A delegação e fiscalização do transporte público metropolitano da região estão a cargo da Secretaria de Transportes Metropolitanos. O transporte público coletivo é considerado um serviço público e, como tal, deve obedecer a algumas regras para sua delegação a terceiros (empresas privadas), o que se pode dar por concessão, permissão ou concessão patrocinada. A remuneração da prestação do serviço público se dá, em geral, pelo pagamento de tarifa, mas pode abranger também um pagamento do Poder Público para viabilizar o negócio. Da mesma forma, pode o concessionário ou permissionário necessitar pagar um valor referente ao custo da outorga e a custos gerenciais. O transporte público é essencial para a circulação nas cidades, o que garante maior acessibilidade e mobilidade principalmente à população de baixa renda. Vários são os modos de transporte público, sendo que o ônibus é o mais comum e que demanda menores investimentos. A delegação do serviço de transporte coletivo na Região Metropolitana de São Paulo foi dividida em cinco áreas para maior controle do Estado sobre a execução dos contratos, sendo que somente quatro delas possuem contratos a partir de licitações iniciadas em 2005. Escolheu-se o procedimento realizado para a Área 1 para estudo, em vista da similaridade dos procedimentos referente às demais áreas. Apesar das diversas tentativas de contratação de empresas para a execução do serviço na Área 5, até o momento todas as tentativas foram fracassadas. Por fim, segue-se a uma análise crítica de todo o estudado. / The metropolitan regions emerged from the development of the capitalist mode of production of the twentieth century and had its normative recognition in the 1967 Constitution text. The 1988 Constitution places the responsibility of the states to possible imposition of metropolitan regions. The Sao Paolo Metropolitan Region was created by the Complementary Law n º 94/74, even before the current constitution. The delegation and supervision of the metropolitan public transport in the region are made by the Secretariat of Metropolitan Transport. The public transportation is considered a public service and, as such, must obey some rules for its delegation to third parties (private companies), which can be given through a concession, permission or sponsored concession. The remuneration of the public service implementation is made by the bus fare, but may also involve a payment from the Government to enable the business. Likewise, the company may pay an amount related to grant and management costs. Public transport is essential for the movement in the cities, which ensures greater accessibility and mobility mainly to low-income population. There are several modes of public transportation, and the bus is the most common and lower investment demand. The delegation of the public transport service in Sao Paolo Metropolitan Region is divided into five areas for greater state control over the contracts implementation, and only four of them have contracts from bidding started in 2005. We chose the procedure performed for Area 1 for study in view of the similarity of procedures regarding other areas. Despite several attempts to hiring companies for the execution of the service in Area 5, so far all attempts failed. At the end it\'s made an critic analysis of what was studied.

This study examined the factors related to travel mode choices in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metropolitan Area. Changes in population, life style and economy of the Dallas-Fort Worth region over the last few decades demand a careful re-examination of travel demand tools and methods. The purpose of the study was to provide an understanding of transportation modal choice in the region. Those demographic variables best predicting the choices were identified. The Home Interview Survey, a set of disaggregate data from the 19 84 North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG) Regional Travel Survey, was analyzed using logistic regression. The major findings of the research indicate that about 97 percent of the travelers in the study area used private cars and 3 percent used public transit. Household income and cars-vans were significant explanatory variables. The impact of household income and number of car-vans available upon an individual's decision for travel mode choice were very important. The number of car-vans available in the household, and age of respondents were significant predictors in travel mode. Household members with incomes of $30,000 to $39,000 and those with incomes of at least $50,000 tended to use more private cars than did other income groups. Also, household members with incomes below $9,000 used more public transportation. People reporting a lower preference for cars were younger than 26 years or older than 55 years of age.