Appreciative Inquiry (AI) has gained increasing popularity as a form of organisation development and action research worldwide, yet little research has been published outside of the USA and Canada. This thesis explores the application and evaluation of Appreciative Inquiry (AI) in the unique context of New Zealand through the perspectives of facilitators of AI. I conducted semi-structured, in-depth interviews with nine experienced AI facilitators in order to understand their perspectives on how AI works, under which circumstances it is most effective and how they evaluate AI. Facilitators tend to come from backgrounds that embrace humanistic values, a premise shared by AI. Participants in this study regard the underlying principles of AI as central, whereas they consider concrete processes, such as the 4D-cycle, to be useful but not essential. Facilitators are very concerned about the appropriate use of AI and clearly identified circumstances supportive or detrimental to AI processes. For example, AI may be inappropriate in situations where there is a pre-determined agenda or leadership is very autocratic. Facilitators are also concerned that AI as a methodology should be applied more wholesomely, acknowledging and working through negative emotions rather than suppressing them. Facilitators face a paradox: They embrace values that put the individual centre stage and regard people as human beings rather than human resources. At the same time, they are external service providers to clients who are at times more concerned with quick fixes, and do not want to invest the time necessary to engage in deep reflection on values and transformative change. Findings suggest that we need to reconsider our interpretation of AI towards embracing the underlying humanistic values more, rather than focusing on the concrete applications (e.g. 4D-cycle). The paradox between embracing humanistic values inherent in AI and bottom-line orientation in most organisations warrants further research.

Taxation equity may be classified into horizontal equity, where people who are in the same economic position should be taxed the same, and vertical equity, where those who differ economically should be treated differently. In the New Zealand income tax, the vertical equity norm has primarily been achieved by progressive tax rates, and by family-friendly adjustments. Given that the income tax intentionally discriminates between taxpayers on the basis of taxpayer-specific characteristics such as income level and domestic situation, the question arises as to how the New Zealand income tax in its successive manifestations has been justified as fair; that is, what vertical equity in the New Zealand income tax looked like and how it was justified. This thesis considers the practice of the New Zealand income tax since its introduction in 1891 until 1984. By illuminating an employee’s lived experience of the income tax, it illustrates what taxation fairness actually looked like in practice, and contrasts this with the rhetoric of those responsible for the tax. It concludes that the reality of external events, rather than the rhetoric of taxation fairness, appears to have been the main driver of taxation practice. By focusing attention on the experience of the taxpayer, rather than merely on aggregated taxation data, legislative provisions or political discussion, the thesis permits the political rhetoric or fairness to be assessed against the fiscal impact on personal taxpayers. The thesis commences by reviewing certain influences on New Zealand income tax thought: from religion, antiquity, and more particularly from certain key British philosophers. It finds that despite their importance, these do not provide a clear direction for taxation policy. The thesis then shifts from philosophical discussions of what constitutes a fair tax to look at what the income tax actually looked like in the case of a wage or salary earner. It adopts an inductive approach by calculating the effect of the income tax legislation on employees at three income levels and in three domestic situations. The resulting nine cases demonstrate how taxpayers were distinguished for the purposes of vertical equity. Returning to the sources, this thesis then reviews contemporary Parliamentary Debates and Reports for evidence of how Parliament justified the practice of vertical equity in the income tax. Despite frequent appeals to fairness or equity, no clear basis was found. Rather, significant changes to the income tax, and thus to the practice of vertical equity, largely reflected pragmatic responses to political or economic events. Yet once such crises had passed, the income tax, and vertical equity in that tax, did not revert to the pre-crisis shape, but rather conformed to a new paradigm.

This research primarily examines the trends of changing characteristics of corporate boards within New Zealand listed firms. Expressing in a quantitative framework, this research provides an insight of how board compositions have changed over the past decade, within which two major corporate governance legislative reforms have occurred. These two reforms are known as the Companies Act in 1993 and the New Zealand Corporate Governance Best Practice Code in 2003. This study aims to cover a full range of board characteristics mentioned in previous related literatures in order to give a more complete view. Sixteen variables are selected and examined: board size, board independence, multiple directorships, CEO compensation, chair and director fees, CEO duality, gender diversity, staggered board, directors' ownership, director tenure, directors' experience, committee existence, committee independence, CEO involvement on board committees, board and committee Meetings, directors' educational and industrial background. Within the above variables, board size, board independence and CEO duality receives the most attention from New Zealand investors and regulators. Tendencies of movements regarding these characteristics appear to collaborate with public expectations. Board size has decreased while independence has increased throughout the periods examined. CEO duality phenomenon sharply reduced during the periods after 2003 legislative reform. Committee independence has also grown according to the public recognition, especially for audit committees. CEO involvements on board committees are less than before. Boards within New Zealand listed firms desire more diversification of both gender and backgrounds of directors. These findings fill the gap of the evolution of corporate boards’ characteristics of New Zealand listed firms over the past decade.

Consequences of global warming and climate change issues have become more apparent over the last several decades. Heat waves, floods, tornados and storms are not just natural disasters occurring elsewhere, but they are now serious environmental catastrophes threatening New Zealand (NZ) and nearby countries as a result of continously escalating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Thus, the Kyoto Protocol was prepared for countries to work collaborately to provide a solution through encourging countries to commit themselves to reducing their individual share of the total GHG emissions. To date, NZ has gone through several phases of modification – introducing and revising two distinctive climate change policies (a Carbon Tax and an Emissions Trading Scheme [ETS]) as a tool to reduce GHG in NZ. These attempts to address climate change, coupled with the question raised by McDonald (Irish Times, 2009) doubting the actual effect of a tax on behaviour-change, provide an extensive basis for a case study in a NZ context involving an evaluation of the effectiveness of these regimes on incentivising behaviour-change to reduce and stablise the level of GHG emissions. In an attempt to answer the research question and conduct a case study in a NZ context, a triangulation approach incorporating both quantitative and qualitative research methods was undertaken. Statistical data analysis was conducted as a quantitative method to analyse and compare numerical changes 'with‘ and 'without‘ the existence of climate change policies. To enhance the results obtained from the quantitative research, qualitative information was also collected by interviewing politicians directly related to the introduction, implementation and the review process of the climate change policies in a semi-structured manner. The results of this study reinforced the need for regulations and policies to reduce and maintain the level of GHG emissions. Statistical data analysis proved that the existence of climate change policies results in lower level of GHG emissions. The interviewees also perceived that some sort of policy is definitely required to regulate the level of emissions, although whether the current, National-led Government‘s modfied-ETS is the 'right' approach is still uncertain. However, the majority of interviewees agreed that the type of tool does not matter, as long as it is correctly-designed to reflect the necessary policies to influence the decision making process of individuals and businesses, and ultimately change their behaviour as a result. However, in order to maintain NZ‘s relationship with other countries, it is preferable to retain its ETS regime until other countries decide to do otherwise.

This is a detailed study of the values embodied in and transmitted by state primary schools in New Zealand between 1890 and 1914. After describing the creation of a network of primary schools and the means by which regular attendance was secured it describes the schools' role in fostering the conventional virtues and certain widely held social attitudes through the "hidden curriculum", through school discipline, and through teachers' example. The social and moral content of schoolwork is then analysed with particular attention to what was said about New Zealand itself and about Maoris and racial differences. A detailed examination is made of a number of attempts to enlist the schools in particular social and moral causes: religious education, temperance, the inculcation of patriotism, sex education, military training, "correct" speech, and secular moral instruction. The closing chapters consider the differential impact of schooling and credentialling on children from different social classes and on boys and girls. This study draws on a wide variety of sources and makes extensive use of a large collection of school texts of the period~ The values schools transmitted reflected a middle class consensus, not seriously challenged by workers. The content of schooling was chiefly contested by middle class groups seeking to purify and improve the existing social order. Middle class groups were ambivalent towards the emergence of a distinctive national identity, but the schools fostered, often as unintended consequences, certain aspects of national identity.

A significant proportion of worldwide research concerning adult refugees has investigated clinical perspectives and emphasised the impact of pre and post-migration experiences as key factors affecting their mental health status. Nevertheless, a clear understanding of their mental health problems and psychiatric morbidity is difficult to obtain due to major prevalence variations and discrepancies between studies. Further, recent studies in New Zealand have underlined the limitation of health providers' abilities to meet refugees' mental health needs. On the other hand, despite the acknowledgment of refugees' endurance abilities to overcome traumatic events during both their pre-migration flight and in their first asylum countries, relatively less is known about their capacities to show positive adaptation to life's tasks in the course of resettlement in a final host country and how this impacts on preventing mental health problems. The current study, therefore, was undertaken to develop a theoretical understanding to describe and explain adult refugees' coping processes in overcoming resettlement difficulties and adjusting to life in New Zealand. This was achieved by using the grounded theory methodology where qualitative data were collected from twenty-six former refugees coming from war torn countries namely Afghanistan, Burma (Myanmar), Ethiopia, Kurdistan region and Somalia who are now living in Christchurch and Nelson. Participants described the basic social process of obtaining a social position as being the main goal which motivated them to develop their coping skills and behaviour. They explained that this was underpinned by the inter-relationship of their personal resources and gradual personal achievements which were influenced by encouraging external support from resettlement services providers and "caring" New Zealanders. Data collected during this study suggest that this dynamic process, in which personality and environmental factors interacted in a reciprocal and transactional relationship, appeared to be the condition sine qua non to negotiate and manage resettlement challenges. Indeed, participants frequently emphasised that if this interaction was not activated they faced greater difficulties in coming to terms with their new environment and in their adjustment to life in New Zealand, thus leading potentially to adverse mental health outcomes. Additionally, quantitative socio-economic data were collected so as to describe participants' characteristics. The study’s findings underline the complexity of adult refugees’ coping processes as well as some of the institutional constraints hindering their adaptation progress which can result in mental distress. These issues require responses which are beyond the health sector on its own. The implications of supporting the development of personal abilities so as to guide pragmatic support and encourage multisectoral collaboration are outlined and discussed. Areas for further research are highlighted as well as strategic issues which need to be addressed for improving the current situation of refugees resettled in New Zealand.

In this dissertation, Foucault’s methodologies, archaeology and genealogy, are used to explore the links between silence, knowledge and power in the area of therapeutic sexual exploitation. Underpinning this task is Foucault’s theoretical assumption that knowledge is not scientifically constructed through objective and rational methods. Knowledge, under Foucault’s theoretical framework, is influenced by the more obscure conditions of possibility which affect power relations and, therefore, power-knowledge. Therefore, New Zealand’s scientific discourse around therapeutic sexual exploitation is analysed by moving between the discursive and the extra-discursive. This is undertaken to highlight the more obscure conditions of possibility which may have affected the political construction of knowledge and its material effects in the area of therapeutic sexual exploitation. New Zealand’s academic discourse on therapeutic sexual exploitation is examined with reference to the social conditions which have influenced the origins of counselling and psychotherapy in New Zealand. This includes an exploration of the links between counselling and psychotherapy to other New Zealand based psy-professions. In particular, an investigation is conducted as to how disciplinary procedures have been applied to those connected to, and affected by, therapeutic sexual exploitation. This, however, is studied by locating New Zealand’s discourse within an international discourse on therapeutic sexual exploitation. This wider lens shows how New Zealand’s discourse around therapeutic sexual exploitation, as other countries’ discourses on this matter, has developed in response to local social conditions and changing power relations. Through this broader analysis of New Zealand’s discursive formation on therapeutic sexual exploitation one can see the interplay between silence, knowledge and power, and its material effects on the lives on people. This dissertation highlights not only what knowledge-power might be restricting, but also what it might be producing in the area of therapeutic sexual exploitation, the impacts of which, it will be argued, extends well beyond the particular domain under examination.

Exercise Tolerance Testing (ETT) is widely accepted as an important diagnostic and prognostic tool and its primary purpose is to assess patients with known or suspected coronary artery disease. Previous studies have focused on concordance between doctors and other supervising personnel in regards to safety outcomes. ETTs are increasingly supervised by nurses now as a result of medical devolvement in this role. This study contributes a new perspective to international literature and focuses on understanding the process of role development for cardiac nurses who supervise ETTs. The overall aim was to gain greater understanding of how cardiac nurses have developed in the role of supervising ETTs and what their process has been. This is a mixed methods study that has utilised both qualitative descriptive techniques and descriptive quantitative data. These data were obtained by individual interviews with ETT nurses and the Clinical Director of Cardiology, and a survey of technicians who work alongside the ETT nurses at a tertiary hospital. Data were also obtained from a national survey of cardiac centres in New Zealand. Both methods were employed to give greater depth to the subject and place local findings in context with national data and international literature. Findings show there have been a number of international and local evolutionary factors contributing to the emergence of the ETT nurse’s role over time. Specific themes emerged from the interviews that describe individual process of role development. Technicians identified that the ETT service has improved as a consequence of having ‘dedicated ETT nurses’. Variability in regards to work place practices, training and assessment were found in the national survey. There is further potential for both increasing the number of nurses practicing as ETT nurses and further expansion of the role, however continued fragmentation, inconsistent service delivery and variation in national standards for practice in New Zealand may be barriers to collective and individual role development.

The purpose of this research was to investigate the feasibility of installing gasification based combined heat and power plants in the New Zealand wood processing industry. This is in accordance with Objective Four of the BIGAS Consortium. This thesis builds on previous work on Objective Four (Rutherford, 2006) where integration into MDF (Medium Density Fibreboard) was investigated. The previous research identified the most suitable form of combined heat and power was a BIG-GE (Biomass Integrated Gasification Gas Engine) process, due to both lower capital investment and overall breakeven electricity production cost. This technology has therefore been adopted, and the investigation has been carried further in this research to incorporate integration into sawmills and LVL (Laminated Veneer Lumber) plants. It is recognised, however, especially when reviewing overseas successes and failures, that the base economics are only one factor in the feasibility of a plant. The research, therefore, has moved further to investigate New Zealand policy, the power market, lower capital alternatives and novel methods of integration. The conclusion of the study is gasification based combined heat and power plants in the New Zealand wood processing industry can be equal or better in economic terms than other forms of renewable generation, however, the application is very niche. Lower capital cost alternatives, stable and low priced biomass feed and a favourable power market in regards to distributed generation is key to the viability of such a plant. Government policy is favourable towards biomass gasification due to the target of 90% electrical generation by renewable resources by 2025. Distributed generation is also encouraged in the Government’s forward strategy. However, the technology has advanced further overseas due to capital grants and a premium paid for ‘green’ electricity. While the technology may be economic in its own right, active government support would lower the perceived risk increasing the likelihood of an investor taking interest in an initial project.

This thesis is comprised of two phases; the first phase concerns the effect of arsenic on the denitrification process in the presence of naturally-produced volatile fatty acids (VFAs); while the second phase evaluates the arsenic removal efficiency of New Zealand Iron Sand (NZIS) by adsorption. To accomplish the first phase of the study, VFAs were first produced naturally in an acid-phase anaerobic digester by using commercially-available soy flour. Secondly, a denitrifying biomass was cultivated in a sequencing batch reactor (SBR) using domestic wastewater as a feed solution. Finally, a series of biological denitrification batch tests were conducted in the presence of different concentrations of arsenic and nitrate. As mentioned, the VFAs were generated from an anaerobic digester using 40 g/L soy solution as a synthetic feed. The digester was operated at a solids retention time (SRT) and hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 10 days. The pH of the digester was measured to be 4.7 to 4.9 while the mean temperature was 31 ± 4 °C; however, both these parameters were not controlled. In the effluent of the digester, a mean VFA concentration of 5,997 ± 538 mg/L as acetic acid was achieved with acid speciation results of acetic (33 %), propionic (29 %), butyric (21 %), iso-valeric (5%) and n-valeric acid (12 %). The specific VFA production rate was estimated to be 0.028 mg VFA as acetic acid/mg VSS per day. The effluent sCOD was measured to be 14,800 mg/L (27.9 % of the total COD), as compared to 9,450 mg/L (16.8 % of total COD) in the influent of the digester. Thus, the COD solubilization increased by 11.1 % during digestion yielding a specific COD solubilization rate of 0.025 mg sCOD/mg VSS per day. The extent of the digestion process converting the substrate from particulate to soluble form was also evaluated via the specific TOC solubilization rate (0.008 mg TOC/mg VSS per day), and VSS reduction percentage (17.7 ± 1.8 %). A denitrifying biomass was developed successfully in an SBR fed with domestic sewage (100 % denitrification was achieved for the influent concentration of sCOD = 285 ± 45 mg/L and NH₄⁺-N = 32.5 ± 3.5 mg/L). A mean mixed liquor suspended solids (MLSS) of 3,007 ± 724 mg/L and a mean SRT of 20.7 ± 4.4 days were measured during the period of the research. The settleability of the SBR sludge was excellent evidenced by a low sludge volume index (SVI) measured to be between 50-120 mL/g (with a mean value of 87 ± 33 mL/g) resulting in a very low effluent solids concentration (in many cases less than 20 mg/L). Several preliminary tests were conducted to estimate the right dosage of VFAs (digester effluent), nitrates and arsenic to be added and to confirm the occurrence of denitrification in an appropriate time frame of 4-6 h. From these tests, an optimum C/N ratio was observed to be somewhere between 2 to 4, somewhat higher than all the theoretical C/N ratios required for a complete denitrification using the four major VFAs identified in the digester effluent. During the denitrification batch tests, it was also observed that some NO₃⁻- N was removed instantaneously by reacting with As (III) (As₂O₃); while an increase in alkalinity of around 5.60 mg as CaCO₃ produced per mg NO₃⁻- N reduction was also observed. This latter number was very close to the theoretical value of alkalinity production (i.e. 5.41 mg as CaCO₃ per mg NO₃⁻- N). The effect of arsenic on the denitrification process was evaluated by observing the specific denitrification rate in series of denitrification batch tests (with different concentrations of arsenic). Results from the denitrification batch tests showed that there was a clear effect for both As (III) and As (V) on denitrification. In particular, the specific denitrification rate fell from 0.37 to 0.01 g NO₃⁻- N /g VSS per day as the concentration of As (III) increased from 0 to 50 mg/L. In contrast, there was comparatively less effect for As (V); i.e. only a 37 % decrease in the specific denitrification rate (from 0.34 g NO₃⁻- N /g VSS per day to 0.23 g NO₃⁻- N /g VSS per day) when the initial arsenic concentration increased from 0 to a very high level of 2,000 mg/L. The effects of both the As (III) and As (V) forms of inorganic arsenic on the denitrification rate were further quantified by constructing exponential equation models. It was suspected that the effect of As (III) on denitrification was more substantial than the effect of As (V) because of the former’s toxicity to microbes. Finally, the fate of arsenic was tracked by examining bacterial uptake. During the normal denitrification batch tests (i.e. designed for evaluation of the effect of arsenic on denitrification), no significant arsenic removal was observed. However, additional batch tests with a comparatively low concentration of biomass revealed that the denitrifying biomass removed 1.35 µg As (III) /g dry biomass and 2.10 µg As (V) /g dry biomass. In the second phase of this research, a series of arsenic adsorption batch tests as well as a column test were performed to examine the arsenic (As (III) and As (V)) removal efficiency of NZIS from an arsenic-contaminated water. The kinetics and isotherms for adsorption were analysed in addition to studying the effect of pH during the batch tests. Breakthrough characteristics for both As (III) and As (V) were studied to appraise the effectiveness of NZIS treating an arsenic contaminated water. Batch tests were performed with different concentrations of arsenic as well as at different pH conditions. A maximum adsorption of As (III) of approximately 90 % occurred at a pH of 7.5, while the As (V) adsorption reached its maximum value of 97.6 % at a very low pH value of 3. Both Langmuir and Freundlich Models were tested and found to fit with R² values of more than 0.92 in all cases. From the Langmuir adsorption model, the maximum adsorption capacity of NZIS for As (III) was estimated to be 1,250 µg/g, significantly higher (about three times) than for As (V) of 500 µg/g. In column tests, arsenic-contaminated water with total As concentration of 400 µg/L (in either form of As) were treated and a pore volume (PV) of 700 and 300 yielded a total arsenic level less than the WHO guideline value of 10 µg/L for As (III) and As (V) respectively; while, the breakthrough occurred after a throughput of approximately 3,000 PV of As (III) and 2,700 PV of As (V) with an average flow rate of approximately 1.0 mL/min.