published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Real Estate and Construction / Master / Master of Science in Real Estate and Construction

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.T.R.P.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1999.

This dissertation examines the christological thought of Thomas Todhunter Shields between the years 1894 to 1930, along with its influence on his view of the Bible and of the Christian's role within his/her culture. / T. T. Shields was one of the most prominent Fundamentalist leaders in the 1920's. While a popularizer rather than an academic his thought merits study due to his influence within Fundamentalism and his reputation for being one of the more "thoughtful" of Fundamentalists. / Shields' christology was monophysitic and docetic leading, in time, to a full blown christo-monism which effectively removed Christ from his mediatorial role. In place of Christ, Shields virtually substituted the Bible; and the characteristics that he had attributed to the Christ (viz., transcendence of error and 'the human element') he now attributed to the Scriptures. Shields' christology also resulted in a truncation of his conception the church, particularly with respect to the question of Christian mission.

Buildings make it possible for people to work together in organizations. In organization studies research, the physical aspects of organizations have been neglected in favor of intangible aspects (Gagliardi, 1996; Strati, 1999). Much of the research in management and organizational studies about physical workplaces concentrates on the instrumental aspects of offices, such as the relationship between open-plan offices and employee attitudes and behaviors (e.g. Hatch, 1987; Oldham, 1988), but it does not address the aesthetic aspects of offices. The physical workplace is part of the field of organizational aesthetics, which encompasses a range of topics and theoretical approaches, from aesthetics as a way of knowing organizations to the arts and related industries. This study explored the importance of aesthetics--beauty or its lack--in the day-to-day lives of people in organizations by exploring individuals' meanings of and experiences of their offices. At the same time, it examined the relationship between aesthetics and instrumentality of the physical workplace. How do office aesthetics matter in the way that work gets done in an organization? This study used Q-methodology (Brown, 1980; Stephenson, 1953) to explore individuals' experiences of their physical workplaces. Aesthetics and instrumentality were connected through site selection. Sites were chosen based on their combination of good/bad aesthetics and good/limited functionality. Twenty-one participants in four locations were interviewed about their offices--what they liked and disliked, and why. From the interviews, a Q-sample of statements was developed, and 19 participants sorted them into a normal distribution from "most like my opinions of my office" to "most unlike my opinions of my office." The sorts were factor analyzed and interpreted using statement content, demographic characteristics of participants, and information about the organizations and participants that was learned through the interviews. The resulting four factors gave four different perspectives on office aesthetics. One group of participants loved their work and saw their offices as an avenue of self-expression, an extension of themselves. Another group experienced considerable emotional distress because their offices did not reflect the quality of their organizations' work. For a third group, functionality was primary. For the last group, the office stood in for the organization as a whole-- their feelings about their workspaces mirrored their feelings about their organization.

Interest in the power of heads of field offices in the United Nations Organization (UN) began with the researcher's appointment to such a position and with anecdotal suggestions that any explanation of the powers they held would be complex. For these reasons, this study has the research aim of explaining the power of some UN heads of field offices. The study focusses on seven heads of field offices in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Literature searches indicated that no academic study had been made of any UN field work but the searches produced considerable literature on the UN and a wide range of theories about organizations, leadership and power, related issues of ethics and rationality and useful concepts from the work of Weber and Foucault. The research is interpretive. A case study and an appropriate conceptual framework were designed to reflect both the literature and the three research questions that promote the aim: organizational bureaucracy, organizational capital and frontline work are the guiding concepts. Because case studies may be challenged for possible lack of rigour and for validity, a number of data collection and analysis methods were used to promote reliability: both the data sources and the analysis checks included participants, UNESCO documents and information from other international bodies. Appropriate literature is also used for theoretical analysis. The results are presented progressively in three chapters, each chapter focussing on one framework concept and its appropriate question. The relevant data are presented and theoretical analysis, including selected concepts from Weber and Foucault, suggests answers to each question posed. The research results suggest that in the organization the participants gain power from UNESCO's intellectual and ethical purpose but are constrained in its use by processes of the bureaucracy, especially its lines of communication. The participants also have considerable power in organizational capital that includes tangible capital of qualifications, experience, skills, high level of position, the resources of the post in which they work and the intangible capital of the assumptions they hold about their work. At the frontline, although constrained by bureaucratic processes that limit their time for programme work, participants report valuable contributions to UNESCO's development and advocacy work: they gain power fiom proximity to the countries they serve and from their ethical motivation. They also gain some power in the freedom of distance from their headquarters, thus weakening the possible double jeopardy by being in a class-at-the-frontline and being in a group-not-in-headquarters. The final chapter brings all suggestions together and examines participants' power for sources (as rights or capacities), limitations (as control or domination) and agency (with compliance and resistance); when these perspectives are combined in a circle of power, the study suggests a Janus syndrome in which participants paradoxically are powerful/powerless agents, sited as they are between the power provision and constraints of both their bureaucracy and the governments and other bodies with whom they work.

Thesis (M.F.A.)--Rochester Institute of Technology, 2008. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (p. 178).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Illinois at Chicago, 1999. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Illinois at Chicago, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references.

"Professional paper presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science, Environmental Studies, the University of Montana, Missoula, MT, spring 2007." / Title from PDF title page (viewed on Aug. 12, 2007). Includes bibliographic references (p. 67-69).