The ambient conditions such as air quality, noise, music, temperature, lighting and colour, in open-plan offices and their impact on employees are important for managements to recognize because open-plan offices are becoming more and more common in Swedish companies' office design today (Aronsson, 2005). For students, who will soon be entering the work force, it is important to understand how the characteristics of the ambient conditions can influence employee behaviour/satisfaction. To have a working knowledge of what kinds of effects the ambient conditions can have is likely to increase one's chances of becoming a satisfied employee. An employee that is aware of the importance of creating a servicescape (the attributes of the physical surrounding) that meets its needs and desires is likely to enhance its satisfaction in the ambient conditions. A great number of managements may not be aware of the risks of working in an open-plan office where the ambient conditions are not satisfying the employees; ergonomic issues as well as heart diseases are the most serious results (Evans and Johnson, 2000, pp. 780-782). This leads to the problem formulation of this thesis: "How can management improve employee satisfaction in an open-plan office through the characteristics of a servicescape's ambient conditions?”. Four main theories are included in the Theoretical Framework to provide a deep understanding for the reader about the complexity of problems that comes with working in an open-plan office. The Bitner theory and the research compiled by Sundstrom discuss ambient conditions and their impacts on employees' behaviour/satisfaction. Evans and Johnson’s theory discusses how stress is related to low-intensity noise. The final main theory, Person-Environment Fit, upholds the importance of a servicescape that fits employees’ needs and desires. The ambient conditions influence employee behaviours in numerous ways (Davis, 1984, pp. 271) and at Sogeti’s open-plan office several ambient conditions are studied through an observation conducted during April 17th 2007 and a questionnaire with 15 closed questions. The outcomes of the observation and the questionnaire are analysed and concrete proposals are created for the Sogeti management to act upon in order to improve the characteristics of their open-plan office’s ambient conditions and thereby improve employee satisfaction. One of the concrete proposals to how Sogeti may improve the ambient conditions in their open-plan office is to introduce a survey that should be handed out to the employees three or four times a year. The purpose of the survey is to define employees’ perceptions of the different ambient conditions. Based on the outcomes from the survey, employees’ needs and desires of the servicescape, the ambient conditions’ characteristics, can be improved. Also, some examples of actions geared towards reducing the level of noise in the Sogeti open-plan office are to use ear phones when listening to music and to leave the open-plan office when conducting phone calls. The concrete proposals developed based on the Sogeti employees’ perceptions of the ambient conditions in the open-plan office are outcomes of this thesis that may serve as a tool for the Sogeti management to improve the ambient conditions of their servicescape and thereby increase employee satisfaction.

Texte remanié de: Diss.--Fachbereich Geschichts- und Kulturwissenschaften--Berlin--Freie Universität, 1999. / Bibliogr. p. 656-701. Index.

The purpose of this study is to determine the energy impacts of daylighing through toplights in a hot humid climate. Daylight in the working environment improves the quality of the space, and productivity of employees. In addition, natural light is a free energy resource. On one hand, a proper design of daylight such as distributed toplights can reduce the electrical lighting consumption. On the other hand, in a hot climate like Austin heat gain is a major concern. Therefore, this thesis is shaped around this question: Can toplighting strategies save energy in Austin despite the fact that buildings receive more direct heat gain through toplights? The importance of daylighting is more revealed since electrical lighting takes up a significant portion of the total building energy use (21%). In this thesis I investigated the reduction of lighting electricity and compared that with the total effects of toplights on external conductance, lighting heat gain and solar gain. The results of my thesis show that regarding the site energy a proper toplighting strategy can save electrical lighting up to (70%) with smaller impact on heating and cooling loads. This means that toplights generally can be energy efficient alternatives for a one storey office building. Developing my research I studied which toplights are more efficient: north sawtooth roofs, south sawtooth roofs, monitor roofs or very simple skylights. I compared different toplighting strategies and provided a design guide containing graphs of site energy, source energy, annual cost saving per square feet, as well as light distribution of each toplight. I believe this can accelerate implementation of efficient toplighting strategies in the design process. Concluding how significantly efficient daylighting is over heat gain, I finalized my research by comparison of skylights with different visible transmission (VT) and solar heat gain coefficient (SHGC). The major result of this thesis is that proper toplighting strategies can save energy despite the increased solar gain. It is anticipated that the thesis findings will promote the implementation of toplighting strategies and higher VT glass type in the energy efficient building industry. / text

Thesis (M Design)--University of South Australia, 1996

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Western Sydney, Macarthur, Faculty of Business, 1998. / Bibliography: p. 434-449.

Thesis (M.Ap.C.T. & M.)--Cleveland State University, 2008. / Abstract. Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on July 8, 2008). Includes bibliographical references (p. 79-82). Available online via the OhioLINK ETD Center. Also available in print.

Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 99-107).

Thesis (M.Arch.)--University of Detroit Mercy, 2005. / "2 May 2005". Includes bibliographical references (p. 111-112).

Texte remanié de: Th. doct.--Droit public--Paris 1, 2000. / Bibliogr. p. 385-399. Index.

The introduction of this dissertation presents a brief summation of what other sources have ushered with regard to the question of who Jesus is. The problem we seek to resolve; the justification of this dissertation; the definition of some terminology and the main source materials employed, are presented in this chapter. Since the problem statement is crucial for a good dissertation, chapter two will identify this problem from the grass roots level and will show us the turbulent tides it has encountered through the early centuries of the Christian church. The Aftermath of the early Christian church was a string of one Word Symbols, or tides for Jesus. The problem of embracing only one Word title for Jesus is also explained in chapter three. In contrast to the One-sided Word Christologies described in chapter four, an example of some symbols of the Word that inclusively describe in part, who Jesus really is, is presented. Since this dissertation has a holistic approach, it is paramount for the investigation to consider a religious figure that embraces or represents a Christology that denotes holism. This is covered in chapter five. It is in chapter five, where the writer, out of necessity, is prompted to devote a number of pages exploring White's Chiistological conviction. In this chapter the writer uncovers White's perception of the great conflict between good and evil. Retrospectively, the writer absoibs White's assumption and perception of the person of Christ. This chapter also looks at how Christ's role and function is perceived by White. During this research, the way she used the various Word symbols of Christ, who is the over-arching prism of the Almighty God, was found to be of particular interest. White also provides practical, theoretical knowledge of how Christ occupies the believer's life, the world and God's universe. As in chapter five, chapter six presents the exposition of the Christology of John Calvin. In chapter seven the Christology of White is compared to that of John Calvin. A table of data that illustrates how many different types of Word symbols and how many times those Word symbols are mentioned by both White and Calvin are presented. Chapter eight will present the conclusion of this dissertation. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / M. Th. (Systematic Theology)