Canada's relations with Nicaragua changed greatly during the 1980s after the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) came to power in a revolution which overthrew the Somoza dynasty. For the first few years of the new regime in Nicaragua, Canada provided little support, declaring that Canadians had no significant interests in the country and there was no reason for them to get involved in Central America's ongoing conflicts. When Brian Mulroney first came to power with Joe Clark as his Secretary of State for External Affairs, the Progressive Conservatives generally held to the course set by the previous Liberal government. However, as the 1980s went on the Conservatives began providing Nicaragua with more bilateral aid, and became increasingly involved in the regional peace process known as Esquipulas; this culminated in Canadian peacekeepers entering the region in 1990 as part of a UN peacekeeping force. The major impetus for the government's change in attitude was the strong and consistent pressure placed on the government by the Canadian public. Aid raised privately by Canadians for Nicaragua overshadowed government aid for much of the decade, making the government response look weak. The support of the Canadian public for action in Central America was the major factor which pressured the federal government into becoming more involved in Nicaragua, even though the government was not as supportive of the new regime in Nicaragua as a large portion of the Canadian public often was.

Visualization is a lean tool and in order to strive to become a lean company applying the lean philosophy in all these parts of the organization is necessary. A company that does not understand the philosophy and culture behind lean production, even though applying lean tools, is not a lean business and has a long way to production excellence.   Implementing and becoming a visual organization means change which includes the organizational culture, collective attitude and beliefs. The difference between success and failure is about the ability to provide knowledge, information and to create prerequisites for participation and engagement at all levels in the organization with a clear and direct leadership.   In many companies communication is lacking sufficient and official channels, and the inadequacy in the information systems are usually due to functional thinking and strict boarders at all levels in an organization. New ways of communication are the result of process orientation, demanding new prerequisites for information systems which companies needs to develop and thus become more visual. Knowledge and information needs to become more accessible and objective in order for decision to be taken based on facts not be the result of interpretations of reality. Visualization enables people to see and develop an objective and common reality. It further contributes to the organizations ability for improvement and aligns the employees to fulfill the overall business objectives and strategies.   The Company in this case that wants to be anonymous will further be called Company X. Company X objective is to develop a visual communication system to increase the information sharing and flow throughout the organization. However, this is not an easy task and many companies lack sufficient prerequisites to carry out a successful implementation. The research result at Company X has in this study shown weaknesses in core areas as in clear and direct leadership, vision and strategy development and communication as well as a low level of knowledge transformation at all levels in the organization in order to create engagement for the change process which an implemetion of this kind is. / Visualisering är ett lean verktyg och i sträva att bli ett lean företag måste lean filosofin tillämpas i alla delar av organisationen, vilket är en nödvändighet. Ett företag som inte förstår filosofin och kulturen bakom lean produktion, trots att man tillämpar lean verktyg, är inte ett lean företag och har en lång väg från optimering av produktion. Förutsättningarna att bli en visuell organisation innebär förändringar som omfattar organisations kultur, kollektiva attityder och föreställningar. Skillnaden mellan framgång och misslyckande handlar om förmågan att ge kunskap, information och att skapa förutsättningar för delaktighet och engagemang på alla nivåer i organisationen, detta genom ett tydligt och direkt ledarskap.   Kommunikation på många företag saknar ofta tillräckliga och officiella kanaler och bristen på information beror många gånger på funktionstänkande och strikta gränser, på alla nivåer i organisationen. Nya sätt att kommunicera är resultatet av processorientering vilket krävs för att företag ska kunna skapa förutsättningar för informationssystem och bli mer visuella. Kunskap och information måste bli mer tillgängligt och objektivt för att beslut som är baserade på fakta och inte på tolkningar av verkligheten ska kunna fattas. Visualiseringen möjliggör för människor att se och utveckla en objektiv och gemensam verklighet. Detta bidrar till organisationers möjlighet till förbättringar och möjlighet för de anställda att uppfylla de övergripande affärsmålen och strategierna för organisationen.   Det studerade företaget som valt att vara anonymt kommer hädanefter kallas för Företag X. Företag X målsättning är att utveckla ett visuellt kommunikationssystem i syfte att öka utbytet av information och dess flöden . Men detta är inte en lätt uppgift och många företag har inte tillräckliga förutsättningar för att kunna genomföra en framgångsrik implementering. Resultaten från studien på företaget X visar på svagheter inom kärnområden som ett klart och tydligt ledarskap, utvecklandet och kommunikationen av vision och strategier samt en låg nivå rörande kunskapsspridandet på alla nivåer i organisationen för att skapa engagemang för förändrings process som en implementering av detta slag innebär.

Canada's relations with Nicaragua changed greatly during the 1980s after the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) came to power in a revolution which overthrew the Somoza dynasty. For the first few years of the new regime in Nicaragua, Canada provided little support, declaring that Canadians had no significant interests in the country and there was no reason for them to get involved in Central America's ongoing conflicts. When Brian Mulroney first came to power with Joe Clark as his Secretary of State for External Affairs, the Progressive Conservatives generally held to the course set by the previous Liberal government. However, as the 1980s went on the Conservatives began providing Nicaragua with more bilateral aid, and became increasingly involved in the regional peace process known as Esquipulas; this culminated in Canadian peacekeepers entering the region in 1990 as part of a UN peacekeeping force. The major impetus for the government's change in attitude was the strong and consistent pressure placed on the government by the Canadian public. Aid raised privately by Canadians for Nicaragua overshadowed government aid for much of the decade, making the government response look weak. The support of the Canadian public for action in Central America was the major factor which pressured the federal government into becoming more involved in Nicaragua, even though the government was not as supportive of the new regime in Nicaragua as a large portion of the Canadian public often was.

This thesis continues the discussion of the role of interests and values as determinants of Canadian foreign policy by examining closely their treatment in the Martin governments 2005 foreign policy statement, <i>A Role of Pride and Influence in the World</i> (RPIW). The purpose of the thesis is to capture the expression and interplay of interests and values within RPIW vis-à-vis past foreign policy expressions. It begins by presenting a literature review of selected works by Denis Stairs, Jennifer Welsh, Kim Richard Nossal and Cranford Pratt, which will reveal the state of the discourse on the role of interests and values in Canadian foreign policy. It proceeds with a textual analysis of RPIW: Overview, comparing its structure and content to those which appear in <i>Canada in the World</i> (1995), <i>Competitiveness and Security</i> (1985) and <i>Foreign Policy for Canadians</i> (1970).<p> This textual analysis ends with the conclusion that RPIW not only incorporates past criticisms by Denis Stairs and Kim Richard Nossal, but also seems to embrace the interests-driven, values-based orientation put forward by Jennifer Welsh in <i>At Home in the World</i>. However, as the thesis moves on to a comparison of RPIW: Overview and RPIW: Development, the thesis exposes the fact that in RPIW: Development, the interests-based, values-driven approach seems to have been abandoned in favour of policies, such as the section titled Good Governance, that use values as policy drivers in and of themselves. The thesis concludes that development, despite the Martin governments deliberate efforts in RPIW, appears to be a consistently altruistic, values-driven exercise. If aid effectiveness has any hope of being strengthened, it must be done under both an acknowledgement of the altruistic character of the development enterprise, as well as careful thought as to what the desired outcome of Canadian development policy ought to be.

A specific number sociological theories and empirical studies suggest that deviant identity is the result of being formally or informally sanctioned by social audiences. The process by which individuals develop a deviant identity has been well documented by the literature. Most of this literature has linked the development of a deviant identity to the performance of deviant behavior. There is less evidence documenting the maleficent effects of bearing personal deviant characteristics such as stigmatizing health conditions, and/or being an involuntary member of a group socially defined as deviant (e.g. being the child of an alcoholic parent) in the development of a deviant identity. It is also noteworthy that, although parenting has been the focus of hundreds of studies examining deviant behavior and its consequences for individuals and their families, researchers rarely have been concerned with the effects of parenting in the development of a deviant self-concept. This dissertation examines the effects of parental emotional support on the development of a deviant identity by using a longitudinal data set that incorporates information of adolescents aged 12-19 who report their race, gender, level of selfesteem, parental relations, parental deviant behavior/characteristics, and peers and teacher stigmatization. Various models were estimated to test whether the relationship between deviance and deviant identity was significant, the mediating effects of stigmatization by peers and by teachers, and the moderating effect of both maternal and paternal emotional support on the development of a deviant identity. The results indicate that both maternal and paternal emotional support moderated the effect of maternal deviance but not the effect of paternal deviance. In the case of personal deviance, however, maternal deviance tended to increase as opposed to decrease deviant identity. Paternal emotional support did not moderate the effect of health limitations but it did diminish the effect of contact with the police. These findings were independent of the effects of gender, race, socioeconomic status, age, family structure, and earlier deviant identity. The implications and significance of these findings are discussed.

A Study on the Feasibility of the Official Appointment of Sub-ward (Li) Chiefs ¡X A Case of Kaohsiung City The purpose of this study was to propose the results of the empirical investigation utilizing the SWOT analysis of the official appointment of sub-ward (Li) chiefs, which revealed the high feasibility of the official appointment. The data germane to this study were disposed through documentary analysis research along with questionnaire survey research and observation research. The subjects of this exploration were categorized into two major groups. One is the public surveyed by telephone resulting in 1017 successful samples; the other is the local officials surveyed by questionnaires including 463 sub-ward (Li) chiefs with a return rate of 74.3% (310), and 271 sub-ward (Li) clerks with a high return rate of 88.2% (239). The results of the survey reveal high credibility which can be seen in chapter three. The results of official appointment were depicted as follows: 1. The advantages of the official appointment: (a) downsizing the administrative organizations, simplifying the administrative procedures, and increasing the effectiveness; (b) slimming down the manpower and cutting down the spending; (c) improving the relationships between the sub-ward (Li) administrative organizations and the community development associations; (d) reducing the expenditures for election and rectifying the vicious election practices; and ; (e) promoting the administrative efficiency without violating democracy. 2. The disadvantages of the official appointment: (a) violating the principles of democracy; (b) violating the principles of local self-governing; (c) increasing the workload after merging the positions of sub-ward (Li) chiefs and clerks; (d) diminishing sub-ward (Li) chiefs¡¦ enthusiasm towards their work; and (e) lowering the functions of community development associations. 3. The reflection of the official appointment: (a) enhancing the local harmony; (b) incurring criticism from the self-benefiting of without-pay elected sub-ward (Li) chiefs¡¦; (c) requesting the government to examine the overlapping functions of sub-ward (Li) chiefs and clerks; and (d) the official appointment of township chiefs becomes the best paradigm of that of sub-ward (Li) chiefs. 4. The threat of the official appointment: (a) accumulating resentment; (b) damaging people¡¦s rights by failing to precisely respond to local situations. Finally, the findings and recommendations of this study were as follows: 1. The author suggests that the government should be more determined to reasonably adjust the boroughs for sub-ward (Li) and village chiefs¡¦ ¡§equal pay for equal work;¡¨ meanwhile, as the number of boroughs decreases, the resistance for official appointment could be reduced and the workload of appointed sub-ward (Li) chiefs would be more even as well. 2. Not only does the official appointment of township chiefs promote administrative efficiency and economizes enormous expenditures, but whose successful experience in reform can be the example for the reform of sub-ward (Li) and village offices. 3. It is believed that appointed sub-ward (Li) chiefs will perform better than elected sub-ward (Li) chiefs. Although there are no existing rules about disciplining elected sub-ward (Li) chiefs, appointed sub-ward (Li) chiefs will be subjected to administrative disciplinary measures or even removed from positions for not fulfilling their duty. Hence, it would be easier to carry out the official appointment of sub-ward (Li) chiefs if borough offices can strengthen sub-ward (Li) chiefs¡¦ functions of reflecting people¡¦s opinions before the cancellation of the sub-ward (Li) chief elections. Key Word¡GSub-ward (Li) Chiefs ¡Bthe Official Appointment of Sub-ward (Li) Chiefs ¡BKaohsiung City ¡Bsurvey research

Assessment of Civil Servants¡¦ Satisfaction with Electronic Official Document Exchange System: The Case of Kaohsiung City Government Abstract This study aims to understand the assessment from Kaohsiung city government civil servants to the performance of Electronic Official Document Exchange System, probing key factors which affect the executing of electronic official document. It will serves as further validation of the impact from executing of Electronic Official Document Exchange System on Administrative Efficiency. This study used the methods of quantitative for survey, and qualitative research for comprehension. 254 organizations and schools of Kaohsiung City Government were the research targets, namely comparing the variables of E-policy, information system software and hardware and E-efficiency. 254 questionnaires were sent out and all were returned, although 230 questionnaires were valid and 24 were invalid. The response rate was 90.55%. Valid responses were collated and analyzed using statistical evaluating software systems of SPSS and AMOS, testing the relationships between different variables. Several findings can be reported as follows: 1¡BThe results of assessing the key factors, such as E-policy, Information system software and hardware and E-efficiency, which affect the performance of the Electronic Official Document Exchange System, are beyond the medium level. The assessment was conducted by questionnaires completed by Kaohsiung city government civil servants. Kaohsiung city government civil servants are satisfied with the performance of the Electronic Official Document Exchange System. 2¡BThe key factors affecting the executing of electronic official document system are as follows: (1)E-policy aspect There are two factors including decision-makers focusing much attention on and completing work plans. (2)Information system software and hardware aspect There are four factors including the operating stability, accuracy, security and ease of use of information system facilities. (3)E-efficiency aspect Only the Administrative Efficiency aspect. 3¡BThe impact on Administrative Efficiency coming from executing the electronic document system is as follows¡G (1)Due to the different characteristics of organizations and schools of Kaohsiung City Government, it brings about significant discrepancies between variables of E-policy, information software systems and E-efficiency for checking the executing efficiency of pushing forward the executing of electronic official documents. (2)There is positive impact between E-policy and Information system software and hardware. (3)There is positive impact between E-policy and E-efficiency. (4)There is positive impact between Information system software and hardware and E-efficiency. Keywords: Electronic Official Document Exchange System¡BE-policy¡BE-efficiency Information system software and hardware¡BAdministrative Efficiency¡BOrganization Characteristics

The aim of this study is to analyze the transformation of the official discourse and perception of the Kurdish issue and Kurds through its representations in Turkish media since 1990. Ottoman period and the Republican period till 1990s are studied in the first phase, in order to provide the historical backgroud of the Kurdish question and state&rsquo / s perception of the issue. In the second phase, representations of state&rsquo / s perception of the Kurdish issue in H&uuml / rriyet and Cumhuriyet newspapers are analyzed by using Critical Discourse Analysis techniques. The transformation of the official discourse of the Kurdish issue is examined through eight cases: the Gulf War I in 1991, events occurred during the Parliamentary Oath Ceremony in 1991, Nevruz of 1992, HADEP congress in 1996, capture of Semdin Sakik in 1998 and Abdullah &Ouml / calan in 1999, the Gulf War II in 2003, Nevruz of 2005, Semdinli incident and debates on identity in 2005 and 2006. In this study, it is claimed that state&rsquo / s perception and discourse of the Kurdish issue has transformed since 1990s without a total detachment from its traditional perception and discourse of the issue.

The aim of the thesis is to find out children&rsquo / s expectations from smart products that enhance their learning and analyze their conformity with the state of art smart products and educational technologies. The developments in technology affect many dimensions including education. There are many studies that aimed to improve the learning process by the help of technology. However, the perspective of children considering this topic is almost absent in the literature. Therefore, expectations of children from learning technologies are explored via an empirical study. The state of art smart technologies and products to enhance learning will also be covered. Then, in the light of an empirical study, to what extent children&rsquo / s expectations overlap with current technologies will be presented.

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