Thesis (M Sport Sc (Sport Science))--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / Sport analogies are constantly used in business settings, perhaps due to some of the surface similarities between sport teams that strive to win competitive leagues and business teams striving to be successful in a competitive environment. The similarities between the sports and business worlds are highlighted by various authors who share “winning strategies” with managers and team leaders. However, the psychology of sports performance may be very different from the psychology of the business world. The main purpose of this investigation was to determine if the principles of sport psychology are indeed applicable to the environment of the workplace. Due to the emphasis on performance output in the corporate environment, which to a large extent is similar to the challenges encountered by elite sport persons, it is proposed that sport psychology rather than clinical psychology could be utilised as a way to assist employees to cope with the demands of the workplace. It is believed that by adopting the principles of sport psychology, employees can learn how to use mental skills, not only to enhance their performance in the work place, but also to deal with daily life stressors. The main focus of the study was to develop a mental skills programme based on sport psychology principles and to determine its effectiveness in the corporate world.

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent of the relationship between four measures of educational experience, a measure of job performance, and six dimensions of job satisfaction for a population engaged in outside sales.

A review of the literature indicated that critical skills needed by educators to work with adjudicated youth in correctional settings had not been sufficiently identified or analyzed. Research efforts using survey instruments appeared to offer a method for gathering data in order to develop and study a comprehensive list of critical skills of correctional educators. A survey instrument was developed in bifurcate format that required respondents to rate 135 skill items according to Importance and Proficiency. Two parallel Likert-type scales were provided so that respondents could rate items according to their perceptions of Importance and Proficiency, The instrument was mailed to three groups consisting of educators in youth correctional facilities, state level administrators of youth corrections, and college/university faculty in correctional education preservice teacher preparation programs. A total of 366 surveys were mailed with 183 (50%) returned. Four hypotheses and eight corollaries were developed. Data were analyzed using MANOVA to test for significant differences among all groups and within subjects for one group (correctional educators). The findings did not support the hypotheses or corollaries. Therefore, all hypotheses and corollaries were rejected. However, ANOVA and Chi-Square procedures revealed significant differences among groups and within Group 1, correctional educators. The findings suggested that educators tended to differ from state level administrators in regard to Importance and Proficiency for certain skill items. Differences were also found within the correctional educator group nationwide and across regions for certain skill items. Recommendations for correctional education preservice programs and state level inservice training programs were developed that may have importance for the education of adjudicated youth. Recommendations included an emphasis upon federal legislative guidelines for education of incarcerated youth, development of educator's skills in communication and interaction with facility administrators, parents, and local community agencies, and inclusion of vocational/career development and transitional programs in correctional settings. Additional specific recommendations were given relevant to future research with correctional educator competencies.

This dissertation examines factors with influence on the organizational cultural competence of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) systems. The purpose of this study was to draw on theories of representative bureaucracy and transformational leadership to assess cultural competence in Emergency Medical Services systems from the perspective of EMS leadership, within careful consideration of the external environment in which EMS systems operate. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2015 / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Master of Dental Surgery / At the present time in Australia (1992) there exists no undergraduate training for dental students in auxiliary utilisation. The result of this is that new dental graduates have no understanding of the concept of practicing sit-down four-handed dentistry in a comfortable and efficient manner. This compares with the United States of America (USA) where, since 1961, every dental student receives formal instruction in Dental Assistant Utilisation (DAU) and, since 1973, Training in Expanded Auxiliary Management. In this treatise the history and development of “four-handed dentistry” is presented along with a literature review of the fundamental principles of DAU. The intial pilot programmes and the subsequent federally funded national DAU programme in the USA are analysed. Four undergraduate DAU programmes from the USA and the current graduate continuing education DAU programme at Westmead Hospital Dental Clinical School are examined. Finally, guidelines for the establishment and operation of a DAU programme are outlined. The aim of this treatise therefore, is to provide the necessary information for a thorough understanding of the fundamentals and philosophy of Dental Assistant Utilisation. This information is presented in the hope that at some stage in the future training in assistant utilisation would become an integral and important part of the undergraduate dental curriculum in Australia. The purpose of this would be to fill a major void that currently exists in the undergraduate training of dental students in auxiliary utilisation.

The development of the digital content industry is the key factor affecting the international competitiveness. However, there are still lots of problems and difficulties, and the most important of them is the cultivation of professional talents. The first purpose of this research is surveying the demand and supply and the gap between domestic digital industry and the cultivation of digital content talents. Second, explore the relative effect between the third party software vendors and the output of whole digital content industry. Through causal analytical method to find out problems and interviewing experts to establish the model of digital content service quality gap. Furthermore, use questionnaires to prove the hypothesis. After doing the research, we found out that digital content industry is different from general industry. There are four players, including the students, training organization of digital learning, factories of tool software develop and digital content service industry. And it truly have some gap between each player. First, the service that training organizations provide is discord from students¡¦ feeling. Second, services that students actually receive is different from they knew in the beginning. Third, students¡¦ cognition of software¡¦s price is disagree with the supplier. The result of research can be put in use of plan and execution. It not only can save the training time and human resources but increase the strength of training talents and is helpful to international development.

Magistro baigiamasis darbas Personalo mokymas ir kvalifikacijos tobulinimas Mažeikių savivaldybėje aktualus tuo, jog viešosiose institucijose vienas iš svarbiausių išteklių yra personalas, o visuomenė vis didina reikalavimus šios sistemos darbuotojams profesionalumo, atsakomybės, veiklos viešumo ir kitais požiūriais. Vienas svarbiausių tikslų viešajame sektoriuje yra darbuotojų nuolatinio, sistemingo, nuoseklaus mokymo užtikrinimas tam, kad viešoji įstaiga efektyviai bei kokybiškai teiktų paslaugas. Su naujomis žiniomis bei įgūdžiais viešoji institucija gali funkcionuoti atsižvelgdama į visuomenės poreikius bei prisitaikyti prie pokyčių ir racionaliai panaudoti savo žmogiškąjį kapitalą. Magistro baigiamasis darbas atskleidė aktualiausias problemas viešojo sektoriaus įstaigose, išskiriamos šios problemos: tarnautojų kompetencijos stoka administravimo ir valdymo sričių klausimais bei nepakankami administraciniai gebėjimai. Norint išspręsti šias problemas, reikia, jog personalas tobulėtų ir keltų kvalifikaciją, vadinasi tarnautojai turi dalyvauti įvairiuose mokymuose. Tačiau viešosiose institucijose personalo mokymų yra stoka. Svarbu, jog viešosios įstaigos kruopš čiai nustatytų kokie yra poreikiai mokymams, atrinktų tarnautojus, kuriems yra būtini mokymai ir kvalifikacijos tobulinimas bei įvertintų ar tie mokymai yra naudingi. / Final Master thesis regarding the personnel training and qualification improvement in municipality of Mazeikiai is important because one of the main resources of public institutions is personnel; and society constantly increases requirements regarding professional skills, responsibility, publicity of activities and similar for the workers of this system. Final Master thesis revealed the most important problems in public institutions. These problems are the following: lack of competence on administration and management issues, as well as inadequate administrative skills. In order to solve the mentioned problems it is necessary for personnel to improve their knowledge and qualification. It means that personnel must take part in the various trainings. However, public institutions lack trainings for their personnel. It is important for public institutions to determine the need of trainings, to select the workers that have to be trained and to evaluate the advantages of the trainings. The goal of the final work is to examine and to evaluate the system of personnel training and improvement of qualification in municipality of Mazeikiai.

Darbe nagrinėjamas Lietuvos ir užsienio autorių požiūris į darbuotojų kompetencijos, mokymo įtaką transporto ir logistikos verslui, konkurenciniam pranašumui. Išnagrinėti bendri aspektai, darantys įtaką transporto ir logistikos įmonių konkurencingumui. Išskiriamos darbuotojų mokymo problemos. Aptariama problematika Lietuvoje, susijusi su transporto ir logistikos įmonių darbuotojų žinių stygiumi bei viso to neigiama įtaka konkurencingumui. Magistrinio darbo tyrime naudojami duomenys yra gauti anketinės apklausos, kurios metu buvo apklausti 87 Lietuvos kelių krovinių transporto įmonių atstovai, būdu. Tyrime yra analizuojami darbuotojų mokymo aspektai Lietuvos transporto įmonėse, tokie kaip, naujų ir esamų vairuotojų bei administracijos darbuotojų mokymo trukmė, darbuotojų mokymo tikslingumo nustatymo kriterijai. Taip pat nagrinėjamos transporto įmonių atstovų nuostatos dėl darbuotojų mokymo įtakos įmonių konkurencingumui. Daug dėmesio skiriama koreliacijų tarp darbuotojų mokymo aspektų ir įmonės konkurencingumo kriterijų analizei. / This master's thesis includes several Lithuanian and foreign authors’ approaches to the importance of personnel and personnel training in the organization, factors of competitiveness in transport and logistics businesses environment. Some main problems concerning personnel training and lack of knowledge in the Lithuanian road transport sector are also highlighted in the thesis. There were 87 representatives of Lithuanian road freight transport companies surveyed to collect the relative data to analyze the personnel training impact to the competitiveness of the transport company. Study analyses various training aspects in the Lithuanian transport companies, such as: training duration, training needs assessment criteria, respondents’ provisions for employee training and etc. Analysis is targeted into two main groups of transport company’s workers: administration staff and drivers. Basically, analysis is based on various correlations between competitiveness criteria and training aspects.

An exploratory study covering phase 1 stages 1, 2 and 3 only was undertaken in this large hybrid research project to determine perceptions and understandings of the practitioners and the community about mental health problems of children and adolescents in Zambia because so far there is little known about this phenomenon. The aim of this exploratory study was to gain new insights into the phenomenon by undertaking a preliminary investigation to determine priorities for the future post doctoral research before a more structured study to develop the PHC innovative curriculum. The process first 'explored' social reality on the ground to better comprehend the perceptions and understandings of mental health problems of CA and the curricula model preferences as perceived by the practitioners and the community respectively. This was done to appreciate the "reality of practice" on the ground using the Systems, Ecological, and Biopsychosocial theories which underpinned the four field areas of the study which are: Mental Health, Curriculum Development, INSET and Action Research (AR). The total project is open-ended with three (3) phases and eight (8) stages, from the initial exploration of perceptions (phase 1), through reports to government and stakeholders, curriculum development and piloting with health educators (phase 2) and finally implementing the reconstructed curriculum and integration (phase 3) in such a way as to empower primary health workers to themselves do further research. This thesis, covering the initial explorations of perception, encompasses ONLY the first phase and three stages of this larger qualitative research project because of the Higher Education requirements and funding to try to complete in 4 years. This entails literature review of all 4 field areas because in order to orientate the first phase and three stages of such research and to see the implications of results, it is necessary to have a good grounding in all four. The research study process commenced with an orientation and introduction of the context and purpose of the study, followed by the search conferences and focus group meetings using Qualitative Research Design and Methodology. Search conferences, focus group discussions, hospital registers and clinic records were the three sources of data collection. Analysis of Qualitative and Quantitative Data used NVIVO and SPSS 13.0 Statistical Data Analysis Soft ware respectively. The study showed that mental health problems of Children and Adolescents perceived by the community and the practitioners were also referred and recorded in various hospital registers. The analysis of data from hospital records on referred cases further showed that there are serious psychotic mental health disorders in children and adolescents referred for further consultations to hospitals from the community, some of which are: acute psychotic states, with some associated with HIV/Aids. In addition to these psychotic states, epilepsy, drug and alcohol abuse, child defilement, rape cases, mental retardation and conversion disorders particularly in female children/adolescents appeared to be relatively significant mental health concerns and problems in the researched community sites. The conclusion of the study suggests that there were more environment related factors perceived to cause mental health challenges to children and adolescents. This finding further suggests that there are similarities of cases referred from the community with those seen in clinical practice areas. The significance of these findings in the reality of practice, implies that the preferred PRISMS curriculum model to be developed later as a post doctoral activity for 'INSET' of PHC practitioners in Zambia should have deliberate blending of curriculum content with more socio-environment related issues than the current traditional curricula models which are more clinical in structure, process and content. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2007.

Eskom Transmission Division (ETD) is being forced to rethink its business development strategies, in order to deal with rapid technological, capital and social changes. As a result, there is a high need for contract managers to learn to procure goods and services effectively and efficiently. Subsequently, the capabilities and skills of buyers, and in particular contract managers, need to reflect Eskom's challenges faced in delivering on South Africa's developmental needs for affordable electrification. Because of the complex nature of contract management, it is required that a detailed and carefully written contract management framework that defines the commercial supplier relationship, contract management aspects of the results and the desired behaviour of the contracting parties, be established beforehand. Therefore, there needs to be greater emphasis on structuring and delivering of procurement training in the future, as contract managers will need to have skills to be able to work within a cross functional team, be strategic thinkers, and manage supplier base and relationships. A variety of methods can be used to implement training and they range from formal education, coaching, on job training and intemet training. The ETD senior managers need to monitor the performance of the contract managers wants the training methods have been introduced to identify the gaps. The aim is for this contract management framework to provide intangible elements of quality cost to enable contract managers to perform strategic sourcing in order to be innovative in their decision making. The contract management framework will focus on identifying and discussing strategic ideas that will enhance and improve the effectiveness of contract management at ETD. Contract managers need to be trained to enhance and update their skills. The training should focuses on: • Total cost of ownership in selecting the suppliers rather than concentrating on price only, • Reducing their supplier base and building strategic relationship with their suppliers, • Formation of formal cross functional teams, • Formation and management of supplier relationships, A Proposed Contract Management Framework for Eskom Transmission Division (ETD) By Thembisile Khomo ix • Monitoring and Measuring the performance of the suppliers and contract managers, • Strategic Sourcing, and all other cost reduction methods. This contract management framework will focus on the following cost saving and risk sharing opportunities, which will result in an efficient and effective contract management at ETD: • Expenditure Analysis In terms of expenditure analysis ETD should consider reducing the supplier base in order to consolidate and leverage expenditure and to manage the relationship with strategic suppliers more effectively. This will result in contract managers concentrating more on long term partnership and strategic relationships with its suppliers. As a result, ETD could benefit in terms of an increase in access to technology, where those suppliers that have received more volume and longer-term contracts become willing to invest in the manufacturing equipment that will improve their equipment production and processes. Because of the long term relationship that will be developed with these suppliers, they will also be willing to share the costs and risks with ETD. • Training and the Skills of Contract Managers It is very important for contract managers to be trained and have the required skills to manage contract. This was confirmed by the case study conducted in one of the ETD contract to refurbish transformers. In analyzing this contract, it was found that: ~ The rates quoted in the contract are above the market rates. ~ ETD contract managers do not challenge the specifications or operating practices and quotation costs. As a result most of the quotation costs or rates and ideas of how the transformers should be refurbished come from Rotek. ~ Contract managers do not know how much they spent in paying the labour, materials and other varied costs associated with the refurbishment of the contract. ETD has been paying numerous indirect costs or rates, such as A Proposed Contract Management Framework for Eskom Transmission Division (ETD) By Thembisile Khomo x additional overtime, rework due to unacceptable components quality, materials costs on heavily engineered components and so forth. All this contract mismanagement matters could have been avoided if the contract was managed effectively, and there is collaborative relationship with the supplier to ensure a solid working relationship and to reduce lead-time and costs. This relationship should be based on trust, cooperation, interdependence, joint quality improvement efforts, information sharing, risk and benefit sharing, and joint problem solving. Especially during the future capital expansion projects which ETD will be engaged in, there will be a high need for dependable suppliers to provide the required design and technological input needed for marketable profitable products and for satisfactory services to result. • Cross functional teams The formation of formal cross functional teams will help in making the decisions that impact multiple functional areas. Without the representatives of various areas the decisions are likely to meet resistance. Thus, if the representatives of each of the functional areas are involved on the team, they will provide beneficial input in the resulting agreement. In turn, each representative will be responsible for ensuring acceptance by his or her functional area, of the team's decisions. Cross functional teams also enhance problem resolution as the team will be bringing their different expertise in solving problems or making decisions. • Top Management Support For successful implementation of this framework, ETD top management need to support it by communicating its importance in terms of helping contract managers to think out of the box and see the competitive benefits of the new ways of managing the contracts. • Cost Reduction The cost reduction can be through the use of: A Proposed Contract Management Framework for Eskom Transmission Division (ETD) By Thembisile Khomo xi ~ Total cost of ownership (TeO) - where not only the price is considered when evaluating tenders from the supplier, but quality, delivery, maintenance, disposal and other cost saving ideas, including flexibility levels offered by the suppliers are considered by the contract managers. Thus, the contract managers need to have the skill to see the value stream, sequence of value creating steps required to design, make and deliver the product and to learn to remove the waste, mistakes and rigidities. Therefore in analyzing Tea, it is vitally important to understand the suppliers' market and financial reports to come to an effective solution with regard to the factors that make up the prices for the product or services they procure in addition what drives cost into the product or service in the market place. ~ Strategic sourcing - contract managers should focus on development of competitive value based pricing, where the overall costs are considered, and innovative strategic sourcing, where consideration is based on new products and services that deliver a competent advantage and new ways of doing business. For example, how quickly can the supplier adapt to changing ETD requirements? ~ Performance monitoring and measurement - contract managers need to continuous monitor the performance of suppliers based upon metrics that are directly derived from the service. By monitoring the performance of the supplier the contract manager will know in advance about any production or service delivery problem and come with mitigation steps together with the cross functional team. This will then prevent ETD in continuously accepting late and inadequate products or poor services from the suppliers. ~ Supplier relationship - the formation of supplier relationship with suppliers will benefit ETD in risk sharing and cost reduction. Therefore, the objective of a contract management framework must be to establish relationships with suppliers that have resources in order to integrate their specialist capabilities in a way that yield significant value potential from both sides. A Proposed Contract Management Framework for Eskom Transmission Division (ETD) By Thembisile Khomo xii ~ Training of contract managers - as there is greater emphasis on structuring and delivering of procurement training in the future, contract managers will need to have skills to be able to work within a cross functional team, be strategic thinkers, and manage supplier base and relationships. A variety of methods can therefore be used to implement training, which can range from formal education, coaching, on job training and internet training. Networking with other contract managers can also assist in the development of personal skills and adoption of better practices whether formally (as part of membership of a professional body) or informally (at conferences), exchanging ideas and meeting with other professionals can be extremely useful. The ETD senior managers need to monitor the performance of the contract managers wants the training methods have been introduced to identify the gaps. • Conclusion In conclusion, before a new contract is established, it is important to review the success and failures of the current contract, in order to establish a clearer understanding of what makes contract management successful. These lessons will then form the basis of planning tender requirements and negotiations for the next contract. For successful contract management, contract managers should ensure that a preferred relationship type and pricing structure is selected, and agreed succession plan. A contract review should also examine the cost-effectiveness and efficiency issues. / Thesis (M.Com.)- University of Kwazulu-Natal, 2005