United Kingdom (UK) health policy over the past thirty years has been predicated on a partnership model focusing on empowering service users to be fully involved in their care. Within maternity care partnership relationships have been conceptualised as empowering women to have continuity, choice and control (Department of Health (DoH), 1993), within a relationship of personal autonomy between the woman and her carers. In this study I sought to identify the extent to which the Government agenda for partnership working and choice is realised or desired by women during pregnancy and childbirth. In addition, I wanted to examine the level of alignment between the views of midwives with that of women accessing the maternity services. This study took a qualitative approach, drawing on the principles of grounded theory. In the first phase of the study a purposive sample of sixteen pregnant women were recruited and invited to complete a diary and to take part in two interviews. Women maintained diary entries following appointments with the midwife during pregnancy and childbirth. Semi–structured interviews were undertaken at 36 weeks of pregnancy and four weeks after the birth, based on the diary entries. In the second phase, four focus groups were undertaken with two groups of community midwives and birth centre midwives from two National Health Service (NHS) Trusts. Quotes from the diary-interviews from phase one were utilised to develop three vignettes which acted as a prompt during the focus group interviews. Following a thematic analysis of the data, I analysed women’s views on partnership working and choice. Most women in this study did not feel that they developed a partnership relationship with the midwife. This was associated with a lack of continuity of care and insufficient time to engage in meaningful discussion in an environment which was not conducive to shared decision making. Women described wide variations on the midwives role in supporting decision making. This ranged from decisions being dictated to midwives guiding choices and for some women, being facilitated to make informed choices. Many women described input of family and friends and widespread use of the internet as an information source. Women depicted their antenatal midwifery care as medicalised and felt that whilst their bio-medical needs were met their psycho-social and emotional needs were not. Women described the visits frequently as ‘in and out’ or ‘ticking the boxes’ to describe this approach to care. A small number of women (n=5) did experience a partnership relationship. Three of these women knew the midwife from a previous pregnancy; the remaining two women attended a midwifery led unit for all of their care. In relation to the choice agenda, most of the women who participated in this study were not aware that they had a choice about who provided their care or where they would have their care. The midwife focus groups concurred with the women’s findings and suggested that a lack of time was a significant factor hindering the formation of a partnership relationship. Midwives felt that this was exacerbated by the paperwork they were required to complete in order to audit care and meet the ‘payment by results’ agenda (DoH, 2003b). During the focus groups midwives identified strategies which could be implemented to enhance midwifery led care, including offering antenatal care to small groups of women and undertaking an antenatal home visit towards the end of pregnancy, to provide women with the time to discuss any issues that they wanted to explore in more depth. The findings from this study contribute to the current body of knowledge on midwifery led care particularly in providing the women’s perspective on partnership working. Women want to experience midwifery care that meets their psycho-social needs as well as bio-medical needs through a model of care that provides continuity. In contrast to previous research findings, the women in this study described community based care as mechanistic, clinically focused and time bound, more in line with an obstetric model of care than a midwifery model. However, midwifery led care offered within a birth centre was perceived by women as providing a more holistic, social model of care. Whilst continuity of care is not a new concept, what this study contributes is that despite successive administrations supporting partnership working and informed choice over the past twenty years, most of the women in this study did not experience this level of care. The findings from this study resulted in the development of a midwifery partnership model as a theoretical framework that could be utilised in future research studies to evaluate the extent to which a partnership relationship exists within a range of midwifery care settings.

This research was designed to provide insight into South African financial companies’ activities among the poor or the BOP (Base Of the Pyramid). South African businesses should build resources and capabilities with a strategic intent to create and exploit the traditionally under serviced markets while delivering goods and services that are of value. In doing so, managers, marketers and business leaders should view the South African adult population as households and not individual decision makers. The aim of this study was to determine the applicability of an equal partnership model for the BOP engagement in the South African economy. In the investigation of the equal partnership model, it was found that the participants (including the BOP as producers or consumers, business, local community members, nongovernmental organisations and local government) could derive mutual value. This mutual value can be described as the enhancement in growth for the business, raising the BOP out of poverty, involving the poor in the economy and boosting national economic growth (through job creation, tax revenue and investment). Findings of this research supported the aspects of resource commitment, experiential preparation, innovation and technology use in product or services together with mutual value creation for all partners (especially the poor). In addition, there was support for the different levels of risk taken by the partners, responsibilities expected from participants, the sustainability of the collaboration and the required depth of understanding of BOP circumstances. Bank managers responded positively to there being value at the level of the poor (such as profits, poverty alleviation and improved reputation). The collectivist nature of the poor in South Africa (in that the poor carry out financial decisions at the household level) was not established in this research and needs further investigation. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

Current legislation regarding early intervention services has focused on the family unit, rather than the individual child, as the recipient of services. A model of family-centered care has been adopted and as a result, new models for service delivery have been developed. The present study examined family perspectives of the professional-paraprofessional partnership model, and assessed the ecological validity of this model as it relates to the basic principles of family-centered care. Families who participated in an early intervention program that utilized the professional-paraprofessional partnership model were interviewed upon program completion. Families reported receiving a wide range of child and family services, as well as assistance from their home visitor in accessing formal and informal resources within their community. Families recognized and positively responded to visitors who were flexible, supportive, and respectful of their family. A positive relationship was found between the number of family services received and ratings of the home visitor on variables of flexibility, support, and control. The majority of families described the home visiting service as the most helpful service they received. In addition, there were no differences in the services provided by professional and paraprofessional visitors, as reported by families. Overall, family reports indicated parent satisfaction with the professional-paraprofessional partnership model, and this model was found to meet the proposed family-centered objectives for early intervention services.

Nursing research has been performed during the last 20-30 years, about the next of kin’s vulnerability. Despite this, the health care system has had difficulties to integrate the next of kin in a way that gives support. The overall aim of the thesis was to describe and further explore the life situation of the next of kin to persons who are long-term ill, disabled, and/or older, and in need of care. Method: Multiple methods were used. Study I had a descriptive design, 44 next of kin of patients with multiple sclerosis were interviewed, latent content analysis was used for the analysis. Study II had a mixed method approach; the descriptive core study was analyzed with directed content analysis. The supplementary study with descriptive, correlative design was analyzed with descriptive and correlative statistics. Forty-four next of kin of patients with multiple sclerosis were interviewed; thereafter 37 of them answered a questionnaire about Quality of Life. Study III had a descriptive, explorative design. Twelve next of kin of older persons were interviewed with repeated informal conversational interviews, analyzed with latent content analysis. Study IV was cross-sectional with a descriptive, correlative design. Eighty-four next of kin of persons who were long-term ill, disabled, and/or older answered two questionnaires about Burden and Quality of Life that were analyzed with descriptive and correlative statistics. Results and Conclusions: Next of kin described a balance/imbalance in their relations to others and a high burden, but in general a good Quality of Life. Some next of kin also experienced chronic sorrow. Significant correlations were found between interpersonal relations and Quality of Life as a whole. Love and obligations were two anchor points on a continuum, describing the next of kin’s relationship to the ill/disabled person. The relationship with the health care personnel was described through cooperation and obligations. Good communication was seen as the key to balance the relationship with others. One possibility to achieve symmetrical communications is to adapt the Partnership Model, as a tool for creating good relationships. Honest and specific communication between the health care personnel, the next of kin, and the care receiver are necessary.

Submitted by Fabio Sobreira Campos da Costa (fabio.sobreira@ufpe.br) on 2016-07-12T12:48:10Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) Dissertacao_Lucas_Moreno_2015.pdf: 1828699 bytes, checksum: 29da1d7fb693be0db619ca75b8f5a9e6 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-07-12T12:48:10Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) Dissertacao_Lucas_Moreno_2015.pdf: 1828699 bytes, checksum: 29da1d7fb693be0db619ca75b8f5a9e6 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-08-24 / Contexto: Atualmente, empresas de software têm adotado uma estratégia mais flexível através da abertura do produto para contribuições externas. Tal abertura proporciona a emergência dos Ecossistemas de Software, que são constituídos por um conjunto de atores que desenvolvem soluções de software sob uma plataforma comum. Objetivo: Entender e comparar os ecossistemas do Google Apps Enterprise e Microsoft Office 365 a partir do estudo de sua composição e redes de parcerias entre membros do ecossistema. Os dois ecossistemas foram escolhidos pela distinção entre os modelos de governança da Google e da Microsoft. Metodologia: Realizou-se uma coleta de dados automática a partir da utilização de um crawler nos marketplaces dos ecossistemas do Google Apps Enterprise e Microsoft Office 365 para a recuperação da lista de niche players e respectivas aplicações. Além disso, foram coletados de forma manual dados de parcerias entre niche players a partir de informações presentes nos websites de cada complementador. Os dados foram analisados através de um estudo comparativo entre as estruturas de rede formadas pelos niche players dos ecossistemas investigados. Resultados e discussões: Foram analisadas a composição e os relacionamentos de parceria dos ecossistemas do Google Apps Enterprise e Microsoft Office 365. Além disso, foi realizada uma comparação com os resultados obtidos em uma pesquisa anterior realizada por van Angeren (2013). Finalmente, foram postuladas três proposições sobre produtividade no ecossistema de software, relacionamentos de parceria e critérios de entrada. Conclusão: Pode-se concluir que o tamanho do ecossistema não determina seu grau de produtividade (número de aplicações por niche player) ou número de relacionamentos de parceria entre os niche players. Observou-se que a flexibilidade dos critérios de entrada do ecossistema atrai um grande número de niche players. / Context: Nowadays, software vendorshave adopted more flexible strategies, opening their products to external contributions. Such opening contributed for the emergence of Software Ecosystems, that can be defined as a set of actors developing software solutions in a single platform. Goals: We aim to understand and compare Google Apps Enterprise and Microsoft Office 365 Software Ecosystems, based on their niche players composition and partnership network. The two ecosystems were chosen by the distinction between governance models of Google and Microsoft. Research method: We built a web crawler to automatically collect the niche players list and their applications from Google Apps Enterprise and Microsoft Office 365 marketplaces. In addition, we manually collected data about partnership between niche players from the niche players websites. This data was analysed in a comparative study of the partnership network structures formed by niche players of both ecosystems. Results and discussion: We analysed the composition and partnership network of Google Apps Enterprise and Microsoft Office 365 ecosystems. In addition, we compared the current results with the results obtained in a previous research done in 2013. Finally, we postulated three propositions about productivity in the software ecosystems, partnership relationship and entry barriers. Conclusion: It was possible to conclude that the size of a software ecosystem or the number of partnership relationship are not the only factors that determine its productivity (number of applications per niche player). It was possible to observe as well that flexibility in entry barriers can attract a large number of niche players.

This thesis focuses on the HR Business Partnership Model, as introduced and continuously updated by David Ulrich. The goal of the thesis is to show the development and transformation of HR roles, and the transformation of the HR Business Partner's role. In the practical part, I attempt to answer the question of how HR fulfills the roles of HR Business Partnership in its recently defined form. Evaluators are themselves employees, managers and HR professionals.

The Sustainable Restitution Support – South Africa (SRS-SA) program aimed at the development of a post-settlement support model that could be used to support beneficiaries of land reform in South Africa, especially those who received the land through restitution. The two land restitution claims were identified namely Mashishimale in the Limpopo Province and Nkumbuleni in KwaZulu Natal Province in South Africa. The main objective of the study is to determine the essential elements of two post-settlement support models to successfully implement and manage land reform projects in a sustainable manner namely: Mashishimale Farm Management Model (FMM) and Nkumbuleni Strategic Partnership Model (SPM). The data was collected through meetings and interviews with different stakeholders or role players. “Farm management can be described as the rational decision-making to achieve the objectives of the particular farming enterprise” (Van Reenen and Marais, 1992: 2). The Community Property Association (CPA) with the support of the Mashishimale community and the Tribal Authority decided to manage the farm by themselves and appointed a knowledgeable and skillful CEO and managers to manage the farm. The Mashishimale Farm Management Model has a definite management structure that is responsible for various activities on the farm. The management structure consists of a CEO, six (6) managers and two (2) assistant managers. Three steering committees were established to help in the decision-making processes. The Oxford dictionary (1979) defines partner as “person associated with others in business of which he shares risks and profits.” Nkumbuleni Community Trust (CT) has appointed a Strategic Partner and form the Nkumbuleni Strategic Partnership Model. Nkumbileni CT together with the Strategic Partner formed a company consisting of five (5) Directors aimed to manage the farm as a business. The Mashishimale CPA and Nkumbuleni CT were assisted by specialists from the University of Pretoria to develop the Interim Business Plan for the farms. The specialists from the University of Pretoria together with the Strategic Partner, CT and Project facilitator/coordinator developed a Financial Plan for Nkumbuleni CT. The specialists, the CPA and Project facilitator/coordinator further developed a Financial Plan for Mashishimale CPA. No funds were available for the FMM to manage the farm. At the SPM, the Strategic Partner made funds available to manage the farm. Both farming enterprises applied for financial assistance from CASP but didn’t receive anything. FMM and SPM received training that was developed by the SRS-SA specialists and facilitated by Project facilitator/coordinator. The Limpopo Department of Agriculture is not visible at Mashishimale and as such the roles of local municipality and extension officers are non-existence. There is no a single extension officer that the CPA knows at this juncture. The Nkumbuleni CT members are uncertain about the role of the division of Agricultural extension (Provincial Department of Agriculture and Conservation, KwaZulu Natal) can play to support them because they only attend meetings but there is nothing from them or from their Department. Both FMM (CPA) and SPM (CT) are getting advisory and other support from the private sector and other stakeholders. The Transvaal Suiker Beperk (TSB) entered into a partnership with the Trusts of Siphumelele Community and Ingwenyama Community (separately) through its Agricultural services company known as Shubombo Agricultural Services (Chiyoka, 2009). Strategic Partnership Model has a definite management structure. Extension services are rendered in a joint venture whereby the TSB extension officials and the Provincial Department of Agriculture, Rural Development and Land Administration extension officials work together to assist farmers. The South African Sugar Association is providing technical advices on production and other relevant aspects such as market trends, etc. TSB provides training on leadership, conflict resolution management and finance management, while extension managers and production managers provide mentorship to the trustees. The Business Plans, Financial Plans and Work Skills Plans were developed by TSB (TSB, 2009). Training is regarded as part of a developmental program that is aiming at building capacity on trustees and other beneficiaries. There is well developed communication policy which outlines the possible communication strategy. A comparison of the two models discloses several similarities namely according to FMM and SPM structures and their responsibilities to manage, control of farm assets on behalf of the communities; they use the same communication channel systems to communicate with the community and other stakeholders and the appointment of the project facilitator/coordinator to facilitate and coordinate the activities. The most important differences between the two models are: <ul> <li> A scientific company was formed by the SPM to manage the farm as a business while the CPA kept that responsibility to itself in the FMM.</li> <li> The Traditional Authority at the FMM attend all CPA meetings while at the SPM do not attend all the CT meetings.</li> </ul> The study reveals that the following actions are essential for the successful post-settlement to restitution farms: <ul> <li> The execution of baseline study (survey) to determine the socio-economic situation in a community (beneficiaries).</li> <li> The appointment of an independent Project facilitator/coordinator to ensure effective and efficient communication.</li> <li> A well defined management structure and the appointment of a knowledgeable, skilful and experienced farm manager(s) or Strategic Partner.</li> <li> The development of a business plan for the farm with the support of professional agriculturist.</li> <li> The identification of qualified professional extension advisor to provide advice and guidance to the manager(s) or Strategic Partner.</li> <li> Appointment of a mentor to guide, advice and train the manager(s) or Strategic Partner.</li> <li> Financial support to manage the farm (Grants; Comprehensive Agricultural Support Program; financial institutions and specifically the Land Bank)</li></ul>. / Dissertation (MSc (Agric))--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development / unrestricted

This study investigated the impact of the School-Home Partnership Model at Metter Intermediate School, a small rural school in southeast Georgia. The subjects of this student were parents, students, and teachers of the school. In particular, this study investigated the impact of the School-Home Partnership Model on "at-risk" students. For the purpose of this study the term "at-risk" student is defined to mean a student identified as being below grade level in reading and/or math based on the guidelines of Georgia's Early Intervention Program (EIP). The term "at-risk" student as used in this study also means a student identified as a special education student according to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Quantitative methods and interviews were used to collect and analyze data. Theses methods consisted of document analysis, surveys, and interviews. The investigation results show that parents, students, and teachers had very positive attitudes toward the school. Extensive communication stratefies were utilized between the home and school. Children's attendance in school improved, while the number of discipline referrals to the school office increased for "at-risk" students. Quantitative data based on Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests (CRCT) showed limited changes. Report card grades showed improvements in grades for "at-risk" students in reading, math, and spelling. Parents of both non "at-risk" and "at-risk" students overwhelming believed they could better assist their children learn if teachers provided more ideas of ways they could help their children at home.

This research aims to explore the links between cross-sector collaboration, a holistic multi-stakeholder approach, and Sustainable Development, and identify whether such a holistic approach can lead to better collaboration processes, and ultimately results. Specifically, it focuses on sustainability in relation to food, through the lense of a qualitative case-study on the city of Malmö, which aims to identify and implement a more sustainable food system through the development of a Food Partnership where diverse stakeholders from across society are invited to actively engage in the process on a relatively equal basis. The study explores these theoretical concepts through the research question: How can a cross-sector collaboration with a holistic multi-stakeholder approach be developed and sustained in the pursuit of the Sustainable Development Goals?The research uncovers the key factors which should be considered in order to form a holistic and long-term partnership, and based on these factors, an analytical framework is developed and used to assess the empirical findings and develop recommendations for the Malmö Food Partnership.This thesis provides a theoretical contribution by bridging the research gap between the concepts of cross-sector collaboration, a holistic multi-stakeholder approach and Sustainable Development. Furthermore, it also provides a practical contribution with its analytical framework model, which can be adapted to future partnerships for the Sustainable Development Goals in urban settings.

New survey data indicate that injection drug users (IDU) in Victoria, BC who share syringes do so with a single person. These partnerships pose an obvious health risk to IDU, as blood borne illnesses are transmitted through the sharing of injection equipment. Here we formulate an ordinary di erential equation (ODE) model of pair formation and separation. Susceptible-infectious (SI) disease dynamics are built into this model so as to describe the syringe-mediated transmission of human immune de ciency virus (HIV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) among IDU. We utilize a novel parameter estimation approach, and t the distribution of partnership durations observed in Victoria. The basic reproduction number is derived, and its qualitative behavior explored with both analytical and numerical techniques.