Considering the condition of the Gauteng provincial road network, it has become critical that all the road maintenance and construction programmes be enhanced. However, the need to have an efficient and effective provincial road network has put a strain on the allocations given to the Gauteng Department of Roads and Transport (GDRT) annually. Over the years, there had been sole reliance by GDRT on MTEF funds which, according to the findings of this research, have been reducing every successive year. Based on these factors, it has become imperative for GDRT to explore alternative funding sources to sustain their road maintenance and construction programmes. The possible source of these alternative funds which GDRT could explore is the private sector under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) engagements. This research sought to establish whether the PPP models could be applied effectively within GDRT. / Graduate School for Business Leadership / (M.B.A.)

Technological and economic development have long since been associated. From the archaeological discoveries of urban living to the cities of the future; from Babylon to places such as Singapore, technology and life are entwined. Much preoccupation today is with information and communications technologies (ICTs) and misguided notions of 'cyberspace' and 'information superhighways' and of course, life in the informational age. The hype that goes with this often conjures up images of endless potential for marginalised groups, or in turn, reinforces the powers of dominant groups during a most challenging period for capitalism. Yet there is a need for research into the way technology, and in particular ICTs, interacts with the social, political, cultural and economic complexity that forms the basis of place. This thesis attempts to address that need by focusing on the role of ICTs in local economies. Based on an extensive overview of the North East, and followed by an intensive approach of investigation into a small number of case studies, this work looks at the political processes that go hand-in-hand with technology and place. Specifically, the thesis pays attention to locally based partnerships that have taken form to build up the ICTs potential of local economies, and it seeks to understand the reasons why these have occurred at this particular moment in time. The research has identified a number of points in the local economy that appear to be emerging as areas for ICTs application. In effect, these are the key points from which the local economy is connected to the global economy. It is argued that local economies are falling in line behind a more global shift towards what Manuel Castells refers to as the informational mode of development. The role of local ICTs partnerships is crucial in enabling such development and the mechanics behind this are investigated. Again, by drawing on the work of Castells, it is contended that these groups are trying to condition the dynamics of the informational age and the logics of that age. That is, local ICTs partnerships, at the level of place, are attempting to shape the space of flows. Four cases are considered in detail. There is the work of the Sunderland Telematics Working Group who have developed a strategic path for the application of ICTs in the city. There is the work of the Wansbeck Initiative, focused on an emerging set of methods to deal with local economic decline and peripheralisation. There is the work of the County Durham Informatics Partnership, led by the county-wide Training and Enterprise Council and supported by the local University, the County Council and a number of local district authorities. And then there is Teesside, a place that has had a number of false starts in commencing on the road to informationalism, due in part to a lack of cohesion in the partnership building process. There is also the work of Northern Informatics who act as part of the bigger regional picture, perhaps suggesting that as these groups take form there may be an ICTs 'turf-war' to consider. This work shows that there is indeed some level of contestation as local ICTs partnerships are formed. Fundamentally, we are at the beginning of something new here, and there can be no predetermined outcome of how local groups attempt to shape the space of flows.

Thesis advisor: Curt Dudley-Marling / Improving educational outcomes for students with disabilities remains a challenge for professionals in the field of special education. With the passage of <italic> NCLB <italic/> and <italic> IDEA 2004 <italic/> has come the recommendation to establish higher standards for educational productivity for these students. This call to action seems warranted, especially in light of recent findings published in a report by the U.S. Department of Education (2002) entitled <italic>A New Era: Revitalizing Special Education for Children and Their Families <italic/>. The report suggests that students with disabilities drop-out of high school at twice the rate of their peers and higher education enrollment rates for students with disabilities are 50 percent lower than rates for the general population. Recent literature indicates that improving educational outcomes for students with disabilities depends in large part on creating constructive partnerships between their families and schools. The present study contributes to the knowledge base on partnership-making by investigating family-school partnerships in special education from the perspective of parents. This study utilized the qualitative methodology known as narrative inquiry to investigate the following research questions: 1. What stories do parents tell regarding their personal experiences with the special education process? 2. What do these stories tell us about the family's perspective of family-school partnerships in special education? 3. What can we learn from these stories that might translate into effective policy and practice in schools? Findings from interviews with fourteen parents of students receiving special education services indicated that they were concerned about issues of teacher effectiveness, honesty and trust, and their role in securing services for their children. Knowledge derived from their experiences offer suggestions for schools, institutions of higher education, and future researchers. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2009. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Teacher Education, Special Education, Curriculum and Instruction.

Considering the condition of the Gauteng provincial road network, it has become critical that all the road maintenance and construction programmes be enhanced. However, the need to have an efficient and effective provincial road network has put a strain on the allocations given to the Gauteng Department of Roads and Transport (GDRT) annually. Over the years, there had been sole reliance by GDRT on MTEF funds which, according to the findings of this research, have been reducing every successive year. Based on these factors, it has become imperative for GDRT to explore alternative funding sources to sustain their road maintenance and construction programmes. The possible source of these alternative funds which GDRT could explore is the private sector under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) engagements. This research sought to establish whether the PPP models could be applied effectively within GDRT. / Graduate School for Business Leadership / (M.B.A.)

This paper investigates the performance of private equity partnerships using a data set of individual fund returns collected by Venture Economics. Over the sample period, average fund returns net of fees approximately equal the S&P 500 although there is a large degree of heterogeneity among fund returns. Returns persist strongly across funds raised by individual private equity partnerships. The returns also improve with partnership experience. Better performing funds are more likely to raise follow-on funds and raise larger funds than funds that perform poorly. This relationship is concave so that top performing funds do not grow proportionally as much as the average fund in the market. At the industry level, we show that market entry in the private equity industry is cyclical. Funds (and partnerships) started in boom times are less likely to raise follow-on funds, suggesting that these funds subsequently perform worse. Aggregate industry returns are lower following a boom, but most of this effect is driven by the poor performance of new entrants, while the returns of established funds are much less affected by these industry cycles. Several of these results differ markedly from those for mutual funds.

The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions and experiences of youth and adults engaged in youth-adult relationships involved in the Texas AgriLife Extension Service Youth Board. The objectives of the study were to: (1) examine youth perceptions of their involvement on the Youth Board; (2) examine adult perceptions of their involvement on the Youth Board; and (3) evaluate youth-adult interaction on the Youth Board. The quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-tests, and analyses of variance (ANOVA). Involvement and Interaction Rating Scales were completed by 127 participants (75 youth and 52 adults) serving on the Youth Boards in Texas. The rating scale measured three constructs: youth involvement, adult involvement, and youth-adult interaction. T-tests were used to analyze differences between youth and adult participants. Gender differences were also analyzed. The test indicated no significant difference between youth and adult participants, but youth were more positive on the youth involvement, adult involvement, and youth-adult interaction constructs. Females were more positive on all three constructs event thought there was also no significant difference in perceptions. An independent samples t-test was computed to determine if there were significant differences between Anglo and non-Anglo participants' perceptions of youth involvement, adult involvement, and youth-adult interaction. Most participants were Anglo; however, non-Anglo ethic groups including Asian, Black, Hispanic and Native American were also represented. Tests show all participants had positive perceptions toward youth involvement, adult involvement, and youth-adult interaction. Non-Anglo participants had a positive perception of youth involvement, but Anglo participants had a higher mean score on adult involvement and youth-adult interaction. An independent sample t-test was used to determine significant differences based on residence in perceptions of the three constructs between participants. Population less than 10,000 was defined as a town fewer than 10,000 populations and farm. Population greater than 10,000 is defined as town/city of 10,000-50,000 population and its suburbs, suburb of city more than 50,000 populations, or central city more than 50,000 population. No significant differences were found between population less than 10,000 and population greater than 10,000 participants but population less than 10,000 participants had a higher perception of youth involvement, adult involvement and youth-adult interaction than population greater than 10,000 participants.

Thesis (doctoral)--Universität Königsberg i. Pr., 1927. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 3-6).

Thesis (doctoral)--Universität Frankfurt am Main, 1973. / Includes bibliographical references (p. v-xviii).

Abstract The focal study initially describes the development of the banking industry in Finland, then analyses the development of banking partnerships, and concludes by applying the findings about partnership development to the banking industry in order to increase our understanding of the industry development, especially of the development of the nature and structure of a typical banking firm. In this study, banking partnerships and co-operation is the perspective from which industry development is studied. The study constructs a framework of reasons for entering partnerships from three theoretical views. The partnership-specific view explains the reasons based on the benefits that a partnership may produce for a bank. Industry-specific view explains the reasons based on the banking industry paradigm, i.e. what are the general banking logic features that could explain the change in partnership entering reasons and how those features have developed. The external view explains the reasons from the environmental level, specifically environmental attribute and changes that can stimulate partnership entry. Examining partnership entry reasons through these three-levels and the different emphasis of each view improves both the theoretical understanding of the reasons banks enter partnerships as well as our understanding of the development of banking industry. The development of the vertically integrated banking model towards a more core-competence specialised one describes the development of banking logic. In the continuum of the logic in Finland, the focus of customer service on core competences places the customer service at the centre of the integration of business functions and disciplines. On the other hand, the growing need for economies of scale does not allow a domestic or regional bank to maintain a great deal of the existing proprietary manufacturing. This means that an entire service can and has to be manufactured outside the bank's own hierarchy. The production of banking services are transforming from the traditional proprietary manufacturing model to a three-levelled model. A great part of the existing production will be outsourced because of the increasing need for scale of economies. In other words, economies of scale will be purchased instead of proprietary manufacturing. The second level is formed by such banking services that have certain needs for the economies of scale, but in addition, qualities like flexibility are important factors in the production. The need of scale forces domestic and regional banks to move the manufacturing outside of the focal bank, but the need of qualities highlights partnership-like needs in the selection of the producer. The third level is the "manufacturing" of tacit personal services, in which the economies of scale is absent. For Finnish banks, this layer forms the core of their proprietary operation.

School districts cross the country are facing tight budgets and increased demands on resources and as result have turned to commercial sources for assistance with funding gym floors, lighting for athletic complexes, athletic fields, and sports equipment (Adams 1999; Bell 2002a; Brunkow 2001; Molnar 2002). Businesses are increasingly making inroads into classrooms, particularly, in underfunded schools. In exchange for advertising space and marketing research, businesses provide money, teaching materials, technology resources, and sports equipment. The Commercialism in Education Research Unit (CERU) at Arizona State University has monitored media references to commercialism in schools since 1990. There has been a 473% increase in commercial activity within schools since the 1990 inception of archiving (Molnar & Reaves 2001). Molnar (2003c) stated that schools are increasingly soliciting private sources for funding, particularly, at a timeframe when guidelines for school districts to follow are limited. The purpose of this study is to examine the perceptions of superintendents regarding the impact of corporate involvement in their district. The focus will be on the district size that partners, direct and indirect advertising in schools, and acceptability and unacceptability of commercialism. The population will be all superintendents assigned to public schools in Virginia. Contact will be made with the district by letter requesting of the superintendent to complete the survey. A survey will be mailed to superintendents of the 132 school districts in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The dependent variable will be acceptability or unacceptability of commercialism with the independent variables being district size, gender and years of experience as superintendent, and types of commercialism. Statistical tests will include descriptive statistics and One Way and Two-Way Analyis of Variance. / Ed. D.