This thesis attempts to formally connect the fields of sustainability and responsibility. It considers first the larger context of business sustainability and responsible leadership, and evaluates the value and need for a common transformative space for these fields and what such a space might look like. As such, the thesis investigates the relation between sustainability and responsibility from an organizational and personal development perspective. This developmental perspective emerges from research in the domain of business education and the role of business schools in terms of educating responsible leaders for a sustainable world. The research suggests a concrete approach, the ‘Collaboratory’ for such a common space of transformation and critically evaluates its effectiveness to develop responsible leaders. The key contribution of this thesis lies in the interconnection of two fast evolving fields of research: the development of responsible leadership and business sustainability, providing a model for practitioners and scholars to reflect on and debate the larger forces and dynamics at play. Most research to date has focused on considering personal and organizational transformation separately. On the one hand, research scholars have studied effective learning environments to enable responsible leadership, and on the other hand, we have studied if and how organizations can advance from their current mode of operations to become “truly sustainable”. The thesis contributes a model to describe the interdependency of these two, and proposes the ‘Collaboratory’ as a means to realize this interdependency in practice. Chapter 1 is a new article theorizing the whole argument; subsequent chapters are previously published articles in these inter-connected fields and addressing methods and approaches to connect personal and organization development, drawing from a body of literature that considers the human spirit in large social change; and using the ‘Collaboratory’ as an illustrative and timely example for such methods.

Dans l’Antiquité occidentale et orientale, des noms d’hommes célèbres ont été associés à des méthodes et des outils de transformation de la vision du monde et métamorphose de la personnalité. Depuis les années 1920, on assiste au même phénomène avec l’émergence de célébrités du développement personnel. Devenue une industrie florissante, la popularité, l’attractivité et l’influence que ces leaders ont sur les autres est une question d’actualité, au moins autant que les critiques et les débats véhéments qu’ils soulèvent. Intriguée par ce phénomène, et interrogeant sa propre pratique de coach professionnel, cette étude adopte une approche constitutive de la communication organisationnelle pour mieux comprendre les pratiques communicationnelles par lesquelles l’autorité d’un tel leader s’accomplit dans et par les interactions. Les résultats de recherche montrent à la fois la présence de processus déjà identifiés dans la littérature pour leur rôle dans la production et la reproduction de l’autorité dans les interactions, tels que la présentification, l’invocation et l’auteurisation ; mais aussi l’identification de nouvelles pratiques d’auto-distinction et de gestion des distances. L’accès à une organisation dirigée par un leader du développement personnel est rare et représente un contexte organisationnel unique, riche et ouvrant le champ à nombreuses pistes de recherche. / In Western and Eastern Antiquity, names of well-know people were associated with methods and tools for worldview transformation and personality metamorphosis. Since the 1920s, we are witnessing the same phenomenon through the emergence of personal development celebrities. Today the personal development field is a thriving industry. The popularity, attractiveness and influence these leaders can have over others is an important question, at least as much as the criticism and heated debates they raise. Intrigued by this phenomenon, and questioning her own practice as a professional coach, this study adopts a constitutive approach to organizational communication to better understand the communication practices by which the authority of such leaders is accomplished in and through interactions. This research shows the presence of processes already identified in the literature for their role in the production and reproduction of authority in interactions such as presentification, invocation and authoring. Two new communication practices also emerged from the data and have been identified as self-distinction and distance management. Access to an organization led by a personal development leader is rare, it represents a unique and rich organizational context and opens up many avenues for future research.

Globalisation is affecting all social sectors, including education in ways that was never thought of before. In South Africa the most changing environment is probably the education sector. Higher education institutions in particular are constantly forging ways to develop the human resource capital for the country despite the shrinking financial resources. The increased demand for quality education, greater efficiency, accountability and national viability constantly challenge academics such that they can no longer wait for management to provide them with the necessary skills and competences. The times are calling for academics to take initiatives to develop themselves for improved performance in their primary roles and in the education of the learners. This study was undertaken to determine the changing nature of radiography as a profession and field of specialization, the development needs of radiography educators and the preferred strategies that could be used to develop the necessary skills and competences. A qualitative research design was employed and data collected through the literature review and interviews. Unstructured questions were used in the interviews to obtain an in-depth understanding of the situation. Challenges faced by academic radiographers in South Africa were explored and new competences required by academe during the time of change explained. Focus was put on the primary functions of academe and that includes teaching, research, community service/service learning and learner supervision strategies that can be used to improve the role of academe were described. Conclusions and recommendations regarding human resource development of academe were drawn from the literature review and the empirical investigation. / Dissertation (MEd (Maximising Potential in Education and Training))--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Curriculum Studies / unrestricted

The diploma thesis deals with the proposal of extending the motivation system of Bosch Diesel company. The theoretical part summarizes the findings concerning employee motivation. Subsequently, an analytical part is created using internal sources of the company and a questionnaire survey.

This thesis called "Management of Personal Development" is focused on analysis of the personal development management at one unnamed Moravian manufacturing and trade company focused on creative tasks. The theoretical background deals with defining the elementary terms in this area, lifestyle, career management, mental hygiene, successful manager principles, time management, introspection, and problem solving. In the area of creativity, it approaches the topic in itself, its development, creative abilities and attitudes, and shows a connection between creativity and personal development. It also includes several alternative methods of personal development. The practical part deals with the present state of personal development management and creativity in the company, and on the influence of these factors on the company's operation. This thesis also includes several specific solutions which show several ways of company development.

Title: Implementation of Personal Development Plans in Non-Governmental Organisations Author: Michaela Čížková Abstract The aim of this thesis is to identify factors which might prevent or help non-profit organizations in implementation of Personal Development Plans as a mean of employee development in the Czech Republic. Theoretical part of this paper describes non-profit organisations in context of their specificity in frame of employee development and introduces the variables, which influence this subject and which it is necessary to take into consideration when planning the implementation of Personal Development Plans. The empirical part uses the Grounded Theory method to research phenomena, which can serve as prerequisite in successful implementation of PDP, either in the initial phase or when solving issues caused by this tool. Conclusion and discussion chapter is dedicated to interpretation of the research results from perspective of employee development, their comparison with professional resources and the possible implication for non-profit organisations in the Czech Republic. Key words: Personal Development Plans (PDP), employee development, Non-Profit Non- Governmental Organisations, Human Resource Management

The purpose with this study was to examine from a relational perspective what qualities and abilities students reason about as important in teachers and what students reason about the student-teacher relationship in school and what significance it can have for students learning and personal development. How students reason about their experiences constitutes the empirical material of the study. Which was done with the research method focus group discussions, where the purpose was to see the students collective and common experiences. The theoretical starting point in the study was based on relational pedagogy, which is partly about how it is used in practice and how the teaching rests on a relationship foundation with human encounters between students and teachers, where communication and presence in these relationships enables a process and development of skills and abilities.  A comprehensive result for the study was that knowledge and relationships cannot be excluded from each other, both parts interact and nourish each other. Students absorb, develop knowledge and at the same time grows as humans through and in meaningful pedagogical relationships together with classmates and teachers. The results also showed that humor was a quality that students emphasized as important in teaching. Humor contributed to a more relaxed classroom climate and a relaxed relationship between student-teacher. Teachers' approach to using humor in teaching made students more comfortable in themselves but also more comfortable in the student-teacher relationship.

The aim of the study was to analyse what may enhance joy in work and to estimate the effects on experienced health and good life and joy in work by load ergonomic measures that were realized in a larger food manufacturing company. Ergonomics is here defined in an entirety. Man is a complex being and is observed in the context of his work and work organization. A project group, recruited from a working team at the studied company, created an objective for the work of the group and the company. Thereafter improvement and change areas were analysed and suggestions for changes were presented and carried out to some extent. The question at issue was: What defines a work that promotes experienced health and a good life? It has been evaluated in terms of the key words of the objective: meaningful, joy, comfort, health, personal development, work environment. Methods used were questionnaires and interviews before and after ergonomic improvements with a one-year interval. A correlation matrix was calculated to analyse how the questionnaire variables describing joy of work covariate. 136 persons (drop-out rate 5,2 %) answered the questionnaire. The year before 121 persons within the same production area had answered the same questionnaire. The questionnaire addressed experienced musculoskeletal pain from work and estimated need for sick leave. It also addressed attitudes to work, fellow workers and company management. Further more, attitude to life and health as well as data to calculate BMI were collected. The result shows no significant change in either health, pain or joy in work. The pain levels were in general high to very high. The need for sick leave due to pain had increased. Many subjects showed overweight. Seven persons, operators and company management, were interviewed regarding their attitudes to joy of work. Great similarities in views on how joy of work can be promoted as well as their personal role in this were found. The correlation matrix gives further support to other studies showing that democratic processes, information and opportunity to develop give higher commitment and higher degree of joy of work. A significant relation between support from the foreman and perception of good health and a good life was another finding. A possible explanation for the lack of influence from the ergonomic interventions is a too short follow up time. / Syftet med uppsatsen var att analysera vad som kan ge arbetsglädje samt utvärdera effekter på upplevd hälsa, gott liv och arbetsglädje av de ergonomiska åtgärder som vidtagits på ett större livsmedelsföretag. Ergonomi är här definierat ur ett helhetsperspektiv: Människan ses som en komplex varelse och hon granskades i den kontext som arbetet och arbetsorganisationen utgjorde. En projektgrupp, rekryterad ur en arbetsgrupp vid det studerade företaget, arbetade fram en målbild för sitt och företagets arbete. Därefter analyserades förbättringsområden samt presenterades förändringsförslag som delvis genomfördes. Frågeställningen för arbetet var: Vad definierar ett arbete som främjar upplevelsen av god hälsa och ett gott liv? Denna utvärderades i termer av målbildens nyckelord: meningsfull, glädje, trivsel, hälsa, personlig utveckling, arbetsklimat. Lönsamheten studerades inte. De metoder som användes var enkät och intervju med ett års mellanrum före och efter genomförandet av ovan nämnda förändringar. En korrelationsmatris beräknades för att analysera hur variablerna som beskriver arbetsglädje samvarierade. Enkäten besvarades av 136 personer (bortfall 5,2 %). Året innan hade enkäten besvarats av 121 personer inom samma produktionsområde. Enkäten behandlade upplevda muskuloskeletala besvär av arbetet samt skattade behov av sjukfrånvaro. Den behandlade också attityder till arbetet, arbetsledningen och arbetskamraterna. Dessutom efterfrågandes inställning till livet och hälsan samt data för BMI-beräkning. Resultatet visar ingen markant förändring av vare sig hälsa, besvär eller arbetsglädje. Besvärsnivåerna var genomgående höga till mycket höga. Behovet av sjukskrivning pga. besvären hade ökat. Många var överviktiga. Sju personer, operatörer samt personer från ledningen på företaget, intervjuades djupare angående sina attityder till arbetsglädje. Här fann vi stora likheter i hur de ansåg att arbetsglädje främjas samt sin egen roll i detta. De korrelationer som uppmättes ger ytterligare stöd för vad andra studier visat: demokratiska processer, information och utvecklingsmöjligheter ger ökat engagemang och högre grad av arbetsglädje. Signifikanta samband mellan stöd från arbetsledningen och upplevelse av god hälsa och ett gott liv var ytterligare ett fynd. En möjlig förklaring till bristen av påverkan av de ergonomiska förändringarna är en alltför kort studietid.

This thesis deals with leisure activities that have an impact on leisure and quality of life of persons with severe mental disabilities. The work is divided into theoretical and practical part. The theoretical part focuses on the characteristics of people with intellectual disabilities, their social integration, the concept of quality of life and leisure activities for the full use of their free time. The practical part is devoted to leisure activities that are provided to clients with severe mental disabilities in Liberec DH. In this part the processing of his observations in the context of the research. In conclusion evaluates the fulfillment of the objectives of this thesis.

Det övergripande problemet vi började med är vad som beskrivs i artikeln En skola utan kanon om att elever läser mindre i skolan på grund av olika faktorer. Vissa av dem är rent tidsmässiga men även att det finns en delad uppfattning om att det helt enkelt inte finns nog med tid för djupgående skönlitterär läsning (Nordlund 1998). Olin-Scheller (2006) förmedlar i sin avhandling att det är svårt för läsare, mest omnämnt gymnasieelever, att ta till sig av den skönlitterära läsningen om den inte stämmer överens med elevernas litterära repertoar. Syftet med vårt översiktsverk är i huvudsak att presentera hur läsning och personlig utveckling hänger ihop samt förmedla varför skönlitterär läsning är både aktuell och viktig för elever. Fokus för vårt översiktsverk ligger på material som berör skönlitterär läsning för elever på gymnasienivå. Vi har använt oss av sökning i olika databaser genom att använda både breda och specifika sökord och termer. Materialet består av både vetenskapliga artiklar, litteratur och avhandlingar relevanta för våra avgränsade söktermer. Den övergripande frågan vi har arbetat med i bred bemärkelse är ”Hur och varför arbetar man med skönlitteratur i skolan?” Genom läsning och avgränsning av materialet utvecklades frågan till ”Hur bidrar läsning till personlig utveckling?” och även en sidofråga utvecklades vid läsningen av materialet ”Gör det någon skillnad på vad man läser?” Gemensamt för alla våra källor är att de alla belyser det faktum att det är viktigt att lägga vikt på den skönlitterära läsningen på gymnasiet. Dels för att alla elever ska få samma möjlighet till utveckling av sin litterära repertoar, dels för att varje elev ska få chansen till en djupare personlig utveckling innan vuxenlivet tar vid på riktigt. Nyckelord: Critical literacy, litterär repertoar, personlig utveckling och skönlitteratur.