Entrepreneurship represents a means of increasing personal freedom and designing an attendant lifestyle. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore strategies sole proprietors used to sustain their small business operations beyond five years and attain profitability levels necessary for freedom and autonomy. Data collection involved semi-structured interviews of 10 entrepreneurs who answered open-ended interview questions, granted access to archival documents, and direct observation of their business operations. The conceptual framework was emancipation theory addressing personal freedom through business autonomy. With the modified van Kaam method, the identification of emerging themes involved identifying groupings, clusters, and unrelated antecedents all of which yielded such themes as customer service, personal control, and creativity. The customer service theme was prevalent throughout the interview. The personal control theme arose from participants' perceptions of emancipation, business autonomy, and personal freedom. The creativity theme appeared through the comments of all participants; each participant alluded to the power of creativity and vision. Determination mattered to all the participants. The participants harped on the need for inward strength necessary to overcome all obstacles. Results from this study may contribute to social change assisting sole proprietors in strategies to grow their businesses to profitability, attain personal freedom, and contribute to community economic development which in turn would extend to benefits a stable economy across the community for a safe and progressive society.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the wives' perceptions of personal control over the process of childbirth were related to couples' choices and utilization of three birthing alternatives (home birth, unmedicated hospital birth, and medicated hospital birth). The wives' perceived control over the childbirth process was expected to vary inversely with the level of medical intervention in the birthing alternative chosen. The home birth mothers were expected to perceive themselves as having more control over childbirth than were the unmedicated hospital group mothers, and the unmedicated hospital group mothers more than the medicated hospital group mothers. The husbands' perception of their wives' perceived control in childbirth and their participation was also measured.

The main objective of this study was to determine the entrepreneurial potential amongst Grade 10 learners in South Africa (Moutse East, Sekhukhune district of Limpopo Province), using the ATE test2 developed at the Kingston University in London. The ATE test2 was tested for validity and reliability; and socio-demographic impacts were tested for statistical significance. A qualitative descriptive design methodology was employed. ATE test2 questionnaires were distributed amongst learners in six public secondary schools, resulting in 836 learners participating in the completion of the questionnaires. Five constructs, namely achievement, personal control, creativity, leadership and intuition, describing the entrepreneurial attitudes of young learners were analysed during exploratory factor analysis. Statistical analysis for reliability, validity and construct correlation showed acceptable results to conclude that the ATE test2 can be used amongst rural learners. A comparison of the mean differences between the constructs for demographic variables produced statistically significant differences in a number of instances, but no practical significance to conclude that these differences can be applied in practice. Practical recommendations were provided for stakeholders to apply in the development of an intervention training programme for a pilot test in entrepreneurship development. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

El presente trabajo de investigación desarrolla el marco teórico necesario para realizar un diagnóstico y propuesta de mejora en el proceso de contratación y gestión de nuevos colaboradores de un banco mediante la implementación de la metodología Lean Office, con el objetivo de reducir los tiempos operativos y eliminar los desperdicios encontrados. Para ello se describe en primer lugar las herramientas utilizadas para el análisis y diagnóstico del problema, permitiendo encontrar la causa da raíz de estos y clasificarlos por su nivel de importancia e impacto. Posteriormente, se detallará las herramientas necesarias para la selección y aplicación de la contramedida como solución óptima al problema previamente identificado. Se estudiará los conceptos y beneficios de las herramientas de la filosofía Lean como propuesta de mejora del sistema a analizar, verificando la eliminación de desperdicios mediante la aplicación de trabajos estandarizados, las 5s, el Value Stream Mapping y Jidoka. Finalmente se realizará un estudio de casos con aplicaciones de la herramienta en estudio en escenarios y rubros similares. Entre los casos a analizar se encuentra un caso de estudio asociado a la mejora de un servicio de entrega de un operador logístico aplicando la metodología Lean Office; la implementación de Lean Office y transformación digital en una empresa de servicios y, por último, la mejora de los procesos operativos en una oficina de posgrado de una universidad utilizando Lean Office.

Lors de la poursuite d’un but, les consommateurs s’appuient souvent sur des sources externes de contrôle pour maintenir des niveaux de motivation élevés. Face à un sentiment d’impuissance, leur présence compense le sentiment de ne pas être au contrôle de son existence et permet de nier que les évènements de la vie peuvent se dérouler de manière aléatoire, que les choses peuvent être dues au hasard. En d’autres termes, lorsqu’un individu se sent incapable de contrôler la poursuite de son but, la perception d’ordre et de structure (mis en œuvre par un agent externe) renforce le sentiment que « tout est sous contrôle » et que, par conséquence, toute action produira un résultat attendu. De la même manière que la religion rappelle souvent aux croyants qu’une déité est à leurs côtés dans tous les moments de leur vie, les marques rappellent souvent explicitement qu’elles sont de véritables partenaires permettant aux consommateurs d’atteindre leurs buts. Mais, une telle tactique est-elle efficace ? Des courants de recherche importants en psychologie sociale (réactance et paresse sociale) suggèrent que promouvoir la présence d’agents externes influents est une source de démotivation à l’investissement d’efforts en vue de l’accomplissement d’un but. Dans cette thèse, nous examinons cette contradiction et offrons une tentative de réconciliation théorique à partir de trois recherches. Nous développons notamment la notion d’homologie fonctionnelle entre religion et marque en démontrant que la croyance dans le contrôle divin et la confiance en la marque servent un besoin élémentaire d’ordre quand les consommateurs doivent faire face à une menace sur leur contrôle personnel. / People are often reminded that influential external entities are by their side while they pursue important personal goals. In the context of reduced personal control, feeling their presence compensate for the realization of one’s own limitations when it comes to producing desired outcomes and avoiding undesired ones. Such reminders make people feel confident that there is structure and order in the world and help them cope with the anxiety inducing fear of randomness and chaos. In other words, when people feel that they do not have control over the pursuit of a goal, perceiving that overall “things are under control” because of the intervention of external agents promote the belief that actions and outcomes are interconnected. Just as religion often reminds believers that a deity is by their side, brands often explicitly remind their customers of their presence for goals they are pursuing. However, one may question the relevance of such a tactic. Prior work has provided extensive evidence showing that promoting influential external agents was detrimental to individuals’ willingness to take goal-directed actions (e.g., reactance and social loafing). In this dissertation, we examine this contradiction. We propose and test a theoretical reconciliation based on three researches. In doing so, we develop the notion of functional homology between religion and brand by arguing and demonstrating that both an interventionist deity and an interventionist brand serve the basic need for order and structure when people deal with a control threat. We further discuss the limitations of this work, directions for further research and the implications for marketing practice.

Workplace design practitioners and organizational managers are increasingly noticing all the various aspects in which the workplace affects organizations and their employees. The studies on the relationships between the workplace, organizations and their employees are more focused on psychology or facility management than the socio-spatial perspective. Workplace design, configuration and spatial features impact how well and how much a company can benefit from its human capital. Although the concept of the relation of workplace to an organization is not new, it is relatively unexamined. This thesis introduces a new set of spatial variables to workplace studies, following the concept of personal control. The discussed spatial variables effectively describe the features of workplace floor plan and the characteristics of a workstation. Furthermore, this dissertation develops a method that creates the link between workplace spatial setting and a sense of belonging, organizational outcomes – organizational commitment, work motivation, job satisfaction and work performance. Based on the detailed statistical analyses of a field survey that included 336 participants from 16 organizations, a model of spatial features influence sense of belonging and organizational outcomes was identified within this study. The research findings provide evidence for creating a workplace with a sense of belonging and better organizational outcomes through spatial design. This dissertation is comprised of six chapters. Chapter 1, an introduction, provides a general study background, discusses the problems to be solved in the study, and proposes an approach to deal with the target problems. Chapter 2 firstly reviews the current workplace studies related to spatial features. Secondly, it discusses the influence of workstation design on the human muscle system. Thirdly, it discusses the most relevant psychological issues at a workplace as stated by previous researches. Finally, the chapter reveals how a workplace affects the work of an organization. Chapter 3 specifies how workplace influences an employee’s sense of belonging and environmental control, and introduces the conceptual model. It also introduces the independent and dependent variables, generates research hypotheses. Chapter 4 describes the field survey design, procedures and the participants. It also covers the initial data analysis of the field survey: how the survey instrument, the questionnaire, was developed, commenting on all the aspects it includes – spatial experiences, work motivation, commitment, sense of belonging, job satisfaction and work performance. Chapter 5 is data analysis. This chapter discusses the research findings on workplace design features in relation to employees’ sense of belonging, satisfaction with ambient physical environment, and organizational outcomes – commitment, work motivation, job satisfaction and individual work performance. The final chapter summarizes the findings, comments on design implications of the research results, and draws conclusions. The dissertation ends in admitting the limitations of this research and discussing practical implications for future investigation.

Bakgrund: Sex timmars arbetsdag har under senare år skapat stor debatt och fler och fler arbetsgivare väljer att testa arbetstidsförkortningen. Till skillnad från tidigare studier i ämnet, som till stor del syftat till att behandla effekter gällande hälsa och välbefinnande, väljer den aktuella studien att fokusera på införandet av sex timmars arbetsdag. En arbetstidsförkortning ställer krav på ökad effektivitet för att en organisation ska kunna behålla sin lönsamhet, varför åtgärder gällande styrning är relevant vid införandet. Tidigare forskning visar att det har blivit allt vanligare att medarbetare ägnar tid åt icke arbetsrelaterade aktiviteter under arbetstid, vilket är relevant att undersöka i samband med en arbetstidsförkortning. Föreliggande studie undersöker hur två privata företag och två offentliga verksamheter arbetar med styrning för att skapa förutsättningar för en lyckad arbetstidsförkortning. Syfte: Studiens syfte är att ge ökad förståelse för hur organisationer arbetar med styrning för att uppnå ökad effektivitet vid införande av sex timmars arbetsdag. Vidare kommer studien att undersöka om det inom organisationerna funnits något tomt arbete som i samband med införandet kunnat minskas. Metod: För att uppfylla studiens syfte har en kvalitativ metod antagits. Undersökningen är en jämförande studie där semistrukturerade intervjuer genomförts med chefer och medarbetare på fyra organisationer.  Slutsatser: Föreliggande studie visar att cheferna inte upplever någon förändring gällande sitt sätt att styra vid införandet av sex timmars arbetsdag och stort ansvar för förändringar i arbetssätt har förlagts på medarbetarna. Vidare konstaterar studien att ett införande av sex timmars arbetsdag betraktas som en belöning och leder till ökad motivation hos medarbetarna. Slutligen har studien kunnat identifiera tomt arbete inom de undersökta organisationerna som till viss del har kunnat minskas i samband med införandet av sex timmars arbetsdag. / Background: The Six-hour work day has created major debates in recent years, and an increasing number of employers choose to try reduced working hours. Unlike previous studies of the subject, which generally addresses health and welfare effects, the current study chooses to focus on the introduction of a six-hour work day. A work hour reduction requires increased efficiency for an organization to maintain its profitability. Therefore, management control is necessary at the time of implementation of the six-hour work day. Previous research shows that it has become increasingly common for employees to spend time on non-work-related activities during working hours. For that reason, itis relevant to investigate these activities in correlation with a reduction in working hours. The present study examines how two private companies and two public entities work with management control systems to create the conditions for a successful work hour reduction. Purpose: The purpose of the study is to provide a greater understanding of how organizations work with management control systems to achieve increased efficiency when introducing a six-hour work day. Furthermore, the study will investigate whether there was any empty labor within the organizations that could be reduced in connection with introducing the six-hour work day. Method: A qualitative method has been adopted, in order to fulfill the purpose of the study. The survey is a comparative study in which semi-structured interviews were conducted with managers and employees of four organizations. Conclusions: The present study shows that the managers do not experience any changes regarding their way of controlling the employees in connection with introducing the six-hour work day. Instead, the employees have taken big responsibility for making changes in working methods to increase their efficiency. Furthermore, the study finds that a six-hour work day is considered a reward and leads to increased motivation among employees. Finally, the study has been able to identify empty labor within the investigated organizations which, in part, could have been reduced in connection with introducing the six-hour work day.

Background: Patient empowerment is viewed as a priority by policy makers, patients and practitioners worldwide. Although there are a number of measures available, none have been developed specifically for patients in the UK with long-term conditions. It is the aim of this study to report the development and preliminary validation of an empowerment instrument for patients with long-term conditions in primary care.Methods: The study involved three methods. Firstly, a systematic review was conducted to identify existing empowerment instruments, and to describe, compare and appraise their content and quality. The results supported the need for a new instrument. Item content of existing instruments helped support development of the new instrument. Secondly, empowerment was explored in patients with long-term conditions and primary care practitioners using qualitative methods, to explore its meaning and the factors that support or hinder empowerment. This led to the development of a conceptual model to support instrument development. Thirdly, a new instrument for measuring empowerment in patients with long-term conditions in primary care was developed. A cross-sectional survey of patients was conducted to collect preliminary data on acceptability, reliability and validity, using pre-specified hypotheses based on existing theoretical and empirical work. Results: Nine instruments meeting review inclusion criteria were identified. Only one instrument was developed to measure empowerment in long-term conditions in the context of primary care, and that was judged to be insufficient in terms of content and purpose. Five dimensions (‘identity’, ‘knowledge and understanding’, ‘personal control’, personal decision-making’, and ‘enabling other patients’) of empowerment were identified through published literature and the qualitative work and incorporated into a preliminary version of the new instrument. A postal survey achieved 197 responses (response rate 33%). Almost half of the sample reported circulatory, diabetic or musculoskeletal conditions. Exploratory factor analysis suggested a three factor solution (‘identity’, ‘knowledge and understanding’ and ‘enabling’). Two dimensions of empowerment (‘identity’ and ‘enabling’) and total empowerment showed acceptable levels of internal consistency. The measure showed relationships with external measures (including quality of chronic illness care, self-efficacy and educational qualifications) that were generally supportive of its construct validity.Conclusion: Initial analyses suggest that the new measure meets basic psychometric criteria and has potential for the measurement of patient empowerment in long-term conditions in primary care. The scale may have a role in research on quality of care for long-term conditions, and could function as a patient-reported outcome measure. However, further validation is required before more extensive use of the measure.

Workplace design practitioners and organizational managers are increasingly noticing all the various aspects in which the workplace affects organizations and their employees. The studies on the relationships between the workplace, organizations and their employees are more focused on psychology or facility management than the socio-spatial perspective. Workplace design, configuration and spatial features impact how well and how much a company can benefit from its human capital. Although the concept of the relation of workplace to an organization is not new, it is relatively unexamined. This thesis introduces a new set of spatial variables to workplace studies, following the concept of personal control. The discussed spatial variables effectively describe the features of workplace floor plan and the characteristics of a workstation. Furthermore, this dissertation develops a method that creates the link between workplace spatial setting and a sense of belonging, organizational outcomes – organizational commitment, work motivation, job satisfaction and work performance. Based on the detailed statistical analyses of a field survey that included 336 participants from 16 organizations, a model of spatial features influence sense of belonging and organizational outcomes was identified within this study. The research findings provide evidence for creating a workplace with a sense of belonging and better organizational outcomes through spatial design. This dissertation is comprised of six chapters. Chapter 1, an introduction, provides a general study background, discusses the problems to be solved in the study, and proposes an approach to deal with the target problems. Chapter 2 firstly reviews the current workplace studies related to spatial features. Secondly, it discusses the influence of workstation design on the human muscle system. Thirdly, it discusses the most relevant psychological issues at a workplace as stated by previous researches. Finally, the chapter reveals how a workplace affects the work of an organization. Chapter 3 specifies how workplace influences an employee’s sense of belonging and environmental control, and introduces the conceptual model. It also introduces the independent and dependent variables, generates research hypotheses. Chapter 4 describes the field survey design, procedures and the participants. It also covers the initial data analysis of the field survey: how the survey instrument, the questionnaire, was developed, commenting on all the aspects it includes – spatial experiences, work motivation, commitment, sense of belonging, job satisfaction and work performance. Chapter 5 is data analysis. This chapter discusses the research findings on workplace design features in relation to employees’ sense of belonging, satisfaction with ambient physical environment, and organizational outcomes – commitment, work motivation, job satisfaction and individual work performance. The final chapter summarizes the findings, comments on design implications of the research results, and draws conclusions. The dissertation ends in admitting the limitations of this research and discussing practical implications for future investigation.