Thesis (M.S. in Manpower Systems Analysis) Naval Postgraduate School, June 1997. / Thesis advisor(s): Mark Eitelberg and Alice Crawford. "June 1997." Includes bibliographical references. Also available online.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Georgetown University, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 127-132).

No description available.

This thesis explores the impact of the Caroline reform policies during the Personal Rule on the organisation, work-load, and morale of parish officers. In addition to suggesting a national approach to the study of local government, it examines the enforcement of the Book of Orders, Ship Money, and the Perfect Militia at the parochial level during the 1630s. The sources employed include the rich correspondence between the Privy Council and county governors (JPs, Sheriffs, Deputy Lieutenants), and all available parish officers' accounts from thirty-nine English counties and corporate towns. It is argued that the pattern of response to national policies was strongly influenced by communal values, and the administrative standards and individual character of local officeholders. The enforcement of the Caroline reform policies depended on their political acceptability and the ability of the Privy Council and county governors to coerce parish officers. While the Book of Orders was generally welcome in the localities, its implementation was adapted to local necessities and the administrative inertia of both JPs and parish officers. The supervision of the enforcement was restricted by the extreme dependency of superiors on information from parish officers. The administration of Ship Money was thwarted by local assessment disputes, economic depression, and political opposition. Its collection met with significant difficulties from the very start, and ceased under the pressure communities exerted on their officers. Far from being perfect, the militias maintained their standard under the constant supervision of the Deputy Lieutenants. The control of parishes over their officers was emphasised during the recruitment for the Scots' Wars and the collection of Coat and Conduct Money, both of which were causes of the failure of the English army. In conclusion, this thesis proposes that the response to national policies in early modern England varied considerably from community to community. A voluntary and highly decentralised system of local government was unsuitable to enforce contentious policies against the will of the population. The 1630s saw the partial breakdown of local government which significantly contributed to the collapse of the Personal Rule in 1640.

The role of debt in the capital structure of companies as a value driver (Modigliani and Miller, 1963; Jensen and Meckling, 1976; Ross, 1977) as well as in increasing the strategic agility of companies as can be concluded from O'Brien (2003), Kochhart and Hitt (1998), Barton and Gordon (1987) and Sandberg, Lewellen, and Stanley (1987), in general, is contentious given the potential risk of financial distress introduced by it. This study aims to assess whether the introduction of debt, and increase in financial leverage would have any impact on the firm value of short-term insurance companies given the nature of the business. Tobin’s Q (Staking and Babel, 1995), the ratio of the market value of a company to the liquidation value of the company’s assets is developed and used as a key proxy for the franchise value of an insurance company (O'Brien, 2003; DaDalt, Donaldson, and Garner, 2003; Keeley, 1990). Multiple regression analyses is then performed on a sample of listed short-term insurers over an 11 year period to assess the relationship between their financial leverage, franchise value and other key ratios used to determine the value of insurance companies (ROE and underwriting return), with risk being implicit in the franchise value variable. The results show no causal relationship between financial leverage and franchise value or risk which would have been represented by a declining Q. Insurance leverage however is found to be a good predictor of Q. The implication is that short-term insurance companies could borrow money without destroying much value in the short run. The companies could use the borrowed money to fund strategic projects that could add value in the long run. Copyright / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

Financial Condition Reporting (FCR), which is set to be implemented in 2008, promises some of the most significant changes to solvency regulation in the history of the short-term insurance industry in South Africa.The purpose of this study was to assess the perceived impact that this new regulation will have on the short-term insurance industry and to identify the main challenges for implementing FCR requirements.The Delphi technique was used to solicit expert opinion and consensus on the key issues facing the short-term insurance industry in the transition to FCR.The survey indicates that whilst there are several challenges in moving to a more rigorous regulatory environment, that the benefits of a principle based, internationally harmonised and risk sensitive approach to capital requirements, outweigh the efforts of implementing such a system. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

The pace at which South Africa is implementing Clean Development Mechanism projects has been regarded as slow, below the country’s potential and lagging other developing countries. Factors discouraging implementation of CDM projects in South Africa are universal and not just unique to South Africa. China, India and Brazil were evaluated for the purpose of this research and were found to be implementing very similar interventions to address these factors. Further to this, factors that are regarded as success factors in the implementation of CDM were also found to be similar across these countries. There were three objectives that the research sought to address. The first objective was to establish if documented factors discouraging CDM in South Africa are unique to South Africa or also applicable to other countries. The second objective was to establish the interventions these countries implement in addressing factors discouraging CDM as well as success factors that encouraged CDM in the above mentioned countries. The third objective was to develop a framework with lessons that can be transferred and applied to the South African environment. An interpretive methodology was used in analysing data collected from 13 semistructured interviews, conducted with international and local CDM experts. The research further sought to identify recurring themes across South Africa, China, India and Brazil. The outcome of the research was aimed in highlighting a framework of lessons for South Africa and recommendation on how South Africa can implement such lessons to accelerate CDM implementation. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

Health policy reforms have dominated health systems in African countries for over three decades. However, the impacts of these policies on nurses’ work, as well as the extent to which the nurses are involved in the policy decisions, have not been well documented. As the largest group of health professionals in the workforce, nurses’ services are necessary to achieve population health outcomes. Thus, nurses’ work concerns related to the reform of national policies should be identified and addressed. This study was carried out to examine how the national policy reforms have impacted on nurses’ work in Kenyan district health care systems and how nurses have been involved in policy processes in the health care system. Critical theory and feminist critical policy analysis perspectives guided the study. The study was implemented in two phases. The first phase involved qualitative interviews with 32 decision makers and nurses in the public health care system. The second phase involved a comparative quantitative survey of nurses and nurse managers in two districts. A sample of 169 nurses was interviewed in two district hospitals to generate data for this second phase of the study. This thesis contains three manuscripts. The first manuscript presents a qualitative analysis of the impact of policies on nurses’ work (Chapter 2). The second manuscript presents qualitative results of how nurses were involved in policy processes at various levels of the health care system (Chapter 3). The third manuscript presents results of a quantitative survey of frontline nurses’ experiences with the policy reforms, comparing two districts (Chapter 4). An integrative discussion of key findings from all these manuscripts forms the last chapter of the thesis. The findings revealed that policies meant to enhance access to services like decentralization and primary health care were more enabling to nurses’ work while those aimed at enhancing efficiency like structural adjustment programs were more constraining. The constraints included poor work environments, unchanging work conditions, increased responsibilities and dilemmas in providing care. These constraints were experienced more by nurses in the district that was poorly resourced and had poor health indicators than the district that had better resources and better health indicators. The results suggest that inadequate involvement of nurses in policy processes is a reason why their work concerns have not been addressed. There are recommendations to improve nurses’ work in the context of policy reform and to improve nurses’ abilities to participate in policy processes.

A mini dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Education in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Masters of Education in the Department of Curriculum and Instructional Studies at the University Of Zululand, 2017 / This study focuses on the experiences of Foundation Phase educators in implementing OBE and CAPS in the Hlabisa Circuit (KwaZulu-Natal).Foundation Phase educators in this circuit face many challenges in implementing effectively the relevant teaching methodologies required by OBE and CAPS, to the extent of being frustrated by the lack of resources which would help them in their implementation. Their problem, in short, is that they do not know how to implement the principles underpinning OBE and CAPS. The researcher used quantitative research in this study. Data have been collected through questionnaires. Most challenges encountered by Foundation Phase educators are to do with compiling learner portfolios and work schedules, group teaching, and disciplinary measures. Classroom organisation and teaching activities are not receiving the attention they need. Educators are frustrated by the large number of learners each of them is facing. They are frustrated by the instability of Departmental policies: changes in the education system take place regularly.

Approximately 1/3 of the children in the United States are overweight or obese. Children in Mississippi have the highest rate of obesity among all other states. The outcome of this epidemic presents an increase in poor health. To address the problems associated with overweight and obesity among children, schools in the U.S. were required to develop school wellness policies. School principals were identified as key individuals in overseeing the development and implementation of the policies. Existing research studies show a strong relationship or association between student health and academic achievement. The purpose of this research study was to investigate elementary school principals’ perceptions related to the implementation of school wellness policies. The study sought to examine principals’ perceptions regarding physical activity, child nutrition, health education, and general beliefs about school health policy implementation. A web-based survey was sent to 670 elementary school principals with 123 (18%) responding. The majority of the respondents were White females who had served four or more years as principals, had average enrollments of 500 students at their schools, and had school ratings of successful or high performing. Positive weak correlations were found to exist between school accountability ratings and principals’ beliefs that physical activity promotes improved test scores and that physical activity and healthful nutrition promote increased school attendance. Positive weak correlations were also found between school accountability ratings and principals’ beliefs that physical activity, child nutrition, and health education promote improved classroom behavior.