<p>The study of the cultures has been a primary focus of sociology, psychology and anthropology since their inception. Increasing globalization has brought the attention of academics and practitioners to the study of national cultures and their differences into the management area. Likewise, the parallel trend towards running some business through projects has brought broader perspectives such as national cultures into the project management field. Recent academic literature demonstrated that national culture has a major impact on management practices. However, the element of national culture is elusively described in the project management field. No extensive tests were found on the comparison of the project planning among countries, which could help to establish relationship between national cultures and project planning capabilities. Using GLOBE study to capture national cultures and Project Management Planning Quality (PMPQ) model to capture project planning approach and organizational planning support, this paper addresses this gap by comparing national culture, project planning and organizational project planning support across four different countries: Malaysia, Japan, Sweden and Israel. The findings of this thesis are that there are both similarities and differences in project planning between different countries. In organizational project planning support practices, two clusters were identified. It attempts to answer questions about the relevance of culture to project planning and concludes with implications to project managers.</p>

The study of the cultures has been a primary focus of sociology, psychology and anthropology since their inception. Increasing globalization has brought the attention of academics and practitioners to the study of national cultures and their differences into the management area. Likewise, the parallel trend towards running some business through projects has brought broader perspectives such as national cultures into the project management field. Recent academic literature demonstrated that national culture has a major impact on management practices. However, the element of national culture is elusively described in the project management field. No extensive tests were found on the comparison of the project planning among countries, which could help to establish relationship between national cultures and project planning capabilities. Using GLOBE study to capture national cultures and Project Management Planning Quality (PMPQ) model to capture project planning approach and organizational planning support, this paper addresses this gap by comparing national culture, project planning and organizational project planning support across four different countries: Malaysia, Japan, Sweden and Israel. The findings of this thesis are that there are both similarities and differences in project planning between different countries. In organizational project planning support practices, two clusters were identified. It attempts to answer questions about the relevance of culture to project planning and concludes with implications to project managers.

En quoi les TPE inventives sont un atout face à la problématique de l'emploi en espace rural isolé ? Plus généralement qu'apportent-elles à cet espace et comment accompagner au mieux la création de ces activités ? Cette question est approfondie sur l'exemple des régions Auvergne et Limousin à partir de travaux qualitatifs portant sur trois terrains : le plateau du Cézallier, le Parc Naturel Régional Millevaches en Limousin et le Pays des Combrailles. Les TPE inventives créent de l'emploi dans des espaces où la plupart des activités économiques sont en difficulté. Elles sont le fait d'individus mettant en place des systèmes complexes et souvent à la marge dans le but de vivre et travailler sur un territoire choisi, et sont, en ce sens, des innovations discrètes. Les modalités et le fort degré d'ancrage territorial de ces TPE inventives en font de réels atouts pour le développement territorial. Le processus de création et d'ancrage des TPE inventives se déploie par le biais de rencontres avec des acteurs de l'accompagnement à la création d'activités et des acteurs du développement territorial. La construction de réseaux professionnels et sociaux par le créateur de TPE inventives est un des résultats notables de ce processus. Si les créateurs sont très investis dans les réseaux locaux ils le sont aussi, dans une moindre mesure, dans des réseaux externes au territoire. Ils en deviennent alors de véritables acteurs du développement de leur territoire. Face à ces spécificités, la tâche des acteurs de l'accompagnement est mise en question. Si les propositions des acteurs institutionnels sont le plus souvent en difficulté face aux TPE inventives, d'autres acteurs déploient des dispositifs répondant mieux à leurs caractéristiques. Enfin, le rôle des collectivités territoriales et des territoires de projet est essentiel dans l'appui à la création des TPE inventives à travers la fonction d'animation territoriale facilitant la mise en réseau et l'organisation territoriale des différents acteurs en lien avec ces TPE. / Why are the creative SMEs an asset in front of the problem of the employment in remote rural areas? More generally what do they offer to this space and how to have a better accompaniment for the creation of these activities? This issue is applied on the example of the Auvergne and Limousin regions from qualitative works concerning three places: “plateau du Cézallier”, “Parc Naturel Régional Millevaches en Limousin” and “Pays des Combrailles”. The creative SMEs create some new jobs in areas where most of the economic activities are in trouble. They are the result of people living and working on a chosen territory and so setting up complex and often marginally systems. Therefore, they are discreet innovations. The modalities and the strong degree of territorial embeddedness of these creative SMEs show that they are real assets for the territorial development. The creation and embeddedness process of these SMEs is supporting by meetings with project support professionnals and territorial development actors. As a result, professional and social networks are built up by the creators of these SMEs. Those are both involved in local networks and, to a lesser extent, in external networks. The creators of creative SMEs become then real stakeholders of the development of their territory. However, the task of project support professionnals is an issue regarding these specificities. Territorial and associative stakeholders display devices fitting those SMEs characteristics, while the proposals of institutional actors are mostly in trouble regarding them. At last, local communities are essential supports for creation process of creative SMEs through territorial animation that facilitate networking and territorial organization of various actors in connection with these SMEs.

Uganda, like several developing countries, is a recipient of development assistance. This assistance, which is provided by rich developed countries, supports among others human rights programmes in these countries. Development partners that provide this assistance wield considerable influence arising from the assistance they provide. This study seeks to determine what role development assistance plays in the promotion and protection of human rights in Uganda. The study establishes that, similar to several African countries such as Malawi, Zambia, Kenya and Ghana, Uganda is aid-dependent. Although Uganda is committed to reducing this dependence, it is concluded that without this vital lifeline of development assistance, Uganda would not be able to fully fund and run its human rights programmes or development budget. The study further establishes that international cooperation and the provision of development assistance are embodied in international human rights treaties and declarations. However, while there is an obligation to provide development assistance, stipulated in international human rights treaties, the study establishes that some development partners do not recognise this obligation. A model convention providing for the obligation to provide development assistance is elaborated in this study. The study arrives at the conclusion that development partners through the provision of development assistance have advanced the human rights agenda in Uganda, though sometimes impedding the development of an authentic domestic human rights culture. The study recommends that there is a need to reverse this situation. The study concludes with several recommendations aimed at making Uganda own its human rights agenda. / Thesis (LLD)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Centre for Human Rights / unrestricted