Thesis advisor: Michael G. Pratt / This dissertation draws on interviews, observation and archival materials, to explore how a Jewish Services Organization changed its purpose due to external and internal pressures. Past research shows that organizations can change their purpose, but how they do so has not been explicated, and further knowledge of which would help organizations adapt to their changing realities more efficiently. This dissertation explores the underlying mechanisms of organizational purpose change in organizations that have historically operated with a clear and intentional raison d'être, which is widely embraced by organizational members. The purpose change process is shown to be (a) co-creative such that multiple stakeholders, both internal and external, are involved in this process; (b) conflict-laden such that the change process can lead to latent identity splits within organizations to resurface; (c) dynamic such that it leads to continuous changes around the meaning and interpretation regarding purpose in the organization; and (d) most successful when focused on renewal such that it allows organizations to maintain continuity with their past and their identity while embracing new directions. By explaining this process, this dissertation contributes to our understanding of purpose change in organizations and elaborates on theoretical interlinkages of organizational purpose with organizational identity content and organizational identity complexity, an understanding of which can lead to successful (or unsuccessful) efforts to change the purpose of an organization. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2023. / Submitted to: Boston College. Carroll School of Management. / Discipline: Management and Organization.

This study was an effort to objectify and test empirically Tillich's theory. Its purpose was to investigate certain traditional aspects of religion to see whether their presence was associated with purposefulness in life. The variables used in this study were measures of participation in a faith, belief in an afterlife, belief in God, past and current doubts, religious experiences, commitment implied in the consideration of a church related vocation, and of purpose in life. Tillich would say that participation in a faith, a belief in God, and a commitment of some kind are essential elements of one's ultimate concern. The belief in an after life is a common way of avoiding the anxiety of death, which is an element of the anxiety of meaninglessness of today. Doubt concerning the Ultimate undermines ones meaning or purpose in life.

The Supercomputer Toolkit is a proposed family of standard hardware and software components from which special-purpose machines can be easily configured. Using the Toolkit, a scientist or an engineer, starting with a suitable computational problem, will be able to readily configure a special purpose multiprocessor that attains supercomputer-class performance on that problem, at a fraction of the cost of a general purpose supercomputer. The Toolkit is currently being built as a joint project between Hewlett-Packard and MIT. The software and the applications are in various stages of development and research.

The purpose of this study is to record the political attitudes of the major Edwardian novelists as they surveyed their contemporary world, diagnosed its maladies, offered suggestions for reform, and attempted to predict the course political life would take in the future.

This study investigated the effects of accountability and purpose of appraisal on rating and behavioral accuracy. Subjects viewed a videotape of a lecture and were asked to rate the lecturer's performance. Accountability to the ratee (the GTA on the videotape) was held constant. Accountability to a supervisor (a faculty representative) was manipulated such that subjects in the no (supervisor) accountability condition anticipated a meeting with the GTA only; subjects in the weak (supervisor) accountability condition anticipated a meeting with the GTA as well as a supervisory review of the ratings; while subjects in the strong (supervisor) accountability condition were led to believe that they would have to meet with both the GTA and the faculty representative to explain their ratings. Additionally, participants were led to believe that the purpose of this appraisal was either to provide feedback for development or to make administrative decisions. Two-way ANOVAs were used to assess the effects of accountability and purpose of appraisal on rating accuracy (elevation accuracy, dimensional accuracy, leniency) and behavioral accuracy. Results indicated that (a) increased accountability to a supervisor led to greater elevation accuracy, (b) raters in the administrative purpose condition provided more lenient ratings than did raters in the developmental purpose condition , (c) behavioral accuracy increased with level of accountability (none, weak, strong) to a supervisor, (d) raters who believed that the purpose of appraisal was for development exhibited greater behavioral accuracy than did raters who believed that the purpose was to make administrative decisions. / Master of Science

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The installation of the combined energy generation system at West Beacon Farm, Loughborough, Leicestershire commenced in 1988, since when it has steadily grown in both generating capacity and operating complexity. It now consists of three electrical generating sources: two 25kW fixed speed horizontal axis wind turbines, a 6kWp photovoltaic array consisting of both monocrystalline and polycrystalline cells and a 15kW combined heat and power unit which also provides 38kW of thermal energy. Electricity is stored in a 184kWh lead acid battery, and also imported and exported from the grid. Previous research on the system was limited, due to lack of detailed system information and time. Therefore the aim of this research project has been to develop a more detailed and accurate computer model of the system that enables the present operating strategy to be evaluated, together with the effects on the system of changing this strategy. The outcome will be to optimize the generating cost and to provide a model with the flexibility to investigate the conditions in other hybrid systems.

Master of Science / Department of Agronomy / Dorivar A. Ruiz Diaz Suarez / An effective nutrient management plan is essential for optimum wheat (Triticum aestivum) yields. The objectives of the first study were to: i.) evaluate changes in concentration of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), sulfur (S), copper (Cu), manganese (Mn), and zinc (Zn), within separate plant parts, throughout the growing season, ii.) evaluate the uptake pattern and redistribution of each of these nutrients within the plant throughout the season, and iii.) evaluate the impact of micronutrient and S fertilization on concentration and uptake of nutrients and the potential use of fertilization for biofortification. Three locations were established and sampled every 7 to 10 days during the spring. Samples were divided into leaf, stem, head, spike and grain fractions and analyzed for nutrient concentration. Concentration levels tended to decrease throughout the season in non-grain plant fractions and stay relatively constant in the grain. Harvest grain concentration of Zn was significantly higher with micronutrient fertilization at all locations, suggesting the possibility of Zn biofortification through fertilization. S, Cu, and Zn showed nutrient accumulation increases in all plant fractions until the time period around anthesis (Feekes 10.5.1), at which point leaf and stem fractions decreased in total accumulation while nutrients were remobilized to the grain. N, P, K and Mn showed a similar trend although timing of remobilization varied between locations and treatments. The objectives of the second study were to i.) evaluate the interaction of wheat grazing management and soil and fertilizer N requirements with emphasis on dual purpose wheat, ii.) assess the use of NDVI sensors for N management and forage quantity assessment in wheat grazing systems, and iii.) evaluate forage quality and quantity interactions with N management. Three locations were established and fertilized with N application rates of 0, 34, 67, and 101 kg ha⁻¹ in the fall, followed by simulated grazing. Spring topdress applications were made at rates of 0 and 90 kg ha⁻¹, or a sensor based rate. The impact of grazing on grain production varied by location. NDVI readings correlated with biomass at two of three locations and N recommendations using NDVI sensors resulted in significantly lower N rates and similar yield results to high N application rates. Forage dry matter and N concentration increased with higher N rates.