This dissertation aims to contribute to a better theoretical understanding of common good orientation in an organizational context, its measurability, and effects on an individual, organizational and social level. Specifically, this dissertation theoretically discusses and empirically tests what common good orientation encompasses in an organizational context, why it is valuable for individuals, organizations and societies alike, as well how it could be implemented in organizational leadership practices. While building on the findings of Meynhardt's (2009, 2015) Public Value research, this dissertation mainly seeks to lay the empirical and theoretical foundations surrounding the hitherto poorly researched concept of Organizational Purpose. Despite the popularity of organizational purpose, no agreement has yet been reached on the definition of the construct, which has hampered further theoretical development and empirical testing. This cumulative dissertation consists of three empirical papers and an introductory conceptual paper.

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Published at HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management in 2016, the Leipzig Leadership Model (LLM) postulates a framework of good leadership. Building on a basic-need centric persperctive, the LLM takes a novel approach in response to the continuously intensifying call for integrative theories across leadership research. Consequently, leadership is no longer conceptualized along often reductionistic dichotomies of, e.g., task vs. people, or leadership vs. management. Instead, the LLM defines leadership through its contribution. As such contributions are subjectively percieved along basic need-dimensions, the LLM is able to theoretically derive holicity for its conceptualisation of leadership’s role. This dissertation encompasses two empirical papers as well as one teaching case study aimed to foster the LLM’s applicability in research, practice, and teaching. To that end, my co-authors and I not only developed and validated a LLM-based scale in both a German and an English version, but further tested the real-world micro-level impact of subjective employees’ perceptions of their own organization’s contribution to society with regards to its capacity of fostering flow experience in a longitudinal design. Finally, a teaching case study was designed in order to illustrate and showcase real-world implications of applying a LLM-perspective to leadership utilizing the 2015 scandal surrounding the Volkswagen AG and international emission controls specifically in diesel motors.

Macroscopic changes in the urban environment and in the built transportation infrastructure, as well as changes in household demographics and socio-economics, can lead to spatio-temporal variations in household travel patterns and therefore regional travel demand. Dynamics in travel behavior may also simply arise from the randomness associated with values, perceptions, attitudes, needs, preferences and decision-making process of the individual travelers. Most urban travel behavior models and analysis seek to explain variations in travel behavior in terms of characteristics of the individuals and their environment. Spatial extents and temporal variation in an individual’s travel pattern may represent a measure of the individual’s spatial appetite for activity and the variability-seeking nature on his/her travel behavior. The objective of this dissertation effort is to develop a methodology to predict activity participation using revealed spatial extents and temporal variability as variables that represent the spatial appetite and variability-seeking nature associated with individual household. Activity participation is defined as a set of activities in which an individual or household takes part, to satisfy the sustenance, maintenance and discretionary needs of the household. To accomplish the goals of the dissertation, longitudinal travel data collected from the Commute Atlanta Study are used. The raw Global Positioning Systems (GPS) data are processed to summarize trip data by household travel day and individual travel day data. A methodology was developed to automatically identify the activity at the end of each trip. Methods were then developed to estimate travel behavior variability that can represent the variability-seeking nature of the individual. Existing methods to estimate activity space were reviewed and a new Modified Kernel Density area method was developed to address issues with current methods. Finally activity participation models using structural equation modeling methods were developed and the effects of the variability-seeking nature and spatial extent of activities were applied to the models. The variability-seeking nature was presented in the activity participation model as a latent variable with coefficient of variation of trips and distance as indicator variables. The dissertation research found that inclusion of activity space variables can improve the activity participation modeling process to better explain travel behavior.

Business need required a holistic and focussed framework for best practices in the functioning of effective virtual teams, despite the fragmented nature of empirical studies in this field. This study endeavoured to explore the best practices in the functioning of effective virtual teams against four prominent and unique themes linked to purpose, processes, people and technology. The value of this study does not vest in the existence of virtual teams, but in their orderly operation, in terms of best practice and the value proposition of effectiveness. Following an exploratory qualitative strategy, the research was conducted according to the interpretivist branch of the phenomenological tradition, with a transcendental orientation in the social research field. A qualitative multi-case research design for the empirical study was selected, resulting in a non-probability sample within the software sector of the technology industry in South Africa. An original and pre-tested Lime Survey 2.0+ electronic questionnaire instrument was utilised as the instrument to collect information within a cross-sectional time horizon, to work in synchronisation with the collaborative asynchronous electronic architecture of virtual teams. Content analysis was applied to analyse data. The main findings indicated that effective virtual teams purposefully orientate themselves toward excellence through electronic management systems, a specific value system, with a knowledge seeking focus, and a seamless linkage in electronic infrastructure, applications, and platforms which contribute to the functionality of the effective virtual team. The main recommendations were that a pre-existing, functional, collaborative, integrated, electronic management system is regarded as the primary step in founding an effective virtual team. The focus of organisational leadership should be to embrace a holistic value system approach encapsulating specific elements of excellence, such as trust and independence. Human networking practices pursuing and sustaining knowledge are regarded as the key enabler for functioning of effective virtual teams. Lastly, a focussed seamless interface between the various electronic applications, platforms and infrastructures is recommended. / Human Resource Management / D. Com. (Human Resource Management)

Thesis (LLM (Mercantile Law))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis discusses the meaning of public purpose and public interest in s 25 of the Final Constitution. The main question that is asked is: how does ‘public purpose’ differ from ‘public interest’, and what impact did the Final Constitution have on the interpretation and application of the public purpose requirement in expropriation law in South Africa? This question is investigated by looking at how the courts have dealt with the public purpose requirement, both before and during the first years of the constitutional era in South African law, and also with reference to foreign law. The thesis shows that the position has not changed that much yet because the interpretation of this requirement has not received much attention in constitutional case law. The main focus is to show that the reason for the interpretation problems surrounding this requirement is the apparent conflict between the formulation of the public purpose requirement in the Final Constitution and in the current Expropriation Act of 1975. It is pointed out that the efforts that were made to resolve the problem failed because the Expropriation Bill 2008 was withdrawn. Consequently, it is still unclear how the public purpose requirement has been changed by s 25(2) of the Constitution, which authorises expropriation for a public purpose or in the public interest. This apparent lack of clarity is discussed and analysed with specific reference to the different types of third party transfers that are possible in expropriation law. Comparative case law from Australia, Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States of America and the European Convention on Human Rights is considered to show how other jurisdictions deal with the public purpose requirement in their own constitutions or expropriation legislation, with particular emphasis on how they solve problems surrounding third party transfers. In the final chapter it is proposed that the Expropriation Bill should be reintroduced to bring the formulation of the public purpose requirement in the Act in line with s 25(2) and that expropriation for transfer to third parties could be in order if it serves a legitimate public purpose or the public interest (e g because the third party provides a public utility or for land reform), but that expropriation for economic development should be reviewed strictly to ensure that it serves a more direct and clear public interest than just stimulating the economy or creating jobs. / AFRIKAANS OPSOMMING: Hierdie tesis bespreek die betekenis van openbare doel en openbare belang in a 25 van die Finale Grondwet. Die belangrikste vraag is: hoe verskil ‘openbare doel’ van ‘openbare belang’, en watter impak het die Finale Grondwet op die interpretasie en toepassing van die openbare doel-vereiste in die Suid-Afrikaanse onteieningsreg gehad? Die vraag word ondersoek met verwysing na die howe se hantering van die openbare doel-vereiste voor en gedurende die eerste jare van die nuwe grondwetlike bedeling, asook met verwysing na buitelandse reg. Die tesis toon aan dat die posisie nog min verander het omdat die interpretasie van die vereiste in die grondwetlike regspraak nog nie veel aandag gekry het nie. Daar word aangetoon dat interpretasieprobleme rondom hierdie vereiste ontstaan as gevolg van die oënskynlike teenstrydigheid tussen die formulering van die openbare doel-vereiste in die Finale Grondwet en in die huidige Onteieningswet van 1975. Daar word geargumenteer dat pogings om die probleem op te los gefaal het omdat die Onteieningswetsontwerp 2008 teruggetrek is. Dit is daarom steeds onduidelik hoe die openbare doel-vereiste deur a 25(2) van die Grondwet, wat onteiening vir ‘n openbare doel of in die openbare belang toelaat, verander is. Hierdie oënskynlike gebrek aan sekerheid word bespreek met verwysing na die verskillende gevalle waarin eiendom onteien en dan aan derde partye oorgedra word. Regsvergelykende regspraak van Australië, Duitsland, die Verenigde Koninkryk, die Verenigde State van Amerika en die Europese Konvensie op Mensregte word oorweeg om te wys hoe ander regstelsels die openbare doel-vereiste in hulle grondwette of onteieningswetgewing interpreteer, spesifiek ten aansien van die oordrag van eiendom aan derde partye. In die laaste hoofstuk word aan die hand gedoen dat die Onteieningswetsontwerp weer ter tafel geneem moet word om die bewoording van die openbare doel-vereiste in die Onteieningswet in ooreenstemming met a 25(2) te bring. Daar word ook aan die hand gedoen dat onteiening vir oordrag aan derde partye in orde kan wees as dit ‘n geldige openbare doel of die openbare belang dien (bv omdat die derde party ‘n openbare diens lewer of in belang van grondhervorming), maar dat onteiening vir ekonomiese ontwikkeling streng hersien moet word om te verseker dat dit ‘n meer direkte en duidelike openbare belang dien as bloot om die ekonomie te stimuleer of om werk te skep.

For a stress-sensitive or stress-dependent reservoir, the interactions between its seepage field and in situ stress field are complex and affect hydrocarbon recovery. A coupled geomechanics and fluid-flow model can capture these relations between the fluid and solid, thereby presenting more precise history matchings and predictions for better well planning and reservoir management decisions. A traditional reservoir simulator cannot adequately or fully represent the ongoing coupled fluid-solid interactions during the production because of using the simplified update-formulation for porosity and the static absolute permeability during simulations. Many researchers have studied multiphase fluid-flow models coupled with geomechanics models during the past fifteen years. The purpose of this research is to develop a coupled geomechanics and compositional model and apply it to problems in the oil recovery processes. An equation of state compositional simulator called the General Purpose Adaptive Simulator (GPAS) is developed at The University of Texas at Austin and uses finite difference / finite control volume methods for the solution of its governing partial differential equations (PDEs). GPAS was coupled with a geomechanics model developed in this research, which uses a finite element method for discretization of the associated PDEs. Both the iteratively coupled solution procedure and the fully coupled solution procedure were implemented to couple the geomechanics and reservoir simulation modules in this work. Parallelization, testing, and verification for the coupled model were performed on parallel clusters of high-performance workstations. MPI was used for the data exchange in the iteratively coupled procedure. Different constitutive models were coded into GPAS to describe complicated behaviors of linear or nonlinear deformation in the geomechanics model. In addition, the geomechanics module was coupled with the dual porosity model in GPAS to simulate naturally fractured reservoirs. The developed coupled reservoir and geomechanics simulator was verified using analytical solutions. Various reservoir simulation case studies were carried out using the coupled geomechanics and GPAS modules. / text

In South Africa, certain areas are well developed with infrastructures that compare with first world standards, while in others, people live in abject poverty without basic services being rendered Poverty is the single greatest burden of South Africa's people. It is defined as the inability to meet a specified set of basic needs. This means that apart from low income levels, malnutrition and hunger, poverty manifests itself in poor people's lives in many other ways, including lack of access to basic social services. Poverty is characterized by the inability of individuals, households or communities to command sufficient resources to satisfy a socially acceptable minimum standard of living. It is perceived by poor South Africans themselves to include alienation from the community, food insecurity, crowded homes, usage of unsafe and inefficient forms of energy and lack of jobs that are adequately paid and I or secure. Because the government doesn't want to alienate those it is trying to serve, public services are being brought closer to people, so as to improve the quality of community life. The underlying reason for the implementation of Multi-purpose Community Centres (MPCCs) is to bring government services closer to people and to provide the community with the opportunity to communicate with government. Multi-Purpose Community Centres have been identified as the primary approach for the implementation of development communication and information programmes. MPCCs also serve as a base from which a wide range of services and products can reach communities. The aim is for communities to access such services and engage in government programmes for their own empowerment. As a result, MPPCs are a necessary poverty alleviation strategy that needs to be promoted for the improvement of the quality of community life. / Thesis (M. Development and Management)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2006.

The influence of Vonnegut’s didactic purpose of writing on the treatment of theme  and structure in Slaughterhouse-Five is investigated in this study. The following  elements of structure are studied: point of view, the treatment of time, characterization,  the use of other sources, and imagery. These are constantly related to  the novel’s themes, such as war, cruelty, death, time, innocence, survival, free  will, fantasy and regeneration. Since Vonnegut himself survived the Dresden  bombings during World War Two, his novel is very personal, which is particularly  reflected in his point-of-view technique, the subject of Chapter One. Vonnegut creates  double narrators in Slaughterhouse-Five : a personal one, including authorial  intrusions, and an impersonal one. This division is a direct reflection of the  dichotomy between reality and fantasy that prevails in the novel.  In Chapter Two, Vonnegut’s treatment of time is demonstrated to be a process of  spatialization. Structurally, this means a fragmented narrative split into several  time levels that chiefly form what the author calls his ”telegraphic schizophrenic"  style. Thematically, the protagonist comes "unstuck" in time, thus succeeding in  confronting an absurd world and finally transcending death.  Vonnegut uses the depiction of character mainly to express ideas and to reinforce  themes, since he regards his characters as "bugs in amber," involuntarily stuck,  excepting their capacity for fantasy. To facilitate the reader’s recognition of  these sketchy characters, Vonnegut has equipped them with marks of recognition,  often repeated, and names that provide clues to their personalities. All characters  are shown to be isolated and lonely, except on Tralfamadore where a dream woi;ld  exists.  In the fourth chapter, Vonnegut’s use of other sources is examined. His carefully  chosen quotations fall into two groups: first, historical sources that verify facts,  such as the Dresden catastrophy; second, fictional sources that stimulate the human  imagination, which turns out to be the protagonist's means of survival.  Finally, imagery in Slaughterhouse-Five, studied in Chapter Five, is found to be  used for enrichment of a style otherwise characterized by great economy. Much of  the imagery strikes a humorous tone. A simple, quotidian vocabulary is developed.  War imagery is used to deglorify war. Animal imagery is invoked to ridicule and to  show man’s true place in the universe. Several oxymora further reinforce the incongruity  prevailing in the Vonnegutian world. The negative effect of imagery is  also found in symbols pertaining to Billy’s life situation. As a contrast, however,  there are also positive symbols emphasizing nature’s annual cycle of rebirth signifying  hope and regeneration.  Many of the stylistic elements studied reveal that Vonnegut has chosen thematic and  structural solutions that make his novel accessible to a large reading audience.  The fragmented, at times circular, structure of Slaughterhouse-Five is indeed a  "dance with death." In a thematic sense, death is the writer’s own muse that he  must dutifully dance with in order to create his work of art. Slaughterhouse-Five  is not only Vonnegut’s account of his own war experience but also a statement on  the human condition. / digitalisering@umu

Authenticity is what we want from the world around us, from others, and crucially from ourselves and what we make. As it relates to graphic design, I define authenticity as a perceived match between form and purpose. For the designer, its quality is found in the process of simultaneously developing a concept and crafting the design/object.