This thesis explores the process of an annual appraisal strategy, ‘clinical conversation’, from the perspective of seven nurses who were assessed using this technique. The findings demonstrate that clinical conversation is a strategy which facilitates reflection, both as a solitary exercise and with others, to ensure that learning from experience is optimized. The research used a qualitative interpretive approach informed by the model of Grounded Theory espoused by Strauss and Corbin. All eight nurses who were assessed using the clinical conversation strategy were advanced practitioners working within the scope of sexual and reproductive health. Two of the actual appraisals were observed and seven of the nurses were interviewed within eight weeks of being assessed. The outcome of the clinical conversation was primarily one of learning; the acquisition of new insights into self as practitioner. The learning was facilitated through the process of narration; telling the story of clinical practice. Three distinct narrative cycles were identified, each an experiential learning episode. The experience of undertaking a variety of assessment activities created a narrative with self and triggered an internal reflective thinking process; the experience of working with a peer created an additional narrative, a mutual dialogue reflecting back on practice; the experience of sharing practice with an assessor created a further and final narrative, a learning conversation. Each narrative can be seen as a catalyst for change. Primarily, the nurses felt differently about themselves in practice, the way they saw themselves had shifted. Such a change can be described as an alteration in perspective. These alterations in perspective led all nurses to identify ways in which they would change their actual clinical practice. In this way the nurses attempted to align their espoused beliefs about practice with their actual practice. My study shows that each nurse responded differently to each narrative learning cycle: for some the conversation with the assessor was more of a catalyst for change than for others. In this way clinical conversation may be flexible enough to respond to a variety of differing learning styles. Learning was person specific which is an imperative for the continued professional development of already highly skilled clinicians. The implication of the research is that whilst clinical conversation was designed as a tool for appraising clinical competence, its intrinsic value lies in supporting the professional development of nurses.

This thesis explores the process of an annual appraisal strategy, ‘clinical conversation’, from the perspective of seven nurses who were assessed using this technique. The findings demonstrate that clinical conversation is a strategy which facilitates reflection, both as a solitary exercise and with others, to ensure that learning from experience is optimized. The research used a qualitative interpretive approach informed by the model of Grounded Theory espoused by Strauss and Corbin. All eight nurses who were assessed using the clinical conversation strategy were advanced practitioners working within the scope of sexual and reproductive health. Two of the actual appraisals were observed and seven of the nurses were interviewed within eight weeks of being assessed. The outcome of the clinical conversation was primarily one of learning; the acquisition of new insights into self as practitioner. The learning was facilitated through the process of narration; telling the story of clinical practice. Three distinct narrative cycles were identified, each an experiential learning episode. The experience of undertaking a variety of assessment activities created a narrative with self and triggered an internal reflective thinking process; the experience of working with a peer created an additional narrative, a mutual dialogue reflecting back on practice; the experience of sharing practice with an assessor created a further and final narrative, a learning conversation. Each narrative can be seen as a catalyst for change. Primarily, the nurses felt differently about themselves in practice, the way they saw themselves had shifted. Such a change can be described as an alteration in perspective. These alterations in perspective led all nurses to identify ways in which they would change their actual clinical practice. In this way the nurses attempted to align their espoused beliefs about practice with their actual practice. My study shows that each nurse responded differently to each narrative learning cycle: for some the conversation with the assessor was more of a catalyst for change than for others. In this way clinical conversation may be flexible enough to respond to a variety of differing learning styles. Learning was person specific which is an imperative for the continued professional development of already highly skilled clinicians. The implication of the research is that whilst clinical conversation was designed as a tool for appraising clinical competence, its intrinsic value lies in supporting the professional development of nurses.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) came into the power when banking institutions started to become more and more competitive. The focus on CRM increased banks' abilities to understand their customers' current needs more precisely and also helped them to understand their customers' behaviours, such as what they have done in the past, and what they plan to do in the future. Such practice further helped banks to design strategies based on each customer's preferences in order to meet their customers' demands (Xu, et al., 2002). The adoption of the CRM within the banking industry chiefly depends on the overall adoption of IT culture within the country. Today, developed countries like the UK are enjoying innovative technologies, tailored-made systems, and have a high level of IT maturity within their banking industry. On the other hand, developing countries such as Pakistan are still dealing with several technological issues and the biggest one is the lack of IT alignment within most of their organizations especially within their banking industry (Kundi and Nawaz, 2006). Therefore, it is essential for researchers to further investigate the major IT-related problems faced by the banking industry, especially problems with the current use of the CRM system within the banking industry of developing countries i.e. Pakistan compared to banks in developed countries i.e. UK.This research has investigated and covered the overall operational issues of the CRM system within the banking industry of both developed and developing countries i.e. UK and Pakistan by using a qualitative case study research approach with two case studies, in which the Pakistani banking sector is selected as the developing country for case study one; for a developed country, the UK banking sector is selected as case study two. From the several existing UK and Pakistani banks, the researcher has selected some leading banks from the two countries and conducted several semi-structured interviews with different bank employees. Furthermore, the obtained interviews' results from both case studies are analyzed, compared, and discussed using an in-depth cross-case analysis approach and uncovered the similarities, differences, and several CRM operational issues within the banking sectors of both Pakistan and the UK.

Abstract The thesis critically examines discursive construction of ‘organizational culture’ and ‘user involvement’ in academia and in the information technology (IT) artifact product development industry. IT artifacts are perceived as texts that are written by the writer-designers and afterwards read by the reader-users. User involvement explored is indirect; ‘user surrogates’ labeled as usability specialists ‘represent the users’ in the development. Their work is labeled as ‘usability work.’ However, this work has proven to be challenging, especially in the product development context. Culture is an influential factor affecting the successes and failures of organizational change efforts. However, there is a clear lack of culture studies carried out in relation to user involvement, especially in the challenging product development context. Both ‘organizational culture’ and ‘user involvement’ are versatile concepts, and there are controversies in defining them. Therefore, this thesis first analyzes discourses on ‘organizational culture’ and ‘user involvement’ in academia. The thesis examines within what kind of discourses organizational culture has been studied, and suggested discourses within which it could be studied. Five discourses are identified. Furthermore, the thesis analyzes discursive construction of user involvement in academia. First, literature advocating indirect user involvement is reviewed. Afterwards, alternative notions of user involvement are introduced. Three academic discourses on user involvement are identified and contrasted with the discourses on organizational culture to highlight their similarities and to identify unexplored paths for future work. Finally, user involvement and its cultural context are empirically analyzed in IT artifact product development organizations by utilizing a discourse selected based on previous analysis. First, four ‘cultures of usability work’ are identified. Then, two ways usability work has been encultured in two product development organizations are outlined. In addition, five discourses on usability work are identified, and contrasted with the academic discourses on user involvement. Finally, the construction of the notions of ‘we’ and ‘the other’ is explored in the case organizations, concentrating specifically on the discourses of the ‘usability specialists’ and ‘the other.’ Some of the discourses are criticized for ‘silencing the users’ instead of ‘giving them a voice,’ and even representing ‘misuses of user involvement.’

En esta investigación se aborda el tratamiento de la fraseología periférica y, más específicamente, de la clase de las Unidades Fraseológicas Pragmáticas (UFP), en la enseñanza y aprendizaje del español y del italiano como lenguas extranjeras. Ante el papel que esta unidades juegan en el desarrollo de las competencias fraseológica y comunicativa global, así como las lagunas que, a pesar del creciente interés que despiertan los estudios fraseológicos, siguen afectando a esta parcela, nuestro objetivo es definir las especificidades que su didáctica implica y proponer un acercamiento práctico a la misma. Valiéndonos del marco metodológico de la Investigación en la Acción Educativa combinado con un análisis cualitativo-interpretativo, hemos diseñado y testado en el aula un modelo didáctico operativo, llamado Modelo Fraseológico-Pragmático (Mo.Fra.P.), a través del cual planteamos unos recursos y procedimientos, tanto lingüístico-fraseológicos como pedagógicos, susceptibles de ser aplicados al proceso de enseñanza y aprendizaje de las UFP. / This dissertation analyzes the treatment of the peripheral area of the phraseological repertoire, especially Phraseological-Pragmatic Units (UFP), in the teaching environment of Spanish and Italian as foreign languages. This work describes the specificities of UFP pedagogy and, especially, provides a practical approach to it, considering the role played by these units in students’ development of phraseological competence and, consequently, in their global communicative competence, as well as the gaps that, despite increasing interest in phraseological studies, continue to affect this area. Making use of the Action Research framework combined with a qualitative/interpretive analysis, the author designed and tested an operative model, called Phraseological-Pragmatic Model (Mo.Fra.P.), with students in class, by means of suggesting linguistic-phraseological and didactic resources and methods, that can be applied to the teaching and learning of UFP. / Nel presente studio si analizza il trattamento riservato alla fraseologia periferica, in particolare alle Unità Fraseologico-Pragmatiche (UFP), nell’ambito dell’insegnamento e apprendimento dello spagnolo e dell’italiano como lingue straniere. Tenendo conto del ruolo che queste unità svolgono ai fini dello sviluppo della competenza fraseologica y comunicativa globale e, allo stesso tempo, delle lacune che, nonostante il crescente interesse suscitato dagli studi fraseologici, permangono in questa area, l’obiettivo è definire le specificità che la didattica delle UFP implica e proporre un approccio pratico alla medesima. Servendoci della metodologia della ricerca nell’azione educativa combinata con un’indagine qualitativo-interpretativa, abbiamo disegnato e testato in aula un modello didattico operativo, che prende il nome di Modello Fraseologico-Pragmatico (Mo.Fra.P.), mediante il quale proponiamo una serie di risorse e procedimenti, linguistico-fraseologici e pedagogici, da applicarsi nell’ambito del processo di insegnamento e apprendimento delle UFP.

The aim of this qualitative interpretive research was to explore the experiences of HIV counsellors and how these experiences influence the counsellors' psychological wellbeing. The complexities of the context within which HIV pre and post test counselling occurs form the day-to-day real ity of barely trained volunteer counsellors whose task it is to counsel, inform and educate people at grass roots concerning HIV. The guiding question of the current research pertained to the experience of HIV counselors regarding the influence of their work on their own well-being. A case study design was used. In depth interviews were conducted with nine Sotho speaking HIV counselors working in primary healthcare clinics in the Sedibeng region of Gauteng. Additional data was collected through observation. Data was initially coded, using axial coding; this was followed by thematic analysis. The focus was .on the psychological well-being of the volunteer HIV counsellors. The data indicated that the participants were not overwhelmed by the many stressors of their challenging occupations. They succeeded in developing their own ways of stress relief especially through practising their spiritual beliefs and other means like participating in community activities and meaningful relationships of significant other. They experienced personal growth and empowerment in general, but especially in the field of health and sexuality. The female participants were increasingly able to negotiate safer sex. Participants' lives were enriched through amongst others the regard they received from their communities, and being in a position to give information and advice that they gained from the training and exposure to information. The participants experienced feelings of self-worth in that they were able to contribute to their communities and thereby adding meaning to their own existence. It became clear that their character strengths such as wisdom, courage, humanity, justice and transcendence enabled them to function and grow in their difficult situation. The research highlighted that the inner strengths and virtues of the volunteer counsellors enable them to persist, in challenging work conditions and socio-economic circumstances. Difficulties facing volunteer HIV counsellors that became clear are the lack of support and recognition they have to contend with. It is therefore recommended that more attention should be given by the relevant stakeholders to strengthen the support and to make more resources available to them. / Thesis (M.A. (Psychology))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2010.

The aim of this qualitative interpretive research was to explore the experiences of HIV counsellors and how these experiences influence the counsellors' psychological wellbeing. The complexities of the context within which HIV pre and post test counselling occurs form the day-to-day real ity of barely trained volunteer counsellors whose task it is to counsel, inform and educate people at grass roots concerning HIV. The guiding question of the current research pertained to the experience of HIV counselors regarding the influence of their work on their own well-being. A case study design was used. In depth interviews were conducted with nine Sotho speaking HIV counselors working in primary healthcare clinics in the Sedibeng region of Gauteng. Additional data was collected through observation. Data was initially coded, using axial coding; this was followed by thematic analysis. The focus was .on the psychological well-being of the volunteer HIV counsellors. The data indicated that the participants were not overwhelmed by the many stressors of their challenging occupations. They succeeded in developing their own ways of stress relief especially through practising their spiritual beliefs and other means like participating in community activities and meaningful relationships of significant other. They experienced personal growth and empowerment in general, but especially in the field of health and sexuality. The female participants were increasingly able to negotiate safer sex. Participants' lives were enriched through amongst others the regard they received from their communities, and being in a position to give information and advice that they gained from the training and exposure to information. The participants experienced feelings of self-worth in that they were able to contribute to their communities and thereby adding meaning to their own existence. It became clear that their character strengths such as wisdom, courage, humanity, justice and transcendence enabled them to function and grow in their difficult situation. The research highlighted that the inner strengths and virtues of the volunteer counsellors enable them to persist, in challenging work conditions and socio-economic circumstances. Difficulties facing volunteer HIV counsellors that became clear are the lack of support and recognition they have to contend with. It is therefore recommended that more attention should be given by the relevant stakeholders to strengthen the support and to make more resources available to them. / Thesis (M.A. (Psychology))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2010.