Social pressure for sustainability has become a significant factor in Australian business. Made popular by a variety of diverse social movements that employ various tactics, sustainability is increasingly being debated in boardrooms and work areas of both large and small businesses. In this research, sustainability issues are treated as a set of a wider range of obligatory and externally imposed (OEI) issues that are increasingly confronting contemporary business. Of interest to this research is how senior managers deal with sustainability issues. While some businesses excel in dealing with OEI issues, others prevaricate. This research focuses on those businesses that appear to excel in resolving sustainability issues to explore how senior managers deal with sustainability issues. Such understanding is essential for contemporary practising senior managers, as it provides guidance for management behaviour that will enable sustainability and other OEI issues to be dealt with. The author's effort to understand how senior managers deal with sustainability issues has led to the first business context application of Harré's positioning theory. A social constructionist approach, positioning theory is concerned with ordinary conversations, and presumes that these are the building blocks of all other discursive phenomena. The resulting theory builds on positioning theory and provides a point of departure to conduct related research on other organizations that excel in dealing with OEI issues and those that prevaricate. With positioning theory it has been shown that, in dealing with sustainability issues, senior managers engage in a range of positioning of themselves and others. In doing so, power and knowledge have been considered in the light of Foucault's unique and penetrating concepts. This has led to the proposed augmentation of positioning theory to include a concept of social flux, which is put forward as an indication of social order or culture. Through this development, it has shown how senior managers confront opposition and reinforce support to enable them to achieve and preserve sustainability objectives. In practical terms, senior managers alter four components of the social order to align the culture with the issues that need to be dealt with. These components - rights, duties, morals and actions - are parameters that senior managers tune or level when they deal with sustainability issues. When the social order is appropriately tuned or levelled, it is aligned with the issues that need to be dealt with. That alignment enables issues to be resolved in a way appropriate for the organization.

<p>Because of an increasing demand from customers and changing external environment, there is a need for continuous improvements, for both manufacturing and service organizations, to meet these demands. Manufacturing organizations have been working systematically with quality improvements for a long time, but it has not been as common for service organizations. Because of that the methods to use for implementation of the systematic improvements have not been designed to fit service organizations, and not either for public organizations. The purpose of this thesis is to explain if and why the Swedish Road Administration’s organizational culture and handling of ideas and deviation support an implementation of continuous improvement management. The study of the Road Administration’s performance is being compared to Clarion Hotel, as Clarion is a Swedish good example in continuous improvements in service organizations. To fulfil the purpose, a case study is made at the Road Administration organization, where a quantitative study of the organizational culture is made, and also a qualitative study of the performance. The quantitative study is based on Detert et al (2000) eight important values for effective continuous improvements that Detert et al. has connected to eight dimensions of organizational culture. The qualitative study is based on factors that previous studies have shown to be important for success of continuous improvements. The results show that the Road Administration’s organizational culture can support a system of continuous improvement, but there are subcultures that have opposite values within the organization. Within some cultural dimensions there is a strong culture, which is positive as these values support the improvement system. The results also show that the performance of Clarion Hotel and the Road Administration is well in line with many of the critical success factors, but there are some areas in need of improvement. The two organizations are differing in their performance at certain points, which can be an contributing cause of the fact that Clarion Hotel is interpreted to be ahead of the Road Administration, in terms of a successful implementation of continuous improvement. The major differences are the degree of involvement of the employees and their knowledge of the improvement system, as well as the lack of strategic focus on improvements in the Road Administration, and that the improvements have not yet had effect on the strategic goals. The results indicate that the Road Administration has not succeeded in communication the purpose of improvements and it also seems that there is a lack of communication around the values of the organization.</p>

Because of an increasing demand from customers and changing external environment, there is a need for continuous improvements, for both manufacturing and service organizations, to meet these demands. Manufacturing organizations have been working systematically with quality improvements for a long time, but it has not been as common for service organizations. Because of that the methods to use for implementation of the systematic improvements have not been designed to fit service organizations, and not either for public organizations. The purpose of this thesis is to explain if and why the Swedish Road Administration’s organizational culture and handling of ideas and deviation support an implementation of continuous improvement management. The study of the Road Administration’s performance is being compared to Clarion Hotel, as Clarion is a Swedish good example in continuous improvements in service organizations. To fulfil the purpose, a case study is made at the Road Administration organization, where a quantitative study of the organizational culture is made, and also a qualitative study of the performance. The quantitative study is based on Detert et al (2000) eight important values for effective continuous improvements that Detert et al. has connected to eight dimensions of organizational culture. The qualitative study is based on factors that previous studies have shown to be important for success of continuous improvements. The results show that the Road Administration’s organizational culture can support a system of continuous improvement, but there are subcultures that have opposite values within the organization. Within some cultural dimensions there is a strong culture, which is positive as these values support the improvement system. The results also show that the performance of Clarion Hotel and the Road Administration is well in line with many of the critical success factors, but there are some areas in need of improvement. The two organizations are differing in their performance at certain points, which can be an contributing cause of the fact that Clarion Hotel is interpreted to be ahead of the Road Administration, in terms of a successful implementation of continuous improvement. The major differences are the degree of involvement of the employees and their knowledge of the improvement system, as well as the lack of strategic focus on improvements in the Road Administration, and that the improvements have not yet had effect on the strategic goals. The results indicate that the Road Administration has not succeeded in communication the purpose of improvements and it also seems that there is a lack of communication around the values of the organization.

Orientadores: Irenilza de Alencar Naas, Marta dos Santos Baracho / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Agricola / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-10T18:24:30Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Gigli_AnaCarolinadeSouza_M.pdf: 14015756 bytes, checksum: 3ff5e92049fc702484a226f1115b5db2 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007 / Resumo: Sendo o incubatório um ambiente comum à cadeia avícola e que fatores relacionados à incubação podem influenciar o desempenho e crescimento de frangos de corte, é importante que o ambiente do incubatório tenha manejo adequado e seja homogêneo. Considerando a carência de informações sobre ambiência em incubação de ovos de matrizes pesadas, este trabalho levanta a hipótese de que o conhecimento das variáveis ambientais em incubatório permite o controle mais adequado da produção. Foram monitorados lotes de ovos férteis de duas linhagens de matrizes pesadas em incubatório comercial, verificando variáveis ambientais tais como: temperatura, velocidade do ar, umidade relativa, concentração de dióxido de carbono e concentração de fungos no interior e exterior dos equipamentos do incubatório para estabelecimento de correlação com dados de eclodibilidade e qualidade de pintinhos de um dia. Não foram apontados pontos de heterogeneidade no interior das máquina de incubação para as variávies coletadas. Os resultados apontam que o baixo desempenho produtivo está relacionado com baixa temperatura nas máquinas de incubação. 98 % e 90 % dos dados de temperatura registrados estavam abaixo do que é recomendado na incubadora e no nascedouro, respectivamente. Queda no desempenho também foi atribuída à umidade relativa e à concentração de dióxido de carbono. Quanto à qualidade sanitária, o nascedouro foi apontado como ponto crítico e apresentou alta concentração de unidades formadoras de colônias de Aspergillus fumigatus. Todas as salas do incubatório apresentaram baixo nível de contaminação que, no entanto, foi apontado como principal indicador de redução de produtividade e qualidade, o que indica iminente replanejamento dos programas de biosegurança para incubatórios de frango de corte / Abstract: Since the hatchery house is a common environment to the poultry chain, and factors related to incubation can have influence both broiler chicken development and growth, it is important to provide adequate handling and homogeneous environment. Considering the lack of information on the environment about broiler chicken incubation, this research investigated that environmental conditions knowledge, in hatchery houses allows a better control of the production. Subsequently, flocks of fertile eggs from different breeder strains have been monitored in a commercial hatchery house, in order to verify environmental variables such as: temperature, air velocity, relative humidity, carbon dioxide production, fungi concentration, inside and outside the hatchery equipments, and how they are correlated with hatchability and one-day-old chick quality. No heterogeneity was found inside hatchery machines regarding all the studied environmental variables. The results pointed that low productive performance is related with incubation equipments low temperature. 98.0 % and 90.0 % registered temperature data was under recomendated values inside both setter and hatcher. Performance decrease was also related to high relative humidity and high carbon dioxide concentration. Results concerning sanitary quality indicated hatcher room as a hatchery critical point due to high level of contamination by Aspergillus fumigatus colonies forming unities. Moreover, the monitored hatchetry rooms as a role presented contamination levels which may play the role of main indicator of negative impact over production and one-day-old chickling quality so that indicates eminet improvement of the biosecurity programs for broiler chicken hatchery house / Mestrado / Construções Rurais e Ambiencia / Mestre em Engenharia Agrícola

Design quality work has sought to identify the impact of building design on users during the last 25 years. However, it has rarely considered the role that social context plays in this relationship, an issue that dovetails with the emerging concept of "social value". To drive learning in design, the social value of buildings requires measurement and dissemination, yet existing post-occupancy methodologies have focused on technical building performance rather than user experience. A shift in evaluative focus is needed. The social value of buildings is conceptualised as the mutual interaction between physical building design, active building users and the dynamic social relations that exist within the community of building users. This research has investigated the effective measurement of the social value of buildings and its potential influence on learning in design and commissioning processes, through the critical application of a social impact methodology called Social Return on Investment (SROI). Three case buildings were selected from the nonclinical healthcare sector with differing levels of user-centred design to trial SROI and develop a framework for its application to the built environment. SROI is designed to quantify complex social outcomes, identified through qualitative stakeholder engagement, and generate a transferable metric in the form of a monetised return-on-investment ratio. A methodological account is given of the challenges faced when applying it to the case buildings and the modifications required as a result, representing a unique information source about applied social value research in buildings. However, the effectiveness of SROI at measuring the social value of buildings is questioned due to the process of simplification required to turn qualitative user narratives into monetised data. Its potential utility as a decision-making tool in the built environment is investigated through engagement with design and commissioning professionals. The findings suggest that SROI has limited utility in design-related decisions, but considerable potential as a high level investment tool to inform funding and commissioning decisions. Due to the accessibility of its methodology and transferability of its results, SROI is well-placed as a tool for end user clients, commissioners and investors, as much as design experts. SROI represents a development in lay (e)valuation practices in the built environment, with broader implications for user-centred learning in the context of the growing wellbeing agenda.

Orientador: Daniel Joseph Hogan / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Filosofia e Ciencias Humanas / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-10T07:25:08Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Mello_LeonardoFreirede_D.pdf: 6882930 bytes, checksum: 24d0a59ad287e88e1673efe413f53bf2 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007 / Resumo: Neste trabalho discutem-se dois temas que se complementam. De início, o foco centra-se nos trabalhadores do conhecimento, profissionais com excelente formação acadêmica e que desempenham, segundo Manuel Castells e Richard Florida, entre outros autores, um papel fundamental no cenário econômico contemporâneo. Em um segundo momento, o foco da discussão desloca-se para o conceito de qualidade do lugar - ou seja, o conjunto de características que uma determinada porção do espaço real ou potencialmente possui e que, combinadas, lhe atribuem uma "capacidade", também real ou potencial, de estimular ou de desestimular os indivíduos a estabelecerem com ela relações de atração ou repulsão. Busca-se, assim, compreender de que forma os atributos espaciais contribuem para a construção social do próprio espaço e, desse modo, interferem - mesmo que indiretamente - na dinâmica espacial da população. O estudo constitui-se de cinco capítulos. No primeiro - Reestruturação produtiva e nova economia -, delineia-se o "pano de fundo" conceitual que vai fundamentar teoricamente os capítulos posteriores. No segundo - Trabalhadores do conhecimento -, enfoca-se o conceito que dá título ao capítulo, analisando-se e contextualizando-se sua evolução histórica na realidade brasileira contemporânea, em especial na cidade de Campinas. A partir dessa definição conceitual, que abrange a tentativa de compatibilização de diferentes taxonomias e classificações ocupacionais construídas com base em diferentes referenciais teóricos e experiências, é apresentado, no quarto capítulo, um levantamento dos trabalhadores do conhecimento que residem e trabalham em Campinas, SP, objetivando quantificá-los e qualificá-los, assim como determinar - na medida do que os dados disponíveis permitem - a sua distribuição espacial. No terceiro capítulo - Qualidade do lugar -, amplia-se a discussão do conceito, procurando-se dar relevância à discussão das questões ambientais, em especial da temática das conseqüências ambientais da dinâmica demográfica, com especial destaque à distribuição e mobilidade espaciais da população. No quarto e quinto capítulos são apresentados o estudo de caso e as conclusões decorrentes de sua análise. Em resumo, busca-se, neste trabalho, compreender quem são os trabalhadores do conhecimento que residem e trabalham em Campinas/SP, identificando-os, descrevendo-os e, principalmente, caracterizando-os do ponto de vista demográfico, com base em dados censitários, bem como em outras pesquisas e levantamentos sociodemográficos já desenvolvidos. Nele, pretende-se não só identificar, mas também analisar as características dos locais em que o referido grupo se concentra e que influenciam o processo de tomada de decisão locacional residencial dos trabalhadores do conhecimento dentro da região analisada, tentando-se apontar para as possíveis bases conceituais de uma futura metodologia de avaliação e de utilização da qualidade do lugar como insumo para o planejamento e a implementação de políticas públicas voltadas tanto para a desconcentração populacional quanto para o aumento da qualidade de vida e da capacidade de competição econômica. Na análise desenvolvida, leva-se em consideração sobretudo o nível de importância dado a tais características pelo grupo estudado no processo de seleção de seu lugar de residência. Finalmente, procura-se identificar e analisar - de forma breve - as conseqüências ou externalidades socioambientais desse processo de escolha locacional / Abstract: This research deals with two main and complimentary issues. Firstly, the focus is put over the knowledge workers, professionals with an outstanding academic formation and that play, according to authors like Manuel Castells and Richard Florida, a fundamental role in the contemporary economic scene. At a second moment, the discussion focus the quality of place concept, that may be objectively defined as the set of features that a certain portion of space possesses (really or potentially) and when are put together, gives to this portion of the space a "capability" (also real or potential) to stimulate or to de-stimulate individuals to establish attraction or repulsion relationships with it. The main idea is to try to understand in which way spatial attributes contribute to the space's social building and, this way, interfere - even indirectly - into population's spatial dynamics. The thesis is divided into five sections. The first - Productive Restructuring and New Economy - tries to delineate the conceptual "big picture" that sustains the following theoretical discussion. The second - Knowledge Workers - deals with this concept, analyzing its historical evolution and trying to bring it to the contemporary Brazilian reality, specially in the city of Campinas. The third section - Quality of Place - is dedicated to discuss it theoretically, trying to make its relevance to the environmental issues more clear, specially when analyzing the environmental consequences of demographic dynamics features like population's spatial distribution and mobility. The fourth section presents the case of Campinas, SP and the fifth summarizes the main observations and conclusions. In resume, the main goal of the present thesis is to try to understand who are the knowledge workers that live and work at Campinas, identifying and describing them by the demography's point of view, using data from the Brazilian Demographic Census as well as from other available sources and researches. It also try to identify which are the main location features of the hotpots where the knowledge workers may concentrate themselves and that influence the residential decision-making process of people under this analytical category / Doutorado / Demografia / Doutor em Demografia

The diploma thesis called "Importance of facility management in the enterprise" examines support services working toward satisfaction and comfort of building users. The thesis is divided into theoretical and practical part. The theoretical part describes importance of facility management, its development and activities. The practical part consists of case study that analyses the implementation of Facility department in multinational hi-tech company dealing with research, development and manufacturing of electron microscopes. Special attention is given to the clean rooms where microscopes and spectroscopes are produced. The thesis concludes with assessment analysis of specific Facility department focused on benefits which this department brings to the company and its employees.

The aim of this thesis is to determine the public awareness about the possibilities of financial support from the EU funds on enhancing the quality of environment with the special emphasis on waste water and the WWTPs in the Czech Republic. It was studied, whether the attitudes and the public awareness play a role in the construction of WWTPs. Whereas the weight of public opinion in decision-making also testifies the extent of public decision making power on the outcomes of decision making about environmental management, the goal of this work is also to verify the degree of public involvement into the public decision making processes.

The profession of a general nurse is a specific job with high demands. At present, recruiting and retaining general nurses is an urgent and fundamental problem not only in the Czech Republic but also worldwide. The extent of the shortage of general nurses is not clear. The Czech Nursing Association (ČAS) reports figures ranging from 2000 to 3300 for the years 2017 and 2018. The lack of trained and qualified general nurses results in a series of negative effects, impacting not only the quality but also availability of the care provided. Some foreign studies even indicate that the shortage of nurses increases the likelihood of complications and patient deaths (Aiken et al., 2014). By recognizing the motivational and demotivational factors impacting the satisfaction of nurses we can help to retain general nurses in their jobs and increase their work performance. The research survey implemented at one specific intensive care unit of the highest level was conducted using the qualitative research method. The data collection took place in the form of semi-structured interviews and was completed by achieving data saturation. The qualitative data were audio recorded to maintain authenticity. The interviews were subsequently transcribed. An open coding technique was used to analyze the data of ten survey...