Enterprise Resource Planning Systems (ERP) are very large and complex software packages that run every aspect of an organization. Increasingly, ERP systems are used in higher education to teach business processes, essential knowledge for students competing in today’s business environment. Past research attempting to measure learning business processes with ERP has been inconclusive and lacking in rigor. This dissertation contains a comprehensive research study that uses a critical realist approach to measure business process learning from experiential ERP. Using a business simulation game as a proxy for understanding business processes, students from (1) a US undergraduate program in three separate classes, one using ERP experientially, and (2) two UK postgraduate programs, one experiencing ERP and one not, are assessed both quantitatively and qualitatively. The data analysis results in a causal mechanism for learning, complemented by a list that trigger or suppress that mechanism in particular cases. The results validate the efforts of those using ERP in the classroom, and reaffirm other educational business school endeavors, with educational implications as follows. First, before attempting to learn business processes, students must know about business in order to enable them to learn this complex topic. Second, experiencing ERP systems indeed helps students understand business processes, with a cohesive curriculum integrating ERP benefitting students the most and students at the postgraduate level learning more deeply. Third, students are using the knowledge gained in university classes to make business decisions. Fourth, students should be encouraged to use all information possible for making business decisions instead of relying on their personal understanding of today’s current market, relying on their own business intuition or work experience. Last, teaching methods may need to be adjusted for postgraduates, especially those coming into programs with significant work experience.

Våren 2014 uppvisade Ryssland ett öppet aggressivt beteende när de, med militära medel, annekterade Krim och satte den säkerhetspolitiska balansen i Europa och världen i gungning. Sverige och Finland fann sig helt plötsligt geografiskt nära ett potentiellt hot, och samtidigt utanför Nato. Denna studie undersöker orsaker i nationella och internationella variabler för varför staterna inte har ansökt om medlemskap i Nato efter den ryska annekteringen. Genom att använda en teori mer precis än realismen – neoklassisk realism – analyseras tre variabler för formandet av foreign policy; militär förmåga, hotuppfattning och nationell struktur. Enligt method of agreement undersöks vilken variabel som är lika mellan staterna. Resultatet kan förklara deras säkerhetspolitiska val att inte ansöka om medlemskap i Nato även efter den ryska annekteringen av Krim. Den variabel som studien visar är lika mellan dem är hotuppfattning hos statens ledare. Detta aktualiserar vidare forskning i vilken av de neoklassiska variablerna som driver stater till förändring i foreign policy.

Lawrence Ngoveni, Student no 0204864A, MA thesis, Literature & Language Studies, Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences. 2006. ngovenil@yahoo.com. / This research report examines Mia Couto’s novel Under the Frangipani as an intervention into the problematic of memory in post-war Mozambique. It attempts to locate Couto’s narratives among contemporary writing in Africa. It argues that Couto’s narratives combine allegory and magic realism in their endeavor to highlight the complexity of the Mozambican past and the need to include a diversity of voices from different sources. It focuses primarily on the novel’s inclusive narrative approach which manifests through the coexistence of putative worlds. In doing so, I explore the tension between the ontological assumptions of officialdom and those of the weak.

by Ling Tun Ngai. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1990. / Bibliography: leaves [129]-139. / Acknowledgements --- p.i / Format Details --- p.ii / Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 1. --- Realism in the Chinese Conte --- p.xt / Chapter 2. --- The Revival of Realism: Han Shaogong's Early Works --- p.44 / Chapter 3. --- Young Writers in Search of An Identity: The Search for Cultural Roots in 1985-86 --- p.65 / Chapter 4. --- Allegorical Depictions of the Chinese People: Han Shaogong's Search for Roots --- p.90 / Conclusion --- p.127 / Bibliography --- p.129 / Glossary --- p.138

This study investigates the problem of contemporary interpretations of the moral education question, as informed by rival moral-philosophical and epistemological traditions. In this study, the moral education question is taken to mean, ‘What educational form and content may best assist students in becoming ethically minded and morally good people?’ Accordingly, this necessitates a consideration of what is meant by morality and what are the central characteristics of the moral life (i.e. moral philosophical perspectives), as well as how such accounts of morality are seen to relate to the educational aims of knowledge and intellectual development (i.e. underlying epistemology).This study shows that current interpretations of moral education (as efforts to ‘teach values’) are predominantly informed by the ‘juridical ethical tradition,’which, in turn, is underpinned by a distinctive epistemology (or ‘Juridicalism’).The thesis proposes that Juridicalism is philosophically contestable because it leads to a partially distorted conception of the moral life and hence of moral education. Generally, by regarding the cognitive dimensions of moral thought and action as separate from and independent of the emotional-volitional dimensions, Juridicalism is an obstacle to understanding the proper moral educational task of schools. Notably, Juridicalism leads to a questionable emphasis on the importance of ‘values’, as expressed in generally agreed rules and principles, as opposed to particular and substantive moral judgements.A critique of Juridicalism is developed, focussing on its underlying conception of human reason as inspired by a distinctly Modern mind-body/world dualism argue that the fragmented and reductive epistemology of Juridicalism signals the need for a richer and more variegated theory of cognition, marked specifically by an integrated anthropology and substantive theory of reason. Further, such an epistemology is located in the realist philosophy of classical antiquity particularly within the Aristotelian tradition. I propose a defence of what I call ‘Classical Realism’, in contrast to Juridicalism, highlighting its distinctively integrated account of the mind/soul and body/world relationship, and substantive conception of practical rationality or moral understanding. Classical Realism also makes central the notion of knowledge as ‘vision’ in order to explain how the rational and affective dimensions of human nature come together in moral thought and action. Finally, the moral education question is reconsidered in light of the visional ethical perspective emerging from Classical Realism. In this light I interpret the moral education question as a matter of nurturing the (intellectual) capacity for and habit of correct vision and, relatedly, moral judgement. Further, this task is shown to be vitally connected with the school’s focus on developing knowledge and the intellect through the teaching of traditional academic and practical disciplines. Some initial comments are made concerning the pedagogical implications of such an interpretation, while some associated challenges and questions for further research are highlighted.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1982. / Vita. Bibliography: leaves 231-238.

Abstract       The actions of Sweden during the second world war has been richly discussed over the years. Sweden declared itself neutral in the war between the great powers but did not manage to maintain its neutrality. The nature of neutrality has often been discussed; whether it is of a idealistic or more pragmatic nature. Realism, a theory of international relations, would argue that it is of a more pragmatic nature, hence these two are in opposition. Realism also takes credit in claiming to explain how and why a state chooses to act in a situation.   The aim of this essay was to, by examining specific decisions made by the swedish government during the Second World War, come to a conclusion whether or not Sweden’s proclaimed neutrality was of idealistic or pragmatic nature, and thereby possibly coming to a conclusion about neutrality in large. It was also to examine the worth of realism as an explanatory theory by applying it to this specific case; to examine its validity. The study was conducted using a qualitative method; presenting empiric facts and then by using a decision model interpreting the actions and results from a realist perspective.   The study concludes that realism has explanatory power, although not a complete one. The evidence, concerning the neutrality matter, points to that neutrality should be considered as being of a more pragmatic nature.   Keywords: Second world war, international relations, realism, neutrality

While historians have approached the process of popular democracies absorption into the Soviet system at the end of the Second World War by stressing political and economic relations within the decision-making structures, the urban spaces produced during this interval, as sites of social interaction, remained under-researched. In Romania, the project conducted in Hunedoara between 1947 and 1954 illustrates the extent to which the Romanian communist state was aware of the urban spaces potential for social manipulation, as well as the strategies this authority undertook to employ politically the formative function of the built environment. The thesis revolves around three main questions: What did modernization mean for Romanian society by the end of World War II? To what degree did the attempts of Stalinization manage to impose on Romanian society the Soviet Unions cultural values and principles? And how can studying urban architecture tell us more about these topics? Drawing on newspaper and archival materials, the thesis concludes that inside the communist system, the ability to define modernity much less bringing it into being, depended on whether political elites and the party could provide institutional unity and coherent decision-making.

While historians have approached the process of popular democracies absorption into the Soviet system at the end of the Second World War by stressing political and economic relations within the decision-making structures, the urban spaces produced during this interval, as sites of social interaction, remained under-researched. In Romania, the project conducted in Hunedoara between 1947 and 1954 illustrates the extent to which the Romanian communist state was aware of the urban spaces potential for social manipulation, as well as the strategies this authority undertook to employ politically the formative function of the built environment. The thesis revolves around three main questions: What did modernization mean for Romanian society by the end of World War II? To what degree did the attempts of Stalinization manage to impose on Romanian society the Soviet Unions cultural values and principles? And how can studying urban architecture tell us more about these topics? Drawing on newspaper and archival materials, the thesis concludes that inside the communist system, the ability to define modernity much less bringing it into being, depended on whether political elites and the party could provide institutional unity and coherent decision-making.

In order to look into the future, people of current era speculate about something past. The historical issues between China and Vietnam have affected diplomatic policy both. For the sake of analyzing the China¡¦s diplomatic policy toward Vietnam, the thesis traces back the historical contexts and proceeding. The purpose of diplomatic policy is achieving national benefits, including foreign relations and influences. For different subjects and goals, the characters of diplomatic policy will change. China and Vietnam established diplomatic relations since 1950; they were in brotherliness. From 1960 to 1970, their relations were getting worse because of definitions of communism. Even from 1970 to 1990, they fought each other. After 1990, they started normalizing mutually; then, announcing ¡§the four goods¡¨: making good relations for good neighbor, good friend, good comrades, and good partner with each other at 2005. The thesis argues that there are four factors affecting the China¡¦s diplomatic policy toward Vietnam: international conditions, sovereignty of territory, ideology and China-Vietnam relations; and further, the theory of thesis is Realism. Explaining transitions and meanings of China¡¦s diplomatic policy toward Vietnam is all on this ground.