No description available.

<p> The purpose of writing <i>Using Geert Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions to Describe Cultural Differences between First Generation and Second Generation Vietnamese in the Vietnamese Church in America</i> is to affirm the existence of cultural differences within the Vietnamese American church between first generation and second generation Vietnamese Americans. The comparison is based on the categories of national cultural values according to Hofstede's research and measurements at the individual level. The acknowledgment of those cultural differences will help church leaders build effective communications and understanding and hence consolidate church unity. </p><p> Cultural differences between two generations in Vietnamese American church have created challenges in effective communications and in ministries working together amongst the congregation and at the leadership level. Ignorance of those conflicts and neglecting to find solutions make the existing gap broadened and hinder the mission of the church. Drawing from scores Hofstede's study gave for Vietnam and for the US on the five cultural dimensions, the present research showed how close the degree on an individual level for first generation and second generation Vietnamese Christians is reflected the measurement on the national level with respect to each dimension. </p><p> In order to verify the hypotheses of this research, an instrument called HCD-VCA Survey, tailored for the Vietnamese American church context was created. This tool composed of twenty statements with four statements per each cultural dimension, and had the participant rate every statement on a six-point Likert scale. Each set of four statements and their associated scores considered as subscores was compared between the first generation and second generation group. </p><p> Result from survey data confirmed the distinct difference of standpoint for each cultural dimension between the first generation and second generation Vietnamese Christians in the church. First generation group tends to more readily accept the high power distance, has tendency toward high collectivism, toward masculinity, stronger uncertainty avoidance, and toward short-term orientation than second generation group. Their standpoints relating to power distance dimension and collectivism/individualism dimension reflected the national cultural values of Vietnam and the US according to Hofstede's research. </p><p> The findings of present research ascertained the existence of cultural differences between the first generation and second generation Vietnamese Christians within the Vietnamese American churches. This primary issue needs to be acknowledged adequately and studied systematically. It is important for church leaders to have full knowledge of culture-related issues in order to identify any cultural tension encompassed in other problems in the church. Church leaders must find ways to narrow the cultural difference gap between the two generations in order to reinforce church unity. The establishment of English language ministry for young people also needs to be encouraged and supported in every Vietnamese American church.</p>

<p> This dissertation explores how California history museums represent the history of children and childhood. This work is inspired by earlier studies in the fields of anthropology, sociology, museum studies, and public history that question and analyze the underrepresentation or misrepresentation of groups, such as women and ethnic minorities, in US museums. How US museums represent children and their history has yet to receive scholarly attention. </p><p> This dissertation contributes to filling this gap in the literature and bases its conclusions on a state-wide survey of more than 200 California museums, interviews with 110 museum professionals or volunteers, site visits to 40 museums, and in-depth field research at 10 museums. I argue that too often the experiences, stories, and contributions of children are overlooked, absent, or marginalized in California history museums. When representations of children's history do emerge, they often reflect ideals rather than realities, universalize the historical experience of childhood, and, in the process, romanticize the past. This dissertation acknowledges obstacles that get in the way of richer representation and offers potential solutions.</p><p> During my study it became clear that multiple meanings of children's history are at work in the California museum community: the history <i> of</i> children, history <i>for</i> children, and history <i> by</i> children. This dissertation examines each in turn and demonstrates how conceptions of children, many with deep historical roots, influence not only museum exhibitions but also programming for children. Central to this dissertation is the study of history <i>by</i> children at the Pasadena Museum of History, which provides middle-school students the opportunity to teach history as docents to younger children. Drawing upon my three years of participant observation at this site and interviews with forty middle-school students, I contend that inviting children to participate, create, and co-produce in museum spaces improves children's attitudes towards museums, enriches representation, and brings to light perspectives that may otherwise remain marginalized.</p>

<p> This study explored the culturally driven variables in the marketing process that contribute to a brand's success or minimize cultural missteps. The primary research question was: How are consumer brand organizations building capabilities and organizing to embed cultural inclusion and insights throughout the marketing communications process? Twenty senior-level marketing executives contributed to the mixed-methods study. Five critical variables were found to be consistent across industries: effective data collection, reporting, and integration are critical; leadership must be courageous and culturally skilled; strategic alignment around cultural inclusion throughout the enterprise and across internal and external stakeholders is necessary; culturally adaptive talent management is required; and an end-to-end focus and recalibration of the processes requires resource investments and a commitment to hardwire a refined approach. Recommendations for leveraging the variables included a greater focus on data integration, inclusive leadership development, process recalibration and development of cultural agility competencies, and knowledge sharing across industries.</p>

<p>This study involves creating archaeological predictive models (APMs) for Bradford County, Pennsylvania: a known site model, a regression analysis model, and a multi-criteria analysis model. The APMs show the areas of highest sensitivity for archaeological sites but utilize different methods so that the models can be compared. The thesis also compares locations of known archaeological sites and the areas of high archaeological probability to natural gas well sites to determine the impact of natural gas drilling on the archaeological record. Finally, the thesis addresses whether new archaeological sites can be located using different types of remote sensing. The goal of this study is to provide a planning strategy for the protection of cultural resources. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania statewide historic plan for 2012-2017 calls for the creation of a statewide archaeological probability map. This study provides a baseline for the future creation of predictive models for the state of Pennsylvania.

No description available.

The purpose of this study is to explore the theoretical foundation for conceptualizing information-sharing behavior and to develop a composite index or a global scale for measuring the overall level of information sharing in the context of supply chains. Specifically, the study investigates two research questions: What are the basic characteristics of information-sharing behavior? How can the overall level of operational information sharing of small- and medium-sized Canadian enterprises in supply chains be measured? Three major characteristics of information-sharing behavior are identified in the study: there must be mutual benefits, a mixture of collaborative and competitive actions, and a dependent relationship. Correspondingly, a theoretical definition of information-sharing behavior is proposed: information-sharing behavior is a type of information behavior in which two groups of actors connected by a certain type of relationship transfer information between them through collective actions in order to achieve individual or common interests. Furthermore, a general analytical framework of information-sharing behavior is developed. The analytical framework, which includes major factors involved in information-sharing activity, broadens the scope of interactions beyond the systems and information, and adopts a new perspective emphasizing incentives and interactions between actors in addition to the system-centered and user-centered views traditionally assumed in information behavior studies. / Le but de cette étude est d’explorer les fondements théoriques pour conceptualiser le comportement du partage d’information et pour développer un index composé ou une échelle globale afin de mesurer le niveau complet du partage d’information dans le contexte de chaînes d’approvisionnement. En pratique, le partage d’information entre les membres d’une chaîne d’approvisionnement est crucial afin d’augmenter la compétitivité et la performance des entreprises individuelles et de la chaîne entière. Néanmoins, le partage d’information rendu possible par les réseaux informatiques dans les entreprises canadiennes en ·est toujours à ses balbutiements, et il n’y a aucune méthode applicable pour évaluer les efforts des entreprises pour améliorer le niveau du partage d’information dans les chaînes d’approvisionnemeont. Spécifiquement, l’étude examine les deux questions de recherche suivantes: Quelles sont les caractéristiques de base du comportement du partage d’information? Comment peut être mesuré le niveau général du partage d’information opérationnel entre les petites et les moyennes entreprises canadiennes dans les chaînes d’approvisionnement? Trois caractéristiques majeures du comportement du partage d’information sont identifiées dans l’étude: il doit y avait un avantage mutuel, un mélange d’actions collaboratives et compétitives, et une relation de dépendance. Une définition théorique de comportement du partage d’information est proposée: Le comportement du partage d’information est un type de comportement informationnel dans lequel deux groupes d’acteurs sont reliés par un certain type de relations de transfert des informations par des actions collectives afin de réaliser des intérêts individuels ou communs. En outre, une structure analytique d’ensemble du comportement de partage d’information est développée. La structure analytique, qui comprend des facteurs majeurs dans l’

This thesis analyses the current development of indigenous rights in Taiwan based on a study of the Atayal community of Smangus in Hsinchu County. The research focuses on a case study of the Smangus Beech Tree Incident, a legal case related to the use of wood　from a wind-fallen tree. The case began in 2005, the same year that Taiwan passed the Indigenous Peoples' Basic Law. The events are also placed in the broader context of the　modern indigenous rights movement which had its beginnings in Taiwan in the early 1980s and the more than century long history of conflict between the Atayal and the state. Smangus has developed a unique community with a cooperative system of management that draws from both the Atayal tradition and ideas from the modern world. Ecotourism is the main economic foundation for the community. The development of Smangus and their assertion of their rights in the Smangus case provides an example of how indigenous peoples can regain greater control over the lands which they consider to be their traditional territory. The thesis then looks at co-management of Aboriginal-owned national parks in Australia. The final chapter considers how the co-management model could be adapted in Taiwan and gives recommendations for policy makers.

This study examined what separates a crossing site from an available crossing site and investigate when and where roads are more likely to be crossed by moose (Alces alces). Five seasonal models for two sexes were selected using an information-theoretic approach based on Akaike&#146;s Information Criteria. Crossings were expected to be more likely during times of increased moose activity, and in areas of preferred moose habitat.There were clear temporal effects of moose road-crossing probability, both within and between seasons: crossings were most likely to occur during the twilight hours. The influence of habitat and climate was much lower than expected, which lead to difficulties in creating spatially predictive statistical models. Nevertheless, high quality forage attracted crossings, while ruggedness, human disturbance and snow depth dissuaded them. It is therefore possible to predict spatially varying crossing probabilities across varying seasons, but it is difficult to produce management recommendations on this basis. Moose-vehicle collision-mitigating actions should therefore be focused on the temporal scale and management of the moose population density.

The lack of access to forest resources for the rural community residing in the buffer zones of national parks has created conflict between the national parks, the people residing in these areas and wildlife. People residing in the buffer zone of national parks incur losses due to the wildlife, which can impact both crops and human lives. This study focused on the attitudes, acceptance and knowledge level of people living near the park to explore the conflict between them and one of the endangered animals, the &#145;Rhinoceros unicornis&#146;. A questionnaire survey was randomly administered to 200 households in 16 Buffer Zone Village Development Committees and two municipalities of the Chitwan National Park. The survey represented two categories of households, those that were &gt;2 Km and those that were &lt;2 Km from the park boundaries. Socio-economic status variables such as tribe, education, occupation, household annual income, landownership and dependencies on the National Park forest and Buffer zone forest were used to interpret the results. The analysis of results showed a prevalence of negative attitudes that stemmed from (1) the distance: people living closer to the national park boundary reported rhino damaged the most crops near the national park; (2) a lack of compensation for crop losses; (3) indigenous people (e.g., Tharus) living closer to the National Park who traditionally have higher dependencies on the forest resources and (4) households with low income relying heavily on the forest resources of the National Park. However, the increase in the rhino population in the latest census showed an increased level of awareness among the park people living near the park. These findings were corroborated in this study because people emphasised the conservation of the rhino, which showed a positive attitude towards rhino. Ultimately, the impact of the rhino on human settlements and livelihoods and vice versa is an on-going conflict that needs to be resolved to preserve the existence of the rhino in Nepal&#146;s protected areas. The role of the government, the National Park authority, and different International and National government organisations are necessary to enhance the livelihoods of people surrounding the national park and to govern wildlife conservation.