Software development requires teams due to size, scope, and location of the project. A few software development team structures have been proposed based on tasks and job descriptions, but no team structure or model has been proposed to assemble software development teams based on individual characteristic and trait differences. This thesis presents two studies that support the argument that a new model needs to be developed for assembling software development teams. A roadmap for developing such a model is presented as the response to the inapplicability of applying current models to software development team assembly. / Master of Science

Previous research into sporting events and broadcast commentary have been consistent in showing that there are clear differences in prevalence of commentary topics when a commentator is describing a male athlete and a female athlete. Among these differences are sexualized and ambivalent language towards female athletes, gender marking, and language that suggests male athlete superiority to that of female athletes. Although sporting events such as the Summer and Winter Olympics and NCAA Men's and Women's Basketball Championship games have repeatedly been sites for exploration, the world's largest single-event sporting competition, the World Cup, remains relatively untouched. Keeping this in mind, using a systematic content analysis, this thesis analyzed the broadcast commentary provided by play-by-play and color commentators in FIFA World Cup and FIFA Women's World Cup final matches to discern whether or not the sex of the athlete competing resulted in a difference in the descriptive evaluations employed by commentators. Findings of this study revealed that there were few differences in the prevalence of descriptive evaluations based on the gender of the athletes competing. Implications of the results and recommendations for future research into broadcast commentary and World Cup final matches are addressed. / Master of Arts / Previous research into the role of broadcast commentary in sporting events has shown that not only are there differences in what sports commentators say about male and female athletes, but also in how often specific types of commentary occur. Through the examination of pinnacle athletic competitions, findings have revealed a higher frequency of sexualized and contradictory language towards female athletes, an increase in gender marking, and language that suggests the superiority of male athletes to that of female athletes, among other things. Despite the wide range of athletic competitions that have garnered research attention, one event that has remained relatively ignored is the FIFA World Cup. Because of this, by examining the broadcast commentary provided during FIFA World Cup and FIFA Women’s World Cup final matches, this study looked to discover if the sex of the athlete competing impacted how often certain evaluation types occurred during game action. Findings showed that there were few differences in the prevalence of these evaluations based on the sex of the athlete competing. In addition to discussing the findings of this study, recommendations for future research are also addressed.

Yes / The health supply chain within the United Kingdom follows a traditional model adopted by many countries globally. This is typically the sourcing of products from manufacturer to pharmacy (hospital and community) via wholesaler or direct. New models of delivery are being piloted and evaluated to improve supply chain efficiency and effectiveness

In Bolivia, potato production and marketing is important for farmers' livelihoods and anecdotal information shows that cell phones and women are extremely important in the potato marketing chain. Efforts to improve incomes of poor highland potato producers should recognize roles of different actors within the chain and access to market information. This study explores the effects of access to information and gender relations within the potato chain; on farmers' market channel choice in the Tiraque Watershed (Bolivia). The analysis of qualitative information was useful to deepen the understanding of the subject and complement quantitative analysis outcomes. The main source of data comes from a survey of 400 households from the watershed. Additionally, Rapid Market Appraisal and Case Studies were used to collect qualitative data. These data was used to estimate two econometric models (Logit and MNL) to evaluate the importance of farmers and marketing characteristics on market choices. This analysis demonstrates that the determinants that affect market channel choice include marketing (time to reach the markets and the nearest paved road), production (number of plots owned by farmers) and household related variables (access to loan, cell phone ownership, location and age of the head of the household). On the other hand, some results were different than expected, that is the case of motorized transport ownership, and literacy. Another unexpected result is that even though the qualitative analysis shows that gender plays an important role in marketing activities; the econometric analysis shows that gender has no effect on farmer's market choices. / Master of Science / LTRA-3 (Watershed-based NRM for Small-scale Agriculture)

This study carries forward the exploration of John Rohr’s normative theory of public administration by examining the applicability of the "balance wheel" role for public administrators to local government administration. Because local government charters contain no moral basis for action, and there is no oath of office to uphold which would bind administrators in the pursuit of a set of local regime values, the issue of where local public administrators get their norms for action is an important one. Local government department heads from South Carolina were interviewed from both mayor-council and council-manager governments in an effort to understand how they viewed their role in the governance process. During these interviews, particular emphasis was placed on where administrators look for guidance when faced with complex or conflicting signals from their environment. The original hypothesis guiding the research was that form of local government would influence administrators’ responses. That is, administrators from council-manager governments would find it difficult to be guided by Rohr’s normative theory of public administration because they operate in a system of government unlike their federal and state counterparts, i.e., no separation of powers exists in this form of government. The data analysis revealed that, when looking for guidance, form of government mattered less than did the type of task area that an administrator works in. In short, sources of guidance for administrators are often dependent upon the type of task an administrator is involved. This study suggests that when public administration scholars offer normative prescriptions for administrative behavior they should consider a contingency approach that is sensitive to the task area of the administrator. Indeed, data analysis suggests that a local government administrator’s profession may be the most important variable in predicting where an administrator will find guidance. / Ph. D.

This study extends the Theory of Planned Behavior by drawing on research investigating the 'halo effect,' which posits that physically attractive people are more likely to be hired, get a raise, perceived positively, and/or live happily within certain professions. Extant work has shown this trend is not generalizable across all fields. For example, scientists who are viewed as relatively unattractive and unsociable are perceived as producing higher quality research compared to their more attractive and sociable counterparts. The fitness industry, and the bodybuilding community in particular, presents an interesting issue where muscularity is an indicator of expertise and credibility, however, for female bodybuilders a muscular physique may diminish her perceived attractiveness and diminish such evaluations. Drawing on the Theory of Planned Behavior, this study examines how muscularity influences assessments of attractiveness, credibility, and homophily and indirectly influences participants' attitudes and perceived control over theory own weight lifting behavior. Though the hypothesized model was not a good fit, an exploratory respecification of the proposed model shows physical attractiveness plays a central role in assessments of homophily, credibility, and attitude. / Master of Arts / There has been a recent increased focus on the fitness and health industries over the past decade. With the expansion of photo-based social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook, there has been an emphasis on individuals representing more physically fit and athletic body types. Many of these female “fitness models” and social media influencers break typical gender norms and are depicted as more muscular than the traditional female thin ideal. These social media influencers are arguably judged on their physical attractiveness, homophily, and credibility with regards to exercise and nutrition. This online experiment looks to identify if muscularity plays a role in how participants perceive two of these female bodybuilders on physical attractiveness, credibility, and homophily, and indirectly perceives their attitudes and perceived control to weight lift. This is accomplished by using a questionnaire consisting of 68 questions pertaining to the thin ideal, muscular ideal, physical attractiveness, credibility, homophily, attitude, and perceived behavioral control. Physical attractiveness was found to be a driving force for attitude and perceived behavioral control to weight lift. These results provide practical implications for society as we continue to judge women based on their physical attractiveness.

Gender role issues have been an integral part of psychology since the 1970s. More recently, theories and research have surfaced concerning the issues of maleness in our society. Most of these theories focus on masculine gender role and how it affects men in various ways, e.g., their psychological well-being, substance use, relational abilities, and help-seeking behaviors. One area of maleness that has consistently been left out of the Masculine Role Conflict (MRC) debate is that of homosexuality. As a gay man develops, he finds himself at odds with society over something that he experiences biologically as normal and appropriate. It is the contention of this paper that MRC is an issue related to psychological distress among gay men and not psychological weakness in gay men, per se.

This research aims to show the organizational changes and forms of social intervention that have been assumed by NGOs that were founded in Peru between the 60s and 80s. Since 1990 these NGOs have undergone a series of changes, mainly these have been given in the development discourses that guide their projects, in the type of relations that they establish with key actors to execute them and in the way to finance their operation. It will be noted that in the field of international and local development the rules of the game for NGOs are modified: the central State and the business sector acquire a greater presence in the promotion of development projects / There is a greater orientation to the market and selling services based on efficient management / And there is a context of reduction of funds coming from international cooperation agencies. This will generate the emergence of strategic roles as a way to respond to these changes in the institutional environment. It will be noted that, although strategies have been modified and new approaches are used - linked to human development, gender, environment, governance, among others - the meaning of NGOs’ foundational social action remain in force: working with vulnerable and excluded populations. / Esta investigación pretende mostrar los cambios organizacionales y las formas de intervención social que han venido asumiendo las ONG fundadas en el Perú entre las décadas de 1960 y 1980. A partir de 1990, estas ONG han sufrido una serie de cambios, principalmente en los discursos de desarrollo que orientan sus proyectos, en el tipo de relaciones que establecen con actores claves para ejecutarlos y en la manera de financiar su funcionamiento. Se observará que en el ámbito del desarrollo internacional y local se modifican las reglas del juego para las ONG: el Estado central y el sector empresarial incrementan su presencia en la promoción de proyectos de desarrollo / hay una mayor orientación al mercado y a la venta de servicios basados en una gestión eficiente / en un contexto de reducción de fondos provenientes de agencias de cooperación internacional. Esto generará el surgimiento de roles estratégicos como una manera de responder a estos cambios en el entorno institucional. Se notará que, si bien las estrategias se han modificado y utilizan nuevos enfoques —ligados al desarrollo humano, el género, medio ambiente, gobernabilidad, entre otros—, el sentido y significado de la acción social fundacional de las ONG se mantienen vigentes: el trabajo con poblaciones vulnerables y excluidas.

Background: The middle managers’ managerial work is characterised by the absence of clarityand structure around the work practice and implies excessive responsibility on the individual toorganise the work. Self-leadership is a tool for individuals to become more effective in their work and can provide middle managers with guidance in their unstructured work. Research Question: How do middle managers apply behavioural-focused strategies for self-leadershipin relation to their managerial work? Purpose: The purpose of this study is to better understand and contribute with new theories about how middle managers apply self-leadership in relation to their managerial work. The study will depict how middle managers relate to the activity of self-leadership in their professional role. The research will focus on how middle managers apply behavioural-focused strategies for self-leadership, namely self-goal setting, self-reward, self-punishment, self-observation and self-cueing. Method: A qualitative study of observations and interviews were used. Three middle managers in the organisation have been observed and interviewed to identify their application and attitude about behavioural-focused strategies for self-leadership. The observations have been categorised according to Mintzberg’s and Choran’s managerial and operational roles (working roles). Theoretical framework: Theories of self-leadership and behavioural-focused strategies are combined with theories of managerial work and working roles. Bringing together the different theories, a comprehensive theoretical framework is formed to understand how middle managers apply behaviour-focused strategies. Findings: The findings suggest that middle managers’ application of behavioural-focused strategies is largely characterised by their working roles. Furthermore, middle managers associate behavioural-focused strategies primarily with other-orientated behaviours, includingthe co-workers and the organisation. At the same time, there is a distinct individual difference in how middle managers apply the behavioural-focused strategies for self-leadership.

The purpose of this study was to appraise the meaning and challenges of the principal’s school governance role in the Gert Sibande Region of the Mpumalanga Province. This was premised on the inherent challenges of the principal’s role as prescribed in the South African Schools Act, which locates the principal in the school governing body (SGB) as a member who promotes the best interests of the school; as well as an ex officio member who represents and promotes the interests of the employer – the Department of Education. It was found, through the literature review, that the challenges of the principal’s school governance role were largely symptoms of different emphases on the various functions of the SGB as listed in the South African Schools Act. As such, the concept of school governance was contextualised into an understanding of the essence of the school governance mandate as concerned with three main roles of the SGB, namely, providing the school with a strategic direction, the SGB being critical friend to the school and holding the school to account. Through qualitative interviews of purposely selected school principals, educator-governors and parent-governors, it was found that the principal’s role was influenced by, among others, challenges pertaining to the principals’ ex officio role, parent governors’ low education level, parent governors perceptions about being in the SGB, the perceptions about the principals’ role in the SGB by other members and miscellaneous challenges pertaining to perceptions and structural factors about the school governance role. This was found to be a result of the listed nature of the Schools Act’s governance roles and responsibilities and pointed to the need for giving context to them through an approach that focuses on the meaning and implications of the school governance mandate. For that reason, this study proposes a Three-step Approach to school governance. The Three step-Approach to school governance takes the school governance mandate as a point of departure and models the school governance process from the intention to establish SGBs through elections of a new and incoming SGB while the outgoing SGB is in the final stages of its term of office; to training of SGB members over stages that focus on the relevant content and components of school governors; and culminates into the start of the process of functioning of the incoming SGB. The emphasis of this approach is on fostering a clear understanding of the school governance mandate; how it contextualises the listed functions in the Schools Act; and the need for the SGB to start functioning with members already trained and in full understanding of their roles as they relate to the school governance mandate of promoting the best interests of the schools through the provision of quality education for all learners at the school. / PhD (Education Management)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2015.