Creating spinout companies (USOs) from university research is one focus of innovation policy. The phenomenon features in two main fields of enquiry: academic entrepreneurship studies, and literature on academic capitalism and the entrepreneurial university. Studies have explored the academic entrepreneur, the development stages of these nascent ventures, and the tools universities can provide to encourage and assist in the spinout process. This literature is however limited in that it is overwhelmingly concerned with resources, and little is known about how the USO relates to the parent research institution over time. The purpose of this study is therefore to explore social forces in research linked to a USO, and the main research question is: how can a social lens help us to understand some of the forces at play in research commercialisation, specifically through the early development of a USO from a parent research organisation? The case study is based on interviews and observations of university researchers, USO actors, and representatives from state agencies and a multinational corporation involved in a technology demonstration project. The sociologist Robert Park’s concepts of social groups, the individual within the collective, and social forces are used to explore the experiences of actors involved in academic research and industrial development throughout the changing relationship of a research group and USO. Five social forces were identified around the border between academia and industry, based on some of the concepts that seem to inform the actors’ understandings of the case at hand. An exploration of these forces helps to develop an understanding of how actors experience and negotiate various forces, and positions the results of the study in relation to the dominant models in academic entrepreneurship and academic life. Park’s concepts of specialised roles moves the discussion forward by considering how social forces might be handled within research and research commercialisation, and how such forces might in turn motivate the movement of individuals within and out of a particular social group. This discussion leads into the metaphor of the theatre, connected to project management literature, and research commercialisation as a performance by actors to safeguard the collective’s interests.

To the progress of social development, the middle-class has the ability to maintain the stable of social order development and the promotion of rational revolution. Among them, the location of labor is an important influential factor to the structure and change of classes. After the social change like industrialization and land reform, the middle-class in Taiwan appeared highly developed. However, with the circulation of the global capital, the employment position of labor markets had a division into two opposing extremes, which had cause the danger and anxiety among the middle-class. In this study, we take the view point of public employment regime to discuss how the State using the administrative power to stimulate labor, and how did they enforce social reform from the middle-class to reduce the opposition and confliction among classes. First, we take an observation on the long term Taiwan employment situation transition. We found out that, in order to promote the middle-class, we should place importance on the individual employment problems to provide education and employment training courses to reduce the long term unemployment. Second, we take the operation of the ¡¥short term employment promotion project¡¦ for consideration. We realized that in order to positively promote labor. We should think over the ¡¥lawful long term employment service¡¦ to enforce the employment service ability by ensuring the accountability and responsibility of administration departments by law; guarantee the occupation training; and enforce the ability of employment service department. Our suggestion is that, we should face squarely on the roles of Taiwan's middle-classes played on the autonomy and public sphere, and focus on the moderate social forces they had to avoid confliction and opposition to establish harmonious and mutually beneficial society.

Background: Considering increased global challenges and societal issues, more and more people are directing skepticism towards governments' and established businesses' abilities to fully address urgent social problems. Social entrepreneurship constitutes a new entrepreneurial movement where societal issues are addressed by a combination of market-based methods and social value creation. Social entrepreneurship generates social and sustainable benefits to society and has thus received growing attention from both researchers and policy makers around the world. Social enterprises may take on varies forms, ranging from non-profit organizations to commercially driven enterprises. To focus on sustainable business models, this thesis has delimited the study to solely focus on for-profit or hybrid organizations.   Purpose: The purpose of this study is to describe what inhibiting factors Swedish social enterprises face in scaling processes. Scaling refers to the magnitude a social business maximizes its social impact, primarily, but not limited to, through organizational growth. Furthermore, the thesis aims at explaining how social forces co-shape preconditions and actor decisions connected to scaling.     Method: To fulfil the purpose of the study, a qualitative research methodology was used. The empirical data was primarily collected through semi-structured interviews held with founders, COO’s and CEO’s from seven social enterprises in Sweden. To fully explain inhibiting factors of scaling, an abductive research approach was used with a combination of open and encouraging questions to promote discussion and develop theory.   Conclusion: The empirical findings of the study revealed a total of 14 inhibiting factors for scaling social impact in Sweden. From the findings, a development of existent theory resulted in a model illustrating the relationship between inhibiting factors, social forces and scaling social impact.

Submitted by Luciana Ferreira (lucgeral@gmail.com) on 2015-05-13T11:56:39Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Natasha Gomes Moreira Abreu - 2015.pdf: 1027567 bytes, checksum: dcc8f76b68db0a89569cc7ff575d8377 (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Luciana Ferreira (lucgeral@gmail.com) on 2015-05-13T12:00:28Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Natasha Gomes Moreira Abreu - 2015.pdf: 1027567 bytes, checksum: dcc8f76b68db0a89569cc7ff575d8377 (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-05-13T12:00:28Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Natasha Gomes Moreira Abreu - 2015.pdf: 1027567 bytes, checksum: dcc8f76b68db0a89569cc7ff575d8377 (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-02-20 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / This work aims the theme of the social function of land ownership in the injunction granted in repossession action and was developed within the Basics line of research institutes and Legal Property and Possession. The discussion is guided by the research problem on the interpretation of article 927 of the Civil Procedure Code to grant a preliminary basis in the legal protection of land ownership in collective disputes without conditioning it to the attention of the social function and if it complies with the legal and constitutional framework and the open society of interpreters. The theoretical framework adopted is the Peter Häberle's theory of Open Society of Interpreters of the Constitution which uses the concretizing hermeneutical method. The objective was to demonstrate how the Judiciary underlies the requirement or not the fulfillment of the social function of land ownership for granting repossession injunction and its stance on the constitutional principles. The research was developed through a literature review and case study farm Repossession Santa Monica occupied by the Rural Workers Landless Movement, referring to paragraph 296220-60.2014.8.09.0000 process of Treasuries and stick 2nd civil Corumbá the County of Goiás. The results show a negative response to the problem investigated, the protection of property of land subject to the fulfillment of the social function was not observed in the preliminary ruling given by the stick judgment. Thus, the position of the judiciary does not proceed to completion of the 1988 Federal Constitution because it does not incorporate the social demands of access to land, contributing to conflict management, traits that hinder open, pluralistic and democratic society. / A presente dissertação tem por objeto o tema da função social da propriedade da terra na concessão de liminar em ação de reintegração de posse e foi desenvolvida dentro da linha de pesquisa de Fundamentos e Institutos Jurídicos da Propriedade e da Posse. A discussão orienta-se pelo problema de pesquisa sobre a interpretação do artigo 927 do Código de Processo Civil ao conceder em caráter liminar a proteção jurídica da propriedade da terra nos conflitos coletivos sem condicioná-la ao atendimento da função social e se isto está em conformidade com o arcabouço jurídico-constitucional e com a sociedade aberta dos intérpretes. O marco teórico adotado é a teoria de Peter Häberle sobre a Sociedade Aberta dos Intérpretes da Constituição que se utiliza do método hermenêutico concretizador. Objetivou-se demonstrar como o Poder Judiciário fundamenta a exigência ou não do cumprimento da função social da propriedade da terra para concessão da liminar de reintegração de posse e a sua postura diante dos preceitos constitucionais. A pesquisa foi desenvolvida através de uma revisão de literatura e de estudo de caso da Reintegração de Posse da fazenda Santa Mônica ocupada pelo Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra, referente ao processo n° 296220- 60.2014.8.09.0000 da vara de Fazendas Públicas e 2ª cível da Comarca de Corumbá de Goiás. Os resultados encontrados evidenciam uma resposta negativa ao problema investigado, a proteção da propriedade da terra condicionada ao cumprimento da função social não foi observada na decisão liminar proferida pelo juízo da vara. Desta forma, a postura do Poder Judiciário não procede para concretização da Constituição Federal de 1988 porque não incorpora as reivindicações sociais do acesso à terra, contribuindo para a gestão dos conflitos, traços que impedem a sociedade aberta, plural e democrática.

nÃo hà / Simular uma multidÃo à uma tarefa custosa computacionalmente, onde hà a necessidade de reproduzir o comportamento de vÃrios (dezenas a milhares) agentes realisticamente em um ambiente bidimensional ou tridimensional. Os agentes precisam interagir entre si e com o ambiente, reagindo a situaÃÃes, alternando comportamentos e/ou aprendendo novos comportamentos durante sua âvidaâ. Muitos modelos para simulaÃÃo de multidÃo foram desenvolvidos nos Ãltimos anos e podem ser classificados em dois grandes grupos (macroscÃpico e microscÃpico) de acordo com a forma como os agente sÃo gerenciados. Existem alguns trabalhos na literatura baseados em modelos macroscÃpicos, onde os agentes sÃo agrupados e guiados pelo campo potencial gerado para seu grupo. A construÃÃo desses campos à o gargalo desse tipo de modelo, sendo necessÃria a utilizaÃÃo de poucos grupos para que uma simulaÃÃo execute a taxas de quadros interativas. Neste trabalho à proposto um modelo baseado em um modelo macroscÃpico, que tem como objetivo principal diminuir o custo do cÃlculo dos campos potenciais dos grupos, discretizando os mesmos de acordo com a necessidade do ambiente. Ao mesmo tempo à proposta a adiÃÃo de grupos que podem dirigir os agentes de uma simulaÃÃo a objetivos momentÃneos, o que fornece à multidÃo uma maior variedade de comportamentos. Por fim, propÃe-se a utilizaÃÃo de um modelo de forÃas sociais para a prevenÃÃo de colisÃes entre os agentes e entre agentes e obstÃculos / Crowd simulation is a computationally expensive task, where there is the need to reproduce the behavior of many (tens to thousands) agents in a two-dimensional or three-dimensional environment realistically. The agents need to interact to each other and with the environment, reacting to situations, alternating behaviors and/or learning new behaviors during his âlifetimeâ. Many models to simulate crowds have been developed over the years and can be classified into two big groups (macroscopic and microscopic) according to how the agents are managed. There are some works in the literature based on macroscopic models, where the agents are grouped and guided by the potential field of their group. The construction of these fields is the bottleneck of these models, so it is necessary to use few groups if it is needed for a simulation to run at interactive frame rates. In this work is proposed a model based on a macroscopic model, which aims mainly to reduce the cost of calculating the potential fields of the groups, by using groups discretized according to the needs of the environment. At the same time it is proposed the addition of groups that can steer the agents of a simulation to momentary goals, which gives the crowd a wider variety of behaviors. Finally, it is proposed the use of a social forces model to prevent collisions between agents and between agents and obstacles

Ukraine and Belarus are two post-Soviet states and neighboring countries that, to some extent, demonstrate successful and failed democratization respectively. The purpose of the study is to, based on a theory-consuming approach, investigate which deep structural and proximate actor-oriented explanatory causes may constitute prerequisites and/or obstacles for democratization in these countries. The empirical material draws inspiration from Lachapelle and Hellmeier (2022), from which the explanatory factors are borrowed. The factors are categorized in this study based on relevant theories that Møller and Skaaning (2013) have outlined. Of the deep causes, Belarus' high degree of modernization speaks for the country's good conditions for democratization. Despite Belarus' superiority in the modernization factors, Ukraine has advantages in other deep causes, above all the very strong civil society. In Belarus, there is a lack of proximate causes that can favor democratization, while Ukraine has very favorable conditions – albeit with a high degree of corruption. The study confirms the hypothesis that deep and proximate causes co-vary with each other and with the outcome, but also contradicts, to some extent, an absolute relationship between modernization factors and other deep structural causes as well as the causal direction between proximate and deep causes and suggests an opposite causal relationship. Deep structural causes in combination and interaction with proximate causes determine the development of democracy in these countries. No single theory alone can provide answers to our questions.

My thesis deals with the status of German language standard and is based on research in the internet discussion sites (internet forums), that deal with the topic of language. The internet forums that I've chosen offer help in learning a foreign language, in our case German. The help is provided either by proofreading or by answering the specific questions. This thesis is based on Ulrich Ammon's model of four social forces and the theory of language management. Next to the instances, which according to Ammon determine the standard, I included the participants of discussion, who decide what is standard too and thereby affect those for whom isn't German the native language. The analysis will be carried out on the basis of the proofreading of model texts. With the help of the language management theory I will discuss with the proofreader in the comments their selected (or not selected) option. The aim of my work is to observe the behavior of normative authority in relation to the codified norm, whether they know and follow it. Furthermore, I am interested in the social background and language abilities of the participants, which I'll find out by using the questionnaires.

Consumers acquire products to enhance their lives, but the happiness from these acquisitions generally decreases with the passage of time. This process of hedonic adaptation plays an integral role in post-acquisition consumer satisfaction, product disposal and replacement behavior, and the "hedonic treadmill" that partially drives the relationship between consumption and happiness. Humans are social animals, however, and we know little about the relationship between the social environment and hedonic adaptation. My dissertation addresses this gap by exploring the moderating role of social presence (Essay 1) and self-concepts (Essay 2) on hedonic adaptation to products. Essay 1 explores how social presence affects hedonic adaptation to products. Research on general happiness has shown that significantly positive life events tend to maintain their positivity for longer periods of time when they involve active social interactions. I examine a more common situation in the domain of product consumption, i.e., the presence of others during consumption, and test whether hedonic adaptation to products is moderated by public contexts. By tracking happiness with products over time, I show that a "social audience" (i.e., the presence of others and the perception that those others notice the consumer) moderates hedonic adaptation through a consumer's inference of the social audience perspective. Inferring that the social audience is admiring one's product slows down adaptation, and inferring that the social audience is negatively viewing one's product accelerates adaptation. Essay 2 explores the role the identity-relevance of a product plays in hedonic adaptation. Extant research illustrates that consumers avoid consuming identity-inconsistent products in order to avoid dissonance arising from product choices conflicting with important self-concepts. I show that dissonance can also arise from consuming identity-consistent products because of the force of hedonic adaptation. I provide evidence that consumers feel uncomfortable experiencing declining happiness with identity-consistent products and thus resist hedonic adaptation to such products in order to resolve the dissonance. / text

This thesis addresses the problem of tracking multiple ground targets whose motion is dependent on one another. Multiple approaches which integrate the social force based motion model into different filtering algorithms are proposed. The social force concept has previously been used to model pedestrian motion where the interactions among pedestrians are described using social forces. First, the social force based motion model integrated into the Probability Hypothesis Density (PHD) framework is proposed. Two different implementations, namely, the Sequential Monte Carlo (SMC) technique and the Gaussian Mixture (GM) technique, are derived to implement the proposed Social Force PHD (SF-PHD) filter in ground target tracking scenarios. Next, a social-force-based motion model integrated into the stacked Kalman filter (stacked SF-KF) is developed and its multiple model (stacked IMM-SF-KF) variant is derived. Then, the assumption used in the proposed algorithms, that the actual values of the social force parameters are known, is not valid at all times and the assumption is relaxed. Hence, simultaneous parameter estimation techniques for the social force parameters during the tracking are proposed. Three approaches based on the state augmentation method, the Expectation Maximization (EM) method and the maximum likelihood method are derived. The maximum likelihood method can be implemented offline or online, depending on the requirement. The traditional Posterior Cramer Rao Lower Bound (PCRLB), which is the inverse of the Fisher information matrix, gives a bound on the optimal achievable accuracy of the estimated state of a target with independent motion. Subsequently, a modified performance measure based on the PCRLB for targets whose motion is dependent on each other is derived to validate the performance of the proposed algorithms. Finally, the PCRLB that accounts for unknown interactions is derived to validate the proposed simultaneous parameter estimation techniques. Simulated and real data are used to show the performance of the proposed algorithms and simultaneous parameter estimation techniques compared to the algorithms in the literature. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / This thesis addresses the problem of tracking multiple ground targets whose motion is dependent on one another. In target tracking literature, it is commonly assumed that a target’s motion follows a nearly constant velocity, constant turn or a constant acceleration model independent of the motion of other targets. But the actual behavior of a ground target may be more intricate than that and it is often affected by the motion of other targets, obstacles in the surrounding and its intended destination. Hence, a more sophisticated motion modeling technique, which integrates the various factors that affect the motion of ground targets, is needed. In this thesis, multiple approaches which integrate the social force based motion model into different filtering algorithms are proposed. The social force concept has previously been used to model pedestrian motion where the interactions among pedestrians are described using social forces. First, the social force based motion model integrated into the Probability Hypothesis Density (PHD) framework is proposed. Two different implementations, namely, the Sequential Monte Carlo (SMC) technique and the Gaussian Mixture (GM) technique, are derived to implement the proposed Social Force PHD (SF-PHD) filter in ground target tracking scenarios. Next, a social-force-based motion model integrated into the stacked Kalman filter (stacked SF-KF) is developed and its multiple model (stacked IMM-SF-KF) variant is derived. Then, the assumption used in the proposed algorithms, that the actual values of the social force parameters are known, is not valid at all times and the assumption is relaxed. Hence, simultaneous parameter estimation techniques for the social force parameters during the tracking are proposed. Three approaches based on the state augmentation method, the Expectation Maximization (EM) method and the maximum likelihood method are derived. The maximum likelihood method can be implemented offline or online, depending on the requirement. The traditional Posterior Cramer Rao Lower Bound (PCRLB), which is the inverse of the Fisher information matrix, gives a bound on the optimal achievable accuracy of the estimated state of a target with independent motion. Subsequently, a modified performance measure based on the PCRLB for targets whose motion is dependent on each other is derived to validate the performance of the proposed algorithms. Finally, the PCRLB that accounts for unknown interactions is derived to validate the proposed simultaneous parameter estimation techniques. Simulated and real data are used to show the performance of the proposed algorithms and simultaneous parameter estimation techniques compared to the algorithms in the literature.

On peut considérer que le démarrage du processus de démocratisation en Namibie a lieu en 1989 et au Congo Brazzaville en 1990 : pour le premier il s’agit, de la libération du joug sud-africain avec l’accession à l’indépendance et la mise en place d’un régime démocratique, pour le second la chute d’un régime de parti unique et l’instauration du multipartisme puis de la démocratie. Cette phase de bouleversement a été rendue possible par la mobilisation des forces sociales, notamment les organisations syndicales.La recherche consiste ici à considérer le rôle de ces forces sociales dans ce processus et à s’interroger sur leur nature, en particulier pour déterminer si elles constituent une société civile. Ainsi les Eglises jouent un rôle déterminant, et ce dans les deux pays. Au moment de l’ouverture démocratique, les associations se multiplient. La mise en place des premières institutions est marquée par une course au pouvoir, et se révèle la plus critique pour la société civile, dont le positionnement même est mis à mal ; les organisations sont soumises à rude épreuve. Certains meneurs des mouvements de contestations se retrouvent à la tête de partis politiques, dans un environnement à haut risque. Les rivalités ethniques ou tribales et le régionalisme s’enracinent dans la conscience populaire.Si la Namibie va poursuivre son chemin vers la démocratie, malgré la faiblesse de la société civile et les blessures du passé, le Congo va sombrer d’abord dans une guerre civile avant de chercher le chemin de la paix. La société civile anéantie au moment du conflit revient sur le devant de la scène à travers le Conseil œcuménique des Eglises mais échoue à consolider la démocratie. / One can acknowledge that the democratisation process in Namibia started in 1989 and in Congo Brazzaville in 1990: for the first one it meant freeing itself from the South African rule as the country conquered its independence and established a democratic regime, for the second one, it meant the fall of a one-party rule and installing a multiparty system in a move to democracy. This upheaval phase was made possible through social forces mobilisation, especially trade unions. Our research consists in looking into the role played by these social forces in the process and in questioning their nature, particularly in order to determine whether they form some civil society. In both countries, churches are instrumental in the process. When democracy is introduced, associations flourish. As the first institutions are set, a struggle for power is engaged that soon proves to be critical for civil society, as even their position is challenged ; organisations are under deep stress. Some leaders of these social movements join or head political parties, in a high-risk context. Ethnic or tribal rivalries, as well as regionalism roots in the people's consciousness. If Namibia continues its path to democracy, despite the weakness of civil society and the wounds from the past, the Congo will first fall into civil war before searching for a way towards peace. Civil society, which has collapsed during the conflict, comes back to front stage through the Ecumenical Council of Churches but fails to consolidate democracy.