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Although this project refers to theory and literature about giftedness and independent learning, it is based primarily on narratives of classroom experience. The key belief is that the best way to build on the strengths and meet the needs of adolescent gifted learners is for the teachers involved to create a classroom learning climate and curriculum which coaches those students towards independent learning. Such a climate and curriculum provide opportunities for gifted adolescents to reach their potential. An adaptable and practical three-stage model for designing such a curriculum is provided. By integrating self-and teacher assessment and evaluation throughout three stages of curriculum, the model provides opportunities for students to develop the skills necessary for independent learning. Three narratives of my own experiences in using the three-stage model outlined above are provided. The three situations include the role of classroom teacher of OAC English, co-author of a literature anthology and teacher resource for grade nine destreamed English classes, and facilitator of an Interdisciplinary Autonomous Learner programme for gifted/highly able adolescent learners. Thus, the three-stage curriculum model has been used and shown to be effective. My own, and my students' experiences in using the model, and the common ground discovered in all three roles, form the basis of the recommendations being made in the final chapter. Practical recommendations are made to teachers who are interested in implementing a curriculum which promotes independent learning for gifted adolescents. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA)

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<p>In this thesis deposit and loan rate-setting equations for chartered banks are derived on the premise that these rates are set so as to maximize the banking industry's profits. Because of the oligopolistic nature of the Canadian banking industry and because explicit collusion is illegal an optimizing model of chartered bank ratesetting behaviour was integrated into the institutional framework of the Canadian banking industry.</p> <p>To do this a two-stage model of the Canadian banking industry is proposed. At the first stage, the prime rate on loans and the rate on non-chequing personal savings deposits are set so as to maximize the collective profits of the industry. To circumvent the illegality of explicit collusion a price leadership model is developed. In this model it is not one of the individual banks which is a price leader, but rather changes in the bank rate act as a signal for all of the individual banks to change their rates. The formulation proposed was tested and the hypothesis accepted for both rates. The second stage of the two-stage model is concerned with asset and liability management and is not developed in this thesis.</p> <p>A second contribution of this thesis is to take into account chartered bank rate-setting behaviour when estimating demand equations for both business loans and nonchequing personal savings deposits. When the estimation procedure used reflects these problems it is found that there are large changes in the values of the estimated coefficients in the demand functions for loans and deposits, compared to the simple O.L.S. estimates of the parameter values.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

The importance of addressing the topic of sustainable development has been widely acknowledged, and the researchers call for future studies that would develop new perspectives on integrating sustainability in the business context. Currently, most of such studies focus on large companies, whereas it has been shown that the impact of SMEs on the economy, the society and the environment is also significant. The present work aims at exploring the integration of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate sustainability (CS) in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Nordic countries. Adopting a qualitative dominant mixed research method, the following objectives are achieved: using content analysis, we analyse the activities disclosed by SMEs and describe their type and focus. Further, the multiple case study of 13 SMEs operating in Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark and Iceland allows exploration of the process of CSR integration in companies in more detail. Using the abductive approach to analysis and systematically combining the existing approaches to analysing CSR integration with the empirical findings, we are able to distinguish several specifics of SMEs. Namely, the process of CSR integration in SMEs may be different due to increased role of the top management commitment and the varying degree of externally formalising CSR and CS through obtaining certifications. This allows us to design suggestions for the updated model of CSR integration, which would reflect these specifics of SMEs. The present work contributes to current research by exploring CSR and CS integration in the context of SMEs, which have been previously identified as research gaps. We develop suggestions for modifying an existing framework for analysing CSR integration that combines the focus on specific business operations and the stages that a company can undergo in implementing CSR. The developed model could be used as a practical tool for analysing the company and the potential areas that would lead to CSR integration on a more strategic level. The qualitative nature of the present work and supporting the theoretical reflections with quotes from SME managers and owners provides opportunities for naturalistic generalisations and gaining insights on what activities could be implemented in companies. We acknowledge that our work has several limitations. The qualitative nature of the study does not allow statistical generalisation; thus, further research is recommended to enhance the findings and test the developed model in different context and using different methods, as well as targeting not only managers and owners whose responsibilities are related to strategy and sustainability, but also employees from other functions. Quantitative and qualitative studies of SMEs in the analysed region conducted by native speakers are also recommended.

The purpose of this thesis is to examine what impact the new phenomena of virtual teams have on a Swedish SMEs internationalization process. The method of the thesis was decided to be a qualitative study, together with an abductive approach. The data was collected by interviewing managers from six different SMEs that have implemented virtual teams in their organization. All companies are located in Sweden, and are active on the international market, or aim to be internationalized in a near future. Multiple theories are presented in the theoretical framework, the theories chosen to support this thesis are Internationalization, Small-medium enterprise, Virtual teams vs physical teams, and cultural dimensions influencing the team. Based on the theories, a conceptual framework model was developed to show the connection between the mentioned theories. All findings extracted from the interviews is presented in the empirical findings chapter, where the primary data describes each case answers regarding the specific topics and theories. The analysis chapter visualizes the connection between empirical findings and the different theories, presenting advantages and challenges when using a virtual team. The conclusion of the thesis show that implementation of virtual teams can help Swedish SMEs leap over stages in a classical internationalization process. The thesis intends to influence managers of SMEs to implement virtual teams to digitalize their company, or to make their internationalization process easier. Ending the thesis with recommendations for future research

In today's fiercely competitive environment, not only in the tourism sector, we see a rise in the need to identify the weak and strong sides of the performance of the entire branch network of a travel agency, as well as of its components, the particular branches. This problem can be approached using the process of benchmarking. This method is currently widely used to compare the similarly behaving systems and processes in all areas of human activity. Data envelopment analysis models can be used as one of the methods of benchmarking. This thesis deals first with the theoretical description of the basic models of data envelopment analysis. It then moves on to concentrate on the description of the network-based models, which are then used in the practical part of the thesis. In this last part, it compares selected travel agency branches and identifies the deficiencies in particular areas of their performance.

The purpose of this study was twofold: 1) To analyze the similarities and differences between parent responses to the birth and rearing of a child with Down syndrome and; 2) To document the characteristics of grieving described in Engel's 3-stage model of grieving. A questionnaire was used to assess responses from randomly chosen parent members of the Dallas Down Syndrome Guild. Qualitative data analysis was conducted, using the methodology of triangulation.

國內有關採購案件之決標金額與底價金額之實證研究文獻，多將相關資料逕以迴歸方式直接處理而獲致相關結論，未曾考量樣本偏誤對迴歸結果的影響。本研究利用內政部99年1月至104年8月資訊服務勞務採購案件數據，針對1,061件採購案件資料進行分析，為避免因樣本選擇不當可能產生的估計誤差，我們利用Heckman二階段估計法，先估計押標金對採購案件是否決標的影響，再進一步分析影響決標金額與底價金額的要因。經過選樣誤差修正後，我們發現決標金額與底價金額都有受到選樣誤差的影響，表示過往以計量模型進行決標金額與底價金額影響因素的實證研究，由於未考量押標金的扭曲效果，其研究結果似有再檢視必要。而實證結果也發現，勞務與工程案件之決標金額與底價金額的影響因素並不完全相同，故現行以工程思維為架構的政府採購法，確有再修正之必要。

This study examines the impact of academic and personal life on graduate student persistence and transformation. Of particular interest are the relationships, emotions, and life management skills required throughout the graduate experience and how socialization, emotional intelligence, and advising aid students through their academic program. With an average of seven to eight years required to complete a doctoral program, life happens. Students enter and leave relationships, children are born, family members have emergencies, health issues arise, and emotional growth takes place. Therefore, students transform not only academically, but in many ways. These are intertwined as evidenced by the data-derived system representation. The importance of understanding the interconnected links in graduate experience spans academic, social, economic, and societal spheres. Each year hundreds of thousands of students enter graduate school. However, for doctoral students, there is an enormous gap between acceptance and completion. After seven years, approximately 50 percent complete their program and after ten years the rate climbs to only 57 percent (Council of Graduate Schools, 2010). This study offers a systemic representation and a four-stage model of graduate student development, incorporating student-identified factors: Faculty Impact, Life Management, Relationships, Playing the Game, Growth/Transformation, Emotions, and Reward/Purpose. Stage I: Orientation and Socialization Stage II: Adjustment and Transition Stage III: Navigation and Transformation Stage IV: Completion and Advancement The results, presented as a systems-based model, along with analysis, may be used to support faculty, advisors, and administrators in creating better advising, orientation, evaluation, and support systems. Departmental policies may be improved to identify at-risk students, provide mentorship opportunities, or obtain continual feedback to understand the underlying factors that may stop students from progressing. This research might also help identify students during the application/admission process. The methodological framework used to create the system produced in this study is Interactive Qualitative Analysis (Northcutt & McCoy, 2004), a methodology that provides the quantitative rigor of algorithmically generated data analysis, combined with the qualitative descriptiveness of interviews, in order to provide insights into the drivers of graduate school persistence. This methodology uses a systematic, protocol-driven research procedure to construct a unified, descriptive diagram to illustrate the phenomenon. / text