Feral hog distribution (Sus scrofa) has increased to 38 states due to high fecundity rates, an omnivorous diet, and translocation by humans; affecting various stakeholders. To assess stakeholder attitudes and feral hog distribution in the United States and within Mississippi, selfministered mail questionnaires were sent to district level state wildlife biologists nationwide (n = 614) and to Mississippi Farm Bureau county presidents (FBCP; n = 79). I used the Wildlife Stakeholder Acceptance Capacity theory to assess what factors (e.g., species presence, perceived density, stakeholder land usage, risk belief, attitudes toward the species) influenced stakeholder preferences for a specific future population trend (i.e., increase or decrease). Wildlife biologists were influenced by attitudes and occupational risk beliefs. Influential factors of FBCP attitudes could not be assessed because no producers wanted an increase in future hog populations.

Family firms are replete with problems concerning family and business issues but they remain the most dominant form of business worldwide. Decisions about strategy, structure, and goals of the firm play an integral part in the distinction of family firms from nonamily firms (Chrisman, Chua & Sharma, 2005) and these decisions are further complicated in the family firm by the interaction of the family and business systems (Stafford, Duncan, Danes & Winter, 1999). Sharma (2000) and Chrisman and colleagues (2005) call for research of this interaction through the utilization of stakeholder theory because family firms involve a specific array of stakeholders with different stakes and different levels of salience. This dissertation further investigates the interaction of the family and the business in a new and interesting way. This will be the first attempt to investigate the way stakeholders and their salience affects the goals and performance of family firms. The dissertation developed below focuses on the differences that exist among the salience of stakeholders in the family firm. I first develop theory-based hypotheses on a variety of relationships within the family and family firm that will contribute to a better understanding of the behavior of family firms. Second, I describe the research methodology and sample design to be utilized to test the developed hypotheses. I expect my results to not only empirically validate my research questions but to also provide practical and useful information for future research in this area. The aim of this study is to contribute to knowledge by empirically testing a framework for stakeholder salience in the family firm as well as assessing how the salience of particular groups affect the performance of family firms.

Many things can be communicated through dialogue, including information, thoughts, feelings, attitudes, beliefs and personal experiences. More recently, dialogues have been used in focus group research and in program evaluations. Despite the increasing prevalence of dialogue in research and evaluation, much is still unknown about dialogue, especially how dialogue emerges and occurs within a group setting. The aim of the current study was to describe and identify the various factors involved in a dialogue, examine the relationships among these factors, and conceptualize the process of dialogue within a multi-stakeholder participatory evaluation. A qualitative analysis of three focus groups, each comprised of eight to ten participants, yielded several findings. First, several factors were found to help facilitate the interactions between multiple stakeholders in dialogue, including the development of common ground and specific contributions made by participants. Secondly, communication within these multiple stakeholder groups was found to alternate between two individuals, a dyadic exchange, or between multiple participants, a complex exchange. Thirdly, the moderator and participants were found to take on each other roles. Finally, from these conversations, a model was developed to illustrate the progression of a dialogue in these groups. These results have many implications for program evaluators, focus group leaders, and other practitioners in the field.

Many things can be communicated through dialogue, including information, thoughts, feelings, attitudes, beliefs and personal experiences. More recently, dialogues have been used in focus group research and in program evaluations. Despite the increasing prevalence of dialogue in research and evaluation, much is still unknown about dialogue, especially how dialogue emerges and occurs within a group setting. The aim of the current study was to describe and identify the various factors involved in a dialogue, examine the relationships among these factors, and conceptualize the process of dialogue within a multi-stakeholder participatory evaluation. A qualitative analysis of three focus groups, each comprised of eight to ten participants, yielded several findings. First, several factors were found to help facilitate the interactions between multiple stakeholders in dialogue, including the development of common ground and specific contributions made by participants. Secondly, communication within these multiple stakeholder groups was found to alternate between two individuals, a dyadic exchange, or between multiple participants, a complex exchange. Thirdly, the moderator and participants were found to take on each other roles. Finally, from these conversations, a model was developed to illustrate the progression of a dialogue in these groups. These results have many implications for program evaluators, focus group leaders, and other practitioners in the field.

The Administration Yuan Department of Health revised the medical treatment method, the third reading to have already passed on April 28th in 93 years. Revise the point be increasing the medical juristical person particularly the chapter the part already the clear statement standard it to change the system and build up the system. This research is standard according to the latest medical treatment organization classification that announced, the current conditions that inquires into the medical treatment organization finance information to make public currently, and from the point of view of stackholders:Investors and donators, analyzing the reading of hospital¡¦s public information for different relation persons, the usage index sign of the financial report, relatively manage it with company mutually the congeniality, the aptness and urgency that makes public currently for the hospital finance information is the research point of this thesises. Hospital's user in the information is divided into the exterior inspector,investor and inner part the governor, the hospital and company are establishing the dissimilarity on the property, the index sign that make public is also different, ducting in to make public the feasibility of the information with the analytical hospital from here. The medical treatment juristical person for match with the ordinance provision and reach the society direct to carry out the information to make public, is an irresistible general trend. With Department of Health announce the corporate body hospital financial report and each hospital manages the data the finance that make public voluntarily on the website for sample carry on the discussion. Because the medical treatment juristical person organization belongs to the not-for-profit organization, making public in the finance information up is different from in appear on market the listed company generally, The purpose of this research is inquiring into the hospital in order to respond the all society to inspect the public wealth to fly to, it carries on the public finance clarity and importance's lying in through the public lesson responsibility to safeguard the public benefit and the others rights, by the publication and transparency of the finance information, the public-spirited service and the mission responsibility that let the people understand and recognizes the pure hospital to should have, makes public the index sign and the rating result to information, expect the idea that can build up inspecting the hospital information to make public, being the investor and donator contributing money the reference that the person carries on making policy. This research makes use of the domestic and international cultural heritage research through ising analytical than the research, letting the donator known the management information and funds that its organization should make public the hospital to fly to, making the hospital be able to participate the social salvage more physically, Letting the investor known to take hospital as to invest the object of information's making public should belong to which contents, making the funds of the capital market flowed into the medical treatment industry, reaching the correction lawmaking purpose of the medical treatment method. Carrying out the hospital manages the mechanism to mainly expect to lie in the trust that can raise to contribute money the person and investor to the medical treatment juristical person, Making the national health insurance resource ability reasonable assigned through the publicly transparent finance information, reducing the medical treatment juristical person organization and an output information dissymmetry of the National Health Insurance Bureau and the morals risk of the occurrence, Passing by the public finance information makes public, and combines the exterior resultant force direct, can make to contribute money the person,investor eventually, the public ,the medical treatment promoter and the health insurance bureau to all win.

The relationship between politics and business administration is neutral, somehow, it may usually be considered as a negative phrase. In general, most people may judge this kind of relationship as something like corruption, bribery and rent-seeking. This research will focus on the example of transferring of control of a Department Store, and use this case to discuss the law, social benefit and traditional cultural issues about the transferring process. The relationship between legislative and business is mutual, not only business-political relationship could affect legislative process, the law itself could also heavily influence the behaviors between politics and business. A proper law could be measured by active and passive aspects, for passive one, it could have enough power to stop corporations from illegal activities; for active one, business law could direct corporations to enrich and fulfill its social responsibilities. Therefore, when the legislative tries to build up some relevant laws for business, it could not be done by only some narrow law-orientated elites but consult various fields of other expertise. The case is a classical one about joint loan of business, in traditional way, the case should be solved by professional bank workgroups. However, during the whole process, this case evolved to a competition of control of corporation between different business clans. Besides, this case also involved some debate about political influence, therefore this case cannot be considered as a pure business event but a more complicated issue.

Fishery managers face two problems that are endemic to all renewable resource management: how much of the resource should be extracted, and how should resource users be managed to ensure efficiency and fairness. The predominant fishery management approach addresses these problems through fish stock assessment and resource economics. However, my review of the literature and analysis of the situation in the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve show that both methodologies face serious difficulties: they deal inadequately with uncertainties about the causes of observed behaviour and the likely effects of different policies; they are too focused on readily measurable objectives; and they do not address the effects of the institutional context on management. In Chapter 3, I examine previous applications of Multiple Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) with a view to see if they can be applied to fishery management. My analysis shows that until now MCDA has been used to address only the first two sets of fishery management problems: systematically incorporating uncertainty and multiple objectives into policy development. I also argue that existing proposals for the use of Decision Analysis can be classified as variations of one version of MCDA, namely Multiple Stakeholder Decision Analysis (MSDA). The main problems that remain to be resolved relate to the interaction between experts, stakeholders, and managers when there are conflicting interpretations of evidence, and situations of high institutional inertia. In Chapter 4, I examine these problems within the context of ecological management experience and New Institutional Economics. I argue that for complex problems, such as those in the Danube Delta, management that aims to attain narrowly defined optimal fishing yields through command and control measures is unfeasable and undesirable. A more promising approach would seek to strengthen resilience, promote organisational variety, and increase the leverage of stakeholders over those who provide services for them. When one seeks to achieve such a transformation of management, I argue that the intervention needs to take into account the specific institutional circumstances of the client. In Chapter 5, I show how management procedures, problem perception, and strategy development are influenced by organisational structure and the hierarchical position of managers. That is why decision analysis interventions must address both technical as well as institutional needs of clients. In Chapter 6, I discuss Decision Conferencing, an alternative MCDA approach, and argue that it is more suitable for dealing with management problems such as those of the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve. Decision Conferences can provide a structure for expert, manager, and stakeholder interaction and can lead to the transformation of social realities. In Chapters 7 and 8, I review the context and concrete environmental and institutional problems that led to the first Decision Conference on an environmental management problem. I report the processes of the Decision Conference, the agreements reached, and anlyse both the short and medium term effects of the intervention. On the basis of that evidence I make claims about the general utility of the approach. The thesis concludes with proposals to improve Decision Conferencing through a framework that provides guidance for context specific process management and helps to ensure that a requisite variety of viewpoints are incorporated into management strategy development.

Purpose: To examine stakeholder participation in the primary care system change process that led to the introduction of the first Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinic in Ontario. Design: Qualitative case study guided by the principles of stakeholder and system change theory. Setting: Northern Community in Ontario, Canada. Participants: Purposeful sample of healthcare providers, healthcare managers and health policy stakeholders. Procedures: This case study was bound by place (Sudbury), time (January 2006–January 2008), activity (stakeholder participation), and process (introduction of an innovation, the first Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinic in Ontario, during a primary care system change). Semi-structured individual interviews were conducted with participants who represented the clinic, the local community, and the province. Public documents, such as newspaper articles published during the 2 year time boundary for this case and professional healthcare organization publications, were also examined. Interviews were analyzed using qualitative content analysis and public documents were reviewed for key messages to complement the interview findings. Field notes written during data collection and analysis were used to provide additional depth, contribute insights to the data, and ascribe meaning to the results. Main Findings: Sixteen interviews were conducted with key stakeholders. Twenty public documents which yielded the most specific information relevant to the case study time boundaries and activities were selected and reviewed. Six main themes are reported: felt need, two visions for change (one for a Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinic and one for Family Health Teams [FHTs]), vision processes related to ensuring the visions became or continued to be a reality in Ontario’s healthcare system (shaping, sharing, and protecting the vision), stakeholder activities, and sustaining and spreading the vision. Conclusions: In this case, stakeholder participation influenced policy decisions and was a key contributor to the primary care system change process to introduce the first Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinic in Ontario. Stakeholders are motivated by various needs to engage in activities to introduce an innovation in primary care. One of the most common needs felt by both those who supported the introduction of the first Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinic and those who were opposed to it was the need for improved patient access to primary care.

Many things can be communicated through dialogue, including information, thoughts, feelings, attitudes, beliefs and personal experiences. More recently, dialogues have been used in focus group research and in program evaluations. Despite the increasing prevalence of dialogue in research and evaluation, much is still unknown about dialogue, especially how dialogue emerges and occurs within a group setting. The aim of the current study was to describe and identify the various factors involved in a dialogue, examine the relationships among these factors, and conceptualize the process of dialogue within a multi-stakeholder participatory evaluation. A qualitative analysis of three focus groups, each comprised of eight to ten participants, yielded several findings. First, several factors were found to help facilitate the interactions between multiple stakeholders in dialogue, including the development of common ground and specific contributions made by participants. Secondly, communication within these multiple stakeholder groups was found to alternate between two individuals, a dyadic exchange, or between multiple participants, a complex exchange. Thirdly, the moderator and participants were found to take on each other roles. Finally, from these conversations, a model was developed to illustrate the progression of a dialogue in these groups. These results have many implications for program evaluators, focus group leaders, and other practitioners in the field.

Universiẗat, Diss., 2006--Erlangen-Nürnberg.