Thesis (D. Min.)--Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, 2005. / Abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 233-239).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 207-214).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, 1993. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 240-243).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 138-143).

Even though family firms play a significant role in the economy, research regarding family firms is relatively new and is still an emerging field of study. Family firms possess specific characteristics distinguishing them from nonfamily firms. Moreover, there are other issues within the family firm research that has not been fully explored, and one of them is management accounting and control. Researchers have suggested that more research is needed on performance measurement focusing on both financial and non-financial information. A tool that includes both financial and non-financial measures is the Balanced Scorecard (BSC). As family firms are influenced by its location, the phenomenon known as the spirit of Gnosjö will be taken into consideration throughout the thesis. The aim of this thesis is to explore the usage of the perspectives comprising the BSC in SME family firms operating within the region of Gnosjö. In order to fulfill the purpose, a case study was carried out. The data was collected by conducting interviews. Further, the sampling process resulted in interviewing 13 participants in four companies. The findings show that all four companies use the perspectives comprising the BSC, however, the findings also indicate that the usage is influenced by familiness and the companies’ location. Further, this study confirms that using stewardship theory in family firms is suitable, aligning with previous research, specifically in SME family firms. Finally, we can conclude that formalized management accounting systems are not fully prevalent among the family firms.

La résistance aux antibiotiques est une menace sérieuse pour la santé publique en Europe, entrainant une augmentation des coûts de la santé, des échecs thérapeutiques, et de la mortalité (ECDC, 2011). Le développement de l'antibiorésistance est principalement lié à la consommation d'antibiotiques chez l'Homme et les animaux. Depuis le début des années 2000, les pays européens ont limité cette consommation et en 2006, l'UE a interdit l'utilisation d'antibiotiques comme promoteurs de croissance. Ceci a favorisé le développement de diverses alternatives à l'utilisation d'antibiotiques. L'objectif principal de ce projet de thèse est d'évaluer l'utilisation d'alternatives spécifiques et non spécifiques à l'utilisation d'antibiotiques dans les élevages de porcs européens. L'étude sera organisée en trois parties: i) une évaluation technique, visant à quantifier le lien entre l'utilisation d'antibiotiques et les performances techniques des élevages, ii) une évaluation économique, basée sur une analyse coût-efficacité et coûts-bénéfices des stratégies alternatives aux antibiotiques et iii) une évaluation psychosociologique, décrivant les attitudes et les comportements des éleveurs, vétérinaires et scientifiques vis-à-vis de l'utilisation d'antibiotiques en élevage porcin. Ce projet impliquera à la fois la réalisation de visites d'élevages français, l'utilisation d'outils statistiques variés et de méthodes de recherche qualitative et d'évaluation des risques. Ainsi, ce projet fournira les bases d'une compréhension globale des facteurs techniques, économiques et psychosociologiques qui orientent les décisions des éleveurs et des vétérinaires au sujet de la santé et de la production porcine et qui, par conséquent, définissent les possibles interventions sur l'utilisation d'antibiotiques. Cette étude fait partie du projet de recherche du Consortium MINAPIG financé par le programme Emida Era-Net. Un financement supplémentaire est fourni par l'Office vétérinaire fédéral suisse. / Antimicrobial resistance is a serious threat to public health in Europe, leading to mounting healthcare costs, treatment failure, and deaths (ECDC, 2011). The development of antimicrobial resistance is mainly due to antimicrobial consumption in humans and animals. From early 2000s, European countries have implemented restriction measures and in 2006, EU banned the use of antibiotics as growth promoters in animal feed. This has promoted the development of various alternatives to antimicrobial. The main objective of this PhD project is to assess and evaluate specific and unspecific alternatives to antimicrobials in the European pig industry. The study will be organised in three main parts: i) a technical assessment, quantifying the link between antimicrobial use and technical performances of the pig farms, ii) an economic evaluation, conducting cost-effectiveness and cost-benefit analyses of alternative strategies in comparison with antimicrobial usage, and iii) a psycho-sociological evaluation, describing farmers, veterinarians and pig experts attitudes, beliefs and behaviours regarding the use of antimicrobials in pig farming. The project will involve field work in France, statistical analysis using a range of methods, qualitative research methods, conceptual work and the use of risk assessment methods. We expect this PhD project to provide the foundation for an integrated understanding of technical, economical and psychological factors driving decisions of farmers and veterinarians about pig health and production and the consequential interventions, particularly the use of antimicrobials. This study is part of the MINAPIG Consortium Research project funded by the Era-Net programme Emida. Additional funding is available through the Federal Veterinary Office of Switzerland.

Magister Commercii - MCom / This literature study aims to identify international best practice concerning the role of the board and more particularly that of the independent director in ensuring good corporate governance. The study is based on sources which include a large contingent of up to date sources on the subject ranging from newspaper articles, journal articles, various corporate governance codes, company reports and reports on governance such as Cadbury and Higgs. / South Africa

Introduction: The Antimicrobial Self-assessment Toolkit for Acute NHS Trusts (ASAT) was developed by a pharmacist reference group of an Advisory Non-Departmental Public Body on Antimicrobial Resistance and Healthcare Associated Infections (ARHAI). It was developed in conjunction with the Department of Health. The primary purpose of the ASAT is to identify and to measure the methods of implementation of antimicrobial stewardship programmes in acute NHS trusts. The face validity was previously tested by ARHAI. The overall aims of this programme of work were to investigate the validity of the ASAT and to make iterative changes to improve its validity. Ethical approval was not required for this PhD project because it was categorised as service evaluation by the LREC. Also, ethical approval from the University of Manchester Research Ethics Committee was deemed unnecessary at the time of the PhD project due to the nature of the data collected. Methods: A mixed methodology approach utilising a sequential exploratory strategy was used to investigate the validity of the ASAT. This PhD project was composed of four sequential studies which resulted in iterative changes to the ASAT, that is, from ASAT v15a to ASAT v18. In Study 1, cognitive interviews were conducted with eight antimicrobial pharmacists in order to investigate the content validity of ASAT v15a. In Study 2, both cognitive interviews and semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 clinical microbiologists in order to investigate the content validity of ASAT v16. In Study 3, Rasch modelling and analyses using the Partial Credit Model (PCM) were conducted on the responses to ASAT v17 from 33 NHS trusts across England. In Study 4, simple OLS regression analyses were conducted using the NHS trust ‘ability’ estimates or calibrations and Clostridium difficile (CDI) rates of participating NHS trusts in order to investigate model fit and the predictive validity of the ASAT. Results: The cognitive interviews conducted in study 1 indicated that AMPs encountered cognitive difficulties along the cognitive processing pathway in response to ASAT v15a. These difficulties included comprehension in 27 (32.5%) questions and response generation/formatting in 13 (15.7%) questions. Also respondents indicated that the role of clinical microbiologists in ASPs was underrepresented in ASAT v15a. The interviews conducted in Study 2 were confirmatory in nature as they reflected the findings of Study 1. For example terms such as ‘formulary’ and ‘policy’ were misinterpreted by respondents. Rasch modelling and analysis showed that there were items within ASAT v17 which were underfitting and overfitting the Partial Credit Model. Item fit was investigated after removal of these items which resulted in improved fit for domains 2 and 5. ASAT v18 was developed after these analyses and was included items that were productive for measurement. On examination of the OLS regression analyses conducted in Study 4, it was seen that there was poor model fit and very limited predictive validity of the model. Conclusion: The iterative methodology utilised to investigate the validity and subsequently improve the ASAT was effective in establishing content and construct validity. However, the predictive validity of the ASAT was limited. This may be due to the outcome variable chosen for the OLS regression modelling. A more sensitive outcome measure such as compliance to treatment or prophylaxis guidelines may have been more effective at establishing predictive validity. The findings of this programme of work highlighted that there is further work required to validate the ASAT such as the determination of the appropriate weights and scores for ASAT domains and also the determination of the appropriate outcomes measures to determine the efficacy of ASPs. It is recommended that further validity testing should be conducted before a further iteration of the ASAT is used as a set of quality standards or as a hospital benchmarking tool

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A constant in all planning activities is interaction among stakeholders. Despite the involvement of many stakeholder groups, one faction is consistently overlooked in planning decisions: children. In the push to make decisions and consider the numerous viewpoints of the adult population, children are habitually left by the wayside. Planners all too often fail to acknowledge that local children may have insightful and creative ideas to address issues. This is particularly true when these issues affect local children, as is often the case with environmental planning decisions. How can planners incorporate children in the practice of environmental planning? Environmental education provides a unique approach through which planners can integrate childrenâ s ideas. This approach can be directed toward youth-initiated venues for bringing environmental planning into the classroom. By blending environmental education with the structure of a classroom setting, we can create a mutually beneficial setting where childrenâ s unique perspectives can be nurtured. By using environmental education to create a basis of knowledge about local issues and to provide a forum for childrenâ s participation, their ideas can be incorporated into planning. The following chapters discuss the importance of including children in environmental planning as well as how to use environmental education as an approach toward this end. Three case studies illustrate how programs in the United States are challenging youth to become active stewards of their local environments. Although environmental education can be utilized for children of all ages as well as adults, this paper focuses on grades four through nine. The unique perspective and dynamic that children possess is often undermined and overlooked. The benefits of involving children are numerous. They can provide creative insight, learn decision-making skills, and become stewards of their local environment. There are also challenges to involving children. Forefront among these challenges is that utilizing a child-initiated forum often requires more time from planners. By providing background education and a familiar forum for children, educators and planners could overcome traditional barriers to incorporating child-initiated planning. / Master of Urban and Regional Planning